A Touch of the Blarney

Earlier this week, I read a story that the owner of Wolverhampton Wanderers, Steve Morgan, had ‘vowed to keep faith’ with his manager Mick McCarthy. Morgan was quoted as saying ‘you don’t get stability by chopping and changing your manager’. Wolves are sitting in 16^th place in the Barclays FA Premiership, just a point off the relegation places. A wry smile passed my lips as I read the story - and I’m sure McCarthy’s heart must have sunk as he read he was being given the dreaded ‘vote of confidence’. Don't be surprised if, before long, the affable Yorkshireman leaves Molineux 'by mutual consent' and Morgan’s ‘keep the faith’ message will be another example of don’t believe everything you read.

Some football owners and managers can be like politicians when it comes to speaking to the media - but football fans have learnt over the years to take such statements with a large pinch of salt. On the same day Wolves were publicly backing their manager, Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp was playing down his team’s chances of winning the league title for the first time in more than half a century - despite another impressive display in beating Everton 2-0 at White Hart Lane. That result saw Spurs move into joint second place in the league, level on points with champions Manchester United but with an inferior goal difference with both clubs three points behind league leaders Manchester City. ‘The pressure is on Manchester City’ opined Old ‘Arry. ‘They are expected to be there and win. We are just hanging in there at the moment’. Now, I’m a great admirer of Redknapp and the style of football he has his teams playing. However, his attempts at taking the pressure off his players, whilst admirable, invoked bouts of sniggering from those observers who looked at the league table and saw the chase for the league title develop into a three horse race. Yes, Manchester City have spent millions to build their team - far too many millions some might say - but they have still to convince many people they are the finished article, as was proved by their elimination from the UEFA Champions League. Their Manchester neighbours have struggled since their blistering start to the season - their 8-2 hammering of Arsenal in August now seems light years away - and their lengthy injury list shows no signs of abating. Spurs have played consistently well all season - their performance against Hearts at Tynecastle in the Europa League back in August was one of the best I’ve seen from a visiting side to Gorgie in over forty years - and, in my view, are certainly capable of challenging Manchester City. They are at least the equal of Manchester United.

While the above stories were mildly amusing, the story that caused me to spill my pint of Belhaven Best came closer to home. The new Hibernian manager, Pat Fenlon, gave an interview to The Herald. The Glasgow based newspaper carried the following quote from the Dubliner as Hibs fans tried to recover from the pain of yet another defeat in the Edinburgh derby. 

'I just felt that there seemed to be an acceptance that if Hearts turned up they were going to win the match. That irked me and it's something I want to change, this idea that we're not as good as them. I don't believe that. Supporters and the club have to start to stand up to people. This is a big club. We've got to be much stronger mentally. We're as big a club as they are, if not bigger.’

Now Fenlon may have taken the Hibs job with his eyes firmly closed and he is desperately trying to get the Hibs fans  - both of them - on his side. However, that last sentence was taking things just a tad too far. Perhaps someone ought to show the former Bohemians manager the records of the two clubs. No matter how you look at it - whether it be leagues and cups won, number of international players, size of attendances - the famous Heart of Midlothian outdo their Edinburgh neighbours every time. Always have done and always will. In my view, Fenlon’s statement made him look a tad foolish and while, understandably, he might not know a great deal about Scottish football and may well have been in indulging with a touch of the Irish blarney, I suspect even some Hibbies must have cringed at his ‘we’re bigger than them’ utterance. Or perhaps Fenlon  - who played against Hearts in the UEFA Cup in 1988 as a teenager with St. Patrick's Athletic - thinks a crowd of 7,000 at the Two Stands Too Many Stadium makes Hibs a 'big' club. His Wikipedia entry says his nickname is 'Nutsy'. It's not difficult to understand why!

However, spin is what it’s all about these days. Selling the product as the marketing people might say. Even if it means leaving credibility behind!

Twitter @Mike1874