That’s a word I’ve heard a bit over the last two weeks. Firstly it was used for Alex McLeish’s exit and now I’m hearing it aimed at Craig Gardner. But are we betrayed when players and managers want to return to the highest level? Let’s look at the manager first.
A brief summary of a lot of the comments about McLeish last season would go something like this.
October – “We are awful, McLeish must go”
February – “We are brilliant, McLeish got his tactics spot on”
May – “We are awful. McLeish must go”
June – “McLeish has gone, I feel betrayed”
I for one wanted McLeish to resign at the end of the season. The Fulham game was so awful that I couldn’t see any way back from there but I didn’t want us to sack a manager who delivered our first trophy win in fifty years. So when it was announced he had resigned I was over the moon and the reaction of the Villa fans when he joined them made for double delight. So where do all the “Judas” and “McTraitor” comments come from? Is it just because he has joined the Villa? Is it because he appeared to fall out with the board and resigned by e-mail (Not all that uncommon in practice)? Or do football fans just have very short memories?
Maybe I’m missing something but I can’t really get upset about it. In my opinion Villa’s loss is our gain.
So onto Craig Gardner who over the weekend was linked with a £5m move to Sunderland. It’s been well documented that Craig has always been a Blues fan even though he started his career in the dark half of the city. Michael Dunford told us at a fan’s forum last year that he was in tears when he signed as it meant so much to him to join the club he supported as a boy. His face after the Spurs game showed how much relegation upset him.
But now he wants to move. In an unfortunately worded interview with Tom Ross he claimed that he would like to stay but “had to think of what was best for his family”. Clearly they are currently struggling to make ends meet on the money we are paying him. That sort of nonsense annoys me but can we blame a player for wanting to return to the Premier League and make the most of what is usually a short career. His stock is high at the moment due to his ten goal Premier League season but after a season in the Championship (or even half a season) the chance for a big money move may be gone and never come back. Should we expect an emotional tie to take precedence here? After all you can still be a Blues fan playing for Sunderland. If he went back to the Villa that would be different but I don’t expect that will happen.
I like Craig as a player and he has given us plenty to cheer about in the last eighteen months. I find it ridiculous that people are concentrating on his sending off against Wolves and blaming him for our relegation. Why is it so much worse when someone who loves the club and gives 100% leaves than if someone like Nikola Zigic goes who hasn’t contributed that much?
Maybe people just like to get upset about these things.
Would love to hear your thoughts on this. You can also comment via twitter (@Aylesbury_Blue)
Well Said Aylesbury Blue.
I agree with all you say. Common sense says after the season Craig had that he will be on his way. He will always be a Blue & I am sure if he does leave for pastures new he will make a statement to that fact.
With regard to the rest of the players wanting to leave so they “can play at the highest level” is there no way the club can loan out these players with a view to permanent moves if we do not gain promotion? they may even be worth more in 12 months??
Who knows… One thing I am sure of is that its going to be a long hard season.
All the best KRO.
I think CG would have stayed, and fought for the cause, but I think strings are being pulled by others.
Some good points made here.
I was annoyed by Mcleish, I don’t particularly consider him traitorous (although I have said so in jest). What annoyed me was his outright refusal to leave after taking us down playing horrible football when a very large portion of fans wanted him to go, only to then resign and jump ship to the Vile at the first given opportunity without raising it with the board first. I liked him as a person before this, and had he walked at the end of the season with an apology about relegation, myself (and I think many other fans) would’ve seen it as a “thanks for the cup, no hard feelings) situation, but no.
Again, with Gardner, it’s the fact he came in “as a lifelong blues fan” (let’s not forget this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/aston_villa/6562813.stm “”I am a Villa fan through and through, I came through the ranks here and nothing can get better than playing for the club you have always supported.”) and kissed the badge and now wants out after going down once. Could he not have even give his “boyhood club” one season and a shot at getting us back to the top flight? I could understand more if we don’t go up this season, but as one of the favourites to go up from the championship, and sunderland only just avoiding relegation last season, it isn’t that unrealistic to think that Gardner will be playing against Blues next year.
The talk of needing money is just laughable to be honest, I won’t even comment on that. Maybe this is just me as a fan speaking, but I would love to be able to say at the end of my career that I played in europe against some of the best players in the world, rather than say, I once went to Sunderland/Wigan/Wolves/Similar for £5m. If we win one game over two legs, we’re guaranteed at least 6 games in the group stage. The fact that so many players in a squad that has just been relegated suddenly see themselves as too good is something that really grates with me. Rather than try and get us back to where they obviously see themselves, they’ll break ranks immediately.
