Derry may be a close-knit community with an element of siege-type mentality, but I think any collective defensiveness is as a result of how the city suffered under an oppressive smog of surveillance during the Troubles; "besieged within the siege", as Seamus Heaney once wrote. There maybe is a bit of suspicion reserved for perceived outsiders, but the community had to be that way. My Roscommon-born ma seemed to think that, having moved up to the north-west from living in Dublin after marrying my da, although she also praises the warmth of the people and has great admiration and respect for that collective spirit.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ezeikial
Anyway, whatever about Roddy's sociological analysis of Derry (or my own! :p ), it's not really relevant insofar as what Spudulika says is true; it's always "someone else's fault" with Roddy; never his own. He's full of bluster and is just trying to deflect from his own failings by bitterly lashing out at the club, the players, the city, James McClean, Shane McEleney, whoever he can blame and whoever he thinks has it in for him... He clearly has a sour taste in his mouth because he couldn't quite work it.
Stephen Kenny was an "outsider" in Derry too, but he was relatively successful at the club and the supporters really warmed to him when he was in charge. Did Roddy even move to the local area eventually? Kenny settled in Fahan and uprooted his whole family to take the job; put his kids in local schools and everything. He also happened to have a lot of local players in his sides when he was pushing close for the title a few years ago. Why couldn't Roddy do it if Kenny, for example, could? That's what Roddy should be asking himself. If Roddy felt pressured into selecting local lads due to something he perceived, that's his own weakness for letting it get to him. I don't think the fact Roddy was an "outsider" was always or necessarily going to be something that would hold him back; I think his appointment was something that didn't go down well with so many because so many were already well aware of what an absolute charlatan the man is. It wasn't the "outsider" treatment he was getting; it was the "gangster" treatment. It was for that reason that he probably felt he had to dig his heels in more from the outset; not primarily because he wasn't from the local area.
