Paul Mullin

[DTSJim]

I apologise if this has been mentioned in other threads but I haven't seen it and I feel like this has to be said.

Yesterday in the MBW I was disappointed to hear boos and taunts being aimed at Paul Mullin when he was brought on. Now I know he's not the best player in the team and he often reduces us to a hoof and hope kind of game but that sort of reaction to a morecambe player, for me, is disgusting. Not only that but despite the jeers he actually played quite well and gave his all to the team.

It's my belief that supporters should support, and whilst I know that everyone is entitled to their opinion, I just feel like it should be said that any player who pulls on the shirt should be supported by everyone as long as they try their hardest. Boos and jeers (even if they're aimed at Sammy which is another topic altogether) is going to do nothing but deflate confidence and make players play worse which means that those 'fans' are actually doing the opposite of supporting the team.

As I say, it's all my opinion but I just felt like it had to be said.

[Seasider9601]

Good post, Jim.

I personally didn't hear any booing of Mullin (I too was in the MBW Stand) but if as you say it did happen, it is BANG out of order. What sort of confidence is that going to give to one of OUR players ?! From OUR SUPPORTERS ?!

Many years ago, Graham Gill suffered at the hands of The Shrimps fans "moaning and a groaning brigade" too, and boy did he suffer from it as I recall.

[George Dawes]

i thought Sammy did right bringing him on and using him when he did(but keep on topic)

i do like him but on the bench he's like a old fashioned battering ram and a useful asset to have to come on when you cant break through a stubborn defence in the later stages of a match

and to be right about it if you was to ask Mullin personally he would probably tell you it annoys him aswell as us when the Manager plays him upfront on his own but just gets on with it being the good professional he is..

he's a better partner for Jevons than Shuker who now i have seen enough evidence to say he is no center forward after i was calling for people to give him a chance

[Keith]

Many years ago, Graham Gill suffered at the hands of The Shrimps fans "moaning and a groaning brigade" too, and boy did he suffer from it as I recall.

To be fair, he's the first name down on my 'worst ever Morecambe eleven'

I totally agree with the original post though. Paul Mullin does a job. It's not his fault that the rest of the team resort to hoofball as soon as he's on the pitch and he needs someone else next to him if they are going to hoof the ball. To boo our own player is never going to help the situation, so encourage or stay quiet.

[thedoc]

Amen to most of what has been written. If you boo your own players you might just as well join the away supporters as well. I personally wish we had more players like Paul Mullin at the club: he reads the game brilliantly, never gives up and takes all the argy-bargy on the chin without ever losing his temper. At Accrington's ground last season, I noticed a banner which read PAUL MULLIN - LOVED AT STANLEY; WATCHED AT MORECAMBE. Maybe they're right. You moaners - go and support them instead: they need all the help they can get!

[Sharpy]

if id been there id have added to the boos. more so at sammy for bringing him on and insisting on playing him than booing the player himself. paying fans have the right to say what they want about the players and the managers decisions. whats the point in cheering someone who is playing crap? he might decide it means we like what we're seeing which is definitely not the case.

[RedRedWine1]

if id been there id have added to the boos. more so at sammy for bringing him on and insisting on playing him than booing the player himself. paying fans have the right to say what they want about the players and the managers decisions. whats the point in cheering someone who is playing crap? he might decide it means we like what we're seeing which is definitely not the case.

Say no more.

[parkyboy]

What a load of bull Sharpy

[maccawozzagod]

half of this thread makes me (as a Stanley fan) laugh, and the other half saddens me. For years we berated our tactics as hoofball up to the big man, it was boring and predictable as well as ugly to watch. However, it was never Pauls fault that his managers choose to play him in that fashion. The frustrating thing about it was that he could actually play with his feet in intricate little triangles if he had the right partner (Lutel James if any of you remember him).

But the truly saddening part is that Paul Mullin is the ultimate professional footballer. He turns up to training on time, says please and thank you to EVERY fan he meets, gives 100% on the field, is pretty much never injured, never gets suspended etc etc. To hear people booing him feels like someone has just punched my grandma!

