Hey, you, Chelsea. Leave our Ba alone!
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Hey, you, Chelsea. Leave our Ba alone!
Flagging fortunes whip up fan frenzy
Chelsea fans have vented their fury towards Benítez
Clive Rose/Getty Images
Last updated at 11:12AM, December 3 2012
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For an off-the-cuff comment, made five years ago, that Rafael Benítez quote about flags has really got a lot of traction.
Nobody’s even desperately sure exactly what he said: was it stupid plastic flags or just plastic flags? Or was it actually just flags? Does it make a difference? Probably not: it is still, apparently, the worst thing anyone has ever said about anything, despite the fact that it is basically true.
Look: at Liverpool, nobody hands out flags. They bring their own, of varying quality and artistic merit. At Chelsea, a club which has no tradition of what could be called organic vexillography, in an attempt to create a spectacle on European nights, they place flags on each of the seats, and people wave them. Juventus and Barcelona, to name but two, do it too. It works. It looks very nice.
Yes, what Benítez said was petty, and ill-judged, and a bit beyond the pale. But it is not like he called Chelsea pensioners scroungers, or suggested that John Terry should be spayed. He was in the middle of a petulant feud with José Mourinho – for which, at best, both men were equally responsible – and he maybe went a bit too far.
The Portuguese tended, in his barbs, to steer away from fans, preferring to concentrate his fire on opposing teams, players, managers, referees, their pets, their pets’ servants’ tennis partners. Benítez forgot that rule, and the comment has returned to haunt him. But to say that is uniquely disrespectful and all the other stuff is fine hints at a very curious morality.
Besides, Benítez’s basic point has been borne out in his brief, troubled reign as Chelsea manager. Chelsea fans just are not very good at making flags. They struggle, particularly, with slogans. They are simply not catchy enough.
My personal favourite came in Benítez’s first game, that drab goalless draw with Manchester City. “In Roberto Di Matteo, we trusted and loved. In Rafa we will never trust. Fact.” It’s too much of a mouthful. It’s too long. Too confused. Also, it was printed on A4 paper. All it needed was a clip art picture of a waiter and any nine-year-old would have been pretty chuffed with it.
There is a serious point here, though, and one that should not be lost in playful chiding of Chelsea’s disgruntled support. Over the last 11 days, Chelsea’s fans have found themselves in a quandary. They have had their voice ignored by their owner and found themselves lumbered with a manager the vast majority of them loathe. They want him out, as soon as possible. So do they want their team to win?
They are not alone in this. When Blackburn fans wanted rid of Steve Kean, was losing a couple of battles worth winning the war? Or when Bolton supporters had had enough of Gary Megson? Would a poor start to the season under Alex McLeish have seen his Aston Villa reign end quicker, allowing fans to get behind the club without reservation once more? Are there Arsenal fans taking vicarious pleasure in Arsene Wenger’s travails, because it will prove they were right to be worried, that he has taken the club as far as he can go, and because it may force their board’s hand?
This is a taboo subject for most fans. “Real” fans want their team to win every game. “Real” fans forget everything else when their players take to the pitch. “Real” fans, many Liverpool supporters felt, do not protest against a ruinous, debt-laden ownership during those sacred 90 minutes, lest they might distract the team from the pursuit of victory.
It is unclear where these rules are written down. In the course of speaking to a number of MK Dons fans last week, in the build-up to their FA Cup tie with AFC Wimbledon, one mentioned to me that he felt as though there is, in existence, “an unofficial rulebook on how to be a football fan. Nobody has ever seen a copy, but we all have to stick to it.”
Needless to say, supporting MK Dons is not in there. Standing by AFC Wimbledon, the true Wimbledon, is. That much was evident from the way that game was presented, on television, in print and social media: AFC good, MK Dons bad. Proper football fans, people who understand the game, wanted AFC to win, and the franchise to lose. Boo, the franchise, boo.
