Just listened to podcast #16 and really liked you guys calling out those Spurs "fans" who jeer our players and get on their backs over any slight error.
As far as I'm concerned, it is the most counter-productive thing you can do. It's funny, but I've stated this many times over the years on forums and, generally speaking, most seem to agree and yet it keeps on happening over again, whether it's Palacios, Crouch or Pienaar (all 3 players, by the way, who ALWAYS gave/give 100%).
As Flav (I think) says, it's slightly different if players aren't giving 100%, but that actually happens FAR less often than people think. Bizarrely, the 1 current Spurs player who doesn't always appear fully committed is someone who also seems to get unconditional support - I'd wager from those exact same "fans" who heckle less popular Spurs players.
I genuinely believe this is all down to the state of the modern game. When I was growing up, we had a duty to "support" our players. The clue is in the name: Supporters. However, there are far fewer genuine supporters around these days, replaced mainly by "Fans" or "Fanatics".
I believe this is largely due to the spiraling costs of following our beloved team. When I was growing up, football was quite cheap and given the fulfillment given to me every time I watched Spurs, I felt indebted to the team, as if I owed them my support.
Nowadays tho, with ticket prices 4 or 5x that of my youth, you do get a sense that many go to Spurs feeling as if they are the ones who are owed, owed a performance. On top of that, Player wages are so high it is sickening and the common man has lost touch with the professional footballer - it has all become a bit of a pantomime. Whilst they could probably deal with it a bit better than they do (like our ow BAE demonstrates), it's hardly their fault they get so well paid, is it?
The most common excuse for this behaviour is "I've paid my money, I can express myself how I like". I appreciate and understand that, in principal, but I think it gets used far too easily to excuse c*ntish behaviour - expressing yourself like a c*nt still makes you a c*nt (sorry for the colourful language, but I signed up to the Fighting Cock Forum and can express myself how I like
).
At the end of the day, whilst you have paid your money and your opinion is valid, the person next to you paid their money too and it ain't all about you. There are too many self-indulgent fans with an inflated sense of their own importance - we are a crowd of 30,000 and the only opinion that really matters is the opinion of that crowd, and the 1 thing that brings those 30,000 together in harmony is not whether someone thinks so-and-so is a bit shit, it's that Spurs go out and win. That is all that counts. Getting on the backs of our own players hinders that and, by doing it, you are effectively saying "my opinion is more important than Tottenham Hotspur". If that's the case, then there is another . . . club? no . . . team? no . . . entity down the road where you'll fit right in.
Seriously though, I think it is a sign of the times to an extent. However, we harp on about the "Golden Age" of football, with real "Supporters" singing from the terraces for "real" footballers (not pseudo-celebrities) hacking each other up at 3pm on a muddy saturday afternoon but, in reality, it wasn't that great. "Supporters" often ignored the football altogether just so we could beat the crap out the other lot, there was regular fighting on the terraces, the football itself was of a far lower standard in general and attendances got so low that the game, at 1 point, found itself in real jeopardy.
Personally, I would love to see us really getting behind the lads no matter what. It is all well and good sitting up in the stand and booing our own player because he has given up possession too easily again, but all we are doing is fueling the fire. Because of their astronomical wages and celebrity status, we seem to view the modern footballer as some sort of sporting automaton but, actually, they're human just like us. When they are being put under immense pressure from the opposition, it is extremely difficult to play the ball perfectly. It's made all the harder when playing Away and there are 30,000+ Home fans baying for a mistake - do our own fans really think they're going to solve the matter by joining in? We might as well go to the game wearing the opposition's shirt then.
In an ideal world, when the opposition team come at us, we, the crowd, should be turning up the volume and cheering our lads on more. Should the team concede, we should be cheering them even louder still. We are our rallying cry, it's not going to come from anywhere else, yet, for some unknown reason, Spurs fans seem to look for a player on the pitch to provide even that service - THAT IS OUR JOB YOU DONUTS
We're all collectively applauding Scottie Parker for his efforts rallying the troops when the chips are down but, as great as that is, it is missing the point. It is SO much more effective coming from the crowd, the Yid ARMY.
Are we supporters? Or are we simply over-indulgent, self-important and slightly crazy fanatics?
