THE SAM MORSHEAD COLUMN: I'm glad that's all over (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)
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THE SAM MORSHEAD COLUMN: I'm glad that's all over
6:00am Tuesday 4th September 2012 in Sport
THE SAM MORSHEAD COLUMN
I’M glad that’s all over.
Let’s be honest, there isn’t a player or member of staff or fan or even a casual supporter who will want to remember the 24 hours between 3pm on Sunday, September 2, 2012 and 3pm the following Monday.
One day to be consigned to the dark depths of history, one day during which almost nothing went right, everyone started going a little bit crazy and the four wins and a draw which preceded the trip to Deepdale vanished only to be replaced by anger and rumour.
My take on the whole situation has shifted a little since the heat of the moment, when I was stunned that manager Paolo Di Canio chose to take off Wes Foderingham.
Strategy has been, in my opinion, Di Canio’s major strength so far this season. He has picked his gameplans almost to perfection and his players have become scholars of the opposition.
To reduce your options from the bench with a quarter of the game gone seemed rash, but given his tactical track record, the fact that he is the boss after all and that his way has paid dividends on the pitch to this point, it is difficult to say the substitution in itself was wrong.
Likewise, Foderingham’s reaction - though understandable in the circumstances - lacked the levels of professionalism Di Canio has etched into the general fabric of Swindon Town since arriving in Wiltshire last year.
The goalkeeper would have felt hurt, maybe humiliated, during that lonely walk off the pitch but if we are to preach respect of authority to our children then his reaction - kicking the water bottle, marching down the tunnel, turning to abuse his manager, sitting away from the dug-out - cannot be considered acceptable.
I get this, having thought about it long and hard. Wes was in the wrong, but why did it not publically end there?
As members of the media we live off the words of a man such as Di Canio. He is blatantly open, he doesn’t filter his thoughts - basically, you know what you’re getting when you pitch up with a dictaphone and a notepad.
Sometimes things are better left unsaid. Sometimes a minute’s response is better than 10.
Up until his post-match press conference on Sunday you could not reasonably fault any of his actions on matchday, but was there a need to verbally savage Foderingham? Would it not have been better to have aired a diluted version of his thoughts and punished Foderingham as he saw fit in-house?
Luckily, that’s now all in the past.
It shows the professionalism of the two men that they have since made up and can move on as one. That’s what we all want.
We don’t want squabbles, we don’t want spats, we don’t want flying water bottles or post-match tirades. We want success and sustainability. But if this is the route to those goals then we will soon be able to forget about 24 horrible but eventually inconsequential hours in the club’s history.
Besides, there’s quite an important game tomorrow night.
Comments(17)
Lazaat
says...
9:24pm Mon 3 Sep 12
Doctor Bamber wrote:Great post!
Nah, Sam, youre wrong - we DO want spats, squabbles and tirades......but from the opposition.
The gleeful response of the Preston fans to what happened on Sunday says it all - they knew that we had imploded after 20 minutes and there was no way on this earth that we were going to take anything out of the game. The further interviews with Preston players on the net shows they and their fans were absolutely scared of playing us, and expected a tougher game, and are delighted to heaven and back to see us leave with nothing.
The further glee displayed by Oxford fans looking forward to playing a team in total disarray has been galling to have to read on the net in the last 24 hours. Hopefully now they will be back to where they should be - afraid of getting stuffed.
We all love an eventful game - its what we go to football for - we'd just rather it wasnt us that was ridiculed on Sky Sports every 15 minutes last night and most of the day today.
Hopefully all involved have learned lessons about "dirty laundry" and "airing in public" - its not a good look. Hopefully both parties have matured a little bit and will now keep their differences where they should be kept - behind closed doors
Some of the obsolute idiots posting total tosh on this and other sites in the last 24 hours need a bit of a reality check as well.
We dont need to sack the manager - we dont need a new keeper. The pair of them are the best respectively we have had for some time. Lets enjoy them doing what they do best....
