I know this subject has come up endless times in other threads in the past, but can't help thinking it's more of an issue than ever in a relegation struggle. Have seen people saying we'll be ok because a lot of our home games are against teams around us in the table, but on the evidence of the last year or so, we struggle to beat anyone at home and I do think the atmosphere is a contributory factor. I have the sense that some of the teams around us (notably Plymouth and Portsmouth) generate much greater passion from fans than we do. I couldn't make the journey up from London last night so don't know what it was like - it actually sounded on Sky like it might have been better than sometimes but the Sky commentators said how quiet it was. I don't think its simply a case of 'if the team was playing better, the atmosphere would be better' and that actually we need a managing director of the club (is there one?) to really think through how to improve it. What do others think?
the atmosphere at times in the first half yesterday was honestly the worst ive ever heard it it was like an empty stadium no idea what to do, we hate a guy with a megaphone standing like in the mainland europe
It's terrible, and it's not just the noise but the mood. There is such a disinterested and unenthusiastic air around our home games. Night games like last night feel like Round 1 League Cup ties even though there's 20,000 there. I don't think there's a simple answer. What definitely isn't the answer is gimmicky ideas to force an atmosphere. They don't work. So let's not even get into goal music, singing sections or anything of that nature. That stuff is a total red herring. We need to somehow improve the mood to get people more interested. Success would do that, undeniably big games would do that like Ipswich last season. But you can't force those things. It's not easy at all.
I go to most away games. The atmosphere in most grounds from the home fans is the same as ours until they score/force succession of corners/ have near miss shots etc. Otherwise it's football in a library to coin a phrase.
Personally feel the idea of moving the (supposedly) more vociferous section from the East Stand to the North Stand has failed. We must be the only club in the country who choose to attack the opposite end from where our (supposedly) vociferous fans are in the second half. People have commented on how the team as a team we seem to be too accommodating and I sometimes think we extend that to away fans. Put them in the Upper West maybe, so the whole of North, East and South stands are home support. Got to try something. But as I said at the start of this thread, I don't have any sense that any of our Directors are really thinking about this. For me , it's a bigger issue than who the next set of players will be in the 6 monthly churn.
Acun needs to stick his hand in his pocket and pay some Ultras to come and get the West Stand rocking.
Think there are some logistical problems to having away fans in west upper, although from a footballing POV it'd make total sense.
Sack off the pre-match tunes and only play songs that we have chants for (gold, our house, spirit in the sky, etc), Coventry did this the last time I went and it got the fans going. Maybe a very controversial thing, but I'd also think about packing in wise men say. Swap the fans in the north stand and the away fans around, have the whole of the east stand back to being the loud stand. People in the south end of the east stand will sing, it's just impossible to get chants going. Get the chants going in E1 and they'll make their way down to E11. Swap everything around (dugouts, etc) so that we kick off from the north stand every game and attack the north stand in the 2nd half. Portsmouth got to run right over to their fans when warming up when they came here, it got them and their fans going out the gate. It also pisses me off that we allow teams to celebrate when they score late in the 2nd half with their fans, like yesterday. Deny the away team that at least. Get a proper MC in, Steve Jordan used to get the fans going mental, he'd be screaming down the mic by the time the game kicked off, I thought he was great. People have said Hainsworth? at Boothferry park was also really good at it, but that was before my time. Finally, play good football and win important games, the best atmosphere I've been a part of was beating Watford to get to Wembley. At the end of the day, even the biggest clubs have **** support when they are ****, it's a fact of life.
A lot of mainland Europe usually have one section of a stand that is specifically for a battalion - noise, standing, flags and flares. The elderly, couples on a date, the stattos and phone checkers, meal eaters, corporate and families sit elsewhere. The cameras and microphones focus on this section of the crowd.
The simple fact is For english clubs and culture We just need to score and win home games 4 home wins in the whole ****ing year of 2024 2 wins in 15 home league games this season By faaaar the worst home form Home games are just **** And the mood is so **** becasue our home form is beyond belief It really is just shockingly poor over the last few year Must be the worst in the football league bar none
part of problem, joking aside, too much like the theatre with all these posh meals, surprised there isnt interval ice creams.. get it back to cold meat pie and luke warm Bovril, get some passion back into people- and bellyache
I agree with most of the above... if you go to a home game expecting to win your mood is totally different from going to a home game expecting to get beaten. The whole pre match pantomime is rank amateur and TT is right sack off this \falling in love with you'
There is no easy answer when home form has been so bad for so long, home wins, no drums, no goal music.
I think it's hard to generate an atmosphere, and excitement when the product on the pitch is so slow and ponderous, and passing backwards. That is from both sides, not just City. When the GK of either side, is just stood with the ball at his feet for 30minutes a game, I cannot be bothered to sign anything, and end up checking my watch
The onus falls onto the North Stand for me, fairly or unfairly- they are the designated singers who produce most the atmosphere. on the occasion they are loud and racouse for sustained periods it does spread, like the Ipswich game last year, they were noisy, then east joined in, then south and it even made it up to the west upper where i sit.!. too often they produce 1 or 2 songs then go quiet, the West or South are never going to get the atmosphere going, its just never going to happen- they have to take the lead and keep it up, then others will follow. this isnt a dig at North stand as at least they do sing, im just saying only way atmosphere ever going to kick off is if they make it and keep it up , just the way it is. saying that, it has to be ignited by events on the pitch, like starting a fire....the crowd should start it , but then it needs events on the pitch to provide that spark and ignite it, an early goal, a crunching tackle, even a controversial decision against us, but preferably not that one.
