Scapegoat Jay

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ThatJa

ThatJa

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Is Jay McEveley the newest scapegoats recruit?

I believe last year it was Baxter.
 



Are we not allowed to be critical of any of our players? After the 5 hour journey down to Gillingham to watch us lose 4-0 to a mid table side with our defence looking unbelievably open at the back. Shall I in future sing 'kumbaya my lord', smile and just forget about how terrible he just was/is.

No, I didn't think so.

Some players deserve praise and since then just about everyone who has played has deserved credit from all us fans. But one thing is for sure Jay McEv will cost us more points than he gains and I for one want us to find a replacement asap.
 
This should be good!
I bravely started a thread a couple of months ago defending the merits of Mr McEveley or Mr McCatastrophy as he is now known.

The short answer to your question is going to be a resounding YES.

Not that I agree, personally I don't think any of the players should be a scapegoat but it would seem this kind of treatment goes back a long way to the 50's and 60's.
 
"Scapegoat", lol.

Funny how Che Adams, say, or Conor Sammon isn't being made a scapegoat, innit? :rolleyes:
 
wakefieldblade said:
Are we not allowed to be critical of any of our players? After the 5 hour journey down to Gillingham to watch us lose 4-0 to a mid table side with our defence looking unbelievably open at the back. Shall I in future sing 'kumbaya my lord', smile and just forget about how terrible he just was/is.

No, I didn't think so.

Some players deserve praise and since then just about everyone who has played has deserved credit from all us fans. But one thing is for sure Jay McEv will cost us more points than he gains and I for one want us to find a replacement asap.
Click to expand...

Your saying McEveley was the reason we lost 4-0?

Not our strikers that scored a big fat zero?
 
JL94x4 said:
Is Jay McEveley the newest scapegoats recruit?

I believe last year it was Baxter.
Click to expand...
Another thing you can never fault Mcevelys attitude he gives his all
Baxter got the stick because of his poor attitude this season it seems he's corrected this
 
"Are we not allowed to be critical of any of our players? After the 5 hour journey down to Gillingham to watch us lose 4-0 to a mid table side with our defence looking unbelievably open at the back. Shall I in future sing 'kumbaya my lord', smile and just forget about how terrible he just was/is."

I can't say either way whether he is the worst defender in the world or not having not seen him... but remember when we slaughtered Spurs 6-0 in the 90s? Freak results do happen and we've won three on the bounce since. Keep the faith.
 
It's just the Blades way. There has always got to be one particular player that 'It was all his fault'. The one who gets audible sighs from the crowd when there is a wayward pass, cheers when he's subbed etc etc. Yes players have bad games and I don't think McEveley is great, but come on, we've had a lot worse. Give him a bit of a break whilst so ever he's playing. And ref Gillingham I would say Collins, Long and actually most of the team did
 
The term "scapegoat" gets thrown around a lot. I think it's just a case that fans watch their team play and consider where the team is weakest to identify areas for improvment. At the end of Clough's first season, Doyle, Porter and Collins were seen as players to improve upon. Now, when McEveley plays at CB, he is a relative weak link in the team so it's an area we want improved. When everyone is fit, I don't think he should be a starter. It will be interesting to see if NA sees it that way.
 
JL94x4 said:
Your saying McEveley was the reason we lost 4-0?

Not our strikers that scored a big fat zero?
Click to expand...

Hard to score when you have no chances

Plus, even if they scored 3 we still would've lost due to the awful defensive display
 



See the thread on McEveley v Peterborough.

It may be that once you get into your head that he's poor then that's it.

It'd be interesting to compare say how many misplaced passes, lost headers etc each of the back four have on Saturday.

As Bergen pointed out Edgar backheeled the ball to their player a few yards out on Tuesday. He's generally held in high regard, imagine if McEveley had done that.

There's definitely a consistent element of needing someone to blame when we lose. At the moment Jay seems to be topping that particular poll, though Baxter often features as well.
 
Oh, fucking hell, here we go again.

First rule of scapegoat club is, there is no scapegoat club.
Second rule of scapegoat club is, play well more often than not and no fucker gets on yer back.

Anyone ever call Woody a scapegoat? Thought not.

I've learned over the years that there are some players I like and others don't. In general these tend not to be the better players because, as a rule, everyone can see and agree on who the better players are. These, so called, scapegoats always come from the category of poorer player. Some people are less tolerant of such players and some like to think they see things others can't in their performances (you can't, they're just not very good, live with it).
There will always be a "worst player in the team", there is in every one. That player will get a lot less leeway than "the best player in the team". I'm just amazed people don't (won't) understand this.
 
Grecian2000 said:
Oh, fucking hell, here we go again.

First rule of scapegoat club is, there is no scapegoat club.
Second rule of scapegoat club is, play well more often than not and no fucker gets on yer back.

Anyone ever call Woody a scapegoat? Thought not.

I've learned over the years that there are some players I like and others don't. In general these tend not to be the better players because, as a rule, everyone can see and agree on who the better players are. These, so called, scapegoats always come from the category of poorer player. Some people are less tolerant of such players and some like to think they see things others can't in their performances (you can't, they're just not very good, live with it).
There will always be a "worst player in the team", there is in every one. That player will get a lot less leeway than "the best player in the team". I'm just amazed people don't (won't) understand this.
Click to expand...

A scapegoat by definition does no worse than another player but takes a disproportionate amount of the blame.

As Bergen has posted it looks like McEveley was no worse than any other defender on Tuesday but he was singled out by several posters here and on fb.

Plays same standard as others. Gets blame.

That's scapegoating.

And it can be a.significant issue for the club.

