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My club, right or wrong?

Susan Gardiner, Sunday 31 March 2013


The news that the overrated Martin O’Neill has been sacked by Sunderland has meant that the Keyser Söze of modern football, Paolo DiCanio – a relatively recent addition to the managerial Usual Suspects – has been touted as his replacement.

Di Canio is a self-confessed fascist and admirer of Benito Mussolini, the Italian fascist leader, describing him as a “principled person [who was] … much misunderstood.”

Fascism is a misused word and it’s not appropriate to discuss its meaning here, but it’s an ideology that is diametrically opposed to everything I believe in. Since Di Canio became a football manager at Swindon Town in 2011, I have often wondered how I would feel if he was appointed as manager of my football club. I have been forced to conclude that I wouldn’t be able to continue to support Ipswich Town although I’d return when he – inevitably – parted company with us. Of course, I don’t think it will happen. I hope it never does.

Thinking about this has brought a further question to the forefront of my mind. Is there anything else that could be a “last straw” when it comes to supporting Ipswich Town? Is there something – anything – that would make it simply impossible for me to carry on as a fan or would I persuade myself otherwise?

To be honest, it’s an issue that has been placed on the back burner since Mick McCarthy came to manage our team. What’s not to like about MM, after all? Ever since Jim Magilton brought Ben Thatcher into the side, however, I’ve been concerned about how far I would allow myself to equivocate. With Thatcher, I convinced myself that his reputation for thuggish behaviour – he was notorious for the vicious elbowing of an opposition player when he was at Manchester City – was something that we could not afford to be fussy about. He had, after all, apologised in writing to Mendes for his actions and Town sorely needed some toughness on the pitch at that time. Anyway, I told myself, I was probably just prejudiced by his name.

Paul Jewell brought other players in that I was not happy with, Lee Bowyer being one. I’d disliked him for all kinds of reasons to do with his behaviour, on and off the pitch. Yet again, I convinced myself that it was all right. After all, I believe that human beings can reform and redeem themselves. The actions that people take when they’re young are often foolish and not the result of deep-seated character flaws. I sought out newspaper articles that seemed to show that he was indeed a reformed character.

Once again, I found myself altering my values in order to accommodate a player or manager just because they were part of my club.

So I began to wonder exactly who I might object to. Who – if anyone – was such an affront to my personal morality that I wouldn’t be able to convince myself that it was all right? Marlon King springs immediately to mind. A talented player who was sentenced to eighteen months in prison in 2009 for sexual assault and grievous bodily harm against women, the court case revealed he had a history of similar behaviour. I often wonder whether the chants by opposition fans against him that are heard up and down the country now that he has returned to football are because those supporters actually detest what he did – or whether those same fans would – quite literally – change their tune if their own club signed him? Get behind the lads and all that.

There are several other examples of footballers and managers who have convictions for domestic violence or other criminal offences which make them seem pretty reprehensible to me. Generally, I’m not very interested in people’s private lives and I don’t like to be judgemental, but when it comes to racism or violence I feel that a line should be drawn. After all, what we’re actually saying here, by tolerating such behaviour, is that football’s more important. More important than racism, more important than violence against women, more important than ethics.

We continue to excuse players simply because they’re good at football.

Ched Evans, now serving a prison sentence for rape, is a good footballer. What would I do should Ipswich Town sign him upon his release? One look at the #justiceforChed hashtag on Twitter was enough for me but it’s a clear example of how our passion for football can overrule our logic. It’s not just moral relativism, it’s a form of self-deception. I’ve been guilty of it, but hopefully only to a lesser extent. I hope I could still do the right thing, despite my addiction to Town. Sometimes I wonder.

Away from individuals, I also wonder about other things that would perhaps be a turning point for me. In modern football, where teams can be owned by people who aren’t either knowledgeable or particularly interested in the game, stadia can be sold or moved, or renamed. Perhaps it won’t be very long until teams in the English leagues are named after their sponsors as they are in other parts of the world. I think that many fans would accept it as being part of the reality of the 21st-century game. Once again, I ask myself how much would I be willing to put up with before I decided to go and watch Stowmarket or Needham Market instead.

