On and off the (metaphorical) bench
Hi, hope you are all well.
As a player, when you get to a certain age you begin to look back on your career and identify key junctions where things could have gone one way or another. In my case there have been about three or four, but one in particular springs to mind.
I was in my second season at Hartlepool United and it was a wet midweek game against a then high-flying Luton Town side destined for the Championship. Unfortunately, that night I had one of those games that all players dread but that we all experience, some more often than others.
I was awful and midway through the second half, I was unsurprisingly substituted to a chorus of boos and ironic cheers. It was at that moment that I fully appreciated one of the negative aspects of playing at a lower level before comparatively small crowds - you can hear the individual comments directed at you and it's fair to say most of the comments about me that night were not complimentary!
I got home about midnight and, as is my usual routine after a game, started replaying it in my head, but this time I was embarrassed by the things I was remembering.
Just then the phone rang and it was assistant manager Martin Scott (who later went on to become Hartlepool manager). If ever I needed a pick me up, this was the time and he told me to keep believing in myself, that the manager had faith in me and I would be starting the next game.
People go on about man management, and for me this is the perfect example of how it should be done. The lift he gave me meant a great deal to me. The next match we were away at Port Vale, we won 1-0 and I was named man of the match.
Following the crowd's reaction to me in the Luton match, I really did fear that my time at the club was up. Usually when a set of fans single out a certain player in that way, they carry on doing so.
Fortunately for me this did not happen and I think there are two reasons for that. One is that it acted as a wake-up call for me and in my mind I was not going to let it happen again, I was going to make sure I came back stronger from the experience.
The second reason was quite simply that the people of Hartlepool are a forgiving bunch and the penny dropped with me that if you give absolutely everything for them, they will accept you and I think, on the whole, that is true for most fans.
At this point I would like to make it clear that I am not advocating fans should "boo" players if they want a positive reaction from them. Everyone is different, some guys come back stronger, others can crumble - let me know if you can think of any examples of either.
The reason I look at this episode as a turning point is that it helped me become a lot tougher mentally. I tend to think if I could deal with a few thousand people booing me and come back from it, I can deal with most things.
As any regular readers of this blog will know, I help out with my little boy's under 8's team. Last weekend we had a new boy playing his first game for us and the manager told him that although initially he would be on the bench, he would get on at some point. Two minutes later the little lad came over to me and said that he had been over to where the manager pointed but there was no bench!
For the rest of the match, I made a point of noting the various football clichés that were being shouted from the sidelines and the reactions of the boys. It was obvious that they had no idea what the adults were on about.
It was particularly amusing when one dad shouted to his son to "get the second ball", you could actually see the little lad looking for it!
Hello, I'm Gavin Strachan. I describe myself as a "journeyman" player after 13 years in the game as a professional. I'm currently between clubs, having been released by Notts County. I'm also studying journalism and the aim of my blog is to provide an insight into the life of a footballer.
Here are some 
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~30~RS~)
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Excellent blog Gavin, I have thoroughly enjoyed reading your insightful anecdotes...keep up the good work!
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First time i've read your blog Gavin, and I was pleasently surprised. I won't lie, initially I had seen your blog advertised and thought 'why and who?' which is a little unfair as the insight you have given into lower league football and some off pitch life is both interesting and amusing.
Good job, i'll make sure I read from now on.
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again very good blog I myself coached a team that when i joined hadn't won a point a year later we finished top half and took points off everyone in the league, I did myself find myself talking about benches, second balls, watching lines and got some funny looks from these 9 year olds but fantastic fun though! At least these lads knew more than they parents! as they say some people aren't happy unless they are moaning! Great blog again couple of questions 1) Do you think your old man will ever get a chance at a top 6 club his record as a manager is good?
2) when u going to be on motd/football focus?
Keep it up mate love the blog!
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hahahahahahahaha, that's very funny, cheers Gavin! excellent blog throughout.
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One player springs to mind when you talk of the terraces and their effect on players moral....
Jason Lee.
