Sunday 14 December 2008

Rod Liddle and The Stereotypes

I invariably enjoy Rod Liddle's articles. He is topical and has an unusual perspective for a journo writing for the Sunday Times. He is a middle-aged man with something of a chip on his shoulder so sub-consciously I fear I might see something of myself in him? 

He is, of course, a Millwall fan who sees the world in stereotypes (don't they all!) which are the recurring theme of nearly everything he writes. Class is one of these and football is another. I can never make out whether he is a working class boy with middle class guilt or a middle class boy striving for more left-wing  street-cred. He was born in Abbey Wood and he has been a Millwall supporter since the age of seven, which was handy as the family left for Teeside when he was eight. That might also explain his penchant for having a go at us Charlton fans whenever he can. More guilt here I suspect, coming from Abbey Wood.

In todays edition, he pens a piece about how we are fiddling our gates to look like we doing better than we are (certainly better than Millwall's 6,000). No issue with that, I think we all feel similarly, however, he can't help himself from having a pop at the stay-aways who "went down the pub instead, or hung out on London Bridge station with their little notebooks and thermos flasks." Ho-ho, how funny and another great stereotype.

Well Rod, you reminded me of one of my favourites. The old analogy that your average Charlton fan knits his own scarf whereas the average Millwall fan sews his own mailbags. I know what I'd prefer everytime.


4 comments:

  1. I read this too and whilst I like Rod Liddle's articles , I am getting really fed up with his childish crap about Charlton . Actually , I think it is fine to report 20,000 plus crowds . If we have 17,000 season ticket holders , who cares if they don't turn up . Millwall can only dream about that many season ticket holders. He deliberately omits the fact that the reason we can report this is because of those pre-sales
    To borrow some of Rod's joy over working class abuse , fankly Rod , why don't you f...k off you fat tosspot.
    It would be good if the Times Sports Editor actually did his job properly and stopped Rod Liddle being childish about Charlton and Martin Samuel bringing up the Sheff Utd affair and how his beloved West Ham have been wronged

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  2. Millwall have a regualar crowd of 35,000, its just that they only make Wembley once in a millenium!!

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  3. Thanks (not) for bringing this idiot to my attention - not being a Times reader. The real old enemy rears its head having been squashed down for - oh what is it? 10 years or more? Not surprising he is so unprofessional.

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