In fairness we had the joys of his 464 appearances, 201 goals and three promotions to fall back on - whereas you don't. His best years have passed him by now and I really wish that he had chose to take the inferior contract and remain at his 'spiritual home' to see out the last year or so of his career.


LOVED AT STANLEY - WATCHED AT MORECAMBE indeed

[mrpotatohead]

aw, bless

[Keith]

half of this thread makes me (as a Stanley fan) laugh, and the other half saddens me...

LOVED AT STANLEY - WATCHED AT MORECAMBE indeed

It saddens me that some people need a scapegoat so much that they'll boo our own player just for coming on to the pitch It is a bit like John Norman after his return to Morecambe. Some people couldn't forgive him for leaving on a Bosman in the first place, so booed him whenever he touched the ball. One of our most gifted forwards and our own fans (sic) would turn on him as soon as he came on the pitch. I kind of wish Paul had stayed with you too, but for his sake, not the reason the boo-boys would give.

if id been there id have added to the boos. more so at sammy for bringing him on and insisting on playing him than booing the player himself. paying fans have the right to say what they want about the players and the managers decisions. whats the point in cheering someone who is playing crap? he might decide it means we like what we're seeing which is definitely not the case.

Say no more.

To be fair RedRedWine, it was a Tuesday evening and there is an awful lot of homework now-a-days (although clearly not enough English homework ).

[Mike W.]

As long as I remember (which IS a while) Morecambe followers have had to have someone to moan about, and to criticise during play. In the long DARK days in the Northern Premier League, when a good season was one where we got to the Junior Cup semi-finals, and finished above half way in the League, one of the few highlights was a classy cultured midfilder we had, called Micky Parry (bought by the Supporters Club - he cost £500 - I know because I countersigned the cheque), from whom anything constructive usually started. AND YET that guy had his non-fans who stood behind the goal and moaned about him slowing down play and playing careful passing work to keep the ball and build attacks.

In my view Paul Mullin works his socks off whenever he gets a go on the field. To be really effective he needs to be in a two man attack with a (probably smaller) nippy forward who would feed off him and take all the credit for slotting in chances Mullin would set up - sort of like Keegan and Toshack ! But we don't play that sort of attack.

A key factor is that he gets bugger all in the way of protection from referees, when he is bustled and pushed all over the field. Whenever he tries something too often the other players fail to use the opportunity created and he looks bad as a result.

I fully agree that booing any player whilst he is out there is well out of order. If a player is not good enough (which is debatable here anyway) then he isn't going to get any better by booing him whenever he gets the ball. Criticise the manager for selecting him, if you like. But whilst he is out there a true fan gives any player as much encouragement as they can.

Mike W.

[MfcChris]

I think Keith summed it up for during a match - Encourage or keep quiet.

[Bare Ben]

I have only just read this thread, I actually avoided it because I thought it was going to be moaning and dross about Mullers. I rate him, even more so as a person. We had an arguement once over what was bigger, my nose or his forehead. In the end we agreed it was my nose.

I heard booing so I walked away to disassociate myself with it. I needed the toilet so it was handy timing but booing our own players is despicable and something I would never ever contemplate and the culprits should be ashamed of themselves.

[halftimeresults]

I have only just read this thread, I actually avoided it because I thought it was going to be moaning and dross about Mullers. I rate him, even more so as a person. We had an arguement once over what was bigger, my nose or his forehead. In the end we agreed it was my nose.

But Mullers beat you in the forehead/penis debate

[Bare Ben]

I have only just read this thread, I actually avoided it because I thought it was going to be moaning and dross about Mullers. I rate him, even more so as a person. We had an arguement once over what was bigger, my nose or his forehead. In the end we agreed it was my nose.

But Mullers beat you in the forehead/penis debate

Yes we agreed I was the bigger penis

[marky No.1]

booing our own players is despicable and something I would never ever contemplate and the culprits should be ashamed of themselves.

