Blades Scapegoats

[coaxingstar71]

I think ever since I started supporting going to Blades games, there's always been one player in the team that gets generally picked on by the fans, in some instances it has lead to managers commenting and fans booing their own player.

Can I just say, I've never understood this, I think it's wrong.

So my questions to you all is.... why does it happen, when did this phenomena start, who decides on which player gets singled out?

Also, I can think of a few victims over the years. I think the first one I was aware of was Mick Henderson around 1983 and others include John Gannon, Bob Booker! (before he won the fans over and became a cult figure) and to a certain extent, there's now Jay McEveley, Kieran Freeman, Paul Coutts and Jose Baxter (suppose there's just more choice at the moment!). Sure there are many others too. I think I read somewhere that around 1970, Frank Barlow used to take some stick.

Probably, like most of you, I think it's hard enough for our players to win games without their own fans being on their back too.

 

[Bert]

Monty was captain of the Scapegoats XI

 

[Blade82]

Monty was captain of the Scapegoats XI

I reckon that XI would be a pretty poor team. Not sure if that's a coincidence?

 

[Grecian2000]

So close and yet so far.

Firstly, well done for the text of the first post. No mention of the incorrect meaning of the S word. Shame you had to spoil it by putting it into the title.

OK, "picked on" players. Generally either a player (whether really or just perceived) of lesser talent, a lazy arse or a cunt. Punters are less than happy with players who can't play, who can play but don't try very hard or people like Curran/Henderson/Richardson (P) who don't get on with the fans for some reason. A lot of these players are misunderstood (in the first two categories) and can turn it around. People finding themselves in category 3 usually stay there for all eternity (hello Terry you cunt).

 

[Jehovah]

The only "S" word I associated with Monty was SHIT

 

[Barney]

I'm afraid it's just a natural process for every club. It just comes with being a part of football.

 

[Lord Bos of Eckington.]

I'm afraid it's just a natural process for every club. It just comes with being a part of football.

Part of football and part of life . Does not make it right though .

UTB

 

[vorpal blade]

'And the Goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a Land not inhabited.' (Leviticus XVI, 22)

apparently

 

[Digger]

Would only boo a player if I thought he wasn't giving 100%.
A lot of individual performances last season were poor, I never felt that a player didn't try.
I remember the league game at Swindon, a lot of Blades were rightly pissed off, especially with Basham. He was tripe but he was trying.

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

Often booing a scapegoat is just following the herd. or :-(

Never say never but I can't see any circumstances where booing one of your own team.is remotely acceptable.

 

[Fulwood Blade]

I think ever since I started supporting going to Blades games, there's always been one player in the team that gets generally picked on by the fans, in some instances it has lead to managers commenting and fans booing their own player.

Can I just say, I've never understood this, I think it's wrong.

So my questions to you all is.... why does it happen, when did this phenomena start, who decides on which player gets singled out?

Also, I can think of a few victims over the years. I think the first one I was aware of was Mick Henderson around 1983 and others include John Gannon, Bob Booker! (before he won the fans over and became a cult figure) and to a certain extent, there's now Jay McEveley, Kieran Freeman, Paul Coutts and Jose Baxter (suppose there's just more choice at the moment!). Sure there are many others too. I think I read somewhere that around 1970, Frank Barlow used to take some stick.

Probably, like most of you, I think it's hard enough for our players to win games without their own fans being on their back too.

Might as well answer this one as well.

I would think most fans want to see 100% each week. That 100% can be in many different attributes and I'll give a few examples - we all forgave Edwards work rate cos he put the ball in the net on a regular basis. Monty was a poor footballer, but doubt anyone would question his commitment or work rate. Monty always had my respect, just prefer my central midfield to be able to do a bit on the ball.

I remember Chris Morgans' first or second game after signing from Barnsley (we were all a bit doubtful), and he put the opposition centre forward into the advertising hoardings at the Bramall Lane end. Morgs just got up, walked away and the crowd burst into " he's a Blade, he's a Blade........etc" - the rest is history.

If players gave us this, there wouldn't be scapegoats.

We want to see passion, commitment, attitude, skill (if you have it) and to just "play" for the shirt. It isn't too much to ask - is it? We also expect similar from our manager plus other attributes. Put everything together, and we can get back in the big league. It is not beyond OUR club to do what Adkins did for Southampton - and lets be fair - we have already done this under Bassett - so we know it's possible.

