Karma, Karma, Karma, Karma, Karma Chameleon, you come and go, you come and go.
I always thought the song Karma Chameleon was about the proverbial, “what comes around, goes around”. As in, someone screws you over and eventually all that s**t will come back and smack them in the face. Karma.
Not so, according to Boy George in some interview he did decades ago. It’s about the feeling of alienation. About being fearful of standing up for what you believe in. The changing colours signifying the desperation for some to fit with the vox populi.
So it’s nearly two years since the Deed was done. And, yes, I’m still fuming. My last years blog spells most of it out. My blog remains my own unpopular opinion and my feelings have not changed. But there’s been some revelations since Orta, the fall guy, got ditched and a bit more since Leeds United’s equivalent of Silas Greenback – “Si, Barone”, has departed.
Am I actually bothered about any of these revelations? Not really. Nothing any of them can ever say will make any difference in my mind. I won’t sit through any interviews or podcasts or whatever youtube things come up. SkinnyJeans was on SkyTVisf**kings**t the other day. Purporting / pretending to be doing a bit of punditry apparently. Not bothered.
If they ever want to piss Leeds fans off even more, they WILL resort to sticking him into the hasbeen pundit line up that does the commentary. Although which one of the acceptable categories of punditry personnel classification he will fit into is anyone’s guess. He’s never played football in the English leagues. I wouldn’t call his Leeds United tenure as a situation where he acquired any knowledge of the English leagues. On account of the fact I don’t think he knew what he was doing through any of it. He certainly isn’t female or non white. I suppose the only criteria he fulfils is that his is middle aged and wears ill fitting trousers?
However, back to Karma Chameleon.
Many moons ago, I wrote in the blog about how much the World in general, not just Leeds United, likes to put us into little boxes. To Leeds United, we are customers or rather “consumers”. They like to know what we consume. So luckily, AI and the Gen Z / 21st Century propensity for “wanting to do everything on your phone” means that tracking cookies and buying history gives them all that info. Armed with that info, they aim to give us our “best experience” in order for us to consume more product. Their own product and the products of their associated partners.
The more info they have, the more of a little box they can steer us to. Eventually they want all Leeds fans to fit into one box. One box which will subject us to everything they want us to see, hear, read about and ultimately, copy and buy. If we all think the same because we are Leeds fans, we will all behave the same, and more importantly buy the same. Consumerism – what’s wrong with that?
What is wrong, is that humans are all individuals and all think differently. Leeds United fans are NOT all the same. We aren’t all lucky enough to be born in Leeds. We don’t all live in Leeds, and we are not all from Yorkshire. This has peeved a few people lately with the whole distance travelled to away games “facts”.
Some clever Richard has added up his little trip computer and put the results on social media to brag about what he has completed. Not realising that some people at Cardiff, Bristol, Plymouth x 2 and Swansea travelled from elsewhere. Some (like us) travelled further, some less. Lots of Leeds fans live elsewhere, that is what is so good about supporting Leeds. You don’t have to be from Leeds, to be Leeds. In fact, we pride ourselves that we can go almost anywhere in the world, and we can find a fellow Leeds fan.
Yes, many people on those long distance games travelled from Leeds, but not all. Leeds fans are NOT all the same. Looking at the photos of the crowds, one could think that we are all either 50+ something, follically challenged males or 20 something Stone Island wearing alcoholics. Luckily, we are not all like that. But sadly, pictures don’t lie. There weren’t many young ones at Plymouth on that rainy Tuesday night, I can tell you.
Leeds supporters are all Leeds. ALAW, or so the saying goes. But we all have different origins and addresses and different lives outside of football. So ultimately, we all see things differently and have different opinions. And, as I have said so many times before, each opinion is valid, and no one has a right to shout it down.
Karma Chameleon and Alienation
The clever skill of a chameleon is that it changes to fit in with its background. In the main, to hide from predators, but also to sneak up on prey before going in for the kill. So, not just one reason why it wants to fit in.
Leeds United want all fans to be the same. They want us all to fit it. Not just because of the reasons above, but also because it can give people with little direction in their lives, a purpose. Some good can come of being in a group of similar people. Friendship, company and all of that sort of stuff. Football gives us freedom from our normal lives, a bit of an escape if your job is particularly taxing or boring. Football is a chance to be with like minded people, enjoying the 90 minutes on the pitch and all the pre / post match stuff. But it can go the other way.
Like we saw with the removal of Bielsa, there was massive fan base polarisation. Similarly SkinnyJeans’s bizarre narrowness of play and (lack of ) tactics was steadfastly defended just because we stayed up that season. The season after, he still had his supporters clinging onto his ankles in an effort to keep him here. It took mass defections and departures on loan to acknowledge that Aaronson, Adams, Roca and Kristensen probably weren’t that good. Some still think that SkinnyJeans did a good job. Oh dear. Oh well. How sad. Never mind.
Much of this though, I’m afraid, was down to social media and shouting down from the shouty people.
Leeds fans have been known to be fickle. Fickle, fickle, fickle. For decades. I remember Paul Hart saying that even Billy was scared to come out at ER some times because he was worried about fans turning on him.
Forums, podcasts, whatever people use nowadays to influence opinions have taken centre stage these last two years. The indecisive have been flip flopping like a fish on the deck, not able to make their own minds up. Some have been going from one extreme to another within the space of weeks. Some because they can’t make their minds up, but some out of fear for being alienated. Those just go along with the shouty vox populi, like a chameleon, so they fit in.
For example, take that barren spell we had Christmas / New Year. There were people calling for Farke’s head and already putting polls up on who our next manager would be. A loss at Preston away, which should have been an easy win, sparked off massive debate. Losing to West Brom saw every jobless manager was seemingly touted as a replacement. Even Warnock was mentioned at one point, God help us.
Good job we didn’t sack him eh? Or we wouldn’t be 2nd in the league right now.
From feast to famine. The inconsistencies of opinion have now reached the dizzy heights of drawing a comparison to Don Revie. Seriously you say? Nope. Truth. He’s barely done a full season and already he’s being compared to The Don. People need to put some perspectables on. As sure as eggs are eggs, this is down to Karma Chameleon. Because the loudest people are saying it, the indecisive feel the need to fit in.
Honestly, the fickleness of fans is impulsively temperamental at times. Mercurial and Quixotic fantastical at others. Don Quixote thinks the windmills are dragons, Leeds fans think the guy who made us have a cup replay at Plymouth because he didn’t sub quicker is the New Messiah.
The team is playing brilliantly, don’t get me wrong. But I think it is due to Georgi’s childish exuberance and infectious confident camaraderie to his fellow youngsters that is making the difference. Especially when we are winning. I think Rodon has been exceptional of late, and the move to a defensive back four to secure the points late in the game helps Meslier hold his nerve. Bamford intermittently coming back from injury helps because there is now a fight for the number 9 and 10 positions up front. Four at the back and two up front. Fancy that in the modern game?
The healthy competition for places in the starting line up is something we haven’t seen for a while. We have been lucky with injuries and this season other teams haven’t kicked us to death as much at all. Things are going our way up to press.
Because we are doing well, there aren’t as many shouty people telling us how to think. Most are happy clapping along with everyone else and it is all good. So good that when the White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army came blasting out at pre match at Plymouth on that rainy Tuesday night, guess what we all sang?
I am not saying it is right or wrong to sing Bielsa’s name. He was Farke’s adversary not long since. What I’m saying is, there wasn’t the usual shouty people whingeing that we were singing it. Refreshing to say the least, considering how much bickering consternation there was last time.
Karma Karma Karma Karma Karma Chameleon. You come and go, you come and go.
