When Frank Simek was forced off the field to be replaced by Richard Wood in the home defeat against QPR on Saturday I found myself booing a player in a Wednesday shirt for one of the few times in the many years I have followed the club.
Wood came on to a hostile reception from the Hillsborough faithful due to the fact that he has asked for a transfer having turned down a deal that is said would make him the highest paid defender at the club but is it right to boo a player in an Owls shirt?
Normally my reaction to this would be no. I have witnessed many players get booed by the crowd over the years at Hillsborough, the likes of Colin West, Chris Morris, Mark Pembridge, Lee Bullen, Leon Clarke and even John Sheridan have come in for some pretty vitriolic criticism from the S6 faithful in past times.
Although I may have grumbled at the performances of some of them and moaned at their mistakes I had never felt the need to boo them as I felt they made genuine mistakes and in some cases went through periods of poor form and confidence.
Lee Bullen for example was far from being one of the best players ever to don the blue and white stripes but he could never be faulted for his attitude and commitment. His and others like him, their mistakes were honest ones that perhaps highlighted flaws in their ability rather than their efforts and I felt and still feel that booing them was, is and would be counter productive and could further erode their confidence.
The case of Wood I feel is different. Here we have a player who no longer wants to be a part of the club due to financial reasons. The club are said to have made him an offer that would make him the highest paid defender on the playing staff. A playing staff that includes internationally capped full back Frank Simek, centre back Mark Beevers who is thought to have attracted interest from clubs willing to pay I the region of £2M, a greater price than Wood is rumoured to have attracted and the vastly experienced Darren Purse. OK, Simek has had his injury problems, Beevers is still learning his trade and Purse has so far not proved to be the player the club hoped he would be but even so for Wood to be offered a deal thought to be an advance of these players seems on the face of it to be a more than reasonable offer.
Wood however rejected this as he apparently wanted a deal that would make him the highest paid player at the club. From the outside looking in this would seem like an unreasonable expectation given that in Marcus Tudgay the Owls have a player rated to be among the best in the Championship based on his performances last season. Besides Tudgay the likes of Lee Grant, Michael Gray and others would have good reason to state that they have the ability, experience and have shown a consistent level of performance that would justify pay in excess of the central defender. Wood may be a good Championship defender but he has by no means shown that he if a class above that, particularly of late and was largely inconsistent last season, having placed an initial transfer request shortly after being made captain of the team.
Booing a player may not make him play better and is more likely to have an adverse affect but if a player openly expresses that would rather play elsewhere despite not receiving any concrete offers from other clubs then I would rather not see them play in our colours. I could understand it if definitive offers had been made by high profile Championship clubs or Premier League teams but as far as we know and have been informed this is simply not the case. If Richard Wood would rather ply his trade elsewhere because we can’t afford to make him the highest paid player at the club then I would rather not see him play for us, Mark Beevers was on the bench on Saturday and for me would have been a much more viable option to bring on.