UTB

 

[Silent Blade]

A fan was heard criticising Jamie Hoyland and then added "his dad was crap too"

 

[Silent Blade]

When we were awarded a penalty in the home game against Spurs in January 1974. It was our first penalty under the management of Ken Furphy (appointed 6 weeks earlier). Everyone expected Woody (the leading goalscorer in the 1st division at the time) to take it but Blades fans were shocked to see Keith Eddy (who played under Furphy at Watford a few years earlier) place the ball on the penalty spot and there were loud boos directed at him. Thankfully it didnt put him off from scoring the penalty but he admitted after the match that he felt narked by the booing!

 

[BushBlade]

Might as well answer this one as well.

I would think most fans want to see 100% each week. That 100% can be in many different attributes and I'll give a few examples - we all forgave Edwards work rate cos he put the ball in the net on a regular basis. Monty was a poor footballer, but doubt anyone would question his commitment or work rate. Monty always had my respect, just prefer my central midfield to be able to do a bit on the ball.

I remember Chris Morgans' first or second game after signing from Barnsley (we were all a bit doubtful), and he put the opposition centre forward into the advertising hoardings at the Bramall Lane end. Morgs just got up, walked away and the crowd burst into " he's a Blade, he's a Blade........etc" - the rest is history.

If players gave us this, there wouldn't be scapegoats.

We want to see passion, commitment, attitude, skill (if you have it) and to just "play" for the shirt. It isn't too much to ask - is it? We also expect similar from our manager plus other attributes. Put everything together, and we can get back in the big league. It is not beyond OUR club to do what Adkins did for Southampton - and lets be fair - we have already done this under Bassett - so we know it's possible.

UTB

I'd suggest the better the player is, the less we expect in terms of effort. Or to put it another way, if you're scoring 30+ a season or getting 20 assists and putting full backs on their arse, you can get away with a bad game or a tendency to not always track back properly.
If you're a bit of a clogger and you're in the team because of your physicality and workrate, you're expected to put a shift in and put yourself about a bit.

Agree with the 'third category'; there are just some players you can't take to, for whatever reason.

 

[sitwell]

Often booing a scapegoat is just following the herd. or :-(

Never say never but I can't see any circumstances where booing one of your own team.is remotely acceptable.

As long as its not the kids.

 

[Living In a Fantasy World]

• Because they are poor/ inconsistent players, might be a reason why they get some stick.

• I don't agree people are isolating these players, you may read the odd opinion on a player after a match.

• Look! with the money involved you've got to accept some fans just won't see value for money with some of the players.

I could also argue that we shouldn't praise players blindly because they had a few good games in a season.
Also I'm not a fan of your crusader speak...

 

[BushBlade]

Scapegoating (from the verb "to scapegoat") is the practice of singling out any party for unmerited negative treatment orblame as a scapegoat.[1] Scapegoating may be conducted by individuals against individuals (e.g. "he did it, not me!"), individuals against groups (e.g., "I couldn't see anything because of all the tall people"), groups against individuals (e.g., "Jane was the reason our team didn't win"), and groups against groups.

 

[blade.i.am]

I would never boo individual players; it's a team game and most bad performances require more than one donkey to produce them. Hence, booing our dismal capitulation against Peterborough last season.

 

[coaxingstar71]

Remember Ray Lewington playing for us? Couldn't pass fucking water - don't remember him getting picked on.
I could never understand John Gannon getting picked on - thought he was decent for us and it's interesting now watching youtube clips of how many assists he made, example Davison's 2nd killer goal v Wendies, yet he got a really hard time. I can only reason that this was because he wasn't what you would call 'fully committed' in the tackle, but when you play in a team consisting of, among others, Vinnie Jones, Bobby Booker and Carl Bradshaw, you don't really need to.

I can see why the fans might single out a player, but I just think that, at the end of the day, we just want the team to win every game, and I can't see how barracking one player can ever help this.

 

[Ginger Gnome]

Although much of his negative treatment wasn't unmerited, Monty was a bit of a scapegoat at times even if he was far from the worst player on the pitch. When Brian Howard arrived and was absolute dross, Monty got a right slating for not never finding him with passes to let Howard show what he could do, but Howard was normally either man marking Quinn out of the game or stood behind the referee, so it wasn't entirely his fault.

