If only...

[splinterdream]

Don't get down to the ground that often at present and when taking my little nephew to see us play Utd I was shocked how quiet we were, I don't think I've ever seen it that bad, even in relegation seasons where we've been heavily beaten there'd still be a sarcastic song started, what's gone wrong?

[grobyfox1990]

Sounds like a bunch of excited man utd Twitter kids on their phones for the whole match posting how good the 'sceeeeeenes' were wrote this. Condescending rats. Didn't make a difference either, could only hear the French all game.

 

Agree with the above comment too. Any time anything remotely 'wild ' happens at a game these days there's 100s of teenagers filming it instantly

[ealingfox]

 

Posted that a bit soon! They've just been shat on for the whole 90 minutes by the away end. Place was like a morgue.

[Hollyfox]

IMHO United followed by Leeds are the the best away supporters in this country. 

 

I really don't know what's happened to us at home, maybe we've gone a bit like Stoke, that used to make the Brittania a fortress. 

 

All I know is atmosphere is vital, not just to get the best out of the team, but to create a togetherness amongst fans and make it fun, exciting and to make the younger generation feel part of something worthwhile, that we'll need to sustain our growth as a club. 

 

I really started watching City in the 80's really due to travelling and finance, but the thing that got me hooked wasn't the football - god, that was awful. 

 

It was the atmosphere in our kop with about 2/3 's less people, the inflatable banana's etc, the big sheet that people used to surf on and the, pretty much, non stop singing. 

 

We' d be in the ground singing 1/2 hour before kick off, singing individual songs to our players during their warm up.

 

Many don't make kick off nowadays ?

 

Does anyone think that Leeds, the Sheffield 2 or even our East Midlands rivals would have been that terrible on Sunday? 

[Bristol fox ....]

12 hours ago, DerbyshireFox said:

Don’t think it helped that lots of people weren’t ‘allowed’ to stand. Wembley is the only ground I’ve been to where the stewards actually bother to enforce no standing. Anyone in our block who was stood more than two minutes was met by at steward telling them to sit down!

Our block stood all game apart from half a dozen bus 1 front rowers 

[Izzy]

7 hours ago, Hollyfox said:

 

I really started watching City in the 80's really due to travelling and finance, but the thing that got me hooked wasn't the football - god, that was awful. 

 

It was the atmosphere in our kop with about 2/3 's less people, the inflatable banana's etc, the big sheet that people used to surf on and the, pretty much, non stop singing. 

 

We' d be in the ground singing 1/2 hour before kick off, singing individual songs to our players during their warm up.

 

This for me too.

 

I genuinely believe the only way we'll ever replicate that kind of atmosphere is to introduce safe standing (and even then I'm not convinced it will be as good)

[Footballwipe]

I'm assuming these memories of Filbert Street are based on some of the amazing matches we've had over the years; from Cambridge and the other playoff semis, the cup semis and other incredible occasions I wish I'd been able to experience.

 

But video evidence highlights that Filbert Street was not the fervent cacophony of noise it was. Look at the tapes and you'll come across stoney silence in many games. I'm not defending the atmosphere at the KP, though I am wedded to the "performances breed atmosphere" element (look at Man City on Boxing Day).

 

My main gripe is that people fetishise and remember Filbert Street as something that was amazing, fantastic, 120 decibels every week and it just... wasn't?

[CosbehFox]

Well they did a good job did those Yanited lads. Absolute made to look fools by PSG. Something we never endured at KP in the CL (Copenhagen did an excellent job of making our stewards look mugs though)

[Soup]

Yeah them home nights were electric. Saying that though, our away ends in Europe (apart from Brugge) were terrible. If fact that night in Madrid still gives me nightmares. 

[OhYesNdidi]

23 minutes ago, Cardiff_Fox said:

Well they did a good job did those Yanited lads. Absolute made to look fools by PSG. Something we never endured at KP in the CL (Copenhagen did an excellent job of making our stewards look mugs though)

Looked like 4/5k PSG fans. Not sure we played a side in the champions league who took more than 2-2 1/2 thousand of their allocation. 

[CosbehFox]

14 minutes ago, OhYesNdidi said:

Looked like 4/5k PSG fans. Not sure we played a side in the champions league who took more than 2-2 1/2 thousand of their allocation. 

PSG had the normal Man Utd allocation. Which at tops is 3k

[Voll Blau]

European fans always tend to up their game a bit when they're playing over here on "the island". Helps that more often than not they know they'll face no challenge in many of the cities they'll go to and can basically just take the piss in and out of the ground.

 

As for us, we've been found out as a fanbase that will only ever sing when we're winning. Newcastle away last season is the only away end I've enjoyed being in since Bruges. People just aren't interested in supporting their team the majority of the time, and think the players should perform merely because they've turned up to stand/sit in silence for 90 minutes and watch them.

[ealingfox]

26 minutes ago, OhYesNdidi said:

Looked like 4/5k PSG fans. Not sure we played a side in the champions league who took more than 2-2 1/2 thousand of their allocation. 

 

There's more than twice as many home seats at Old Trafford than at the KP so it's all relative.

[Sol thewall Bamba]

39 minutes ago, OhYesNdidi said:

Looked like 4/5k PSG fans. Not sure we played a side in the champions league who took more than 2-2 1/2 thousand of their allocation. 

Every team that came here sold their allocation, we gave the minimum we had to under UEFA rules. 

