The blame game
Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 6:03 pm
Right or wrong my view has always been that being a supporter of a club makes you irrational, I even been known to use the term gullible. Not directed at my long haired lover from Ashton BTW 
A simple example. We have never had a bad referee in recent weeks. Yet when our form was poor we had umpteen bad referees.
A more serious example. The furore that has now grown around the selection / non selection of Shaun Ainscough. I have yet to watch a young player or any player that could not improve. There is no such thing as the finished product. Generally the younger the player the more it is accepted that he will make mistakes as he develops and starts to realise his potential. Normally, supporters are far less willing to accept mistakes / weaknesses from player in their mid to late 20's and perhaps beyond.
It is then somewhat strange that whilst a group of fans have focussed so intensely on the merits of a rookie SL player in Shaun Ainscough they have never seen fit to cast their eyes at older more established players.
http://www.superleague.co.uk/statistics ... eason=2009
This is not a lets point the finger at George Carmont BTW but I read elsewhere in the main fans still harping on about Ainscough who has not played for the first team for a few games now yet after 3 years of ignoring his errors in reserve/academy grade they now suddenly highlight mistakes he even makes in reserve grade yet they seemingly ignore other player playing regularly. George made a very poor front on attempt at a tackle v Wakefield yet I still read about Ainscough making a poor attempted tackle from the back on Eastmond in a reserve game.
Take a look at the stats for George. Here is a very experienced player who has missed 19 tackles compared to 7 by a rookie winger. Nearly 2 missed tackles per match. 10 errors. 1 error per match. Ainscough has made errors too and he has missed tackles too. Yet contrast the silence surrounding Carmont compared to Ainscough. The fans never say anything. The coach never says anything. Bizarre is it not.
You could also understand it if fans were then to say ah but George is a far better attacker than Ainscough. Yet Ainscough makes 4 clean breaks, 4 tackle busts for every 1 that George makes. He scores 4 tries for every 1 try that George scores. Ah but George puts tries on for others. Does he? or is that what fans want to believe?
This is not let's criticise George but it is exposing the irrational views of supporters often based on fresh air. I describe fans as gullible at times why? somebody explain to me why the hysteria surrounding a rookie making mistakes yet the silence when an experienced player makes mistakes. Do you the fans not accept that if a prominent club official makes negative comments that you the fan conciously or subconciously take those on board.
Another interesting comparison and another possibly explnation for fans different responses. If George Carmont was Daryl Goulding would fans have been quiet had he made those mistakes? If not why not? What does that say about you, the fan? Why are fans not prepared to accept that a young player will make mistakes as they develop why are fans seemingly less tolerant of young players than so called star names? of imports? Double standards.
Is RL not a team sport? Maybe Wigan RLFC has an issue with its left side defence?
http://www.superleague.co.uk/statistics ... eason=2009
http://www.superleague.co.uk/statistics ... eason=2009
Look at the number of left sided defenders missed tackles / errors etc Hocky, Pig, Tommy.
Maybe teams were actually targetting our left side as opposed to a single player? However, is it easier to blame 1 person, a rookie than blame several players / the team / the coach? We as fans need to think far more than we do. I have read a 60+ year old supporter with extensive experience watching Wigan RLFC appear irrational / gullible, not here elsewhere and it staggers me, mystifies me.
Over to you the fans.
A simple example. We have never had a bad referee in recent weeks. Yet when our form was poor we had umpteen bad referees.
A more serious example. The furore that has now grown around the selection / non selection of Shaun Ainscough. I have yet to watch a young player or any player that could not improve. There is no such thing as the finished product. Generally the younger the player the more it is accepted that he will make mistakes as he develops and starts to realise his potential. Normally, supporters are far less willing to accept mistakes / weaknesses from player in their mid to late 20's and perhaps beyond.
It is then somewhat strange that whilst a group of fans have focussed so intensely on the merits of a rookie SL player in Shaun Ainscough they have never seen fit to cast their eyes at older more established players.
http://www.superleague.co.uk/statistics ... eason=2009
This is not a lets point the finger at George Carmont BTW but I read elsewhere in the main fans still harping on about Ainscough who has not played for the first team for a few games now yet after 3 years of ignoring his errors in reserve/academy grade they now suddenly highlight mistakes he even makes in reserve grade yet they seemingly ignore other player playing regularly. George made a very poor front on attempt at a tackle v Wakefield yet I still read about Ainscough making a poor attempted tackle from the back on Eastmond in a reserve game.
Take a look at the stats for George. Here is a very experienced player who has missed 19 tackles compared to 7 by a rookie winger. Nearly 2 missed tackles per match. 10 errors. 1 error per match. Ainscough has made errors too and he has missed tackles too. Yet contrast the silence surrounding Carmont compared to Ainscough. The fans never say anything. The coach never says anything. Bizarre is it not.
You could also understand it if fans were then to say ah but George is a far better attacker than Ainscough. Yet Ainscough makes 4 clean breaks, 4 tackle busts for every 1 that George makes. He scores 4 tries for every 1 try that George scores. Ah but George puts tries on for others. Does he? or is that what fans want to believe?
This is not let's criticise George but it is exposing the irrational views of supporters often based on fresh air. I describe fans as gullible at times why? somebody explain to me why the hysteria surrounding a rookie making mistakes yet the silence when an experienced player makes mistakes. Do you the fans not accept that if a prominent club official makes negative comments that you the fan conciously or subconciously take those on board.
Another interesting comparison and another possibly explnation for fans different responses. If George Carmont was Daryl Goulding would fans have been quiet had he made those mistakes? If not why not? What does that say about you, the fan? Why are fans not prepared to accept that a young player will make mistakes as they develop why are fans seemingly less tolerant of young players than so called star names? of imports? Double standards.
Is RL not a team sport? Maybe Wigan RLFC has an issue with its left side defence?
http://www.superleague.co.uk/statistics ... eason=2009
http://www.superleague.co.uk/statistics ... eason=2009
Look at the number of left sided defenders missed tackles / errors etc Hocky, Pig, Tommy.
Maybe teams were actually targetting our left side as opposed to a single player? However, is it easier to blame 1 person, a rookie than blame several players / the team / the coach? We as fans need to think far more than we do. I have read a 60+ year old supporter with extensive experience watching Wigan RLFC appear irrational / gullible, not here elsewhere and it staggers me, mystifies me.
Over to you the fans.