Worst player in the team and scapegoat are.different things. Again almost by definition you can't be the worst player and a scapegoat.

McFadzean was the worst outfield player against Gillingham barely got a mention.
 
William Henry Foulkes said:
A scapegoat by definition does no worse than another player but takes a disproportionate amount of the blame.

As Bergen has posted it looks like McEveley was no worse than any other defender on Tuesday but he was singled out by several posters here and on fb.

Plays same standard as others. Gets blame.

That's scapegoating.

And it can be a.significant issue for the club.

Worst player in the team and scapegoat are.different things. Again almost by definition you can't be the worst player and a scapegoat.

McFadzean was the worst outfield player against Gillingham barely got a mention.
Click to expand...
Thing is I doubt wether Mcfazdene will get another game
 
I'm all for saying when a player is utter shit (see rpevious posts on Monty and Coutts for reference) I just hope it does not reach crazy levels and he starts getting booed or cheered off sarcastically when subbed.
 
Grecian2000 said:
Oh, fucking hell, here we go again.

First rule of scapegoat club is, there is no scapegoat club.
Second rule of scapegoat club is, play well more often than not and no fucker gets on yer back.

Anyone ever call Woody a scapegoat? Thought not.

I've learned over the years that there are some players I like and others don't. In general these tend not to be the better players because, as a rule, everyone can see and agree on who the better players are. These, so called, scapegoats always come from the category of poorer player. Some people are less tolerant of such players and some like to think they see things others can't in their performances (you can't, they're just not very good, live with it).
There will always be a "worst player in the team", there is in every one. That player will get a lot less leeway than "the best player in the team". I'm just amazed people don't (won't) understand this.
Click to expand...

Well put.

Some forum members do like a wodden spoon issue every now and again.......can we count them on one hand?

UTB
 
William Henry Foulkes said:
A scapegoat by definition does no worse than another player but takes a disproportionate amount of the blame.

As Bergen has posted it looks like McEveley was no worse than any other defender on Tuesday but he was singled out by several posters here and on fb.

Plays same standard as others. Gets blame.

That's scapegoating.

And it can be a.significant issue for the club.

Worst player in the team and scapegoat are.different things. Again almost by definition you can't be the worst player and a scapegoat.

McFadzean was the worst outfield player against Gillingham barely got a mention.
Click to expand...

That may be so, but he was as poor as the poorest players in a good performance on Tuesday. And this is not a rarity; hence people finding frustration in his continued selection dating right back to last season.
 
William Henry Foulkes said:
A scapegoat by definition does no worse than another player but takes a disproportionate amount of the blame.

Worst player in the team and scapegoat are.different things. Again almost by definition you can't be the worst player and a scapegoat.
Click to expand...

A scapegoat is actually someone who accepts the blame for something they haven't done.

Our "version" of scapegoats are not randomly picked, they invariably inhabit the lesser ranks of the team. The fact they do means they are, perhaps unfairly, criticised more than others for equally ineffective performances. However, they have "earned" their position by consistently being amongst the poorer performers in the team.
Everyone has poor games, those who have earned the right to so do by playing well, more often than not, don't end up in threads like this (other than Stephen Quinn who started really well, had two/three seasons of decline, came back at the end).
 
Grecian2000 said:
A scapegoat is actually someone who accepts the blame for something they haven't done.

Our "version" of scapegoats are not randomly picked, they invariably inhabit the lesser ranks of the team. The fact they do means they are, perhaps unfairly, criticised more than others for equally ineffective performances. However, they have "earned" their position by consistently being amongst the poorer performers in the team.
Everyone has poor games, those who have earned the right to so do by playing well, more often than not, don't end up in threads like this (other than Stephen Quinn who started really well, had two/three seasons of decline, came back at the end).
Click to expand...

Scapegoats choose to be scapegoated?
 
William Henry Foulkes said:
A scapegoat by definition does no worse than another player but takes a disproportionate amount of the blame.

As Bergen has posted it looks like McEveley was no worse than any other defender on Tuesday but he was singled out by several posters here and on fb.

Plays same standard as others. Gets blame.

That's scapegoating.

And it can be a.significant issue for the club.

Worst player in the team and scapegoat are.different things. Again almost by definition you can't be the worst player and a scapegoat.

McFadzean was the worst outfield player against Gillingham barely got a mention.
Click to expand...

In what way? I recall John Gannon got proper dog's abuse when he played for us - anything McEveley receives is a breeze in comparison. Seriously, I've never even heard a murmour of discontent when his name is read out.
Even with Gannon in the side, United somehow managed to stay in the top flight for 4 seasons so it can't have affected the Club that badly.

And if you think we're the only set of fans in the country who collectively have a player we all think is the worst... we're not. We're no better or worse than any other set of fans. Everyone is the same with the same gripes, the same favourites and the same not-so-favourites. The idea that we're this collection of nasty people who are the only people in the country to ever say anything bad about one of their own players is fanciful to say the least.
 
Funny but the biggest hero of the last few years, the rock that is Captain Morgan, made loads of mistakes in his early years at the Lane.

A few good performances and people will warm to McEvali and turn on someone else.
 



The question is whether he has a good performance in him. It's ok for people to say he played no worse than others, but his good games are rare. We can't allow him to play CB at all, not even in emergencies. At left back he's not so bad because at least he can stay at home allowing Che to wander.

Morgan had many good games and I would probably compare Jay to Doyle, someone who shouldn't be in the team nevermind captain IMO. I think most of us knew we could have a good bash at this division when you replaced the likes of Doyle, Collins and Porter for example. Money needs to be spent, but a few victories will allow them to get away with not spending any.
 
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