SYDNEY OLYMPIC – SEASON REVIEW

The 2023 season, started off with such promise and optimism and why not, it should be like that at the start of every year. But especially, since Sydney Olympic were the defending Minor Premiers from season 2022, it was only natural for the supporters to think that we would be right in the mix to win more silverware again this season.

How wrong we were.

As it turned out, we bombed spectacularly.

It all looked positive, as we raced out to 3 straight League victories to begin the season, beating Sutherland 3-0 at home at Belmore, then beating Manly and Sydney FC 3-1 and 3-2 respectively, away from home. We were sitting top of the table after 3 rounds.

From that exciting and promising start, we would only win 3 of our next 17 League matches, as we lost 9 of those and drew the other 5.

That run of form in the past would have seen certain people given their marching orders. How times change.

Our season was well and truly over by round 20, we managed to show some character and some improvement at the back end of the season, as in our last 10 League matches, we won 4, drew 4 and lost 2.

Our overall season record after the 30 rounds was, 10 wins, 9 draws and 11 losses, finishing the League season in 9^th spot. A major disappointment.



Our attack was ranked 8^th out of 16 and our defense was ranked 11^th out of 16.

Having lost our entire backline and not being able to stick to the 1 goalkeeper for most of the year, hampered our season defensively, we were poor for most of the season in that department.

Up front it was slightly more positive, we actually had a good spread of goal scorers throughout the season, but we could never hold onto a lead and we would always concede at the worst times.

Despite the shocking form in the League, we could at least hold on to the fact that we were having a relatively good Cup run. Beating Blacktown 3-1, then Marconi 2-1 and South Coast Flame 3-0, before being knocked out by APIA at the Quarter-Final stage, which also meant we were knocked out of Qualifying for the Australia Cup Round of 32.

Our FFA Cup/Australia Cup performances since the competition’s inception in 2014, have been very poor.

When it comes to the NSW Waratah Cup, we have been irrelevant in that competition for some time, having not made a Final for 15 years and not won a State Cup since 1980.

Disappointing for a club, which prided itself for many decades, on having great runs in Cup competitions.

As much as the season was majorly disappointing, there were some bright spots.

A few younger players came in to the side during the season and took their opportunities in First Grade, these are the types of players the club needs to retain long term. Not bring in overhyped and overpriced a-league rejects.

The fact of the matter is, there are a few players at the club, who are simply not good enough to play for Sydney Olympic. There needs to be clean out. First priority should be to sign some capable defenders.

Regarding the National 2^nd Division. Recently, Sydney Olympic as well as a few other clubs, announced their intentions to continue the process of application, to be involved in the supposed National 2^nd Division, the club’s official statement was:

“We are delighted to inform our supporters and the public that our application for the National Second Tier has been officially submitted to Football Australia during the Request For Proposal phase. The next step involves Football Australia and its expert advisors conducting a thorough evaluation to determine the clubs that will be granted licenses for the National Second Tier. We eagerly await the outcome of this process as we continue our commitment to advancing football excellence.”

There is no transparency on what is being asked of clubs to commit to; to be part of this National 2^nd Division and no one knows when exactly it is supposed to start.

This is not a criticism of the Board, but I wouldn’t trust Football Australia and their puppets at Football NSW to take out my weekly garbage, let alone to run a proper football competition.

Call me a cynic or a pessimist or whatever, but I personally have my reservations if this is the right move for the club or if the whole thing will even get off the ground.

I can’t imagine the corrupt fools running the sport in Australia given their history, would be that eager to see a Championship with the likes of Sydney Olympic, South Melbourne, Marconi, Melbourne Knights, Sydney United, Heidelberg, Adelaide City, APIA Leichhardt.

Furthermore, would any acceptance into this National 2^nd Division mean we would have to be forced to change or do certain things – the club’s identity for instance? Would we field 2 sides, 1 in the NSW NPL and the other in this National 2nd Division? How much is the club paying for one of these participation licenses?

Many questions remain about the whole endeavour and we wait to see whether Football Australia answers any of them.

Enjoy the warmer months coming up and the off-season and keep an eye out for any further developments regarding Sydney Olympic.

 

SYDNEY OLYMPIC – THE SEASON SO FAR

I was very tempted to write a mid-season review, given our pathetic run of results, but I thought better of it as one, it would be very emotion laden and two, I wanted to wait to see what would happen in the Cup.