It’s no wonder the public has such a poor perception of footballers and football in general.
This life long blues fan makes me laugh, read his 2007 BBC interview (link attached) in which he declares
“I am a Villa fan through and through, I came through the ranks here and nothing can get better than playing for the club you have always supported.”
Next week he will be a life long mackem.
http://www.officialplayersites.com/main/external.php?url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/aston_villa/6562813.stm
Aylesbury Blue echoes my feelings about McLeish almost exactly – it was IMO the end of the line for him after we got relegated for the second time in largely similar circumstances – too many draws, negative tactics. Big Eck – thanks for the Cup; I can’t wish you the best for the future because of the ‘career choice’ you made!!
Whilst recognising the vast sums of money earned by players, as Aylesbury says, isn’t Gardner’s real point about earnings relative to the short career span? I can only guess that he will have to take a pay cut and that he will get a huge payrise elsewhere in the Prem; I just question if we would not do the same in his shoes? If Gardner goes, I will not blame him; he always gave us 100%.
Whatever else I believe, I feel that he and the others should all have come out and said they are willing to stay and try and get the Club back up – as Foster did. It is a shame that we only heard from Ben Foster. I realise there’s a flaw in this argument; the club cannot apparently afford for this to happen!
It looks like we will lose Dann, Foster, Johnson, Zigic and Gardner at least, so Chris Hughton will need to hone his skills in recruting the people to get us back up – undoubtedly, this will include some loans but I’m not a great fan of those so I hope we don’t get too many.
I hope we see some transfer activity soon as CH does not have much time to bed-down a new playing style.
Think you’re being a bit unfair on Nikola Zigic.
Never mind all this nonsense about GARDNER being a blue. This is the same player who confessed his undying love for the club, so instead of staying and helping us reach the top flight again, he takes flight. No undying love there. I feel more let down by him than any other person who has left blues.
Totally agree with Kris
Gardner a Blues fan? Well he definitely owes us. Remember if he hadn’t got himself sent off (STUPIDLY) against a very poor Wolves sides I’m convinced we would have won which would have virtually guaranteed safety. If he is a Blues fan, he owes all the rest of us a huge debt!
For me it’s all about honesty.
If Eck had did things properly & Villa had contacted our board the legal way I would be much happier.
As for Gardner & any other player, just put in a transfer request & be open about it (They don’t so they can claim more “loyalty” money).
I have no problem with people going if they want to be in the prem or get more money, I just loathe the false caring about BCFC.
i’m a villa fan (im not going to be petty; just this episode has soured my view of football) and i think its disgusting that Gardner is not willing to give the club he supposedly supports at least til janruary to see where you lot are going. I would have respected that, even though not liked it! But why do these footballers think £5k a week between 20k and 25k is the breadline? its ridiculous and i think this summer has seen the finish of the Middle-Classing of football. Which is bad for true fans of true clubs; whoever they are
No problem with either leaving.
It is the MANNER of their leaving THAT IS THE ISSUE!!
MCLEISH
McLeish, 2 weeks prior to handing in resignation, stated that he was staying and determined to get Blues back to the Premier. He also gave Pannu a list of players HE HIMSELF wanted to sign. Pannu – who I personally dislike but believe he has been turned over here – then went and signed three (+ agreed with one other) of the players that McLeish had requested.
GARDNER
Stated he was a lifelong Bluenose and that it was a dream come true to play for Blues. Sixteen months after joining, Blues get relegated and Gardner, in a live radio interview, intimated he wanted to remain in the Premier and leave Blues. He has a long term contract with Blues and if he did not want to leave, he could stay – HIS CHOICE. His wages drop from £18k to £9k after relegation and he will be offered £20k+ from Premier clubs that want him. Reason for leaving? Money, end of story. Gardner’s ‘lifelong Bluenose and dream come true to play for Blues’ were just words to try and placate, and gain favour of fans, when another viler joining Blues.
McLeish and Gardner leaving would not be a problem at all, IF they had not both committed themselves so wholeheartedly to Blues just a couple of weeks before stating they wanted to leave! How long will it be before Gardner is kissing the badge of Sunderland, and portraying they have always been a close second favourite team that he has followed since before he was conceived!!!