At Mansfield now I believe but how much influence did the whole 'pineapple' thing have on his career?
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Good blog Gav, Hartlepool fans are a canny bunch.
Anyway, Dads and young players....
My lad was playing for a local under 11 team and one particular dad was prancing up and down the line shouting instructions to his kid. After a while the young lad turned round and shouted "For ****'s sake, shut up dad!"
Priceless. Next game the dad kept his trap shut.
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gav
can u give us some more of the under 8's stuff ? that'll be real fun..
its an amazing read though, your entire blog.
cheers !!
yash.
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Great Blog! Other odd requests to the players..
"look for the square ball"
"get right up his backside" (er no thanks!)
"Hit the Line"
"TIME" (um ten past 3?)
"Open up your body" (WHAT!"
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One player who seemed badly affected by booing was Carl Tiler whilst at Pompey. It must be said that he wasn't the most blessed with footballing talent, but for whatever reason a section of the crowd got on his back and it seemed to destroy any little confidence he had left. His contract wasn't renewed by Redknapp and, at a relatively young age, he drifted out of the game.
It was an unusual situation, because at Pompey we have never been the type to boo our players (and boy, have we had a cast to choose from should we really have wanted to!), and I don't think he was as bad as some supporters made out.
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It is great to see a footballer writing about matters that are far more relevant like grassroots. I grew up in France, and when I moved back to England i joined a club, but could not make any sense of the jargon that was being shouted out.
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Great Blog.. I coach under 7s rugby... and you think coaching football is easy. Today one lad, playing rugby for the first time, ran to the try line to score his first try.. (a really ah bless hope mum and dad are here to watch moment)... when he turned on the try line and ran towards his own one....
Still having watched England vs Australia yesterday... I did think he is a real find as at least he found one try line and was looking for another!
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good blog gavin, the under 8 stuff is funny and its nice to get a view from "the other side" ie not a pampered premier league player, there was a good story from Tony Adams the other day, apparenly a player would not sign for him at Wycombe because the board wouldnt give him £90 for his TV licence ..... Kev D .... Sunderland Fan
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On my debut for my cub team, aged 9, the coach told me to 'read the game'; I nodded, looked determined and ran on clueless!
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Hey Gavin
That was a top read, from start to finish. Thoughtful, honest, well structured and funny!
The problem is that you've got to match your own standards in the future...
Good luck!
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Hi Gavin,
Love the blog, a great read for any football fan.
A quick question about the booing, do you think that modern fans are very quick to boo, in some circumstances unreasonably so?
I'm a season ticket holder at a Championship side and it seems that it's an automatic response to any loss, or even drawing at half time. Does that get you down as players? Are we as the fans expecting too much, like the Arsenal fans booing their players off after losing to Villa. It's like the minimum expectation is a win and it's unacceptable to ever have an off day.
I make a point of not being a critical fan (because there are many, many of those out there) because I know football is an incredibly hard game to play well enough to be a professional.
Sometimes I think that fans forget how hard it actually is. Anyway, I'd be interested in your perspective, keep up the blogging
Cheers
Dave
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I've never really understood singling out a particular player for booing. What exactly can be achieved? The fans in question probably weren't thinking it was going to gee him up so i just dont get it.
Of course, booing a team at the end of the game is absolutely fine.
I'd be interested to know how initimidating it actually is? I can't imagine it's much fun for a goalie getting booed, esepcially by your own fans. Problem is, one of the great things about lower league football is that you feel you can have an impact as a fan - it appears this works both ways though.
Keep up the blog - it's genuinely the only blog i read, sporting or otherwise.
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Post 17 . It is a difficult one really . First and foremost fans pay their money and are entitled to voice their opinions . It can give the players a wake up call but players know when they are having a bad game anyway so in that respect the boos dont really help.
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A good read, Gavin. Methinks you are succeeding in your journalistic goals.
I look forward to seeing you score some more...
