Just apologise, shake hands and be merry
I swear, fans and the Football Association need to grow up.
If my team had lost at the weekend, I know what awaits when I arrive at the office on a Monday morning. My supportive colleagues (supportive of other teams) will not rush to offer me commiserations. No, there will be banter and lots of it.
They will mock me and my team, and why not? It’s friendly, it’s fun and it’s fully reciprocal. In short, we are grownups who can take a joke. Fortunately, this is true of most football fans but sadly not all.
Just ask Jose Mourinho, who is indeed a special one at winding up opposition supporters.
I’ve been a regular critic of the Manchester United manager of late but here I give him credit – he takes loads of abuse from fans and occasionally he gives a tiny fraction of it back. Don’t ever stop giving it back Jose.
In the Champions League last week, Juventus fans screamed insults and abuse at Mourinho for 90 minutes. Having seen his team secure a famous late victory, he then cupped his hand to his ear: “You’re not singing (screaming) anymore?” is what the gesture implied.
The Italian fans – and even some of the Juventus players – reacted angrily. It’s pathetic and it happens all the time. Mourinho was accused of inciting the fans; give me a break (and in this case, him too).
He even said in the post-match interview that “I probably shouldn’t have done it, and with a cool head I wouldn’t have done it”. I say don’t apologise when you’ve done nothing wrong.
How could he be expected to have a cool head at that moment? His team had just come from behind to win with two goals in the last few minutes. How many of us would have a cool head then?
Mourinho was also recently charged with “improper conduct” by the Football Association (FA) in England for swearing after the Newcastle game. In Portuguese!
Again, my sympathies lie with the Manchester United man. Players and managers often experience a frenzied, emotional rollercoaster for 90 minutes and then someone comes along and sticks a camera in their face.
What do we honestly expect to happen next? For them to give a polite smile followed by a rational, dispassionate analysis of what just happened? Try interviewing fans immediately after a game and you get exactly what you would expect: an outpouring of emotion.
During the World Cup this summer I rode the very enjoyable (though nerveshattering) rollercoaster of supporting Croatia – my wife is Croatian. We watched the semi-final against England at a bar here in KL.
There were about 10 of us supporting Croatia while there were probably 150 England fans. We were vastly outnumbered but never out-sung (for which I modestly take some credit).
When Croatia won I was reasonably happy – OK, I admit I was wildly ecstatic. The England fans were understandably gutted. But many came and shook hands and congratulated us. Except for one.
He was a little upset by my slightly exuberant celebrations. He suggested that this was “neither the time nor the place”.
Somewhat confused by the logic I offered to return at a more mutually convenient time but suggested that, to me, it seemed like there and then was very much the appropriate time and place.
He left rather angry.
But a few weeks later we met each other randomly. He recognised me and apologised. “Sorry, things got a bit emotional after the semi-final, I was out of line.” I accepted it without hesitation and told him I understood. We shook hands.
It was dealt with as grown-ups, just like Mourinho and Chelsea coach Ianni a few weeks ago.