KRO
Eck left at the right moment for us. After two seasons of such dour football when opponents learned how to exploit the consistent one half play, we deserved relegation. The first season we had,two forwards who had some some success but the second was mostly one with no success. Thanks for the brief excitement of the carling but I would prefer one overpaid scoring striker every time. CG can go at a profit same as anyone else, so we can fill the coffers for Hughtons team and the club.
The writing’s on the wall with CG.
Anyone who’s on talking terms with him or any of his brothers, will tell you he’s DESPERATE to go back to the Vile. He’s more likely to end up at Sunderland or wherever, but our ‘lifelong fan’ has made it clear to a certain dour jock where he wants to be.
We’ve been conned.
You make some fair points there Aylesburyblue and, in the main, I agree with your sentiments although, I tend to differ slightly in some of the interpretations you have made.
Let me be clear, as I have said all season, unlike many Bluenoses, I would have sacrificed the League Cup for Premier League survival although I could see no reason why we shouldn’t have achieved both. I feel McLeish has a lot to answer for regarding our demise, which was purely down to his stubbornness and negative tactics. Consequently, I am firmly of the opinion that we won the League Cup in SPITE of McLeish not BECAUSE of him.
Let’s be clear, in the early rounds we were extremely lucky to survive – even when playing against teams that can only be described as “less than mediocre”. I believe that when we got to the final, the players took control of how they were going to play and actually showed us what they could do, once they had been let off the lease. The final only had two possible outcomes, win or lose. McLeish’s favoured option of “don’t lose”, didn’t even come into the equation.
However, when we got back to the bread and butter games of the league, we were back to the discredited “safety first” option. You know the one, defend en masse and hope the opposition make a mistake that allows us to score a sneaky goal.
I am not in the least bit sorry McLeish has gone, although I do wish he had been a little bit more honest in the way he (eventually) chose to go.
As for Craig Gardener, I have no problems with him moving on to another club and, I actually wish him well. Admittedly he has said some silly things over the past couple of weeks but, let’s not forget that he is, after all, a footballer. He is not exactly one of the world’s greatest philosophers or diplomats. Players very nearly always join teams by saying how much they love the club and they have always dreamed of playing for such a big, historic club that they have always admired. Then a few months later, they always leave clubs by saying how they have to think about their families or they can’t resist the move to a bigger, more ambitious club or, they want to be nearer their parents.
I really think that Gardener is one of the few people who come out of this with any credibility at all. At least he can hold his head high and say that he TRIED to give his best. His goals prevented us from being totally humiliated in the league. To try to blame him for relegation because he got sent off, if pure nonsense.
We weren’t relegated because of our performance in the last three or four matches. We were relegated because of our dire performance throughout the whole season. If we had score just one more goal in some of the earlier matches, we wouldn’t have been in such a dire position by the time we got to some of our later matches. After all, a win or a draw at the start of the season, is every bit as valuable as a win or a draw at the end of the season. We should always aim to get the wins and the points early on in the season, get promoted or get to safety by Christmas – everything else then is a bonus. Leave things to the last minute and we suffer the consequences.
Good riddance McLeish. If he goes, Goodbye, Good Luck and Thank You Craig.
‘Short Career’! Why are people so hung up on this complete fallacy?
If we can assume that the average premiership player earns a conservative £10k a week for a conservative 10 years, that £5.2m over his playing career. Presumably the decent ones can get another job at 28, coaching, TV Pundit etc.
If I work for 40 years at an average of a very reasonable £24k a year I will earn a total of just under £1m, at which point I will be on the scrap heap.
The big difference is I don’t need a mansion or a Bentley or a Rolex. So let’s stop pretending it’s a hard life and they have to make money where they can.
As far as Gardner going; he’s entitled to get whatever job he can in exactly the same way as you or I can, difference being I don’t kiss the badge every time I have a good day at the office (or at least not in front of 30,000 people). So if we take it that there is no way that any player would place football in any other category than ‘job’, we as ‘fans’ need to be realistic about his commitment to said job; in exactly the same way that if you were asked to take a pay cut you would be looking for another job as soon as possible.