Now, obviously, Wimbledon fans have a right to feel aggrieved that their club was taken away from its ancestral homeland, and it is entirely understandable that they remain angry, and bitter, and cheated, at seeing the old, true Wimbledon, wrenched from their grasp, even if the alternative was liquidation. But why the fury from the rest of football? Surely the people of Milton Keynes are entitled to support their local team, however it got there? That is number one in the proper football supporters’ handbook: follow your local team.
That is outweighed, though, by the fact that the rest of it is not. You cannot conjure up a love for a new team. You cannot support one team, and then change to support another. A football team is like a condition. You are born with it, and you die with it, and occasionally from it. That’s why the chant “I’m [insert name here] ‘til I die” sounds less like a song of defiance and more like a confession that you have picked up a particularly nasty STI.
But the existence of MK Dons challenges all of that; it gives us a glimpse into the truth, that supporting a team is more complicated than that. You can fall out of love with your team. You can develop new allegiances, perhaps not as strong as before, but allegiances nonetheless. People who go to live football do it because they feel the bond with the crowd as much as with the team. You go for your friends, for the communal experience. If work or love or life takes you somewhere else, and you went to a few games, and made a few friends, your view may change.
That, though, runs contrary to the myth of the fan, this unyielding, ever loyal supporter, who would never betray their club, no matter how hated the manager is or how inept the owner or how bad the flags. And we must not challenge the myth of the fan, because that would make us less than ideal consumers; we would be able to pick and choose – just a little – who we supported, where we spent our money, rather than coming back for more, constantly, gluttonous, unthinking pigs, feeding from the trough, no matter what swill we are served.
It is in the interests of the clubs to perpetuate this myth, yes, but they are helped by the media monster. We are surrounded by 24-hour updates of every aspect of our club. There is no escaping football. If your team loses at the weekend, it is not a matter of getting through work on Monday; you have to get through the entire week; you probably can’t watch television, you almost certainly should not go on the internet, and you definitely would not pick up a paper.
There is no great mystery as to why fans are now more demanding, more impatient, more vitriolic, more abusive. It is because it matters more, and it matters more because you cannot get away from it. And if you do not show your anger, your rage, your puce-faced fury at everything that has gone wrong, you are not a proper fan. And we must, above all, be proper fans. And anyone who says we are not proper fans, well, they are impugning our reputation. They are showing us disrespect. And that simply will not do.
Chelsea fans have vented their fury towards Benítez
Clive Rose/Getty Images
-
Chelsea fans have vented their fury towards Benítez Clive Rose/Getty Images
Last updated at 11:12AM, December 3 2012
Sign in to read the article for free
{* loginWidget *}
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the game blog | Commentary
For an off-the-cuff comment, made five years ago, that Rafael Benítez quote about flags has really got a lot of traction.
Nobody’s even desperately sure exactly what he said: was it stupid plastic flags or just plastic flags? Or was it actually just flags? Does it make a difference? Probably not: it is still, apparently, the worst thing anyone has ever said about anything, despite the fact that it is basically true.
Look: at Liverpool, nobody hands out flags. They bring their own, of varying quality and artistic merit. At Chelsea, a club which has no tradition of what could be called organic vexillography, in an attempt to create a spectacle on European nights, they place flags on each of the seats, and people wave them. Juventus and Barcelona, to name but two, do it too. It works. It looks very nice.
Yes, what Benítez said was petty, and ill-judged, and a bit beyond the pale. But it is not like he called Chelsea pensioners scroungers, or suggested that John Terry should be spayed. He was in the middle of a petulant feud with José Mourinho – for which, at best, both men were equally responsible – and he maybe went a bit too far.
The Portuguese tended, in his barbs, to steer away from fans, preferring to concentrate his fire on opposing teams, players, managers, referees, their pets, their pets’ servants’ tennis partners. Benítez forgot that rule, and the comment has returned to haunt him. But to say that is uniquely disrespectful and all the other stuff is fine hints at a very curious morality.
Besides, Benítez’s basic point has been borne out in his brief, troubled reign as Chelsea manager. Chelsea fans just are not very good at making flags. They struggle, particularly, with slogans. They are simply not catchy enough.
