Brisbane Roar head coach Ruben Zadkovich said “sometimes as a manager you have to be there and fight with your players” as he explained his side’s controversial second-half display against Western Sydney Wanderers.
The Roar – still searching for their first win of the 2024-25 Isuzu UTE A-League season – held the Wanderers to a 2-2 draw at CommBank Stadium in Round 8 on Saturday night.
After a thrilling four-goal first half that featured a brace from Wanderers star Brandon Borrello, including a stunning free-kick and Thomas Waddingham’s fourth goal of the season, Brisbane appeared to waste time in Western Sydney, where the visiting Roar held on for a point.
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The Roar were accused of time-wasting in the second half as they claimed just their second point of the campaign, with Western Sydney captain Borrello telling Network 10: “It is a part of football, and you can’t take it away from Brisbane Roar, they were smart in that sense, obviously they frustrated the hell out of us.
“I may be calling them out but that was atrocious today, surely you can hand out a few yellows, if it’s part of the game, and part of the rules for time-wasting, either add it on or send them off. I’m tired of it.”
Roar goalkeeper Macklin Freke dropped to the ground deep in injury time, asking for treatment as the clock ticked down, while Zadkovich appeared to encourage his players to require medical attention on the field, with the Brisbane boss seen clutching his hamstring on the touchline.
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Network 10 pundit and former A-Leagues star Roy O’Donovan added: “I thought Brisbane, Round 8, they’re playing for a point, fair enough, but the time-wasting and blatant time-wasting, I can’t believe what I was seeing.
“It just ruined the game, had Wanderers fans running down the steps, trying to wave the referee on, he wasn’t booking anybody, didn’t even book the goalkeeper in the last minute. It was a hard watch.”
Following the match, Zadkovich was asked about the second half and he told reporters: “It would be nice to be in their situation at home.
“Bringing on Juan Mata, bringing on (Marcus) Antonsson with the likes of (Nicolas) Milanovic and (Bozhidar) Kraev. You’re spoilt for choice, aren’t yah?
“Sometimes as a manager you have to be there and fight with your players, and you have to help support them through difficult times. It’s a difficult time for our club.
“Like I said last week, not just today because we got a point – we will stay very resolute in this process. I think what was very clear is there is a real togetherness with our squad.
“As a club, there’s a lot of people behind the scenes working extremely hard in our football department, also in our admin staff. A lot of good people in our club.
“We are in a challenging period and time. What is important to me is we show the right fight and character and we do whatever it takes to get through this difficult period. I’m very proud of my players.”
Wanderers head coach Alen Stajcic was asked for his thoughts in the press conference and he said: “Ultimately you can’t control any of those elements.
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“I’ve played in Asia for 10-15 years with national teams and I’ve seen plenty of that behaviour and it’s up to you to deal with it and cope with it, and be mature enough to know they’re trying to disrupt the rhythm. Not dissimilar to Bahrain-Australia in the first World Cup qualifier.
“It’s not easy to keep your rhythm when things like that are happening but it’s part of the game and you have to learn to deal with it.
“They’re not things you can control – what the referee or opposition does. I’m more interested in what we’re doing and what we need to do better.”
