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WHY IS THERE ALWAYS A 'WHIPPING BOY'?

Thu Dec 26, 2019 12:10 pm

Cardiff City have significantly underperformed this season and in this scenario, it seems that someone always needs to pay.
By Scott Johnson


When times are tough, there is always a whipping boy. Why? I guess it makes everyone feel better, but it certainly doesn’t help the situation and it must be horrible to be on the receiving end of it.

We all have favourites, it’s part of the fun. Some players will be your cup of tea and others, despite their merits, may not do it for you. It’s a subjective, aesthetic thing and it goes with the territory.

Some fans go too far though. Sometimes players are simply written off, either over time or on a whim. There is a point of no return, they just crossed it and that’s their lot. There is rarely any way back either. So much for the supporting part of being a supporter.

There are plenty of reasons for this and a lot of them revolve around money. Jealousy aside, if you spend a significant amount of money on acquiring a player and pay them a hefty wage, it is only natural to expect them to perform at a certain standard. The problem is that when they don’t, people take it almost personally.


Take Gary Madine, for example. He was brought in to ensure a concerted promotion charge, signed from a position of strength in the automatic promotion places. Cardiff did a similar thing the previous time they were promoted, when they signed Fraizer Campbell. He was a great signing, brought in for relative buttons and he proved to be very influential in the 18 months he spent with the club. As for Madine, Cardiff did it without him in the end.

Madine has had a renaissance of late, coming in from the cold under Neil Harris, who has a thing for strapping centre forwards. Most fans seem to have got on board too, which is fair enough because he hasn’t done a lot wrong at Cardiff. He hasn’t done a lot full stop really.

The pendulum has swung with Madine, to the extent that some of the praise even feels slightly patronising. If he executes the mere basics of what you would expect from your target man, some coo when surely it is the least you should expect from such a significant investment.

Its probably because some went so hard in their criticism, that they now need to counter it with effusive praise, when the truth, as is usually the case, is probably somewhere in between. If he ever scores, some will surely lose their minds.


Full disclosure and suffice to say that Madine is not really my thing, but obviously I’m still rooting for him all the same. I thought he was a bad idea and still think he’s a bad idea, but there are various personal prejudices and opinions at play. I’m more of a fan of Leandro Bacuna, and that was a very lonely pursuit for a while.

Bacuna began the season as a scapegoat, with some proclaiming that he was the worst thing since sliced shit. He’s too slow, too expensive, just generally too Bacuna. Where I saw a cultured midfielder, struggling in an uncultured midfield, others saw a passenger. Both sides dig their heels in and when you’re in the minority, its only natural to wonder if you’ve called this one wrong.

I think Bacuna has won a lot of people over since though, which is no mean feat and all you can ask really. Whether that’s due to improvement on his part or a general change in narrative is hard to decipher and doesn’t really matter ultimately. Or maybe it’s just because people have since moved on to Aden Flint.


I have strong opinions either way on Madine and Bacuna, but I’m a bit more indifferent on Flint. I seem to think he’s better than most, and there are stats to back that view up if you wish to seek them out, but I also see where people are coming from.

He was expensive and probably too similar to Sean Morrison. He’s also rather flat-footed and slow on the turn, like Mark Hudson. Yet we loved Hudson, eventually. Initially, we hated him too, and herein lies the problem.

We all have likes and dislikes, which can change over time. Aden Flint is only ever going to be the best Aden Flint he can be, so don’t hammer him for not being Danny Gabbidon. He has his charms, his strengths and weaknesses, and it’s up to Cardiff to maximise them. Gary Madine is never going to be Peter Thorne and Leandro Bacuna is never going to be Aaron Ramsey either.


What they are though is Cardiff City players, so deserve our support, and professional footballers, so deserve our respect. Do you know how hard it is to get their level? The years of dedication and hard work involved, only for someone to write them off on a glance. I don’t envy them, regardless of the lavish lifestyles afforded them.