[mancunianfox]

22 minutes ago, Voll Blau said:

People just aren't interested in supporting their team the majority of the time, and think the players should perform merely because they've turned up to stand/sit in silence for 90 minutes and watch them.

You've nailed it here. To be fair this isn't just us, it applies to most teams and it is sad. Even when we were crap it could still be enjoyable but the constant whinging nowadays has completely killed my enthusiasm for going to games. All you ever hear about is how crap the players are, not much supporting going on.

[Dan]

I can't justify spending loads of money on aways when our away ends are in a state like that on Sunday. What a bullet dodged that was.

 

Burnley & Huddersfield only for me this season as they're rarely bad. The others couldn't appeal to me less (Watford's largely based on the kick off time to be fair).

 

Saying that Man Utd's atmosphere last night was embarrassing. I know foreign fans do generally take the piss away here but that was on another level last night.

[Grebfromgrebland]

18 hours ago, Blue ROI said:

And we didn't have the Prawn Sandwich brigade to put up with either,

I bought my own prawn sandwiches and flask of tea. The prawn sandwiches were actually the cheapest and had fewest calories.

[Dan]

16 hours ago, Fox92 said:

Our away support is better than those clubs listed. We do take numbers (even if some do need to go to general to sell out), the issue is noise.

We've got no excuse what so ever to not beat any of them for numbers so it's a bit of a 'meh' point for me, likewise someone like Manchester United or Liverpool are always going to be better than us in that area.

 

Noise per head though we're no good and haven't been for a while.

[Nod.E]

Why can't people just accept that not everyone wants to go to the games to scream their heads off for 90 minutes? 

If you want that kind of atmosphere, go to Germany. 

[Voll Blau]

1 hour ago, Nod.E said:

Why can't people just accept that not everyone wants to go to the games to scream their heads off for 90 minutes? 

If you want that kind of atmosphere, go to Germany. 

I can accept it, I just think it's a shame and it personally detracts from my enjoyment of matches. I mentioned in another thread (I think after the Man United game) how much of an effect positive support can have on the players, and reckon it's probably worth a few goals a season to a club like us. What would you rather see as a player - a stand full of people going mad in support of you all the time or a stand full of people who can often barely be arsed to even clap their hands for you?

 

Supporters have the ability to give their team an extra edge in games, which we definitely did in 15/16, but it's a legacy we've quickly forgotten.

[Nod.E]

2 minutes ago, Voll Blau said:

I can accept it, I just think it's a shame and it personally detracts from my enjoyment of matches. I mentioned in another thread (I think after the Man United game) how much of an effect positive support can have on the players, and reckon it's probably worth a few goals a season to a club like us. What would you rather see as a player - a stand full of people going mad in support of you all the time or a stand full of people who can often barely be arsed to even clap their hands for you?

 

Supporters have the ability to give their team an extra edge in games, which we definitely did in 15/16, but it's a legacy we've quickly forgotten.

The former, but it isn't a controllable factor.

We had great atmosphere in 15/16 because we're a middling team that were in a title race.

[Stoopid]

8 hours ago, Footballwipe said:

I'm assuming these memories of Filbert Street are based on some of the amazing matches we've had over the years; from Cambridge and the other playoff semis, the cup semis and other incredible occasions I wish I'd been able to experience.

 

But video evidence highlights that Filbert Street was not the fervent cacophony of noise it was. Look at the tapes and you'll come across stoney silence in many games. I'm not defending the atmosphere at the KP, though I am wedded to the "performances breed atmosphere" element (look at Man City on Boxing Day).

 

My main gripe is that people fetishise and remember Filbert Street as something that was amazing, fantastic, 120 decibels every week and it just... wasn't?

Maybe not, but it was a different type of crowd. Who could turn up & pay on the gate. Who stood up & created a focal point in the Kop.

Away fans were close by and that helped too.

The gentrification of football has attracted a different kind of crowd,  less boisterous & more isolated. Probably a bit more self- conscious.

Football mirrors society, and while it's probably safer now and certainly better heeled, it's lost the raucous edge that gave it a spark.

[Voll Blau]

1 hour ago, Nod.E said:

The former, but it isn't a controllable factor.

We had great atmosphere in 15/16 because we're a middling team that were in a title race.

And that atmosphere undoubtedly contributed, in my opinion, to keeping us in that title race on a few occasions (as well as in the Great Escape the previous season). Obviously it's not something I can tangibly prove to have had an effect, but I'd wager most players do better when supporters are encouraging them en masse than when they're not. Like I say, if people don't want to get involved then whatever, like you say it isn't a controllable factor, but I just think it's a shame.

[Nod.E]

1 minute ago, Voll Blau said:

And that atmosphere undoubtedly contributed, in my opinion, to keeping us in that title race on a few occasions (as well as in the Great Escape the previous season). Obviously it's not something I can tangibly prove to have had an effect, but I'd wager most players do better when supporters are encouraging them en masse than when they're not. Like I say, if people don't want to get involved then whatever, like you say it isn't a controllable factor, but I just think it's a shame.

I totally agree, the fans definitely helped in that run in.

Unfortunately it isn't a switch we can just turn on and off. Fans react and then the players react to the fans. It's an interdependant relationship.

[HighPeakFox]

Some really thought provoking posts. One other factor that individuals do deny is that perceptions must have changed post-title win. It isn't necessarily conscious, but honestly, how can they not have done? And nobody is to blame in that.