Brunt, The New Scapegoat.
Today was a sad day for me. I haven't had many of these down the Albion for a while. It wasn't the defeat against Fulham, or even the display, which was admittedly poor. It was our support that saddened me. The booing at half and full time was really disappointing, the treatment of Chris Brunt shocking.
First thing, why the hell do we even have booing down The Albion this year ? Our best season since I could get out of a chair without groaning. Look at the table for goodness sake. Look at our Midland neighbours . Tis the season to be jolly. Yet we moan like spoiled brats when we open the occasional present and don't like what is inside despite having a pile of fantastic presents already opened.
I guess that is the price of relative success, a rise in expectation. However, today overstepped the mark. Especially when our Captain went off.
The prolonged cheering of Chris Brunt's substitution today was nothing short of appalling. I can understand people being unhappy with the way he played. He was awful. I would imagine he was feeling pretty crappy with himself and was almost relieved to go off. But then he was completely humiliated by the crowd.
Wrong, just so very wrong.
I have never personally booed a player. That doesn't make me any better supporter than someone who has at some stage. Mickey Phelan deserved every bit of spite spat at him. But that is a rarity. Booing individuals is and always will be counter productive. It helps nobody and most importantly it doesn't help the team.
Chris Brunt is no Mickey Phelan. He has been a big part of the teams rise over the last few years. He isn't a player that has ever taken the money and given nothing back. So why the spite? He was one of many that had their boots on the wrong feet today. Gera has been awful of late too yet he seems untouchable. He even got clapped off.
We like to think of our support is a cut above the rest but are we really? It certainly wasn't today.
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Martin Laurence is a lifelong Aston Villa fan, statistical analyst and editor-in-chief at www.WhoScored.com. My Posts
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Absolutely spot on! There was plenty of negativity in the crowd today. For all our fans(or the vast majority)can be amusing and loyal, there has always been a percentage that have to have a "boo boy" and Chris appears to be the current one. He was poor today but never hid,continued to try and play positively and certainly didn't deserve the vitriol addressed to him. People need to remember,we're 7th in the league and Brunt is a major reason why
this is not what supporting West Bromwich Albion should be about: we should be encouraging players who are having a hard time on the pitch , not booing them, as this just gives advantage to the opposition and lowering team morale : i hate booing at our team or players, it should not happen,ever, end of.
I certainly don't applaud the booing of players today. However, I do take issue with the comment about our expectations. Yes, they are higher than they were a couple of seasons ago - but in the sense that we expect to give the Chelsea's and Man United's a good game now. Our expectations re. clubs like Fulham have always been that we expect to beat them at home. Steve Clarke has exceeded expectations, but that doesn't mean he doesn't make mistakes. His defensive selection and formation against Fulham was a disgrace which had defeat written all over it. And that's what happened - end of story. If the paying public can't voice their disapproval of such poor defeatist tactics after the match, it's a poor show.
This all started on Radio WM after the Norwich game, where the presenter was asking fans views on Brunt and whether he had passed his best
Although i did not boo at half time, i see no harm in this if it is justified, i thought the first half performance was dire, missed place passes, not closing down etc. If i had put that performance in at work i would be pulled up. Personally i do not think it matters if we are 7th or 17th that first half performance was in my view not good enough and should we not be looking to always improve. The booing, along with half time team talk probably contributed too a much improved second half. If you can let me know how we as supporters can communicate our frustration at half time in a more constructive way then that would be good.
I think your trying to find a story here...
Brunt was poor... Shocking passing, shocking tackling... This is our captain, who is supposed to lead by example, not blame others and shrug he's shoulders... He needs to take the captains armbands responsibility and be a leader, not just wear it and take the cash bonus...
The first half was flat and poor, we haven't achieved nothing as yet, the table will not lie at the end of the season..
The team did pay poorly, it was actually a bad team selection, against a slow Fulham team... Even the basics, like pressing the ball and following your runner was missing the first half... The next two months define our season, you can't expect three points every home game, but Albion fans expect a hard working team, which we did not see... Role on next game.. Boing boing
Yes I absolutely agree that to Brunt was dreadful. But my guess is the booing was more for the Head Coach.
