A quick question for "singing" block(s)

[Tim of the Oak]

Absolute bollocks that - we never stopped in 114/115 against Palace in the League Cup. Most of the atmosphere was coming from there that night.

In fairness, the Singing Section were good versus Palace in the Cup. It's just that I could hear the family stand more at times, even though I'm in 209!

 

[Manchester33]

ok a few points here. people need to look at the improvement over 3 years including the much better levels of noise this year and take positives from that. we don't have hundreds of young energetic fans in blocks anywhere in the ground, we have a very corporate ground with many new fans. that's where we are.

have most of the people in this thread moved to 114-115 or stayed where they are ? people had months to move. to get involved. credit to those who have moved and are trying to do something about it. if you care that much, why haven't you moved ? if all the singers round the ground would've have moved we'd have had a proper end. they didn't...so we haven't ! and we don't have huge numbers of singers anyway these days so let's be realistic and take gradual improvements in the noise levels as progress.

lets make the same points again so people can see what we are up against, constantly swimming against the tide.

out of 700 who said they would move 593 provided full details. most wanted to move with mates and would only move if they got their preferred area ie top middle or bottom. because a lot wanted top we had to get half of 114 to allow people to get the part of the block they most wanted. so we have a lot of singers at the backs of 114 115 and dolly mixtures elsewhere. not enough people out there bothered to move - so we have to work with what we have. then out of the 593 we lost say another 100 to tier 3 because the club made prices cheaper up there than in tier 1, so we lost a lot of livelier people that way too. we have 500 or so out of 1175 in 115 and half of 114. the rest are waiting list people parachuted in, so it is not an "ultras block" just yet, it's kind of half one. but some of the songs aren't carrying as loud as some people might have expected because not everyone in the block is a singer. I would say we can be heard though so it's up to you lot elsewhere in the ground to get your act together and join in more. get organised. we are in 115 so why leave it all to one block ???

there was an atmosphere forum on here 2 seasons ago. it was pulled after a few months. why ? lack of support. apathy. if everyone leaves it all to a few people, progress will be slower. just as well people didn't jack it in 2 years ago after seeing all the negativity on here otherwise things would be even worse at home games. we have a base to go up from at least now.

singing on the concourse builds the atmosphere. gets people pumped up. inside the ground the PA is on full blast. everyone has made the same point to the club year after year. fans cannot compete with a loud PA system or - like we had against norwich -
a brass band on the pitch. how can anyone build an atmosphere over that ? please tell us how. they have their own marketing budgets where they will spend thousands on stunts however they aren't things which necessarily would make people want to sing and shout. we can only do what we can on limited resources and limited help.

only 9 people moved from 111. so the effect there is minimal. its mainly the same people. yet 111 110 dead. come on guys at least some people are trying to get it going, why not sing too? 1894 never said it was a "singing section" - that was a term coined by the Manchester evening news. it's roughly the same thing but they said it's a "reconfiguration of the singers" and it was called that to try and manage people's expectations. if you're expectations are too high or sky high, that it should've been louder against Liverpool then all we can say is you have kept your distance too much from what is being attempted here and not followed us closely or not asked to get involved. it's small steps and building on what we have until year after year it's better and better. there are 14 spare seats in 115 so people could move there now. perhaps some fans who didn't realise what the block is about will relocate next summer and that will allow 1894 to collect names again and pass them onto the club. so if you didn't move but feel its too quiet in 115, feel free to join us, we need all the help we can get !

of course we can see there are problems, after west ham it dipped and we thought although we prefer to have a naturally built atmosphere - traditional - and we are against a drum, we'd give someone a 5 minute blast on a megaphone and see if we can liven it up. security said no. people try and congregate at the back of the stand or further down. stewards move them on and threaten them with being chucked out. people are trying everything and not sure what else people out there expect should be tried. people just aren't "up for it" like they were 20 years ago.

we brought out an app so people knew the words to all the songs...and we got slated for it on here, so if you keep hearing david silva ole all the time instead, well then there's one reason why. if you don't like the songs you are hearing and you are in another block on 1st tier, get a few mates together get in the block at the back and sing your own songs ! people will join in. anything is possible. (then you'll get moved on after 20 minutes of course !!!)

we campaign for cheaper ticket prices and safestanding. we ask for support on these issues when we have done demos as we think these things would help ensure louder atmospheres. same 200 fans outside the ground. 54,800 don't break off from their normal match day routine. happy to leave displays to a core of 12-15 people. we need you help guys, things may improve quicker !

if we have 500 singing and 54,500 not singing the answer is not to slate the 500 who are singing, it's to ask questions of the 54,500 who aren't and say - can you lot do more ?

cheers

Great post.

 

[M18CTID]

Great post.

Yep, bang on the money. Some people need to have a word with themselves before they start criticising the efforts of the people behind this, a few of whom put an unreal amount of time and effort into things in terms of painting banners, organising displays, and all the other associated stuff that goes with trying to ensure a better atmosphere on match day.

 

[M18CTID]

In fairness, the Singing Section were good versus Palace in the Cup. It's just that I could hear the family stand more at times, even though I'm in 209!

Fair enough mate and sorry if I got the hump! I was right at the back of our block that night so couldn't really hear the family stand but they do have decent spells in some games which is good. Tends to be the cup games more than the league games.

 

[trevorriley]

Saturday against liverpool was bad and probably one of worse this season regarding atmosphere.. It resembled the display on the pitch.. Me myself, if 5 nil down I would still sing for the club Ive supported all my life, and quite a few years that is !! My thoughts are how can we criticize the team when we cant support them when down, i suppose the 55,000 fans in the stadium support the team in different ways some vocal some not.

