Boo the bully boys
I'm really glad in a perverse sort of way, that Hibbo can't play on Wednesday. Glad because he won't be subjected to some of the awful abuse he gets from some individuals when he's on the pitch. If Nuno plays no doubt he'll get it in the neck for not passing, passing, pushing up, staying back, tackling, not tackling...... you get the picture?At the game against Chelsea, the numpty who sits a few rows behind me shouted 'Hibbert, you're effing shite'. Anyone spot the deliberate mistake? Yes, Hibbo wasn't even playing, yet this guy launched a tirade of abuse at the lad shortly after Chelsea scored. Like it was HIS fault. This man spends most of the game, every game in fact, abusing all the team, one after another but his particular favourites are Hibbo, Jags, Nuno and Cahill. These players can do nothing right, nothing at all. Even Mikel is a lazy fucker according to him.
Am I missing something? Do people think it's okay to be abusive to players? "I pay my money and I'm entitled to an opinion"? Well, yes, but money does not give anyone the right to be abusive. Have an opinion and express it but constantly calling someone a 'useless fucking twat' hardly constitutes constructive criticism. or will help a player raise his game.
Perhaps I'm just a bit naive and old fashioned, I'm there to support the players, no matter whether they are at their best or not. Once they walk onto that pitch they have my total and unconditional support. As long as a player is putting his best effort into his game, I can't expect anymore.
Why do we assume that a player like Hibbert can play like the best right back in the league? He can't but he does give his heart and soul to his team. If DM selects him to play, regardless of what the 40,000 experts (us) might think, surely we should support him and the rest of those players who are going about their job to the best of their abilities.
Does anyone seriously believe that Hibbo, Nuno and the others could play much better than they do, that they deliberately miss a tackle or misplace a pass? Once they're out there, they know better than anyone else whether they're having a 'mare or not and screaming at them will not make them perform any better. For 90 minutes they should have our support. Moan about it afterwards but not during the match, it just doesn't make any sense to reduce a player's confidence even more.
I know people have their favourites who can do no wrong and those who can do no right, however well they play, but there must be a point where objectivity should kick in and recognition that everyone has strengths and weaknesses in their game.
As for the bloke and his 'everyone is effing shite', well, I have to wonder what enjoyment he gets from coming to the match because he seems to be totally frustrated by everything he sees. I'm really glad I didn't sit near him when we were fighting relagation a few years ago ? bet he was a right bundle of laughs then!
He pays his money, yes, but he's one hard to please young man and perhaps I'm just a sentimental old woman who feels for those lads being given a torrid time by some foul mouths at the ground.
Anyway, this time last week we were all buzzing ready for the Chelsea game and by goodness we rocked the old lady to her foundations on the night. Disappointed of course but we have another important game in two days time and we need to get behind the lads again, I don't believe we will be able to recreate the same atmosphere but we should give it a bloody good go. That night I was proud (as always) to be an Everton supporter. I was proud of my team, my fellow supporters at GP, well almost all of them and happy to be a part of all that is Everton. Come on you Blues we can do this!
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It's fans like them that we need to be getting out of the game, I don?t mind them voicing their opinions but ffs some of the stuff that's shouted out is just pointless.
What is far more disturbing is the number of morons who still get away with racist and other biogoted comments about our own players, the opposition and their fans.
Suprise Suprise this normally happens when things are going against us.
Love them or hate them we all have our favourite players and unfortunately a few have their own personal whipping boys.
But when they cross that white line with the Everton shirt on they deserve all the support we as fans can give them.
To all the boo boys out there do you honestly think a player will play better if when he makes a mistake he is absolutely slaughtered for it?
I
would suggest that getting the abuse that some of our players get actually makes them more nervous and likely to make more mistakes.
I am not saying dont shout at the players but shout things that encourage the player to perform better and not the hateful personal attacks that some of the less intelligent among us resort to.
Tell you what lets save the abuse for the opposition ang get behind the lads in blue,now wouldnt that be a novelty.
I can honestly say even in the depths of great disapointment and despair I have never ever booed at the blue shirt during or after a game,I just dont think it gets you anywhere..COYB
Better to attack the opposition !
They might as well stay in the house coz they are no help to the fuckin team acting like that.
I have been going to the game since I was a small lad and have heard plenty of abuse directed towards the referee, opposing teams and wait for it, even our own team. If fans want to have a go then that is up to them. Yes we are there to offer our support and some of us do it in rather peculiar ways, but who am I to tell Joe big gob to shut up. He has paid the same money as me and is entitled to vent his frustrations without fear of castigation. Ok there are certain lines that shouldn’t be crossed, but for gods sake lets not get all hysterical about this. The passion of the game has been eroded enough by the clueless people at the FA without us starting to censor ourselves.
I am not advocating a free for all where anything goes, but football is an emotional game and we as people all handle emotions in different ways. We are not robots and just because you might have the self control not to shout at one of our own for yet another misplaced pass it doesnt mean that everybody is going to be able to bite their tongue.
You will find that most of these so called big gobs are also very passionate Evertonians, ok they may not be nice to listen to, but dont let it bother you. I can assure you that if I was on 40k per week then you could call me anything you like as often as you like.
Personally I have never seen the point of outwardly criticizing the player on the field - an inward groan is quite sufficient (Simon Davies was my pet hate). Surely it is more to do with the manager, who picks the team, rather than the player who may just not be good enough. As long as they put the effort in and keep their concentration, I don?t think we can ask much more of the individual player.
