Observation

Collie D

Something I am sure everyone's spotted but it's become increasingly frequent this week with the internationals coming up. Why do the EL supporters (and I would call myself a fair-weather one) come across as having a superiority complex towards people who only watch the English game or the national team.

KdjaCL

Collie D wrote:

Something I am sure everyone's spotted but it's become increasingly frequent this week with the internationals coming up. Why do the EL supporters (and I would call myself a fair-weather one) come across as having a superiority complex towards people who only watch the English game or the national team.

I have been fcuked in the ass by the FAI a lot longer than people who support only th national team or english teams( ). We know full well the muppetry of the FAI and maybe like me some EL fans believe that national team and the EL are on a par quality wise and for years the national team were punching above its weight and now its all coming back together.

Ireland are 25th in rankings EL is 35th, how long before the EL passes them by (EL cant go any higher this season).


kdjac

Pigman II

We don't have a superiority complex. PL fans just have an inferiority complex.

_blank_

No, you have it all wrong Collie.

I'm just better than everyone.

Collie D

Pigman II wrote:

We don't have a superiority complex. PL fans just have an inferiority complex.

Sounds like a superiority comlex to me

I also know how big a shower of tools the FAI are. What is it that makes you think that anyone else doesn't? It's not hard to see

KdjaCL

Collie D wrote:

Sounds like a superiority comlex to me

I also know how big a shower of tools the FAI are. What is it that makes you think that anyone else doesn't? It's not hard to see

The fact PL fans expect Ireland to win whilst EL fans hope they win...........Who has the superiority complexe there?



kdjac

Collie D

KdjaCL wrote:

The fact PL fans expect Ireland to win whilst EL fans hope they win...........Who has the superiority complexe there?



kdjac

If you look through other threads both myself and others had said that Cyprus would be no cakewalk especially after the game last year.

KdjaCL

Collie D wrote:

If you look through other threads both myself and others had said that Cyprus would be no cakewalk especially after the game last year.

But you still expected us to win, or even crazier qualify for something. We a 4th or 5th seed team and rightly so. This rot isnt an overnight thing we had a manager who dragged in anyone he could in Charlton and raised the expectations of Irish fans. Since then we have steadily dropped back to where we were before he took over.

kdjac

Collie D

Of course I thought we were should win because on paper the better team was wearing green. It's not exactly unrealistic to expect to beat a team ranked 100+ in the world. As an EL man, would you expect PSG to beat Derry over two legs? Or from another perspective I'd expect an even money horse to romp all over a 100/1 shot. There's nothing wrong with having expectation.

Pigman II

KdjaCL wrote:

Since then we have steadily dropped back to where we were before he took over.

In fairness I don't think we were ever "5-2 in cyprus bad" (that even includes back in the days when our players would get the ferry over from a club game in England on the Saturday and get hammered for us on a Sunday.)

Tonight is a new low.

BaZmO*

Pigman II wrote:

Tonight is a new low.

I'm not one to cry doom and gloom so early but I think I'm justified this time. We weren't beaten 1-0. In football results like that sometimes happen. But to lose 5-2 to Cyprus just shows that there is something fudamentally wrong.

As for Stan "building for the future"??? I don't think I'll be needing my sunglasses any time soon....

The_B_Man

i actually left me mates and girlfriend in the pub and had to come home. it was ridiculous.
regards to ur "observation", its been goin on a lot longer than this week. i itnhk i even commented on it bout ayear ago! its like a super secret special club! u get more respect if u pretend u suppotr an EL club, u shud try it for the laugh some time.

-sickened

Collie D

The_B_Man wrote:

i actually left me mates and girlfriend in the pub and had to come home. it was ridiculous.
regards to ur "observation", its been goin on a lot longer than this week. i itnhk i even commented on it bout ayear ago! its like a super secret special club! u get more respect if u pretend u suppotr an EL club, u shud try it for the laugh some time.

-sickened

It's the same on most footie fora but just thought it was very noticeable this week.

The_B_Man

ye coz sum1 went and said "Oh i hate international week coz theres no club football on" and then they all went on their periods and decided to flood the place with eL promotion.

Bateman

eL fans ARE superior. Social misfits we may be, but we are superior when it comes to football.

scojones

EL fans are just people who can't afford sky digital. /me hides.

KdjaCL

sjones wrote:

EL fans are just people who can't afford sky digital. /me hides.

LOL or just prefer to actually leave the pc and tv to go watch a game?

