Friday, April 03, 2009

A Very Fickle Follower

Loyalty. Allegiance. Support.
Those are words which carry grave import throughout life. At the risk of trotting out a truism, the most important, stressful & emotional times of your life can be affected by those qualities, or, indeed, the lack of them.
They can also apply in a more trivial way. Like following a football team.
Where is this post going, you might ask. Well, it's a long-winded way of returning to Kelvinwatch, this blog's look at the sayings & doings of Kelvin MacKenzie, the man who is to journalism what Bernard Madoff is to financial probity.
It seems that MacKenzie is under the impression that following a football team is a transitory, ephemeral matter (http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/mediamonkeyblog/2009/apr/01/charlton-athletic-kelvin-mackenzie ).
The Guardian's Media Monkey site reports that "Kelvin's column in Monday's Sun, about how he was going to ditch Charlton Athletic after 12 years because the team looks like being relegated, has not gone down well with The Valley faithful. At all. The club's fansite, Charlton Life, has posted an article attacking MacKenzie, who previously followed Millwall and is now thinking of switching allegiance to QPR in west London, as a 'man who gets through more football teams than Vanessa Feltz gets through cream cakes'."
Oooh, well said, sir!
Anyone who truly follows a football team knows that it is something that stays with you. Allegiances, unlike players, are not transferred. Sure, it can seem illogical & irrational. In fact, it often is, but genuine supporters understand that. Unlike MacKenzie.
It remains to be seen whether MacKenzie undertakes an uncharacteristic Trappist vow of silence, or brazenly repeats his libel about Hillsborough in the days leading up to the anniversary.
Meanwhile, just in case there are any QPR fans reading this (you never know), get organising now. Make it clear to MacKenzie that you'd rather have Fred Goodwin on your board than allow this buffoon to enter Loftus Road.

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