Annoying Monday morning soccer conversations

[BonnieShels]

I know it happens to us all but by god it wrecks my head.
I'm known in my office as a Shels, Ireland and LOI supporter and every Monday the usual conversation revolves around how the 'match' was at the weekend...
My response usually has something to do with Shels, Ireland or whatever else is appropriate, much to the chagrin of the metro herald reading [it is from here that he gleans all of his sports chat] teuwl that asks me that very same question.

Today's installment:
Teuwl: How was the match?
Me: Ah poxy.
T: Why what happened?
M: Ah we managed to blow a 1-0 lead. We seemed to go back into our shell after the goal and we were second to every b...
T: See Rovers won the league?
M: Yeah. Fair dues to them. Glad they won it to be honest. Nice to see that the effort over the last few years fin...
T: Newcastle had a good win yesterday.
M: Yeah I saw that. Can't believe that Hughton was remotely under pressure...
T: Yeah it's ridiculous. Yeah.
M: [jokingly] Yeah, I reckon that Mike Ashley [puzzled look] was jealous of all the other clubs getting attention instead of Newcastle and decided to put a rumour out there.
T: [silence]

It drives me mad. Same thing happened after the Ireland-Russia game when I was asked what my thoughts were and I complained about the massive hole in the middle of park that Paul Green was left to man virtually on his own, the response then, was " Yeah, and England were lucky."

Anyway... insert your rants here.

And breathe...

[D.24saint]

sounds like your generic I dont give a toss about the LOI but ill pretend for two minutes effort allright we have all got that im sure.

[razor]

Try explaining to people who only know about Premiership football that you lost to Wexford.
(Only slightly less humiliating than last weeks Salthill conversation.)

[**FrOsTy**]

Anyone I work with has a good convo about the blues games and listen to all I have to say about it and seem genuinely interested! Which is even worse because they won't go near the RSC

[BonnieShels]

Try explaining to people who only know about Premiership football that you lost to Wexford.
(Only slightly less humiliating than last weeks Salthill conversation.)

Cork lost to Wexford in the Gah in October? That Salthill result is only humiliating if you know what a Salthill is and you don't think its near Dún Laoghaire!

Frosty I'd say that grinds your gears alright. That's mightily annoying.
My lad here hasn't a clue about any soccer to be honest. I might start making stuff up.

[marinobohs]

people have different levels of knowledge about the game and I think you have to bear this i mind. Some can debate 4-5-1 V 4-4-2 until the cows come home or whether the Bohs team of 1978 was better than 2001 but some have a more peripheral knowledge (and interest).
Actually think we should be encouraging those as at least there is a germ of interest there and who knows they could end up developing it.

[Macy]

Actually think we should be encouraging those as at least there is a germ of interest there and who knows they could end up developing it.
Agree with that - feigned interest is more than I get!

[redobit]

sounds like your generic I dont give a toss about the LOI but ill pretend for two minutes effort allright we have all got that im sure.

Do the same in reverse, talk about the EPL for a minute or two when it comes into the conversation when actually I couldnt give a toss really. Then I just turn to one of the lads that I know will chat about Rovers or the league.

[Dead_Star]

The one I alway get at work is, "so do you still support the Drog's then"? It's like they expect that I have changed my support to another team since the last time I spoke to them about football. Some people just don't see boyond the top four clubs in England which is sad really.

[razor]

Cork lost to Wexford in the Gah in October?My work colleagues would know better than to try and engage me in a conversation about GAA. :D

[Sunny Jim]

Try explaining to people....that you lost to Wexford.


Thought you would be used to that by now.

[PartySaint]

Cork lost to Wexford in the Gah in October? That Salthill result is only humiliating if you know what a Salthill is and you don't think its near Dún Laoghaire!

Frosty I'd say that grinds your gears alright. That's mightily annoying.
My lad here hasn't a clue about any soccer to be honest. I might start making stuff up.

Do they know its called football??

[ndrog]

The one I alway get at work is, "so do you still support the Drog's then"? It's like they expect that I have changed my support to another team since the last time I spoke to them about football. Some people just don't see boyond the top four clubs in England which is sad really.

Yeah the most annoying part of that though is that its true for at least 1000 people in Drogheda who have gone back to supporting the epl and have completely abandoned there home town club . You work colleagues are just expecting you to do the same .

[BonnieShels]

In this country to stop confusion and as well to annoy a few heads at home I always refer to it as soccer.
I'm a football and hurling fan to boot.

