Training with Jerks, being looked at as an injury replacement.

I know he was training with Sydney FC a few weeks back, thought he may sign with us as an injury replacement.

Who?

Lol, the thread title makes you think it's someone with potential.

But then you find out its just Nick Ward. LOL! Just saying his names makes me laugh!

Great player. so harshly looked on.

His own fault for being such a lazy sod.

He looked decent enough for WSW in pre-season and he clearly has potential as shown at Glory and QPR. It's a long time ago, but I can see him taking one more chance.

Yeah, looks like another will be given to him. I can't see him making the most of it though. There was something there at one point...but he ended up being a flop at MV, the Nix, and during his second stint with Perth...

He trialled at heart this year as well . Shame he let his ego get in his way . He has talent but unlike say brox doesn't have commitment

Mate of yours?

Nope. Just seen him about town a lot when at victory . Has talent no doubt but didn't seem to care . If he cared he would have a contact by now and not trialing for a injury replacement .

Not the worst player one could go for, but not the greatest. Would be OK for an IRP, or a short one-year contract, but I wouldn't want to be building a season or a title contention around him.

Why do you behave like you're the only person in the world to have met a footballer?

Because its his shtick. Hates anyone who dares meets a footballer before he does .

I have experienced Nick Ward on two occasions.

One was at Wet n Wild the morning after a loss to Gold Coast (fucken Caravela) drinking beer and eating meat pies.
The other was in a nightclub where he was chewing his face off and trying to pick up girls who had no fucking idea who he was with the old "I'm Nick Ward, I'm a pretty big deal"

:lol: he had a high opinion of himself didn't he ;)

:lol:

I met him once at a Victory regional appearance along with Kruse and a few other players who all received everyone warmly, posed for photos, had a kick, and took time out to give back to their fans...all the while Ward just sulked around in the corner and made no effort to hide his displeasure of being forced to engage with fans, he seemed like an absolute c*nt tbh.

He clearly had talent at one stage but it very much seemed like he thought himself above the HAL which would probably explain why he never put in much effort in his second stint here.

People, we all look from outside in, in B/W terms - But it may not be soo simple as 'lack of commitment/not caring'. Many are 'accused' of 'not caring/lacking enough commitment' even Trent Sainsbury was, by Holger!

In Ward's case - Look at it this way, in bigger picture terms, the A-League as a 'treadmill' perhaps and every season the treadmill speed and incline inches up that bit further.

Once you get off the A-League treadmill, it CAN be hard to get back on or get back into the groove you were ONCE in. Now we've seen MANY who have experienced this!

And again, the A-League Ward left, as a young star, like circa S2, was by S5/6, when he returned, already becoming a different proposition. The seasons since, it just got more and more competitive and even a change in styles was sweeping across the league, lead by Ange's Roar.

Again, the bar across the league, in many facets, has just lifted continuously and for those even WITHIN the league, who have never departed it, it is getting ever harder to remain in it and ontop. Look at Ben Kantarovski and others - it's a bit sad at the moment he's not quite at where any expected, but that happens to many a young talent and I guess we can be thankful he's still at this level, unlike Patafta and the like.

Sure Ward had the talent etc... But was his talent even THAT great? Not talking him down, but again, it's all relative and the early A-League seasons made some players look 'pretty good' too, even perhaps a bit too much and that in itself contributed to the 'young players, leaving too early phenom' lead by Nick Ward! They didn't have to earn it as much as they do now. They were half-decent, so they got a good chance, due to small squads and the lack of a NYL then(Yet)!

And as we've well discussed elsewhere, some players 'peak' earlier, especially if their games are more based on their physical prowess? Ward MIGHT be considered one of those and once he lost a bit of that zip, stamina, agility etc... he just didn't have the same zest?

It can be argued too that his failed venture abroad, an example of those who left 'too early'/'when not ready' also 'damaged' his development, with his lack of stability and constant game time down the track, stalling his progress and even perhaps putting him backwards?

YET, despite these things, the A-League and where it was STILL at, when Ward arrived back, with Victory, STILL saw Ward 'over-valued' due to his prestige of being a returning Aussie Abroad and prior A-League exploits. So he came with some elevated expectation and pay packet perhaps, yet such expectations may not have met the reality of a player who had only 1 played one senior game for QPR the previous season, so would've lacked fitness, aswell as match fitness and even pedigree/experience to warrant such expectations?

