One of the regular posters on here (no names, but an obvious fan of the Guardian and further EU integration...) likes "evidence". Here therefore, to satisfy his insatiable thirst for facts, is some further evidence that we are heading down the ****ter under Powell and his awful brand of football. Our average home attendance in season 2009/10 = 20,894 Our average home attendance in the three full seasons that Sir Chris has been our manager: 2011 - 18,499 2012 - 17,402 This season to date - 16,636 Decline in average home attendance since Sir Chris Powell was appointed Charlton manager - 22% "Captain - the ship is sinking bruv "
There's no way our average attendance this season is 16,636 - more like 12,636! The Donny rematch was probably 7,000.
On saturday the brand of football was a distinct improvement, but the end result was the same- sitting listening to the away fans celebrating yet again. Our home form was terrible last season as well- we might all be die-hards on 'ere, but fans will drift away from a losing team, something which will not have escaped Roland's attention. The hike in prices this season didn't help either, and I'm not sure what the national trend is, but I'd be surprised if Roland isn't making contingency plans to change the manager if there is not an improvement quickly. Sir Chris isn't doing himself any favours by playing Sordell, fans aren't so stupid they can't see what a dud he is, which is why there was such a cheer when he went off.
Our decline has been steady for some time though... 3rd Division football & survival in The Championship isn't everybody's cup of tea, is it..? There's bound to be a drop off, especially when the squad get's as stale as ours did... All our managers have been on a hiding to nothing, all of them have had their best players taken away from them... The traditional Charlton sell your best assets in the January transfer window continued in its usual fashion this season, and in CP's case it looks like RD chose the majority of the replacements... Can somebody tell me what kind of glove puppet of a manager we are going to end up with if CP is replaced..? I'm never going to just overlook the overall picture, and jump on the quick fix bandwagon, which for some fans amounts to blaming the manager for all that ails the club... The foundations have to be solid, if there has to be blame and reasons for demise, then it lies with the people sitting at the big long table at The Valley. Not everything is down to managers. Some fans expect miracles, and even when we got a guy who produced a few (Curbs), they soon turned on him... The same fans shouting the loudest for CP to be sacked, did exactly the same thing with all our other managers, all five of them, including Curbs... It always ends up the same way, with loads of fans joining threads and spitting their hate towards the manager, whilst undermining all the stuff that has gone beyond our managers headsâ¦
Excellent post Volly. Now do the previous five seasons prior to CP as we crashed out of the Prem and frantically swapped managers (Curbs, Dowie, Reed, Pardew, Parky). The ships been sinking for a while, it did'nt start when CP took over in league one. Be nice if he dropped Sordell though, and played Cousins in the middle.
I don't get your point ken ? You are suggesting that remorseless decline is inevitable. Our attendances have continued to decline under Powell over the last three years because of the poor standard of football/performances. Attendances would dramatically improve again (as they did under Curbs) if we had a good manager playing good football.
trust you to sound like a politician when arguing, i'm just presenting all the facts and not just the synopsis.
Not aimed at me but I'll answer it anyway- it depends what happens afterwards, who the new manager is and whether or not we start to win games, especially at home. Fans can be fickle, and Sir Chris will soon be forgotten if things pick up on the field. You don't hear any Southampton fans asking for Nigel Adkins back, and look at the uproar when he was sacked. On the other hand, look at Cardiff!
yep, could go either way i think, depending on what happens next. if he does go, and with the amount of man love Vol and Typical show i bet they wouldnt renew
The thing that gets bums on the seats most is usually investment in the squad. The fans need to get excited about something, and in football that is usually curiosity in signing a few players who come in with a proven reputation. Brand of football helps to a point, but playing well and not picking up results will not excite the fans who aren't regulars. With no investment it does create a whole scenario of ''well if the club wont invest, then why should I?''.
Entertaining football has nothing to do with it. If we hired Big Sam when he gets sacked as West Ham manager, if we played horrible hoof ball that worked and we got into the prem, we'd be watching even worse football than we do now (not seen a game since Brighton so can't really comment on recent weeks) but fans would be there because we are a prem club.
They wouldn't be fans, Ted, they would be the same sort of fair-weather prunes who are currently filling Selhurst Park every fortnight.
Vol, you are entering WUM territory with the continued references to the Guardian. And it intrigues me that you use evidence as if it were a dirty word... Anyway, others have made the point that ticket prices have remained the same or increased despite the recession, and that is undoubtedly a factor that Powell does not control. I'd be interested to know where you got those attendance stats from, as the Football League's official stats show that: - Season 2010/11 - 15,582 (I know Powell was only there for half of that season) - Season 2011/12 - 17,428 - Season 2012/13 - 18,503 - Season 2013/14 - no official FL figure so far so I'll go with your 16,636. http://www.football-league.co.uk/staticFiles/6f/bd/0,,10794~179567,00.pdf So when you say what you should be saying is that since Chris Powell was appointed in January 2011, attendances have gone up 6% (15582 then, 16636 now) The point is, there are various factors for our decline in attendances. One is, undoubtedly, poor on the field performances at home. But others, including factors which go way beyond Charlton and which affect other clubs, play a key role too.
Touche, not true fans, but they would boost the attendance, whether football is nice quick Barcelona esc football or Big Sam punt it forward football, it's not about entertainment, it is simple about where we are in the league or what league we are in
Oh they would be fans Ponders, in the same way as the latest boy bands have fans until Mr Cowell releases the next lot onto the market. What they wouldn't be is supporters who stick with the club through thick and thin. This is the problem with Vol's "evidence" even ignoring the fact that the Captain can produce a different set of numbers. What we lose are fans who will drift off to Sellout Park or the Emirates in order to have their egos massaged by supporting a premier league club. You don't lose supporters, they die. This gives me the greatest concern, the average age of our support base. Whilst I don't criticise the cardigan wearing Bovril drinking CAST members who attend on a weekly basis, it does worry me that they might be of an average age greater than the teenagers whose playground support is for the "premiership". It is why I will support the "football for a fiver" initiatives that bring in kids who might just pledge their allegiance for life rather than a season in the premiership.
Good points, SVC, and I agree with you about the difference between supporters and fans. The football for a fiver initiative is a divisive subject, and it certainly has me sitting on the fence. I have bought up many, many fiver tickets for my kids' friends to use and they have ultimately enjoyed their day out at The Valley (despite the indifferent results and performances), yet when it comes to the same kids being taken to the football by their own parents, it just hasn't happened. The difference between a parent and a child attending for a tenner and then the same two going for £27 at the usual rate is too great a difference and will put off those people who lack the commitment of the regular supporters. I'm not the greatest mathematician, but surely the 'fiver days' push the average attendance up considerably.
