Rumours and opinion…
Barry Edge is back to entertain us with another of his poems – this time about the OVF rumour mill.
Barry Edge writes…
Rumours run rife in all walks of life, and opinions vary from the sublime to the ridiculous. And so it is on onevalefan with its broad church membership chatting, discussing and, at times, robustly airing and sharing their world view.
In general an opinion is subjective to say the least i.e. a personal judgment, viewpoint or statement based on that which is seen or otherwise resulting in varying interpretations of the actual fact.
By way of example: it may be a fact Port Vale won 1-0, but as reported by those who saw the game such a fact will differ from a range of opinion e.g. a super strike, a lucky shot, it was deflected into the net, an own goal, and so on.
A recent rumour topic thread gives rise to this little verse, but I’ve changed the name of our hero to ‘young Ray’.
Rumours and Opinions
The rumour mill is rife with talk about young Ray
Who, according to his manager, will soon be on his way ,
Yes, it seems that several ‘Clubs are champing at the bit
To sign him up immediately once checked out he is fit
It’s headlined in the paper for everyone to see
With interest from across the land including Coventry,
But hang about, can we believe there’s interest in young Ray,
Or is it simply paper talk with a different name each day?
Several of our readers say such rumours we should balk,
Or at the very least take them with a pinch of salt,
Young Ray is needed here, of that there is no doubt,
The rumour is just rubbish and will surely come to nowt
One or two expressed surprise young Ray would want away
Saying he is black and white and most certainly will stay,
They even went one further by putting on a bet
Quoting ‘there’s no way that he will move and take a backward step’
Others are not sure that we will keep young Ray
But should he go we’ll be alright for there’s others we can play,
Yes, a time for lesser lights to step up to the mark
And a golden chance for youngsters to get their first league start
Now some are very worried that we could lose young Ray,
For them he has no peer, it’s a must that he should stay,
‘He’s creative in midfield, is supportive in defence
And a player rarely found in the dugout on the bench’
“You’re talking through hats’ others would suggest
‘He may be good at times, but he’s nowhere near the best’
They say that he goes missing without rhyme or reason
Especially when needed most in the last part of the season
There was the one opinion, a contradiction in itself,
That first of all praised young Ray as being from top shelf
Even though he couldn’t tackle, pass or head the ball –
The latter being stock-in-trade for someone who’s so tall
Now one or two have made it clear that they could not be fussed
For them it seems young Ray no longer has their trust,
His discipline is poor they say, and sometimes he’s a mard,
And a dozen times and more has been shown the yellow card
‘Don’t blame young Ray, it’s the gaffer’s fault’ others shout and scream
‘If he was played correctly he’d be the best one in the team’,
Plus we need him for set pieces, to control the midfield game,
Yes, as far as they’re concerned it’s the gaffer we should blame
Barry Edge
Western Australia
May 18, 2014