My personal favourite came in Benítez’s first game, that drab goalless draw with Manchester City. “In Roberto Di Matteo, we trusted and loved. In Rafa we will never trust. Fact.” It’s too much of a mouthful. It’s too long. Too confused. Also, it was printed on A4 paper. All it needed was a clip art picture of a waiter and any nine-year-old would have been pretty chuffed with it.
There is a serious point here, though, and one that should not be lost in playful chiding of Chelsea’s disgruntled support. Over the last 11 days, Chelsea’s fans have found themselves in a quandary. They have had their voice ignored by their owner and found themselves lumbered with a manager the vast majority of them loathe. They want him out, as soon as possible. So do they want their team to win?
They are not alone in this. When Blackburn fans wanted rid of Steve Kean, was losing a couple of battles worth winning the war? Or when Bolton supporters had had enough of Gary Megson? Would a poor start to the season under Alex McLeish have seen his Aston Villa reign end quicker, allowing fans to get behind the club without reservation once more? Are there Arsenal fans taking vicarious pleasure in Arsene Wenger’s travails, because it will prove they were right to be worried, that he has taken the club as far as he can go, and because it may force their board’s hand?
This is a taboo subject for most fans. “Real” fans want their team to win every game. “Real” fans forget everything else when their players take to the pitch. “Real” fans, many Liverpool supporters felt, do not protest against a ruinous, debt-laden ownership during those sacred 90 minutes, lest they might distract the team from the pursuit of victory.
It is unclear where these rules are written down. In the course of speaking to a number of MK Dons fans last week, in the build-up to their FA Cup tie with AFC Wimbledon, one mentioned to me that he felt as though there is, in existence, “an unofficial rulebook on how to be a football fan. Nobody has ever seen a copy, but we all have to stick to it.”
Needless to say, supporting MK Dons is not in there. Standing by AFC Wimbledon, the true Wimbledon, is. That much was evident from the way that game was presented, on television, in print and social media: AFC good, MK Dons bad. Proper football fans, people who understand the game, wanted AFC to win, and the franchise to lose. Boo, the franchise, boo.
Now, obviously, Wimbledon fans have a right to feel aggrieved that their club was taken away from its ancestral homeland, and it is entirely understandable that they remain angry, and bitter, and cheated, at seeing the old, true Wimbledon, wrenched from their grasp, even if the alternative was liquidation. But why the fury from the rest of football? Surely the people of Milton Keynes are entitled to support their local team, however it got there? That is number one in the proper football supporters’ handbook: follow your local team.
That is outweighed, though, by the fact that the rest of it is not. You cannot conjure up a love for a new team. You cannot support one team, and then change to support another. A football team is like a condition. You are born with it, and you die with it, and occasionally from it. That’s why the chant “I’m [insert name here] ‘til I die” sounds less like a song of defiance and more like a confession that you have picked up a particularly nasty STI.
But the existence of MK Dons challenges all of that; it gives us a glimpse into the truth, that supporting a team is more complicated than that. You can fall out of love with your team. You can develop new allegiances, perhaps not as strong as before, but allegiances nonetheless. People who go to live football do it because they feel the bond with the crowd as much as with the team. You go for your friends, for the communal experience. If work or love or life takes you somewhere else, and you went to a few games, and made a few friends, your view may change.
That, though, runs contrary to the myth of the fan, this unyielding, ever loyal supporter, who would never betray their club, no matter how hated the manager is or how inept the owner or how bad the flags. And we must not challenge the myth of the fan, because that would make us less than ideal consumers; we would be able to pick and choose – just a little – who we supported, where we spent our money, rather than coming back for more, constantly, gluttonous, unthinking pigs, feeding from the trough, no matter what swill we are served.
It is in the interests of the clubs to perpetuate this myth, yes, but they are helped by the media monster. We are surrounded by 24-hour updates of every aspect of our club. There is no escaping football. If your team loses at the weekend, it is not a matter of getting through work on Monday; you have to get through the entire week; you probably can’t watch television, you almost certainly should not go on the internet, and you definitely would not pick up a paper.
