The truth hurts
Livi fans song strikes home
by Katy Fraser

THERE WEREN'T SO VERY MANY OF THEM in the lower tier of the South Stand on Saturday but those Livi fans who did make the short journey to Easter Road had plenty to sing about and took full advantage of that fact.

Now I've heard and read all the comments about how their support is made up of "turncoats" and "weegies who cannae afford the fare tae Glasgow" and believe that whilst there may be some truth in there somewhere, it could have been put in a more subtle way!  Of course they will have some fans who were Meadowbank supporters but to be fair the Club have never hidden their desire to attract locals to support them and if it means lapsed Rantic or Hibs and Hearts fans then so be it.  Why do we choose to ridicule people for supporting their local Club?   Surely that is better than travelling to Glasgow every other week.

Anyway, I digress.  The Livi fans' singing on Saturday was long, loud and accompanied by those annoying bloody drums and so I was trying really hard not to listen too much as I found it all a bit off putting.  However, one song that I did hear quite clearly through the racket of wood on drumskin was a little ditty which went "You're no famous any more"  My instant reaction was to laugh and say "cheeky beggars" but then the words began to sink in and before long I couldn't come to any other conclusion than to think maybe they are more right than wrong.

I cannot begin to describe just how that makes me feel.   As a fiercely proud Hibernian supporter it hurts like hell to admit it but I am a realist and the reality is that we may have been famous in the past but we are hardly entitled to feel famous any more.  The origins of the Club, when they struggled against all the odds to win a place at the top of Scottish football; becoming World Club Champions by beating the Old Invincibles (Preston North End); pioneering in Europe; first to play under floodlights; the Famous Five - the list goes on but additions to it are extremely rare of late.

It's been a difficult time for the Club over the past few decades, a time of mixed fortunes.  Many would argue that the side of the early seventies - Turnbull's Tornadoes - did their bit to ensure the Club merited it's 'famous' tag but since then there's been more bad than good.  An aggressive but thankfully foiled takeover bid; relegation (twice) and an attempt to move the Club away from its spiritual home are balanced, after a fashion, by a League Cup and two First Division title wins.  Hardly the stuff of a famous club

A man under pressure (sns)

A few short seasons ago we were in the First Division.   Thanks to Alex McLeish, the players and the Board we managed to get out at the first attempt and then take the SPL by storm.  Cup Final, third by a mile, Europe - you know the script.  This season we were going to be even better.  It hasn't happened -- yet.  Things are not going too well and the criticism has been swift to arrive.  Suddenly the Club is in crisis and Alex McLeish is finding himself under pressure from elements of a once adoring support.  Do we feel famous now?  No, probably not.

Some of the abuse dished out to McLeish and a number of the players is nothing short of shameful but those arguments have already been played out in full on the messageboard and I guess that no matter how much you try and persuade folk that negative and personal abuse is destructive they'll still churn out the same old comments because they "pay their money and can say what they like"  Fact is, if we were still a famous Club then we probably wouldn't have that problem

So where does that leave us?  Livi are in the ascendancy but it will be a long long time before they can call themselves famous.   Near neighbours and oldest rivals Hearts are in a terrible financial state and just about scraping it together on the park so whilst they might also have once considered themselves to be famous they no longer have that right either, although they'll argue that they do.  Hibs then, whilst on a current downer, surely have more hope than these other two of becoming famous again but to do that they need everyone pulling in the same direction so, if you are one of those who feels it's acceptable to personally insult a player, think on.

Next time Livi come to Edinburgh - lets remind them of just how famous a Club we are - both on and off the park