There’s a point in every season when I find myself building short-term allegiances to teams all over the country. As games become more like shoot-outs, I become a passive consumer rather than a fan. Like one of those people who believe that football means more when there’s money on it.
I’m becoming more interested in Schalke, for example. I’d like to see Uncle Avram save West Ham (although I’d also like to see Wolves stay up and I’m not going to get both). Anyone who prevents Manchester City or Chelsea from winning things gets my vote as they are the devil incarnet. Should either win the Champions League then football will end because it will finally prove the hypothesis that you can buy success.
The noise that greeted Notts County’s winner against Swindon towards the end of our draw with Chesterfield proved I’m not alone. It helps, of course, that our season is over, and that our interests can move elsewhere. The Chesterfield game was an attractive spectacle, but if they had a bit more to play for, if we did too, if it was a little less hot, if it wasn’t at the arse-end of a long season, then it would have been a more memorable and meaningful fixture. As entertaining as it was, in an ‘if’ season, this was the ultimate ‘if’ fixture, League 2 football described through the medium of dance.
I’m a sucker for the underdog, and love a good “miracle escape” so Monday’s Barnet fixture left me in a bit of a quandary. Barnet, I’d generally consider to be a rather meaningless club, but now they are in the crap I’d quite like them to survive especially with the Deering/Midson connection. 3 points for them would have been gold dust, 3 for us would have no value at all. A small piece of me didn't have a problem with them winning. Perhaps we could have written it off as a charitable donation. In the end, I suppose a draw was about right.
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