I have Sky for PL and La Liga and outside the house for EL

Funny tho most PL fans here do be begging for live streams to games every week, you would wonder if supporting a PL team means your poor


kdjac

MrJoeSoap

The_B_Man wrote:

ye coz sum1 went and said "Oh i hate international week coz theres no club football on" and then they all went on their periods and decided to flood the place with eL promotion.

Oh God forbid we might try and get people to go to see our domestic league.

For shame :rolleyes:

Zebra3

Collie D wrote:

Something I am sure everyone's spotted but it's become increasingly frequent this week with the internationals coming up. Why do the EL supporters (and I would call myself a fair-weather one) come across as having a superiority complex towards people who only watch the English game or the national team.

Simple.

Football fans go to matches. I left Dublin at 2.30 on Friday to go to Waterford to watch the Reds play. Not the best of games, but we got the win. Finally got back to Dublin at about 12.30 after a great day out having a few beers with my fellow fans. Pretty much a typical away day. Similar stuff this Tuesday as we're playing in Longford. I've been to >10 Shels away games in Europe including a good few in the former communist states.

Do you reckon I'm a bigger fan of my team than someone who goes once or twice a year to England to watch theirs or as soon as they lose an away game just flicks the channel to Eastenders?

I do have a superiority complex to Irish people who live in Ireland and who first and foremost follow foreign teams. I make no apology for it either. Although to be honest, I actually feel sorry for them cos they are missing out on so much.

gosplan

I think it's all about 'who's really a supporter'.

'So you like football do you? When's the last time you went to bray on a wet tuesday night to watch a crappy nil all draw.'

There'd be a great Monthy Python sketch in it somewhere.

'Oh you call that supporting, well once we had to go to an away match in East Berlin...etc etc'

IMO it's the same in GAA. People who watch the game at club level take superiority over those who watch it at county level......and correctly so.

If you're part of a grassroots support you have a right to feel slightly superior to those who's only enjoyment of football is given to them on 'Super Sunday' by Andy fcukhead Grey.

CiaranC

It doesnt take a genius to work out that people who attend football matches week in week out are better supporters than people who watch arbitary teams from other countries on TV. Whats so hard to figure out about that?

therecklessone

Zebra3 wrote:

Simple.

Football fans go to matches.

Bulls*it. Those who can, go to matches. When seansouth was over the far side of the world did he stop supporting Shels? Would you expect him to? Taking your point to the next logical step, it suggests a clubs fanbase is limited by stadium capacity.

Zebra3 wrote:

I left Dublin at 2.30 on Friday to go to Waterford to watch the Reds play. Not the best of games, but we got the win. Finally got back to Dublin at about 12.30

Wow, 10 hours. Hardcore.

Last December I left my house at 5am for a 6.45 flight to Manchester. I caught a train at 8am from the airport to Middlesbrough, arriving at Boro at 11.45am for a 1pm kick off. Left the Riverside just after 3 to catch a train to Darlington, then transferred on to the Newcastle train, arriving in the city at 5pm. Hopped on the metro to the airport, where I sat bored out my tits until my 10pm flight home. Again I got my car from the car park and drove home it was midnight, and I was back up 6 hours later for work.

I did that on my own, because none of the mates I travel to Spurs with were able to go.

Am I superior to anyone? Yes, but only to those who question my support or commitment to the club I love. I'm fortunate to have the time and money to travel (22 games last year - 16 home/6 away, 6 so far this season - 3H 3A), doesn't make me any better a supporter than those who don't have the ime or money.

Zebra3 wrote:

I do have a superiority complex to Irish people who live in Ireland and who first and foremost follow foreign teams. I make no apology for it either. Although to be honest, I actually feel sorry for them cos they are missing out on so much.

Thanks for your sympathy, but save it for someone who needs it. I'll be watching our UEFA Cup game against Leverkusen on the TV in November. I suppose that makes me a fake fan, except I'll actually be in Leverkusen, flights and hotel booked with no chance of a ticket. I'll still be there to savour the atmosphere with my fellow Yids.

therecklessone

CiaranC wrote:

IWhats so hard to figure out about that?

Whats so hard to figure out that in the absence of decent exposure to the national league kids will naturally gravitate towards the slick packaging of the PL? I'm 28 years old, and was 16 before I got to my first EL game. I was lucky, in that a mate's dad had sponsors passes to Tolka Park. The combination of my mate's company, free admission and a few beers after the match (plus that mad bast*rd from Cork who used to rant at Rico) helped solidify my support for Shels, but without his input I'd still not be going.

