That EGD Wright on CI is probably a loner spending most of his time stuck to his PC, sadly lacking most life skills, with a know it all attitude. But he has hit the nail on the head in a recent post, below. Scuse the CAPS LOCK. 'MY ISSUE IS THAT ALL MY LIFE I'VE HAD ****S SLAGGING OFF AND RIDICULING THEIR LOCAL FOOTBALL TEAM, SO THAT IT BECAME THE ACCEPTED NORM AND STOPPED YOUNGSTERS SUPPORTING THE CLUB, FOR FEAR OF BEING SEEN TO BE A MUG BY THEIR PEERS. THIS LOSS OF SUPPORT DAMAGED AND DAMAGES US STILL, IT KNOCKS ABOUT 10K OFF EVERY HOME GAME, AND HAD DONE SINCE ABOUT 1975, AND IS WHY WE ENDED BOTTOM OF THE LEAGUE **** SUPPORT= NO MONEY= **** PLAYERS= **** LEAGUE POSITION=**** SUPPORT THE ****S WHO DID THIS WERE ALL RL OR ARMCHAIR 'BIG CLUB' FANS. IF I WANT TO HEAR PEOPLE RUBBISHING MY CLUB, I'M SPOILT FOR CHOICE IN THIS CITY WITH SO MANY ARSEHOLES SOUNDING OFF ABOUT IT THIS HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE CASE, AND VERY FEW OF THEM ACTUALLY GO. ANYONE WHO SAW THE MACC/LEEDS/PALACE GAMES IS UNDER NO ILLUSIONS ABOUT WHAT WENT WRONG OR HOW WELL WE PLAYED/DIDN'T PLAYED- SO WHY THE NEED TO **** THE PLAYERS OFF ON HERE??? WHY THE NEED TO DEMONSTRATE YOUR INSIGHT ON PLAYERS' WEAKNESSES? IT SEEMS TO HAVE BECOME THE NORM FOR SOME PEOPLE ON HERE. 'DISCUSS THE GAME', I.E. SLAG OFF YOUR CLUB AND ITS PERSONNEL, WHILE THE HDM OR RH RUB THEIR HANDS IN GLEE AT THE DISHARMONY AND UNREST, AND YOU FILL THEIR PAGES/PHONE INS FOR THEM'. And still it goes on. You sit next to know nothings who condemn the club every which way it turns. Contrast if you will the support that Stoke fans afford their team, properly a real 12th man if every there was one in English football.
If he has that opinion, what's he doing on a messageboard? He hasn't hit the nail on the head, it's just a load of bollocks from some old **** who doesn't know how to use the internet properly.
As always with that poster, some things I agree wholeheartedly with but then he goes and spoils it with his extreme viewpoint. If we cannot discuss what is right or wrong with our club or it's performances after games, what the point? This is entertainment for phucks sake, if we, as fans, are not to be entertained by discussing the club, how are we being entertained? If it's just about 90 minures every week or so, I'm sorry, but it just 'aint worth it. To me being a fan is all consuming. I love football, I love being a fan, I love talking about football both to other fans of my club and other clubs' fans.
That'll be the Stoke fans that didn't bother with the club until it got promoted. The Stoke fans that have in the past succeeded and have very recently tried again to get rid of the manager and chairman. The ones that have crowd noise played through the speakers (not witnessed that myself, just read it on here). The ones that are notably quiet for much of the game. Oh yes, proper 12th man there. Or perhaps just lazy media bollocks.
Im afraid Wright is very self opinionated. Block capitals etc and he cant stand anyone having an opinion that differs to his. If you argue against him he then starts name calling and telling you that you are not a true supporter. He thinks the message board is there just for his opinions. He cant have a reasonable arfuement and I think he is a very lonely individual.
I'm bored of all the comparisons to ****in Stoke. They used to get sod all fans in the championship. If you think our crowds are going down hill then take about 5K off it and you used to get Stoke's regular attendances until they went up. They're such great fans that they used to come dressed as red seats. And let's not forget they used to fight amongst themsleves.
Just in the name of accuracy, Championship average attendances in recent years - City 19,448/Stoke 15,463. They've got an average of 11,550 additional plastics now.
It is those additional plastics that pay for the top players... I just wish some people would realise that "new" or "glory hunting" fans are what make clubs. Why do you think LFC etc are setting up academys in India? We need plastic fans. I'd love 10 000 every week to swell our gates. Football is a money business and everyone is welcome for me!
Not in Stokes case. It was massive donation of cash from the chairman, far greater than the money we spent.
Obviously clubs want as many fans as possible and I've no issue with the fans that only came on board when we were in the Premier League, it's better than them not coming on board at all, but that wasn't the point. The point was the reputation that Stoke have as being well supported, when in reality, they were quite poorly supported when they were outside of the Premier League. And as Dutch has said, their top players weren't funded by ticket sales, so far Peter Coates has gifted the club £43m in cash.
TV revenue provides the majority of funding in the top two leagues, though once you get to gates/prices charged by the likes of Man United and Arsenal, the money generated is still substantial.
Couldn't agree more about not slagging the players off and getting behind them, apart from that whoever types in CAPITAL LETTERS is usually a mentalist