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Hi Gavin, I'm really enjoying the blog - please keep up the good work. I particularly enjoy the stuff about your involvement in your son's team as I also help out with my lads' teams. Your comment about the cliches that we all use not being understood buy young players is bang on - I'll never forget my eldest son's first game, in which he was playing in defence and the coach shouted "full backs, tuck in!". I swear my son was looking around to see where the sandwiches were...
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post 18 . It can be intimidating and obviously is not a nice feeling , especially by your own fans but if you are going to have a long career you have to be able to take the rough with the smooth.
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post 21 . I like that . thats a good one !.
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post 7 . Jason lee is a great example of coming back stronger from criticism or ridicule . He deserves enormous respect for dealing with what he went through . Having got to know Jason pretty well it does not really surprise me as he is a very mentally strong person.
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"Of course, booing a team at the end of the game is absolutely fine."
I don't necessarily agree with this point of view. As a Liverpool fan I find that some - a minority - of our fans are far too inclined to react too easily to a disappointing result and can boo anything short of a win. I suspect the same can be said with other teams and it is a down-side to the expectancy we have in life these days of getting what we want right now. Sometimes, and all too often, these expectations and the knee-jerk reactions are just not thought through and are unrealistic.
Additionally it seems there is no middle ground. People seem to be either one extreme or the other. It seems that it is better to have an extreme reaction to something than to have little or none.
Sometimes I miss the British stiff upper-lip. Where did it go?
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Enjoyable read Gav. Booing seems to be more in fashion these days, more at the failing team than the individual player.
Liked the FL podcast interview with Mark C. Good luck with the journalism course.
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Just disovered your blog, a super read. Just wondering, which team did you support as a child? Aberdeen Leeds or Man U?
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Hi Gavin. Good blog as always. Interesting point you made about man-management. Speaking of which, how do you think Harry redknapp should handle his goalkeeping crisis? Does he put an arm round Gomes, boost his confidence and hopefully he'll cut out the mistakes? How long can you do that before you have to admit defeat and drop him and what effect does dropping a player who is not playing well have on the player himself?
What do other posters think?
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Re:26
I personally believe booing is more prevelent these days simply because people pay a lot more to go and watch. There have been issues with my team, Morecambe, this season with comments shouted from the sidelines. There are lines that shouldn't be crossed, but I personally found the reaction from various club officials to be completely over the top.
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I remember Goran Bunjevcevic (the "Serbian Beckenbauer") having the crowd on his back when he was down in the corner having done something daft. He turned around to face the booers and gestured towards them as if to say "do you think this is helping?". I don't care how much people pay in to matchs, booing the players is just the height of bad manners.
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First time I've read your blog Gav, good read.
I can still remember vividly the pen you earned for the sky blues against Sheffield Utd in the quarter final of the FA cup in '98. Pity we never got through that round, though we did beat the villa in the 5th rd. Them were the days... Definitely think that booing is becoming more prevalent now, especially at clubs that have seen better days or expect instant success.
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Think the only time booing is acceptable, and understandable, is when players aren't trying.
Despite what we'd all love to think, not every player will care 100% every game.
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Hi Gav
Very good and so true. Long time ago I studied to be a PE teacher and one athletics coaches was a former Greek shot putter/hammer thrower called Stamatakis. His favourites were - "get together in pairs of three" and "put your feet closer apart". He got nasty if you didn't do it!
Mark
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When I used to watch Notts County regularly in the 70s, there was always someone in the crowd who shouted "You're rubbish, Notts". This happened whether they were winning or losing! Probably a Forest fan.
The only time I think it's OK to boo your own player is when they are obviously not trying - and even then it's possible they are not fully fit.
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Ay up Gav.
Notts fan here. Like reading the blog.
Interesting what you say re: booing. I know Paul Mayo has been singled out by the boo boys at Meadow Lane.
You can see the confidence drain out of him so it is obviously not helpful when football is such a confidence based game.
Its a case of mis-guided passion from the fans i think in most cases and nothing personal.
Although got to say, the abuse Dave Norris of Ipswich got at Doncaster was fully deserved on saturday night.
