On Football And Snakes (part 2): The View From Chile | OneFootball

(Before we begin, I had written nearly all of this including the intro before I knew anything about Nick Hayhoe’s excellent yet not too dissimilar piece here)

A traitor. A snake. A Judas, A Brutus. A Fredo Corleone. An Andy Marshall. Do you want another one?

I can’t even bring myself to say his name. It won’t be mentioned here, I can promise you that, so read on.

When the news broke on Wednesday that Judas had weaselled his way across the Norfolk-Suffolk border to begin talks with the enemy, it sent my head for a spin on fast cycle. For those that don’t know, I’ve followed the career of the traitor closely here in Chile since he broke through with Universidad Católica. When he signed for Norwich, I appeared on various pieces for radio and pods talking in detail about his upbringing, his ability, and his cheerful and genuine character. it now feels obvious that the smiles are actually smug grins and the laughter is from a hollow shell of a man.

If anything good is to come from this, it is that many of the factions of the support that bicker with each other online on a daily basis, have at least united in their disgust at the deal. However, there has been a few exceptions, fans who have reacted to this news in what they believe to be a mature and level-headed way no doubt. This is not the time for that. You can’t shrug your shoulders at this sort of thing, it is unnatural. Football fandom doesn’t allow for it. So let’s take a look at some of the arguments and look to dismiss them:

There’s good value in the deal, the club needs the money

We were told in the summer the club doesn’t need money from player sales. The money that lot have paid us is nothing to them for a transfer that has the potential to be a serious mood shifter at both clubs after a disappointing start to the season for both. It weakens us while strengthening them. It would be a frustrating sale to any Championship rival, but to the Binners? It’s a huge risk at best. At worst it’s the biggest embarrassment we’ve suffered in this rivalry since they last beat us – which was a long long time ago.

He doesn’t fit Liam Manning’s system that well

I think anybody who has watched us every game this season can see he looked like one of the only players capable of playing in it so far. Part of the many problems of this treacherous sale is that it comes at a time where we’ve seen little to be excited about on the pitch so far. There’s not enough credit in the bank for fans to trust they’ve made the right decision here, especially such a toxic one.

Mattsson has a higher ceiling, and it will allow us to invest in January

Let’s hope this is true, but seems strange we didn’t move for Mattsson sooner in that case. Let’s hope he’s ready from the get go, and to hear him say he’s proud to be playing for Norwich at least 5 times in his interview felt pointed, and hopefully not staged. I do think Brutus is replaceable, as much as I’ve always rated him, he’s nearly always looked out of his depth in competitive action for Chile; it is one of the reasons he’s fairly unpopular back home along with much of the Failed Generation of Chilean players who haven’t been able to ever emerge even an inch from the legacy of Chile’s famous and successful Golden Generation that preceded them. As for Mattsson, we’re now in the position to be waiting for another player to find his feet in the rough and tumble of English football 25 games in, that’s my initial fear with that one.

All foreign players who come to the Championship see it as a stepping stone to the Premier League – he’s got a move to the promotion favourites with a pay rise (so you should understand why he’s done it).

Well, first let’s hope this doesn’t set a precedent then. And yes, there’s some truth to that for sure. I’ve always consistently said that I don’t think a player from South America who is only in England to begin with due to the unfair distribution of wealth and power in the global game owes the football club he plays for anything. But he does owe the fans respect, yet instead this religious charlatan has copied the actions of what must be his favourite bible character. He’s kissed the shirt and the badge. He’s been welcomed with open arms to Norwich. His best friend at the club for most of his time has been Onel Hernandez, a fellow foreign player who came over from Germany with Latin American origins and fell in love with the club and understood what the East Anglian derby means more than anyone who has grown up outside of East Anglia. As he said in his video that was posted late Thursday night, he’s told the snake everything about the rivalry, yet he’s still done an Andy Marshall. Onel knew it was you, Fredo. You broke his heart, you broke his heart.

This sale combined with the style of football we’ve seen so far under Manning and three home defeats on the spin means this has been the darkest month for Norwich, at this level at least, in a long time. We’ve mostly had the upper hand in this rivalry for decades, but I can remember spells when we didn’t, and it was horrible. This week took me back to those times. The derby on October 5th looks much bigger now. We need to make sure we’ve got the upper hand again come that full-time whistle. The road to that moment starts today, hopefully with a Pelle Mattsson masterclass.