Its clear that when it comes to commenting on our Tarbs' performances, things can get divisive on this Board and sometimes spin out of control. I've played my part in these dusts ups, as have others. On a Taarabt thread last night, all out war erupted between two posters and continued well into this afternoon. Perhaps its time we establish a code of conduct when it comes to assessing Taarabt's displays so such messy affairs don't develop again.
For those of us who are critical of the player, let me state where we're coming from. Its not that we don't think he's a good player. I think everyone has always agreed that his potential is huge. The problems arise when a general hysteria is whipped up on the Board and he's lauded as an all conquering great. When this is done on a continual basis, it alienates a small number of contributors who prefer to base praise on actual achievements rather than future potential and conjecture. During our one and a half seasons in the PL, Taarabt has played some good games and some bad. Played brilliantly at times and dreadfully at others. When he has a stinker, a collective dismissiveness takes hold and everyone from the Manager to his team-mates to the fans get blamed for his poor performance. And when he plays well, he's up there with Lionel Messi.
These irrational positions have the effect of forcing a small number of posters to push back and in doing so, they can end up being very vitriolic towards the player when in normal circumstances, their criticism would be far more balanced. Personally, I have found myself saying things about the lad that, in the cold light of day, appear very much OTT. However, in the context of having to listen to a relentless stream of hype, this overreaction can perhaps be understood.
Yorkie started a thread last night, no doubt himself annoyed at our overly harsh critiques, to put one or two of us back in our place. I've no problem with that and it was a good OP. Unfortunately, Queens' response was like that of an angry man who's had enough of the Adel adoration and his almost hysterical response was way above and beyond what he would say had he not had to endure weeks and months of non stop frenzy around that polarising player. So what you get in the end, in its most extreme form, is what we had with Queens and Finglas last night and today.
Another (albeit less confrontational) example of this problem would be when COL posted up his report today. In my opinion, he overdid the praise for Taarabt, and I responded "and away we go". Straight away I was told that I didn't think he was MOTM. In actuality, I thought he was outstanding yesterday and was clear MOTM but because of the last year and a half of Adel worshipping, I don't trust COL's judgement and went into defence mode. Instead of wanting to praise the boy for his performance, I find myself getting irritated at everyone else losing the run of themselves entirely. Its a vicious circle you see. Over the top praise brings over the top criticism and things degenerate from there.
So can we all try to be a bit more reasonable and objective? For my part, I will stop attacking Taarabt when he has a bad game. And I'll try to be less impatient when he has a game that things don't come off for him. Maybe others can meet me in the middle and dampen down their euphoria when he has a good game and be a little more objective when he plays poorly?
If we can do this, we can take the sting out of what has become a divisive subject and in the process, avoid what happened between Finglas and Queens from recurring.
For those of us who are critical of the player, let me state where we're coming from. Its not that we don't think he's a good player. I think everyone has always agreed that his potential is huge. The problems arise when a general hysteria is whipped up on the Board and he's lauded as an all conquering great. When this is done on a continual basis, it alienates a small number of contributors who prefer to base praise on actual achievements rather than future potential and conjecture. During our one and a half seasons in the PL, Taarabt has played some good games and some bad. Played brilliantly at times and dreadfully at others. When he has a stinker, a collective dismissiveness takes hold and everyone from the Manager to his team-mates to the fans get blamed for his poor performance. And when he plays well, he's up there with Lionel Messi.
These irrational positions have the effect of forcing a small number of posters to push back and in doing so, they can end up being very vitriolic towards the player when in normal circumstances, their criticism would be far more balanced. Personally, I have found myself saying things about the lad that, in the cold light of day, appear very much OTT. However, in the context of having to listen to a relentless stream of hype, this overreaction can perhaps be understood.
Yorkie started a thread last night, no doubt himself annoyed at our overly harsh critiques, to put one or two of us back in our place. I've no problem with that and it was a good OP. Unfortunately, Queens' response was like that of an angry man who's had enough of the Adel adoration and his almost hysterical response was way above and beyond what he would say had he not had to endure weeks and months of non stop frenzy around that polarising player. So what you get in the end, in its most extreme form, is what we had with Queens and Finglas last night and today.
Another (albeit less confrontational) example of this problem would be when COL posted up his report today. In my opinion, he overdid the praise for Taarabt, and I responded "and away we go". Straight away I was told that I didn't think he was MOTM. In actuality, I thought he was outstanding yesterday and was clear MOTM but because of the last year and a half of Adel worshipping, I don't trust COL's judgement and went into defence mode. Instead of wanting to praise the boy for his performance, I find myself getting irritated at everyone else losing the run of themselves entirely. Its a vicious circle you see. Over the top praise brings over the top criticism and things degenerate from there.
So can we all try to be a bit more reasonable and objective? For my part, I will stop attacking Taarabt when he has a bad game. And I'll try to be less impatient when he has a game that things don't come off for him. Maybe others can meet me in the middle and dampen down their euphoria when he has a good game and be a little more objective when he plays poorly?
If we can do this, we can take the sting out of what has become a divisive subject and in the process, avoid what happened between Finglas and Queens from recurring.
