Tuesday 11 October 2011

All I ask is that no fans go to the Armenian game tonight. Just supporters.

And believe me, there is a difference.

I’m sick of Irish fans going to Ireland games.

I really am.

I looked on at the Montenegrin celebrations the other night against England and couldn’t help but feel envious.

They were dead and buried at one stage.

2-0 down.

But their support was immense.

And these supporters were rewarded when they got to storm the pitch at the full time whistle.

Back to 2-2 and into the play-offs they go.

I would love to see scenes like this tonight at the Aviva.

But too many fans will be there from Ireland.

Ready to criticise, boo and create this feeling of unrest synonymous to the Aviva these days.

How many of them will storm the pitch if we draw 0-0 and secure a play-off place?

Not many I’d say.

Instead I sit beside fans who criticise Robbie every time he touches the ball.

Except when he scores of course.

Something he’s done quite a lot.

51 times for this small nation yet still he has critics amongst the stands.

I sit in front of fans who boo the team off at the end of a 0-0 draw with Slovakia.

A team seeded higher than us.

A team that played better than us.

They knock Italy out while reaching the last 16 of the World Cup in 2010 yet our fans boo our team off for nicking a point.

I sit behind fans who demand we beat countries like Armenia.

“I don’t even know where that is” a typical response.

Most of them demand we beat a team that isn’t laden with Premier League stars.

Most of them demand our team made up of Stoke, Wolves and Fulham players dismantle a team like Armenia by "a good few goals".

They should talk to their Slovakian counterparts.

Thankfully though, in between all of these fans, you’ll find supporters.

Lots of them.

Real ones.

We understand how difficult it will be to secure a play-off place tonight against a team that just hammered Slovakia 4-0 away.

We understand that we can influence the referee.

The Armenian players.

But most importantly we understand we can influence the team we support.

We can inspire them to just one more run.

One more chance.

One more goal.

We understand we can inspire them to one more result.

So let’s support our team tonight.

No matter what happens.

Because they need us.

And we need a result.

Just one more...

2 comments:

  1. im sick of the people booing in gmaes at the moment. especially when we are getting a good result. a 0-0 is good enough tonight so i will be cheering if we get that. gonna try get on the pitch as well if the stewarts let me!!!

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  2. It's not their fault they boo they are just copying what soccer am shows them to think prob chant easy, easy too lol

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