Chris Porter was usually getting slagged off just for warming up, but he still played an important part in our FA Cup run, and it's probably no coincidence that his confidence seemed to go up a bit when people were singing his name (even in an ironic way like Benteke is wank or if Porter scores we're on the pitch) rather than people grumbling every time he didn't win a header.

McEveley isn't a scapegoat, he's just not very good at centre back and did a lot of stupid things that cost us goals, which is fare criticism not scapegoating. I don't think Baxter is a scapegoat in the slightest, most people appreciate the talent he has and wish he'd do more with it. The negative criticisms he gets for being an unfit, lazy druggie are based on him being an unfit, lazy druggie.

 

[BushBlade]

Agree about Gannon. I used to work in Nether Edge and an old bloke used to wait at the same bus stop as me every night. So naturally we started talking and it turned our he was a Blade, which was good because it gave he something to talk about every evening.
We got onto to subject of Gannon and he told me 'just watch him, everything goes through him, all our attacks start with him'.
So next game I made a point of just watching Gannon. Within the first five minutes he'd hit three balls for Deano down the channels which gave the full back no option but to put it out for a throw-in, whereby each went straight into the mixer (Pinchy shudders).
He didn't have a huge range of passing but he was able to deliver the perfect balls for us to turn defence into attack, Bassett style.
Which sums up Bassett's approach; identify the key requirements of every position, every role in the team and find a player with those attributes, even if the rest of their game isn't up to much.

 

[judge]

The fans

 

[Lord Bos of Eckington.]

Agree about Gannon. I used to work in Nether Edge and an old bloke used to wait at the same bus stop as me every night. So naturally we started talking and it turned our he was a Blade, which was good because it gave he something to talk about every evening.
We got onto to subject of Gannon and he told me 'just watch him, everything goes through him, all our attacks start with him'.
So next game I made a point of just watching Gannon. Within the first five minutes he'd hit three balls for Deano down the channels which gave the full back no option but to put it out for a throw-in, whereby each went straight into the mixer (Pinchy shudders).
He didn't have a huge range of passing but he was able to deliver the perfect balls for us to turn defence into attack, Bassett style.
Which sums up Bassett's approach; identify the key requirements of every position, every role in the team and find a player with those attributes, even if the rest of their game isn't up to much.

Not all fans appreciate a players contribution or attributes . For them old enough , think John McGovern under Clough Senior.

UTB

 

[Fiery Blade]

John Gannon was quality - Anyone who gets the chance have a look at his delivery of a free kick or corner - First Class !!!
He was a top player yet often got criticised by the crowd - how I wish we had a player like him today !

 

[Fiery Blade]

Mid Sixties - Tony Wagstaff was the scapegoat I seem to remember !

 

[Silent Blade]

Mid Sixties - Tony Wagstaff was the scapegoat I seem to remember !

Barry Hartle and John Docherty too
1970s were Frank Barlow, John Flynn (for often passing the ball back to keeper rather than pass to an outfield player), Mick Speight (in 1973-74 and 1974-75), Chris Guthrie, Dennis Longhorn and Andy Keeley

 

[Fiery Blade]

I believe Guthrie got his scapegoat tag because of the high fee we paid (£100,00 I think !) also Richard Cadette for similar reasons !

 

[Fiery Blade]

Don Givens !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[itsinyerblood]

Not all fans appreciate a players contribution or attributes . For them old enough , think John McGovern under Clough Senior.

UTB

I'm old enough Bos, and I can recall McGovern as exactly the type of player you're describing. He was busy, didn't care about anything other than acting as that glue that kept everything together and functioning as Clough would have wanted. He could be niggly, question everything, he was never the fanciest of players, but what he managed to do was take the spirit of his manager onto the pitch and ensure that his teammates always knew what was expected of them. It was at Forest that Clough and McGovern enjoyed their most successful period together, but it was built on a foundation that had been built over many years prior to the success they both enjoyed while at the City Ground.

 

[Silent Blade]

Don Givens !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dont think he got any stick or booing from the fans when he was playing for us until just after he missed that penalty (which was in the last minute of his last game for us) as he played quite well for us and scored 3 goals in 11 league matches.