Favorite Whipping boy ?

[redkeith]

As another thread on here has turned into another debate on the merits of Guly, it got me thinking about the players over the years that some fans love to hate.

 

In the 80's, 3 of us moved our Season Tickets from the LoverWest to the Lower East Terrace, as we were fed up with the constant abuse hurled at Paul Rideout.

 

Rideout was harranged for not being as fast as Rod Wallace, not as skillful as Le Tiss and not scoring as many goals as Shearer. I would have liked to have been brave enough to point out that a player with those attributes would be worth more than Van Basten . Instead we moved to somewher more positive.

Rideout got his revenge years later at Tranmere.

 

What are other posters memories of the boo boy victims ? I can remember Bally getting some stick ( from me too ), and also Sideways Jim Magilton.

 

Maybe we can come up with a boo boy's eleven ?

[georgeweahscousin]

Not sure if he was generally a boo boy, but Carlton Palmer used to get some right stick from a couple of guys near me in the East Stand.

 

I actually thought Palmer was decent for us.

[miserableoldgit]

I remember Hughie Fisher going through the ringer towards the end of his career at The Dell.

[saint_stevo]

Jermaine Wright

[Dalek2003]

Alpine

[John Boy Saint]

So many folks didn't quite get Telfer, the fittest fastest player at the club at the time, who was a good example of the Lawrie Mac analogy of what makes a good team, Roadsweepers and Violinists: Telfer was a Roadsweeper! Lovely goal against the Toon too!

[ericofarabia]

My earliest memory of a Boo boy victim was the folically challenged Jimmy Melia.

[markr27]

Bloody McGoldrick.

[capitalsaint]

So many folks didn't quite get Telfer, the fittest fastest player at the club at the time, who was a good example of the Lawrie Mac analogy of what makes a good team, Roadsweepers and Violinists: Telfer was a Roadsweeper! Lovely goal against the Toon too!

 

I met him once in Winchester, he went from being the player I liked the least to the one I cheered the most.

[Seaford Saint]

My earliest memory of a Boo boy victim was the folically challenged Jimmy Melia.

 

Yes my first memory too....then he got a goal against Newcastle and all was forgiven

[Mowgli]

Bobby Stokes. Who then got his cult status scoring the cup final winner. Actually addressed the boo boys outside the civic centre the next day announcing they would have to put up with him another year after getting a contract extension. I always was a big fan of Bobby Stokes after witnessing his two goal debut against Burnley on a hot bank holiday monday. Like many whipping boys what he lacked in skill he made up for with effort which is probably why they have so many fans. Then again, there was always David Speedie.....

[Fan The Flames]

Ripley, Oakley, Fernandes, McCann.

[ecuk268]

Steve Baker, especially after the 2-0 home defeat against P*mpey at The Dell where he was at fault for both goals.

 

To be fair, he always gave maximum effort and could probably had a good career a league or two below the top flight.

 

Oddly enough, my nipper is now mates with his son.

[Ex Lion Tamer]

Not sure if he was generally a boo boy, but Carlton Palmer used to get some right stick from a couple of guys near me in the East Stand.

 

I actually thought Palmer was decent for us.

I maintain that it was Palmer who kept us up that year

[Elmore]

Kelvin Davis (first season)

Rory Delap

Kenwyne Jones

Brett Ormerod

[farawaysaint]

Since relegation, Fuller, Wright, Best.

[rick1976.4.38]

it wouldnt be saints without some player being picked out,paul telfer was a pretty good player for us but he was a target for the boo boys.

wait till this season and we arent winning games,there will be plenty getting booing,im sure guly will take the unjustified brunt of it.

then im sure adkins will be a target,hopefuly im wrong but have a feeling it wont be too long till it happens

billy sharp was getting a fair bit even though he was scoring the goals

[Nutwood2]

My earliest memory of a Boo boy victim was the folically challenged Jimmy Melia.

 

Yep, that's the guy I would have gone for. Got some terrible stick didn't he and quite justified to a certain extent. Wouldn't pass the ball when he should have done. Everyone but him could see it!

[miserableoldgit]

it wouldnt be saints without some player being picked out,paul telfer was a pretty good player for us but he was a target for the boo boys.

wait till this season and we arent winning games,there will be plenty getting booing,im sure guly will take the unjustified brunt of it.

then im sure adkins will be a target,hopefuly im wrong but have a feeling it wont be too long till it happens

billy sharp was getting a fair bit even though he was scoring the goals

Sadly, Saints fans have always liked players that run around at 100mph for 90 mins (MLT being the exception!) rather than those who are quietly effective.

[JackFrost]

Not sure if he was generally a boo boy, but Carlton Palmer used to get some right stick from a couple of guys near me in the East Stand.

 

I actually thought Palmer was decent for us.

 

I agree with this, Palmer took quite a bit of stick from our fans but I think it was more of a follow on from the stick he took when called up to the England squad under Graham Taylor.

 

I thought he did a good job in the main as he could put himself about the pitch and do a lot of unnoticed work but there were some fans that just didn't see the role he did. TBF he didn't help himself with his attitude at times but I thought he got a lot of unwarranted stick.

