Daily Mail Article (Pep allegedly wants improved atmosphere)

[quiet_riot]

It's almost like the higher-ups are out of touch, having scrapped all communications with real supporters.

 

[willipp]

it wasnt rocking under pelle, i actually thought it was better under mancini. for the most part though we have played some really good stuff. if we get this style right i.e. games like monaco at home, arsenal at home. its some of the most exciting football I've seen in years. it didn't used to matter who played for us or if we played shit, the fans got behind the team, we weren't busy shitting ourselves. our fans have got lazy imo and have forgotten how to support the team especially when we need support.

we are 2-1 down and aren't playing well. do you just not get behind the team ? surely if we aren't playing well and the players need a lift the fans are the answer

I go back to the bournmouth game this season i think to emphasise that if the football on the pitch is right, then the atmosphere follows. Think we won 4 - 0 and it was a great atmosphere that day. We played some sublime stuff and i remember in that second half the whole ground was joining in and almost constant singing. It was nothing to do with who we were playing or ticket prices, it was down to how we were playing on the pitch, and at the time the momemtum we all felt with Peps initial results. The football on the pitch drives the atmosphere and for me, get that right and the atmosphere will improve no end.

 

[fbloke]

There's a generational change that means people of 30+ are now the only ones to have stood, smoked etc but also have been penned in like animals.

The atmosphere from the dark days was more visceral than the more sanitised world we all live in, it's not rocket science now is it?

We were also fortunate that the Kippax was a massive expanse of terracing that ran the length of the pitch and was the home of some seriously bang on lads. Pre-game drinking was easier, people could pay on the gate (at a smaller cost) and there were,iirc a lot more younger people able to go.

What can the club do about it? Well I would start by ending the need to pay to be a fucking Cityzen. It seems to me that the club is run by marketing people who are tasked with making money at every turn. They know plenty about analytics and next to nothing about football.

If I could be bothered to work it out I would do the maths and tell you what it would cost a family of 2 adults and 2 kids go to one or two games a season but I know that before you take the punt on tickets, with the worry about dates/times changes, you have to buy 4 x Cityzens memberships in order to buy early enough - an adult membership is £35 for starters.

Now if KFC can offer a free loyalty card and throw some hot wings in to seal the deal it seems like a sit idea to charge £35 for a loyalty fucking card!

Anyway, I could go on for hours about it but I suspect the move from Cook to Soriano spelt the end of a vision I could have signed up to.

 

[blue62]

I go back to the bournmouth game this season i think to emphasise that if the football on the pitch is right, then the atmosphere follows. Think we won 4 - 0 and it was a great atmosphere that day. We played some sublime stuff and i remember in that second half the whole ground was joining in and almost constant singing. It was nothing to do with who we were playing or ticket prices, it was down to how we were playing on the pitch, and at the time the momemtum we all felt with Peps initial results. The football on the pitch drives the atmosphere and for me, get that right and the atmosphere will improve no end.

To coin a phrase - this would make us 'fair weather fans' Which is something we never were. If we'd had this attitude years ago when we were terrible the banner at the swamp would still be there and reading 41 years.

 

[dave_blue12]

There's a generational change that means people of 30+ are now the only ones to have stood, smoked etc but also have been penned in like animals.

The atmosphere from the dark days was more visceral than the more sanitised world we all live in, it's not rocket science now is it?

We were also fortunate that the Kippax was a massive expanse of terracing that ran the length of the pitch and was the home of some seriously bang on lads. Pre-game drinking was easier, people could pay on the gate (at a smaller cost) and there were,iirc a lot more younger people able to go.

What can the club do about it? Well I would start by ending the need to pay to be a fucking Cityzen. It seems to me that the club is run by marketing people who are tasked with making money at every turn. They know plenty about analytics and next to nothing about football.

If I could be bothered to work it out I would do the maths and tell you what it would cost a family of 2 adults and 2 kids go to one or two games a season but I know that before you take the punt on tickets, with the worry about dates/times changes, you have to buy 4 x Cityzens memberships in order to buy early enough - an adult membership is £35 for starters.

Now if KFC can offer a free loyalty card and throw some hot wings in to seal the deal it seems like a sit idea to charge £35 for a loyalty fucking card!

Anyway, I could go on for hours about it but I suspect the move from Cook to Soriano spelt the end of a vision I could have signed up to.

Totally agree !

 

[willipp]

To coin a phrase - this would make us 'fair weather fans' Which is something we never were. If we'd had this attitude years ago when we were terrible the banner at the swamp would still be there and reading 41 years.

