The Ironic cheers directed at Fellaini

[kopviolator]

I hink some people here are just overreacting. From what I heard( match going fans) , those were genuine cheers.

I hope you're right - but they didn't come across that way over the telly.

 

[Laphroaig]

This actually happened?! How utterly embarrassing, what the feck is wrong with people?

 

[Erebus]

Whilst it was quite unpleasant for Fellaini, he gets paid a premium to deal with fans having an opinion on him.

Sorry I can't agree - though I think you make other valid points - he actually gets paid to play football - just because he earns a good wage doesn't mean people can behave differently to him. And how far do people want to apply this principle? Does anyone earning over a certain wage lose the right to the basic respect the rest of us expect? Where do we draw that line? £100,000 pa, £2,500,000 pa - or just above the rate of our own wage.
I honestly find some of the rationalising of behaviour on this thread baffling. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. And for the record I was unhappy at booing Nani and the behaviour shown towards Cleverley with the petition. Personally I think there's more of an issue that he's seen as the major Moyes signing and he's paying for that, which is hardly his fault. Football fans scapegoating behaviour.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

That's just you rationalising your preference. Delineating the time frame acceptable for booing. They're both booing a United player. The player in question gets the same impression. I can equally rationalize that Nani was booed for one poor performance, Fellaini for a season's worth. If anything Nani, with all the positive things he's done for the club, should feel worse, and more confused by the sudden turn against him, whilst Fellaini should be more expecting of it. Nani hasn't really recovered has he? In fact it seems it's had a bigger impression on him than the Fellaini booing/cheering had. Probably because it was proper booing, in a proper match, and he hasn't been a bad signing.

You're deliberately missing the point here. Nani did something unprofessional and annoying and was immediately booed as a result (or is that boo'd? looks weird either way) He was obviously in a bit of a strop, reacted by strolling off the pitch - when he should have at least jogged - and got a verbal bollocking from the fans as a result. A simple one-off incident of a player winding up the fans and getting an earful as a result. Easily forgotten about by both parties. Again, not something I would generally approve of or get involved in. But it is, to an extent, understandable.

This is in no way comparable to concerted abuse aimed at a player doing nothing more offensive than warming up, then playing a game of football (playing quite well, as it happens) Obviously, the initial boos spiralled into the more widespread and benign cheering, mainly down to Fellaini playing very well. No doubt a couple of heavy touches or a misplaced pass would have seen the tone become a lot less light-hearted. Obviously, the dickheads who kicked things off by booing him had no idea how things would pan out and it's them that most people feel irritated about.

My argument isn't about whether it's acceptable. I wouldn't boo/ironically cheer (though I at least understand it) My argument is about the blantantly faux moral outrage towards a relative non-event. It wasn't racism or celebrating tragedy. It's completely disproportionate, and all about venting moral superiority rather than the standard trotted out excuses of "makes us look bad/not good for the team"..It's silly buggers.

If you met someone who'd booed and/or cheered, and they were perfectly nice and said "yeah, it was just a bit of a laugh. We were a bit bored. Probably went too far but it was fun at the time." would you then instantly tell them how embarrassed and ashamed you were by their disgusting behaviour? 'Cos if you would, I'd think you'd lost touch with reality a bit.

I don't like to bring up the whole armchair vs matchgoer debate, but there's definitely a whiff of "how dare you ruin my halcyon idea of my favorite club with your...normal football fan behaviour" about it with some on here. Otherwise why would anyone get so worked up by this?

You can get hung up on the semantics of whether words like "embarrassment", "ashamed" or "disgusting" were appropriate or not. They probably were a bit strong, although there's a whiff of hypocrisy that comes with defending one cohort of fans on the basis they got a bit carried away by the moment, whilst simultaneously having a go for others who got carried away with their own indignation in response. Now we've all cooled down a bit, the only sensible discussion is whether or not booing a United player as we saw last night is something that any of us would get involved in. And if not, what's wrong with calling out people who behave differently to you at a game of football? It's no different to the regular brick-bats aimed at people who record games on their phones, don't sing songs or - perish the thought - wear a jester's hat. Everyone has their own ideas about what is and isn't acceptable behaviour from other United fans at the game. Can't see the harm in people airing these views in response to a specific incident.

The armchair vs matchgoing stuff always gets drawn into these discussions and I think it's a fair comment. If somebody has never been to a game it's a little rich for them to dictate how others should and shouldn't behave when they've gone to the effort to actually support the team in person. Of course, a lot of criticism in this thread has come from people who do go to games regularly. Including some from people who were actually at the game last night. Which does make that particular tangent of your argument kind of redundant.

 

[Gopher Brown]

Sorry I can't agree - though I think you make other valid points - he actually gets paid to play football - just because he earns a good wage doesn't mean people can behave differently to him. And how far do people want to apply this principle? Does anyone earning over a certain wage lose the right to the basic respect the rest of us expect? Where do we draw that line? £100,000 pa, £2,500,000 pa - or just above the rate of our own wage.
I honestly find some of the rationalising of behaviour on this thread baffling. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. And for the record I was unhappy at booing Nani and the behaviour shown towards Cleverley with the petition. Personally I think there's more of an issue that he's seen as the major Moyes signing and he's paying for that, which is hardly his fault. Football fans scapegoating behaviour.

Well said.

A large swathe of society think it's acceptable, or indeed required, that people are treated like shit if they are given a certain salary.

 

[Big Papi]

I hink some people here are just overreacting. From what I heard( match going fans) , those were genuine cheers.

You have to be careful not to overhink things though.

 

[Ducklegs]

Sorry I can't agree - though I think you make other valid points - he actually gets paid to play football - just because he earns a good wage doesn't mean people can behave differently to him. And how far do people want to apply this principle? Does anyone earning over a certain wage lose the right to the basic respect the rest of us expect? Where do we draw that line? £100,000 pa, £2,500,000 pa - or just above the rate of our own wage.
I honestly find some of the rationalising of behaviour on this thread baffling. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. And for the record I was unhappy at booing Nani and the behaviour shown towards Cleverley with the petition. Personally I think there's more of an issue that he's seen as the major Moyes signing and he's paying for that, which is hardly his fault. Football fans scapegoating behaviour.

Irrespective of what Felliaini actually gets paid for, what the fans pay for is to be entertained.

Unfortunately for the hatstand they found their entertainment in booing him and taking the piss.

They don't want to see him on the pitch, that is not his fault (to a degree, if he wasn't so fecking lazy and disinterested then I am sure people would not harbor such a strong opinion of him), but it is what is.

My own personal opinion, is that I don't think he is very good, but I certainly would not boo him while at the match, as I am not a simpleton.

 

[Mockney]

although there's a whiff of hypocrisy that comes with defending one cohort of fans on the basis they got a bit carried away by the moment, whilst simultaneously having a go for others who got carried away with their own indignation in response

And defending one set of fans for getting carried away in response whilst having a go at those doing the same at the game. An environment far more prone to irrational behaviour, peer pressure and booze.

what's wrong with calling out people who behave differently to you at a game of football?

Or indeed, on the internet.


I've only ever defended the booing in relation to the silly overreaction to it.

 

[devilish]

Its fine if you dont want to judge other fans. I have no such issue with it.

I've no issue with people voicing their opinion, but feel it should be done in a constructive way. Booing one player alone, and singling him out is not constructive at all, its destructive - to the players confidence, to the team and to the clubs reputation. It does nothing to change or improve any situation.

There's a lot of mob mentality at football and people go along with what the others around them are doing - that's largely why this stuff happens. You see racism, or offensive chants and not all of those people hold those views - they just get swept up in what people around them are doing and think they should go along with it.

As I said above, I think you're giving those doing this too much credit. If fans want to have a say about the obviously gaping (and growing) disconnect between them and the clubs that's fine - how that translates to them booing one player rather than others I dont know.

In short, they're booing him solely because they don't like him, for whatever reason - and that to me, broken down to its most basic parts is stupid because all it does is cheapen the club and probably put off other players who might have the chance to come here under the pressure of a big price tag.

I think I made it pretty obvious that I disagree with booing. However I cant generalize about the person doing them. Also I think that football fans are probably the worst treated customers in society. We went all corporate and all that however we still expect the fan to remain loyal and docile cash cows as clubs sign idiots as managers and fail to keep up with their promises (ex Woodward's yearly 'watch this space' BS) without anyone taking some sort of accountability. Those who do vent their frustrations in a proper way (ex on MUTV) are ridiculed live by the likes of Paddy and that idiot companion of his with that annoying smirk.

