To Boo Or Not To Boo...

To boo or not to boo? That is the question most Wednesdayites have been asking since the 2-1 reverse against Preston North End on Tuesday night.

No not the performance, not the team as a whole - hey, Wednesday played well and should have been home and dry by half-time against North End - but individual players.

No surprises for guessing, were you not in attendance, which player got that special booing treatment at S6 on Tuesday.

That's right, Francis Jeffers.

It must have been a real boost for him coming on to a chorus of booing from the home support, at a time when Wednesday were desperately trying to get at least a point from the match.

Note the sense of sarcasm there.

I don't agree with booing players, not when they're wearing the blue and white of the Owls, and in Jeffers' case, it seems even more pointless, but to do it when we're chasing the game, and we've brought the aforementioned player on to help us get something from the game.

He did wrong at Port Vale, and the club did the right thing in fining him for his attack on his opposite number in the League Cup tie, whether it was right to also slap him on the transfer market at the same time is for another day...

Let's face it, FJ9 hasn't exactly got a lot going for him at S6.

First it was his injury record, then it was his goalscoring record when he was finally match fit to string a fair few games together.

The fact that he's also probably the highest earner at the club at present, or certainly up there, doesn't help him one bit, either.

Let's compare the treatment of Jeffers, by the fans and by the club, to that of Stoke City's Robert Huth.

He could well have been in the boxing ring the way he put one on Matthew Upson in Stoke's recent clash with West Ham in the Premier League.

I could bet my bottom dollar that City will deal with it in a different way to that of Jeffers' behaviour at S6.

A telling off and club fine might be the maximum Huth will get, and i doubt he'll be booed by the home support the next time he features for Stoke.

Of course, there are differences in the approach to both - the quality, position, rank in the team etc., but the situation is pretty much the same.

But still, putting everything that's happened to one side, the idea of booing someone who pulls on the blue and white of Wednesday and attempts to do us good, shouldn't even be contemplated.

I wonder what would have happened had Jeffers scored the equaliser, or, dare i say it, scored the winner? What if he scores a couple in the next few games? Will the boo boys start to cheer him? It does make you wonder.

There are those that will say that they're entitled to voice their opinion when they pay their money to go to a match, and rightly so, but I suggest you think before doing so next time, especially if we're in a similar position again.

It doesn't just have an impact on the player himself, but also those around him on the pitch.

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