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Thanks. Nice Blog. Enjoyed reading it.
Nice to get some insight from a players perspective and specially in the lower leagues.
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At Watford we turned on one player - Jordan Stewart.
Sometimes th booing was 'over-the-top'
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Very interesting Gavin, a great insight into football at the "lower" end.I played local football for over 20 years ( never to a very high standard) so have heard just about all the so-called "buzz" terms. to hear these shouted to 8-9 year olds amazes me. I took my son all over as he developed, my biggest surprise.....the foul mouthed, ignorant parents on the "circuit" have you encountered this?
IronYid
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The Plymouth Argyle crowd often give Luke Summerfield a lot of stick, but the lad just cannot play at home. We're reliably informed that he has blinders in every away match, but he can't replicate that form at Home Park.
Great read once again, Gav.
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the best conifidnce player i can think of as a Newcastle fan is Albert Luque, the fans gave him every opportunity to shine, but for some reason he couldn't
If you see his goals as a Mallorca/Deportivo player, he seems a world beater.
great blog though Gavin
do you thin you would fancy a managers job in the future? your old man isn't too shabby
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What makes you blog so refreshing is the honesty.
thanks Gavin
Andrew McP
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Gavin. I played international sport, not every weekend,, so how do players reach those standards every weekend? Is there alot mindgames being played at training? or is it really that all 24 players are on the same team sheet?
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Hi Gavin, Once again a great blog which i thoroughly enjoyed reading.
I think fans who boo a team generally after a bad performance or losing to a rival are justified as its down the emotions of football and the event taking over.
However i must say boo boys who pick on a individual whether he has played a bad game or not is what i dont agree with. OK if the player has jumped into the crowd feet first or something similair then maybe he deserves some heat but after a bad performance its going to do nothing but hurt.
I am a Coventry City fan and i have been to a fair amount of games in the last few years and we are becoming a crowd of boo boys, we have a knack of singling out individuals most recently Julian Gray.
Now Julian Gray has left the club initially on loan but i cant see him coming back to play for us. But his confidence hit rock bottom, he would get booed when they annouced the lineup over the tanoy he would get booed when being substituted.
Now granted he seemed to never reach his potential but in part this has to be blamed on confidence and how is he going to gain more if hes constantly booed?
Look forward to reading your next blog and keep up the good work fella.
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Gavin - first time I read your column and as a father of a girl who loves playing football without knowing many rules, I enjoyed it.
Much better than trying as hard as Robbo, this relaxed approach makes you actually funnier.
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What does it take to be booed? Ashley Cole was booed my England fans because his lame back pass resulted in a goal in his last game, did nobody pick up the 'stand in captain' Rio Ferdinand did not even attempt to marshall the ball back as JT would have done?
Being booed is not motivational or encouraging. Should people be booed in every day life for making mistakes? Look how people react when they are told something negative about what they have done great or small.
Players like Shevchenko and Chris Sutton for Chelsea did not live upto their price tag.
They were not persistently booed but when they found the net they were encouraged by chants in their name.
The fans play an important part to the teams motivation. When a crowd is behind a player or team look how they play, Liverpool at home, amazing, Chelsea in champions league, not premier form. Different crowd.
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Another excellent Blog.
Back to Jason Lee - he did attract ridicule with the "pineapple in his head" hairstyle and the ensuing song. I guess he wouldn't have made such an exhibition of himself if he didn't have the humour to take the stick. From what I remember, he was a good, athletic player. But how long did the silly hairstyle last? Any Forest fans know?
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We've recently started playing 5-a-side (well 4 to 6 ish!) football at lunchtimes at work. A few of the guys aren't really football followers, and there's a couple of foreign lads. So when I started calling out "one-two!", "square ball" or "down the line" they were utterly confused. It's not helped by having no lines marked on the pitch, so there aren't any line to go down. So it's not only 8 year old who haven't learnt these expressions.
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Good honest stuff Gavin.
