Soccer Football - Premier League - Crystal Palace v Leicester City - Selhurst Park, London, Britain - April 1, 2023 Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers before the match Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club /league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details.
There are studies galore in the world of academia which reveal that more people are in prison for murder because they were put in a position where they felt humiliated than because of any other root cause. Something in all of us deals differently with that than any other emotion. It’s more than some can take.
Our forebears knew this before modern science caught up and provided theory with the facts to back it up … it’s the reason we once put people in the stocks and why we still have road-gangs to this day. As a behavioural corrective there are few in history quite like it and we can see proof of it everywhere.
Of the various versions of humiliation you can target a person with, there is one which cuts to the bone like no other. Even people who are beyond other forms of it bristle and react aggressively against it; I refer, of course, to pity and almost everyone would prefer to be scorned than pitied every day of the week.
Having someone feel sorry for you, or to say they do, makes you feel like the lowliest rung on the ladder.
For a football manager being pitied is only one step above being sacked. The language of pity is only ever evoked when a boss in dire straits. Let me put it this way; it never comes when they are simply on the end of a bad run of luck or form. The emotion that’s expressed there is better described as sympathy … pity is a whole other thing. It means “this poor bastard never stood a chance.”
And that’s what Rodgers delivered today. Not sympathy. Pity. He knows exactly what he’s doing and it’s about as sore as a kick in the nuts and its subtle enough so that everyone at Ibrox will be disgusted by it, but what are they going to say? Rodgers will just express his bafflement and say Clement is feeling under pressure and there might even be the vague suggestion he’s cracking under it.
Every one of the dark arts is being brought to bear now by the boss. He feels sorry for his opposite number? For the hand he’s been dealt? For the stadium issues, the impoverished nature of his squad, for his not quite being up to snuff? I cannot imagine Clement thanking him for that at all and he isn’t meant to; I already said this is a guy dripping with envy. Now Rodgers is telling him that, yes, it really does feel that good to be on the other end of the table and he feels bad for him because he’s not. “He’s got to work through difficult issues,” says everything without overblowing it, but Rodgers is saying, with a shudder, “Thank God I’m here and not in his shoes.”
Pity and sympathy are on the same emotional line but one is fathoms deeper than the other and Rodgers is not a mug and he knows talking about how much respect he has for a manager he’s beaten four times out of five radiates contempt which talking about “difficult circumstances” ramps up to a ten.
But it’s all coached so beautifully that there’s literally nothing anyone at Ibrox can say about it. Instead, Clement gave a press conference which numerous sites have already described as a delusional car-crash, and I’m looking forward to digging into that a little later on.
But Rodgers has already delivered as deadly a blow off the field as he did on it. He’s left the Ibrox fans, and everyone at the club, with the indelible image of him patting Clement on his baldy dome and telling him “Come on, chin up. There’s no disgrace in finishing second to this team, and to me.”
And I suspect that will hurt in ways the defeat itself cannot ever begin to.
Today, James, was a fantastic performance by our team. Another managerial and tactical masterclass by BR.
We are slightly disappointed that it was ‘only,’ 3-0, but even thinking that, demonstrates the progression, confidence and changes, that our manager has implemented, in this group of players. That transmits to us, the fans!!!!
No real failures today …I agree that Maeda was fantastic, and his energy just resonates through the whole team! Bernardo was my mom for the 62 mins he was on the park, but closely followed by CalMac & Kyogo.
I’d also like to praise two players, who I know are regularly criticised by some in our fanbase. I thought Taylor and Scales put in great shifts, and for me, very rarely let us down domestically. The CL stage, as we all know, will be a far tougher proposition, and we shall then see what our manager’s choices will be!
On the subject of big Phil, it is already monumentally crystal clear, that the Bears, are quite literally, revolting, as we speak. The deludemol, is slowly being replaced by regular doses of fact-uol, as it dawns on them, he is not the messianic figure, he was initially hyped up to be!
His chums in the smsm have all performed a volte-face, regarding his ability to compete with us, and are slowly throwing him, and his reputation to the dogs…or should that be, the bears?
The Belgian waffler may soon find out, or already has, that his “goose is cooked,” and it’s time to fly off into the sunset.
Well done today Brendan, our bhoys, and fans! A fantastic win, performance and atmosphere! HH
Post of The Autumn Gerry ! (Though there’s a good bit of competition on The Celtic Blog) which is good…
I’d nearly say post of the year but I’ve been drinking so much Celtic Champagne (Well really Whisky and Whiskey) that the old memory cannot span as far back as your other awesome posts)…
Jeez – What a time to be alive as a Hoops supporter !
Clach, appreciate your kind words as always, and your posts ! Keep enjoying the whisky ! Here’s hoping there’s a few treble measures to enjoy come May! HH
Fergie did the mind games with Keegan.
I like Keegan, but, he were stupid to bite.
Anger with tactics cost him, calmness ….. who knows…
But Rodgers has Clementine measured for his offing.
.
Clementine when finding out his game plan and tactics will not beat a Celtic team on an off day coached by Rodgers suffering from Gout, piles and toothache will resign.
He will not be sacked.
Is there not a caravan missing from somewhere regarding the sevco manager.
24 wins to Celtic v 10 to Sevco in The Twelve Years and Thirty Four Days since Sevco were born…
15 wins (I think) for Mr Rodgers v 1 for Sevco v Saint Brendan of Carnlough –
I dearly wish that ma own figures (20 stone) were as beautiful as those above !!!!
Brilliant, and as I just said on the previous thread, Espanyolification is all but complete,
The put down of Clement by Brendon Rogers today was almost as bad as Bobby Kennedys recent put down of Kamala Harris. Oooffffttt.
I am right at the point now where I am waiting on the post on social media from the Celtic fan media that Clemons has been dismissed or it’s being discussed but I think with the new contract & the posturing from their board about Clemons & how they are taking a new approach & not making rash decisions etc I can also see a situation where they completely ignore the fan backlash & stick by their man.
I hope the latter is the case for pure entertainment. I can see a situation similar to when we were trying to get Lennon to walk away but he wouldn’t unfolding with major fan backlash at every home game… well Hampden game. The footage outside of Ibrox yesterday was ridiculous, fans aren’t capable of accepting the players just aren’t good enough & that the best they can hope for is second & that may be a stretch now if Aberdeen continue the good form.
I think the big difference is Lennon eventually realised he had to walk away because he was hurting the club that he loves. Clemons has no allegiance to that club other than they are his employer so you can be certain he will stick it out until they sack him & he walks away with his full contract paid up.
He’s left the Ibrox fans, and everyone at the club, with the indelible image of him patting Clement on his baldy dome and telling him “Come on, chin up.
Beautifully written and very amusing it’s a wonderful Monday morning