Ben, you often speak a load of pure bollox but on this occasion I admire your reaction. Well done

As to Hodgies comment I must say I don't know the size of either head

[halftimeresults]

Ones big and bald, and Ben's is small.

[Bare Ben]

pure bollox

penis debate

This forum has gone downhill, I think you all need to grow up, enoughsenough!!!!

[marky]

Were they booing Paul Mullin or were they booing Sammy's decision to bring him on? Some may disagree but I do think there's a difference between the two. He may be limited somewhat as a footballer these days (happens to all players in their mid 30s, unless you are of the Ryan Giggs or Teddy Sheringham ilk), but I can't see that he's done anything to cause a few fans to boo him personally.

As for Keith's comment re: John Norman, all I can say is that I've no idea why fans around you booed him on that day, but I can say that him leaving on a Bosman had nothing to do with the booing that occurred in the Paddock. That was more a general dislike of him as a footballer, given there were a number of very happy people when he left the first time!

[Bare Ben]

Were they booing Paul Mullin or were they booing Sammy's decision to bring him on? Some may disagree but I do think there's a difference between the two.

You're right there is a difference. I would disagree with booing in both occurances.

[Posh]

I heard about five people boo. Admittedly crowds are down but we're still talking less than 1% of the stand.

Just to add though I totally agree with Macca. Paul is an outstanding professional who several of our other squad members could learn a lot from. He engages with fans, knows his football and plays the game well. As usual, when it was on the deck, he held it up brilliantly and timed his layoffs perfectly. The bigger issue with Paul is the inability of Sammy and players to recognise that Paul can do more with his feet outside the box than he can with his forehead.

[Keith]

Were they booing Paul Mullin or were they booing Sammy's decision to bring him on? Some may disagree but I do think there's a difference between the two. He may be limited somewhat as a footballer these days (happens to all players in their mid 30s, unless you are of the Ryan Giggs or Teddy Sheringham ilk), but I can't see that he's done anything to cause a few fans to boo him personally.

As for Keith's comment re: John Norman, all I can say is that I've no idea why fans around you booed him on that day, but I can say that him leaving on a Bosman had nothing to do with the booing that occurred in the Paddock. That was more a general dislike of him as a footballer, given there were a number of very happy people when he left the first time!

Perhaps they need a sign to hold up so that the players, management and other fans know who they are booing and why? Alternatively, they could support the player who is coming on to the pitch regardless of what they think about the decision to make the substitution?

As for John Norman, one of the best Morecambe players we've ever had. He made Justin Jackson the player he was. I said at the time Rushden & Diamonds should have taken both players if they wanted to get anything out of Justin.

[marky]

I think it is equally true that Justin Jackson was the one player who complimented John Norman's supposed attributes. Jackson's pace was crucial to that partnership in that Norman had an incredibly frustrating tendency to overhit passes, etc. Norman was one of those players who, when having an off day (which was more often than I think you care to remember) was unspeakably shocking. There was no middle ground. He doesn't really come close to being anything vaguely suggestive of one of our best ever players. He wouldn't get in our reserve team now and I'd go so far to suggest that he wouldn't have stood a chance of getting in our promotion winning conference team either!

[halftimeresults]

I think it is equally true that Justin Jackson was the one player who complimented John Norman's supposed attributes. Jackson's pace was crucial to that partnership in that Norman had an incredibly frustrating tendency to overhit passes, etc. Norman was one of those players who, when having an off day (which was more often than I think you care to remember) was unspeakably shocking. There was no middle ground. He doesn't really come close to being anything vaguely suggestive of one of our best ever players. He wouldn't get in our reserve team now and I'd go so far to suggest that he wouldn't have stood a chance of getting in our promotion winning conference team either!

John Norman scored over 100 goals for Morecambe and I can't see another Morecambe player ever doing that again.
Any player that scores 100 goals for his club is a legend FACT