Pep: 'The players deserve a full stadium, we need our fans!'

[Metalartin]

Pam, how many Prem grounds have you experienced first hand to come to that conclusion.

And how many of those take at least an hour to get off the club car park every time if you don't leg it with a couple of minutes to go, every game and even when a game is called off?

We could get rid of that excuse(which is valid to an extent but I imagine when that many people are leaving early you're not getting out much quicker anyway because loads of people have the same idea) along with getting extra fans to games who are put off by public transport for cup games, put coaches on from Manchester central to and from the ground, extra carriages for trains on match days, make less excuses for "needing" to take the car for the majority.

 

[Pam]

Do you stay to the end every week?

Depends on the level of performance.

 

[Forzacitizens]

I wonder, has he been told by somebody at the club to say something like this?

A lot of our fans are completely in love with him already, maybe he/the club know that and so this may actually be very clever of him to come out and say this because people won't wanna disappoint him!

I think it's more than likely he will have been told to say it.

 

[Blue Mist]

I wonder, has he been told by somebody at the club to say something like this?

A lot of our fans are completely in love with him already, maybe he/the club know that and so this may actually be very clever of him to come out and say this because people won't wanna disappoint him!

I think the club told him what to say on Tuesday based on the top tier south stand being closed because of poor sales. The match was called off and somebody decided it should still be said. To me it was poorly judged.
I also would love to knwo why thye are now changing their tune about us booing. It was fine last year it seems a calculated move. We would not have listened last year bit if Pep says it we will listem now ?

 

[whitenoise]

We could get rid of that excuse along(which is valid to an extent but when that many people are leaving early you're not getting out much quicker anyway) with getting extra fans to games who are put off by public transport, put coaches on from manchester central to and from the ground, extra carriages for trains on match days, make less excuses for "needing" to take the car.

You've touched on another point there - that many people are leaving early you're losing the advantage. So the alternative is not to bother at all, which many aren't.

Our fan base isn't that big that when we have three games a week most weeks when people pick and chose there aren't people willing to take up the slack. That said, for me personally it's the time involved mainly because of the traffic, that's making the mid week games a ball ache. I'll carry on for now but when I decide enough is enough, it's the CL that'll be the first to go.

 

[manctheknife]

Are you watching the match tonight?

What match..?

 

[Cobwebcat]

If it takes hours to get out of the club car park why would anyone park there?

I park about a mile away have a nice walk and get away no problem.

Always stay to the end and bemused at what on earth people are doing. As Sunderland sang....is there a fire alarm?

We can come up with excuses forever for non attendance crap atmosphere and buggering off early but at the end of the day Pep has a point. Stop moaning and get behind the best City team we have ever seen.

I think a lot of people will change their attitude a bit after what Pep said. I hope so. We had the reputation of being fantastic fans, at the moment that's miles from the truth but I believe it will change under Pep and the moaners will dwindle as they slowly become extinct.

 

[BlueAnorak]

Need to sing words to the tune - which is by Handle so pretty good...

Ce sont les meilleures équipes
Es sind die allerbesten Mannschaften
The main event

Die Meister
Die Besten
Les grandes équipes
The champions

Une grande réunion
Eine grosse sportliche Veranstaltung
The main event

Die Meister
Die Besten
Les grandes équipes
The champions

Ils sont les meilleurs
Sie sind die Besten
These are the champions

Die Meister
Die Besten
Les grandes équipes
The champions

The chorus should be something like:

Dis-Honest,
Thieves, Robbers,
Corrupt and Duplicitous,
U-EFA

 

[Pam]

If it takes hours to get out of the club car park why would anyone park there?

I park about a mile away have a nice walk and get away no problem.

Always stay to the end and bemused at what on earth people are doing. As Sunderland sang....is there a fire alarm?

We can come up with excuses forever for non attendance crap atmosphere and buggering off early but at the end of the day Pep has a point. Stop moaning and get behind the best City team we have ever seen.

I think a lot of people will change their attitude a bit after what Pep said. I hope so. We had the reputation of being fantastic fans, at the moment that's miles from the truth but I believe it will change under Pep and the moaners will dwindle as they slowly become extinct.

This.

 

[Metalartin]

You've touched on another point there - that many people are leaving early you're losing the advantage. So the alternative is not to bother at all, which many aren't.

Our fan base isn't that big that when we have three games a week most weeks when people pick and chose there aren't people willing to take up the slack. That said, for me personally it's the time involved mainly because of the traffic, that's making the mid week games a ball ache. I'll carry on for now but when I decide enough is enough, it's the CL that'll be the first to go.

The thing is though I'm sure people here go to supporters clubs who have a direct line of communication with the club. So if it is a case of the fans needing help from the club to make weeknights less stressful they should be telling them, though that would mean if the club puts the effort in to try and sort it and work with the fans there can be no more excuses if we're seeing the same problems. I admit I've no idea if this would cost a bomb over the year to implement or not so I may be talking rubbish that it would be that simple.

 

[Pam]

We could get rid of that excuse(which is valid to an extent but I imagine when that many people are leaving early you're not getting out much quicker anyway because loads of people have the same idea) along with getting extra fans to games who are put off by public transport for cup games, put coaches on from Manchester central to and from the ground, extra carriages for trains on match days, make less excuses for "needing" to take the car for the majority.

After the game last night, I sat in the Asda car park with a coffee for half an hour, listening to the radio and surfing the net. Traffic melted away after 30 mins and the drive home to Hyde took 15 minutes tops.

 

[whitenoise]

After the game last night, I sat in the Asda car park with a coffee for half an hour, listening to the radio and surfing the net. Traffic melted away after 30 mins and the drive home to Hyde took 15 minutes tops.

