There are some very big clubs in League One. Its fascinating to see their mindset as reflected by their supporters. The standard view goes a bit like this: 'The division is awful. Its embarrassing that we are in it at all. If we had even a half decent manager we would walk our way out of it'. Here is an opposite view (or as I like to call it, the truth). The quality of league one is half decent. Take it for granted and you will get your backside bitten. Every team in it is there because it is where they currently belong. To get out of league one you have to work very, very hard. There are at least a dozen clubs every season who think they have a realistic chance of promotion and only three of them can make it. One of the biggest obstacles to achieving promotion is the misguided belief that it will happen just because it should. That isnt how it works. Easy words, spending some money and having a big boy attitude get you nothing. To get promoted you actually have to do it where it matters - on the pitch - over a long season. The sooner some of these big clubs get that, the sooner they might get what they think they are entitled to.
I was only saying the same myself today smiler. I was talking to a West Ham supporter who was taking a keen interest in The Millers knowing I'm from Rotherham. He told me he had a mate who was an Owls fan who was carping on about Sundays result, being the better side etc.
I recall that they didn't have the best of starts to the season and almost immediately the fans were phoning in to Praise and Grumble demanding that the then relatively new manager (Moore) be sacked. It's true they were not winning but they were drawing and sitting mid table, but only a few points behind us. The point I was making was that unless they have instant success they turn on the manager without giving the guy a chance to make his mark. It's almost as though they had a devine right to win, not only that, but a belief they should not be in L1 but up there competing in the Champions League. It must be heart breaking to sit and watch them being beaten by a twopence 'apenny outfit from Toy Town.
Having never experienced Premier League football or an FA Cup win, having spent the majority of my time supporting RUFC languishing in the lower divisions, my expectations are generally mediocre and any success which comes our way takes on a magnitude much greater than the occasion probably deserves. Were it Sunderland, SWFC, Ipswich or Portsmouth occupying our current position, there would be an air of privileged birthright. How disappointing it must be for their supporters that they cannot enjoy the kind of ecstasy that we do over the most remarkable season our club has experienced in decades. I feel sorry for them really. Should this season end up with our elevation to the Championship, I will turn out for the next campaign desperately hoping that we can survive but with a small twinkle of expectation that we might just do something special. Whatever happens, I'll never say that we deserve more than we have - it's just not the Rotherham way - and when success does come our way, it's all the more enjoyable for it!
If you want a laugh and a perfect illustration of what we are talking about here, have a look at the main Bolton message board and their comments following their 3-1 defeat tonight at Burton. According to some fans on there they lost because the poor pitch, the incompetent officials and the nasty Burton players conspired to prevent the self-proclaimed best team in the division playing their beautiful free flowing football. Further, Burton are lucky to get 2000 fans turning up to watch them and league one in general is horrible. Classic stuff! Perhaps we should start awarding points for style based on phone votes as well as results, or just wave them into the Championship in the interests of general fairness?
-- Edited by smiler on Tuesday 15th of February 2022 11:23:11 PM
