Apathy
ARTICLE BY FARMBOY MIKE
Not being a professional at this article lark I hope you will all forgive me if it comes across a little chaotic. As some may remember I posted before the Villa match that I was finding it difficult to get excited about the game. It got me thinking of this strange season and to be honest most of the time I haven’t enjoyed it, even when we were still winning after the injury crisis before post Xmas meltdown.
So what is it that has instilled this apathy into my sad demeanour? Well its not depression at lockdown before you all decide to get me sectioned, although there may be other farming related reasons more relevant to that action. I have found like others no doubt, that games without the fans seem pointless. The roar of the crowd and the collective joy of a goal scored or shared disappointment of one against plus the in game decisions, good or otherwise, are all reflected in the crowd noise. Canned crowds just don’t do it and very often are not even in synch with the game.
Then I got to thinking about the players and how it must be for them. They score a goal and the silence must be deafening and the most amount of adulation they get comes from the bench which is probably the same as a training game. Sort of, well done lads, and that’s it.
Added to this are all the really strange results with teams not finding any consistency apart from City who finally found their groove probably because they are used to playing in a half empty stadium. In saying that even they got a clip round the ear from 10 man Leeds last weekend. Lower level teams have been dishing out agony to us and others at the top of the league and then who would ever have predicted the Hammers to be in the top four.
I feel I am watching a team since Xmas that is physically and mentally exhausted from the endeavours of the previous season which they were not able to even share with the supporters, deal with the loss of key players and all the on field alterations that entailed and have now lost their motivation and are doing just enough to reach the “holy grail” of top four to save the season and looking forward to a reset come summer. Even if we had retained our top spot this year it would have been just another empty triumph.
That is what is making me feel this apathy and although I really do want us to win every game cannot find any joy when we do, it’s just another box ticked for me. One other point I would like to raise is the controversial practice of using VAR in the game. It is killing the game of football and I know I am preaching to the converted here and I won’t expand on it except to tell you what I did after our goal was disallowed against Villa. I was that pissed off I went into the back garden for a smoke and never returned until the second half by which time Salah had equalised. I cannot wait for the end to this season and return with a full stadium next year and to join in with the celebrations when we score, albeit at home in front of the telly, with the volume turned up to a Spinal Tap 11. Does anyone else feel the same apathy or is it just me?
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