falacy
Gardener a life long nose who loves the club don’t. Make me laugh he’s villa and always has been he thinks he’s too good for the championship he wants to remember he was sold by villa because he could not get a game and the reason was simple he was not good enough my opininion on these players that want to leave is good riddance flog them we’ve got downing shouting his mouth off for a move he forgets two years ago he was on the scrap yard at boro well downing you ain’t bigger than villa gardener you ain’t bigger than blues so bye bye you glory hunters
how pathetic we are,? how can we agree to players leaving a sinking ship when they played there part in the drop and because it makes financial sense to leave for them, that then destroys the club they left there should be legistration made up to keep players on if the club so disires
so the club as the security to readdress the clubs problems,
its not about what the players want , its about the clubs , without them there would be
no discussion
I agree!!! never been heard of!!!!! but McCleish should have left in December and we should have got Big Sam or or at least gone after the fulham or Spurs games and again could have got Big Sam. But no he’s a disgrace to football scotland the human race….etc (over the top i know)
Gardner you are de-blue Nosed and your family are barred, you may as well be a Villa Fan for walking out when we all know, you could have given us 6 months or even a year to get us back to the premier league out of the so called love or loyaty to the club you, your family and your ancesters support.
thanks I have now got that off my chest!
This is the most depressing year of my 50+ supporting Blues, I cannot believe how the whole club has imploded in just 4 months and slipped so far down the slippery slope it will be years until we return, if ever! The Carling Cup victory was over in a flash, no chance to revel in the glory and it all seems an age ago now. Our long awaited European adventure is going to be a complete non event, we’ll probably play the kids as we haven’t enough senior pro’s to field a team yet!
I have no faith in Yeung (not a peep since McCleish went) or Pannu (no way is the man a football administrator) despite all the chest beating we are flat broke and nobody in China is going to invest in a Championship side, the honeymoon is over so sell up now!
Why are we accepting a bid of £5M for Gardner (10+ goals from midfield) and turning down the same amount for Jerome???? Clueless!
Can’t believe we’d sell him for 5million, should be looking for 10million at least.
Dissappointed he wants to go. If he truly was a fan he’d give us one season at least to get us back there. He could probably score goals for fun in the championship.
Still it’s hard to tell how accurate these rumours actually are – seems a bit far-fetched for me.
The other thing is that Hughton must’ve agreed to it, I wonder what his thinking on it is? not his sort of player? seems like he’d be the perfect Kevin Nolan clone for him – with the passion to inspire the rest of the team too.
I think some reactions are a bit puzzling, as Gardner hasn’t gone anywhere yet, it’s all speculation. If he DOES go, it could be because the Board/Hughton have intimated we don’t need or can’t afford to keep him. Perhaps we have a better player in mind?
I agree with everything you said, AylesburyBlue. As for ‘traitor’, etc, Coventry thought Marlon King was a traitor, but we all focused on the criminal past of the player. We’ve ‘poached’ players from lower league clubs ourselves when we were in the Premier League. Scott Dann and Roger Johnson had to become traitors to Coventry and Cardiff. Betray their own fans, while we simply looked forward to their debuts. That’s football. I think some comments hit the nail on the head about McLeish. It was more the MANNER of his departure that hurt. As someone who defended his tenure at times, and wanted to see him avoid the sack after relegation, citing injury problems and bad luck in the transfer market, to see him quit without a positive word to the fans who have supported him through his darker moments, was awful, and it FELT like a betrayal, which is key. It felt like one at the time, but – in fairness – he was just looking after number one, as he did when he ‘turned his back on the Scotland team’ to join us in the first place. Sure, that was done formally, and through the appropriate channels, but – again – this simply shows how it is more the manner of his departure that grates.
As for Gardner, I think AylesburyBlue chose the right phrase with regards to his Tom Ross interview, ‘unfortunately worded’. If he went back to Aston Villa, he’d have both sets of fans at his throat, so I can’t see that one happening, either. Moving to Sunderland (for example) would hardly be a betrayal, any more than Michel returning to Spain, or Cameron Jerome going back to Cardiff, for example. In football, players come, and players go. That’s life for them. As it stands, he’s still our player, so it’s unpleasant to see so many harsh critics suggesting we don’t want him, anyway. Sadly, if he DOES want to be a greedy player and leave for no other reason than the money, why are some fans providing him with the ammunition to say “Actually I wanted to stay, but so many fans suggested they wanted me out…Wolves sending off…nothing to provide except the odd speculative goal….didn’t think I was a true Bluenose anyway….”?
