A quote from the best British gangster movie ever made,Get Carter.The film Mr Madonna tried to make several times but never came close...Young,dynamic Michael Caine has had to leave his home to dual with provincial patsies.They think he's a soft touch, he's not one of them.Not part of their cosy little empire which has bullied and harangued all opposition to their throne.They have grown complacent in their castles made of sand...the new man has new ideas,new methods.He's younger,smarter and better at doing their job.They fight back but it's a futile gesture.He outsmarts them at every turn.The dinosaurs are on the edge of the abyss wearing slip on shoes...
I was thinking all this last night when contemplating Nuno Espirit Santo's impact on,not only my club,but on the cosy world of the rent-a-quote managers.The dinosaurs who will only play the game their way because it's what they've done for thirty years...Nuno and his ilk are eroding their power in the footballing world game by game and they know it but they're too set in their ways to change either themselves or their ultimate fate...
Right at the start of the season there were barbed comments about Nuno not knowing the Championship.What it would entail.The hardships he,his backroom staff and his players would endure.They were building this myth around a division of twenty four teams as if it was a cross between Mordor and Narnia.Here be monsters.Their mates in the media piled in on this nonsense creating an imagery dystopian landscape where only stout British yeomen can survive the winter and lead their teams to glory in the spring...They were either scared or ignorant, of Nuno's skills in this football lark.
Or maybe it was arrogance.Like Caine's adversaries in Get Carter they'd become bloated by their own limited success.Nobody had effectively challenged them for so long they thought they were immune from attack.The big rock of extinction is heading their way but they're looking in the wrong direction.Evolution can be a slow process but it's march is unstoppable...
It was'nt long before the realisation hit them that something was going on though and that's when the little moans, groans and sly digs started to appear..." Let's see how they cope with the winter" "They must be breaking some sort of financial rules" and best of all " They don't know how to behave in the good old British manner" This last one was because Nuno & his staff showed their passion by celebrating a win before shaking hands with their opponents.I don't think these managers were really bothered about such fripperies.I think they were beginning to suss that their fragile hold on the status quo was being eaten away at...Nobody can convince me that Neil Warnock gives two hoots if he gets a handshake from a fellow manager.But he does care if his position is threatened.Especially by somebody the cosy club considered out of his depth a few months ago...
There does seem to be a bit of...i'm loathe to say racism...maybe xenophobia is better.So yes there does appear to be a little bit of xenophobia at play here.S'pose that's what the threatened do,revert back to base instincts.Quite a bit of their dialogue has referenced England/Britain for no other reason that i can see.
However i don't think their inevitable decline is all down to ignorance & arrogance.There's more at play here.Namely pressure from their own fans and ergo their board of directors.Bruce & Pulis at Aston Villa & M'boro respectively have to get their teams back in the top flight otherwise they'll be looking for another job and one of those promotion places has effectively been taken up by a newcomer to English football.One,or both,may miss out.Hence the desperate long ball,get-it-in-the-box-as-quick-as-possible tactics they produce.They don't have time to develop a coherent system.They get frustrated and lash out at the newcomer who seems to have an easy life...i don't think Warnock is under that sort of pressure.He's just a cunt.
After we lost at Aston Villa 4-1 there was one telling quote that stood out for me.It was from our chairman Jeff Si.He said " One result does'nt matter.Does'nt make any difference" I took that to mean they are in for the long haul and will not make any knee jerk reactions during a bad spell(at least i hope that's what he meant.Maybe he forgot to add..."but two will...") So Nuno is not under pressure to succeed instantly.He will get time whereas some of the dinosaurs,who're too scared,or unwilling.to change,won't.
If you're happy watching your highly paid players hoof the ball aimlessly in the the penalty box all game or continue to launch throw ins into the box like Exocet missiles then fine.Wallow in it.Me? I'd rather my team produce the kind of football that makes laugh hysterically because it's so fucking beautiful...