Of course, it’s necessary to adapt to the modern world. The game’s come a long way since the 19th century and the era of the Corinthian spirit – a leading light amongst those players, incidentally, was W. M. Cobbold, from Long Melford in Suffolk, apparently known as “The Prince of Dribblers.” The age of the amateur footballer and the public school ethos is thankfully long gone. It’s a mistake, anyway, to imagine that those amateurs were the only people who had a monopoly on fair play and decency.

Money has changed the game so much that many supporters seem to feel that winning, at all costs, is everything. I’m not sure that winning with a team or a manager that I had no respect for would feel very much like winning at all.

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This was posted under the following categories: Paolo Di Canio


Comments


Gavin Barber
31/03/2013 at 21:23

This is a slightly incidental point, but it’s also worth noting that Di Canio has the word “DUX” (Duce) tattooed on his right bicep in tribute to Mussolini – just in case anyone thought that his interest in fascism was some kind of passing dalliance.



Frankieoh
01/04/2013 at 19:46

I felt very uncomfortable when we signed Ben Thatcher. And then appalled when we signed Bowyer. I couldn’t stomach us signing Marlon King. I bumped into him a few years back – he was with Titus Bramble. It was great to see Bramble come through our youth set up and I’ll never forget his goal against Sunderland. But for me, with his history, he wouldn’t be welcomed back.

Easy to say all this, but much harder to ditch your club for your principles. I already know several SAFC fans coming up with excuses for giving Paolo a chance, even though I’ve known them to speak out against similar signings at other clubs.

Of course none of this is as bad as when we signed David Hill from Scunthorpe ;-)



Susan Gardiner
01/04/2013 at 20:01

Interesting comments. In some ways, I wrote it because I was genuinely trying to think it through: how much would I put up with? We are ITFC addicts in some senses, aren’t we? I’m fairly sure I’d stick to my principles where Di Canio was concerned – I had a similar issue in a workplace and took a stand, almost lost my job. Mind you, I wouldn’t object to seeing him managing an opposing side at PR and (hopefully) watching us thrash them. ;-)



Frankieoh
02/04/2013 at 22:59

It’s a good article and I think it sums up what fans are feeling at a lot of clubs. And not just because of the Di Canio story (where were all these outraged journos when he got the Swindon job btw?).

Whatever happened to Dave Hill I hear you ask (not). Well he’s manager of Cobh Ramblers, Royston Keane’s first club. He took over from Hendo’s dad.



Susan Gardiner
03/04/2013 at 06:53

Thanks. I wrote it before Di Canio was appointed at Sunderland – although prompted by the rumours that he might be. The general points are something that I’ve been thinking about for a while. I feel quite sorry for Sunderland fans at the moment – although I’ll be interested to see whether he is accepted by them, particularly if he does well.



TAFKA Wac
06/04/2013 at 02:35

I didn’t go to a game under the Keane administration because of my utter contempt for the man. I’d rather Di Canio’s political leanings than a bully and a coward.
Good article which struck a chord.



Susan Gardiner
06/04/2013 at 10:34

Thanks, glad you liked it.



Tom B
11/04/2013 at 16:44

Excellent article and very thought-provoking. I have thought along similar lines for a while. The signing of Bowyer gave me the wobbles, and I cannot stand Keane (although he has a certain bleak charm on the TV as a pundit). I guess we are spoiled by the days when decent men like Burley or Robson (praise his soul) were at the helm. John Lyall was a good man – if a bit prickly with the press. And Magilton ditto. I think it does make a difference to know that the gaffer is a good person and obviously wants the best for the club he is managing. McCarthy seems to fit the mould.

I am not too bothered if a player has had a bit of a checkered personal life, or has a few issues off the park. A lot depends on what the issue is. Violence is the thing that does it for me. And racism and disrespect to those who cannot defend themselves a close second.

By the way, this is the first time I have read this site. I’ll be returning. I am glad to see people are keeping a beady eye on what goes on at this club.



Susan Gardiner
11/04/2013 at 16:54

Thanks for your comments. Very much appreciated.
I’m sure we all have different reactions to players/managers – I liked Keane, for example. What concerns me is that it seems to be an increasingly common view that any criticism of a football club makes someone less of a supporter in some way.



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