After I finished my psych degree, I spent a couple of years doing family/relationship counselling.
One thing I got really good at was spotting crocodile tears and narcissists.
Make no mistake, Ken’s “crying” display was as fake as you’ll ever see. One give away was that he was in the “verge” of crying but never actually did it (in my experience, that is all part of the acting, it’s tough to really cry…. If you like The Sopranos, think of Tony’s Mum. He also had a weird stilted vocal style “great boys, great boys” that he thought gave his “emotions” more credibility. He’s such a weirdo).
I always found narcissists like Kenny the toughest to deal with. Why? Well, Ken doesn’t LOOK like who people think are narcissists. He’s not some influencer that you can easily see is a narcissist. And he talks like your classic bogan “everyman”.
This is a powerful tool for Ken because it makes him appear more genuine when he’s far from it. A lot of people fall for it.
The most important advice I’d have with family members dealing with narcissists was that, when they turned themselves into the “victim” (they ALWAYS do), that you need to continue being hard on them and make sure they face the consequences of their actions. Once they realise you can see through them, they will try every trick in the book (for Ken that is calling in his media mates to paint him as the victim, and now “crying” on national TV).
The key thing, now you are at the end of this horrible process dealing with Ken, is that you keep the pressure up. Boo incessantly, throw tissues/onions at him, anything really. As long as you get this cancer out of the club.
And for gods sake, DO NOT LET UP! Manipulative, cunning narcissist like Ken are like cats with nine lives. If you feel sorry for them and/or believe they’re “poor me” rubbish for a second, you’ll let them back in the door.
Good luck on the weekend, some things are bigger than a football match and getting a malignant narcissist like Ken out of your club finally will be a great victory.
It was so performative. Like.. really.. what is there to cry about? Why is that a relief? You beat a 14th place side by 2 points in a very ordinary game that could have gone either way.
It wasn't as if they'd played the performance of a lifetime and beaten a rampaging carlton. You could almost buy that as genuine emotion.
It made no sense whatsoever. Like.. you're acting proud of that performance? The game as dogshit and anyone could see clear as day the team is utterly bereft of confidence and direction.