Nobby 0 Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 (edited) EXCLUSIVE: ROEDER FACES HIS TORMENTORS Oliver Holt Chief Sports Writer ON Wednesday night, his team were beaten 5-1 by a team from a lower division. At home. Yesterday morning, he woke to find himself being accused of a cover-up in the continuing fall-out from allegations that Emre racially abused Joseph Yobo. And tomorrow, who should be heading north up the windswept motorways from east London but the fans who subjected him to volleys of sickening abuse at Upton Park last September. "Tumour boy," some of the West Ham fans yelled at Glenn Roeder when his Newcastle side played there four months ago. "Why didn't you die three years ago?" It shouldn't be happening to a bloke like Roeder who's one of the most decent men in football and, until Wednesday's debacle against Birmingham, has done such a fine job of steering Newcastle through their injury epidemic. But if Roeder was angered by the suggestion that he was being two-faced about Emre's case, he was filled only with weary sadness about the prospect of another encounter with the small group of neanderthals among West Ham's support. Many Hammers made him a scapegoat for the club's relegation from the Premiership in 2003, shortly after he had been admitted to hospital with a brain tumour. And even though they vented their fury at Roeder on September 17when he rose from the dugout to applaud the Newcastle fans, he feels no bitterness towards them. "I felt at the time and I still feel now it was better to be there that day at Upton Park and hear all that abuse than not to be around at all," he said yesterday. "I don't hold any grudges against West Ham. I don't want them to go down. I have never wished them any ill-will despite everything that has happened. "What hurt most of all is I am a kid from East London. My own turned on me. I didn't think they scratched the surface deep enough or showed enough intelligence to see the problems I had when I was at the club. "The guy with the face contorted with hate who was in some of the pictures that were printed after the Upton Park game was probably a grandad. "He might have been the one shouting 'tumour boy' or it might have been the one who was saying 'I wish you'd died three years ago'. "Well, I actually felt a little bit sad for him because he probably had children and he probably had grandchildren. What a bad example he set them. "I'm not steeling myself for more taunts like that when they come up here. The only thing I am steeling myself for is our fans' response to the midweek performance." Roeder knows this time the West Ham fans will be far, far away from the dugouts, high in the Leazes End but he is keen to put the treatment he received at Upton Park into context. "What happened was the product of the actions of a small number of people," Roeder said, "and I am not prepared to tar the whole West Ham crowd with the same brush as the dozen or so individuals who acted in the way they did. "I had a lot of emails and a few letters that arrived at the Newcastle training ground to say they were lifelong West Ham supporters and they could only hope I would accept their apologies. "I had letters from people that said they had been among the ones who hurled abuse at me and that by the time they got home they realised how wrong they had been and they were ashamed. "Often in life, it is the loud minority that get heard, not the silent majority and I am on the side of the silent majority. "The weekend's game is not about me against West Ham. It is about Newcastle and the three points we need, for different reasons, every bit as much as they do. We can never fully repay how badly we let our supporters down in the FA Cup against Birmingham. Nothing can obliterate that from the memory. "So the West Ham thing is in the past. I'll have plenty of other things to think about apart from the people who have made the long journey up here. I will never hold a grudge against West Ham. "My 100 per cent concentration is on the Black and Whites. I said to the players before the Manchester United game on New Year's Day that their hearts and my heart should bleed for our supporters. "They talk about football being a religion in Brazil and Argentina but no club in the world would still attract 52,000 people when it hasn't won a domestic trophy since 1955. "The greatest pleasure I get when we get three points is sending them home happy or down into the town to enjoy themselves. "I'll be thinking about them, not West Ham's fans." 'I don't hold any grudges against West Ham... I don't want them to go down' Edited January 19, 2007 by Nobby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themags 0 Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 Ref tomorrow is Uriah Rennie, might be worth sticking a couple of quid on west ham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig 6682 Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 Ref tomorrow is Uriah Rennie, might be worth sticking a couple of quid on west ham Think we might need a sweep on which minute the first sending off will occur Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themags 0 Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 Nicky Butt early second half i reckon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manc-mag 1 Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 Could have used something about him 'standing up' all his life and maybe a bit of third person narrative tbh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asprilla 96 Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 A dignified response Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 Could have used something about him 'standing up' all his life and maybe a bit of third person narrative tbh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renton 21364 Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 So some West Ham fans are morons, the same is true of every club, nothing new there then. But how exactly was Roeder a scape goat at West Ham? Isn't the manager responsible for the teams performance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby 0 Posted January 19, 2007 Author Share Posted January 19, 2007 So some West Ham fans are morons, the same is true of every club, nothing new there then. But how exactly was Roeder a scape goat at West Ham? Isn't the manager responsible for the teams performance? he was in hospital at the time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 So some West Ham fans are morons, the same is true of every club, nothing new there then. But how exactly was Roeder a scape goat at West Ham? Isn't the manager responsible for the teams performance? he was in hospital at the time All season? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Park Life 71 Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 So some West Ham fans are morons, the same is true of every club, nothing new there then. But how exactly was Roeder a scape goat at West Ham? Isn't the manager responsible for the teams performance? he was in hospital at the time All this stuff is very sad and all, but it is all a distraction from the fact that he is only a very average manager. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 West Ham were practically relegated by the time Roeder went into hospital anyway. It was about April wasn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tooj 17 Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 West Ham were practically relegated by the time Roeder went into hospital anyway. It was about April wasn't it? Aye they only had a whiff of staying up due to Sir Trevor anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fop 1 Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 "Tumour boy," some of the West Ham fans yelled at Glenn Roeder when his Newcastle side played there four months ago. "Why didn't you die three years ago?" TBH if they'll ban people for shouting racial/religous/cultural things they should for shouting things like that too. Just no need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renton 21364 Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 West Ham were practically relegated by the time Roeder went into hospital anyway. It was about April wasn't it? Aye they only had a whiff of staying up due to Sir Trevor anyways. True. If you take away the points he gained, Roeder's record looks worse. I can sympathise with the fact he was taken ill but that should not be used as an excuse for his poor performance, neither should it be used by West Ham fans to insult him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howaythetoon 0 Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 Who cares about West Ham, at NUFC his record is 28 wins in 55 games and weren't they 5 points off safety when Roeder took ill? Also, the WHU support is split on Roeder, some blame him, some say he was the victim of circumstances - as ever the truth is probably in between. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bottled Dog 0 Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 Who cares about West Ham, at NUFC his record is 28 wins in 55 games and weren't they 5 points off safety when Roeder took ill? Also, the WHU support is split on Roeder, some blame him, some say he was the victim of circumstances - as ever the truth is probably in between. And a small minority of Gillingham and Watford supporters liked him as well, in the same manner as yourself I presume. Nice guy doing his best. Some knackers still respect Souness and felt that he may yet have come good had fates not conspired against him. The still both failed and the idea that people should forget about their records is just bollocks. Roeder and his sponsor have a long long way to go before persuading many of us that they deserve much faith, and sadly games like last wednesday don't do a lot to help matters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billytray 0 Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 Who cares about West Ham, at NUFC his record is 28 wins in 55 games and weren't they 5 points off safety when Roeder took ill? Also, the WHU support is split on Roeder, some blame him, some say he was the victim of circumstances - as ever the truth is probably in between. And a small minority of Gillingham and Watford supporters liked him as well, in the same manner as yourself I presume. Nice guy doing his best. Some knackers still respect Souness and felt that he may yet have come good had fates not conspired against him. The still both failed and the idea that people should forget about their records is just bollocks. Roeder and his sponsor have a long long way to go before persuading many of us that they deserve much faith, and sadly games like last wednesday don't do a lot to help matters. Had Souness stayed,he may well have brought us the Championship trophy this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papa Lazaru 0 Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 Who cares about West Ham, at NUFC his record is 28 wins in 55 games and weren't they 5 points off safety when Roeder took ill? Also, the WHU support is split on Roeder, some blame him, some say he was the victim of circumstances - as ever the truth is probably in between. And a small minority of Gillingham and Watford supporters liked him as well, in the same manner as yourself I presume. Nice guy doing his best. Some knackers still respect Souness and felt that he may yet have come good had fates not conspired against him. The still both failed and the idea that people should forget about their records is just bollocks. Roeder and his sponsor have a long long way to go before persuading many of us that they deserve much faith, and sadly games like last wednesday don't do a lot to help matters. Had Souness stayed,he may well have brought us the Championship trophy this season. I don't think you get a trophy for finishing bottom of the championship! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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