crouch & mcmenemy

[dubai_phil]

Here's a way to look at the argument about attendance that needs a good googler

 

Go back to the Dell with the old cheap prices and PRE-all seater stadium rules

 

During Branfoot's reign the football was awful - how did that affect attendances? Were those who went Branfoot supporters?

During Merrington's reign when we lost a lot, did we have 30 odd thousand every week?

When we were relegated, in our first season when we struggled were the attendances higher or lower than the season we were promoted?

 

Attendances are affected by MANY factors, but as most of my mates back home keep telling me - It's sh*te football and permanently losing at home that makes them decide (horror of horrors) to go do the shopping instead or even play footie again on a Saturday afternoon

[Legod Third Coming]

Seems there are several arguments here.... What gets me as is why we seem so polarised about teh 'attendence thing' as if you cant ahve an opinion on the impact of the falling gate without it labelling you as a follower of one side or another... the two are NOT linked you can be gald Lowe has gone and still acknowledge that our support has let us down this season.

 

We complain constantly that Lowe had a huge ego, but do not football fans both individually and collectively suffer the same thing? We are always going on about sh!te like how big the club is, how good the support is at the same time as saying its all superiour to our rivals- this odd needs to justify our relative position.... so the very moment someone dares to criticise these aspects of the club and some of you cant handle it - its brusining egos, thats all.

 

It is a fact which is unarguable that at some other clubs who have had worse chairman, worse results and multiple relegations with ridiculous ticket prices, have still maintained a far higher percentage of their top flight fan base when relegated and in the sh1te, than we did. As a direct result of this, IT has impacted on the revenue - and outside teh Prem the gate is the BIGGEST SINGLE CONTRIBUTER to the very revenues that fund the team - so without doubt the falling attendence DID play a major part in the administration - we may not like being accused of our part in it but its true none the less.

 

As to reasons for this, yes there were probably a few hundred that genuinely felt that staying away was thier only way to protest, BUt its not rocket science to see that the vast majority, simply dont want to pay money to watch poor football - thats by itself is fair enough, its logical that we want to be entertained when spending good money, but I thought being a supporter was about more than that? I thought a suporter base showed its TRUE colours when things were at their worst - not when its gouing well... it is easy afterall to get 30,000 to a cup final. All that this has highlighted is that we have a smaller supporterbase than we liked to believe when in the prem when we were lauding it over the skates.... That does not bother me, but we cant ahve it both ways - make bold statements about the 'size' of our club when things are going well, and then blame someone else for the shrinking numbers when things are dire.

 

Finally, on the issue of the last relegation in 74 - you simply cant equate the two - all we really suffered then was brusied egos, not a loss of 30mil, the majority of which was funding prem player contracts... also in those days it should have been alot easier for a smaller club like us to stay up - as the gates were still shared and clubs attracted players by relationships not by what you could afford to pay them as there was not much difference between what the players got payed either at a club or between clubs - the premiership may have provided untold riches ...to players and agents.... but its made it 100x more difficult for the smaller clubs to survive, especially as we had previously already lost out as the shared gate was abandoned.

 

Had Lawrie and Ted got us relegated in todays terms, the backlash would have been alot worse and their reputations would have been considerably diminished - For Lowe, his own attitude made our feelings towards him even worse despite many probably acknowledgeing ..begrdgingly in most cases, that its was not all entirly down to one or two decisions.

 

No one disputes the falling gate depriving the club of revenue.

 

The point is surely to recognise why the gates fell. And the reason comes down to relegation. The two are inetxricably linked.

 

So it is totally perverse to blame fans for our administration.

 

It is, again, the equivalent of blaming Woolworth's customers for failing to shop there, of Chrysler's customers for failing to buy more cars.

 

Falling gates are a SYMPTOM of the club's position and not the cause.

 

Yes it highlights the real fan base perhaps. But is it any surprise sales went up dramatically when the club was revealed for many to be in the real state it was??

 

It's too easy to think most casual fans come on here - they don't.

 

So last Saturday when the real problems were revealed, not only did the crowd swell, so thousands of us also committed real and promisory cash to keep our club alive. More have come up with ideas to raise even further cash.

 

These are people, FC, who can ill afford it.

 

People who did not/could not or would not support Lowe because of his capacity to alienate his own customers.

 

People who recognise the sancitity of the club above the board but were simply turned off by one of three things: Lowe, rubbish football, rubbish footballers.

 

Don't forget. We sold out against Sheffield United. We had a chance to build on that over the summer. Did we?????

 

By not embracing fans as the heartbeat of a club (and instead treating them with aorrogant disdain) Rupert Lowe missed an opportunity to engage the fans in safeguarding the future of the club.

[Nineteen Canteen]

I bet Nineteen Canteen doesn't know what the chocolate boxes were.

 

Ask Toomer if you want to know about them Tame. I learn a lot on here even the alledged whereabouts of Justin Fashanu.

[ottery st mary]

Ask Toomer if you want to know about them Tame. I learn a lot on here even the alledged whereabouts of Justin Fashanu.

 

Eventually you could even become a Saints fan...If only we could convert Rupert and Michael:rolleyes: