Western Sydney Wanderers coach Tony Popovic. Picture: Gregg Porteous Source: The Sunday Telegraph
IT'S never too late to jump on a bandwagon - you just get on board and enjoy the ride.
The Western Sydney Wanderers have made it trendy to follow the A-League and everyone is talking about the red-and-black fairytale being played out in Sydney's west.
But, let's get real, sport is the result of blood, sweat, tears and hard work.
Someone once asked former rugby league great Royce Simmons about his fairytale grand final victory in 1991. Being a Penrith bloke - much like the blokes wearing red and black these days - he dead-panned that there was no fairy godmother carrying him around the oval on those long, cold winter nights.
Yes, the Wanderers seem to have been touched by a magic wand, but this is a hard-nosed, professional team coached by a hard nut in Tony Popovic.
What they have achieved - and it will be a successful season whether they win silverware or not - can be stripped back to core football issues.
Underscoring their rise to the top has been an insatiable hunger that comes with players being on their last chance.
They have been outplayed at times, sure, but they have never been out-fought.
Source: The Sunday Telegraph
DEFENCE
IF two players personify what the Wanderers are about, it is Nikolai Topor-Stanley and Michael Beauchamp. They admirably shield keeper Ante Covic, who has more clean sheets than anyone.
Central defence is a problem area for the Socceroos and these two wouldn't look out of place in a gold shirt such has been their authority. Beauchamp, of course, has been there before. He was part of Pim Verbeek's World Cup squad in 2010, but his career fell away and he was one of the guys in the last-chance saloon.
Topor-Stanley is at his fourth A-League club and he has finally found a home.
Throw in Adam D'Apuzzo at left back and German import Jerome Polenz and Tarek Elrich, one of their bigger signings, has barely been sighted.
D'Apuzzo's story is inspiring in itself. After playing 102 games for the Newcastle Jets, he found himself at APIA Leichhardt before the Wanderers tossed him a lifeline. There is nothing like fighting for your life.
Source: Getty Images
IMPORTS
NO A-League club has had a better group of foreigners than the Wanderers. Shinji Ono is all class, but Youssouf Hersi, Polenz, Mateo Poljak, Dino Kresinger and Iacopo La Rocca have all made significant contributions.
At the start of the season, I didn't think the Wanderers could make the top six.
However, at that point they didn't have Ono either. He has been sensational; everything you would expect from a marquee player.
He adds the cutting edge to their play. He controls the tempo, provides the link and it's his ability to react so quickly which often triggers the counter-attack.
Source: Getty Images
ATTITUDE
PLAYERS have been reborn under Popovic.
Mark Bridge has never looked fitter or more enthusiastic. Much maligned in his time at Sydney FC, he works his socks off now for the team cause. He creates goals and scores them, leading the team with eight.
It was his strike against Brisbane in round 4 - the club's first goal and their first win - which started this improbable run.
It's an attitude that flows through the team.
Working for your mates is one of the non-negotiables Popovic brought to the club.
He told the players from day one, you do it his way or you don't belong here.
Every single player has taken that message to heart.
Source: The Sunday Telegraph
THE COACH
POPOVIC wasn't one of the most talented players, but he worked harder than most and always had a high football IQ.
He played under some great coaches and he absorbed many of the lessons.
The Wanderers reflect Poppa's personality, buying into his philosophies.
He has been sensational pulling all this together in such a short space of time and deserves most of the credit.
Of course, people get carried away and he is already being discussed as a future Socceroos coach. While we all would like to see a local run the national team, let's all take a deep breath and let him continue his education.
Popovic was an assistant at Sydney FC, he learned well in the English Championship and now he's doing a great job building something concrete in Sydney's west.
The other stuff will come. The one thing we already know, though, is that he can really coach.
Source: Getty Images
THE FANS
HOW could anyone not be inspired to play in front of the bloc? Melbourne Victory still have the best fans in the A-League, but the red-and-black juggernaut is closing fast.
Against the Central Coast last week, they stood in driving rain and they sang.
Their team was second best for most of the night and still they sang. Even when the Mariners won a penalty, they sang and they danced.
It gave you goose bumps.
You could only imagine what Labinot Haliti was thinking as he sat on the bench. For most footballers, it would have been let me get out there and be part of this. When Haliti he came on, he scored the goal that sank the Mariners and put the destiny of the premiers' plate in their own hands. That's what true fans do for a club.
I've seen in England where players have shied away when their own fans have turned on them. They didn't want the ball for fear of being booed.
But the raucous following the Wanderers have can cause players to grow an extra leg, it can win you games.
So this is a fairytale - but it's also a football story. A truly magical one.
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