Not me Bloother - I agree with you and at least those of us who understand some of the feelings of the crowd who voice their opinion are trying to look upwards rather than race to the bottom. There is absolutely justification for making feelings known during the match especially if it is the 5th or 6th time that you've had to watch such rubbish.
Yellotoyou you have lost the power of rational thought in your despair at the team. You are seriously now saying that those chanting that the team are embarrassing are looking upwards and those that think that might not be helpful are racing to the bottom?! I hope that some of you can regain some positive feelings before we play again or we will surely be part of the problem.
Bloother I am sorry to have lumped you in with those doing the singing. Uncalled for. However I was appalled yesterday and I have not yet managed to get over it - hence my annoyance now.
Hey Ghosty, no need to apologise, emotions are running high at the moment. My main feeling is one of disbelief that things have gone so wrong at the moment so fast, especially after the highs of last season. That said I'm the master of sitting on the fence and I can see both sides. But as we have also established, there have been far worse days. I desperately want Watford to do well and I desperately want it to be with Zola. COYHs, get behind your team
I think every single one of us wants Watford to do well, but to have several thousand people getting on your back doesn't help one bit. The players and manager know full well that things are not right and don't need reminding. We enjoy giving stick to the lino who gets it horribly wrong, but that is designed to make him know we have spotted it and even things up when he next thinks about waving his flag. The same abuse will not help a player put a mistake behind him. He probably feels miserable already.
Exactly so - and not merely miserable, he would doubtless feel bloody annoyed. Which is just how we will feel when word spreads that we are squabbling amongst ourselves & trolls come a-visiting from other boards to add to our misery. Having one turn up - such as that Leeds testicle boy - is little more than an amusing distraction, but having a horde of them? No thanks...
Burnley away on Tuesday night. Given our record there, their 2 top scorers doing so well and how we're doing at the moment, we could get thumped. Given the unpredictability of the Championship though, there is the possibility that the players may feel they have nothing to lose and get something from the game.
The fickleness of football supporters......... Let's face it, the team we have now has in effect been subsidised by our new owners, as is our new stand, part of an investment in the medium turn. Our job IMO as supporters is to support our team on match days... Last season was a gift in as much as supporters we did not pay for the team, the manager and the performances... and a style of football to match the golden years of GT. And many of us were praising this style of play, the goals and the results. It all cam to us in a few heady months. Here we are a few home games later and some of the same are openly denigrating team, manager and players. Outrageous.
We are Watford SUPPORTERS, which means through thick and thin. If we are unhappy about any aspect of the club then we must do it in a supportive and positive manner and/or through the right channels.
With you both on this. And I've never bought into the 'I paid my money and have the right....' argument. Football is a business and in every business there is a risk - no automatic right to success/profit. The old maxim applies - 'You pays your money, you takes your chances.' IMO
It's a tough one to call really. Football is an 'entertainment' industry, so many fans feel they should entertained and are entitled to show their disapproval if they are not... but then that is probably too simplistic for football. Football fans don't support their team for success (well, most of us don't). We support them because they have meaning to us. We turn up week in, week out (in our own way, be it in the stadium, listening to commentary, checking results) and we are the ones who will always be there. Personally, I feel booing/abusing our team is counter-productive and is less liekly to inspire a player, wherea getting behind the team may give them that extra 5-10% boost they need. To remind them that they are not just on the pitch for themselves, but for the person in the stand who contributes so much. Again, this is probably far to simplistic and gives some players far too much credit. I'm sure a player will feel more upset about a poor result if they heard the fans singing for them all game rather than giving them abuse Anyway... was the '1881' not brought together to get behind the team, to create a better atmosphere? If people in the crowd show their discontent, should these people not try to counter this and 'sing up for the lads'. It's all well coming together for the good times... but they are more important in the bad! If it's just a case of a big group all singing together rather than a group that is creating a better atmosphere every game, then maybe it is not such a great idea!
I think that sometimes it is a generational thing. Football in the 60's and 70's (When many of us started supporting Watford) was less of an entertainment industry and more of a religious ritual - and one which only cost a few bob. When I first went to the Vic. the entry price was not much more than for a packet of 10 ***s, and so maybe we didn't expect so much - the day out, the atmosphere etc. compensated for whatever happened on the pitch. Of course we all want the team to do well, but being a football supporter involves accepting all the highs, the lows and the in betweens as all part of the game. For older supporters this may be easier because we have known the bad times, and know that they too are only temporary. I've stood in the rain watching us losing badly at places like Crewe and Cambridge in the past but somehow was still optimistic about the next game. Without optimism there is no point in being a football fan. The younger fans of today may be a different breed in as much as football may have become just another consumer industry for them - which at the prices paid now is understandable. Also, they are often coming much greater distances to matches than the fans of bygone years who mostly lived close to the stadium. The Yeovil game hurt - of course it did, but the only game I have managed to get to this year was the Bournemouth game (you see the influence I have on the team !) and apart from about 3 players it was the same lineup as for Yeovil. I know that Zola will turn it around. Just one last point here - the Bournemouth fans were still singing when 1-6 down, a lesson for us I think.
Good points above I am going to Leeds on Sat. and hope very much that people will get behind the team. I have been twice this season, both away, and we gained 4 points!