I just don't understand people who aren't willing to learn about things they don't know. I learn a lot here about obscure Irish players in the nether regions of English soccer. I just think that there's no point courting those who don't wish to be courted.

[Rasputin]

Do the same in reverse, talk about the EPL for a minute or two when it comes into the conversation when actually I couldnt give a toss really. Then I just turn to one of the lads that I know will chat about Rovers or the league.
Aye spot on.
Luckily enough there has always been enough interest and it largely being seen as the norm to have some level of interest in Rovers that there is plenty of conversations about the League to be had at work.
That being said I do watch MOTD and Eurogoals and the Champions League and any of the european league round ups but nothing tops sharing some of the rumours and idle speculation about your own club with some random punters.

[SwanVsDalton]

Move out of the country, then no one will ever ask you about it.

[Dead_Star]

Yeah the most annoying part of that though is that its true for at least 1000 people in Drogheda who have gone back to supporting the epl and have completely abandoned there home town club . You work colleagues are just expecting you to do the same .

True but I got it when we were successful as well. I think it's there way of including me in their conversation about football for about 2 mins before they go back to talking about their EPL team.

[OneRedArmy]

There's nothing worse that the fella who pulls one LoI fact out of the paper/radio in an desperate effort to prove he's deeply ingrained with the local game.

Interestingly, Tom Humphries tries exactly this approach in his column today. Nice try Tom but throwing in a few references to going to Dalyer way back when doesn't really cut it. Stick to North Dublin Camogie and the unpatriotism of rugby fans...

[BonnieShels]

Move out of the country, then no one will ever ask you about it.

But that would make it fierce difficult to conmute to work and Tolka. It's hard enough doing both from Lucan as it is.

[Schumi]

Try explaining to people who only know about Premiership football that you lost to Wexford.
(Only slightly less humiliating than last weeks Salthill conversation.)

Just say you won, they won't know any different.

[dfx-]

Move out of the country, then no one will ever ask you about it.

I was asked more about Rovers in two months in Germany this Summer than over the past few days in cold Dublin

[BonnieShels]

Leaving the office at today I had one of the porters shout at me "Champione". I said to him on Friday that I wanted Shams to win. I mean super Shels weren't a threat.
Another of them has put up a Rovers poster behind their desk.
Will it survive United winning the epl? Who knows. I hope it does.

[WoodquayBoy]

I had a gem today, and think it will be hard to top it:
Work colleague: I see season tickets aren't allowed for the Bray match?
Me: Yeah, it's not a regular season game, so they don't apply.
WC: Ah feck that so, I'll wait and see if they lose, and go to the next one if they do
M: I did'lt know you had a United season ticket?
WC: Wha? Me? I don't.
M: So what's the problem, then.
WC: Ah, it's not fair on fellas that do, so I won't go
I was left staring blankly as he walked off. Still not sure what he meant.

[BonnieShels]

That's kinda spectacular. Ive tried oh so hard to work through his logic. I've bits of brain seeping from my ear.

[ped_ped]

Bray don't allow season tickets for this match ---> Bray are greedy and don't respect the fans ---> I can use this as a valuable excuse to avoid attending said match, and instead focus on 'supporting' 'my' team from hundreds of miles away whose players I have never seen in the flesh.

[MariborKev]

One of the bosses lands out whilst I'm trying to follow the European draws on uefa.com

Him: What are you doing?

Me(Going for honest approach): Just seeing who the Irish sides got in Europe

Him: Oh right. I used to support Liverpool but I prefer Arsenal myself.

Me(Forgetting meself, and laughing): What? Are you serious?

Him: Yeah, why?

Me: Doesn't matter.

He must have mentioned Derry's financial demise every single time he sees me. Apparently we should run it like a GAA club, though when I asked him about examples of GAA clubs with a turn over of greater than €1m, he was somewhat stumped.....

[thischarmingman]

I hate that tedious office football banter from uninformed, unimaginative, Brent-esque sorts that was a regular feature of work in Ireland. It's not so bad here in London- the people who support Arsenal or Chelsea do so because they live or lived near the club, and for every 'Big 4' club represented, there's two lower teams being supported. Monday mornings seem to involve Brentford, Leyton Orient, Millwall and QPR, as much as Arsenal, Man U, and Liverpool.