I like it and although I guess you don't have too much space, could we have a little more depth to some of these items please ?
YNWA
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Good blog as per usual Gavin, only little complaint is for you to make it a bit longer...
Other than that keep up the good work!
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I really don't agree with booing at all. Often you will hear liverpool singing at the top of their voices win lose or draw. I don't think booing your team because they lost will help the following week, I think cheering them will show that you do really care and support them and they will want to perform better in the next game.
As for the under 8's cliches etc. I remember my first game about age 8 and being told to 'hog the line', had no idea what line my manager meant!
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Unfortunatley booing Mickey Mellon when he came back to Tranmere for his second spell never worked....he was still useless! I have always been criticised by other fans for voicing my opinions to certain players,but at the end of the day football is in the entertainment industry therefore for those of us paying at the turnstiles we have a right I believe to question the 'value for money' on offer. Those of us who support lower division teams do not expect world class displays just 100% effort by our team. Gavin, It is nice to know the jeers you got from Hartlepool spurred you on to play better the next week. Mickey Mellon I think must have been as deaf as a door post as he never improved. Nice win on Saturday, keep it up mate!
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Hi Gavin,
Great blog as usual, and yet another interesting insight into the world of a professional footballer - it may seem normal to you, but to the rest of us it's a total mystery!
I've always wondered how footballer's must deal with abuse from their own fans. My question is whether you ever played with Kyle Lightbourne at Coventry? I watched him many, many times when he played for Stoke - and I have never seen a player abused so badly by his own team's fans. One particular night stands out (and that says something, because he was abused every week) when I saw Stoke lose 3-0 away to Walsall in what is now League 1. I'd taken a couple of my school friends with me and they were both totally shocked by the level of abuse aimed at Lightbourne - it was vicious, deafeningly loud (it was Stoke afterall), relentless and humiliating. Yet he turned out for Stoke week after week, was abused week after week, and I wondered every time I saw him play whether he went home and cried himself to sleep - it really was that bad, I don't know if his family went to the games but if they did it must have been heartbreaking for them. The fact that he carried on playing says something about the guy, if I were him I'd have said 'I don't need this - see you later' and signed for a lower division team where I might look good - I have to be honest, he was pretty bad at Stoke. How does a player like that deal with it? Does he think, well I might be abused, but at least I get paid to play football? Does he block it out, pretend it doesn't happen, or was he the sort of guy who didn't care?
I hope you'll be able to answer my question, it's an interesting topic which most of the time we accept as being part of the game - but there are people who suffer because of it, and we rarely hear about that.
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The only time i'd ever justify booing, is if the player doesn't look interested and plays like he simply isn't bothered. as a stockport fan, i saw plenty of these from our fall from the championship to the bottom of the football league.
we pay alot of money to watch our teams round the country and would give anything to wear that shirt. fair enough every player has a bad game and i would never boo a player for this but when it looks as though they simply don't care, this is when it's too hard to take.
great blog btw.
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Ah, it's your blog and certain half decent football magazines that remind me football is the pursuit of sane people, not just super rich would-be club owners and rabid journalists looking for the next Earth-shattering Wenger quote along the lines of "I think, you know, some of my players are very good".
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An honest and well-written piece, Gavin, particularly your observation about the amount of clichés in football - "get the second ball" etc.
I play for my University on a Wednesday and Saturday and if I had a pound for every time I heard that or "split the defence" (onlookers would be forgiven for thinking my Manager was advocating assault on opposing players) and other footballing clichés, I would be a very rich man indeed rather than the poor student I actually am!
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I am in essence a virgin reader, but it wsa a particularily refreshing read. Being a supporter of the now mighty Hull City, i cannot help but miss the old days at Boothferry Park, when i felt my voice had an impact, especially upon the often lethargic players we had at the time.
Does anyone esle agree, it was great in the smaller more confined atmosphere of a tiny stadium?
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Gavin, I've started reading your blogs over the last few weeks and they give a great insight into life outside the Premiership, keep up the good work.