When I was at city in the 70's and 80's we sang about the club and regardless of result, its simple, rather than say atmosphere is shit just sing. Great opportunity behind the goal in SS and in 115 area to get things going to how it used to be.....

 

[M18CTID]

Saturday against liverpool was bad and probably one of worse this season regarding atmosphere.. It resembled the display on the pitch.. Me myself, if 5 nil down I would still sing for the club Ive supported all my life, and quite a few years that is !! My thoughts are how can we criticize the team when we cant support them when down, i suppose the 55,000 fans in the stadium support the team in different ways some vocal some not.

When I was at city in the 70's and 80's we sang about the club and regardless of result, its simple, rather than say atmosphere is shit just sing. Great opportunity behind the goal in SS and in 115 area to get things going to how it used to be.....

Not only that, if what's being served up on the pitch is shite (Saturday for example), if you have a good sing song at least you can say you gleaned some enjoyment from the game. Our team was dog shit for years not so long ago yet there were still plenty of legendary away trips regardless of how the team was playing!

 

[Colins Bellend]

ok a few points here. people need to look at the improvement over 3 years including the much better levels of noise this year and take positives from that. we don't have hundreds of young energetic fans in blocks anywhere in the ground, we have a very corporate ground with many new fans. that's where we are.

have most of the people in this thread moved to 114-115 or stayed where they are ? people had months to move. to get involved. credit to those who have moved and are trying to do something about it. if you care that much, why haven't you moved ? if all the singers round the ground would've have moved we'd have had a proper end. they didn't...so we haven't ! and we don't have huge numbers of singers anyway these days so let's be realistic and take gradual improvements in the noise levels as progress.

lets make the same points again so people can see what we are up against, constantly swimming against the tide.

out of 700 who said they would move 593 provided full details. most wanted to move with mates and would only move if they got their preferred area ie top middle or bottom. because a lot wanted top we had to get half of 114 to allow people to get the part of the block they most wanted. so we have a lot of singers at the backs of 114 115 and dolly mixtures elsewhere. not enough people out there bothered to move - so we have to work with what we have. then out of the 593 we lost say another 100 to tier 3 because the club made prices cheaper up there than in tier 1, so we lost a lot of livelier people that way too. we have 500 or so out of 1175 in 115 and half of 114. the rest are waiting list people parachuted in, so it is not an "ultras block" just yet, it's kind of half one. but some of the songs aren't carrying as loud as some people might have expected because not everyone in the block is a singer. I would say we can be heard though so it's up to you lot elsewhere in the ground to get your act together and join in more. get organised. we are in 115 so why leave it all to one block ???

there was an atmosphere forum on here 2 seasons ago. it was pulled after a few months. why ? lack of support. apathy. if everyone leaves it all to a few people, progress will be slower. just as well people didn't jack it in 2 years ago after seeing all the negativity on here otherwise things would be even worse at home games. we have a base to go up from at least now.

singing on the concourse builds the atmosphere. gets people pumped up. inside the ground the PA is on full blast. everyone has made the same point to the club year after year. fans cannot compete with a loud PA system or - like we had against norwich -
a brass band on the pitch. how can anyone build an atmosphere over that ? please tell us how. they have their own marketing budgets where they will spend thousands on stunts however they aren't things which necessarily would make people want to sing and shout. we can only do what we can on limited resources and limited help.

only 9 people moved from 111. so the effect there is minimal. its mainly the same people. yet 111 110 dead. come on guys at least some people are trying to get it going, why not sing too? 1894 never said it was a "singing section" - that was a term coined by the Manchester evening news. it's roughly the same thing but they said it's a "reconfiguration of the singers" and it was called that to try and manage people's expectations. if you're expectations are too high or sky high, that it should've been louder against Liverpool then all we can say is you have kept your distance too much from what is being attempted here and not followed us closely or not asked to get involved. it's small steps and building on what we have until year after year it's better and better. there are 14 spare seats in 115 so people could move there now. perhaps some fans who didn't realise what the block is about will relocate next summer and that will allow 1894 to collect names again and pass them onto the club. so if you didn't move but feel its too quiet in 115, feel free to join us, we need all the help we can get !

of course we can see there are problems, after west ham it dipped and we thought although we prefer to have a naturally built atmosphere - traditional - and we are against a drum, we'd give someone a 5 minute blast on a megaphone and see if we can liven it up. security said no. people try and congregate at the back of the stand or further down. stewards move them on and threaten them with being chucked out. people are trying everything and not sure what else people out there expect should be tried. people just aren't "up for it" like they were 20 years ago.

we brought out an app so people knew the words to all the songs...and we got slated for it on here, so if you keep hearing david silva ole all the time instead, well then there's one reason why. if you don't like the songs you are hearing and you are in another block on 1st tier, get a few mates together get in the block at the back and sing your own songs ! people will join in. anything is possible. (then you'll get moved on after 20 minutes of course !!!)

we campaign for cheaper ticket prices and safestanding. we ask for support on these issues when we have done demos as we think these things would help ensure louder atmospheres. same 200 fans outside the ground. 54,800 don't break off from their normal match day routine. happy to leave displays to a core of 12-15 people. we need you help guys, things may improve quicker !

if we have 500 singing and 54,500 not singing the answer is not to slate the 500 who are singing, it's to ask questions of the 54,500 who aren't and say - can you lot do more ?

cheers

500 people singing win all the time but on Saturday there were not even half that bothering. Fair play to you lads for trying but you're pissing in the wind if only half that section is going to join in. we sit in 212 and after 5 mins of the game starting didn't hear a peep .

 

[middleton___blue]

certainly wasnt the best atmosphere on tv (though admittedly i wasnt there).

I don't think you can blame the fans too much, it was painful to watch at times. Though I must admit its the quietest we've been all season at the Etihad At least. Closely followed by the norwich game which I attended.