Now that we’ve been knocked out of both Cup competitions, our results in the League have continued to be abysmal and that the season for us is essentially now over, I thought I would give a few thoughts on how the season has panned out and about a few other important issues.

Firstly, going from being Minor Premiers in 2022, to currently sitting in 11^th place and dropping further as every week passes in 2023 is a scandal. It is, a pitiful and wholly unnecessary fall from grace, for our Sydney Olympic. We all of the sudden can’t seem to win games anymore and for anyone still in denial, we are in a relegation dog fight.

We have won 3 of our last 15 matches in the League. That is unacceptable.

We let our coach from last season go, a club legend at that, who we finished 1^st with, with no explanation given as to why, we then allowed some of our best players to leave and have compounded that, with bringing in an inexperienced and unproven coach, some terrible signings and overpaid uncommitted veteran class hacks, who have failed everywhere they’ve been and now at Sydney Olympic.

This season on the field has been an absolute disaster and the way it is going, there is plenty of time left for it to get even worse still. This club can genuinely be in NSW NPL 2 in 2024.

Also, refusing to post the full time scores when we lose, in fear of having to see some negative comments and feedback is amateur hour at its finest. Then throw in the blocking and banning of supporters on social media, as well as deleting and closing comments from social media. How about we block some of those spam and scam betting link comments instead?

I am not really a big social media person either, but even I understand the importance of engagement and keeping a presence on these things. Even that is poor to non-existent. Whether anyone likes it or not, social media engagement is huge and we have close to none.

The last saving grace for the club for season 2023 was our Cup run, which is also now no more. We have not made a Waratah Cup Final now since 2008 and it is a mere 3 Australia Cup main Round of 32 draw appearances in 10 years, that’s not good enough. Especially when you consider, that since the re-inception of the National Cup, the club made it very clear how important of a priority it apparently was, for the club to be seen back on the National stage. That’s been a big fail.

Why are we also playing the majority of our home matches on Saturday Nights now? Where was the research done, that showed and said that the fans wanted to ditch Sunday Afternoons? Or is that decision purely at the behest of the Bulldogs?

This next matter is not the issue of the century, but points to the decline of and issues at the club and you would be surprised, with how many fans are fuming at the club getting rid of the long time gear steward. What advantage did that have, who did that help? Other than pissing a lot of people off, what did that move gain the club, what was the benefit from that?

Next is possibly the biggest and most important decision the club will have had to make in the last 20 years, and that is this National 2^nd division business.

There is no news out there other than dribs and drabs, about how it would all work, how much it is going to cost and what are the supposed parameters that need to be met to be part of it. It is all very secretive and I personally am wary of the whole thing. Especially as I keep reading, that this National 2^nd division will have no direct promotion and relegation with the a-league. What is the whole point of it then?

Additionally, I’d be forgetting about any so called fantasies about a National 2nd Division and start worrying about not dropping this club into NPL 2. Do people think that this is being melodramatic and that it’s not going to happen? Or we’re too big to be relegated? Ask Marconi about that attitude.

One issue that is flying under the radar a little bit, is this supposed “centre of excellence” that the Bulldogs have been given funding for and been given the green light to build at Belmore Sports Ground. Are we, as in Sydney Olympic, not still co-tenants? And what does this supposed “centre of excellence”, mean for Sydney Olympic? I have heard nothing about how the whole endeavour will impact the club.

The President, Damon has proven his commitment for years now and has earned and should have earned everyone’s respect by now, especially after everything he has done during his tenure, not to mention hauling the club out of severe trouble following the Papas fiasco and he is a busy man, but I would urge him to be more alert about some of the things that are going on at the club.

There are too many people at the club making decisions that know very little, that do not care about the club, who do nothing and think too highly of themselves. How many there, know anything about the club or its history, or even a general knowledge of the club?

Finally given all these issues and the calamitous decisions and the fall of the club in recent times, the club wisely or not, has decided to hold a Supporters Forum. This will not be an AGM and will be open to anyone and everyone to attend.

Any supporter and follower of the club, whether you attend regularly or haven’t been to a match in years are encouraged to attend. To ask the hard questions about any of the top issues I have already mentioned, or anything else that you feel is important.

This is a critical time in the clubs history, we need all supporters that care for this club, its past, present and future to show up and speak out, given where we are currently both on and off the field and the challenges that confront us.

The Supporters Forum will be on Tuesday June 27. The venue in typical club fashion, is unknown as yet. But when it is known, you will all know.