Favourite Scapegoat

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Favourite Scapegoat

  • Total voters
    160



Ginger Gnome said:
Montgomery and Lundstram are perfect scapegoat material as they were both often crap, but would both usually get the blame even if they had a comparatively good game. On occasion Monty was excellent, but would still get blamed for something by people who refused to acknowledge any positive contributions he did make. The likes of Jordan Stewart and Dean Hammond weren't scapegoats at all, just abysmal players who couldn't be arsed and were deservedly slated.

I don't think Coutts was ever scapegoated either, he never looked fit or got involved enough when we first signed him and most of his criticism was earned, when his performances picked up after Wilder came in, so did the praise he got. Basham was usually blamed for being a nesh, lightweight midfielder that the opposition breezed straight past in League 1, but that's what he was, so no scapegoating there.

Most of the criticism for Lundstram this season is how the flat midfield affects the shape, but since Wilder is immune to criticism from some, Lunny still gets the blame, even if plays the best of the three.
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I think Coutts was scapegoated given that he was unfit and being played out of position. Admittedly he wasn’t great but he was by no means the worst player in that Adkins squad.
 
Has to be Bobby Ford for me. It was actually quite funny listening to people at the back of the Kop slagging him off. Useless twats like Santos, Uhlenbeek, and Curle never seemed to get half of the abuse. Also, Paul Ifill seemed to get a lot of unfair criticism during our promotion season for not repeatedly beating his man and creating goals single handedly.
 
Rochdaleblade said:
Has to be Bobby Ford for me. It was actually quite funny listening to people at the back of the Kop slagging him off. Useless twats like Santos, Uhlenbeek, and Curle never seemed to get half of the abuse. Also, Paul Ifill seemed to get a lot of unfair criticism during our promotion season for not repeatedly beating his man and creating goals single handedly.
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I do recall imploring the ref to send Squinny off after a foul, which did garner some applause......
 
Rochdaleblade said:
Has to be Bobby Ford for me. It was actually quite funny listening to people at the back of the Kop slagging him off. Useless twats like Santos, Uhlenbeek, and Curle never seemed to get half of the abuse. Also, Paul Ifill seemed to get a lot of unfair criticism during our promotion season for not repeatedly beating his man and creating goals single handedly.
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And Ifill's output was actually really good. I was delighted with his signing.
 
John Gannon's talents and skills were wasted in the time of hoof ball so in my eyes he's exempt any blame ever.... mark Morris the useless centre half was just garbage and Bassett needed slapping for buying him and jostein flo
 
Badger Blade said:
Absolutely, he is a massive symbol of our decline, the fact he played over 200 games for us makes me feel ill and shows just how shit we really were.

As for the poll, got to be Monty, poor guy used to get dog's abuse yet various versions of our team in League One would have been crying out for a player like him.
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I would probably go for Neil Collins.
Another player who somehow made treble figures appearances for us and another player who was a symbol of our decline. But he always gave 100% so that made it all ok according to some. As Wilder said giving 100% should be a given.
I'm not slagging him personally and he's always spoke well of us since. It's not his fault he just was not good enough.
 
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Adkin's season Coutts easily the talent was clearly there just had to play with dross apart from Bash and Sharp.
 



snootyfenooty said:
Don't know about the best but Gil Reece was the first. When subs were introduced in the 60s he always seemed to be the one who Harris pulled off. Those were in the days of a single sub and they weren't even used half the time.

Those mentioning the likes of Collins and Doyle are getting the term "scapegoat" mixed up. They were just fucking wank.
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A good point .

The word 'scapegoat' is defined as ' a person who is blamed for the wrongdoings , faults or mistakes of others especially for reasons of expediency '.

In this respect Monty has to be the absolute epitome of that definition since his overall contribution , in spite of his shortcomings , was vastly underrated by many whilst others who were far less effective were given a free ride .

If we're talking about players whose very presence on the pitch had a negative impact on our performance he most certainly is not even in the top 100 in my lifetime but the likes of Collins , McEveley , Sammon and Hammond most definitely are .

And as for the likes of Malcolm Barrass and Paul Thirwell , don't even get me started .......
 
Think people have rose coloureds on here, ref: Monty.

Sure, he had buckets of energy and would do 90 plus extra time and his output would never fade. But then again, if you signed a marathon runner and gave him the six-shirt you'd still have a shit footballer. Monty could, on occasion, put in a 8/10. Saw him on telly that PL season v the barcodes and he scored and really made a difference. Also saw him v Fulham once and fucking hell he marked and chased most of their midfield out of the game on his own.

But then there's the first touch and the propensity to telegraph a pass and his 'Fuck. I've got the ball. Where am I going? My feet are taking me in a random direction. HELP!" bits when you think, 'Monty, look up. Pass short. Move into space. Receive. Move. Pass. Hang back in space. Distract opposition defenders.' Browny used to do it with hearts, clubs, diamonds and spades. Monty just didn't have real 'ability', which was if anything, a shame because he's a fucking ace bloke and a reyt Blades legend. Sometimes for the right reasons, sometimes not.

pommpey
 
Gin&Juice said:
Paul Ifill. Great player, but was often viewed in frustration. No idea why.
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He had the heart of a mouse.

Like the Lion from Wizard of Oz, but without the roar.

He wasted his talent because he simply never wanted it. He's not a scapegoat, just another ex player who can prop up a bar telling tales of what might have been.
 
My theory is that there are two positions that have high 'scapegoat' potential: defensive midfielder and tricky winger.

Defensive mids because by their nature they are there to break up attacks and play short passes, neither of which is eye-catching - and these days they aren't allowed to kick the opponents' flair player off the park. Hence why Monty, a limited but effective player of his type, got dog's abuse.

Wingers because by their nature they are playing a high-risk game of trying to beat their man and play the killer pass/cross, which often doesn't come off. Plus, many have a deserved reputation for being a bit nesh. Ifill, Cotterill, JCR, even Jocky Bryson and Alan Roberts copped it for this reason.
 
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