Josh Murphy is clearly struggling at the moment and his substitution was cheered against Preston. I understand why fans are frustrated with him, but they crossed the line here. Murphy may not be cutting it at the moment, but he still deserves better than that. It’s counterproductive and I get the impression that he needs the carrot rather than the stick just now.

In a culture where everyone wants to be the first to proclaim a player as fab or crap, these wild swings in either direction are inevitable. There never needs to be a whipping boy though. These things tend to take care of themselves, without the need to crucify anyone. Sometimes individuals are at fault, but its usually a failure in collective responsibility.


Essentially, what I’m trying to say is don’t be the guy that unfurled a banner at Old Trafford proclaiming; “Three years of excuses and it’s still crap. Ta ra Fergie.”

Although plenty agreed with the sentiment at the time, that guy is now known as the prick who unfurled that banner. There’s a lesson in there for all of us!

Re: WHY IS THERE ALWAYS A 'WHIPPING BOY'?

Thu Dec 26, 2019 12:18 pm

A { singular } whipping boy ?

its normally 4 or 5 if we win and more if we do not win..

Re: WHY IS THERE ALWAYS A 'WHIPPING BOY'?

Thu Dec 26, 2019 1:06 pm

We've had some crap players and teams over the years, but the one thing fans anywhere wont tolerate, is players not giving 100% every time they play. We can forgive mistakes, and howlers, but if they don't seem to be interested, then we tend to get on their backs, and quite rightly too. I don't think we've seen a decent showing for 90 minutes this season, we've had 20 minutes here and 30 minutes there, and the odd half, but we need to see them trying for 90 minutes every week. That's why Madine is suddenly becoming popular, because of his efforts.

Re: WHY IS THERE ALWAYS A 'WHIPPING BOY'?

Thu Dec 26, 2019 1:11 pm

Don Keydick wrote:We've had some crap players and teams over the years, but the one thing fans anywhere wont tolerate, is players not giving 100% every time they play. We can forgive mistakes, and howlers, but if they don't seem to be interested, then we tend to get on their backs, and quite rightly too. I don't think we've seen a decent showing for 90 minutes this season, we've had 20 minutes here and 30 minutes there, and the odd half, but we need to see them trying for 90 minutes every week. That's why Madine is suddenly becoming popular, because of his efforts.



don't agree sorry...what points we have are all on the back of effort and not giving up.
quite simply we do not have the quality here to win or draw games without grit and determination..

Re: WHY IS THERE ALWAYS A 'WHIPPING BOY'?

Thu Dec 26, 2019 1:57 pm

It's frustration for me
With the nan we dare not criticise.

Some of his signings were poor at the time
His style doomed us to certain player types.
Players were guaranteed selection.


We have limited quality
Throughout.
Poor squad, so no battles to keep your place.

Can't really blame the player.
They were generally poor before they got here.

The team ethic is fantastic.

Harris said Preston had team ethic and quality.

One or two bits of quality coming in
Could light this place up!!

Re: WHY IS THERE ALWAYS A 'WHIPPING BOY'?

Thu Dec 26, 2019 2:42 pm

eddiep wrote:It's frustration for me
With the nan we dare not criticise.

Some of his signings were poor at the time
His style doomed us to certain player types.
Players were guaranteed selection.


We have limited quality
Throughout.
Poor squad, so no battles to keep your place.

Can't really blame the player.
They were generally poor before they got here.

The team ethic is fantastic.

Harris said Preston had team ethic and quality.

One or two bits of quality coming in
Could light this place up!!



Yup one or two options with Tomlins quality would transform this team!

Re: WHY IS THERE ALWAYS A 'WHIPPING BOY'?

Thu Dec 26, 2019 5:33 pm

eddiep wrote:It's frustration for me
With the nan we dare not criticise.

Some of his signings were poor at the time
His style doomed us to certain player types.
Players were guaranteed selection.


We have limited quality
Throughout.
Poor squad, so no battles to keep your place.

