Rotherham as a town has had a tough few years. The decline of the steel industry, Meadowhall and Parkgate helping kill the town centre, and the child sex abuse scandal. The image of the town is not great. Tony Stewart and many others involved at the club have made sure that the club has been a beacon of light, giving the town something to be proud of. Unfortunately it is far easier to damage a reputation than it is to build one and we seem to have a small minority of morons determined to undo a lot of good work. What sort of idiots have we got supporting us these days? Shouting at Fleetwood during a minutes silence, pelting a linesman at Crewe, fighting amongst themselves at away games and then today running on the pitch and disrupting proceedings. Do they not realise the damage they are doing or are they just not bothered? Two weeks running the club has had to issue apologies. All the staff who do such good community work must feel like they are wasting their time. Enough is enough. Get these idiots identified, name and shame them and get them banned.
It's so disappointing smiler. Where have these deadbeats emerged from? It seems to be something that started a couple of months ago and I don't understand what motivates them. Don't they realise they are damaging the club and when we are almost on the brink of promotion what we don't need is this behaviour that deflects from the good work on the pitch.
We are a club who are showing how a good football club should be run and what can be achieved without throwing good money after bad, only to be ruined by gutter life. It's embarrassing and takes away the joy of bagging another 3 points. By the way, the worst ref I have ever seen.
I reckon these trouble makers are a bunch of Johnny Come Latelys who have been attracted by our success and are intent on imposing their imbecilic ways to ruin our enjoyment. Tough measures are called for. The idiot who kicked the ball off the penalty spot and then struck the penalty taker should be charged assault and should be banned for life along with his brain-dead mate!
As for the Ref Calypso, he was bloody awful. The booking of Fergusson was unbelievable. Firstly, he won the ball, secondly, the Linesman didn't flag for an offence, thirdly the Ref runs the entire width of the pitch, talks with the 4th official and then books Fergusson. What on earth were they playing at?!
It was a shocking refereeing performance. He was behind play most of the time and frankly guessed his way through the match and lost control of it. That played into Accringtons hands because they came to spoil and frustrate. Good to see that the club has acted swiftly with the statement and life ban given out. They cant do any more. You'd like to think it might get the message across but I'm not so confident. Currently watching EFL on Quest and fearful that our reputation will get another kicking.
I remember when Clough went on to the pitch at Forest before a match and held up a sign saying 'gentlemen no swearing please'or similar. I wonder whether it might need Warney or perhaps Tony Stewart to do some sort of on field announcement to reinforce the message. The statement is good but maybe something more personal might be better.
It's an idea Smiler but I hope such an announcement would get a better reception than Richard Wood's attempts to calm the crowd down at Fleetwood when he received some abuse from our buffoons! I think the reaction from the crowd yesterday when the second idiot was marched away showed the feelings of the true fans!
It looked on the tv clips like our pitch invaders were about twelve years old. Annoyed as they were the Stanley players needed to be careful going after and in one case pushing kids. How you stop teenagers behaving like that I dont know. I suppose it starts at the top. Players and managers have to set some sort of example. Some of the wider problems are societal.
At Morecambe the alleged racial abuse of a substitute is getting the headlines. Disgraceful though that is if it happened, it followed the Morecambe keeper being pelted with coins and other objects and apparently a Morecambe fan was attacked and tipped out of a mobility vehicle by Bolton after the game. No wide reporting of those incidents. I've been to Bolton with my young daughter in recent years and been routinely pelted with missiles and verbally abused by mobs waiting outside the ground. In fact ecause I happen to support Rotherham I have been routinely called a 'pa edo' by thousands on a weekly basis. Why has that ever been acceptable?
The lino being hit by an object at Crewe made headlines but you see players being pelted at almost every game. That same week Forest Green hammered Tranmere at Prenton Park and on the EFL show you could see the FGR striker Jamal Matt having a bottle thrown at him by a kid who looked about eight. It didnt hit him so nobody mentioned it.
Honestly its got to the point now where every other game is going to get stopped if we arent careful. Of course we have our share of idiots but so does every club. Holier than thou comments by this weeks apparent victims arent helpful. Instead of finger pointing and point scoring, every club needs to accept that it's a common problem and act in a united way for the good of the game. I suppose I'm calling for some real leadership instead of platitudes and public statements driven by self interest. It wont happen though.
-- Edited by smiler on Sunday 6th of February 2022 07:50:19 AM
