Balkan coaches. You love or you hate them. What I do know is we miss them. Badly. In the NSL era, they were everywhere. In the A-League, they've disappeared. The cost? We're not identifying, and nurturing, enough of those players we'd all happily pay to see.

If there is a familiar refrain from ex-players about the A-League, it's this: too bland, too homogenous, too structured, too predictable. Where are the game-changers, the crowd-pleasers? Where – if I can channel my commentary colleague Ned Zelic – is the "individual brilliance"?

Lost leaders: Rado Vidosic was the last coach 'fully imbuded in the Balkan way' to come to Australian football. Credit:Getty Images

True enough, it takes a lot to excite people who have played at the highest level. But the ex-pros recognise talent when they see it, and are quick to applaud it. Trouble is, they're not applauding enough.

Many blame a system which encourages, even demands, coaches choose athleticism above skill, conformity above creativity. Where is the room for the mavericks, the ball players who light up a match with a pass, or a touch, but don't necessarily cover 12 kilometres before the final whistle?