Nine alternatives to evidence based opinion

After a fortnight which has required the Australian football community to address some quite heavy and serious issues, including the Fury being dropped, disappointing ACL efforts by the Australian teams and the resignation of another Sydney FC CEO, it might be an opportune time for some levity to be introduced into proceedings.

A more frivolous and trivial distraction to lift the mood with a discussion about something that all football fans have – an opinion.

There is a hope that politicians will develop and pursue policies based on the best available evidence.

There certainly is an expectation that medical practitioners choose a course of treatment based on the latest best practice medical techniques backed up by rigorous testing and evidence.

So should football opinions, as far as possible, be evidence based? (If you have trouble equating the same importance to football as medicine and politics please refer to the great Bill Shankly who said “Someone said ‘football is more important than life and death to you’ and I said ‘Listen, it’s more important than that’.”)

But what if there is no evidence on which to base your opinion on? For example, unless you were a member of the Fury FC board or had intimate knowledge of the inner workings of the FFA, any opinion you have on the matter is relying on the accuracy of reporting on this issue.

Should that stop you expressing your opinions? Should only the Liverpool-era Rafa’s amongst us be allowed to engage in the debate because we have the FACTS?

Of course not.

Here I aim to present the different ’football opinion personalities’ I have been able to identify and the alternative types of opinion they generate.

My thanks must go to Professor David Issacs and Dominic Fitzgerald whose core idea and humour from their article (Seven alternatives to evidence based medicine; BMJ 1999; 319: 1618) I have lifted and adapted for a football audience.

I hope no egos will be harmed in the reading of this article.

Eminence based opinion

The more senior the person, the less importance they place on the need for anything as mundane as evidence. Experience, it seems, is worth any amount of evidence. If they saw the 1974 World Cup qualifying campaign in person, then they can do no wrong.

They have been there, done that, bought the T-shirt and have a respected standing in their football club or community. Often they can be identified by their white hair and receding hair line which is called the ‘halo effect’.

Younger generations may regard these people as throwbacks to an irrelevant era and are sceptical of the faith these people place in experience which could be defined as holding the same misguided opinions with increasing confidence over an impressive number of years.

Vehemence based opinion

The substitution of volume for evidence is an effective technique for brow beating more timid people and convincing them of your superiority.

Volume is a good measure in the real world, while in the online world excessive use of CAPITAL letters and exclamation marks identify this personality.

Eloquence based opinion

If you look good or sound good (or use an attractive font and big words) whilst expressing your opinion you are halfway there already. Sartorial elegance and verbal eloquence are powerful substitutes for evidence.

Pairing an expensive Armani suit with a cheap club scarf can give you an instant veneer of credibility. In the online world, no abbreviations or slang are used by this personality type when a quote from Longfellow cleverly inserted into an article will do.

Providence based opinion

If this personality type has no idea about what to say about a particular football issue, they will usually defer to their version of the Almighty and quote what they said in relation to a particular matter.

In this case the Almighty might be their preferred eminent football analyst (e.g. the Church of Fozzie), their favourite colourful and controversial preacher (e.g. the cult of the Bosnich) or the deciphered prophecies from their favourite oracle (e.g. the Oracle of Lowy or the even more incomprehensible Oracle of Blatter).

This personality type can usually be identified by their level of religious fervour and dedication to their chosen deity no matter what they say.

Nervousness based opinion

It’s hard to pin down this personality type because it is unclear where they stand in relation to any football issue. Fear of being questioned about why they hold a particular opinion means they will always be sitting on the fence.

Frequent use of the phrase ‘on the other hand’ or a lack of definite conclusions are symptoms that can be used to identify this type whose motto is ‘The only bad opinion is the one I haven’t put out there yet.’

Arrogance based opinion

This personality type operates with a world view where opinions are given out as fact and no explanations are necessary. The usual identifying feature is over use of the phrase ‘because I said so.’

Some parties would place Messrs Wilson and Fitzsimons into this category and note the overlap with characteristics of the eminence and eloquence based opinion types.

Annoyance based opinion

This type of personality type operates from the starting point that if you bombard everybody with your opinion often enough people will come around to your viewpoint eventually.

What they don’t realise is that everybody just gives in to shut them up. It doesn’t matter if their opinion is valid or not, this personality type is relying on the sheer force of their excessive talking or writing to saturate their audience with their viewpoint till it becomes impossible to ignore and you just cave in.

Webidence based opinion

Symptoms for this personality type include excessive pasting of links, references to said links and Wikipedia being the first entry on their web browsers ‘favourites’.

This type typically confuses actual knowledge with having the ability to know where to look for answers.

This personality type excels in the online world but will be as useful as a Dirk Kyut first touch in a crowded box at a football club trivia night if there is no Wi-Fi coverage.

Effervescence based opinion

This personality type can usually be heard voicing their opinions only after the consumption of a large number of alcoholic drinks. Whether they are from a can, keg or bottle, there is a direct relationship between the number of drinks consumed and the strength of their conviction.

In the real world, slurred speech and an inability to stand upright without assistance easily identifies members of this type while in the online world poor spelling or the lack of any cogent argument can be used as the best way to recognise this type.

I’ll throw this one out to The Roar community. What personality type are you? Are there any other types out there?