The international break is over, and the Premier League is about to return — and that means the latest episode of The People vs. Ange Postecoglou is set to drop imminently.
In the last episode, we saw the eponymous hero/villain respond to another mouthy fan who was fuming about Tottenham Hotspur’s latest defeat to Fulham. Or he was a Fulham fan gloating; we don’t know for sure.
“Ange! What the f— was that!?” he asked Postecoglou, repeatedly. “What was that!?”
Postecoglou stopped and confronted him. “Behave yourself,” he replied. “You’re a young man, just learn some manners. Behave yourself.”
In the end, he had to be dragged away by one of his players, Mathys Tel, who told the “young man” to show some respect. (The initial clip that went viral had conveniently snipped out the part where the fan called Postecoglou a “knobhead”.)
This, of course, wasn’t the pilot episode. We’re quite deep into the season, and inching closer to what feels like a dramatic finale, or perhaps a sudden cancellation by the network. Whether you’re Ange Out or Ange In, it’s not great that Postecoglou keeps reacting like this. He should be above it. Every time he gives in to these types, it hands the rest of his critics more ammunition.
Easier said than done, though, resisting the urge to lash out when you’re being constantly lampooned or abused at your workplace – and by someone with a motive beyond the typical passionate airing of grievances, who is putting you under real-time surveillance.
And really, that’s the problem here.
It’s one thing to let your inner demons out at your team if you’ve just watched them embarrass themselves and, by extension, you. That’s normal, and understandable. We’ve all been there. It should be a private moment between you, them, and the thousands of people around you within earshot. (It’s more morally agreeable to let the whole team have it at once, though, in my opinion, instead of pointedly targeting a particular individual.)
But if you’re abusing a player or coach after a loss and your phone is out recording it, you’re not just having a crack. You’re baiting them. You’re performing. You’re waiting for that person to put a toe out of line so you can upload the viral content to social media and lap up all the dopamine. You’re not in the video, so you get off scot-free – but they become the victim of a pile-on, as judgments are formed about their maturity and skin-thickness based solely on one half of a two-way interaction.
It’s grubby stuff.
And it’s the sort of thing we’d probably like to think we’re above, here in Australia, where our crowds are comparatively placid to those in England. But no. This trend is becoming disturbingly prevalent in the AFL. It’s been around for a while, and this season, it’s back with a vengeance.
After Carlton’s shock season-opening defeat to Richmond, players were subjected to an almighty spray from a particular Blues supporter who leaned over the fence and violently screamed as they were walking down the race and into their dressing-rooms at the MCG.
We know this because, presumably, it was his mate next to him who uploaded a video of him going off.
Then this past weekend, when Melbourne lost to North Melbourne, another foamy-mouthed hero yelled, repeatedly: “You’re an embarrassment! Premiership or not!” Max Gawn craned his neck and then thought better of indulging his base instincts.
People actually see these videos, think to themselves, “That’s a great idea”, and then do it themselves.
Again – I’m not here to tell you how to support your team. You do you. Give the feedback you deem appropriate. Freedom of speech, and all that.
But here’s my freedom of speech in action: you’re the embarrassment. You’re turning the knob (pun intended) to 11 because you know you’re on camera. Whatever you have to say, however angry you are, it comes off as fake, something you’re doing to impress your mates. And you wouldn’t do it anyway if there wasn’t a railing separating you from the players, and assault laws separating you from the full consequences of your actions.
Social media has unleashed a lot of bad stuff on modern sport, but this might be the worst development yet.
We’re not yet at the targeted harassment phase in this part of the world, which is where they’re at in England, but we won’t be far off. It’ll come, if we let it.
This disease is yet to infect rugby league, or any other codes, but it will without an antidote: a thorough campaign of public shaming is sorely needed to erase this behaviour from our sporting culture, before it’s too late.
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