Chicken and Egg

[Mook 0]

Question:

Should the team inspire the fans to support their team?    Or.........

Should the fans inspire their team to play well?

In my opinion the players will not play well if they fear every mistake they make will be jumped on BUT the crowd don''t want to see mistakes made, and rightly so in most situations. So how do we rectify this situation?

[komakino 282]

Simple. Sack the manager.

[Citizen Journalist Foghorn 0]

Sack the manager - not that I see many potential candidates anymore.  We have shall we say - missed the boat.

[alex_ncfc 686]

Don''t worry, he''ll be gone when we''re bottom in September.

Oh, hang on [^o)]

[YankeeCanary 0]

Mook, the answer surely is that the team and the fans should inspire each other. It should also be accepted that each player will not always be on their game and, once in a while, collectively, the team will not be on their game. Having said that, they are well paid professionals and you would hope they perform well enough a good portion of the time to raise excitement in the stands. It is also normal for the fans to have days where they contribute less atmosphere than one would hope. Further, we all know it takes more for some fans to get into the occasion than others. Some people also expect more for their entertainment spend than others.

Perhaps the answer to your question is best put into perspective by an article I once read quoting musical performers from Broadway shows. They were asked about audience reaction in New York versus other cities around the country, and whether the audiences differed and did those different reactions cause a different level of inspiration to the cast. The answers from different performers were generally similar. They said there are some parts of the country that are more conservative than others and it takes more for the audience to become involved ( I personally put Norfolk in that type of category ). They also said, even on Broadway, it''s generally tougher to "move" a Monday night crowd rather than those attending on Friday or Saturday night, when the performers and the audience feed off each other.

The bottom line according to the performers, however, was that they were paid professionals and in the entertainment business and, as such, had the ultimate responsibility at all times to inspire the audience. A good perspective I thought.  

 

[JohnoBono 0]

The only way to rectify this sit-u-a-shun is to change the manager.

Worthington is in a no win sut-u-a-shun now. He has upset a lot of fans. Patience will be in short supply. The fans can''t make it happen on the pitch. The club employs a manager to do that job. The fans have a part to play. But even before the fans got a bit negative last season the team were not really setting the world alight. The whole bad atmosphere thing came about because the team were not doing the job on the pitch and Worthy more and more lost his way. If the team fail to inspire which was what happened last season then fans will loose their inspiration. Thats the way that I see it. First and foremost it is down to the team to produce the goods. After all football is meant to be entertainment!                                     

[The Voice of the Thorpe Area 0]

The players would not have a job if paying fans did not, well, pay to watch them. FACT. It is therefore a players'' job to play football to the best of their ability to entertain those fans who are paying their wages. FACT.

I believe (as shown in our promotion and Premiership seasons) that good football should be appreciated by the fans through loyal and vocal support.

[Mook 0]

Hey, listen everyone. I''m not saying it''s not the fault of the team, or the management.

What I am saying is we have to break the cycle somewhere - someone has to be big enough to put down their weapons first. The club have excercised their authority over the fans by sticking with Worthington, and whilst I don''t agree, sometimes the battle ain''t worth fighting.

Supporting a football team isn''t a mutually beneficial thing. Most of the time, your team doesn''t quite live up to your satisfactions.

The other thing is, sacking Worthy now will take another 1-2 years to properly rebuild.

If you''re impatient now, imagine how you will be with the new management''s "still building a team" excuses for another 18 months!!

[Mook 0]

By the way, "Voice of the Thorpe Area", we don''t pay the players wages, TV money does most of that so don''t flatter yourself. FACT.

And you think that the promotion and prem season was good support? Well what about the other 100-odd years we''ve been in existence?

We didn''t get promoted every year, we weren''t always in the top league and we haven''t always played good football.

Yankee, your post makes a lot of sense.

[0ridgemanddMMyyyy0Falseen-USTrue 0]

I think that the support was there in our play off season and the season after so its not all the fans fault. One fact is the way players perform I agree but to my way of thinking Worthington is more at fault for the rubbbish he talks.

His comment after the Reading game that he didn''t care what the fans thought, his comment after the final game of the season about the true fans. After one away game Neil Adams commented that was a dire performance and you cannot excuse a performance like that Worthingtons post match interview I was pleased with the effort t and work rate.

