You get more support at a friendly game ...everyone has a born right to do as they please, or support whatever cause they may get embroiled in but those BCFC supporters who "misguidedly" did not travel cost us the game in my opinion..............the Coventry team expect a poor showing and have nothing to lose but a lot to prove to that little core of faithful...yes we cheered on the boys but is was psss poor, noiseless although voiciferous with no whooomph... superb effort by the Coventry propaganda machine to get as little away support to the game as possible...they could be in points + by Christmas if too many others fall for it...............
Another ramble..? - started drinking early today I see.... I don't think that 1,200+ away support in a ground that I was not even sure that they would let that many away fans in, was a "little core of faithful" or did you think it was 120...
So did those who did not travel to Stoke in 2008 because it was on TV cost City a place in the premiership?
quite possibly, what you have to remember is we give City an awful lot of noise when they are at home and also one of the noisier away teams..they are used to running out to packed...well 14000 plus and probably at least 8000 or more away. How many times have the team said the support was great or responded to our chants. Why do so many teams in the cup who get low gates do well, .....because the bigger team feel exposed with not many fans around them...its to do with atmosphere....before the season Coventry were toted as possible lower few..then lost 10 points...if their first half a dozen games end up like Cities with no away support then they can claw these points back......quite quickly
If that was the case the Coventry fans would have turned up in large numbers to fill the rest of the ground - The City supporters out numbered the Coventry fans and we still lost so your argument does not stand up on even the first part. We lost purely and simply because we were awful in the 3 minutes before half time and how could having another 1000 fans have changed that Answer they couldn't. According to all the reports I have gone through We played well in the first 20 mins then the game just fell apart obviously the teams confidence is still fragile, after halftime they went out with new purpose and should have done better than they eventually did Coventrys 4th goal seemed to knock the stuffing out of the team again and even though we got another goal ourselves various reporters said had we had the confidence to keep attacking we would have won but the players seemed to be looking over their shoulders all the time. For his own sake and the club's Fontaine needs to be pulled out of the firing line now his confidence already low from last season must be close to rock bottom now he saved one goal on Sunday but was directly involved in 3 of the goals we conceeded he is making the wrong decisions almost all the way through games and seems to have forgotten how to head a ball just perhaps some games with the U21's will help him get his act together because it is highly likely that we will NEED him at some stage during the season. Lets get one thing straight here we could have had 20,000 fans at that game and we couldn't have changed the result we are not on the pitch or is your argument we could have intimidated the officials in some way? If we can't spur the team on at Ashton Gate how do you think we can do it away from home? The team is almost right you could see that by the way they fought back from 3-0 down which was the players doing mostly the same players who had capitulated in the last couple on minutes in the first half, A couple of changes and it could be a different team lets wait and see what happens on Saturday so far we have played 3 matches against League on opposition this season 1 at home 2 away one win one draw one defeat so lets wait a couple more games before we decide that the world has ended.
sorry Hawk your argument doesn't wash.................... Why do players perform? Basically it is because they enjoy it and they like most of all to feel wanted and have an audience...you get used to having a few, more than 5-6000 watching and you perform to reward your support and cock a snook at the opposition..the feel good factor Ive been in a competitive environment all my life almost 70 years and I know when the result is hard fought and won it is because of SUPPORT.. HOW MANY OF THE ATTENDANCE WERE LOCALS NOT AFFILIATED TO EITHER...a hundred or more I bet that just enjoy football, I know of at least 2-3 people that go to the football to see a game one weekmight be Rovers The next City...even go to Keynsham town or Clevedon...there is over 8000 regulars..STH at City. I would bet a few hundred of these know 1 or 2 that are probably the same, and bear in mind Northants is second divi side...City ex championship, Coventry ex Prem still sticks to better quality in the back of the mind...... I reckon we had 2/5ths of the support and Coventry shared the other 3/5 with locals
The figures I heard were 2,200 approx and 1200 from Bristol, so if there were 100 neutrals that means 4 to 3 in favour of City in terms of fan support. Having played football at just below league level and had trials for a couple of league clubs I have played in front of 200 spectators and 5000 spectators it didn't make any difference to me or my performances I played better in some games than others and the team did as well, I have a theory as to why teams perform better at home than away it's because they expect to do better at home, it's what you grow up believing will happen I didn't come up with this when I was playing it was only after I couldn't play any more that I started wondering why everyone seems to play better at home. Partly it is because you are used to the surroundings, Partly it is because you expect to do better at home, Partly it is because you don't want to look foolish on your own patch, admitedly some players are affected by the crowds but not too many of them and usually only when they are being singled out either for praise or insults that was what I found when I played which is why even when I don't think someone should be wearing the shirt I won't shout it out at the game because if he has no confidence me and others yelling at him won't give him any more incentive to try and improve. We could have taken half of Ashton Gate to Northampton what difference would it have made Probably None, the fans can not make an away ground into a home ground for that game both teams were effectively playing away or at least on a neutral ground, and the result seems to have hinged on a few minutes just before half time had we gone in 1-0 down we would probably have won had we scored first we would probably have won it has more to do with confidence than support. Our team at the moment gets the jitters every time they concede because 3 of the back 4 are probably still having nightmares about last season and with Flint giving away that penalty all 4 seemed to get the jitters Flint was almost afraid to tackle in case he gave another pen away Fontaine has lost the ability to play what the club needs to do is lose the fear factor, we have players like JET and Wynter who don't appear to suffer from this if they can instill their confidence into the team we will do fine, I hope that the injury that kept Fontaine out of the Swindon game today keeps him out for a couple of games so that he needs to play a couple of U-21 games before being considered for the first team again because he needs to be out of the firing line for a while.
probably 800 city fans encouragement always enhances performance or if you like the opposition encouragement to their own or by knocking our own means the opposite.. sad thing is we will never know the truth of it..we lost 3 points..........
did you count them....................my estimate was 800 maybe a stretch to 903 and that included the little lad on his dads shoulders from time to time comments closed
Funny enough, Coventry officials DID count them - that is why most attendances these days includes the comment "X number of away fans" which was the case on Sunday. It was officially announced so the JGF "never wrong" estimate, WAS...
