 |
 |
 |
| Thursday, 06 October 2011 20:45 |
Giving it up for SergioHearts fans sing the praises of Portuguese manager  The Hearts fans have a new ditty eulogising their Portuguese manager, Paulo Sergio. It’s very easy, anyone can pick it up in a matter of moments. To the tune of ‘Give it Up’ by KC and the Sunshine Band – ready? – “Na na na na na na na na na na na, Paulo Sergio, Sergio! Paulo Sergio!”
Simple, effective, scans reasonably nicely, and now getting a regular airing when Sergio’s charges have pulled out a result. Or a draw, even, as I first heard this ode at White Hart Lane last month from the 3,000 raucous Jambos who had made the trip south and had little to look forward to other than a sing-song following the harrowing Europa League events at Tynecastle the previous week.
Sunday past saw Hearts host Celtic in the SPL. Tottenham aside, this was supposed to be the sternest test yet of Sergio’s tenure in west Edinburgh. Didn’t quite pan out like that, as a wretched (and self-destructive) Celtic displayed all the fight of a week-old kitten when going behind in the second half and, after the visiting Kris Commons saw red for a vulgar challenge on Heart’s Polish midfielder Adrian Mrowiec, the home side scored again and ran out very comfortable 2-0 winners.
I’m uncertain that even the most optimistic Jambo could have imagined it would have been quite so straightforward to send Celtic home empty-handed but, as is the time-honoured wont of the football fan, it becomes necessary to bait the travelling support regardless of the manner of the victory, or the scoreline.
There’s little love lost between these two teams for a whole host of reasons and, my word, didn’t the Jambos rub it in. Full time then, and the stadium DJ impudently whacks ‘Give it Up’ on the tannoy. Cue several thousand Jambos fans singing along with the new, improved lyrics acclaiming the Portuguese. This mass-karaoke was fully focused on the rapidly-departing visiting fans, who seemed reluctant to join in.
Watch the Paulo Sergio dedicatory chant by clicking on the screen below. Warning: some of the language in this clip is a touch ‘industrial’.
So Hearts fans like their new boss, have grown rather fond of him rather quickly, in fact. Quicker, perhaps, than many had imagined. Winning is conducive to that, and beating Celtic is more helpful still. Several wags made little movies of the full-time serenade and up it went on YouTube. From there, onto Portuguese state television as RTP featured the above clip at the tail end of the news the other evening.
One wonders when last a Scottish football team featured on the Portuguese news in this context? That the RTP editors should deem the footballing outpost that is the Scottish Premier League newsworthy on the basis of the fans’ manlove for their manager solely on the basis that he is a Portuguese is actually quite touching.
I think there’s a touch of ‘siege mentality’ about the rush with which the Hearts fans have taken Sergio to their, er, hearts. Again, neither are football fans known for casting off impulsive decisions when it comes to their club. That is to say, Jambos’ love of their boss becoming – literally – an international story is, at this point, based more on emotion than cold, hard facts.
Without more ‘hard data’, the Hearts fans have little other than gut feeling to go on in how they appraise their new leader. Makes for a good story though, as we see…
by John Hunt
|
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=froYvidGToI
Even though I am also a Porto fan, I still like Sergio