I probably walked past you as I went to sit in traffic for half an hour, white no sugar next time please.

 

[Andy Morrisons jock strap]

Agree with Pep about booing the Anthem needs to stop now

 

[Cobwebcat]

I think Pep wants the whole club to be closer hence him ensuring the players clap the fans. If we aren't doing our bit he is going to put it right. In the end it's fit in or fuck off. Normally that might annoy me but we needed a rocket and have done for a while. This team does deserve our support and he will get it in the end.

 

[Pam]

... And one more thing, Pep genuinely grasps the fact that the crowd is the 12th man and goes out of his way to engage with supporters during games. All part of his attention to detail. I hope we can respond accordingly It's incredibly important.

Roll on Saturday.

 

[Cobwebcat]

... And one more thing, Pep genuinely grasps the fact that the crowd is the 12th man and goes out of his way to engage with supporters during games. All part of his attention to detail. I hope we can respond accordingly It's incredibly important.

Roll on Saturday.

I'm applauding you Pam. Think not what City can do for you but what you can do for your City. Those that still don't get it soon will.

 

[Pam]

I'm applauding you Pam. Think not what City can do for you but what you can do for your City. Those that still don't get it soon will.

Good call, cobweb.

 

[franksinatra]

I'd say that at least 80% of our match day crowd come from Greater Manchester or its immediate surrounds. Of the other 20% I'd say half are exiled from the area. My sister has a box at old Trafford and I occasionally attend and its immediately noticeable that there are miles fewer "locals". Theirs is more like 50% and from what she says, significantly less at away matches.

Two years ago an audit of season ticket holders highlighted that 70.6 percent of season ticket holders were from Greater Manchester.

That leaves 11k of the 36,500 travelling a significant distance, into manchester on night matches to be able to attend the match. It must be extremely difficult for the vast majority of those to attend (this includes myself) and as yet we do not have vast numbers of infrequent to fill the gaps. Usually we have around 90k different fans attending over the course of a year.

I completely agree even those outside Mcr are predominantly Mancunian. We have not gained large numbers of supporters from further afield as the choice of a team is a childhood choice and based on 4/5 years of success those who do follow us will not be old enough to travel themselves.

interestingly, statistically Tameside has the highest proportion, per head of population of city season ticket holders than anywhere else in the world, 1 in 53.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

Two years ago an audit of season ticket holders highlighted that 70.6 percent of season ticket holders were from Greater Manchester.

That leaves 11k of the 36,500 travelling a significant distance, into manchester on night matches to be able to attend the match. It must be extremely difficult for the vast majority of those to attend (this includes myself) and as yet we do not have vast numbers of infrequent to fill the gaps. Usually we have around 90k different fans attending over the course of a year.

I completely agree even those outside Mcr are predominantly Mancunian. We have not gained large numbers of supporters from further afield as the choice of a team is a childhood choice and based on 4/5 years of success those who do follow us will not be old enough to travel themselves.

interestingly, statistically Tameside has the highest proportion, per head of population of city season ticket holders than anywhere else in the world, 1 in 53.

Funnily enough, fella, I posted something very similar a while after. SKy made football an armchair sport. Legions of young glory hunters around the country (and the world) have been attaching themselves to United, Arsenal and Liverpool for the reflected canned glory for 25 years. Those clubs will have exactly the same percentage of non-attendees for midweek cup games as we have, but these plastic fans will do one or two games a season and increase their attendances in the less appealing games. We are gaining these fans but haven't gained enough yet to add 20k to the gate in a low-demand televised game. It will happen, and Pep will make it happen.

It really is at at all scientific, but my 8 year old casually announced tonight that his best friend has changed from Liverpool to City this week. And I don't live in Manchester anymore. The Pep effect...

 

[squirtyflower]

I'm guessing that you aren't one of those blues who forked out for visas flights and match tickets, only then to be banned from attending the game and offered no compensation either by UEFA or by CSKA - only to see plenty of CSKA fans admitted to the stadium in a game that was supposed to be being played behind closed doors. I didn't go either, but I suppose if you think it is melodramatic to sympathise and show solidarity with the blues who did, then that is up to you.

As to voicing my dissent by booing their anthem, again it is up to you whether you view that as naive, just as it is up to me whether I view it as apathetic or spineless to decline to do so.

As it happens I live in a constituency which is solidly Tory, and has been for ages. If I vote tory at the election, the majority will be 15,001. If I vote labour the majority will be 14,999. My vote therefore counts, in the grand scheme of things, for diddly squat. I still vote, because I wish to register my approval (or lack of it) of the government of the day. I will continue to boo the UEFA anthem for much the same reason. I have only one voice, but I intend to use it, whether or not vocalising my displeasure has any practical impact. Do you genuinely not understand this?

You may or may not be right that it won't have a significant effect, but you are wrong to say it will have no effect whatsoever - it already has. The official report to UEFA for a game last season included reference to the anthem being booed. Such a reference is usually the precursor to a disciplinary charge, and I personally incline to the Mark Halsey line in terms of whether authorities like UEFA or the FA sometimes seek to influence the content of the match report with a view to bringing a charge in relation to something they are not happy about. The resultant outcry against the possibility of the club being fined because we voiced our dissent appears to have made them back down. They wanted to stifle it, they quickly realised that to do so would be worse than to do nothing. It also worked against them in the sense that it is now more widely understood why we City fans feel that we, and our club, have been badly treated by UEFA.

These are small victories, but they are victories nonetheless. It will be a sad day if legitimate dissent is stifled because it is not likely to achieve anything.

Well done Chris
Whilst Moscow didn't affect me that year it certainly affected blues that I know who went
And for the alone boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo