The bit I struggle with is the over analysis of players, mistakes are highlighted over and over and labels dished out that catch on with the minority and become bigger than they really are. If the players didn't make mistakes, if they where genuinely that good they wouldn't be playing for us. All the players have made mistakes this season, none of them deliberate and none made through lack of effort, they are either not top level players or they are young lads learning. I'd rather watch these lads develop than a load of kiss the badge and fuxk of for a pay packet mercenary any day of the week
We don’t have a lot of negative fans. It’s just that miserable moaning malcontents never shut up. If you’re happy or content you don’t feel the urge to speak up as much. It just takes the odd negative nelly to stir up any ill will they can with the sound of them far outweighing the majority unfortunately.
The season after next the North stand will become the main one in my opinion. Away fans moved to the NW corner segment and ALL of the North stand for home supporters. I honestly believe the atmosphere will be fantastic with all the noise reverberating off the roof down onto the pitch and around the ground. This in turn will get the rest of the stands going. PS, shall I take my rose tinted specs off. Had to have a little negativity just so you know am real and not a robot .
Who is mentioning NW corner? Think that's a concession corner and could upset a load of lifers (my boy and sons included)...
I think the club have suggested they are looking at options for the away support and I think this will be the area they opt for. Close to away buses, the big escape tunnel in the event of emergencies. Nowt official just my thoughts
Unfortunately social media has given the negative part of our support far more reach and volume than they ever had in the past . They would mostly be ignored and drowned out. Lack of atmosphere is harder to explain, but I feel its down to our tactics of trying to sit back and, defend a slim lead instead, of going for more goals.We expect/fear a sucker punch .. Also the songs fans sing these days are all repetitive, not funny or relevant and are largely ignored as all clubs sing the same s**t . That instinctive funny stuff has all but disappeared.
Oh social media has made the world incredibly unsocial the irony of putting it on forum isn’t lost on me
https://x.com/SunderlandAFC/status/1916885620565188886 27 comments and only a few of them supporting. but i honestly think the support will be there Saturday
My twopenneth. Yeah, we do have a problem with negativity and personally I think it's getting worse. Negativity is contagious and spreading, but unlike other points in our history I don't think that there's a main reason for it, just general negativity about and at the club. Different people have different negative views about different parts of the club and it's all coalescing into one, big, negative vibe, feeding off previous bits of negativity. In the past there was negativity towards Tom Cowie and Bob Murray, but that was how the club was being ran with genuine concerns on lack of investment and so on. I remember Ian Atkins quote when he joined Everton of "if you think champagne you'll drink champagne, at Sunderland they think water". Losing Marco to Palace as they were more ambitious than us and not using the money well. Poor, cheap options as managers (Crosby, Butcher, Buxton, Wilkinson), yet KLD has had more negativity thrown at him about running the club than both of those together. The fact we nearly went out of business under Cowie and were mostly skint under Murray in the 90's with rumours of administration around 2003-06 just seems to be forgotten, while KLD is "spending his mam's pocket money", "its just a play thing, he's not really interested", or "he's just a front for Methven and Donald". People moan about the atmosphere, yet do nothing about it. I admit, a lot is reactive to the football on display, but for Christ's sake people were more supportive and backed the lads better during the 19 and 15 points seasons where we lost pretty much every week. Players get singled out. Neil and Patterson, for example, can be given a pass off some for a poor performance as "they're local lads", yet Rigg doesn't, despite being local himself? No, Rigg can't be given a pass on a bad game because he shouldn't be in the team, but Speakman has promised him he'll play every game, just like "jogger Jobe" last year. If we're not 3 nil up after 20 minutes we're "****e" and might as well pack in. There's no context in someone having a below par game, if they aren't playing like peak Messi or Pele, they're "****e", players are leapt on and hammered just because someone has an agenda about the club for their own personal reasons. These are just some of the things I've heard over the recent weeks, in person and online, and our poor form since February has only added fuel to the fire. But honestly, look at this stage last year, or how things were when Neill left. There seems to be sections of our fans waiting the club to make mistakes and fail and can't wait to pounce on something to make it a stick to beat the club with.
When we were in L1, there was a general consensus amongst everyone that L1 was below us and everyone was pulling in the same direction. It didn’t matter how we got out of there, we just had to. Now we’re in the championship, you have a massive range of views from people who think we’re overachieving because we used to be in league one, to those who think we should be 20 points clear cos we get more fans than anyone else. That’s led to less of a common goal where some think that it’s okay if we don’t go up this season because the club is on the right path, and others who think it’s not okay because the world will end if we don’t go up. There’s in-fighting amongst the fan base, and it isn’t helped by poor performances on the pitch.
I dont think we are any worse than other clubs to be honest. Football fans in general are on a roller coaster of emotions. I mix with Derby and Forest and the two Sheffield clubs fans week to week. They are the same. I talk to Forest fans who get on the teams back even this season. They arent daft buggers, they just want the absolute best possible outcome. It wasnt massively different back in the 80s or 90s to be honest. We just argued in the pub rather than vented online. Now everyone has their voice. I remember clearly arguing about players who were being called all sorts, or the Smith out campaign etc etc. One thing is different is society is generally ****tier now than it was. Too many selfish buggers and too many who dont want to make a difference by themselves. That permeates into football stadiums. A lot of fans are lazy at the game imo. Not enough attempt to help the players. We used to believe we could help them win, but we had to roar, and cheer, and sing, and intimidate. Didnt stop us moaning and whinging afterwards. It is why I prefer away games, it feels like a more invested bunch of fans to be honest.
I joined rtg in 2006, I don't recall the negativity being so loud then as it is now. This season I've had to check as it's felt we have been playing prime barca or real Madrid as opposed to our actual opposition. Forums used the be a laugh and somewhere for exiles to catch news, now they are places where everything is disected and there's an expert. I include myself in that mess, last year I lost he plot over the commercial side of things and this year I have eaten a lot of humble pie.
I used to love WHED's match reports, not because they were accurate in any way, but because they were very funny. When we had people backing SAFC instead of getting offended and taking sides. Twitter and sites like them have ruined the big forum experience.
Part of the problem is that people have started to believe that negativity is linked to being proactive ... ... whereas positivity is linked to being complicit in mediocrity. I remember when gritting your teeth and cheering your team through the bad times was admired. These days people criticise you for it and call you a happy clapper.
