Booing. We’ve all been guilty of it at some point in our career as a football fan, it’s a contagious means of voicing your displeasure when things go the shape of the pear.
Unfortunately it’s crept its way in and infected modern day football, at one stage it was predominantly confined to the end of a game but on more than one occasion this season we’ve heard groans of discontent well before the half time whistle. If we don’t act quickly, not only will this trait become increasingly common, it will also gradually become an established form of acceptable behaviour.
The game of football is an incredible phenomenon; it evokes an array of emotions that can essentially define your weekend. A good victory on a Saturday afternoon propels you towards euphoria that almost makes you long for the arrival of Monday morning, just so you can mock your rival work colleagues. Alternatively a humiliating defeat can render you speechless, as you spend an entire Sunday sulking in the garden shed until someone fetches you for dinner.
Jose Mourinho once claimed, “passion for the game, is passion for the game”, a statement that makes absolutely no sense but somehow we all know what it means.
It’s this compelling aspect that makes football and sport as an entity so utterly addictive, which is why we spend countless hours and inexplicable sums of money following our team up and down the country. But can we really call ourselves ‘supporters’ if we resort to booing when results don’t go our way?
Many people argue that people who pay to watch games on a regular basis have a right to voice their concerns, for better or for worse. Watching football is certainly an indulgence nowadays and it could be disputed that it’s the supporters who finance the club as much as any media or sponsorship investment. At face value it’s difficult to argue with those who feel this way but there has to be a more constructive way to convey your opinions.
In the recent BBC interview between (the blue half of) Manchester’s favourite sons, Noel Gallagher asked Mario Balotelli his thoughts on the impending return of Carlos Tevez. The eccentric Italian insisted that an animosity aimed towards Tevez would have a detrimental effect on the entire squad.
“If they make pressure on Carlos, they make pressure to all the team, so they should do nothing.”
It’s clear than any personal attack can end up distressing other members of the team whether the intended target is a player, the manager or even a member of the board. Steve Kean has endured a torrid past few months in his efforts to steer Blackburn out of their current relegation battle. It’s fair to say that Rovers fans were less than impressed with Kean’s appointment after the dismissal of Big Sam and have since made their new manager feel less than welcome. There are still a number of demonstrations and campaigns in full swing despite the fact the Venky’s have made it quite clear that Kean will be in charge for the considerable future. Perhaps their latest victory at Wolves will spark a transformation in the atmosphere at Ewood Park.
Speaking of Wolves, some of the reports emerging from Molinuex involving the protests surrounding their current plight are nothing short of inexcusable. It seems that Terry Connor is another manager faced with an uphill battle both on the pitch and in the stands, which highlights the somewhat disruptive influence of supporter’s favouritism. Much has been made recently of the worrying similarities between the managerial records of Roy Hodgson and King Kenny at Liverpool; perhaps if the Carling Cup had swung the other way then Dalglish would find himself under more pressure.
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Remarkably the act of ‘booing’ doesn’t just rear its ugly head at the foot of the table. The recent departure of Andre Villas-Boas at Chelsea was arguably as much down to ‘fan power’ as the renowned ‘player power’ at the Bridge. The loyal Blue army are of course entitled to their own opinion but when they have to influence to dictate decisions made at a senior level of a professional football club, something has gone terrible wrong.
The sole purpose of booing an opposition’s player is to disrupt their performance, but popular target of ridicule El Hadji Diouf has made no secret of the fact that any hostility directed at him only serves as a tool of inspiration.
“I know I will get a tough time from some fans. But Gary Speed used to say to me, people never boo a bad player! I know people will boo me but I love that. The more you boo me the more power I get.” (Daily Record)
I can recall being at Selhurst Park back in 2010 as Palace took on Hull in a game that signalled the return of John Bostock. Having just been subject to an unsympathetic reception during his touchline warm-up, the Holmesdale end eagerly waited as Hull were forced into a change when Richard Garcia picked up an injury. A figure emerged on the touchline to a barrage of abuse and since the PA system was drowned out amongst the noise, no one quite realised that it was in fact Jay Simpson who was coming on. A series of boos greeted his every touch for a good five minutes before word got round. The game eventually fizzled out and ended 0-0, meaning everyone left the ground rather sheepishly and slightly red-faced.
In all honesty booing at football grounds has to stop, let’s be honest it’s so primal it could be described as the equivalent of human ‘mooing’. As I’ve sought to highlight in this article it’s largely detrimental to a club’s fortunes and so if anyone is looking for a meaningful way to protest consider the following, silence can be deafening.
Follow me on Twitter @theunusedsub where booing is outlawed but sarcasm remains the highest form of wit…
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