Adios Amigos

Neil Dawson

Neil Dawson

UTC Legend
Afternoon all…. A mate alerted me to the fact some people were worried about me on the other thread so thought I’d better come on to clarify a few points as I wouldn’t want that!

  1. I’m 100% fine – no need to worry, never been better. We should all check in on people though so its pleasing that people are doing this as somebody somewhere might not be fine one day.
  2. I don’t in anyway feel ‘bullied’ and never have on here. I am very fortunate to have gone through life without this but have seen it in work, school or with family and its horrible. Nothing I’ve ever seen on here comes remotely close to that.
  3. It wasn't a flounce :). It's more of a 'straw that broke the camels back'.
  4. I’ve always felt really appreciated by everyone for the match reports particularly by DJ. Me and him disagree a little on their place in the modern game with everyone watching every game and all the instant ones that spring up so it’s good that someone fresh takes them on. They were always at their most enjoyable and relevant when I was one of 150 people at some godforsaken Northern shithole with two crap teams battling out a 0-0 in horizontal rain. There are some great reporters on here that do away games (or home games when I’m not there). It will be good for you all to read some different ones as 15 years is a long old stint to stay fresh. It was the best 15 years for anyone to write about at any club though wasn’t it? Someone other than Roy of the Rovers got to write Roy of the Rovers stories…. I’ll always be grateful for that.
I’m taking a break purely because its not much fun anymore and hobbies are about fun. I’m temporarily out of sync with the majority and this forum isn’t great with that in my experience. That’s to be expected it’s a ‘fans’ forum not an open subject forum so I blame myself as much as anyone. Being debated against by a pack who appear minutes after you post anything at all, one by one like clockwork is dull for me and I know for others. Explaining to your young upset son or elderly dad (both are active members) why people don’t seem to like you much or think you are a ‘dickhead’ is also not high on my list of entertainment for an evening. Its been like this for awhile and it’s wearing.

What I’m not though is somebody who would tell people not to do things – for once I agree with New Forest Cherry – there is an off button and I’ve reached for it! I’m not doing this for more appreciation, sympathy, debates on whether I’m too sensitive (trust me I’m not), debates on whether I’ve over-reacted (that’s personal), debates on whether it’s partly my fault (I’ve said earlier it is) finger pointing at people (I have no beef with anyone). I’ve felt very happy here for the vast majority of my long time posting and I will come back at some point in the forthcoming years and feel very happy again I’m sure.

In the mean-time……. Keep the faith, be nice(ish) to each other and in the words of our old mate Mick – Up the Cherries!
 
Cheers for the reports, especially in the dark days Neil. They were a lifeline for some of us who's life meant we only got to a few matches a season and we were nothing more than an annoying sidenote for most local media.

I look forward to welcoming you back when you're ready.
 
its pretty sad that the only way to virtually guarantee friendly, positive comments on social media, is to announce you are ill, struggling with something in life, or on your way to heaven (or hell). the rest of the time its "macho" gesturing, point-scoring, childish nit-picking, snowflaking, endless pointing out of incorrect league names, drunken rants, etc. and we're the cleverest things on the planet?!

:utc:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Neil, I might have annoyed you in the past with some nit pickings at the end of your match reports.
However, I can assure you that I realy looked forward to and valued them.

Whilst it is very easy to criticise and nit pick, I for one couldn't begin to write a match report to the standard that you were writing them, so thanks very much for that.

It's a shame that you are leaving now as I think that team tactics for the next few games are going to get very interesting with the potential for a lot of key players having to be omitted from the team for tactical reasons.

However, I myself have been tracked and hunted down by one or two posters on this forum in the past and can understand the slight unease that this might cause. My own fault however as I have never knowingly posted sober LOL!

Anyway, all the best and look forward to reading your match reports when you feel ready to return.
 
Last edited:
Ken Baileys Ghost said:
Can't say as I agree about the majority bit.

Minority maybe?


If I pm you my email, could you send the match reports just to me?

