Bobby Zamora: the target man who just had to answer back

Fulham's in-form striker says he has no regrets over his criticism of abusive fans
Bobby Zamora
Bobby Zamora believes his success on the pitch should not be judged on goals alone. Photograph: Graeme Robertson

It is the morning after Fulham Football Club took an impressive leap into the knockout phase of the Europa Cup. Bobby Zamora is carrying slight bags under his eyes after a late return from Switzerland. It had been a positive night for him personally as well as for the club, as he scored twice and helped to create the third with a decoy run, but discussing the finer details was something he only fancied doing on autopilot.

The conversation shifts, and there is one word which compels his manner to change completely: Cantona. Zamora sparks up, as if suddenly bathed in light. He breaks into an enormous smile. "Brilliant," he says. Now you're talking.

There are abundant aspects of the former Manchester United maverick to appreciate, but Zamora feels particular admiration for the most famous of them all, when Cantona responded to the vitriol spewed down from the stands with that notorious kung-fu kick at Selhurst Park.

A couple of weeks ago Zamora offered his own response to the insults regularly aimed at him. Having felt unfairly tormented by a section of Fulham fans, the striker told them precisely what he thought of them after scoring against Sunderland by bluntly inviting them to "shut your fucking mouths".

Cantona made a telling observation about his own eruption: "The hooligan who told me, 'French son of a whore', I'd heard him 50 billion times. On that day, I didn't react like I'd reacted on other occasions. Why? I've never found the answer to this myself."

Sometimes, in the aftermath of the heat of the moment, comes a time to calmly reassess your actions. Zamora has had a few days to dwell on what happened but if anything his conviction that he was right is even more unswerving. Somebody mentioned that an apology might be beneficial, but Zamora would not entertain the idea. Sorry? In a way, he would like nothing more than to meet his persecutors man to man in order to make his point even more directly. To harass from a crowd and then hide behind it doesn't impress him one little bit.

"They are too protected," he says. "If they are walking down the street and somebody says something like that, they get a slap. Just because they are at a football match they are allowed to say certain things I don't think are too acceptable."

There is, of course, a fundamental difference between the metaphorical "50 billion" slurs directed at Cantona and Zamora. The difference – and the part that most bewilders the Fulham man – is that while the Cantona baiting came from away fans, Zamora has been on the receiving end from a minority who share his colours.

"This season we've done well, we've been winning games, and people are still abusing not only myself but other players," he muses. "A little while ago Damien Duff was warming up at our place before the game and some people were going, "Oy, you're a …" and I thought, hang on a minute, we haven't even kicked a ball yet and he has been hot for us this season. I just can't get my head round some people. I just think, if you are a supporter, support your team. You expect it at away grounds, fair enough, but from your own supporters it is a bit strange. It wouldn't make me want to leave but it's not nice. I wish at times football could be a happier environment."

He believes critics underestimate how emotional a game this is for players irrespective of the benefits they receive. Just because a Premier League player earns a fabulous salary and enjoys a luxury lifestyle, that should not make them a verbal punchbag.

This episode, coupled with the recent outburst by Tottenham's Benoît Assou-Ekotto against a supporter at White Hart Lane, shows just how blurred the relationship between fans and players has become. It has been accepted for a while how easily fans can lose respect for player culture, but these situations reveal how easily players can lose respect for fan culture, too.

Zamora says that he was not responding to internet blogs, but to direct provocation. "I can tell you outright that I have never looked at any fans forum for any club," he says. "I am not interested what they are writing about. I don't even pick up a paper after scoring a goal. That's just not me. I am not a football freak. I know a lot of players who will go home and watch football on the TV but I want to go home and switch off."

It has been suggested that Zamora is simply too sensitive. He is proud of what he has achieved to become a top-flight professional footballer, so cheap shots rankle. His career did not arrive down the chimney with Santa.

He remembers being released from West Ham's academy, trying afresh at Bristol Rovers, being sent on loan to non‑league Bath City. "I've been the long way round," he says. "I said to Clarke Carlisle the other day, enjoy it up here. We've been in all the divisions and to finally be playing in the Premier League is an achievement. You appreciate it more. I am still in touch with a few of the lads I was an apprentice with at Bristol Rovers."

His subsequent spell at Brighton is where he really took off. It seemed he only had to look at a football to score as his avalanche of goals helped the club to consecutive promotions. Maintaining that strike rate (better than a goal every other game) in the Premier League, where he had spells with Tottenham and West Ham before joining Fulham in 2008, has been an insurmountable challenge, but it disappoints Zamora that people judge on goals alone.

"If you ask Joe Bloggs down the street how many assists I have had this season they wouldn't be able to tell you. Or how many team-mates I have set up for a shot at goal. Or pass completion. They just know goals, full stop." The example of Emile Heskey, who faced fierce criticism in the past but is now regarded as Wayne Rooney's first‑choice partner for the World Cup because of his all‑round game, is helpful. "But how many years has it taken for people to notice that?" Zamora ponders.

Fortunately, the people whose opinion matters to him do notice his contribution. Fulham's manager, Roy Hodgson, and his team-mates, are tremendously supportive. They have backed him publicly and privately, particularly in the past couple of weeks.

"The gaffer has been behind me from day one," says Zamora. "There was a lot of pressure on me to score goals last year. Because I wasn't, the press and the fans didn't think I should be playing. But the gaffer and the players appreciated what I was doing for the team. That's all that matters really. After the Sunderland game, the gaffer told me to keep doing what I was doing, that I was proving people wrong with the way I was playing." Indeed.

Since then, he has rediscovered that goal ratio from his Brighton days. He goes into this weekend's big test against Manchester United with four goals from his last three games, and the sound of Fulham fans serenading his name ringing in his ears.

Does that mean a lot? "I suppose so," he says, not particularly convincingly. We will have to forgive him for not falling for the kiss and make-up too easily.

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