Les Norton wrote:
I think there's more to this than you jokingley suggest. For some reason I myself don't like players with long hair. I unintelligibly decide a player must be rubbish just based on their inexcusable choice of hairstyle.
I decide Gene Ormsby was going to be useless before I'd seen him take to the field, and my pre-conceived judgement proved correct. Ashton Simms is just a bafoon.
Morrissey once said that long hair on a man is an unpardonable offence, which should be punished by death. I wouldn't go this far but I understand the sentiment.
Getting back to Golding, well I'll never, ever write off a young player who plays in SL before they are physically ready. Coming off second best, not being able to physically impose yourself is going to happen frequently. He looked to grow in confidence as the game went on and became more involved in the attack. If he had more upper body strength giving the opportunities to fend then he could have looked more dangerous. He maybe turn out to be a couple of inches undersized to make it at FB but there's no way I'd write him off yet.
It does sound silly. But I have a working pet theory which goes something like:
Thou shalt not attract undue attention to oneself - whether it be by appearance, mannerisms or deed - or risk making yourself a target. Once you become a target for certain sections of the fans you've literally got to shut them up with superstar performances every week. Which is ok for superstars. Not so for lesser mortals.
Young Jamie Foster fell victim at Saints. And he wasn't the first.
This is why coaches tell youngsters to "keep your head down" and not "play to the crowd" too often.
I'm poking fun at the lad's hair. But very often that's all it takes. Drop the ball with regulation short-back-and-sides, unremarkable appearance etc. and no one notices. They certainly don't remember. Drop the ball with a big bushy perm trailing behind you, or day-glo boots, or socks rolled down to the ankles and
everybody knows your name.
