As QPR bid farewell to Djibril Cisse, albeit only on loan, Roller assesses the French striker's transition from instant hero to one of this season's villains and, arguably, scapegoat.

Throughout the whole of our recent match against Fulham a fellow QPR supporter a few seats away from me was meting out horrific abuse towards Djibril Cissé. Nothing the Frenchman did was right. Leaving out some of the more colourful words he was apprently lazy, selfish, closing down the wrong man, not passing when he should, making the wrong pass when he did, not shooting when he should, shooting when he shouldn't, and "worse than Shaun Wright-Phillips".

Even his sumptuous curling shot that just went wide of the post and his stooping header that produced a magnificent save from Mark Schwarzer were rubbished. Thank God there was no way that Cissé could have heard him. However, I bet that just a few months ago that very same supporter was singing “Ole, ole, ole, ole, Cissé, Cissé” with the rest of us. Cissé’s transition from hero to villain has been breathtaking.

That gentleman will undoubtedly be pleased that Cissé has now left us to ply his trade in fresh pastures following a half-season loan deal with Qatari side Al-Gharafa, whereas I am very disappointed that Redknapp could not reinvigorate last season’s goal scoring hero. Djibril Cissé may be the most world renowned player ever to wear our blue and white hoops and whether the failure to build on last season’s blistering form is his fault or Mark Hughes’ fault we will never know, but I’m sure that the abuse he received from his own supporters will have hastened his demise. When the news of his departure was announced the internet forums went into overdrive, some lamenting what should have been, many just glad to bid Cissé good riddance. What a way to treat a former hero, but then heroes aren’t what they used to be.

The human race has always sought heroes: someone to admire, someone to strive to emulate. The heroes of the Greeks were noble characters, either of royal birth or half mortal-half god. They performed great deeds far beyond the capabilities on the average man and were generally mighty warriors who brought glory to the empire or performed unbelievable quests against insurmountable odds. As the centuries passed the criteria required to be heralded as a hero eased. In the middle ages the heroes were knights, their birthright unimportant, their perceived adherence to the rules of chivalry paramount. The Renaissance broadened the scope further, an understanding of human nature and beauty surpassed the necessity for physical prowess. The modern day age of celebrity has diluted the criteria to an all time low. Talentless wannabes who appear on “reality” television programmes, singers that clearly have no voice and brainless bimbos who are prepared to take off their cloths for public titillation are presented to us as icons. Unfortunately we get what we deserve. And then there are footballers.

With the bar at an all time low, even the most morally vacuous can qualify as heroes. Chelsea ’s “Captain, Leader, Legend” is an obvious case in point. John Terry’s wholehearted and determined displays have secured his place in his club’s folklore whereas the rest of the world can see him in a totally different light. Many supporters are willing to turn a blind eye to the past and present misdemeanours of players on the books of their own club. Players such as Luis Suarez, Marlon King, El Hadji Diouf and our own Joey Barton have all benefited from this suspension of principles and enjoyed the adulation of people who would be appalled by their actions if they were taken by men not involved with their football club.

At the other end of the spectrum is the historical counterpoint to the hero: the villain. This term has almost a comic book feel about it these days and seems more befitting fictional characters, whether they are historical such as Grendel’s Mother in Beowulf, Bill Sikes from Oliver Twist or Sherlock Holmes’ Professor Moriarty or modern day like Lord Voldemort from the Harry Potter stories. Today’s celebrity obsessed culture has also given birth to a number of its own “pantomime” villains such as Simon Cowell, whose only crime, as I see it, it to tell tone deaf wannabes that they can’t sing. He is a long way from Attila the Hun.

