FoxesTalker

The last man standing of the greats from our most successful era. Vardy, along with the likes of Schmeichel, Morgan and Albrighton, will forever be revered in our city.

The midweek home game against Palace was apparently the first match since 2014 to officially drop below 30k in attendance (excluding last season). That will almost certainly happen again tonight, but unfortunately the club and outsiders will largely just put it down to current league position, which is only partially true. This situation goes far beyond that.

I remember one of your posts specifically about Championship football being entirely possible under King Power. This was prior to the 22/23 relegation.

I’m not too sure about that, only going off the selling order of the blocks.

I was just about to post that it's a very decent effort, there's only a small amount of tickets left now in the last block of the upper tier.

It's not just a footballing reset that's needed though, it goes way beyond that. The statement is still tamer than it could be in my view and is too scripted for my liking, but credit for the overall sentiment.

The 'initial planning and development' of the stadium is underway. That's the club's own wording from April 2018, at which time Forest were in and around 17th in the Championship. It's obvious we've been overtaken in footballing terms, but regardless of where they end up this season, it's also safe to say they are now in pole position to have the biggest ground in the East Mids. We've well and truly missed out on a golden opportunity.

The win itself was obviously huge, but it felt even better getting one over them after that day in May last year.

Let’s make WYS loud and proud tonight for our new manager.

The group's championing of the city and the club's history should always be applauded.

Potter is seemingly unlikely but he feels like the best fit from the main options, and has obviously been a long-term target. His appointment would bring about optimism in terms of what could be built beyond this season. Not against Moyes and there's a strong argument in his favour, but also not entirely convinced it would work out here.

I've mentioned about the Fosse Stand name before, and originally the blocks weren't actually known as SK1 to SK4.

This is the single biggest opportunity since the stadium move to change the layout, so the club need to ensure they get it right. Like many others, hoping for option one but that seems unlikely.

There's a real chance here for the board to be proactive rather than reactive, and to show they've learnt from what happened under Rodgers. The outside view probably doesn't understand the demand for Cooper to go, but 22/23 left a scar on the fanbase and the current stats suggest we're only heading in one direction. Of course, let's hope not for the sake of the club but Cooper isn't proving to be the right fit culturally which was always the risk when he was appointed.

This is sadly the reality at least for the current fanbase, and the games which are exceptions to this rule are very few and far between. The mentality of offering vocal support for the team just isn't there for enough people, but these same fans will make the effort for chants which are aimed at the opposition. @RonnieTodger makes a good point about identity, some of the songs are very generic and small-time, with the classics not getting enough of an airing. It's also been said before that 'we've never been a singing fanbase' and there seems to be an element of truth in that. However, it doesn't correlate with the atmospheres of old at Filbert St, which leads on to the point about how our match-going support has changed over time.

The key question is whether the current performances will be enough throughout the season, but this is probably how it's going to be under Cooper. Style of play and identity is obviously unclear at the moment but ultimately results are more important and we've managed to put ourselves in a reasonable position. I'm yet to be convinced some of the players are fully behind Cooper, and a few tentative rumours have suggested this, but it's also fair to say we look to be in with a fighting chance of staying up so far.

This could be the biggest opportunity since the stadium move to finally change the layout, so we've got to make sure it's done in the right way.

This has probably been mentioned already, but our city was recently named as the best place to live and work in the East Mids for a second year running.

This has Ipswich's first win of the season written all over it.

Also in addition to this, think it's important to note that as supporters we're obviously some of the hardest critics of our own fanbase and it can be easy to get lost in that. Not disputing any of the criticisms at all, but there's also been enough matches in years gone by that disproves the lack of passion viewpoint. In reality, although we're probably at the worst end of it for modern day home support, there's not a great deal of difference compared to most other clubs. It's just our club have ruined any credible reputation we once had through clappers etc, which makes us seem worse than we actually are. All fanbases go through cycles as well.

Just to add to the point raised about passion, it's certainly not through a lack of numbers home or away. All three clubs in the region are well supported in this regard, and have considerably sized fanbases. In the midst of all the valid points which have been made about our support, think it's worth bringing up the one about trajectory again in particular. The recent period of success is probably different from any other club in the modern day, while comparative clubs have been on the rise again after years of hardship. So there's obviously been the comedown from those highs, and while this may be a factor, at the same time it shouldn't be used as an excuse.

The point to be made here though, respectfully, is that the group is clearly inspired by the European scene. The passion for the club and city is not in question, it's just how the group goes about supporting the team. In the main, Euro style clapping/chanting isn't going to be received all that well because of the cultural differences in this country. I would say that goes for any other group, not just Union FS. This comes from someone as you well know, that supports the group and wants it to be a success.

That obviously depends on a variety of factors, but it's a valid point in general.

This is why I’ve suggested to the forum management about having one main thread for discussion about the manager. This existing thread should be the go-to as it’s neutrally titled and both sides of the argument can be under the same banner. https://www.foxestalk.co.uk/topic/135118-steve-cooper-new-manager/

The soulless feel inside the ground, along with all the unauthentic atmosphere enhancements, is exactly what fans of other clubs are concerned about and desperate to avoid when moving to a modern stadium.