I say wait until he DOES leave before criticising his reasons. Heck, even wait for him to GIVE his reasons. If – as is suggested in the interview with Tom Ross – it’s ‘for the sake of my family’ I think he deserves all the stick he gets. No footballer in the modern game is living on the breadline, as has already been said here. If – however – he says ‘all footballers want to play in the Premier League’ then we need to understand that we as a club have benefited from that very policy, when we brought Christophe Duggary from his home nation to play for us. Did he betray French football? When we played Trevor (Plymouth Argyle fan) Francis, when we asked him to manage our club, was he doubly betraying his home town? Of course not. Our relegation has left nerves frayed is all. A large groundswell of opinion (mine not included) wants Cameron Jerome to move on, but imagine if he went to Villa? He’d be accused of betrayal. If he went to Sunderland, it wouldn’t be so vehement, but you can imagine someone would be saying “Your lack of goals sent us down, you owe it to us to get us back”. Some players can’t win. If we demand Gardner should stay, we’re hypocrites if we try to stop Scott Dann heading to Anfield…
Keep Right On
I’m with the general consensus here, it not what has been done it’s the manner in which it has been done.
Onto the player thing, CH has stated, quite rightly, he doesn’t want any player here who is not 100% committed to the blue shirt so to me it’s simple, if you want to go hand in an official transfer request, if you don’t want to do that shut up and get on with it. Of course that wont happen because they would get less money from the transfer.
There is no loyalty any more in football, other than us fans, only money, I’m afraid we just have to live with the fact that the beautiful game has slowly been eroded to £ signs.
I have to laugh, all these premier clubs wanting our players when, in actual fact, they all got relegated.
Well said Aylesbury. Are you a Libran?
i dont see how this many first team players can think they are better than the level our club are at… they still played a part in our relegation. i think they owe us.. obviously a few would have 2 go but not the whole frickin team! also it seems like the manager sends birmingham down bt still gets to manage a prem team and the same with the players leaving the fans and club in the championship, its just wrong! weve been shit on 4 the last 4 months.. hopefully CH gets us out of this mess eck has left behind, if he is going to do so he needs to move quick and i for one believe he will.. roll on a new era! KRO
Aylesburyblue.are you single? Very good article. I feel let down by Gardener he could stay until Jan; see how we are doing, if he loves the club so much. The players are all on contracts why don’t the club keep them to these or are they not worth the paper they are written on.
Are blues just being short sighted at letting gardner go for 5mill?
ok , so they make 2 mill profit on what they paid for him ..but surely hes worth 10 mill plus at todays rates…and as for tony pullis offering 8 mill for dann and jerome ……tis definately the silly season
The short career comment was more to do with spending more time playing at the top level than just money. Footballers would still want to play in the Premier League even if the wages were the same in League 2.
Oh and Tara no, I’m a Taurus.
I think we all generally agree on the same things.
What makes relegation bad is that in the eyes of the media there is no football outside of the Premiership and Champions Lge. This then has the knock on effect of there being no commercial money once you’re outside of that circle, hence the financial implications.
It’s such a shame that the players believe the hype too, that they couldn’t possibly afford their careers a little time outside of the top flight – the limelight. Gardner really has no excuse to want to jump ship because he’s hardly going to struggle financially.
Slightly off topic, do some have very short memories? In reference to Zigic not contributing, I do believe he played a huge part over the course of games in winning our first trophy in years! I also don’t go along with the idea “in the early rounds we were extremely lucky to survive”, 3 goals in 4 minutes in one of the earlier games was as clinical as can be and the penalty shoot out was more about coasting than being lucky!
Judas told feeble lies about his reasons for leaving when in fact he’d been tapped up by the Villa. He only discovered these ‘matters of principle’ once he’s been offered the thrity pieces of silver by Lerner. I supported him against all the criticisms and he’s let me and people like me down. He’s a hypocrite. And don’t tell me ‘everyone in football’s like that’. Martinez isn’t.
What Happened Craig? your the boy who loves Blues ,the boy who came from a bit part at Villa to a regular first teamer with us. In less than 18 months you became established and won a major cup winners medal, is that so bad?.
You more than anyone was kissing the badge and swearing Loyalty to your beloved Blues and now you want to leave, previous posts have expressed understanding well i dont agree.
You owe us a least one more season to try and get us back upI understand you have your family and carrear to think about, but do you really think that Sunderland is a better move? well can tell you now its not.
You will be playing for a man who himself has never shown any loyalty ,a man who has had more clubs than Tiger woods, who has had more players through his hands than a chain smoker. a man who will eventually play you at left back, because thats what Bruce does.
That of course is on the rare occasions you are fit because another talent Bruce has along with Eric Black is perpetual injuries to players.
