GO ON YOUR WAY ACCORDINGLY
BY MARC CORBY
then warmly welcomed back when he became one
of Keegan’s assistants in 1994. Likewise Terry
Mac, apparently bitter over a poor contract offer
hence his departure that same summer of 1984, but
still a fan favourite when he took the ‘buffer’ job a
few times years later.
So what’s the difference? For me, aside
individual circumstances, there is none. I suppose
the point I am trying to make is that football moves
on quicker then we care to imagine and we don’t
know 100% what has really happened. Let’s not
forget, Sir Les could have stayed to ‘help us out
and not drop us in the shit’ and fair play to him for
honouring his word to Spurs but what good was
that to us when we needed him once Shearer was
crocked in the summer of 1997? Not pointing any
blame whatsoever to Sir Les of course but putting
things into perspective, the fans are never put first
and those who take an alleged act of betrayal to
heart really need to look at the bigger picture.
NUFC is bigger than any player.
So, when I reminisce and talk about explayers performances for us on the pitch, and in this
instance Shay Given’s, his record with us far
outweighs his reasons for leaving just like Waddle,
Beardsley and Sir Les before him. I, along with the
majority, gave him a well justified good reception
when he eventually returned with Villa in February
2012 if only to shout ‘Dodgy Keeper’ once the
game kicked off of course. Democracy say’s we’re
free to choose but take into consideration an
alleged self imposed ban (he won’t step foot in St
James’ as a supporter until the FCB has gone)
before you judge.
Moving away from the topic of some
essentially using Given as the proverbial scapegoat
for us going down in 08-09, and onto the FCB
where all the current apathy lies and in truth, the
only reason we got relegated in 2009.
#Time4change are demanding action and rightly so.
But a valuable lesson learnt is if “all we care about
- is NUFC” then perhaps it’s a must that any
‘campaign’ continues as it has started, democratic,
peaceful and with purpose but fundamentally,
outside of St James Park.
The recent past has shown that protests
inside the ground simply affect the team in a bad
way. As well as the aforementioned terrible start to
the 86-87 campaign, it’s surely no coincidence that
we lost 4 of our first 6 home games of the 1987-88
on the back of ‘Sack the Board’ chants in anger at
replacing Peter Beardsley with a new stand,
Mirandinha and.…Glyn Hodges? Granted, the
mood changed somewhat when Mira found his feet,
Gazza became unplayable and Michael O’Neill
scored for fun to push us into a well respected 8th
position but the angst against the board continued
in force once Gazza was sold. I’ve still got a copy
of the televised game v Man United (a bore
goalless draw with Brian Tinnion’s free-kick off the
post our only chance) in the 1988-89 season and the
animosity and contempt towards the board is
venomous. There is hardly one song supporting the
11 on the pitch and in an interview I read from
1989, John Hendrie, who had just left for Leeds
United confirmed the despair this gave off saying
“It was hard at home last year with all the shit in
the background because the fans wanted to help the
team but at the same time they wanted to get at the
board.” 3 wins at home that season and we were
relegated.
For some this may be hard to accept but
consider the knock on effect the chanting on the
terraces has on the team as obviously indicated
during 1988-89 and for most of the 2008-09
relegation seasons.
Moving forward inside SJP, it is essential
we concentrate purposely on supporting players
who we hope will earn the right of our unreserved
admiration in the Black and White shirt and who, at
the end of the day, represent us, and the unfortunate
heartache that seems to come with it.
Photos: Singe Vert Photography
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