The thing is, we were ALL that bit more naive back then - fans aswell as coaches and clubs, in recruiting. Nowadays we can say with safe hindsight and wisdom, inpart through examples like Ward, that we all scrutinise recruits, potential recruits, far more carefully, in terms of context, both in regards to VISA talent and even the Aussie talent. Clubs and their football departments are generally wiser and more thorough in their processes and vetting via trial and they have even shied away from overspending on ordinary Marquees, with most clubs only utilising the Marquee place on 'genuine super star marquees' or players well worth it, like Broich or what not. No more Sterjovski's and co as marquees! Even the concept of Smeltz as Marquee, once highly attractive, is falling real fast!

Not saying we're soo enlightened now - but just look at who is by the wayside in the A-League this season, the likes of Colosimo, Ward, Brent McGrath, Matty Thompson's struggles and a number of others who can barely even get a look in. So much different than when Victory signed Ward, back in 2008!

Edited by gloryperth: 19/12/2013 06:01:08 AM

Interesting comments GP. Ward has always been a player capable of the spectacular but unable to handle the week to week grind, hence his inability to last at clubs for extended periods despite having some talent.

Generally you're right, we're better at picking talent these days and the bar is way higher than it used to be. And yes, the NYL definitely helps in "trialling" a player.

I hope not. Well an truly had his chance(s). Give someone else a go.

I don't. I just get frustrated at people making uninformed comments that damage the reputation of people they don't know.

And yet you're happy to support SST while they're in the business of making uninformed comments that damage the reputation of people they don't know.

I've no connection with any of these things, nor do I put much stock in rumours or rumour websites, but they do seem to get a few things right.

Ffs get over your gripe with SST. All they are doing is relaying information that has been fed to them.

Imagine that time you said the NT capo told you about Traore and Ferrera (it was those two, yeah?). You came on here, said you'd heard it from someone, and then every single time someone mentioned Traore as a future Socceroo hopeful you tore them down. How were you any better than how you see SST? Please think about this, a lot.

If you want someone to blame in the whole ordeal - blame the agents who feed SST their info. Whether the agents are feeding them the info to get news out early, or whether the agents are creating a rumour, solely just playing the transfer game to get the best possible deal for their clients (which happens all the time, everywhere in the world, even for players who have no intent on moving clubs) - it's all apart of the game and SST being the relayers of information shouldn't cop the blame for that.

Such as?



Nope.

SST choose to publish as fact, SST choose to threaten, SST choose to discount the misses and only count the hits. They take the blame, and people that continue to suck their dicks will take the scorn.

Real media outlets make sure their sources are solid before publishing, and when they don't they cop it from all angles. Not sure why you think that SST should be any different?

If you're so insistent on drawing parallels... Traore never came from a source, it was from a viewing of FIFA rules. I also never claimed with certainty to be right, and explicitly hoped I was wrong. As for the "tearing down", do you have some kind of issue with me correcting someone when they are wrong and don't understand the issues at play? There are only so many references to "WHY CAN'T TRAORE DO IT WHEN CAHILL DID???" posts you can ignore. Regardless, turns out I was right and I took no joy in it.

As for Ferreira to Brisbane, I posted the rumour without claiming it as my own ITK knowledge. I didn't take any ownership of the rumour, and it wouldn't have been on me if it was wrong. That's the difference, Snitch.

Nope

There's no reasoning with you.

Please refrain from name calling.

So, I give lengthy reasoned responses to your charges and your only reply is "there's no reasoning with you."

Well done.

No, you gave a lengthy reply that missed the point, and delved into the tiniest examples to avoid looking at the big picture (I was attempting to put in in general terms, and you took it from there). Here's how we'll look at what I was trying to say by bringing the Traore bit into it:
- You receive info from someone who is slightly in the know
- The info is not confirmed but can be seen as potentially being true as it's not out-of-this-world ridiculous (like Messi going to Perth Glory or something)
- You publish the info on some form of social media
- People tell you it's wrong, many people in fact
- You tell them they're wrong because the abuse is getting frustrating

Where I've written "you" there, put the words "Notorganic" or "SST" and it's exactly the same.

I think you need to go and have a lie down. If you're not going to talk in specifics, you're just being an annoying apologetic cunt rather than contributing anything worthwhile to the conversation.

Neither of the situations that you have brought up (Traore and Diego F) are remotely like what SST do, and that you think you can equate them to use in an ongoing crusade that you have that has already seen you blocked and deleted from my personal facebook page is curious to say the least. I'm wondering what endgame you have in mind here.