As for the under 8's football you are involved in, I think parents should sometime be banned from these games and just let the kids play !
Cheers
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As a fan of a small(ish) 'provincial' Scottish club I used to find the booing of one of our own players annoying and irrational. It became a "mob mentality" thing, a few of the hard-core would pick on whoever, week in, week out and others around them just joined in for the sake of it. The poor player could do no right, a brilliant tackle or defence splitting pass would be greeted with ironic cheers not applause; the most minor of mistakes met with howls of derision and abuse. Is it any wonder some players lose confidence? As a supporter I found it disheartening, goodness knows how the team and the individual concerned must have felt.
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Is it just me or should we maybe give up the 'well done Gavin' posts now and get on with commenting on the actual subject he is talking about?
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Well done Gav mate, cracking blog!!!
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As an Oldham fan your comments about the booing of players and their reaction to it struck a chord.
I'm referring to a teammate of yours, Richard Butcher. He came to us with a reputation as an exciting young player with great potential. Unfortunately, (and unfairly) he was targeted by a minority of fans, apparently solely on the basis he wore white boots, which some supporters didn't take kindly to. As a result he suffered dogs abuse. some of it really vicious and personal, and short of scoring a hat trick every week for a month he was never going to win these fans over. To his credit he never hid but his confidence must have been shot to pieces. Eventually the inevitable happened and the manager was forced to loan him back to Lincoln.
This was a shocking example of how a player can be affected by abuse from his own fans. What he endured was horrible at times and it's a credit to him that he's doing as well as he is when a weaker character might have left the game entirely.
So as a latics fan who appreciated Richard when he was here please pass on my best wishes. I notice he doesn't wear white boots anymore though!
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I remember being about 8 or 9 and my school coach used to use the phrase "if in doubt, boot it out". I obviosuly misunderstood what he meant as half way through a game I didn't know who to pass to or what to do with the ball, so being "in doubt" I calmy side-footed it "out" for a throw in!
Rather embarrassing I have to say!
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I once read an advert in my local paper asking for an 'experienced centre-half' to join a local under 9s team!
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Gavin, great blog.
I am an Everton fan and it used to really annoy me when supporters got on the back of David Unsworth - didn't matter if he was playing good, bad or indifferent, they just didn't like him and thought he wasn't good enough to wear the royal Blue jersey.
I remember he had Mark Hughes in his metaphorical pocket during the 95 cup final but that didn't seem to matter.
Regardles of whether Dave was blessed with god given talent or not, he always gave 100% for the cause and if he wasn't good enough to play surely the manager should have been getting the stick for playing him - a footballer can only give you what they have.
We have had far better players playing for us but only a few would give their all for the jersey, too much thought about getting injured and not enough about pride for the club and supporters.
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Interesting that you made the point that after leaving the pitch to a chorus of 'boos' you saw it as a 'wake-up' call and the next game got ' man of the match'. Obvously such a reaction could only come from someone with maturity and within their own comfort zone. How will you react to a damning criticism of your writing if you are to pursue a career in journalism ?....keep up the honesty
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I'm a pools fan living in essex. Just want to let you know you're 100% right in what you said. If you show the pools fans you're giving everything then they will back you all the way, if you look like you dont care, and there have been many performances in pools shirt like that, then we will let you know!!
Also its great to hear from a "proper footballer" about what its like in the lower leagues. You will always be welcome in town end as what ou said in your blog proves yu care about the club you play for.
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After the league game at Exeter where we lost 3-0 it really got to most Gillingham fans and booing was becoming more common. I often think that booing is bad but our away form had been atrocious, which in most recent season it has been just the peformances were dire. Anyway back to the point. Our manager, Mark Stimson, openly accepted he was starting to feel the pressure and 99 out of 100 fans would want him sacked. But next game the players were motivated and we beat Morecambe 5-0 then salvaged a draw away which was a great result away from home because it was at Bradford, we were 2-0 down and had a player sent off. Since that 3-0 loss weve only really had one rubbish performance and that was at Lincoln and got through the FA cup and we beat Rotherham 4-0 at the weekend. Stimson did show some guts because he dropped and stripped Crofts of the captaincy and gave it to Fuller and we have been rejuvinated since :). So to sum it all up the abuse/boos have seemed to have turned our season around.