But in Ireland that faux-shocked noise people do when the new guy starts at the office and reveals he supports Liverpool/Spurs/Chelsea/Sunderland always makes my teeth grate: "Oh a Liverpool fan eh? How did they let you in the office!" "Arsenal fan? Ohhhhhhh God, you better not go near Dave in Accounts, he's a mad Spurs fan!!!!!!!!"

I understand it's part of office small talk but because it's so patently fake, full of artificially rivalries ("I hate Everton so much....sorry? No, I've never been to Merseyside actually, why'd you ask?" "Can't believe we lost to Wolves today, the lads in HR will be at me all day!" ) and because it concerns something that's so important to me I despise these little vignettes and everything they stand for.

[PartySaint]

But in Ireland that faux-shocked noise people do when the new guy starts at the office and reveals he supports Liverpool/Spurs/Chelsea/Sunderland always makes my teeth grate: "Oh a Liverpool fan eh? How did they let you in the office!" "Arsenal fan? Ohhhhhhh God, you better not go near Dave in Accounts, he's a mad Spurs fan!!!!!!!!"
.

You know Dave in accounts??

[thischarmingman]

You know Dave in accounts??

Isn't there a Dave from Accounts in every office? :confused:

He's the one who's bloody mad!

[Mr Maroon]

I had a gem today, and think it will be hard to top it:
Work colleague: I see season tickets aren't allowed for the Bray match?
Me: Yeah, it's not a regular season game, so they don't apply.
WC: Ah feck that so, I'll wait and see if they lose, and go to the next one if they do
M: I did'lt know you had a United season ticket?
WC: Wha? Me? I don't.
M: So what's the problem, then.
WC: Ah, it's not fair on fellas that do, so I won't go
I was left staring blankly as he walked off. Still not sure what he meant.
Tell him season tickets don't apply for this match because the gate is split between both clubs.

[BonnieShels]

That won't work. He'll get confused as to why Terryland needs new gates.
Was talking to my gf tonight about this and she thought I was an a.shole for my disdain.
Bear in mind I'm slowly working on convincing that she really loves sport.
Football and ice hockey are check. Soccer is taking a while.

[Bluebeard]

I hate that tedious office football banter from uninformed, unimaginative, Brent-esque sorts that was a regular feature of work in Ireland. It's not so bad here in London- the people who support Arsenal or Chelsea do so because they live or lived near the club, and for every 'Big 4' club represented, there's two lower teams being supported. Monday mornings seem to involve Brentford, Leyton Orient, Millwall and QPR, as much as Arsenal, Man U, and Liverpool.

I recall when first I moved to Britain expecting to have to tell people that it was Waterford, not Watford I followed, and was very pleasantly surprised. Firstly there was the presumption that the club I followed was Irish, not English. Football following people would ask me how the Blues were doing (generally comiserating with me to be honest). One guy who came to fix the plumbing saw the Blues scarf and not only failed to presume it was Chelsea, as has happened in Ireland, but recognised that it was Waterford United, as he knew a guy from a few years back who followed them and recognised the crest. How many people in your home county know the colours of the nearest League of Ireland club and would recognise the crest on sight?

To add to this, the level of football appreciation was completely different, and very much as TCM suggested. One of the women in the office for example would say that she was not a big fan, but would go to Crystal Palace the odd week,, and generally had an idea what was going on with the management and ownership of the club that would embarrass those guys who rave about how great Chelsea or Arsenal or whoever are and laugh in turn at the thought of following an Irish club.

That was the thing. Unless your club was bitter rivals or soon to be playing the club the other person followed, there was generally a positive interaction between most fans I knew over there - similar to how things are in the league here. It was a form of kinship. Barring a few, most people's clubs are not doing as well as they would like, and the high point in a season may be grabbing a draw from a better team when you deserved to lose, or securing a good draw in the cup. The life of the football fan is generally one of prolonged disappointment, rooting for truffles of solace in the muck. Normally it is with those wearing the same colours, but often not. After all who else really understands this prolonged frustration other than another football fan. Of course there will always be rivalries, but aside from those rivalries, we are all there together, rooting in the dirt.

Except the glory hunting gloaters, sitting in their lofty chairs up in the nosebleeds at Old Trafford or Anfield. But then, pretty much every die-hard United or City or Rovers or whoever fan seems to really REALLY hate the people coming over to watch their club once or twice a year claiming a great connection and ultimately taking their seats and pricing the local fan out of the game. The fans who watched them when they were back in the old Second Division, and who made the trip to Rochdale to watch a reserves game on a Tuesday, and who has named one of their children for the guy who scored the goal that put them in the FA Cup semis for the first time back in the day, and the other for the man who still holds the record for most sendings off in the clubs history. Yeah, you gloating types. Keep working at it and you'll get rid of those fans with the tattoos who look at you funny as you walk into the club shop on your annual Champions League trip, while the wife goes off to watch Phantom of the Opera, and you both lament how the recent economic downturn means you'll only be able to do this two or three times a year any more.

Not that I'm bitter, of course.

[peadar1987]

I had a gem today, and think it will be hard to top it:
Work colleague: I see season tickets aren't allowed for the Bray match?
Me: Yeah, it's not a regular season game, so they don't apply.
WC: Ah feck that so, I'll wait and see if they lose, and go to the next one if they do
M: I did'lt know you had a United season ticket?
WC: Wha? Me? I don't.
M: So what's the problem, then.
WC: Ah, it's not fair on fellas that do, so I won't go
I was left staring blankly as he walked off. Still not sure what he meant.



I reckon he believes the game will be sold out, so he doesn't want to take a seat from a season ticket holder if they're not accepting season tickets. If Galway lose they'll be playing Waterford or Shels, so he might go to that, if they win, there won't be another game until next season.

[Charlie Darwin]

I recall when first I moved to Britain expecting to have to tell people that it was Waterford, not Watford I followed, and was very pleasantly surprised. Firstly there was the presumption that the club I followed was Irish, not English. Football following people would ask me how the Blues were doing (generally comiserating with me to be honest). One guy who came to fix the plumbing saw the Blues scarf and not only failed to presume it was Chelsea, as has happened in Ireland, but recognised that it was Waterford United, as he knew a guy from a few years back who followed them and recognised the crest. How many people in your home county know the colours of the nearest League of Ireland club and would recognise the crest on sight?
To be fair, I wouldn't recognise most crests on sight no matter what the country. I think my knowledge of LOI crests is entirely down to them being so prominent on here. I wouldn't be able to visualise Chelsea or Arsenal's crest from memory.

That does tie in with what I've heard from other people here and immigrants from England. A lot of English people will come to Dublin or another city and adopt the local team. A bloke I work with is from Watford and supports Rovers as intensely as his hometown side.

On a semi-related note, I was talking to a journalist friend of my aunt's recently for a couple of hours. He grew up in Manchester during the 50s and 60s (remembers the Munich disaster obviously) and said his family had season tickets to both clubs and would alternate who they brought the kids to see - most Manchester people would support both. The rivalry between the two was really a product of certain managers during the 70s and 80s - until then Liverpool and Leeds were the Manchester clubs' main rivals. So perhaps the fraternity you described between fans of different clubs in England isn't far from the mark.

[BonnieShels]

That does tie in with what I've heard from other people here and immigrants from England. A lot of English people will come to Dublin or another city and adopt the local team. A bloke I work with is from Watford and supports Rovers as intensely as his hometown side.

To me that just sounds like the normal thing to do. In the coming months I may have to move to Galway or Limerick for work and come next season I'll be nipping along to Terryland or Jackman when I can and obviously when Shels are in town.

One of my stipulations for visiting my mate in London next month is we visit his local team.

[pineapple stu]

One guy who came to fix the plumbing saw the Blues scarf and not only failed to presume it was Chelsea, as has happened in Ireland, but recognised that it was Waterford United, as he knew a guy from a few years back who followed them and recognised the crest. How many people in your home county know the colours of the nearest League of Ireland club and would recognise the crest on sight?
Reminds me of the time I was in Rome first (2007), and I found an Irish pub just down the road from where I was staying. Don't normally go into Irish pubs abroad, but this one was (is) very good; load of football scarves on the walls and what have you. Went up to the bar and the barman recognised my UCD jersey. He was Italian, but had spent time in UCD as a kid at a foreign language school. Not only did he give me a free pint in exchange for my scarf, but when I went back two years later, I got another free pint.

There's no real point to that story I suppose; certainly not in the context of the original post. But at least it shows that we're right.

[WoodquayBoy]

Bray don't allow season tickets for this match ---> Bray are greedy and don't respect the fans ---> I can use this as a valuable excuse to avoid attending said match, and instead focus on 'supporting' 'my' team from hundreds of miles away whose players I have never seen in the flesh.

To be honest, I don't think he has the intelligence to work that out for himself

[WoodquayBoy]

One of the bosses lands out whilst I'm trying to follow the European draws on uefa.com

Him: What are you doing?