It was plain to see in the first 10 minutes that our midfield was not working, with Brunt being the worst offender, Clarke should have made changes earlier and leaving Brunt on until 5 minutes from the end was downright poor management. Not only a bad day at the office for the players but a dreadful one for the Head Coach.
Spot on about the booing of both the team in general and also of Chris Brunt. With only a few exceptions - Billy Jones, Gabriel Tamas and Romelu Lukaku, no-one played particularly well yesterday, but booing at half time, really,is that what Albion fans do? When did we get to be such Billy Big Shots?
The treatment of CB was appalling, but give him credit, at least he never, hid, and he kept popping up in the game. His problem is, I think, just that he can look disinterested, even when he is involved.
You're bang on about Gera, who can seemingly do no wrong, but yesterday GMac was all over the place too, Mozza was almost anonymous and Mulumbu looked as if he would have had trouble trapping a bag of cement. It was just a bad day at the office.
We'll be back. COYB.
Rich, I'm with you on this.
I, too, have never boed a player. Basic psychology will tell you that if you boo someone, confidence will naturally go down. How can that help?
He is a good player and served us well. Yes he can be poor - he didnt need the crowd to tell him that.
The whole side, first half, were poor. It seemed as if they had been out late and drinking hard. Not just Brunty - all of them.
Quit the booing, show some intelligence and class and support and encourage the lads in thsi great season.
Spot on with the article, it was only a minority but they need to get some perspective. It's the sort of behaviour I'd associate with the Wolves and we can all see that it does them a lot of good!
One other point, early kick-offs on New Years Day 'kill' the atmosphere and hence the tempo of the game. I think this had a lot to do with the first half performance and ultimately played into Fulhams hands as the away side.
You should never boo your own team there was some booing but i thought it was minor and borne out of total frustration with a very poor and lazy effort all round when you are out worked by Fullam or any team for that matter you have a problem.
On the subject of Chris Brunt he too should not be booed he does try his best. However we have to face up to the fact that we are a poorer team with Brunt in the starting line up then we he is not selected. Can any one remember the last time Brunt had an outstanding game in a baggies short , you would have to go back to 2010 we have better players in the squad he should be playing instead of Brunt
I also condemn booing, however Brunt has had two good games but when he plays we look very one dimensional. He has been unable to string any passes together from 5 yards to 30 yards. When he loses the ball he looks around and doesn't track back whereas Gera (who indeed has been poor) tracks back straight away and unsettles the player who has possession. The main reason Brunt gets the abuse he does is because he's captain, he should lead by example not lose the ball and stop. That being said he doesn't deserve the abuse he gets.
I dont boo players or the team personally,but im amazed at the general concern about the booing at half time and the ironic cheers when Brunt went off.The team selection,tactics and performance yesterday was complete tripe..it makes no difference if we are top,7th,bottom,whatever.In Fulham we played a team who had won one in 10,devoid of confidence,awful away form,shambolic defence(shown by our brief huff n puff in sec half).
We put no pressure on in first half,couldnt pass,,gave it away and Brunt was just awful.Teamwise and ,particularly Bruntwise,this wasnt a one off.The booing was no more than was deserved.They have plenty of good support/plaudits week in week out.
In addition I could quite happily be booed for 30K a week.
The supporters will always get behind the team,but the team got what they fully deserved yesterday.
No sympathy whatsoever.
Couldn't agree with you more. The booing of the team and the treatment of Brunt has been disgraceful. Especially considering he had been responsible for 4 assists out of our last 5 goals prior to this game.
Totally agree with you!!!
Poor performance not poor player
Brunt is a decent championship player and not the player he was & certainly no captain. I agree that the cheering of his substitution was more of a dig at Clarke who seems blinkered where Brunt is concerned. Jonas is our leader & captain. All things considered we are having a great season & really missed Ollsson, Yacob and Popov yesterday - keep the faith COYB
You may have missed the point here... I think it was Steve Clarke the fans were really having a go at. Yes he had taken Gera and Fortune off, but he did not seem to have the 'balls' to take off his captain. After all
what sort of message would that send to the opposition, "I am taking my captain off, he's awful." Yet he did eventually take off Chris Brunt, to ironic cheers. If we had a team of Mulumbus....there would never be a 'boo' as fans appreciate effort, hard work and skill. I agree the fans were out of order 'booing' at h.t. & f.t. but apart from Billy Jones & Mulumbu, the rest of the team were well below par. COYB.
