THE chairman of Everton, Bill Kenwright, is by trade a theatrical man. A West End producer, he is prone to the dramatic gesture and could be described as a bit of a 'luvvie'.

But Kenwright is a terrific and passionate orator whose enthusiasm for his club shines through, along with his desire for new recruits to be made aware of its rich history.

He has been known to give Everton books to new managers and players on the eve of their media unveiling, keen for them to know just what they are joining.

Yet in sport there is the need for a balancing act; be aware of what has been before but also don't get weighed down by history, be it good or bad.

This week eyebrows were raised when Newport Gwent Dragons wing Pat Howard suggested that the players had been hindered by "sapping" negativity at the end of their turgid 11-6 success against Zebre, their first win since January.

It was naivety rather than finger-pointing by the South African and I don't want to revisit the age old debate about booing at sporting occasions – in this column I have previously made it clear that I believe punters have the right to jeer a team after parting with their pounds but I'm not a fan of individuals being singled out – but I do feel it's important that the reasons for audible Rodney Parade angst are made clear.

Howard should have shown more awareness but is in something of an awkward position in that he has been brought into a club that is trying to move away from a history of failures.

Whereas Everton have a rich history stretching back to 1878, the Dragons' only goes back to 2003 and after being pretty good in the first two seasons have got used to slumming it in the bottom half of the table.

The name of the league has gone from the Celtic League to Magners to RaboDirect to Guinness Pro12 but since 2005 – when Howard was 13 – a constant of the competition has been the Dragons being in the bottom half.

How do you solve such a cycle? Money, clearly, but that's not exactly sloshing around at Rodney Parade.

Changing the mindset from being whipping boys, perhaps creating a siege mentality, is one of the few other ways.

Previous director of rugby Lyn Jones often talked about "getting the right people in the room" and attempted to change the culture by signing experienced players with successes on their CV in Lee Byrne, Boris Stankovich and Ian Gough among others.

Sadly that method didn't quite work out for a variety of reasons but the objective remains the same for head coach Kingsley Jones and his management team.

They don't want players turning out in Swansea, Llanelli, Cork, Galway or Belfast thinking 'well, we never win here'.

But it's a balancing act and the newer member of the squad need to realise that it's nothing personal against them when there's the odd jeer, Dragons supporters are just fed up of disappointment.

Franky it's their great credit that nearly 5,000 still turn up, often in hope rather than expectation. In fact, give them something to shout about and they will do it loudly to create a wonderful atmosphere at a famous old ground.

Their side won just four league games last season and they hoped the new campaign would start with more of a swagger against Zebre.

It was inevitable that the Italians would be more resolute than they had been when thrashed by the Ospreys seven days earlier but after handing over their cash the punters wanted a little bit more value for money than 11-6 with one try and countless errors.

That frustration boiled over a little but who can blame those that chose to vent their spleen? Just because you get used to being dished up gruel doesn't mean that you should laud slop like it's a sirloin steak.

In fact, accepting mediocrity (or worse) is itself a barrier to improvement but make no mistake, while the four points were welcomed there has been no satisfaction in the Dragons camp this week at the manner that they were earned.

They know that better is needed against Munster and I am confident that their performance will be much, much better.

And I make that prediction based on history as the Dragons are frequently awful at putting sides like Zebre, Treviso and even some Challenge Cup sides to bed.

On Friday night and on Saturday morning we were treated to a pair of self-fulfilling prophecies.

Approaching 9pm at Rodney Parade it was clear that the hosts were not going to give their guests from Parma a hiding; just like September, 2015 they failed to crack the Italians with scoreboard pressure.

After wasting a number of opportunities – they turned over the ball a whopping 12 times in the Zebre 22 – the trend continued to the final whistle.

And approaching 9.30am the following day the All Blacks 'hit the button' against Argentina. While New Zealand were good, the Pumas' shoulder sagged with the feeling of "here we go again".

The world champions use history to their advantage while the Dragons are at times hindered by it.

Howard & Co must do their best to play without demons but it's prudent to remember what their supporters have sat through.

South Wales Argus:

ON Friday night I plan to head to the North Terrace at BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park for what promises to be a cracker in the Guinness Pro12.

Glasgow, who will be in the mix to win the title for a second time, travel to face a Cardiff Blues side who have started the campaign superbly with wins against Edinburgh and Munster.

Danny Wilson's side are the Dragons' biggest rivals and the following statement is a tough one to make – let's hope they have a strong season.

I am usually one for sporting schadenfreude but it will be good for the game in Wales if the men from the capital can be challenging the Warriors and Ulster at the head of the table along with the Ospreys, who had a poor 2015/16 but remain the standard bearers in this country.

As someone who makes a living from following the Dragons, one looks to the west with jealousy.

However, perhaps success in Cardiff, Swansea and Llanelli is just what's needed for improvement in Newport.

Despite the Zebre display I remain confident that it will be a better campaign at Rodney Parade but it's all relative and it's hard to see them shaking off the tag of lowest-placed region.

Rather than participating in a race to the bottom, the success of others may help shine a light on just what is needed to drive forward.