 

[Gannicus]

It was poor behavior by the fans, but I suspect it was a one time event. If we can't dump Fellaini off to Napoli or some Turkish club and Fellaini plays for us this season I'm sure we won't see that happen again.

 

[BigDunc9]

Come home Marouane, come home.

On a free please.

 

[JB7]

The cheers didn't sound too "ironic" around me, people seemed genuinely pleased to see him playing well.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Fans being cnuts. No big deal.

Either way, if Fellini genuinely steps it up this season, he'll face none of this in the future. Hope he does. I never expected him to be the horrible player he has been for us.

 

[justboy68]

I suppose you can count me in on that then, but I was cheering on every player. I will never try to humilate any of out players. The lads sat behind us were awful, they were ripping Tom to pieces, their language was terrible, they were drunk. That's the so called family stand for you.

Of course I'm not saying all daytrippers and tourists are like that mate, not at all. It's just that when you have games like this with tickets for a tenner a week before the real show starts, then it's not going to be the normal crowd, so there's nothing that can be done about it when some have a go hero's who probably don't know which stand the Stretford End is get uppity.My point is it's not a reflection of a proper OT crowd, that's all so the some of the stick in this thread is pointed the wrong way. OT was great last season and will be this season too.

 

[RedRover]

I think I made it pretty obvious that I disagree with booing. However I cant generalize about the person doing them. Also I think that football fans are probably the worst treated customers in society. We went all corporate and all that however we still expect the fan to remain loyal and docile cash cows as clubs sign idiots as managers and fail to keep up with their promises (ex Woodward's yearly 'watch this space' BS) without anyone taking some sort of accountability. Those who do vent their frustrations in a proper way (ex on MUTV) are ridiculed live by the likes of Paddy and that idiot companion of his with that annoying smirk.

Fans may be treat appallingly by clubs, I don't doubt that - but I dont see what that has to do with picking on a player and booing him in the warm up. I dont see how the two connect, or how one leads to another in the mind of any sensible human being.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Aye, if fans are really pissed off with he corporitisation of football singling out one player for abuse would have to be the worst protest ever.

 

[TheRedDevil'sAdvocate]

Of course every fan is entitled to his opinion and has every right to express his feelings but this has reached the point of witch hunting.

This behavior is unfair towards Fellaini who can't take all the blame for a series of bad decisions and failings off and on the pitch since Fergie announced his retirement.

It's also embarrassing for the majority of the fans who have always stood by the players, even though many of them continuously underperformed. Whoever gets on the pitch wearing the red shirt deserves our support, it's simple as that imho.

It was good to see that Rooney, as the team's captain, was the first who went to celebrate with him. Looks like the players are up to it and won't be bothered by any distractions.

 

[KeaneSixteen]

There's nothing wrong with fans voicing an opinion, one way or another, just in this case I can't see the point. Fellaini hasn't had the best starts at United, the murmurs when he was on the ball started last season and he plays like a man with little confidence in his ability or his worth in a United shirt. How does booing/ironically cheering him help this? I don't get the thought process, but then, to be fair, there probably isn't one. I hope the fact that he's got a goal now spurs him on for the rest of the season and that the match going fans get behind him, rather than on top of him.

 

[Maccaa]

Sorry I can't agree - though I think you make other valid points - he actually gets paid to play football - just because he earns a good wage doesn't mean people can behave differently to him. And how far do people want to apply this principle? Does anyone earning over a certain wage lose the right to the basic respect the rest of us expect? Where do we draw that line? £100,000 pa, £2,500,000 pa - or just above the rate of our own wage.
I honestly find some of the rationalising of behaviour on this thread baffling. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. And for the record I was unhappy at booing Nani and the behaviour shown towards Cleverley with the petition. Personally I think there's more of an issue that he's seen as the major Moyes signing and he's paying for that, which is hardly his fault. Football fans scapegoating behaviour.

Bit off topic and I don't agree with the ironic cheers or boo'ing but have you ever worked on a building site? You get slaughtered if you're terrible at your job but its just part of the process of becoming better and stronger from it. Sometimes you have too just take it on the chin and get on with it, even if it awful behavior.

Having said that a lot of the people at the match last night won't be regulars at OT through the season. I doubt we'd hear this in a competitive match to be honest.

