First came the shock. Then came acceptance. Then our minds went straight back to the job in front of us.
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It’s no secret that it’s been an eventful and difficult week for everyone at the Western Sydney Wanderers.
The departure of long-time coach Tony Popovic came as a massive surprise to all of us and there’s no question he will be missed.
Popa has been at the club since day one.
During that time he has done an amazing job leading the club to heights most could never have imagined, including taking us to a memorable victory in the Asian Champions League.
For that reason there is no doubt that he will leave a lasting legacy in Western Sydney.
He’s also left lasting impression on me personally.
As a coach he has helped me become a better each and every day and that’s all you can really ask for as a player.
It will be sad to see him go.
Of course, the timing of his departure obviously isn’t ideal either with the new A-League campaign right on our doorstep.
However, opportunities like this one don’t come around too often so you can hardly begrudge him for making the move.
He goes with the full blessing of the Wanderers playing group.
We know he has left the club in amazing shape and good hands with assistant Hayden Foxe to take over in the interim.
It’s a big credit to Hayden because it’s not an easy role to take, particularly with our season kicking off this weekend.
Fortunately he has been a part of our system throughout the past couple of seasons so not much will change from that perspective.
He’ll also be comforted by the knowledge that our preseason couldn’t have gone much better to this point.
We had two great training camps away to the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast and have played some good football so far.
The team is gelling nicely across the board as the new recruits start to find their feet alongside the returning crop of players.
The squad as a whole is one of the strongest we’ve seen in the club’s history.
Each player that’s come in has brought something new to the table and it’s ensured that our squad depth is as good as it’s ever been.
I truly believe it is the sort of squad that could see us go all the way this season.
The first step to achieving that comes this weekend when we host Perth Glory at home. We play both of us first two matches out of Spotless Stadium so it’s essentially we start the new season on a winning note on our home turf.
We are motivated to make that happen despite everything that’s happened off the pitch leading into round one.