Un-Social Media

What has become of us Poppies fans?  We have always been a reactionary, miserable bunch of moaning bastards.  It was part of our charm (!)  We grizzled through 90 minutes of football and either gave a muted cheer at a positive result of a muted "hurrumph" at a negative one, followed by the obligatory, "Shent goo agen!"  Then we would turn up the following game and go through it all again.

It seems that easy and ready access to social media has turned sections of our support from grumbly-guts into something far more distasteful.

With the lamented departure from the scene of Poppynet, the only remaining online outlets for a Poppies fan eager to make sure everyone is fully aware of their important opinion are the KTFC Chat Facebook Page, and the KTFC Forum.  We all know that in the real world all us Poppies fans are as normal, well adjusted and reasonable as anyone else.  Pretty much.  So what is it that makes elements of our number temporarily lose it when posting on social media?

Some of the recent personal abuse on the Facebook / Twitter pages has been breaktaking.  Actual football matters and results don't seem to be a major factor in some of the hate being liberally thrown around.  Leaving aside the ease of safely posting vicious poison from the comfort of your own man-pad, there does seem to be a distinct escalation in some of the ranting fury on show.  Small elements of the fanbase seem unhappy with pretty much everything in Poppyland.  Not so much "glass half full", as "glass half full of sh*t".  By way of an example, our admittedly poor home record thus far is rarely balanced with our sparkling away form.

A day rarely goes by without further ranting about the missing Centre Back who will single-handedly win us the title and give us all far more fulfilling lives.  It is always nice to have the best possible footballers, playing for us in all the positions on the field.  Leaving aside the fact that just because we WANT a player, we automatically GET a player, which footballer in their right mind look to fill this position?  Looking at the kind of player being demanded, he will need to be good in the air, positionally aware, quick over the ground, vocal and a natural born leader.  Oh, and despite all these virtues, he needs to be, somehow, between clubs and not break the bank.  Ah well, that rules out building a time machine and plucking a 22-year old Bobby Moore out of the past.

The KTFC Fredum has also had spells when it has been almost overwhelmed by a single poster who is like a dog with a particularly tasty bone about whichever issue they are fixated upon on any given day.  Someone who can't quite differentiate between debate / difference of opinion with soul-sapping repetition.  All while achieving the surprising feat of being simultaneously thick and thin skinned at the same time!

If only the football at Latimer Park was half as spicy as the discussion surrounding it, we would be in for some seriously sumptuous Saturdays!

"All play and no wins makes Jack an angry boy.
All play and no wins makes Jack an angry boy.
All play and no wins makes Jack an angry boy...."