 

We've had worse players who have played more games than Palmer - Jermaine Wright

[Brussels Saint]

It was Telfer for me. Could never understand how he could be selected above Fernandes, as I never saw any impact of his hard graft.

 

However, simply put, Strachen knows more about football than me and as such I was wrong in not rating him. I understand and accept this.

For me it's a shame the people who moan about Guly are not able to have their view, but fundamentally understand they are wrong on the basis NA is better at identifying a good footballer for his team than they are.

 

It's fine to have an opinion and voice it, thats part of being a fan, but as some do, having a seemingly unwavering belief in their own viewpoint on a player seems to lack a lot of self awareness.

 

On the other hand I think we can all agree McCann & Ripley were both pants and stuff the clueless managers who selected them!

[VectisSaint]

billy sharp was getting a fair bit even though he was scoring the goals

Sharp was getting stick before he started scoring, apart from his first which really wasn't his goal he did not score for a while and quite frankly looked out of his depth and very unfit, especially as we got to see Chung who fitted in straight away. Don't think many have given him stick since he started banging them in which clearly coincided with a change in his fitness. Except for the penalty miss at Blackpool of course which was criminal.

 

My earliest memory of a whipping boy was actually Mick Channon. He was booed and laughed at in his early days, didn't seem able to stay on his feet. Took a while for some to realise that maybe it was because he was actually being fouled and the resultant free kicks and penalties were quite useful. Frank Saul was also none too popular after the departure of Chivers. Tom Jenkins was another whipping boy, as was Steve Williams at first, look what became of him. Matt Oakley was targeted completely unfairly, unfortunately some players such as Oaks, and to some extent the same with Morgan, are given roles and some fans just do not understand enough about football to understand this.

[Crazy Diamond]

Some are harshly treated like Guly, some oddly unappreciated like Oakley, some rightly labelled awful but trying their best like James, Lancashire and Jermaine Wright, and some correctly labelled lazy egotistical talentless fcks like DMG.

 

McGoldrick was an inspiration in as much as no matter how bad you are at football, there are always some people willing to give you a chance.

 

I can remember some utter moron giving Kenwyne Jones stick for the entire 90 minutes of a game - even telling him not to get a drink whilst there was a stoppage in play because in his eyes, he didn't deserve it.

 

Kenwyne by the way is off to West Ham, if you're to believe the papers.

[MarkSFC]

Booed (not literally but in discussion) by me.......Graham baker (only remember one forward pass!)...Glenn Cockerill...Gordon Hobson....Paul Jones....Malcolm Waldron......amongst others;

and in the current squad..........Chaplow (has the form curve of BT without the same highs and longer troughs)....Seaborne (just rubbish under pressure which effects every element of his game)

[Gemmel]

Let's just clear one thing up - Any and all abuse directed at ormerod was entirely justified.

 

As for whipping boys, a great player for the Club was Glen Cockerill, but stayed one season to many. Never seen a player go down hill so quickly. In the end it was a real shame, he had been brilliant for us, but didn't know when to call it a day.

[manji]

Benali. Always boo'd when his name was announced. Alan Ball was ripped to shreds as a player.

[dune]

Peter Crouch

[manji]

Oh yeah. And Mick Channon.

[The Cat]

Iain Dowie got loads when we first signed him. Remember his name being booed when it was announced on the tannoy after he'd scored for us.

 

Dixon & Speedie were also given a lot of abuse. During a hideously dull League Cup draw at Gillingham they were both roundly jeered and sworn at. This was pretty much justified though as they were both completely terrible.

[KK the 2nd]

We all look back with rose tinted glasses at MLT but I remember he took a lot of stick for being slow and lazy from certain sections.

 

In the early years, John Sydenham for constantly running in to the wall at either the Archers or Milton ends.

 

Also what about the Russian winger, Cherednik?, he took some stick but to be fair he was useless!

[The Cat]

Let's just clear one thing up - Any and all abuse directed at ormerod was entirely justified.

 

I dunno, he wasn't that bad and did score in the FA Cup semi final against Watford which has to be one of most fans' favourite games.

[Gemmel]

I dunno, he wasn't that bad and did score in the FA Cup semi final against Watford which has to be one of most fans' favourite games.

 

He was truly and utterly awful and ranks aside Keith Cassells for the worst ever Saints player

[Lighthouse]

Just to point out, most of the booing is done by a pretty small minority of idiots. It only takes a couple of hundred booing in a crowd of 30,000 and people come home, get behind their keyboards and start typing, "Saints fans are all such a bunch of ungreatful c**ts" etc.

 

Sometimes a player is useless. Sometimes a player is so frequently useless that most of the fans realise he is useless and he becomes a 'boo boy'.

[VectisSaint]

Let's just clear one thing up - Any and all abuse directed at ormerod was entirely justified.