Unless you get the attention of kids you will not increase support for the EL.

therecklessone

This topic pops up every few months, shouldn't we sticky it for ease of access?

There are a few zealots on both sides of this debate. There are those who maintain they are God's gift to football because they support an EL side, and there are those who are pig ignorant and dismiss domestic football because its "s*it".

Then there are the rest of us stuck in the middle, supporting our own teams for our own reasons.

The zealots win few friends (other than their fellow zealots) and do nothing to convince the middle ground to support their side in the debate.

The problem is that of the two, the EL suffers more as a result. The EL needs support, and its cause is damaged by the rants of the "I'm a real fan" brigade. Thats a pity, because its a great league that deserves our support.

Zebra3

You are very much in a minority of those Irish people who support foreign clubs.

I know loads of people who say they follow foreign clubs, have a high disposable income, yet couldn't be arsed going to watch their team more than once or twice a season.

When I first met one of my mate's girlfriends, a 'devout' Arsenal fan, she asked me how I could go to watch League of Ireland football, and I quote 'what could you actually get out of it'? Well, the answer was that I get a lot more out of it than someone who used to go to Highbury once a season.

As for your smart remarks about ten hours being hardcore, I don't see it like that-maybe you do. I think it's a normal thing to do, someone going on an away trip to watch their local pro club play. I know Shels fans who flew to Frankfurt and travelled overland the rest of the way to Split for our CL qualifier two years ago. :rolleyes:

Btw, enjoy your trip to Germany. A great place to go and watch football and drink fantastic beer, but being surrounded by union jacks and drunken Brits boasting about how they won the war (which is always strange considering they're not American or Russian) is not for this Irish football fan.

CiaranC

How many England matches a year do you get to therecklessone?

therecklessone

CiaranC wrote:

How many England matches a year do you get to therecklessone?

None. Your point?

KdjaCL

http://news.netscape.com/story/2006/10/03/fans-get-new-car-after-driving-9320-miles-to-watch-their-team-play


kdjac

CiaranC

No point, just interested in wheter you support the national team of the club to which you give all your time, money and interest, or support the one you live in.

therecklessone

Zebra3 wrote:

As for your smart remarks about ten hours being hardcore, I don't see it like that-maybe you do.

They were smart and I apologise. I was just hoping it would hit home to you how insulting it can be to have someone question your support for your side. There'a always someone who's gone a step further than you when it comes to following your team. People I meet at Spurs think I have it hard flying over, but a guy we know travels down from Stockport every week. Takes him longer than it takes me to fly!

Zebra3 wrote:

but being surrounded by union jacks and drunken Brits boasting about how they won the war (which is always strange considering they're not American or Russian) is not for this Irish football fan.

I take the rough with the smooth. End of the day we're all Spurs, thats what brings us together. FWIW, I hate that whenever a group of drunken Paddies get together a chorus of Ole Ole Ole is bound to start up, but them's the breaks.

therecklessone

CiaranC wrote:

No point, just interested in wheter you support the national team of the club to which you give all your time, money and interest, or support the one you live in.

Mmmm, thought those posts had been deleted.

No Ciaran, I don't support the NT of the club I choose to attend every week.

Nor do the many of the EL fans on this board, which you'd be aware of if you were reading the various "FAI are shoite" or "EL > NT" threads.

Thanx 4 The Fish

Well glad to see this debate about the better fans is still raging. Reminds me of a dog trying to catch it's own tail. You have not been modded but I suggest that you continue this by PM anyway.

therecklessone

KdjaCL wrote:

http://news.netscape.com/story/2006/10/03/fans-get-new-car-after-driving-9320-miles-to-watch-their-team-play


kdjac

Thats what I said:

therecklessone wrote:

There'a always someone who's gone a step further than you when it comes to following your team.

kinaldo

KdjaCL wrote:

We a 4th or 5th seed team and rightly so. This rot isnt an overnight thing we had a manager who dragged in anyone he could in Charlton and raised the expectations of Irish fans. Since then we have steadily dropped back to where we were before he took over.

kdjac

Steadily dropped back since Charlton? For the 2004 Euro qualifiers we were the number 1 seeded team ahead of Russia and Switzerland.

KdjaCL

kinaldo wrote:

Steadily dropped back since Charlton? For the 2004 Euro qualifiers we were the number 1 seeded team ahead of Russia and Switzerland.

Mad when you think we have only ever qualified for one(under Charlton)



kdjac

kinaldo

KdjaCL wrote:

Mad when you think we have only ever qualified for one(under Charlton)



kdjac

Not really. From 1997 onwards we were pretty consistent under McCarthy bar the odd playoff mishap and his last two games.

Zebra3

KdjaCL wrote:

Mad when you think we have only ever qualified for one(under Charlton)

Not really considering it takes into account WC qualifiers as well, and done all right in the 2002 qualfiers. Plus 'only' failed at play-off stage in 96, 98 and 2000. The glory days, eh?

MrJoeSoap

Haha, exactly. What some people in Ireland wouldn't give to lose in a play-off this time next year!

CiaranC

Getting back to the topic. I think its symptomatic of everything that is wrong in Irish football that someone who knows and is passionate about the game, has time and money to spend, gets involved with supporters clubs etc. chooses to do it in London. For the love of god, why?

Pigman II

http://www.evilgerald.com/Issues/Issue22/Assets/MickMcCarthy.jpg

"Oh...oh, gosh...you know, I'm not much on speeches, but it's so gratifying to
leave you wallowing in the mess you've made. You're screwed, thank you, bye."

Ah yes, we truely are the Springfield of international football supporters

MrJoeSoap

CiaranC wrote:

Getting back to the topic. I think its symptomatic of everything that is wrong in Irish football that someone who knows and is passionate about the game, has time and money to spend, gets involved with supporters clubs etc. chooses to do it in London. For the love of god, why?

Higher standard of football?

CiaranC

Higher standard of football?

Not to be facetious, but if it a question of wanting to see high standard football, why choose Spurs? Excepting the last year or two, theyve been a very average team in a league of Charltons, Boltons, Fulhams and Middlesboros have they not?

therecklessone

MrJoeSoap wrote:

Higher standard of football?

Eh, Joe...I'm a Spurs fan...:D

Its not that difficult to understand. By the time of my first EL game, I had supported Spurs for 9 years. My support had solidified at that stage, if I was going to turn my back on English football then I'd be turning my back on football full stop.

Increase EL exposure and grab the attention of kids. A few EL players making appearances for the NT would help (look at the IRFU's use of our 4 British and Irish Lions in 1997), primarily its about marketing the league in the right way.

MrJoeSoap

The Premiership has a higher standard than domestic Irish football in general. I support Southampton because of the magic of Le Tissier, they're a fairly woeful team and always have been but I really enjoy supporting them and following them.

Maybe when therecklessone started supporting Spurs they were a good team, I'm sure he has his own reasons and doesn't have to answer to anybody. I know he's a Shels fan as well, and is a hell of a lot more commited to supporting his teams than most people on boards, myself included.

Whats the problem?

Zebra3

No-one has a problem with that. The OP asked why LoI fans had a superiority complex over those who followed English teams. Those of us who support our local clubs replied. Some people then who follow English teams took exception to our replies to the OP.

MrJoeSoap

Zebra3 wrote:

No-one has a problem with that.

But...

CiaranC wrote:

Getting back to the topic. I think its symptomatic of everything that is wrong in Irish football that someone who knows and is passionate about the game, has time and money to spend, gets involved with supporters clubs etc. chooses to do it in London. For the love of god, why?

CiaranC

The problem is that people are putting their time, money and interest into a foreign league, starving our domestic football infrastructure of much needed funds and bodies. Without these resouces we cant hope to grow the game here.

Some of these same people then come on and complain when a team of players who were sent to England to learn to become footballers at 14/15 seem disinterested in 'their' national teams fortunes and results.

There is a sickness at the heart of the game here. We are all to blame, us, the so-called fans. As long as its seen as OK to support Southampton because of a higher standard of football (!), nothing will change.

MrJoeSoap

CiaranC wrote:

There is a sickness at the heart of the game here. We are all to blame, us, the so-called fans.

I fail to see how I'm responsible for this "sickness", whatever it may be.

As long as its seen as OK to support Southampton because of a higher standard of football (!), nothing will change.

24,000 people can't be wrong.

As long as people preach the same attitude as yourself, nothing will change.

gustavo

MrJoeSoap wrote:

24,000 people can't be wrong.

24000 Southampton people supporting their local team.

MrJoeSoap

As opposed to about 15,000 (max!) Dublin people supporting their 5 local teams each week.

KdjaCL

gustavo wrote:

24000 Southampton people supporting their local team.

23,999 and joe



kdjac