I have ben reflecting on football in general over the last two seasons and it is clear that football is changing with a new force that demands to be heard-The Fans Its difficult to put a finger on the point that it all started but certainly in this season fans have discovered what a powerful voice they have in influencing the way their club operates The fans are now demanding entertainment whatever division they are in and will voice their displeasure with their feet if things don't change and more importantly the club owners are now listening Managers such as Moyes and Allardyce were bought in to their respective clubs to do one thing and that is survive at all costs thus giving the clubs breathing room to change the ethos of the club. Some might say that Moyes/Alladyce have been successful in that they did the job they were hired to do BUT we all know neither manager will be at their posts for much longer and that is because the fans are demanding entertaining football You have only to look at Arsenal, for years they have been crying out for success and failing while playing attractive football, but IMO I believe it was the fans not turning up that finally convinced the club to part company with Wenger The same can be said at Ipswich, if it wasn't for the fans voting with their feet I believe Mick would still be here and who would have predicted ME delivering an interview stating the importance of entertainment if it weren't for the fans The likes of Moyes, Allardyce, Pulis, McCarthy, Mourinho will find other jobs but the fans will drive them out if they don't change their philosophy, In Mourinhos case I believe his days are numbered because the fans are getting really fed up with his negative football. The new model is the Liverpool/Man City way, everyone is enthralled by the entertaining attacking football they use and fans everywhere are demanding the same It is clear that attacking entertaining football does not mean gung-ho football you only have to look at Liverpool and City at how good their defences are now while still employing attacking football I'm sure other examples are out there but its clear that the owners are now listening to the fans and if they don't provide what the customer(us fans) demands we wont turn up and the prospect of losing revenue frightens them to the core Football is changing because of the fans and its brilliant POWER TO THE PEOPLE!!
Good post. I agree that fan power is becoming more important to club owners and boards. I believe it ties into how people can influence decision-making and get their point across, particularly on social media. At best, this approach gets genuine fans more involved in their favourite teams, celebrities, products etc and ensures decision-making isn't made by a board of a few people who probably do not understand or appreciate the product. A recent example in wider society is the TV show Brooklyn 99 being cancelled. Cue an outpouring of criticism on social media and the decision was reversed within a couple of days and the programme was granted another series. On the other hand, this approach creates a blame culture, a sense of entitlement, and the risk that people now only take decisions to please a vocal minority rather than following a vision or making the best business decision. Ultimately, in today's consumer society (where people are spending less money on retail and entertainment due to slowing wage growths), companies and organisations are having to take their consumer more seriously and listen to what they say. Within football, it's the desire to be seen as a more PR-friendly football club and an acknowledgement that most of today's football supporters now see themselves as customers who can vote with their feet, rather than the general feeling a couple of decades ago where supporters go to every match regardless of on-pitch quality and entertainment. After so many years of football clubs treating fans like customers and hiking up attendance prices, I say who can blame them? There is one power in football that trumps supporters wishes though and that's the television companies. Revenue through attendance is dwarfed by the money top teams get via Sky, BT Sport, and to a lesser extent the BBC and ITV, No matter how many people complain online or to their clubs, football kick off times to suit the television schedule are highly unlikely to be changed to benefit supporters.
Interesting posts. I think there is something to be said for this. Tv companies are all powerful BUT the one thing they can’t control and which they fear most is a jazzy tv production showcasing an empty stadium. If the fans don’t turn up their product loses virtually all its international marketing value. So yes the board do need to be mindful of fans. I think our fans were decisive in the same way Everton’s were over alardyce. The tricky thing is are we being fickle over realistic and pragmatic about what we want? Sam allardyce was hailed as a modern, forward thinking manager at Bolton employing innovative ideas over player diets, technology (remember he had that ear piece thing over his ears on the touch line?!) yet now he is seen as a dull, predictable manager with a shady motivation and dodgy record in “outside” matters shall we say. It’s all a case of perception over substance. Anyway, it’s good fans have a strong voice and voting with our feet at not going to match days is our ultimate ace to play to get what we want. I’m just not sure fans fixating on the manager as the source of all success or failure is fair, one guy doesn’t make a club. Had Wenger had the money pep has I’m sure he’d have a better squad winning more stuff and fans would be delighted with him. Whaddya know!
Completely agree with this. Lets say all the managers people call ' dinosaurs / backwards / set in their ways / limited ' ALL retired from the game today. So your Mick / Pulis / Warnock / Megson / Big Sam etc........ all of them have retired. All clubs start to play more football in the leagues. Problem being, relegation still occurs. IF clubs go down this approach etc, have limited funds but still try and play - many fans MAY be chuffed to start with at trying to play, but that wears thin after having pants pulled down year upon year. I mean Warnock has what, 8 promotions? Mick 2. Pulis got Stoke up, never relegated. Megson's had promotions. Big Sam's come into many a club and improved them. Look at Bolton - got the likes of Okocha / Anelka there and improved them. Don't get me wrong - I may have been a big Mick backer over time but I also prefer fluid liquid football. My favourite time by a mile going to games was under Royle 03-05. I absolutely LOVED watching town live wondering what the hell would happen next. Sure, our ' defence ' would be a comedy of errors however I knew with Bent / Kuqi / Counago we'd always score a bucket load. Tommy Miller scoring close to 15 in our so near so far 04/05 season. Personally - I like a contrast in football. Take Leicester when they won the league - did they play superb stuff!? Absolutely not. However they found the recipe and stuck with it. Take Fabio Capello at Real Madrid 96/97. Won the league, however style of play an issue and not welcome. Beat Barca with Ronaldo having THAT season under our own Sir Bobby. How about Huddersfield away at Chelsea requiring one point to stay up? I doubt they give two s***s about open sexy football about now. They did what they had to - they got the result. Time wasted / grim football. Horrific. But I get it !? So sure - for us about now, I'd LOVE a more expansive manager to get us playing the way I'd like to see it played. However, WHILE POSSIBLE, it's very difficult to get a tune off a limited budget. We'll ultimately see what happens with - who we appoint - what Evans gives the new manager and whether various players can stay fit. I'd love Evans to open the pursestrings and back the new manager. I want us to do well! However, if Evans all of a sudden does............. then what the bloody hell has he been doing for 5.5 years with Mick especially in Jan 15 when perhaps 2-3 mill MAY have got us over the line......................... Funny old game football. Perhaps make my life a lot easier if I hadn't fallen in love with it, however, with me till death now. COYB.
Westy you really need to let it go now, Mick has gone and he's not coming back. Maybe ME will provide more money to the new manager maybe he wont, but there is really no point in crying about poor old Mick not being given the same amount Its another paragraph so turn the page, dry your tears and move on- you will end up making yourself ill
