In Defence of Ashleigh Sykes

Lets be honest in the last 2 matches she has shown her speed, some intelligent runs, tackling ability and general making a handful of herself. These are things she did well that helped her selection to the u17 (i think) matildas.
In light of this i think we should cut her some slack she did fabricate our penalty.

But then again a strikers role is to score goals and in those last 2 matches she has spurned two chanes my cousins dog could finish with his eyes closed!!!

so i'm very sorry but these chants are for you...

(to the tune of michael jackson's "blame it on the boogie")

Don't blame it on "Studman"
Don't blame it on "Raymond"
Don't blame it on "Perry"
Blame it on "Ashleigh"!!!!
She just can't, she just can't, she just can't control her feet!!!

we love you syksey!!!

In keeping with the Jacko theme...

(When she inevitably misses a goal)

to the tune of smooth criminal:

"Sykesy you ok, you ok Syksey..."

Nonno Gomes wrote:Lets be honest in the last 2 matches she has shown her speed, some intelligent runs, tackling ability and general making a handful of herself. These are things she did well that helped her selection to the u17 (i think) matildas.
In light of this i think we should cut her some slack she did fabricate our penalty.

But then again a strikers role is to score goals and in those last 2 matches she has spurned two chanes my cousins dog could finish with his eyes closed!!!

so i'm very sorry but these chants are for you...

(to the tune of michael jackson's "blame it on the boogie")

Don't blame it on "Studman"
Don't blame it on "Raymond"
Don't blame it on "Perry"
Blame it on "Ashleigh"!!!!
She just can't, she just can't, she just can't control her feet!!!

we love you syksey!!!

So true.

i think lately she has played quite well but just hasn't been able to finish off her chances. AS you said, she is getting into great positions, she just needs to finish thme and I think she could become a top class striker.

she needs to be more selfish in front of goal IMO. She makes devastating runs, gets arounf the defender, but when it comes to the most important part... finishing, she can't manage it.

I also think she has played quite well in the last few weeks, but just hasn't been able to finsih those chances. I think once she becomes of age, she will become a top-class striker. She is only 18, so there is plenty of time.

Well there isn't plent of time!! How can you say that? Why should the team lose week after week just to give her time to learn to play fotball. If she can't do it, she shouldn't be there. Not fair on the rest of the team if she is not doing her job. Get her out. If she can learn elsewhere and then come back at a better level then that is ok, but don't waste everyones time and chances just for her to learn.

footballfan wrote:Well there isn't plent of time!! How can you say that? Why should the team lose week after week just to give her time to learn to play fotball. If she can't do it, she shouldn't be there. Not fair on the rest of the team if she is not doing her job. Get her out. If she can learn elsewhere and then come back at a better level then that is ok, but don't waste everyones time and chances just for her to learn.

tough but fair.

the question then must be asked, is the w-league a competition to grow players or are team serious about building a competition worth winning???

Exactly. the w league is supposed to be the elite womens level, not a development league. If the players are not ready for that level they should learn elsewhere before coming on. She starts week after week and keeps failing - when will the coach learn?

and who would you suggest footballfan that we replace her with?

I always said she would be a great winger and though I haven't seen any of the games this season from everyone's comments above I still think she would be a fantastic winger with someone finishing them

RealCanberra23 wrote:

Nonno Gomes wrote:Lets be honest in the last 2 matches she has shown her speed, some intelligent runs, tackling ability and general making a handful of herself. These are things she did well that helped her selection to the u17 (i think) matildas.
In light of this i think we should cut her some slack she did fabricate our penalty.

But then again a strikers role is to score goals and in those last 2 matches she has spurned two chanes my cousins dog could finish with his eyes closed!!!

so i'm very sorry but these chants are for you...

(to the tune of michael jackson's "blame it on the boogie")

Don't blame it on "Studman"
Don't blame it on "Raymond"
Don't blame it on "Perry"
Blame it on "Ashleigh"!!!!
She just can't, she just can't, she just can't control her feet!!!

we love you syksey!!!

So true.

i think lately she has played quite well but just hasn't been able to finish off her chances. AS you said, she is getting into great positions, she just needs to finish thme and I think she could become a top class striker.

Says it all really. Everyones after a deadly finisher, they're rare & valuable. Not exactly Real Canberra are we so while she keeps doing the above lets hope she does mature as a player & starts banging them in!
To me it's Psycological. Ash' is always rushing, especially infront of goal, just bracing for the next defender to flatten her. Obviously she's been clobbered countlessly in the past, being so slight it's a credit to her getting "back on the horse", but this has to take the edge of her play/confidence. Playing with Tseng should to be good for her, how she leads the CB bruisers a merry dance, pocket dynamO

Fingers crossed. Maybe some roleplaying, Hypnosis... What about a purple rinse?

she just is too small and not strong enough - gets bounced off the ball if she does get a chance. Please move her away and at least try some of the others up front - its got to be better than her missing goal after goal game after game.

footballfan wrote:Exactly. the w league is supposed to be the elite womens level, not a development league. If the players are not ready for that level they should learn elsewhere before coming on. She starts week after week and keeps failing - when will the coach learn?

Where else is there for them to learn? If we went ahead and dropped every young player with promising talent as you suggest we should, we would have an ageing W-league that would not exist in 10 years time. the truth is womens football, and mens for that matter, in australia is in its early stages and we need the youth being exposed to this higher level to continue its growth in Ausrtalia. Sure as you pointed out some of the young players are smaller and get pushed around by the older, stronger, senior players, but this is part of their learning curve. This experience is whats going to make them step up their game and improve the standard of football in Australia, which lets face it, is the ultimate goal of the A/W-Leagues. Having said that, we cannot expect players to come into the A/W-Leagues, and within 1 or 2 seasons be the best players in the league, (especially at the age of 17 or 18!) this development takes a lot longer then that and we must be patient.

footballfan, you also said that the W-League is supposed to be the elite womens level, not a development league. If this is the case tell me why was there only a 10 round season in 2009? I fail to see how you could expect rapid development in players when they are only guaranteed 10 games a season! The way I see it, if you want the W-League to be the elite league worth winning, as has been said, then this coming season get decked out in all the official united gear you can. take 5 mates to every game and tell them to do the same. The only way these girls are going to improve is to get them more games and to make the hours they spend training/playing worth their while! to do this we firstly need to raise awareness and support for the W-League amongst the general population!

remember! this is not the epl! this is a league which has just started and we must concentrate more on our support for the players rather then criticisms of them! This is especially important for the young players who this may be there first publicity of any form. Surely we do not want to scare away the future of Australian Football!

Finally. LETS GO UNITED IN 2010!

thisisnottheepl