There are a couple of notable subsets within the villains category. Firstly there are our favourite villains: players we love to hate, players like Grant Holt and Frank Lampard. The continual abuse aimed at Holt hides a sneaky admiration for a man who has managed to fight his way to the top level of football in this country without ever looking like a footballer, although our fury at his ability to get our defenders sent off is genuine enough. As for Fat Frank, the acceptable face of Chelsea, if he played for anyone else he would get treated with the respect he deserves, but as he is synonymous with all of Chelsea’s recent success he has to suffer all that he Loftus Road faithful throw at him, although I suspect the he actually secretly enjoys it.

The second subset of villains is an area that we, as football supporters, really excel at; scapegoats. I sincerely doubt if QPR supporters are any worse than those at any other club, but we always have at least one player who can do no right. Without a scapegoat to blame for the teams’ deficiencies we would have to recognise the collective failures of our heroes, it is much safer to hold one unloved individual responsible. Currently Ji-Sung Park has seamlessly stepped into this role with his return to first team action coinciding with Jose Bosingwa's banishment following his refusal to take his place on the substitutes bench against Fulham. While many players have worn this uncomfortable crown over the years, few have had to endure the abuse that Paul Furlong suffered after he signed for QPR and even fewer have managed to emerge from the confidence sapping experience as a hero in the way that Furlong did.

Because the hero bar is now set so low the grey area between brilliant and appalling has narrowed to the smallest degree. One man’s hero is another man’s villain and no one current player polarises opinion in quite the way that Adel Taarabt does. Many love him for his creativity and the excitement that is part and parcel of his game, others focus on the wastefulness and historically poor temperament. In one move he can thrill and disappoint proving both heavily entrenched camps right. Just for the record, I’m a big Taarabt fan, as I walk down the Uxbridge Road it is him that I’m impatiently looking forward to seeing and him that I’m pining my hopes on.

A secondary effect of the hero bar being so low is the ease with which we re-categorise our heroes as villains; Djibril Cissé being a perfect example. How quickly so many forgot his goal scoring exploits at the end of last season that did so much to keep us in the Premier League. Another who received criticism towards the end of his time at QPR in certain quarters, and completely unwarranted in my opinion, was Lee Cook. His well documented battles with injury cost him so much of his latter day career at Loftus Road and some started to treat him with contempt, his magnanimous gesture in donating the signing on fee he was due from Fulham back to our club in our days of desperate need cast from their memories. Ryan Nelsen was also on the receiving end of the capricious nature of many supporters recently when he was announced as the new manager of Toronto FC. We were all disappointed but some of the vitriol aimed towards him online was incredible when the previous week he was a shoo-in for player of the year. The fickleness of some supporters is astounding.

We choose our life heroes based on our principles such as honesty, courage or integrity; generally qualities that we admire and would like to have others recognise in us. Our football heroes are definitely not selected by the same exacting criteria. We all know that the vast majority are not good role models and very few are worthy of our adoration but still we exalt some and castigate others. I believe that we need to see that they have skills that benefit our club, or an obvious determination to succeed or a perceived passion for our club. Three of the more popular players currently at our club illustrate these criteria perfectly, namely Adel Taarabt, Jamie Mackie and Clint Hill. Each of these players have very obvious faults, but all are generally forgiven as their redeeming features outweigh these.

Our desire to have champions and heroes is as alive as ever. We honour them in song just as our ancient ancestors retold stories of theirs before going into battle, we taunt our opponents just as our predecessors mocked theirs. Even turning on one of your own is not a modern day phenomenon, the Greeks used to cast out an unfortunate member of their community to try to appease the Gods after a natural disaster. Our needs have not changed in the last 2,000 years and neither has our blind following of our instincts.

Songs such as “Taarabt’s too good for you” and “Walking in a Mackie wonderland” are sung not only as a response to a piece of skill by the named player but as encouragement for them to do more. Akos Buzsaky said in an interview that he loved hearing his song and that it always gave him a lift, therefore constantly groaning when Shaun Wright-Phillips falls over or gives the ball away or when Ji-sung Park fails to make a tackle must surely have the opposite effect. If either of those players ever ventured onto our forums they would probably never leave their homes again. The club’s current predicament demands that we support every single one of our players, we need them all to perform every match. When the home fans finally began to support Paul Furlong his confidence grew and he started performing, maybe if we stopped berating certain players and encouraged them instead we would be rewarded with better performances. What have we got to lose?

