The Red Bulls have struggled at home the past two MLS seasons under Gerhard Struber. (USA TODAY Photo)

By Michael Lewis

FrontRowSoccer.com Editor

Establishing a thick, vibrant fan culture can take time.

It takes more than a game, a season or even decade.

As we have noticed, England soccer culture is more than a century old, as are many other leagues and history.

And we have noticed, when fans boycott, comment and complain, especially in droves, many of those clubs listen.

Many supporters in Europe and South America have forced their teams’ respective hands when things aren’t going well, or they want to see a particular coach wind up on the unemployment line.

Which brings us to the Red Bulls, an MLS club that is in its 28th season, which has its roots as the New York/New Jersey MetroStars in 1996.

They have employed more coaches than we can shake a stick at, some very good and excellent, some others we would rather forget.

Which brings us to one Gerhard Struber, whose job should be on the line because of the team’s rather lackluster performance and record and his and the team’s inability to address the Dante Vanzeir mess properly.

Unless you have been hiding under a rock the past week, the Belgian striker was suspended by the league for six games for making racist remarks at a San Jose Earthquakes player in a 1-1 home draw last Saturday. Struber allowed Vanzeir to remain on the pitch for a good half before taking him off, claiming he did not know the situation.

Since Vanzeir has been banned by the league, neither the team nor Vanzeir have commented.

Worse, the Red Bulls’ three most influential supporters’ groups, Viking Army SC, Empire Supporters Club and Torcida 96 have vowed to leave their seats after the national anthem in protest to the league and team for Vanzeir getting slapped with six-match suspension.

Like many supporters overseas, they are making statement. I am trying to remember if these supporters groups have ever done anything like this before.

Whether the team in Harrison, N.J. hears them is another thing.

Given that Red Bull Arena hardly fills up for league matches the past few years, the club cannot afford to lose any supporters, especially its most ardent ones.

Something has to give.

At least, logically, it has to.

But then again, we are talking soccer, when logic can be thrown out the window for the most ridiculous reasons.

During Struber’s regime, the Red Bulls have reached the playoffs twice but have failed to go deep in the postseason – again. Meanwhile, the newest area MLS team on the block – New York City FC – captured the MLS Cup in its seventh season in 2021, further embarrassing the old guard club.

Having a perspective of five decades of watching coaches come and go at various clubs at various levels, I have learned to be patient. Unless he or she is an absolute FUBAR, I always let them settle in and let them teach their style and philosophy to their respective squads.

Gerhard Struber has had more than two years to put together a competitive team, especially at home. This version of the Red Bulls is just not doing it.

Under Struber’s tutelage, the Red Bulls garnered the last playoff berth in 2021, and most likely overachieved in 2022 with a fourth-place finish in the Eastern Conference.

This year’s team is not exciting to watch.

I have always subscribed to the simple theory that you need to win most of your games, or most of your points at home, to set yourself up for the playoffs, and to keep old fans and bring in new ones.

The Red Bulls the past two seasons have been abysmal at home. Entering Saturday night’s home encounter with the Houston Dynamo, they are 7-6-7 at RBA the past season and a fifth, which translates to accruing a measly 28 points out of 20 games.

That is equal to 1.4 points a contest, or a win and a loss every other game.

Today, the Red Bulls are in 11th place in the Eastern Conference, winning but once with a 1-2-4 record and seven points. Not particularly a super start to the season.

Moreover, they have celebrated goals but five times in those seven matches. Two players on other MLS teams – Atlanta United’s Thiago Almada and Seattle Sounders’ Jordan Morris have tallied as many as four goals in a game earlier this season. Yes, the Red Bulls defense has been with only six goals conceded, but you can’t win games until you put the ball into the back of the net on occasion.

That is not the way to fill the seats at a beautiful stadium. Some of the blame has to go to the team management, which has not brought in the right players to have a winning side.

Combined with the Vanzeir mess, that is not a good combination or fit.

It is time for Gerhard Struber to go and for the club to hire a new coach.

We’ll see if the supporters club’s messages are received by the Red Bulls hierarchy.

And come to think of it, it just might be the time for the team to find new owners. But that’s another column for another time.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.