http://georgeweahscousin.com/ Interesting article about crowd numbers against Wigan and in particular the slightly negative atmosphere. Makes some good points. We all need to remember how far we have come. With our new signings it's even more important that we as fans give Nigel and the team time to gel and get used to the top flight. Question is will we?
Interesting article and there was no excuse for booing. Think people put far too much emphasis on the Wigan game as a must win. People leaving early has been dealt with ad infinitum so I won't discuss that. Attendance was low but still good. It was aggravated by Wigan's attendance. The cameras unfortunately saw the gaps in the Northam but also face the hospitality section. Although many there may be true fans, a sizeable group are there for other reasons and this match was not a priority. I managed to go to Man City some years ago in hospitality, because a friend had a table for business reasons, but no clients wanted to see the Saints game. Even some season ticket holders may have had family reasons not to attend. It wasn't really low enough to cause major concern unless we have a really crap season!! Saints have always had a minority of fans who are hardcore and noisy moaners. They love nothing more than being angry as apparently players do so much better if yelled at. They must be so looking forward to this season where they will more opportunities to complain vociferously. In recent times they have only been able to scream at Guly...think of the opportunity if the expensive Ramirez should have an off day.
I think most of us on here are sensible enough to know that booing etc. is not constructive or called for. Problem is,..there are lot of other saints fans that are not so level headed. I guess we just have to clap louder!
Reports suggest that he fluctuates between the brilliant and the ordinary. One week he dazzles and the next week he disappears. As for the crowd we are still in the peak holiday seaon and season ticket holders around me were not there last week as they were away. TV cameras are unfortnately positioned such that they focus on the areas of the ground where numbers fluctuate and let us be honest empty seats behind the goals are going to be glaringly obvious. With regards to the weblog I do agree that pricing policy is also an issue. I know Swansea have good gates and after selling all of their season tickets to their regular fans the people who want to see the other clubs pay a premium in that their seats are very expensive.
Hello, Godders. Welcome back. I think the Wigan game was not the game to judge by for various reasons...We'll exceed 30,000 for most games with many sell outs, especially if we start winning.
How was the Wigan game a poor turnout? The empty seats were in the visitors end. Attendance was 29,600, wouldn't have been far off a full house if the visitors had sold their allocation. Tranmere brought more in League1 than Wigan did last week.
The actual tkts sold were okay, but empty home seats were visible on TV...so some paid and didn't turn up for various reasons.
Why the bloody hell would anyone boo the team on their first Premier League home game in years? That's just pathetic really.
Were they really booing Saints off the field or was it as Beefy says more at the Ref. Strewth alive Surley our Fans wouldn't boo our own boys at the first home match of the season......would they?
He was crap, Wigan did alot of tackles that he should have blown up for. I counted at least 3 on Fox.
As I said, there is a core of Saints fans who are never happier than when they are miserable. Bet they didn't bother to come in our last few seasons.
That's the thing with booing, sometimes you can't be sure who it's directed at. For example, I was at one game and there was some booing at the end, I can't remember the exact reason but I think it was because the away fans tried to start a pitch invasion, but you may think it's directed at the team.
Have to say that I've seen some bad decisions in the early days of the PL...thought they'd be better or at least more consistent than in lower leagues.
Nobody was booing the lads off where I was sitting - we all stood and clapped, same as just about every game I've ever been to
As an occasional user of the hospitality facilities, I think we will suffer from low levels of usage due to the discontinuation of the previously available "Silver" and "Bronze" packages. The basic package available this season is the "Gold" which will set me back £125+vat so we can expect much lower numbers in these seats especially for games like Wigan
They may be reintroduced if sales aren't good enough, but I think some of the rooms have been changed so perhaps that won't be an option.
I agrees with St Godders that the positioning of the cameras is unfortunate. Nicola will have to get them switched around when the redevelopment of the stadium takes place. It always annoys me that before I bought a season ticket that I could be sat level with the goal line whilst the best seats in the house were full of gaps.