Picture the scene. You support Blackburn Rovers. You have a vital game against Swansea City. To use the oft used football cliche it is a "relegation six pointer". It is the 20th minute, at Ewood park. Your star striker, Yakubu, scores a vital opening goal. He runs over to celebrate with his manager/boss.
What do you do? Do you cheer? Or do you do what many of the Ewood faithful did on Saturday and boo. Boo to your heart's content?
Football has changed a lot even since I started watching the game (back in 1996 if you're interested) and so has the average football fan's expectations.
This was an observation made by Manchester United boss, Sir Alex Fergusson, when giving his response to the sacking of Sunderland manager Steve Bruce. I happen to agree with him. Fans do seem a lot more fickle these days.
For instance, take poor Steve Kean. as Robbie Savage pointed out on Match of the Day 2 on Sunday night, he had to take the job. It was a terrific opportunity for him, a job at a Premier League club. The fact it was against the backdrop of the sacking of one of this country's finest managers, Sam Allardyce, has never helped him.
The decision by Blackburn's erratic owners to sack Allardyce was bizzare, no question about that. He may not get his teams playing attractive football, but more often than not, he gets results, which is quite simply the ONLY thing football fans care about these days.
But still, why boo your manager after his team has just got you a goal? I am at a loss to explain that. Maybe it is because much of my football life has been spent supporting Tranmere Rovers. As a result disappointment and football related depression comes naturally to me. But the mind of the Premier League fan has been altered.
This is mostly down to foreign investors. When Venky's took over at Blackburn the supporters must have had visions of the club going forward and becoming bigger and better. There is just one problem, pretty much every established Premier League club has the same vision. Blackburn do not seem to have the money of other clubs and if you look at their squad, the bottom reaches of the table is probably where they belong. In terms of playing squad can you honestly say there are three worse teams than them? It is hard. There is a case to say Steve Kean is doing the best he can with what he has.
The reaction of the Rovers fans showed a distinct lack of support for their team. The pressures of modern football make it seem that supporters are a dying breed. Fans are the way to go apparantly.
A lot of the changing expectations are to do with money however, and it is for this reason that Steve Bruce got booted out, not because he is a Geordie as Fergie seemed to imply.
He was undoubtedly very unlucky. Key players have left, some in bizarre circumstances (Asamoah Gyan for example) and others because Sunderland could not compete with the other club's offer (Darren Bent). But he had spent a fair amount of money and his former club is now languishing one point above the drop zone. They need a top striker desperately but in Martin O'Neill they have the man to take them to where they belong. A team with a near 50,000 capacity stadium does not belong in the Championship.
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