You have a family? well my advice having being forced to live in that area some years ago would be to take your wife for a look around, you will see then why many players back of a move to Sunderland their wives wont move there ,its a god forsaken hole not just Sunderland but the whole area
Your A Brummie Craig you will not settle there believe me, give us one more year or at least until Christmas, you scored 10 goals in the premiership think what you could do in the Championship, you dont need the money you can manage for a year. In any case I have a feeling Sunderland will be in the position we find ourselves in next year
Agree with most of the above – and sympathise with almost all the views from some angle as it’s a really prickly subject this one.
I’ve had several arguments with other fans, notably my Dad (a season ticket holder of nearly 40 years compared with my 10), who blames Gardner for our relegation due to his stupidity in the Wolves game. I’m more of a ‘glass half full’ fan when it comes to Blues and our players from almost all perspectives, and although I agree that Gardner’s act was foolish (and possibly disrepectful – we all hate divers!), he certainly showed his value to the Blues cause through the better part of the season, scoring some vital goals in both League and Cup in the process. So to summarise my thoughts on the bloke, I always thought he offered excellent commitment and passion for the team (even though he got muscled out of the game on a few occasions); well, more than many other players anyway. (And I’ll briefly mention the Zigic argument at this point – I felt losing him after the CC Final was one of the major reasons we got relegated as don’t forget, he’d finally found his feet at this point and was scoring some vital goals. No lack of commitment from him immediately before his injury IMO.)
So, how do I feel now? I was totally drawn in by the McLeish furore a few weeks ago, and it may just be football tribalism, but he showed himself as a Judas to me. I’m no Villa hater as it happens – although I dislike them more than others due to our rivalry, Blues doing well rather than Villa’s failure or success is all that matters to me – but the way he handled himself was disrespectful to us as fans. I really don’t care what fallings out he’s had with our board, but he should show some respect to the support the majority of us have given him in the harder part of last season.
This was then how I felt about Gardner. Having listened to his interview the other night, when we were still in the midst of awaiting the departure of our manager to our second-city rivals, I was stunned by the way he came across. Whether he’s been badly advised (or not advised at all), it made me question any sort of loyalty amongst footballers these days. But I should know this of course – and having had a week-or-so for the reality of this to sink in, I’m now just at a stage of reluctant acceptance. So if anything, it’s a good thing – it’s made me realise that whatever these people say, however many times they kiss the badge, it’s all about money, money, and more money. A shame, but a fact of life, and I’ll keep renewing my season ticket regardless as I love our club, whoever plays for them and whoever’s on the board.
I’m now looking forward to next season with players who want to play for us rather than think of what ‘could have been’ elsewhere and from his comments so far, Hughton’s the man to assure that will be the case.
KRO.
Craig Gardner is definitely a Blues fan as are his family. He used to play five-a-side football and always wore a Blues top.
Most of what you say is correct…..but Gardner!, right pratt IMO…. Funny how the likes of McFadden and Larsson we happy to stick around last time McJudas took us down.
If the fee is 5 mil we are being mugged but if it’s closer to 8 then all parties involved should be happy and move on.
Alyesbury are you a cusper? The blog is too well balanced for you to be a regular Taurian?
A fine article.
I too have thought long & hard about the very strange and enigmatic reaction to McLeish leaving Blues for Villa.
Some fans loathed McLeish from the very first season he took over and was relegated; for some others it grew over a longer period of time.
For everybody who wanted him out and there were plenty calling for his head (remarkably even on the day of the West Ham semi-final victory), for those embarrassing few who chanted ‘4-4-2, 4-4-2’ and horrified the rest of us, upon hearing he had walked away from Blues to take up with B6 the logical conclusion of their bitter hatred for the man would be to cheer.
But being the type to hate and the type who define themselves by who they loathe and who they are not then it becomes essential to assume the cloak of the betrayed, because failure to do so leaves them exposed as petty & hateful & very small.
His tactics of consistently playing 4-5-1 with a couple of slow midfield wingers? Was a problem.
4-4-2 with our squad was the only way to play IMO and in the end McLeish turned a natural goalscorer like Jerome into the mobs kicking post because of this. Jerome will score goals under the right system.
Fire sale time now?
Tara have you got a thing for him can’t say I blame you but i fear youre wearing rose coloured glases.
Jerome’s not even a natural footballer and will never be a natural goal scorer what have you been watching these past few years.He’s an athlete unable to control the ball can’t run with it and his finishing is woefull.
On the positive side you can’t knock his effort but you’ve got to doubt his ability.