World Football: 10 Teams That Don't Deserve Their Fans

Joe Tansey@JTansey90X.com LogoFeatured ColumnistFebruary 2, 2012

World Football: 10 Teams That Don't Deserve Their Fans

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    In the world of football, there are always teams that overachieve and underachieve.

    Those who underachieve also face ridicule and criticism from fans and critics alike.

    This list is specifically about those fans, the clubs that they support and how the fans suffer if the team underachieves.

    Here are 10 teams who do not deserve the support they get from their fans.

Darlington FC

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    Darlington FC are the latest team in England to go through a tough time of administration.

    The case of Darlington is one that no fan would ever want to go through as the club are on the brink of extinction.

    Right now, the club are in that spot due to no funding and failure to find any new ownership to take over the team.

Philadelphia Union

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    Talk about a club finding every way to upset their fans.

    The Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer frustrated their fans when goalie Faryd Mondragon and star forward Sebastien Le Toux were let go this week.

    Mondragon went back to his home nation of Colombia to retire, while Le Toux was shipped off to Vancouver one week after having a trial with Bolton of the English Premier League.

    Union fans have been upset since the deal of Le Toux was made public, with some fans even going as far as threatening coach Peter Novak on Twitter.

River Plate

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    River Plate was a very successful team in Argentina for years, but in the past few seasons the team has failed to meet fans' expectations.

    Los Millionarios were relegated to the Nacional B for the first time in their over 100-year history and are now looking to get back to their glory days.

    Also, the team faced a $75 million debt at the beginning of the 2009 season, and are looking to bring in players from the past like Fernando Cavenaghi to help win promotion.

Nottingham Forest

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    Nottingham Forest have teased their fans with a possible return to the Premier League for years now, but they have been unsuccessful in their attempts.

    After being in contention for the promotion and promotion playoffs, Forest are now sitting in the bottom three of the Championship and are in fear of being relegated to League One.

    This is far from the glory of the Brian Clough era in which Forest saw domestic and European glory.

Villarreal

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    Villarreal have made their fans suffer through some rough times this season as they are nowhere near their usual spot near the top four in La Liga.

    The Yellow Submarine are mired in 18th place and will be struggling to survive relegation from Spain's top flight.

    Not only should Villarreal fans be concerned about not staying in La Liga, but they could lose stars like Giuseppe Rossi and Marcos Senna to bigger clubs if their current club does not get its act together.

    Villarreal could go the way of a club like Nottingham Forest if they do not survive this season in La Liga.

New England Revolution

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    Not to pick on Major League Soccer too much, but the Revolution have been a part of the league since its inception and have struggled of late in a passionate Boston sports market.

    All of the other American sports teams in Boston have won championships—and then left in the shadow are the Revs.

    Attendance has dropped over the past few years and the fans are starting to doubt that the Revolution will ever turn their act around soon.

Plymouth Argyle

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    Plymouth Argyle have been around since 1886 and their last three seasons are as tumultuous as any of the seasons ever in club history.

    Argyle has been relegated for the past two seasons and now sit down in League Two in the relegation zone.

    No fans of a club should ever be put through the torture of a slide down the Football League like this, but it looks like it will happen to Plymouth Argyle if things do not turn around quickly at Home Park.

Arsenal

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    The fans of Arsenal are as passionate as any fan base in the world and the recent struggles that the club have seen have not been kind to the fans of the Gunners.

    From Arsene Wenger's questionable substitute and transfer policy to star player Jack Wilshere being out for the season along with other injury problems, Arsenal are not giving fans the performance on the pitch that they should be giving.

    Even bringing club legend Thierry Henry back to the club on loan for two months is not enough for Gunners fans to get excited about.

    Of course there is always an exception to this policy, and it is Robin van Persie, who has given a whole-hearted effort to achieve something for the Gunners.

    Van Persie has scored in or been the driving force in attack for every game this season.

Bayern Munich

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    Bayern Munich's squad is not doing much on the pitch to upset their fans, but their management sure knows how to upset the apple cart.

    Last week, the club's ownership told fans there would be a big announcement in the middle of the transfer window—but instead in turned out to be a new Bayern Munich app.

    This left fans clearly frustrated, and as fans of a top club in Europe, they should be treated with more respect than they were given this past week by ownership.

Wigan Athletic

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    Let me end this slideshow by saying by Wigan are putting their fans through hell.

    After a relegation struggle in the Premier League last season and a mirror image of that situation this season, Wigan are losing hope with whatever fans they have left.

    The reason Wigan have lost their fans, and deservedly so, is because they are in a rugby-centered town and have not given performances worth bringing fans out to the DW Stadium to watch a game.

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