Turning dirt at the “very first opportunity” is a far cry from digging right away when they get their license. It appears they didn’t say what you purported unless you have something credible to disprove that.

They 100% said it was a shovel ready bid which it clearly wasn’t and you’d be mad to gamble so many resources on a maybe to winning the bid.

Basically they stumped up the most cash from the melb bids so that was enough for the ffa

Shovel ready after various permits YES, shovel ready unconditional NO.

We know they said the former as it has been quoted in one of the above posts.

Lol you're trying to hard. They said what they said and were naive to do so. Wyndham council hasnt fast  tracked anything. So unless u live in Wyndham like I do I suggest you shut up. Horvat has now back tracked on the claim too . 

so they're definitely in Geelong for all of 19-20 and 20-21, looking like it will be most of 21-22 as well

How far along are the Council approvals?

There is no evidence that they have lodged any documentation with either the Council, or DELWP.

In other words, the process has not even started yet.

This. Usually the council and or Joanne Ryan posts about anything to do with works . Lately theyve been quiet 

Have they even hired staff yet? In terms of offield support? even staff for high performance?

They must have. They’re all over schools and the community 

And you haven’t tried at all lol. So where is your source, report or otherwise that suggests they were going to start to dig immediately they received the license? Again and reiterating it is impossible to do that without the permits and this is all we’ve seen quoted so far.

with just players and steve hrovrat thats all. had a look on linkedin they have an operations manager but thats it

Asking because whats being produced on social media is pretty shit tbh

Ffs I've stated my neighbor works in the planning area if Wyndham council . I actually live in the area . And again they stated they were shovel ready from the time they got the licence. They didnt say we will be shovel ready when the permits are ready . they stated were already to start. 

This page is turning in to a giant whinge fest  though. If you look st them so far: 

decent coach. 
Decent enough signings. 
Decent badge, not to everyone’s liking. 
Great first team kit. 
Decent change kit. 
School and community programs rolling out. 

Average name and poor poor stadium options but all is not going wrong for these guys. All of the above aint happening without people. 

I just don’t believe that though. They would know how long planning permission takes. 

Were they directly quoted saying this or what? 

https://anchor.fm/alloutwest/episodes/S01E09---Off-The-Pitch-With-Lou-Sticca-e4cmcr

Interview with Lou Sticca.

At 53mins he talks about the name, mentions that FFA wanted them to include Melbourne in the name.

Said that the Phoenix game is gonna be spicy, yasss:laugh::laugh:

middle of July for memberships

That was a good interview. Says all the right things and actually seemed to inspire confidence.

The only thing that really worries me about them is the stadium, as the rest seems to be lining up fairly well. Horvat said in an interview in April that finalised stadium renders/design details would be released in a couple of weeks, as they had been shown at a board meeting and were very exciting. It’s way past that point now. 

Honestly, I had thought though that the renders already released as part of the bidding process were their design, but seems it could have just been a concept plan. Makes it hard to believe they were ready to go with the project if new designs are only being shown to the board in around April. 

Given that even Lou said the only reason they won the bid was the stadium, that is the part that many will look on and question what is going on if there are no visible steps to deliver it.

The pouching derby.

The stadium IS the thing that should worry you, anyone can put together a team, the Wanderers did it in less time. I’m still banking on this team permanently being based in Geelong, which was was Horvat initially wanted with his Patriots schtick. The only question is will they escape the intense scrutiny that Heart managed when they won the bid and didn’t base themselves in Melbourne’s south east like the bid promised? Time will tell. They would wanna be winning a lot of games to keep the knives out.

I don’t have them being based permanently in Geelong as a possibility, given that the clubs backers appear to be related to construction/development. The real value in this bid for them is the partnership with the Wyndham Council.

Whatever happens in the future though is an unknown, especially when a stadium and the rest of the site are completed with residential and commercial projects. It is harder to see such people having the same appetite at that point in continuing to bankroll the football club once their main value has been extracted. 

The council have been  quiet on that front.  Theres been no updates on that site but plenty to do with other estates like jubilee 

Seeing as this stadium will be privately funded, there is always the possibility that the construction never gets completed. I can totally imagine a situation where there is a half built stadium and a bunch of various building contractors halting work due to unpaid invoices. 

Their branding was on the boards at the announcement of Rudan as manager, so they would still be involved.

The deal is a partnership (land transferred from council to developer in exchange for facilities/services).

Some are too quick to jump to conclusions really but the club will have to do better at communicating, which is what Lou was also alluding to. 

why are western united not in the ffa cup again? 

Basically to give them time to build a squad and hire relevant staff. They have recruited fairly quickly so they probably could have participated, but at the time it was always a bit of an unknown. Also, if they had participated and got destroyed by some minor NPL club it would have been counter productive to gaining an early fanbase.

thanks that seems fair enough i wonder if they will scout the competition for more players 

Because Mark Rudan's family doesn't like to travel.

you'd think it would be in there best interest to participate.

the Lou Sticca interview ^^^ was really good if you have a spare 70 minutes. front shirt sponsor to be announced in early July and information regarding the stadium to come out in mid July. its interesting to note that they still the think stadium will be ready by season 3. 


clearly you do not know the Melbourne geography. Geelong to Tarneit is 45 mins by car and 32 mins by train. Tarneit is exactly halfway between Melbourne and Geelong. 

WIN stadium to ANZ stradium is 80 minutes by car and over 2 hours by train.  

Ok now they are being more aggressive they have player meeting days in July in Ballarat,Geelong and hoppers crossing