Not so Smart Roger
says...
7:02am Tue 4 Sep 12
DaniooolCOYR
says...
9:00am Tue 4 Sep 12
Wes was wrong and unprofessional but has since learnt his lesson and done the right thing. End of story.
I for one am happy for Paolo to rant all he likes if it is going to get the response HE wants from his players. He just won the league, he's earnt that right. The players are grown men, if they can't take some critism then they shouldn't be in a profession that is in the media spotlight.
The story should be about how we finally have a manager that is willing to stand up for the honour of STFC and it's supporters and not take diva cr@p from players.
Stilloyal
says...
9:22am Tue 4 Sep 12
Fodders screwed up, he was playing badly it wasn't just one error. He also behaved badly and very unprofessional when he was subbed.
Then we have Di Canio over reacting with his public outburst.
I enjoy the success we are having at Swindon currently but long for a little normality, however I doubt very much if I'll get it with our present manager. Cant have it both ways I guess.
Like Sam I 'm happy this latest debacle is over, now lets move on and wait for the next inevitable bit of publicity, it won't be long in coming rest assured.
LeGod
says...
9:57am Tue 4 Sep 12
Reality Red
says...
11:01am Tue 4 Sep 12
sharper
says...
11:04am Tue 4 Sep 12
Steve. Brentford
says...
11:26am Tue 4 Sep 12
DaniooolCOYR wrote:Good Article Sam,Fair to say most of us would like to move on now,
Sam's headline is "I'm glad that's all over" but then proceeds to sh1t stir.
Wes was wrong and unprofessional but has since learnt his lesson and done the right thing. End of story.
I for one am happy for Paolo to rant all he likes if it is going to get the response HE wants from his players. He just won the league, he's earnt that right. The players are grown men, if they can't take some critism then they shouldn't be in a profession that is in the media spotlight.
The story should be about how we finally have a manager that is willing to stand up for the honour of STFC and it's supporters and not take diva cr@p from players.
I have read nothing in his article Danioool that equates to stirring the brown gear,in fact you suggesting that the story should be differently wrote could well be interpreted as a bit of stirring in itself.
Good post also to the DOC,
PS the players maybe grown men but at Twenty years old Wes is still growing up,do you remember being 19-20yrs old.
Malkym
says...
12:08pm Tue 4 Sep 12
Not a bad article from a jobbing journo but let's all remember Sam's allegiance to STFC only lasts as long as Newsquest pay his salary!
townend Paul
says...
1:10pm Tue 4 Sep 12
DaniooolCOYR
says...
1:59pm Tue 4 Sep 12
Steve. Brentford wrote:I do remember being 19-20 yrs old and that's why I am more than happy to forgive Wes's actions, he is young and still growing as a man. It seemed to me like a lot of people were more outraged by PDC criticising Wes in public than what Wes did which I find very surprising.
DaniooolCOYR wrote: Sam's headline is "I'm glad that's all over" but then proceeds to sh1t stir. Wes was wrong and unprofessional but has since learnt his lesson and done the right thing. End of story. I for one am happy for Paolo to rant all he likes if it is going to get the response HE wants from his players. He just won the league, he's earnt that right. The players are grown men, if they can't take some critism then they shouldn't be in a profession that is in the media spotlight. The story should be about how we finally have a manager that is willing to stand up for the honour of STFC and it's supporters and not take diva cr@p from players.Good Article Sam,Fair to say most of us would like to move on now, I have read nothing in his article Danioool that equates to stirring the brown gear,in fact you suggesting that the story should be differently wrote could well be interpreted as a bit of stirring in itself. Good post also to the DOC, PS the players maybe grown men but at Twenty years old Wes is still growing up,do you remember being 19-20yrs old.
I guess I just share in PDC's frustration of how blown out of proportion this story has become. It's all been resolved now so I was just trying to say that this story wasn't really needed with everything that has been reported already. Think there are 4 different articles on here today related to this. Time to move on and leave it alone. Which I will now do as by commenting on here I am adding to it - hypocitical I know! :-)
Malkym
says...