Says it all about some people in my view. Made Beattie the player he was with his selfless running and support, an integral part of WGS' system. His goals total was not spectacular (11) but many bigger names fared worse (M Hughes for instance). 2 or 3 serious injuries blighted his career, yet he is still playing and still scoring goals. Not the greatest player in the world, but an honest, hard working pro who gave his all. Hardly any player actually deserves abuse, and certainly Brett is not one that does.

[Gemmel]

Says it all about some people in my view. Made Beattie the player he was with his selfless running and support, an integral part of WGS' system. His goals total was not spectacular (11) but many bigger names fared worse (M Hughes for instance). 2 or 3 serious injuries blighted his career, yet he is still playing and still scoring goals. Not the greatest player in the world, but an honest, hard working pro who gave his all. Hardly any player actually deserves abuse, and certainly Brett is not one that does.

 

He was sheeeeeeeeeeeiiiiittttttttttteeeeeeeeeee. If we wanted someone who was going to run a lot we shuold have signed Zola Bud

[Fan The Flames]

Sharp was getting stick before he started scoring...Don't think many have given him stick since he started banging them in.

 

Maybe there is a lesson in patience in there somewhere.

[swannymere]

Jermaine Wright - Got unreasonable amount of abuse, not the greatest talent but always gave 100%

[Lighthouse]

Sadly, Saints fans have always liked players that run around at 100mph for 90 mins (MLT being the exception!) rather than those who are quietly effective.

 

Bullsh*t.

 

There are plenty of players who ran around a lot and were heavily criticised. Forte, Kenton, Ormerod, Viafara, Prutton, Gillett, Wotton

There are plenty of players who don't do a lot of running and are greatly appreciated. Morgan, MLT, Lambert, Jaidi, Rasiak

 

Sharp was never given stick here. Everyone knew he had the tallent, he just needed training and matches to get 'Saints fit'. Pointing out that he had a slow start and wasn't performing as well as Tadanari Lee isn't giving him stick.

[Thedelldays]

Jermaine Wright - Got unreasonable amount of abuse, not the greatest talent but always gave 100%

 

That is not true

I remember a few times when he was playing RB and just have up chasing back

[Thedelldays]

Oh, and jermaine wright was fuking shyte

[shurlock]

Kenwyne always got a fair bit of stick.

[Crazy Diamond]

Oh, and jermaine wright was fuking shyte

 

The man who epitomised Burley's 'favouritism is better than ability' approach.

 

I often laugh when I remember hearing that at Derby and Ipswich he got them playing good football, when my abiding memory is of Kelvin Davis whacking it up to Rasiak who would then head down for his strike partner.

[La BoIS Saint]

The stick Rasiak got was ridiculous. "All he does is score goals"

[JackFrost]

Jermaine Wright - Got unreasonable amount of abuse, not the greatest talent but always gave 100%

 

Absolute rubbish. Wright's work rate was no better than anyone else's barring Rasiak. Take Alex Ostlund, he lacked talent but his work rate was in a different league to Wright's

[JackFrost]

The stick Rasiak got was ridiculous. "All he does is score goals"

 

Thing with Rasiak I think he deliberately made opposition defences forget he was on the pitch and then pounce when they least expected it. He was very good at attracting stick but also very good at shutting the critics up.

 

Quality, quality finisher though, his goal against Derby in the play off semi final in the last minute summed him up. One touch and BAM! bottom corner - keeper no chance

[70's Mike]

My earliest memory of a Boo boy victim was the folically challenged Jimmy Melia.

 

beat me to it

next one i can remember was Frank Saul

[BlakeySFC]

As another thread on here has turned into another debate on the merits of Guly, it got me thinking about the players over the years that some fans love to hate.

 

In the 80's, 3 of us moved our Season Tickets from the LoverWest to the Lower East Terrace, as we were fed up with the constant abuse hurled at Paul Rideout.

 

Rideout was harranged for not being as fast as Rod Wallace, not as skillful as Le Tiss and not scoring as many goals as Shearer. I would have liked to have been brave enough to point out that a player with those attributes would be worth more than Van Basten . Instead we moved to somewher more positive.

Rideout got his revenge years later at Tranmere.

 

What are other posters memories of the boo boy victims ? I can remember Bally getting some stick ( from me too ), and also Sideways Jim Magilton.

 

Maybe we can come up with a boo boy's eleven ?

 

You've spelt favourite wrong.

[JPTCount]

Marsden and his quick free kicks

 

it all fell apart when he left tho

[Golden Balls]

McCann. I genuinely thought had I been on the pitch in place of him, I wouldn't have done worse.

[Lord Duckhunter]

My Fav whipping boy now is Harding. When he came on for the home game against Skates I turned to my lad and said "that's it, 2-2". Turned out I was right.........

 

Previously,

 

Stuart Ripley (who made it worse by once telling me to **** off)

 

Colin Clarke

 

Dave Beasant

 

Anyone who I considered to be Branfoot's blue eyed boys.

 

Mick Mills

 

The past few years it's maybe easier to list the players who weren't on my "not good enough" list.

 

 

One guy I rated but the guys who sat with me used to moan about all the time was Magillton. Whenever he passed the ball sideways or back, they'd go mad.