Its reality im afraid, football in general isn't what it was 30 years ago. Its the same in every ground in the premier league. If the team plays well and the football is good then there is a direct impact on the atmosphere. We can't deny that the makeup and attitude of a crowd today at the Etihad is extremely different to what it was a Maine Road and on the Kippax.

 

[Lancet Fluke]

Its reality im afraid, football in general isn't what it was 30 years ago. Its the same in every ground in the premier league. If the team plays well and the football is good then there is a direct impact on the atmosphere. We can't deny that the makeup and attitude of a crowd today at the Etihad is extremely different to what it was a Maine Road and on the Kippax.

I agree. I'm fairly sure if we were proper shite again then fans would respond accordingly and try to lift the team in their hour of need but what we have had in the last two or three years is a situation where we are in no danger of catastrophe but haven't been as good as we feel we should be and it has lead to a complacency/boredom. We are in a bit of a comfort zone in the league but without the thrill of a genuine title challenge. Times have changed and in most Prem grounds I think fans sit and wait to be enthused by the football and then start singing. Not saying any of it is right but I do think it is just the way it is and I am as guilty as anyone, I have found myself getting quieter and quieter at matches in the last couple of years. It's difficult to justify being totally not enthused by watching us farting around in third or fourth when I was loud and proud when we were terrible but I'm obviously not the only one who is instinctively responding that way.

 

[MaccBlueSS115]

Its reality im afraid, football in general isn't what it was 30 years ago. Its the same in every ground in the premier league. If the team plays well and the football is good then there is a direct impact on the atmosphere. We can't deny that the makeup and attitude of a crowd today at the Etihad is extremely different to what it was a Maine Road and on the Kippax.

It doesn't mean something shouldn't be done about it though. There are a number of different actions the club could take to improve the atmosphere but the club doesn't have the thirst to do it, they'd much rather cater for the corporates and the kids (although as a kid I loved Maine Road and didn't care about playing video games pre-match, waving at a man dressed as a fat, blue alien or buying all the endless tat the club shop sells, and I haven't missed a home game at the Etihad, all that should matter as a kid is watching your heroes play football and enjoying the atmosphere of the game). You're right football in general isn't what it was, it doesn't mean to say you can't change that though.

 

[willipp]

I agree. I'm fairly sure if we were proper shite again then fans would respond accordingly and try to lift the team in their hour of need but what we have had in the last two or three years is a situation where we are in no danger of catastrophe but haven't been as good as we feel we should be and it has lead to a complacency/boredom. We are in a bit of a comfort zone in the league but without the thrill of a genuine title challenge. Times have changed and in most Prem grounds I think fans sit and wait to be enthused by the football and then start singing. Not saying any of it is right but I do think it is just the way it is and I am as guilty as anyone, I have found myself getting quieter and quieter at matches in the last couple of years. It's difficult to justify being totally not enthused by watching us farting around in third or fourth when I was loud and proud when we were terrible but I'm obviously not the only one who is instinctively responding that way.

I am exactly the same. Find myself watching with my arms folded for large parts of the game in total silence. Only really can recall 2 or 3 games this season where ive come off buzzing from the atmosphere. Then again, our home form this season has been shocking and it wasn't great last season either, so im sure that does impact people. We have drawn / lost so many games at home this season, is it really any suprise people dont go crazy. Like you say, when we were shit, we all knew it and in a peverse way we revelled in how crap we were at times. Then again i remember losing to the like of wimbledon 1-0 on a rainy wednesday night in Feb and i am pretty sure there were just as many glum faces on the Kippax then as there are now when we are only drawing 0-0 with Stoke at home.

 

[willipp]

It doesn't mean something shouldn't be done about it though. There are a number of different actions the club could take to improve the atmosphere but the club doesn't have the thirst to do it, they'd much rather cater for the corporates and the kids (although as a kid I loved Maine Road and didn't care about playing video games pre-match, waving at a man dressed as a fat, blue alien or buying all the endless tat the club shop sells, and I haven't missed a home game at the Etihad, all that should matter as a kid is watching your heroes play football and enjoying the atmosphere of the game). You're right football in general isn't what it was, it doesn't mean to say you can't change that though.

Yes but i bet you loved watching Baker Street singing live on the centre circle just before kick off ;)

But yes, i think there is plenty the club can do and i thnk the likes of 1894 are really helping. But unless these initiatives are supported by the club with a long term vision to improve the atmosphere then the reality is it will just stay as it is or get worse.