OLLIE KEARNSRoyal Rother I know expectations are higher these days but I remember the early days of players like Lovell, Williams, Taylor & Gilkes - when they came into the side none of those were anywhere near as accomplished as the young players we have now, and yet, whatever their mistakes, they were greeted with enthusiasm week in week out where I stood on the South Bank because they were OUR young players and they deserved our support.
Have values / demands of RFC supporters changed that much in the last 25+ years?
Hi RR, what happened to Sea Pigeon by the way
I don't think they have changed. I think everyone is behind the youngsters. The main questions at present would be can we get away with launching so many in one go and do we as a side have the physical presence to deal with this league, regardless of our footballing ability. I suspect we are pushing it a bit in both respects this season based on the current side.
I'm actually fine with that and a mid table position this year would augur well for the following season. That said, a couple of suitable acquisitions could significantly improve the outlook for this season.
The next two weeks will be interesting !
There is less patience shown now, I'm sure of that. Someone above has already decided that Pearce, at 20, is never going to be good enough for a team challenging for top spot in the Championship. Just one e.g. that.
Maybe some of the old codgers were as bad "back in the day", but it seems worse to me now. Perhaps money / Sky over-exposure has just erased some of the patience / perspective we used to have about supporting a football team. Different k of f but I rather enjoy the more philosophical approach taken by the 120 die-hard Windsor & Eton fans!!