FoxesTalker

Good few points made here.

As much as there is a lot of criticism with our fans, myself included in that, think it's important to make the point again about Preston away. That showed the level of support we can produce, and it's about a collective effort to replicate that more often away from home.

The pricing for this and close proximity to the league game will obviously have a real impact on numbers. It's a shame in a way as ordinarily we probably would have taken a larger allocation there like other clubs have done.

Fair points made, would just add though wins in the next two against Southampton and Forest would go a long way in getting more fans onside with Cooper. That Forest game especially.

Good to see clapper collection points yesterday rather than people handing them out, again took longer to happen than it should have though. It's hopefully another step closer to them being phased out completely, albeit a faint hope.

The first win is obviously a step forward but it's not really feeling like that to me. I've not come away from yesterday feeling more confident in Cooper, if anything it's the opposite based on that second half performance. To be fair, Bournemouth upped it and deserved at least a point, but it was far too defensive with a lack of ambition to go further ahead. If it continues this way, results are going to be few and far between. Going into this international break in 15th though means it's not been a terrible start, but also can't help thinking this result only serves to prolong Cooper's time here.

Crucial set of fixtures for Cooper starting today. Heavy defeat and that might end his time here, but if it's a narrow loss or draw, the board will probably keep him in reality.

This is yet another decision which will only continue to build the divide between the club and its supporters. Disgraceful.

Not an admin/moderator, but would suggest it's better for general talk about Cooper to go in the other thread. https://www.foxestalk.co.uk/topic/135118-steve-cooper-new-manager/page/14/

This makes it sound like 30k plus isn’t the norm. The average was 31k last season in the Championship, and there also isn’t a situation in which Saturday 3pm kick-offs don’t sell out home or away. Granted, the feeling towards the board and Cooper will be having an impact, but single seats here and there isn’t any different to other clubs.

I don't think we needed EPL adding to the thread title, personally see that as more of an American term. The format is decent though. @5waller5 @Ric Flair

There's probably not a lot to separate Cooper and Dean Smith as managers, the latter obviously has a relegation to his name which is the main difference, but as we know that wasn’t all down to him. There are also similarities between them with the jobs they did at Forest and Villa respectively.

Agree on the second point but we’ve averaged 31k so far this season, which doesn’t seem any different to past seasons.

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Justin seems to give more honest interviews than most, the Plymouth away game last season in particular comes to mind.

There's been a lot of fair points made, just think it's important to add the Fulham of the Midlands tag isn't my own opinion, it's what I've seen bandied about here and there. This is how the club is often viewed unfortunately, but it goes without saying that the comparison with Fulham is solely down to the use of clappers, not in terms of club size or level of support.

Lose to Arsenal and Bournemouth, and Forest will probably be the crunch match just as it was for Rodgers in 2022. Although even with that, it wasn’t entirely clear whether the club would have acted. I’m not as anti-Cooper as some on here, but also leaning towards the thinking that this squad will be limited in what can be achieved this season under his management.

There's passion in terms of numbers home and away, and our vocally minded fans are obviously spread out around the ground. Despite this, there does seem to be a real difference with our match-going home crowd compared to the likes of Forest, Villa, Derby, Wolves - which is why we're sometimes referred to as the Fulham of the Midlands.

Not overly sure if the club are referring to the take up when the section was first introduced, but the handling of that was a real issue. The instruction at the time was for fans to apply for seats within the new section, then the club would contact those who were successful. This never happened which meant people had to chase the club, and likely resulted in some missing out. That’s my understanding of it anyway, just typifies the running of the club really.

Let's not forget Brentford away in 2023, when some of our fans were called 'idiots' for holding a Rodgers out banner.

This has become an early ‘must win’ for both sides, but a draw seems more likely. They’ve clearly not started well but shouldn’t be underestimated either, can’t really imagine ourselves leading by two at Villa with Cooper’s tactics so far. That first win is even more important with Arsenal away after this one.

It's been that way for years as well I would say, and broadly speaking it seems like the overall mindset within the Trust needs to change, which means new people coming in who have fresh impetus. That's not to say the Trust haven't improved recently but feel like that's more because of external criticism.

The club probably don't like what Southampton have done, because it shows what can be achieved in the same style of stadium. It's highly doubtful they would have thought in these terms, but Preston away last season should have been looked upon as inspiration of what can be achieved by having an 'end' behind the goal. Granted, Preston was a one-off but the current setup means that level of atmosphere cannot be replicated at home games.

Just to add to the recent talk about 22/23 and echo what has been said, it was an unforgivable relegation and a decline which never should have happened. Everton should have gone that season, and arguably, would be in a better place now albeit not financially.

Just hope Saturday isn't a repeat of the May 2022 defeat, before that game Everton hadn't won away since the previous August. Coming into this one, they haven't won away in the league since December.