Me(Going for honest approach): Just seeing who the Irish sides got in Europe

Him: Oh right. I used to support Liverpool but I prefer Arsenal myself.

Me(Forgetting meself, and laughing): What? Are you serious?

Him: Yeah, why?

Me: Doesn't matter.

He must have mentioned Derry's financial demise every single time he sees me. Apparently we should run it like a GAA club, though when I asked him about examples of GAA clubs with a turn over of greater than €1m, he was somewhat stumped.....
Of course GAA club's don't have that kind of turnover, sure they hardly have any turnover (cough moneyfindsitswayintohiddenpocketsatgate cough) and are a wonderful amateur association that has no history of bigotry or discrimination or anything like that and is pure as the driven snow.
Sorry, bad morning!!

[WoodquayBoy]

To me that just sounds like the normal thing to do. In the coming months I may have to move to Galway or Limerick for work and come next season I'll be nipping along to Terryland or Jackman when I can and obviously when Shels are in town.
Hopefully your only visit to Terryland for a Shels match will be in the Cup!

[Rasputin]

The conversations that wind me up the most are when a Barstooler asks you who you support, and obviously id say Rovers and then comes the inevitable, but who do you "really support", as if my following Rovers was for charity of some sorts.
Its as if following the LOI isnt counted as being "real support".
In summary all barstooler west brit plastics must die.

[marinobohs]

Probobly the one thing that always annoys me is the use of "we" by EPL/SPL (alledged) fans when referring to some english/scottish club. Bad enough these people never darken the doorstep of any ground but when I hear "we this"or "we that" it just grates :mad:

there are many clubs here (Bohs, Shams, Cork etc) that offer footie fans a chance to own their own club but unless your name is Glazer, Abramavich, Henry or Desmond then please please desist from using the "we" term in connection with a football club.

[osarusan]

"Sure why would you support that rubbish? Anybody could play that."

[Rasputin]

"Sure why would you support that rubbish? Anybody could play that."
Ahh classic, along with the "but thats ****", that it may be but at least its our ****.

[peadar1987]

"Sure why would you support that rubbish? Anybody could play that."

And the standard response; "So you'll be supporting Russia/Slovakia/Germany/England the next time they play Ireland then?"

[pineapple stu]

There's a growing group of people now who won't support Ireland cos they're crap. I've had people in work say that they would support an Irish team if they got to the CL, but only in the CL group stages, because basically any standard below what can't get out of the group stages isn't worth supporting.

This person was a Leeds fan, and then changed to Arsenal around the time Leeds went pop...

[Charlie Darwin]

"Sure why would you support that rubbish? Anybody could play that."
We're talking about people who think the likes of Stoke and Wolves are poor teams. Their perspective is already skewed wildly beyond what is rational.

[SwanVsDalton]

Ahh classic, along with the "but thats ****", that it may be but at least its our ****.

Used that exact line on many an occasion, especially to the EPL heads who are currently watching their teams blowing all their money into debt holes created by owners.

I don't usually get into arguments with my EPL supporting mates - generally they just look at me with pity like I'm some deranged loony who'd rather watch grass grow in person than Alan Titchmarch do it on TV. Well I hate Alan Titchmarsh...

[marinobohs]

Used that exact line on many an occasion, especially to the EPL heads who are currently watching their teams blowing all their money into debt holes created by owners.

I don't usually get into arguments with my EPL supporting mates - generally they just look at me with pity like I'm some deranged loony who'd rather watch grass grow in person than Alan Titchmarch do it on TV. Well I hate Alan Titchmarsh...

Have been known to have a "discussion" or two with Prem supporting friends (I know it will come as a surprise to many on here :D) and usually wrap it up by the comparison of live footie versus "SKY" to sex versus porn video !
..............usually ends the argument :cool:

[peadar1987]

Have been known to have a "discussion" or two with Prem supporting friends (I know it will come as a surprise to many on here :D) and usually wrap it up by the comparison of live footie versus "SKY" to sex versus porn video !
..............usually ends the argument :cool:

Just to play devil's advocate here, I'd prefer to watch a gorgeous girl in a porn video, than have sex with Mary Harney!

[Mr A]

Just to play devil's advocate here, I'd prefer to watch a gorgeous girl in a porn video, than have sex with Mary Harney!

Utterly unnecessary imagery there. Why would you do that to us? Why? Why???????????????????????????????????????