I’ve done more than my share of moaning and groaning, I’m certainly not claiming any moral high ground here. Earlier this season I was very critical of the performances of Nedum Onuoha and developed a blind spot in regard to him. I was amazed to see him play superbly against Spurs last weekend and now have high hopes for him. In the weeks ahead, with our support, maybe other players will surprise us. Perhaps Ji-Sung Park will become the player that many hoped for when Hughes signed him. Perhaps Shaun Wright-Phillips will become our new hero. Just as it can be a useful exercise to remember who our heroes are and why we hold them in such high esteem, it can be equally useful to stop and think about why we are so unforgiving of other players.

I wrote at the beginning of January about my first football hero, Terry Venables. A man who not only got me hooked on QPR but created an atmosphere of excitement and fun in his time at Loftus Road . As I have got older and more cynical, few have filled Venables’ boots and as much as I try to avoid having heroes anymore, it is inevitable to like some players more than others. Maybe we should leave the heroes and villains to the storytellers, film makers and pages of comic books and accept people for what they are.

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Nov77 added 20:06 - Jan 21 "Songs such as “Taarabt’s too good for you” and “Walking in a Mackie wonderland” are sung not only as a response to a piece of skill by the named player but as encouragement for them to do more." Here I will add fuel to your argument. this sentence got me thinking that these two should never be mentioned in the same breath. when was the last time we saw a 'piece of skill' from Mackie? Taarabt is in my top five favourite players that I've ever seen at Rangers, whereas I beleive Mackie is extremely overrated by our fans and I think 95% of the time contributes nothing to the team. If one of the 'hated' players put some of Mackies performances in they would get slaughtered, but no, Teflon Mackie's name is sung from the rafters.

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qprmick added 21:06 - Jan 21 Cisse epitomises the reason why we have to get behind our players, the man could have been our saviour with the right encouragement.
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Jigsore added 21:19 - Jan 21 re Nov77 I don't think thats fair. While Mackie has been on a poor run of form recently (he may even benefit from a few starts for Hoilett to give him a psychological kick up the arse) you forget he scored a lot of goals for us last season and a couple this season. As for his skill, it is not unheard of; anyone remember that magnificent dribble past 3 Arsenal players where he shot straight at Szcesney's legs? That said Taarabt is a magician, I doubt we'll ever see a player like him again here Excellent article, interesting topic and very right too.

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TacticalR added 21:50 - Jan 21 Thanks Roller. Many points to consider there. But I will focus just on Cissé... We know that Cissé is a good player, so the question arises: 'why has Cissé had such an indifferent season?' The kneejerk reaction is to blame everything on 'attitude'. The BBC commentary team were certainly scathing about him away at West Brom in the FA Cup last week. The problem with blaming everything on 'attitude' is that 'attitude' is often the effect rather than the cause. The recent problem with Cissé wasn't that he wasn't a hold-up man, it was that he couldn't get into the game at all. Last season he seemed to score if he got a sniff of a chance, this season he doesn't even seem to be getting a sniff of a chance. I know Taarabt has given him some good chances here and there, but I feel Cissé needs (and demands) players who are *dedicated* to giving him chances. I also feel he's suffered from the lack of a hold-up man alongside him. Whatever the reason, you can't blame it all on Cissé. On a side note, I do wonder if the days of the players who can only do one thing (even if they do that one thing very well) are numbered. Recently we have seen Barcelona playing without a specialist forward, relying instead on midfielders to get goals (we did this at Chelsea). I am not saying everyone has to play like that, but I think you need all your players in the game at the top level. I for one can't see Cissé as a villain. You could even say that his 'attitude' is very good, because he's not happy to sit on the bench or to be a bystander on the pitch, and he obviously still gets a big kick out of scoring. Olé, Olé, Olé, Cissé!