We can be Supporters and fanatical at the same time by the way, just cut out the inflated ego bit, that's all.
As far as I'm concerned, it is the most counter-productive thing you can do. It's funny, but I've stated this many times over the years on forums and, generally speaking, most seem to agree and yet it keeps on happening over again, whether it's Palacios, Crouch or Pienaar (all 3 players, by the way, who ALWAYS gave/give 100%).
As Flav (I think) says, it's slightly different if players aren't giving 100%, but that actually happens FAR less often than people think. Bizarrely, the 1 current Spurs player who doesn't always appear fully committed is someone who also seems to get unconditional support - I'd wager from those exact same "fans" who heckle less popular Spurs players.
I genuinely believe this is all down to the state of the modern game. When I was growing up, we had a duty to "support" our players. The clue is in the name: Supporters. However, there are far fewer genuine supporters around these days, replaced mainly by "Fans" or "Fanatics".
I believe this is largely due to the spiraling costs of following our beloved team. When I was growing up, football was quite cheap and given the fulfillment given to me every time I watched Spurs, I felt indebted to the team, as if I owed them my support.
Nowadays tho, with ticket prices 4 or 5x that of my youth, you do get a sense that many go to Spurs feeling as if they are the ones who are owed, owed a performance. On top of that, Player wages are so high it is sickening and the common man has lost touch with the professional footballer - it has all become a bit of a pantomime. Whilst they could probably deal with it a bit better than they do (like our ow BAE demonstrates), it's hardly their fault they get so well paid, is it?
The most common excuse for this behaviour is "I've paid my money, I can express myself how I like". I appreciate and understand that, in principal, but I think it gets used far too easily to excuse c*ntish behaviour - expressing yourself like a c*nt still makes you a c*nt (sorry for the colourful language, but I signed up to the Fighting Cock Forum and can express myself how I like
). At the end of the day, whilst you have paid your money and your opinion is valid, the person next to you paid their money too and it ain't all about you. There are too many self-indulgent fans with an inflated sense of their own importance - we are a crowd of 30,000 and the only opinion that really matters is the opinion of that crowd, and the 1 thing that brings those 30,000 together in harmony is not whether someone thinks so-and-so is a bit shit, it's that Spurs go out and win. That is all that counts. Getting on the backs of our own players hinders that and, by doing it, you are effectively saying "my opinion is more important than Tottenham Hotspur". If that's the case, then there is another . . . club? no . . . team? no . . . entity down the road where you'll fit right in.
Seriously though, I think it is a sign of the times to an extent. However, we harp on about the "Golden Age" of football, with real "Supporters" singing from the terraces for "real" footballers (not pseudo-celebrities) hacking each other up at 3pm on a muddy saturday afternoon but, in reality, it wasn't that great. "Supporters" often ignored the football altogether just so we could beat the crap out the other lot, there was regular fighting on the terraces, the football itself was of a far lower standard in general and attendances got so low that the game, at 1 point, found itself in real jeopardy.
Personally, I would love to see us really getting behind the lads no matter what. It is all well and good sitting up in the stand and booing our own player because he has given up possession too easily again, but all we are doing is fueling the fire. Because of their astronomical wages and celebrity status, we seem to view the modern footballer as some sort of sporting automaton but, actually, they're human just like us. When they are being put under immense pressure from the opposition, it is extremely difficult to play the ball perfectly. It's made all the harder when playing Away and there are 30,000+ Home fans baying for a mistake - do our own fans really think they're going to solve the matter by joining in? We might as well go to the game wearing the opposition's shirt then.
In an ideal world, when the opposition team come at us, we, the crowd, should be turning up the volume and cheering our lads on more. Should the team concede, we should be cheering them even louder still. We are our rallying cry, it's not going to come from anywhere else, yet, for some unknown reason, Spurs fans seem to look for a player on the pitch to provide even that service - THAT IS OUR JOB YOU DONUTS
We're all collectively applauding Scottie Parker for his efforts rallying the troops when the chips are down but, as great as that is, it is missing the point. It is SO much more effective coming from the crowd, the Yid ARMY.
Are we supporters? Or are we simply over-indulgent, self-important and slightly crazy fanatics?
We can be Supporters and fanatical at the same time by the way, just cut out the inflated ego bit, that's all.