The support from the fans during Worthingtons reign has been excellent except for last season but the standard of football during last season was poor three winnable home games to start the season three poor draws set the scene for the season and if memory serves me correctly Foley was off sick before these games so lets not blame him.

Unfortunately the board have backed Worthington which means if we do not get a good start and he has ten to twelve games to sort things out next season will be wasted as well.

[John Boubepo 0]

[quote user="Mook"]

By the way, "Voice of the Thorpe Area", we don''t pay the players wages, TV money does most of that so don''t flatter yourself. FACT.

And you think that the promotion and prem season was good support? Well what about the other 100-odd years we''ve been in existence?

We didn''t get promoted every year, we weren''t always in the top league and we haven''t always played good football.

Yankee, your post makes a lot of sense.

[/quote]

But doesn''t the TV money come indirectly from the fans too mook?

[GJD 0]

[quote user="Mook"]

By the way, "Voice of the Thorpe Area", we don''t pay the players wages, TV money does most of that so don''t flatter yourself. FACT.

[/quote]

I think that statement is true for the Prem, but doubtful for the leagues lower than that .T

As for the new season well we have to get behind the team whatever the transfer activity is. Surely it''s easier playing with fans willing you on and when things are not going right, then thats when support is needed the most surely?

Moan after the final whistle, moan on the message boards, send letters etc, but during the game lets try and inspire our team to greater deeds and not repeat the cheering of the opposite team scoring (only once). Yes, I know why some people did it, but could never bring myself to do that ever under any circumstances so far. For me it''s verging on treason.. Personal opinion!!!!

When the whistle blows one man and his dog should be trying to inspire the team, that''s why I prefer away games. Always seem a better atmosphere most of the time with the them against us mentality.

Liked some of YC about entertainment etc. Guess you get to see some good shows out there in Broadway area!

I can''t wait for Leeds, should be a cracking game.

[Hampshire Yella 0]

Worthy has had a go at the fans many times now - he shouldnt be surprised many of them think he is a *******.

As for who''s fault last seaosn was - well Jason Jarrett, Andrew Hughes, Dickson Etuhu, Carl Robinson and our invisible right winger can you please stand up.  How can you have a good season with no right winger and a bunch muppets in midfield?!?!?!?!

[The Voice of the Thorpe Area 0]

I appreciate that TV money does help pay the wages. But come on, we get what, 300k a year from this? Nobody can deny that without paying supporters, football clubs would fold due to crippling debts. I believe the fall of Wimbledon is similar to this.

[Mook 0]

Either there''s a lot of guilt on here, or a lot of people trying to play the "blame game"!

Hampshire et al - the question wasn''t whos fault it is, the question is what can we do about it?

I don''t doubt that our team played some dreadful football last year, and have done before that too. I also don''t doubt that there are better managers than Worthington out there.

The fact remains, we are stuck with him for half a season at the very least.

And Hampshire - give it a rest about the midfield. We got to the playoff final with a midfield squad of Easton, Rivers, Holt, Fat Phil, Sutch and Notman. I don''t care what you say about the midfielders we have now, they are definately better midfielders than those I''ve just mentioned!

[nh_ncfc 0]

Well; my views are very simular to Mooks, so i''m not going to bother typing them out.

[ZLF 335]

I dont think there is much doubt that a supportive crowd CAN lift a players performance (midds at home prem season) but  players can still play badly when support is given unconditionally (Fulham away prem season, Wolves at home this season just gone).   Likewise the team can win despite protests but also lose when protests are present. 

Without a doubt each set work off each other;  if the entertainment is good the crowd will be lifted but like wise a bad performance, just like the theatre, will be criticised.

Are the Monday performances at the theatre on Broadway worse because of the crowd, the expectation of the performers of because its a monday for both sets?  The dynamics are compex and varied.

Given the cast we have I think the city fans should expect a good production this season having seen a poorly directed effort last - hopefully we will see lots to keep us on our feet;   and given its a fresh start to the season that is the one thing that the fans is HOPE.

 

COME ON YOU YELLOWS!