New coach John Aloisi has addressed Brisbane Roar fans on the eve of the 2015-16 A-League season, declaring that the Queensland club will challenge for the title, despite off-field issues. In the season opener on Thursday night, twice A-League champions Brisbane are away to 2014 AFC Champions League winners, the Western Sydney Wanderers. But the Socceroos legend admitted that he was kicked out of the club's former training base on the first day of preseason and has dealt with heckling on the streets, amid reports of non-payment of his players. "Has it been a hard preseason? Yes, I won't lie," Aloisi told a crowd of around 100 supporters at the team's Lang Park dressing rooms on Tuesday night, according to the ABC. "It's not easy when players are owed money or haven't been paid on time. People I brought in haven't been paid on time." But the former Melbourne Heart (now named Melbourne City) manager says he believes that owners the Bakrie Group are resolving their financial issues to get the club back on track. "All I could say and I re-emphasise with the players is there will always be a Brisbane Roar, no matter what happens in terms of ownership," he said. "Who would get rid of the most successful club in the A-League? It's not going to fold, no matter what." On Aloisi's first day in the job in July, he was evicted from the club's training base at Ballymore due to the club's legal battle with the Queensland Rugby Union over unpaid rent. The next day, the former striker asked interim chief executive David Pourre to drive him "around every pitch possible in Brisbane" to search for an alternative venue, according to Aloisi. At the fans' gathering, Aloisi said Roar's situation had brightened since the arrival of Bakrie Group officials Rahim Soekasah and Demis Djamaoeddin, who have promised that all outstanding debts will be cleared by January. "Sometimes away from training it's hard for us," Aloisi said. "Players have family and friends as well and people are talking about it, and making some not-so-nice comments to people on the street, like 'are you going to get paid this week?' "But we've got trust in the owners now and we've got to make sure that we concentrate on our football." Brisbane were A-League champions in 2010 under current national boss, Ange Postecoglou, and in 2014, under English-born Mike Mulvey.
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