There is no great mystery as to why fans are now more demanding, more impatient, more vitriolic, more abusive. It is because it matters more, and it matters more because you cannot get away from it. And if you do not show your anger, your rage, your puce-faced fury at everything that has gone wrong, you are not a proper fan. And we must, above all, be proper fans. And anyone who says we are not proper fans, well, they are impugning our reputation. They are showing us disrespect. And that simply will not do.
Essien wouldn't hurt either. And De Bruyne. Some very sloppy transfer work by the management during last summer window.
I think we should of kept Meireles to be honest I can remember at the start of the season just days before he left he played in the win over Newcastle I cannot remember if he was along side Mikel or Ramires but he done really well.
DarloGeorge96
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Ba hasent rejected a contract there still in talks
Ride The Walrus
A pretty cool guy.
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Ba is genuinely not that great. He went through some good form, he's now doing just okay. He's relatively old, and wasn't there worry over his knees? Honestly I think you can do better.
Still would be better then Torres and I dont class 27 as old. TBH I think Chelsea fans would even have a striker from league 2 over Torres at this moment in time
Nick Chelsea
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Ba would score more than Torres at this moment. I'm sure, and guess what, that's exactly what we need -- goals.
Nick Chelsea
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Oh, mighty January, I miss you.
But he will always be Blue
Hope this isn't some elaborate 10 year plan where you sabotage us from the inside, as Liverpool appear to have done to you with Rafa.
I watched Fiorentina vs Sampdoria last night and what a player Pizarro is. I ended up watching his movement rather than the game its self. I now see why Mancini wanted him at City, shame he didn't get a run in the Prem.
He's a bit too small for us now but I would of loved him here. We need a bigger enforcer type regista in my opinion.
I don't watch too much Serie A, only the big derbies. It's somewhat nice to watch players you don't know every detail about like in English football, for example.
Serie A is fast becoming one of my favourite leagues. They also have two awesome young talents that I love watching - Insigne and El Sharaawy.
No idea what this post is about or why it's in the Chelsea thread but I needed to share my love.
He's a bit too small for us now but I would of loved him here. We need a bigger enforcer type regista in my opinion.
I don't watch too much Serie A, only the big derbies. It's somewhat nice to watch players you don't know every detail about like in English football, for example.
Serie A is fast becoming one of my favourite leagues. They also have two awesome young talents that I love watching - Insigne and El Sharaawy.
No idea what this post is about or why it's in the Chelsea thread but I needed to share my love.
Doing just ok but joint top league scorer in an average Newcastle side?! Ok. Someone's obviously only seen him on match of the day and doesn't realise how intelligent he is off the ball, as well as how fast he is, he has a cracking first touch and can find the back of the net. I agree though. Don't spend 7 mill on a proven premier league striker, go and ***** 20m on a ***** striker from Serie A or spend 35 mill or so on Danny Graham. That's how all the clever teams do business bra.
Since when was 27 old? I'd rather spend 7m on a premier league proven player than wank over 50mill on someone not proven in this league, we have been laughed at enough thanks.
Hope this isn't some elaborate 10 year plan where you sabotage us from the inside, as Liverpool appear to have done to you with Rafa.
Think i'd prefer Guardiola anyway. Yeah, Mourinho will get some trophies, but he didn't really show to be capable of longterm success. A lot of **** he does, alienating the media, fighting with the board, is borderline psychological manipulation to create underdog atmosphere in the dressing room.
And as much as it works great in the short term, i bet it gets really old, really fast, which is part of reason why he keeps moving around and why everything falls apart the moment he leaves. He makes players so pumped out mentally and physically, **** has to hit the fan sooner or later and he just gets away before it does.
Plus he's not really doing that good in Madrid.
How dare you criticize 'The Special One'! He wouldn't be my first choice either but I will still cry if he comes. Such is my love
It would be quite stupid to try and argue against his results, i just have a hard time imagining him stay in one club and doing things he does for more than couple of years.
Nick Chelsea
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We know what a sensible man would do, but Roman is not that.