Saturday Nov 7, 2009
As a loyal TFC fan for over 20 years, I consider it my inalienable right to be as fickle as hell whenever I feel like it.
It's a trait shared by fans all over the world and those of us BTAD will be the first to admit that we're as guilty as the next man (and woman, obviously...)
The star centre-forward who is one of the best in the club's history only has to miss a couple of sitters that ‘my nan could have scored from there' and we're demanding that he come and stand next to us.
The defender who's been rock-solid for two seasons only has to put a couple of feet wrong and we're on his back - often for no better reason than that we had a row with Mrs BTAD before the game.
And as for managers.....well, you're only as good as your last result - ask Rafael Benitez.
So it's come as no surprise to us BTAD that as the Lambs haven't won for seven games, the doom-mongers have quickly buried the mood of optimism that pervaded the stands little more than a month ago.
Five defeats in a row, including a costly FA Cup defeat at Ilkeston, have had people talking of relegation battles, worrying ‘wobbles' and so on.
It would be easy to get fickle...but I won't. We knew at the start of the season that we would have no money, relative to the ‘big-spending' (and very often, in big trouble) clubs. We knew we'd have a small squad, which would struggle when injuries hit. Everyone with an ounce of realism knew that finishing one place above relegation would be a result - and none of that has changed.
One of the pleasing things about the start to the season has been that, win or lose, the football has been good to watch. Let's hope that continues...but let's not get too fickle, shall we?
I can't let this column pass without paying tribute to Ronnie Sims, whose death was announced a couple of weeks ago.
Even I am too young to remember Ronnie playing in the 1960s, but it says an enormous amount for the respect in which he was held that he was named as one of the 30 Lambs Legends by the TFC Supporters Club Heritage Project earlier this year.
It says even more that he was one of just 13 of the 30 from before what we might call the ‘modern' era which began in the mid-1980s.
I do remember him, though, as the ever-present kitman alongside FA Vase-winning manager Graham Smith. Ronnie was as much a part of that tightly-knit and successful group as any of the players and the delight he took in their success shone out. As a reporter for the Herald, I always found him tremendously helpful and friendly.
When I heard of his death, one image came to mind. You'll find it in the book that the club and the Herald published about the 1989 Vase success, but I remember how I saw it at the time - from the press box at the old Wembley (the one with a half-decent atmosphere and a half-decent pitch, kids).
As the players of Tamworth and Sudbury walked on to the pitch alongside each other, followed by the managers and staff, I saw Ronnie spot someone in the crowd and wave at them, a huge smile across his face.
It was obvious that this was one of the proudest days of his life. I'm sure Ronnie carried that memory with him until he died. It is fitting that his involvement in those years should be remembered forever.