Also completely off the topic, do you think that lower league clubs do not get enough attention so children arent supporting their local clubs theyre supporting the 'glamour' clubs of the prem they never see?
Nice to see a lower leagues player's views and just goes to show that football players are real people... well in the 'real' football leagues :)
GIILLLLLLLLLLLSSSSSSS
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Hi Gavin
Another great blog, I have enjoyed all of them to date, always honest, informative and with genuine 'real life' humour.
My 7 year old son plays for our Local Junior Team in Wakefield (Wrenthorpe Rangers) and I have been posting links to your blogs on their forum.
http://www.wrenthorperangers.org/
Today's has even had some feedback comments as I added a suggestion of other 'touch line' misunderstandings. (Feel free to go and have a look, but you may have to register first with the 'admin' guy!!??)
Keep up the good work and good luck.
Many thanks
Grant
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Excellent, all in all the best blog on the bbc that I have read.
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25 meet 50 (you must be at different sides of the ground).
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Jason Lee, a great character. At Gills he was given more than his fair share of barracking that opposing players get. Took it all in good humour with a smile on his face and thumbs-up signs to the home end. Got applauded at the end for his reactions and is still thought of highly by Gills fans.
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Great read as ever Gav. As a proud Tranmere fan I love reading stuff by Footy League players, it's "real".
On the subject of booing players...
I don't want to name names so I will keep the dates vague otherwise it will identify the player.
At an away game I was sat next to this chap I had never met, but he is one of the familiar faces you see at away games (fans of smaller clubs with small away followings will appreciate that).
Anyway, midway through the second half, a game we'd been losing since about 5 mins in, he turned to me and said "what a refreshing change, you haven't booed one player".
From here the conversation advanced and it turned out he was the dad of a Rovers player who was booed regularly (and totally wrongly imo). He was skipper for the day and was having a blinder, yet as he lacked pace for the roll the manager had given him, yet again some of our fans were balling at him.
His dad told me because of his style of play he had suffered this at several clubs so it was now water off a ducks back, but it did hurt at times. Being an experienced pro, he had helped younger players through it at other clubs. After that day, and when I spoke with several first team players a few months later, I realise just how much of the stick players get and can hear.
Incidentally, the player in question left to a bigger club in our league, won promotion 2 months later and remains at a higher level to this day. Shows how much our minority of fans knew.
Keep up the good work
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Howsa goin Gav ? New to the BBC blog and just spent the last while reading all your stuff. Gotta say man, I love it. Im 18, I also have a serious passion for the game and coincidentally I study journalism. Just though Id let ya know I was impressed and cant wait for more stuff, Tanx mate.
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Hi Gavin,
An example of a player who was booed and given a rough ride early in his career , a certain Frank Lampard ! Incredible to think now how he had to win over his West Ham fans who accused him of being overweight and only a pro because of his father ! I wondered if you yourself had to win over people in a way because of your father but couldnt recall if you played under him at Coventry perhaps? Anyway good luck, nice work.
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ah the good old days when luton were flying!
on the subject of kids football, someone i know was playing when he was about 11 or 12, and his dad shouted 'get a hold of it', he caught the ball in his own penalty area! priceless!!!!
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Gavin
Have to confess have not caught up with your blog in a while but again I enjoyed the article! I think we all lie in bed replaying things in our lives and it is interesting that you talk about this as I suspect most fans think that modern day players simply dont care.
Ever get that Stewart Imlach book?
Cheers
Norrie
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Great stuff Gavin, you were a top player at Pools. I think it's funny that the removed posts were by sad Darlow fans. They are only jealous!
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Re 70
25 did see 50 and had a wry smile.
As you yourself suggested, the experiences are not necessarily mutually exclusive ;)
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