Through the seasons before us..

The two faces of Kris Commons - from badge kisser to mud flinger...

It’s inevitably interesting observing things in the build-up to the first meeting between Derby and Forest in competitive fixtures for a while.  How elements of both sets of support start to puff out their chest with bravado and lose all sense of rhyme and reason, and the inevitable soundbites from players from the two sides start to air as well as the countdown continues. 

This article including a soundbite from a certain Kris Commons has been riling some fans, I just think it’s quite amusing.  You see, he makes antagonistic and derogatory comments about the Reds – a team he largely enjoyed good times with, let’s be honest.  But it’s Earnie who makes the headlines, someone who commanded a sizeable transfer fee, and frankly handles himself with a bit of dignity, which is nice as he’s representing our club.

Now given that league positions make us firmly the underdogs, it could be a case of being gracious in the face of possible defeat.  However, being a gracious victor is a more noble and subtle act – one I wouldn’t expect the likes of Commons to understand.  It gets me thinking about the numerous Derby fans I know, many of whom rank amongst my friends and they tend to fall into two distinct camps. 

The first – and majority – are regular decent folks, who happen to have gone hideously wrong in life and winded up supporting the Rams.  The second group are fairly low in number, but they’re consistent in their desire to:

(a) Proclaim Derby as ‘a bigger club‘ (whatever that means, often using phrasology like ‘The cream of the midlands’ – well, I’m lactose intolerant so that makes you a mere irritant!).  D’you know what?  If it makes you feel better, go for it.  Certainly on league placings and attendances they are certainly ahead of us.

(b) Accuse Forest fans of living in the past – they will do this by, during present-day based conversations,  reminding us that we won some European Cups, which hadn’t come up in conversation before until mentioned by the Derby fan in question.

 (c) They will desperately try to lay some kind of claim to Brian Clough.  Not only did he live in Derby during his time managing Forest, he was a Derby fan, and liked the club better, and thought Derby fans were great and Forest fans were idiots.  Yes, of course he did.  That’s why he stuck with us for 18 years when during his time managing us he could have walked into any job aside from the one the FA were in control of.

Which is the main reason I found the Brian Clough Trophy idea quite distasteful.  You see, I don’t really have a problem that he decided to live in Derby whilst managing us, I don’t even care if he ‘preferred’ their club to ours.  It is irrelevant, but to this group of Derby fans it is imperative to validate themselves and provide some sense of security to overcome their inferiority complex.

For what it’s worth, if any of them are reading, I think the clubs are similar in size, we’re both provincial clubs who historically occupy similar levels when averaged out.  We don’t live in the past – you obsess over our past because, frankly and understandably, you’re jealous of it.  Had your board not sacked Clough you probably would have had it instead of us, in your shoes I’d be jealous too.  And finally, I don’t really care who Brian Clough preferred, nor am I interested in tittle-tattling over his memory – I’m happy to consider him a legend for both sets of fans.

Now Commons has clearly encountered a number of this type of fan and is playing up to them, of course he will have encountered our own less thoughtful element too – but nonetheless, he has a lot to learn if he thinks burning bridges so publically are ever a sensible idea.  Earnshaw, on the other hand, handles himself with professionalism and dignity, which is to the credit of the club – and also earns him the headline on a Derby-based article, rather than the freebie midfielder shooting his mouth off.

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Talk of protest is in the air, which isn’t really surprising.  Let’s face it – we’re in a really rather shit position, Smoulders said to judge him after ten games, and he’s had a bit extra and still we’re in a shit position.  It’s tough, and I can understand why groups of fans are anxious; but true to form – as yet – Forest’s collective set of supporters don’t seem to know exactly what they are protesting for.

It reminds me of a New Model Army lyric; ‘They gave us what we asked for, but never what we wanted‘, following on to ‘We didn’t want a victory, we just wanted to fight.’ This feels a bit like that, really.  We don’t really know how to solve the problem, just that there is one – and we feel we should do something about it.

Because anyone with any sense can see there’s something wrong at Forest – we’re bottom of the league, alarmingly adrift from safety after relatively few games.  But we are showing signs of playing well, notwithstanding a shaky defence, our performances – I honestly don’t think – don’t reflect our league standing.  The problem is that nobody seems to be able to universally put their finger on what is wrong.

And there is the problem with the protest.  The idea seems to have originated on one of the forums, and they don’t seem to have arrived at a specific focus for this protest.  Just that there needs to be one.  Whereas fellow bloggers trentendblog seem to have decided that ousting Nigel Doughty should be the aims of this action.  Until there is a clear goal for any planned protest, then it’s hard really to judge the merit of it.

Will it be a slightly embarrassing taking to the streets with badly spelled banners like in Newcastle not that long ago?  Will it be barely two dozen people in the Main Stand car park before the Birmingham game? (although arguably similar action was one of the catalysts for Joe Kinnear departing us).  I’m not sure – I can certainly understand the impulse, though would be reluctant to comment further until I understand the intentions or purpose of any action that may or may not be forthcoming.

At the moment I adopt my default position as fence-sitter, as there isn’t enough information to either support or oppose these actions; I’m currently assuming the Doughty-focused tirade linked earlier is an over-eager misinterpretation of something that is still being decided.  I would urge people planning such things to communicate very clearly their intentions though, which will help people decide whether to add their voice if they are in agreement.

Distressing times, as ever, to be a Forest supporter it seems.  How I had longed for a season of low drama and mid table obscurity this year – fat chance, eh?

Oh, and the FA apparently are investigating the Dave Jones whining.  I wonder whether they will be investigating the inappropriate chanting that goes on at every ground in the country every week?  The Munich disaster, the Hillsborough disaster, Harold Shipman, false allegations and countless other unsavoury topics – they all get regularly reeled out by mindless fans of clubs up and down the country.  Nothing like a nice random example to make of someone though.

Particularly if it helps Dave Jones sell more copies of his forthcoming book.  I really can’t believe what a meal is being made of this; particularly by Cardiff City supporters who apparently chanted similar things at him back when he was the manager of Wolves!

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