... in the championship, everyone is more or less on an equal footing - financially, so you get an evenly matched game.. Whereas in the BPL, it is skewed towards teams with billionaire owners.
You're still being very dramatic and completely changing what I'm saying but the bit I've emboldened is the only bit that makes any sense to me so I'll answer that. I don't mind the idea of fans turning up when we're in the PL, I'd rather they came all the time obviously but half the time is better than never. My only objection to fans like that would be if they started criticising others. For example if they sit in the East stand and suddenly think that makes them a better fan than anyone in the West and South is. For example someone said that to me the other day even though I know full well he was a Liverpool fan before it was cool to support City and he still has a childish hatred of Man U as a result of that but told me I'm not a proper fan because I sit in the West. I can see why people don't like 'plastics' but fans have to start somewhere and it will inevitably be when the team is more publicised and famous. **** me has anyone read what I put? I'm not saying anything about myself or anyone else in particular. The very fact we're all on this board discussing City pretty much proves our support. I even specifically pointed out that some people will obviously not be able to come for financial reasons or work commitments. I'm just questioning an attitude which I heard several times around the ground on Saturday, so it's actually from people who went to the game but talked about not coming if they knew it was a reserve side.
I have just had a test of my loyalty: Travel up on Saturday to watch the match. Stay down here and watch the match. Spend £150 on the trip Do an enriched air scuba diving course It is not an easy choice. If I dive next Sunday, I can be fully certificated before I go on holiday, so that gives me an extra day of diving. If I do the course I can dive for longer on each dive. I use 10ltrs of air in 50minutes, at 15mtrs. Enriched I will gain more than 10 minutes each dive, which increases my safety margin as well as giving me longer dive time. All pluses. Negatives, I will miss the match. What does a loyal fan do?
Whatever you want. As a loyal fan, you'll be back in the following matches. The club will survive a week with the occasional missing person. I recommend forging a sick note from the doctor though, just in case.
FFS read the post. I've said countless times I don't care about peoples individual reasons for not going and I admire people who make regular trips from places like Southampton to get to home games. All I'm saying is people shouldn't criticise other fans' loyalty if they don't want to see an 11 that isn't good enough for them. I find it incredible that so many people have read this as me criticising fans who dont go to games for a whole host of reasons. I'm criticising those who criticise!
I'm not having a pop. I understand what you put and also with elements of what Fez has posted. But I do actually think that there is a debate to be had about loyalty, but it is an impossible one to measure. Not turning out for F A cup games in not a measure of loyalty nor is turning up. Loyalty is showing support to your club, at the level you want to show support at, nothing more nothing less. Once it becomes more than that it is not loyalty it is addiction. Blind support is not good for the club. If 25k supporters turn up to watch the second string play and they perform as badly as they did, too many will lose faith and not ever come again. 8k was more than enough. Some die hards, some newbies and some who need an excuse to get out of the house, makes a far better crowd for the FA cup than 25k screaming fanatics. I will do what I want on Saturday, because I am loyal to myself before the club and that just seens right. Unless the wife changes it and I end up doing what she wants. It is however a real test for me andI am genuine in being undecided.
I didn't say if you miss a game you're not a loyal fan. At no point was I judging you. I was refering to Premier League fans who disapear when we're back in the Championship.
That's an interesting debate and it'd go on forever. I understand the points you're making. However that isn't really what I was asking. I'm saying that there are a lot of people who criticise others, call them plastics, etc. and there are a lot of people who don't come to cup games, the chief reason seemingly being that the team selection isn't good enough for them. There must be some overlap of people who do both of those things and that right there is hypocrisy.
SB hardly put out a reserve team did he ? Most of them hardly ever play for the reserves anyway. Squad side maybe. The point being that its been a very expensive time of late for most people and a home FAC game with Orient is like wanting a cold bag of chips on new years day. If we had had one of the big 4 then the KC would have been full. Its not the cup itself more like the draw. Some games over the weekend has big gates and others very poor ones. Blackburn were in the bottom 5 gates with just over 5,500 and that was for a afellow championship team. Its got nothing to do with how loyal anyone is. Its to do with what spare cash you have in your pocket at this time of year. Unless City have a good win @ Orient next tuesday then the crowd fior Barnsleym wont be much better than on saturday. But looking at the draw it could have been worse for us. Round in February offers up another chance for a bigger team and most fans will have had a Pay Day again.
Nope, not at you, or anyone in particular. Was just curious. I actually agree with you and understand the points you've tried to make that either a lot don't or we have a lot of trolls
You started off poorly by telling us all that we will think the same way as you and it has simply gone downhill since, because it is clear that a good number of us don’t! You keep saying I am being dramatic – how is that? I make simple points and ask you simple questions. To be dramatic I might suggest that I would embellish my posts with examples and comparisons to ‘real life’, although wait a moment, I have seen that somewhere? Yes, that’s right; it was your own pathetic attempt to extricate yourself from a stupid and pointless thread. You support your club in your way and let others do it in theirs, and to return to the nub of it, if that means they decide a deliberately weak 1st team in the FA Cup is a good enough reason to give a game a miss, then so-be-it. What they don’t need, expect or deserve is someone then trying to pigeon-hole them with some so-called ‘Plastic’ fans, from another pigeon-hole. phew, that was a lucky escape!
Some of us will be around whatever, and have always been that way, others come, others go, long as on balance we get enough, whats the issue?
'Glory fans' shouldn't really apply to City because we don't have and never have had much of it. I welcome anyone who comes to watch us for every match or for one match. My only complaint is that loyalty should mean something, as it does in every other walk of life. If it had no value why do all the huge supermarket chains fight tooth and nail to get you to sign up to loyalty cards ?