On a lighter note, did anyone see a small article in the Sunday Mirror, it said that a journalist at the Chelsea game heard a fan shout something like, you "Fucking piece of shit, you are a fucking cunt, you twatty little bastard", to which another fan turned around and shouted, "Nan, is that you" ah ha ha ha, classic, we realy do have a great sense of humour in our kneck of the woods don?t we!
That?s simply my comment.
We all get excited and shout things, I was even shouting for Moyes head after the Spurs game last season - an I’m a big Moyes fan. But I hate the singling out of players. Hibbo’s abuse especailly disgusts me. He is Everton through and through and he has been one of our better players recently! But unfortunately once some fans have it in for a player thats it!
A young striker made his home debute and in his nervousness fluffed an easy chance. Mr big gob in the seat behind informed us all that this player was the biggest pile of shit we’d ever signed.
He’d made his position clear and ranted and raved about this player every game for the rest of the season - every mistake he made... gobshite was on him.
Happened the season after... I got fed up picking bits of expelled pie out my hair and moved seats before I lost my rag with him (some had already - but it never stopped him).
About eight years later, I ended up in my old seat and the fella was still at it... same player... YOU’RE SHIT YOU ARE!!! every time he touched the ball
Graeme Sharp was the player
Nobody is asking for football matches to be polite applause. The issue is with supporters yelling and screaming the worst names imaginable at their own players. This does nothing to inspire or help the team you are suppose to be supporting. The only thing it accomplishes is what has already been said, the other team actually gets more motivated as they can hear the fans of the other side turning on their players. Yell, sing, scream for you team to do well, and yell in anger to push the team on. Anybody will respond better after a mistake if 35,000 people are yelling "Come on, you?re better than that" instead of just instantly resorting to "Your?e shite, you cunt, fucking useless". How does that help your team? That?s what we?re asking
Support the team as loudly as you want but to get in the gutter and behave like a neanderthal is not a right because you have paid. Weed these low lifes out and bar them. I?m obviously talking about the very worst offenders here, not someone who may get over excited on the odd occassion.
We were 6-1 up and yet this nugget in front still screams at the lads calling them lazy bastards because one of their players had a little through run!!
What makes it worse is that one of them is a Sunday league ref and you can imagine what bollocks he comes out with.
I am consistently arguing with them over refereeing decisions, as they are so biased it is untrue, which in itself is fair enough but even I can admit when we have committed a foul or are deffinitely offside.
The worst example I have ever heard was our wonderful crowd when Rooney came back for his first game. If there was not a police force there then I am sure he would have been lynched. Sadly that night it was more than half the crowd whose behaviour was beyond anything I have ever witnessed.
It is the way things are now though. People never fight outside pubs without knifing or kicking somebody to death. Things have gone weird in this country, there are lots of angry people with no respect for anybody else and football is not immune I am afraid.
Compared to who? If you say Neville I would have to disagree as his passes are on par with Rhino’s, the same with his "long" throw ins, just float it up in the air and hope for the best.
At least Hibbert tried to look for Arteta to give the pass not just try and float it forward which inevitably ends up with the opposition getting the ball back.
Hibbert’s distribution may be poor but nowhere near as bad as Neville’s
Of course it’s an emotional game and as a passionate Evertonian I come away from some games fit to burst with frustration but I am also a person with a degree of dignity and I have respect for other people, that includes players on £40k a week!
I don’t understand why in almost every walk of life we have to drop down to the lowest common denominator and accept whatever behaviour we are presented with.
There is a fine line between voicing an opinion and being just plain abusive, sometimes that line is crossed in spectacular fashion. Passion yes, frustration, some of the time but plain nasty vitriolic abuse, no thanks.
I watched the Chelsea game last week in a local pub and had to listen to to youngish and one not so young blues make the following comments.
"Fuck off Johnson" ""Fucking shite Arteta" and my personal favourite, "Oooh you're fucking shite" aimed at Ossie.
It?s little wonder we only have short highlights on MOTD when the language coming out of the stands is so bad. I always like to listen to Barry Horne try to contain his laughter on the radio while the bloke infront of him is telling some opposing player what for.
Although sometimes I do cringe with some of the things I hear being shouted at times.
If you’ve paid 30 odd quid for a ticket to see a match and on that particular day let’s say Osman (a good example) has one of his ’I don’t want to play today’ performances, then thats disrespectful to the paying fan! If someone then decides to shout ’Come on Osman, get your Finger out’ then fair enough (obviously that’s a clean version of what I’ve heard the punters shout to Ossie). On the same day, I may feel Osmans doing ok, but again, its all about opinion and while some may not agree with the hurling of abuse, I don’t think its anyone right to deny a paying fan his freedom of speech (within reason). Football’s football, we all know what to expect when we go to the match and I’m sure so do the players. And then there’s that old "If I could get 30 grand a week to be shouted at by a few fans, then I’d jump at the chance" chestnut!
Footballer’s are protected enough, without us worring about hurting there feelings! Whilst I’ll always support anyone wearing the blue shirt 100%, I’m also not going to lose sleep over them having there pride or feelings knocked from time to time, especially if its well warranted!


1 Posted 28/01/2008 at 15:38:17
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My son and I moved seats this season - we used to sit right by the away fans. That wasn’t why we moved though - it was a couple of lads behind who were filled with vitriol, and voiced it, about most playerrs in turn - their favourite Boo boy was Osman - although AJ was once called a baldy, lazy, fat c**t.