The fans pay horrendously expensive prices to attend games because they feel a residual pride in the shirt and in the club that hasn't been entirely washed away by the tides of commercialization that have accompanied the modern game. Then they see the team limply ship two goals to opponents that work harder than our players, put in more effort and determination than our players, care more for their pride than our players care about our pride. Then they see the likes of Capoue laughing it up with the opposition when we're 2-0 down: they see most of the players run down the tunnel at full time without even bothering to acknowledge the displeasure of the crowd at the result, they see them gaily swapping shirts and chuckling with players from the other team as they head to their dressing rooms, and then they see them driving away in their supercars to their mansions in the countryside.
And then the players themselves turn around and accuse these fans of scaring them to a degree that they feel inhibited when trying to play the game.
Bull****, just pure cowardice and deceit masquerading as an attempt to apportion blame to anyone but the players themselves.
The anger of the fans didn't stop you yuk-yuk-ing it up with the opposition throughout the game. The anger of the fans didn't stop you from meekly surrendering to the opponent. The anger of the fans didn't prevent you showing no shame at the result and no remorse for the performance as you strolled down the tunnel, grinning and clutching a Stoke shirt.
No, it isn't like going to a gig to see the artist perform and then booing him. That's a completely inaccurate description. It's like those kids who bought tickets to see Justin Bieber perform, only to have him cancel at the last minute because he had a cold and didn't want to hurt himself performing for the fans who spent all that time and effort to go see him. It's like those people who bought Britney Spears tickets during her low period: all they got was a semi-coherent drunken sot screaming and lip-synching at them half the time. Did they have no right to complain about such a lackadaisical effort put in by the idols they paid to see?
Any fans will expect the same amount of effort put into the endeavor they pay good money to watch that they themselves put in. The ordinary fan in the stands spends a large chunk of his/her yearly earnings on the club, stands there as the years roll on and the icicles form and then melt on the overhangs above the pitch, all the while screaming himself hoarse in his/her own attempts (however misguided) to see his team pick up the three points on offer.
And what do they get from the players? Chuckles with the opposition, no pride in the shirt, no loyalty to the manager, no attachment to the club. And now, this. Cowardice and deception of the highest order, with the players pointing to the fans themselves as reasons for why they don't have a collective spine or any sense of shame.
F*ck you, Ade. There are systemic problems with the club that run far deeper than you, the manager or the team itself, but cravenly blaming the fans for your own lack of pride in the shirt and in yourself is taking the easy way out.
