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We’re In This Together…

Herbie6590
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Herbie6590 World Cup

Herbie6590

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15 hours ago, SIMON GARNERS 194 said:

Be great if it wasn't behind a paywall!

Bloody hell…🤦‍♂️

 

Football, just like the Christmas season, is fuelled by belief.

For us Roverites, that belief is currently vested in the nous of John Eustace’s ability to extract maximum value from his squad, every bit as much as the annual, global, sleigh-bound journey of a red-clad altruist!

At this time of year, it’s impossible to escape Christmas music and amongst all of the Wham!, Slade & Wizzard, it’s Greg Lake’s poignant Christmas classic, “I Believe in Father Christmas” that brings out the karaoke kid in me.

Lake’s song is both celebratory and cautionary, a beautifully melancholic reflection on dashed hopes but laced with enduring belief. It starts with the nostalgia of childhood, the purity of believing in something magical, before confronting the commercialisation and disillusionment of adulthood.

That is quite possibly my lifelong football-watching journey distilled..!

 

Mention of the word “belief” also reminds of the eponymous hero of Apple TV’s Ted Lasso series.

Ted Lasso became a global sensation thanks largely to the feelgood factor generated by a relentlessly optimistic American football coach. Lasso is as much a preacher of human decency as he is a tactician. His mantra of “Believe” is scrawled across a makeshift sign in the changing room, summing up his entire approach. In a sport rife with cynicism, Ted Lasso feels like an anomaly. 
His belief isn’t blind, more a determined choice to see the best in people, to seek joy amidst the chaos.

As children, we grow up idolising players, that football is a fairytale where the good guys (our team basically...) wins. The harsh realities come later - dodgy owners, relegations, semi-final heartbreaks. But still, we believe. Every August, every matchday and for Rovers fans, this Christmas once again offers a tantalising glimpse of possibilities.

Not for the first time in recent seasons, Rovers end the year in the conversation for the play-offs and the January transfer window looms large.

The current run of six successive victories has raised both hopes and perhaps even expectations. The squad has been plagued with injuries and suspensions but one characteristic visible in abundance to us on the terraces, is the apparent togetherness of the squad. Eustace’s values seemingly embraced and embedded.

 The quandary for us supporters is the extent to which we should allow ourselves to believe. We see the holes in the squad, we see how it could be “even better if...” and we hope that the manager’s requirements to address those concerns are delivered in January. The extent to which we believe however, is possibly a function of our individual Rovers-supporting experiences.

Ted Lasso and “I Believe in Father Christmas” challenge us to reconsider what belief truly means. It’s not about naivety or turning a blind eye to challenges. It’s an act of defiance, of choosing hope in a cynical world.

In footballing terms, it’s still singing in the 91st minute as Fulham score their seventh goal at Ewood. It’s travelling away from home, in midweek to the likes of Middlesbrough and Sheffield Wednesday and to be rewarded with battling away wins.

Lake’s haunting refrain, “I believed in Father Christmas” is not necessarily a lament for lost innocence, but a call to hold onto that belief, even as we grow older and possibly wiser. Similarly, Ted Lasso’s “Believe” sign isn’t about guaranteeing success but fostering resilience, optimism, and connection.

 

Rovers are presently riding a wave of success and John Eustace is rightly receiving plaudits for the work he has done at Ewood. In his early days his mantra was “Together”. He was at pains to emphasise that escaping relegation would only be possible with unity, to the extent that he started sound a little like the old Prudential TV ad – Google it kids, it’s on YouTube, starring the guy from the Fast Show & Harry Potter.

“We want to be together...”

Can we draw parallels between Eustace’s “Together” & Lasso’s “Believe”?

 

The world may not always be quite as magical as we’d like. Rovers won’t win every week (sorry...), the snow may not fall on Boxing Day, Santa will still bring you socks. But in football and in life, hope and belief is what carries us through.

Merry Christmas to everyone connected with Rovers – players, staff, supporters alike. We’re in this together...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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