Can't really blame the player.
They were generally poor before they got here.

The team ethic is fantastic.

Harris said Preston had team ethic and quality.

One or two bits of quality coming in
Could light this place up!!



not really....he gets criticised plenty.
mostly by people saying non sensical crap tbh…
so which manager does not or has not picked more or less the same players every week ? Klopp ? pep ? busby ? who ?
the rest of your post gets worse but lets just start with that nonsense...

Re: WHY IS THERE ALWAYS A 'WHIPPING BOY'?

Thu Dec 26, 2019 5:43 pm

dogfound wrote:
eddiep wrote:It's frustration for me
With the nan we dare not criticise.

Some of his signings were poor at the time
His style doomed us to certain player types.
Players were guaranteed selection.


We have limited quality
Throughout.
Poor squad, so no battles to keep your place.

Can't really blame the player.
They were generally poor before they got here.

The team ethic is fantastic.

Harris said Preston had team ethic and quality.

One or two bits of quality coming in
Could light this place up!!



not really....he gets criticised plenty.
mostly by people saying non sensical crap tbh…
so which manager does not or has not picked more or less the same players every week ? Klopp ? pep ? busby ? who ?
the rest of your post gets worse but lets just start with that nonsense...


I was actually trying to be polite and positive.

The standard of shit I've seen actually stopped me going. I haven't seen a sort iof tidy team/half decent football since Dave Moans.

Would rather watch the queen's spew h on a constant loop than the bollux that's on offer...

Is that better for You?
tw*t

Re: WHY IS THERE ALWAYS A 'WHIPPING BOY'?

Thu Dec 26, 2019 5:51 pm

eddiep wrote:
dogfound wrote:
eddiep wrote:It's frustration for me
With the nan we dare not criticise.

Some of his signings were poor at the time
His style doomed us to certain player types.
Players were guaranteed selection.


We have limited quality
Throughout.
Poor squad, so no battles to keep your place.

Can't really blame the player.
They were generally poor before they got here.

The team ethic is fantastic.

Harris said Preston had team ethic and quality.

One or two bits of quality coming in
Could light this place up!!



not really....he gets criticised plenty.
mostly by people saying non sensical crap tbh…
so which manager does not or has not picked more or less the same players every week ? Klopp ? pep ? busby ? who ?
the rest of your post gets worse but lets just start with that nonsense...


I was actually trying to be polite and positive.

The standard of shit I've seen actually stopped me going. I haven't seen a sort iof tidy team/half decent football since Dave Moans.

Would rather watch the queen's spew h on a constant loop than the bollux that's on offer...

Is that better for You?
tw*t



you got a bunch of triangles and star shapes you want to hammer into round holes and im the tw*t ?
be critical but be fair...yes he bought players to improve his team...do you think trolls bought players for NW in case he himself turned out crap and it just happened to be NW who was appointed...

Re: WHY IS THERE ALWAYS A 'WHIPPING BOY'?

Thu Dec 26, 2019 5:55 pm

I think it'll be the manager from now on so that should protect the players

Re: WHY IS THERE ALWAYS A 'WHIPPING BOY'?

Thu Dec 26, 2019 10:55 pm

As soon as I saw the name Scott Johnson I never bothered reading it.

Re: WHY IS THERE ALWAYS A 'WHIPPING BOY'?

Thu Dec 26, 2019 11:02 pm

Ray Bishop wrote:As soon as I saw the name Scott Johnson I never bothered reading it.


My thoughts exactly.

Re: WHY IS THERE ALWAYS A 'WHIPPING BOY'?

Fri Dec 27, 2019 1:23 am

I suspect Murphy does need the carrot more than the stick but the rest of the article is garbage. It's football. It's full of opinions. In reality the opinions that matter are the managers. Us fans can voice them in the car on the way home, in the pub or on mediums such as this. But our rhetoric doesn't change anything. There isn't a single whipping boy is there. Lots of fans have lots of opinions as do the journos.