The atmosphere was **** though. Do you think that makes no difference? I realise the atmosphere would probably improve if the team improved, but don't you think the reverse is also true? The only noise in the first half came from the Stoke fans who were raucous throughout. And not because their team are good. Our support is a ****ing embarrassment frankly.
I'm not saying we are doomed, but I did feel more hope in 2005. We really are sleepwalking into the championship.
We aren't the only team in the bottom half whose home atmosphere is muted, though. Swansea's was downright hostile, including months of protests against the directors (they're now in year two of singing "you greedy bastards, get out of our club" at every opportunity). That didn't stop them from turning it around, and most of that work has been done at the Liberty. The Olympic Stadium is a morgue; West Ham has 8 points in 4 home matches in January (albeit against the sort of competition where one should take 8 points in 4 home matches). Our support is an embarrassment because the product on the field is an embarrassment.
Or the atmosphere is an embarrassment because too many modern football fans consider what happens on the field to be "a product", which they are entitled to reject if it doesn't meet expectations.
Our support is an embarrasment because we've got too many self entitled ****ers who think we have a divine right to be in the top 8.
If our team is good we bask in the glory as if we are personally responsible....I suppose it makes sense that we accept that we are also part of the team when we are poor. Perhaps the team should boo us.
It is a product. It's the outward-facing side of a corporate entity that exists largely to turn a profit for a couple exceedingly wealthy individuals (well, one is definitely exceedingly wealthy; the other is reputed to be). Our chairman cannot go three sentences without talking about their efforts to increase the amount of money they get from fans and sponsors, and our annual turnover exceeds the national budget of the 2m strong nation of The Gambia. As with every club in the modern age, if they want atmosphere, they're going to have to give the fans reason to provide it.
With all due respect, maybe that's a North American view of it. To most Brits it's much more than that, and call me old school (though I'm actually quite young) but I believe the fans have a duty to turn up and support the team regardless of how they are performing.
I get that. I'm not arguing whether it should/shouldn't be the case; I'm saying that we aren't the only club for which that is not the case. Indeed, it's the case for most of the clubs against which we're competing. It hasn't stopped some of them from winning at home; why does it stop us? Edit: the teams who, alongside ourselves and WBA, are the worst home sides in the PL? Newcastle and Palace, both of whom are generally known for their raucous home atmospheres.
I agree that it's the same for most if not all clubs in the division but ours is particularly pathetic and has been for a while now. I'm not saying it would definitely improve us but it certainly won't be helping. For the record I went to Palace this season and it was atrocious, as was Stoke. In the past though having a cauldron at home has certainly made a difference in relegation battles.
It's pathetic because we're pathetic, heh. Selhurst might as well have been empty earlier in the year, absolutely, but that comes with the territory (they were still awaiting their first league goal when we made the trip). Since escaping the basement they seem to have found their voice again if MOTD is a good judge.
MOTD certainly isn't a good judge. I think our support was pretty pathetic in general when we were doing well too fwiw.
Doesn't that belie the notion that our problems stem from our support, though? If we were able to overcome that to finish within three points of CL a couple years back, why should we think that it is a primary factor in our woes this season?
This atmosphere debate isn't confined to those in the bottom 10. One of the worst atmospheres I witnessed was at Old Trafford. And they certainly weren't struggling. Arsenal is dire. And Liverpool is generally quite poor unless it's a big European night.
