Western Sydney Wanderers manager Alen Stajcic has given fans of the club something to believe in. After just one finals appearance in seven years, consistent seasons of promise that were followed by flop after flop and a dwindling supporter base that progressively looked different to the passionate hordes that once flocked to Parramatta, the Wanderers might just be back. And doesn’t the A-League need that to be the case.
Western Sydney loomed as the jewel in the league’s crown when it entered back in 2012/13, with three top-two finishes across its opening four seasons and an Asian Champions League locked away in the trophy cabinet to boot. Of course, there was no domestic championship to confirm the brilliant foundational work of then-coach Tony Popovic, yet the fans cared little. The edgy RBB took on the might of Sydney FC’s Cove and enjoyed the beating of them, both on and off the pitch.
The supporter group rocked the boat, the Wanderers played in a similar fashion and the prospect that the most populous region of a major city in Australia had a team on their hands that would morph into something very, very special appeared to be a fait accompli. (Photo by Speed Media/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) Then, as the sporting history books will show, it all fell apart for the Western Sydney Wanderers. The manager departed for failed tenures abroad, poor players were brought in, the best ones left and the fans walked out the door in droves across a five-year period that h.