2:18pm Tue 4 Sep 12
Malkym
says...
2:19pm Tue 4 Sep 12
Steve. Brentford
says...
3:32pm Tue 4 Sep 12
DaniooolCOYR wrote:Fair play Danioool, i will take a leaf out of your book and look forward to reading other posts of yours in the future,hopefully next time we will be celebrating rather than debating a sore subject and unfortunate incident.
Steve. Brentford wrote:I do remember being 19-20 yrs old and that's why I am more than happy to forgive Wes's actions, he is young and still growing as a man. It seemed to me like a lot of people were more outraged by PDC criticising Wes in public than what Wes did which I find very surprising.
DaniooolCOYR wrote: Sam's headline is "I'm glad that's all over" but then proceeds to sh1t stir. Wes was wrong and unprofessional but has since learnt his lesson and done the right thing. End of story. I for one am happy for Paolo to rant all he likes if it is going to get the response HE wants from his players. He just won the league, he's earnt that right. The players are grown men, if they can't take some critism then they shouldn't be in a profession that is in the media spotlight. The story should be about how we finally have a manager that is willing to stand up for the honour of STFC and it's supporters and not take diva cr@p from players.Good Article Sam,Fair to say most of us would like to move on now, I have read nothing in his article Danioool that equates to stirring the brown gear,in fact you suggesting that the story should be differently wrote could well be interpreted as a bit of stirring in itself. Good post also to the DOC, PS the players maybe grown men but at Twenty years old Wes is still growing up,do you remember being 19-20yrs old.
I guess I just share in PDC's frustration of how blown out of proportion this story has become. It's all been resolved now so I was just trying to say that this story wasn't really needed with everything that has been reported already. Think there are 4 different articles on here today related to this. Time to move on and leave it alone. Which I will now do as by commenting on here I am adding to it - hypocitical I know! :-)
P*ssed Off
says...
8:22pm Tue 4 Sep 12
Malkym wrote:'Jobbing journo'.....bit like yourself as a jobbing supporter!
Yep agreed very good analogy and synopsis.
Not a bad article from a jobbing journo but let's all remember Sam's allegiance to STFC only lasts as long as Newsquest pay his salary!
Malkym
says...
11:27pm Tue 4 Sep 12
P*ssed Off wrote:as opposed to you who is without doubt a knobbing supporter or knob for short no doubt like your member!
Malkym wrote: Yep agreed very good analogy and synopsis. Not a bad article from a jobbing journo but let's all remember Sam's allegiance to STFC only lasts as long as Newsquest pay his salary!'Jobbing journo'.....bit like yourself as a jobbing supporter!
Doctor Bamber says...
8:30pm Mon 3 Sep 12
The gleeful response of the Preston fans to what happened on Sunday says it all - they knew that we had imploded after 20 minutes and there was no way on this earth that we were going to take anything out of the game. The further interviews with Preston players on the net shows they and their fans were absolutely scared of playing us, and expected a tougher game, and are delighted to heaven and back to see us leave with nothing.
The further glee displayed by Oxford fans looking forward to playing a team in total disarray has been galling to have to read on the net in the last 24 hours. Hopefully now they will be back to where they should be - afraid of getting stuffed.
We all love an eventful game - its what we go to football for - we'd just rather it wasnt us that was ridiculed on Sky Sports every 15 minutes last night and most of the day today.
Hopefully all involved have learned lessons about "dirty laundry" and "airing in public" - its not a good look. Hopefully both parties have matured a little bit and will now keep their differences where they should be kept - behind closed doors
Some of the obsolute idiots posting total tosh on this and other sites in the last 24 hours need a bit of a reality check as well.
We dont need to sack the manager - we dont need a new keeper. The pair of them are the best respectively we have had for some time. Lets enjoy them doing what they do best....