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What would Wanderers fans prefer? A striker who celebrates non-goals like Kerem Bulut, or someone who gets the job done like Tim Cahill?
Of all the controversial moments in Round 7 of the A-League – and there were plenty – perhaps none was as comical as watching Bulut celebrate a goal that was chalked off for offside.
Bulut looked level when he stroked home Nico Martinez’s pass in Western Sydney’s 1-1 draw with Melbourne City on Friday night, so perhaps we can excuse his over-the-top celebrations.
Yet all he had to do was glance across to the sideline to see the assistant referee’s flag, instead of expending so much time and energy cavorting with Wanderers fans behind the goal.
It summed up a striker who promises so much, yet delivers so little for a team in desperate need of some firepower.
But instead of worrying about the form of their erratic striker, Wanderers fans instead took to booing Tim Cahill all night.
That’s to be expected – passion is not a crime and all that – but instead of channelling their energy towards an opposition player, perhaps it’s time for Wanderers fans to ask their own coach some necessary questions instead.
Like, for example, what is up with Western Sydney’s recruiting?
For every Nico – and he certainly looks a decent player – there’s a Jumpei Kusukami, who would struggle to crack even the top 200 players in the J-League.
And it’s no good Wanderers fans booing a player like Cahill when their own coach has made it clear he’s not interested in signing someone of the Socceroo superstar’s stature.
Cahill looked hurt by the jeers in his post-match interviews, yet the joke is surely on opposition fans when he does exactly what he’s paid to do and scores goals for Melbourne City.
What is up with our tall poppy syndrome in Australia anyway?
Score 48 times for a national team not exactly brimming with goal scorers and your reward is to be booed by fans in a domestic league crying out for big names!
I’m not some card-carrying member of the Cahill fan club – I just don’t understand the animosity towards a player who simply does what he’s paid to do and plenty more besides.
And if you think Cahill doesn’t make a difference to the bottom line, consider the fact that Brisbane Roar drew nearly 3,000 more fans for Melbourne City’s visit a fortnight ago, than they did on Saturday night.
The Roar’s State of Origin-inspired clash with Sydney FC was billed as the match of the round, and it lived up to expectations in an old-fashioned slugfest of thrilling intensity.
The Sky Blues should have put the game to bed by the time Bobo and Alex Brosque failed to convert one-on-ones, and they were made to pay for their profligacy thanks to a Thomas Kristensen volley shortly before half-time.
But the real controversy came when fans thought referee Alan Milliner had shown Sydney defender Rhyan Grant a second yellow card.
Grant was lucky to stay on the pitch by virtue of the sheer number of fouls he committed, but from my vantage point, it was clear that while Milliner pulled a yellow card out of his pocket for a lunging tackle on Thomas Broich, he never actually booked Grant.
Cue pandemonium when Grant subsequently clipped Jamie Maclaren, with many in the crowd thinking the Sydney defender had earned his second booking.
There were howls of protest when Grant stayed on the pitch – and the noise around the ground was impressive all night – but it looked like the right decision from where I was sitting.
Jade North was equally lucky to stay on the pitch after pulling back Alex Brosque as the last defender in what was a pulsating encounter.
It’s just a shame the Roar don’t have another marquee star alongside Broich to help pull in bigger crowds.
We may love tearing down our biggest stars, but at least we’re mainly doing it inside the stadium.