The Morons strike back
13/12/04 | by Alex Walker

Let us just suppose, for a moment, that Joe Kinnear was right and it was “just another game”. Well, that’s our 11th league defeat of the season and it leaves us still in the relegation zone. It was also a terrible performance that shows the inconsistency that has dogged our season, meaning we invariably follow a good performance was an awful one. It also means we are still to win away and have collected only four points on our travels all season. Even if it was just another game, it still represents a severe underperformance from the team and manager.

But, of course, it wasn’t just another game. It was the most important game of the season so far for most supporters and one that will stick in their memories for a long time, for all the wrong reasons. Joe Kinnear should understand how much these type of games matter to the fans. However, we can presume that he’s “not bothered” what anybody thinks and will dismiss the resulting criticism as just a continuation of the lack of support he has received throughout his reign from a “minority” of “morons”. Unfortunately for Joe, this rose-tinted assessment is increasingly inaccurate.

Forest fans have, in fact, given him a great deal of support. Most club’s fans would have turned on the manager long since, but Forest fans knew that the problems at the club went beyond Kinnear and expectations had been warped by unfounded pre-season boasts of lofty ambitions. Being objective, most people could see that Kinnear was working under very difficult conditions and, although he was performing under par from a reasonable position to expect Forest to be in, there was no way he could get us into the promotion race.

But he has gradually worn down this support by imposing his infuriating personality on us. After describing supporters as “idiots”, continually misleading the public over prospective signings, refusing to take part in post-match press briefings after defeats, dismissing the club’s historic achievements and many other cringe-worthy examples of Joe’s mouth activating before his brain had chance to engage, it is little wonder that the anger of Forest fans has shifted gradually from Nigel Doughty to Kinnear himself.

Joe Kinnear deserves every bit of the condemnation put his way in the aftermath of this humiliating capitulation. We can have no doubt that if he had somehow managed to pull off a surprise win, he’d have been lapping it up, basking in the glory of a heroic performance. The fact that he only speaks to the press after wins shows that he is only interested in accepting praise and not criticism.

If he had won, it would have halved the pressure on him. As it is, it will now be doubled. This may seem disproportionate, but anyone who doesn’t understand why this match has so much importance clearly doesn’t understand the sport. It’s one thing forcing us to endure hours of terrible football, but to make us have to sit through months of tedious bragging from boorish Derby fans is quite another and this let-down will be hard to forget.

We can perhaps forgive Kinnear for his remarks before the game. It was the usual pre-derby management patter to take pressure off the players. But in the context of weeks of name-calling and lack of respect toward the fans and club, it just seems to be more evidence of how out-of-touch Kinnear really is. Joe has been subjected to name-calling himself, but until recently this was – as Joe belatedly asserted – from the minority. By now it will surely be the majority.

This crucial sea change in opinion will be demonstrated on Friday. The ‘protest’ at the QPR game consisted of 20 or so shifty looking blokes standing around asking each other: “Is this the protest?” As Forest take on Leicester, with the Sky cameras present, it is likely that the protests will grow in strength. The “you don’t know what you’re doing” chants during the Derby game were the first signs of widespread discontent with the manager and this looks set only to increase.

I suspect that most fans understand that ousting Kinnear will not solve all our problems by any stretch of the imagination. But it is becoming increasingly difficult for the minority who remain on his side to defend his personal actions. Kinnear’s track record cannot cover up the signs that he has lost respect and confidence in him throughout the club. He likes to boast about his vast experience and all the awards he has won, but these won’t be enough to save him from the wrath of the fans. It remains to be seen what effect protests will have, but it may just be enough to convince Kinnear that he no longer has the majority’s support – a factor which may aid any decisions he makes about his future at the club.