Fickle, fickle fans thanks to the internet

A football club today is much like any other corporate organization and functions in respect to the timeline showcased by corporate giants. Development is steady and requires patience especially with money at stake in today’s marketing engineered brains.

Sir Matt Busby at Man United took 4 seasons to win his first League title not before winning the League Cup. He then went trophy less for a few season before his vision in youth policy kicked in and the rest we know is history. United would never be the same again.

Bill Shankly in his first few years in charge overturned Liverpool from a struggling 2nd division side to First Division Champions. From 1966 to 1970 he went through a barren spell consistently finishing just beyond the top 5 before rebuilding his team to set the foundations that helped his successor Bob Paisley catapult Liverpool into previously unimaginable success. Hard to imagine these mangers being successful in today’s world.

The examples are obvious and there for every layman to see.

This fickleness exhibited by fans probably is refection of the football culture we have now. Owners who change things at the blink of an eye and the ludicrous concept of “cash for instant success” dominate proceedings. Comparisons between players have become a religious routine encompassing trivial information, fake facts and almost propaganda like campaigns to malign other athletes; The pointless Ronaldo vs Messi debates springs to mind.

Sir Alex Ferguson continues to receive flak for simply holding an opinion about Steven Gerrard. Despite the immense praise he bestows on the Liverpool captain equating him with Graeme Souness as one of Liverpool’s finest, the Liverpool lobby comprising of ex-players have lashed out at Fergie for holding an opinion for which he is completely entitled in doing so be it popular or otherwise. It was expected that the manager would come out in Stevie’s defence, which was his duty, but the over-reaction to one cherry picked quote from a book is quite puzzling to fans on the other side of the divide.

Propaganda based campaigns to malign players find a place amongst fans today.

When I grew up watching football, Ronaldo, Ronaldhino, Zidane, Figo, Scholes, Davids, Giggs, Beckham, Rivaldo and Nedved were not constantly compared but were celebrated as a golden generation entertaining an extremely lucky generation of fans. Every new player in this increasingly technically superior generation of players is constantly associated with biased terms like “over-rated”, “waste of money” based on a handful if not an individual opportunity to impress.Gareth Bale was at the receiving end of vile abuse based on the performance in one game against Barcelona, a match in which Ronaldo and Messi were not at their usual strides themselves. Macheda was hailed as a future great for 2 goals that he scored in 2009 which no doubt were crucial, but to call it justified was absurd to put it in its mildest. His part in Manchester United’s present is non-existent. I could go on but it seems pointless right about now.

Whether fan IQ has diminished over the years or football’s increased commercial activity has to led to a legion of fans not well versed with the culture of the sport, one aspect of the game remains as a constant. Respect.Recent trends indicate that well respected players be it for whatever reason are much less prone to wild fluttering fan reactions be it positively or negatively as compared to the “bad boys” of the lot, a certain former Man City and current AC Milan player coming to mind instantly. The core of football principles pre-emanates the same values : Patience and Loyalty guarantee success and unless new fan bases cope with such values, football clubs in the future will have a hard time dealing with constantly shifting fan bases making Glory-Hunting a dictating principle of this great sport.