FoxesTalker

The other one has been going for nearly three years, and I felt a change was needed which also tied in with changes to home matches this season (as stated within the original post on this thread). The title is more suitable too in my opinion.

Thoughts?

I've often thought that if the season progresses well, this wording could be part of a future tifo from @Union FS. Of course though, it will always come down to the cooperation of the club.

It’s another game where we’ve got to be prepared for their players and fans being up for it. The same can be said for many games this season, as one of the big scalps in this league. Let’s hope the difference in quality shows through, it should do, even more so now that the squad has been added to.

The 3.5k figure is likely for select cup matches only. In the past year, the likes of Leeds and Sunderland have also received the same allocation of 1.9k. That’s the standard amount for league fixtures so we won't be getting any more tickets.

After the misery of last season, it's great to go into the first international break of the season with back-to-back wins. Credit should go to Cifuentes - to be 4th in the league at this stage without being overly convincing is very decent. There's certainly some early promise under the new man.

Kiernan and Harvey both got a very good reception last season, if anything it probably went too much that way.

Granted, he didn't play a big role in the title win as he signed in the January window of 2016, but personally feel it's a bit daft for any member of the squad from that season to receive a negative reception. At the same time, that's not to say Gray couldn't have conducted himself better during his time at the club and the same goes for Mahrez.

If you're talking about the same building (the former EON site on Raw Dykes Road), there's certainly a lot of potential here.

Given Demarai Gray's contribution as a player while at the club, notably playing a part in the 2016 title win and scoring that goal at Cardiff, I thought the overall reception was unwarranted. There doesn't seem to be very much loyalty shown to former players at all. Sometimes it's a better look to give a neutral reaction if it's not a positive one. Each to their own though.

30,971 was last night's official attendance.

Birmingham's away support last night is only what we would produce if trailing away from home for the vast majority. They were decent before kick-off in fairness, but it didn't seem to carry through. The measure of atmosphere is always subjective though and dependent on the area of the stadium. Like with the noise created within the SK1/G1 corner last night, it's a shame that it didn't seem to get picked up on TV coverage, or travel well to the opposite side to get L1 and P blocks joining in.

Great night on Filbert Way.

There's a lot to like in what he says and how he comes across so far... “All the people working in the Club have been fantastic, helping both me and Xavi [Calm] to understand what the Club means and what it is about." “Everyone is aware of the challenge we have ahead of us. It will not be easy but I’m excited to be here and represent this Club with such amazing history and hopefully we are going to bring some good times back. It’s our turn to improve the relations and I think to get success, togetherness is key." “If we want good results this season and to achieve targets, we need that togetherness back and people to feel encouraged with what they see on the pitch. In that sense, I’ve been quite honest. I’m not happy with how we’ve been performing. There is potential to play much better." “I’m aware that it’s a work in progress and that’s on me to play better and I’m sure we will. I believe in daily work." “We are in a moment where we need to rebuild some things and it can take some time but I 100 per cent believe in this.”

Depends on which way you look at it. If the game had played out in the opposite way, I would have been very disappointed to come away without any points to show for the performance. However, agree in that it ultimately comes down to chance conversion.

Disagree, I felt the home crowd were decent throughout and stuck with their team even after going behind.

Not a convincing win at all yesterday and Charlton deserved at least a point if not all three. Great performance by Stolarczyk though.

There were two Rudkin out flags towards the bottom of the lower tier.

No former title-winning player should be given a bad reception and the same goes for Demarai Gray. There’s fans who will remember him more for his attitude while at the club which is understandable, but let’s not forget the role he played in helping us get over the line in 2016. He also commented on social media when we won the FA Cup in 2021, which was good to see.

Good support from their fans today.

He also set the tone for the 2022/23 season by stating that getting to 40 points, or staying up, will be the objective. During that same period of time, he downplayed and devalued the quality of the squad by letting it be known in the media he would have to work with what he's got. The continued negative rhetoric of not being able to compete when we were challenging at the top end of the league additionally played a part in our decline in my view.

This is Marti's biggest job and could turn out to be the most challenging job in his career to date. The start to the season so far, bearing in mind we've only had two league games, was always going to be a possibility whichever manager came in due to the situation that was going to be inherited. Even if there had been a more convincing start to the campaign overall, it wouldn't have detracted from the wider issues surrounding the club. Marti has shown a desire to try and build a connection with the fanbase, which is always important and a good starting point. However, repairing the relationship between fans and players, and integrating academy players whilst maintaining results, is going to be very difficult.

I've often felt the board have struggled to fully recover from Rodgers' exit, as it almost felt like he was a board member. This ties in with the lack of joined-up thinking in terms of managerial appointments since then, like going after Jesse Marsch. It's a massive shame how Rodgers conducted himself during 2022/23. Let down by the club, yes, but if he had acted differently, the strength of feeling towards him would have been toned down. He could have been revered here but his persona in the press, throughout his four years in charge, didn't always help with getting fans onside.

This has all the makings of being a repeat of last week, with a home crowd that will be just as up for it as Preston were, if not more so. They're a newly promoted team, with fans and players pulling in the same direction, which is to be expected. In comparison to ourselves and with that in mind, the level of disconnect felt towards some players could be even more apparent than it was against Preston.

Saturday's game really highlighted the disconnect and fractured nature of our support, and the difference in connection between their fans and players on the day was stark.