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Discordant to the ears

Comment: 0 October 7th, 2011 by: admin
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WHEN rendered in good taste, football chants can be associated with basketball – no harm, no foul. They can also be linked with boxing because when done to ridicule someone, they are as good as illegal low blows.

The second example struck Emmanuel Adebayor right on target when Arsenal fans derided him with vile chants during Tottenham Hotspurs’ north London derby against the Gunners recently at White Hart Lane.

Coming to his players’ rescue, Spurs manager Harry Redknapp lashed back at the unruly fans, branding as “disgusting’’ the jeers they aimed on his striker.

The unsavoury chants poked fun at the deadly gun attack last year on the Togo national team which Adebayor once captained.

ANGOLA AMBUSH

Three people were killed in the incident when assailants opened fire on the Togo team bus at the Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Angola, forcing Adebayor to end his international football career.

The rowdy group of Arsenal fans trained their acerbic tongue on their former hero, chorusing “it should have been you who got killed.’’

It was their way of expressing their hatred for the former Arsenal player who left in 2009 and joined Manchester City, the team which later loaned him to the Spurs.

They may have succeeded in blurting out what they wanted but they failed to break the resilience of the Togolese who answered them in one of the best ways he can. For him, the best response is a positive performance. No, Adebayor did not score. He paved the way for his team’s first goal – a superb cross to Rafael van der Vaart who did not disappoint as he turned it into gold during the fixture they eventually ruled 2-1.

Adebayor is having a grand time reviving his career with the Spurs. He had put his Arsenal experience behind. At Tottenham, his aim is to provide goals and find ways how they can be made. He did the latter against the Gunners last Sunday and the visiting fans somewhat got a dose of their own medicine.

RIOT CONNECTION

It was not only Adebayor who got into the Arsenal backers’ firing end. Even Redknapp and the rest of the Spurs were taunted through the chants “You should have burned in the riots’’ in reference to the deadly unrest that hit Tottenham recently and caused some league-opening fixtures to be called off.

Not to be outdone, Spurs fans also chanted against Gunners boss Arsene Wenger for refusing to shake the hands of Spurs coach Clive Allen, and defender Bacary Sagna, who was rained with jeers when he was stretchered out of the field after injuring his leg following a hard collision with Spurs defender Benoit Assou-Ekotto.

Redknapp said those unruly fans were out of their mind. We agree.

Those repulsive chants must end. If they don’t, chaos may reign on the pitch and could escalate into a more serious trouble not just for the players and coaches but also for the league itself.

Chants these days are getting to be more vicious. They are a ubiquitous stuff at every football game but they can be sickening when done to malign a player or coach to the point of getting overboard.

It is the right of very football fan to join those rhythmic calls or shouts to his heart’s delight but performing it in the way that depicts hooliganism is utterly revolting.

The league should now be stricter and use an iron fist at fans who do such spiteful acts. The best way to combat this is to ban them!

NEVER AGAIN

What transpired at White Hart Lane should not be repeated. We hate to see another scenario of fans getting ill-mannered and downright brutal at the spur of the moment.

And there is probably an end to it in sight. An unfamiliar agreement between Tottenham and Arsenal to nail down those who intoned ferociously at last Sunday’s tussle has been forged. It is indeed music to the ears hearing them saying no to foul language, racist and homophobic chants, and any other anti-social deeds from their backers.

Players like Adebayor and coaches like Redknapp and Wenger only want admiration and respect from fans, not mockeries and distasteful mantras.

The Premier League and other football encounters can be livelier and more pleasing to watch if only harmless chants could pervade the playing atmosphere.

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