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Northernr added 21:58 - Jan 21 Oh Jesus Nov have a holiday or something, this Mackie obsession is becoming concerning.
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Nov77 added 22:34 - Jan 21 Clive, you said on a podcast recently that even If Mackie went through an entire game without touching the ball once, you would still pick him for the next game. Sorry, but that was one of the dumbest things I've heard for a while. Much as I love Adel I would never say that about him. i''m just pointing out that your king is wearing no clothes.
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Northernr added 22:37 - Jan 21 Nov - If you'd like to quote me on Mackie then please do so, I've praised him plenty of times so it shouldn't be too difficult to find a positive comment about him. However I think you'll find, if you listen back again, that you're quoting Chris Mendes there. Like I say, your obsession with him is concerning.
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Nov77 added 23:13 - Jan 21 Ok, apologies then , thought it was you.
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ozexile added 01:03 - Jan 22 An excellent well written article. I have felt sorry for him this season as he has no support. Yet he has too much going on outside of football that it distracts him. Clothe ranges,after shave etc. That's all well and good when you're doing the business in the pitch but when you're not it riles the average football fan. When you're bottom of the league and a players first tweet is to advertise his aftershave i think fans do have a right to vent.

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Kaos_Agent added 05:28 - Jan 22 Won't soon forget Cisse's goal at Man City. Sad that he never got another like that again, through lack of service or being terminally offside. A wasted talent this year.
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QPRski added 07:27 - Jan 22 Roller, thanks for another thought provoking article. The fans in todays' football stadiums remind me of the Romans at the Colisseum. Then, there was a quick verdict on performance and attitude by thumbs up or down with instant reward or punishment. Today, it is the adulation or rage of the "fans" on the terraces. This is nothing new, during my first ever matches Mickey Leach was our scapegoat for booing when things were not going quite perfectly, and he made over 300 appearances for the R's which makes him a modern day hero! Perhaps we should think twice before booing or ridiculing our own players whilst we really wish to support them. Perhaps all they need is some encouragement? Perhaps this is a too idealistic thought from a current R's armchair fan?

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simmo added 08:38 - Jan 22 Writes an article about scapegoats and the need to encourage over belittle for the good of the team, and the first comment is a barb at one of our players.... Personally I think that we will run out of games this year and have to face relegation. But one thing that is absolutely true is that we wont have a chance unless we are all in it together. We need to get the best out of what we have and the only way we are going to do that is to support and encourage. Confidence is fragile enough.... Cheers for the read, Roller

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albiceleste added 08:46 - Jan 22 Not all fans are so fickle...interesting to hear that the Southampton fans have been supportive of the new manager. This despite all feeling that Adkins got a very rough deal. Definitely a case of getting behind the club - we'll see if this loyalty pays off
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Trellick added 09:57 - Jan 22 Cisse had to go IMO or something had to change. If you have QPR Player look at the West brom replay highlights from 45 secs in.Once he gets the ball wide he makes no attempt bar a fake little jog to get into the area
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Roller added 11:07 - Jan 22 Simmo, the comment about Cissé’s transition from hero to villain was from the other gentleman’s eyes not mine, with him representing a very vocal section of our supporters. I’m far more loyal to my heroes, probably too loyal. I completely agree on the need to support and encourage, it can make a difference. Albiceleste, I don’t know if you are able to get to the match or not, but the Southampton supporters at our ground were outstanding. Singing and cheering from start to end, all be it they had a lot more to cheer than we did that day. That said, our away support is fantastic too.