Nine out of ten games finish without me really knowing what I've just seen other than the score.
Click to expand...
I'm with KGB here, there are a few (definitely the minority)(see post #5 above as an example) who are just downright mean. Never a good word to say about anything, contribute nothing but negativity. Whereas you contribute information and opinion which, for me has been extremely helpful in growing my knowledge of the game. I have appreciated our occasional PM dialogues where you have personally enhanced my understanding.

I was where you were temporarily a few months ago .... but some good guys sent me messages of support. Hope the ones here change your view. Best. Enjoy the Championship season.
 
This is sad....like losing Mcdougall.

I think he might reflect when he's had a break..and come back...with a few posts here and there...and then who knows.
 
Toronto John said:
I'm with KGB here, there are a few (definitely the minority)(see post #5 above as an example) who are just downright mean. Never a good word to say about anything, contribute nothing but negativity. Whereas you contribute information and opinion which, for me has been extremely helpful in growing my knowledge of the game. I have appreciated our occasional PM dialogues where you have personally enhanced my understanding.

I was where you were temporarily a few months ago .... but some good guys sent me messages of support. Hope the ones here change your view. Best. Enjoy the Championship season.
Click to expand...

Apparently Neil can pick on other posters like me? Ok mate. Until recently he was the only person on here I had blocked because I was fed up with it....but some threads didn't make sense so I unblocked. Good timing I think.
 
For what it's worth, life is too short to waste time on things you're not getting value from and if that's this forum then it's probably the right thing to do to have a break.

I think you're also right about having a difference of opinion with the majority on here (myself included) but that's no bad thing and it's a shame you get hounded a fair bit off topic.

I dislike the political threads because its the same old nutters that just hijack it with nonsense and I know how annoying it is when it bleeds into other threads so must be a crap experience when every thread you read seems to contain trolling personal posts.
 
Druss_the_Legend said:
Apparently Neil can pick on other posters like me? Ok mate. Until recently he was the only person on here I had blocked because I was fed up with it....but some threads didn't make sense so I unblocked. Good timing I think.
Click to expand...

Look back over the 5 pages of comments you've made. It's 90% trolling mostly targeting ND yet you're so thin skinned you think you're somehow a victim...
 
wellsworld said:
its pretty sad that the only way to virtually guarantee friendly, positive comments on social media, is to announce you are ill, struggling with something in life, on on your way to heaven (or hell). the rest of the time its "macho" gesturing, point-scoring, childish nit-picking, snowflaking, endless pointing out of incorrect league names, drunken rants, etc. and we're the cleverest things on the planet?!

:utc:
Click to expand...
I thought lizards were?
 
Respect the decision that Neil has made, as he alluded towards in his post, he has for quite sometime questioned doing the match reports. I do agree with him that the “old days” were the best in regards to the report, but the analysis and opinion has always been key to some good debate down the years and by years I do mean approaching 20 :)

You’ve got to enjoy doing that type of thing otherwise what’s the point. I’d imagine quite a lot of us feel detached from it all right now. We’re not at games, we’ve not witnessed the relegation or had the chance to say goodbye to a legend, or watch the very start of a new era. So if the detachment is there then where is the connection to the robust debate of old that you would usually immerse yourself in?

I’ve always enjoyed his analysis because, in the main, I quite often disagreed. It didn’t matter if we were discussing Steve Fletcher’s role in the side back in the day or whether or not Howe’s tactics were really stale or not.

I’ve had practically an identical argument with Neil in regards to three players down the years, one was Danny Ings, one was Tokelo Rantie and one was Dominic Solanke. Let’s just say the score on their success is 1-1. Let’s hope when Neil returns I’ll have taken the lead once more ;)

If we had agreed, there would have been much less to debate and I very much enjoyed reading a contrasting view. Did I like Neil’s habit of putting people in boxes, or the occasional crass attempt at poor humour? No not really and at times it was difficult to not take it personally as you could in “real life”, I think giving people tag lines purely for disagreeing wasn’t helpful and as Neil says contributed towards this pack of replies.

Personal insults aren’t needed whichever side of the debate you’re on. Play the post, not the poster is something I’d love to see more of.

I’m sure Neil will be back, refreshed with that reset button struck and perhaps he will feel the reaction he gets is a little bit more welcoming.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

;