 

[Robin]

I was at the game last night and sat in my regular seat in East stand lower and didn't see I person in the whole block who was a regular season ticket holder, most were families with kids, when the cheering for Fellaini started I felt I was in a pantomime , but it seemed to work as he was our best player in the end.
At the end of the day if LVG can get him to play better than I am sure he will be better that a lot of our other mid field options and should be given a chance .

 

[Stretford Red1978]

The cheers didn't sound too "ironic" around me, people seemed genuinely pleased to see him playing well.

Yeah and me! Most around me were the same! He came on and did well and was great that he finally scored. The boos for Cleverley were much worse, there is no need for that at all to be honest.

 

[Glanville95]

I thought that was disgusting. I'm not his biggest fan either and my preferable choice would be to seen him sold, but he shouldn't be jeered at all while he's wearing our jersey and certainly not singling him out when there are other flailing players.

Credit to him for rising above it and capping off a half-decent performance with a goal.

 

[Stretford Red1978]

I was at the game last night and sat in my regular seat in East stand lower and didn't see I person in the whole block who was a regular season ticket holder, most were families with kids, when the cheering for Fellaini started I felt I was in a pantomime , but it seemed to work as he was our best player in the end.
At the end of the day if LVG can get him to play better than I am sure he will be better that a lot of our other mid field options and should be given a chance .

Agree with this totally! It was like that where I was in the Stretford end as well. Most were genuinely willing him to do well, myself included.

 

[SalfordRed1960]

Irrespective of what Felliaini actually gets paid for, what the fans pay for is to be entertained.

Unfortunately for the hatstand they found their entertainment in booing him and taking the piss.

They don't want to see him on the pitch, that is not his fault (to a degree, if he wasn't so fecking lazy and disinterested then I am sure people would not harbor such a strong opinion of him), but it is what is.

My own personal opinion, is that I don't think he is very good, but I certainly would not boo him while at the match, as I am not a simpleton.

I agree. It was funny, but shocking at the same time.
His first pass was a complete balls up, which is why when his next pass was good he got cheered (p*ss take). It then became a cheer for every time he controlled the ball when it got passed to him. It sort of became a running joke from that point on. However, after that, his passes were well placed and he won his duels in midfield. I would not have joined in if I attended the match, but just as you can't stop fans singing certain chants, you can't stop booing or P*ss taking. Shouldn't make too much of this.

 

[Spoony]

Bit off topic and I don't agree with the ironic cheers or boo'ing but have you ever worked on a building site? You get slaughtered if you're terrible at your job but its just part of the process of becoming better and stronger from it. Sometimes you have too just take it on the chin and get on with it, even if it awful behavior.

Having said that a lot of the people at the match last night won't be regulars at OT through the season. I doubt we'd hear this in a competitive match to be honest.

You get slaughtered in most workplaces. As for Fellaini, yes you're right, I'm sure he'll develop a thick skin like the rest of us...

 

[iBoss]

Seen a couple Liverpool fans have their say, forgetting that they did the same to Voronin a couple years back. Infact, I think they were booing him and then he scored and put his finger to his lips.

 

[Sparky_Hughes]

Of topic but I still think he will come good under lvg

 

[Sixpence]

A lot of friendly matches contain the day tripper supporters as the tickets are easy to get hold of. I wouldn't say the OT hardcore faithful were responsible for it.

 

[Jonno]

Sorry I can't agree - though I think you make other valid points - he actually gets paid to play football - just because he earns a good wage doesn't mean people can behave differently to him. And how far do people want to apply this principle? Does anyone earning over a certain wage lose the right to the basic respect the rest of us expect? Where do we draw that line? £100,000 pa, £2,500,000 pa - or just above the rate of our own wage.
I honestly find some of the rationalising of behaviour on this thread baffling. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. And for the record I was unhappy at booing Nani and the behaviour shown towards Cleverley with the petition. Personally I think there's more of an issue that he's seen as the major Moyes signing and he's paying for that, which is hardly his fault. Football fans scapegoating behaviour.

I see your points, but if I don't do my job properly, I get told. If I had been a professional footballer for 10 years and was used to playing in front of thousands of fans and receiving positive and negative opinions every week, and I didn't do my job to the level that was expected for a full season, then I would expect to attract some negativity. Harmless booing in a friendly is not disgraceful in my opinion.