I think the fact the crowd waited until half time shows some respect for our teams achievements so far this season.Although Steve Clarke got it wrong. Fortune is not and never will be a wide midfielder no pace and hides away. Chris Brunt is not and never will be a holding midfielder. Gera down the years has been great,but now he doesn't have the legs for 70 mins, thats why sometimes billy jones has 2 men. When the subs were made shane and peter should have gone wide to add pace and lukaku should of stayed central as a target man.Mulumbu had an off day and so did Morrison so effectivley we didn't have a midfield.I think the club has moved up a level and the harsh truth is if we want to play in mid to top half of the prem its time to offload players like brunt and fortune. I love the baggies but we need to add a little bit more quality to the squad.
I agree with the majority of posters on this one. How you can boo the team you support is a disgrace. I'm afraid a lot of yesterday's support was your 'kids for a quid' cheapskates who come when the ticket's are cheap and believe everyone has to listen to their opinion. We've been in the top half of the prem all season playing some of the best football I've ever seen beating teams like Chelsea and Liverpool and competing with Man Utd at Old Trafford. Brunty was awful yesterday but would probably be the 1st to admit it.
We could be in the lower half of the championship with a manager who looks to struggle to get anything out of his players. Then the boo boys would have something to moan about!!!
Too many supporters fail to cut players any slack when they are coming back from injury.
Although I do not agree with the booing of a player or team in general...there are times when I do understand why the fans do it. You can have an average player on the pitch and he will get applauded as long as he gives his all. Brunt has been awful of late...but that is isnt the reason he is getting booed. The reason is he is lazy and his head drops. When fans see opposing players breeze past one of our own easily.....and then our guy doesnt chase him down and make a challenge but just shrugs his shoulders, they have a right to voice their frustration. This behaviour puts more pressure on the players team mates and often results in other players being pulled out of position...and in the prem this will be punished as we have seen so often this season. We cannot applaud Odemwingie for tracking back and tackling....or shout from the rooftops about Shane Longs work rate then not criticize our Captain, who is meant to lead by example, when he is being lazy.
Also I disagree with this mentality that we should be happy with where we are. Why? The fact is we could have and should have beaten Fulham. They are an average side with one great player (who incidentally we seemed afraid to tackle yesterday). Yes this is the best start in years but we all know that it could be better had we not made silly mistakes and given 100% in every game. There is nothing wrong in wanting to play to our full potential and there is no doubt that we havent recently. If we were losing the games fair and square then there would be no complaints. We have thrown away games that we could have won this season and the fans know it.
Im my work I always demand excellence. It doesnt mean that you always achieve it but you can try hard. It is the lack of effort that fans dislike....and they have every right to.
Jesus Christ! Can't anyone realise that brunt gets the abuse he does because he looks lazy. There were numerous times where he played an awful pass but instead of trying to win the ball back he just dropped his or shrugged his shoulders. I saw it three or four times yesterday where he glanced at berba run straight by him and just trotted back. This is all while Fulham were on the break. Surely as captain he should take it upon himself to put the effort in. It's got nothing to do with ability he gets abused for his attitude and if you can't see that you must be watching a different game! I'm sick of this nicely does it approach to our club. These players are men and paid £30k per week - for that I expect at least 100% effort when I shell out for my season ticket!!
We had Chris Brunt at Sheffield Wednesday for a few seasons and I was surprised when he was made captain at WBA. He is not exactly a leader of men. What he does well is long range shooting and the occasional killer pass. He never was a good tackler or even a particularly hard worker. He is probably reaching the end of his Premiership career, and will be looking to eke out a few more years without injury.
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Yes I absolutely agree that to Brunt was dreadful. But my guess is the booing was more for the Head Coach.
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