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dixiedean added 11:44 - Jan 22 Great article Roller and I agree with all of it. We've always had a player who was a target for the boo-boys. first one in my era was also Mick Leach RIP, then Alan Wilks, Martyn Busby and so on up to modern era eg Paul Bruce and the disgraceful treatment of Gavin Mahon a few years back. There's an idiot in Upper Loft who sits behind me who loves to boo at the HT whistle and I think he's actually gutted if we're not losing at HT as he has nothing to boo about. Probably the X factor generation,as you point out. As for Djib, well I think it's a risk to let him go- what if Remy gets injured and we're back to Sq 1 with no forwards ? I read he recently split from his wife and has 3 young kids, which can't help matters, but I can't fathom his performances this yearcompared to last. Nevertheless,if there's one player I'd want to bring off the bench if we needed a goal it would be him.A born goalscorer and there aren't many of them around.

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QPunkR added 12:24 - Jan 22 Nov, that comment just borders on the delluded and shows you haven't actually been watching us at all this season - 'Teflon' Mackie has actually added a few tricks to his bow and has performed a couple of neat tricks that Sheidt-Phillips couldn't even dream of. Rant over, on the question of Cissé's loss of form this season, I think it's patently ridiculous for people to point out admittedly sad stuff happening in a footballer's life as reason for not trying/just being crap on the pitch. They're only out there for 90 mins tops and I know for a fact that when I'm playing my crappy Sunday league games I don't even have time to think about sh!t going on in my private life.

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bloberts added 13:17 - Jan 22 Great article thanks. Cisse was, and still is one of my favourite players i've seen in a qpr shirt, he was absolutely sensational last season, and without him we would have of course got relegated. He is not the sought of player that runs around chasing defenders a lot, he is a natural finisher and we shouldnt mistake him for anything else. Whenever we have given him a clear cut chance he has scored, and he has celebrated like it means the world to him which is nice. Cisse is a class player, and I'm sorry but i would prefer to have class players playing rather than 11 players that run around a lot, i.e Jamie Mackie. We need some of everything, bit of class which we get with Adel Remy and wuld have got with Cisse, and we also need some players who wear their hearts on their sleeves, i.e Mackie and Hill. Anyway thanks Djibril, you gave me my best ever moment of football against Stoke last season

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Charlie1 added 13:54 - Jan 22 Great article Roller, thanks Perfectly sums up my views. Not sure if it's sad or ironic that the first comment gets to the heart of your article!
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qprrunner added 13:57 - Jan 22 Re Nov77 Completely agree with you. Mackie has got to be one of the most over-rated players I have ever seen at Rangers, what are these "tricks" you speak of QPunkR? The ones where he puts his head down and bumbles his way through a couple of challenges which ends with us winning a throw on and him waving his arms around? Not denying Cisse has had a terrible season but Mackie hasnt been any better imo

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simmo added 17:56 - Jan 22 Roller - My comment was not based on anything within your article, it was based on the first 'comment' in response to it. I assume everybody here that doesnt want Mackie in the team anymore are the same people up in arms when we have a group of players that dont give a shit whilst drawing a huge salary?
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Doughnut added 18:41 - Jan 22 Would agree with the need to get behind all of the players, SWP, Park.....etc. Those two, in particular, I'm sure can do better and encouragement would do them no harm. But not Bosingwa!
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Roller added 21:14 - Jan 22 Sorry Simmo, my mistake.
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muzz added 17:30 - Jan 24 Without Cisse, QPR would be playing championship football. He has often had little to no service this year. Even when he makes good runs, there is no one to find him. When Taarabt scored a brace against Fulham, Cisse made great runs on both of those. Were it not for a deflection, the first chance would have been completely wasted. I think the fans have driven Cisse away. Cisse definitely cared last year. I remember him saying we are staying up and the one thing that stood out to me was when he scored against chelsea in the embarrassing defeat. He was absolutely thrilled. This year hes scored a couple of goals and he just hasn't been the same.

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jeffreestar added 08:32 - Jan 3 it's a contemplative piece that challenges the conventional notions of heroism and villainy in football while advocating for a more nuanced and supportive fan approach towards players https://retrobowl-game.co
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