After I posted yesterday's piece on Twitter, an interesting conversation with Rayo Herald's Twitter account ensued....
No, this isn't a self-congratulatory post, or a post to insult Rayo Herald, or even a post about Twitter conversations.
This is a post about hope.
We seem to think that footballers form emotional attachment and loyalty to their clubs, but being a professional footballer is a job - and that job is their means of survival. Which is why we celebrate, and revere, and treasure those who genuinely care about the club, put their money where their mouth is and stay on.
They didn't need to. They weren't expected to. And yet they did.
But there's another angle to it - and that is the fact that a player came to the club in the first place. Maybe he came because of money. But when it comes to Rayo, money is almost never the reason - it's usually the promise of a shop window. Almost always, a player uprooted their family and moved to a scrappy neighborhood in Madrid to play on a dire pitch. And that, in itself, deserved huge recognition.
Just think about the fact that just this season we permanently signed two players from Portugal, one from France, one from Argentina and one from Greece - all from the top division in their countries. As a second division club, that could have just as easily been a third division club this season, we were able to sign a Toulouse player, a Porto player, a Braga player, a Racing player, an Olympiakos player. Credit goes to not just the technical staff, but to the players who both moved from a different country and dropped down a division. You can only do that if you really believe in the project.
That is why it is important to not take the players that come in for granted. We can criticize them for poor performances. We can criticize them for a lack of professionalism. And that criticism is deserved in almost all cases. But to not care about the players themselves means not appreciating what they have had to sacrifice.
The problem is that as fans, me included, we expect the hope and optimism to come from the club, but even if it does it won't solve everything. It has to come from within.
It is hard, but let us be patient, and hope, and trust. Trust that other people, yes, even those at the club, are doing their jobs. Trust that other people have good motives, that - just like us - they want the best for the institutions they serve. And trust the players that, just maybe, will look at us - yes, us, because we are the club - and will want to stay on.
From the Bernabeu to unemployent....My piece on José Carlos and his injury-filled careerhttps://t.co/aWDO4eSIzD pic.twitter.com/cop61HXLCb— Sarthak Kumar (@Vallecanos1924) September 16, 2017
When things were going good he never spent a single second to talk to us (media). Indeed, he does not deserve a single word of support now..— Rayo Herald (@rayoherald) September 16, 2017
It's true he's quite eccentric. I remember his press conferences especially at AEK were absolutely stunning.— Sarthak Kumar (@Vallecanos1924) September 16, 2017
Recurrently declined to talk here in Vks, regardless of the situation (after training, after scoring twice,..). Why should we care?— Rayo Herald (@rayoherald) September 16, 2017
I understand. But I will always care about every player that comes to Rayo, even if they perform badly or break out hearts off the pitch.— Sarthak Kumar (@Vallecanos1924) September 16, 2017
Indeed, that is a good approach to care about ADRV. There is always a story to tell...and btw your lines were pretty good too. Congrats!— Rayo Herald (@rayoherald) September 16, 2017
Thank you! Appreciate your work as well..helps connect non-Spanish people like me to the club.— Sarthak Kumar (@Vallecanos1924) September 16, 2017
¡A las armas!
No, this isn't a self-congratulatory post, or a post to insult Rayo Herald, or even a post about Twitter conversations.
This is a post about hope.
We seem to think that footballers form emotional attachment and loyalty to their clubs, but being a professional footballer is a job - and that job is their means of survival. Which is why we celebrate, and revere, and treasure those who genuinely care about the club, put their money where their mouth is and stay on.
They didn't need to. They weren't expected to. And yet they did.
But there's another angle to it - and that is the fact that a player came to the club in the first place. Maybe he came because of money. But when it comes to Rayo, money is almost never the reason - it's usually the promise of a shop window. Almost always, a player uprooted their family and moved to a scrappy neighborhood in Madrid to play on a dire pitch. And that, in itself, deserved huge recognition.
Just think about the fact that just this season we permanently signed two players from Portugal, one from France, one from Argentina and one from Greece - all from the top division in their countries. As a second division club, that could have just as easily been a third division club this season, we were able to sign a Toulouse player, a Porto player, a Braga player, a Racing player, an Olympiakos player. Credit goes to not just the technical staff, but to the players who both moved from a different country and dropped down a division. You can only do that if you really believe in the project.
That is why it is important to not take the players that come in for granted. We can criticize them for poor performances. We can criticize them for a lack of professionalism. And that criticism is deserved in almost all cases. But to not care about the players themselves means not appreciating what they have had to sacrifice.
The problem is that as fans, me included, we expect the hope and optimism to come from the club, but even if it does it won't solve everything. It has to come from within.
It is hard, but let us be patient, and hope, and trust. Trust that other people, yes, even those at the club, are doing their jobs. Trust that other people have good motives, that - just like us - they want the best for the institutions they serve. And trust the players that, just maybe, will look at us - yes, us, because we are the club - and will want to stay on.
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