Relegation Battle

[Duvel 1,379]

29 minutes ago, BillyWoofs_shinpad said:

Do you think the club would reduce ticket prices

I doubt it! 

[BillyWoofs_shinpad 1,331]

1 minute ago, Duvel said:

I doubt it! 

Me too, premier league prices for third tier football.  

[SouthernSmoggie 902]

58 minutes ago, Duvel said:

I honestly don't see us being cut adrift at any point. 

As bad as things have been, I still think we'll scrape enough points together to keep our heads above the bottom 3. 

To answer your question about how bad things would have to be for Woodgate to get sacked, I'm not sure whether he'll even get sacked if we fall into the bottom 3 or get relegated. 

 

Hope you're right. If last Saturday is indicative of our levels going forward though... points will be few and far between. I think it'll be a nervy last few games of the season.

[wilsoncgp 4,745]

57 minutes ago, Duvel said:

If we got relegated we'd just have a massive PR campaign from the club and Gazette and by August our fans would be raring to go again. 

I really think you're over-egging the contribution of the 'PR campaign'. It's a message that a lot of fans just want to hear because ultimately, a lot of people don't like the idea of not turning up to the Riverside on match-day. I honestly couldn't give a cack what the club puts out, I don't care whether they big it up or say bugger all, it's just not something that crosses my mind when I think about whether I make the investment again this year. But positivity is welcomed and celebrated by those that are ultimately going to turn up anyway and that's very different to having it sway you into going.

[Duvel 1,379]

22 minutes ago, wilsoncgp said:

I really think you're over-egging the contribution of the 'PR campaign'. It's a message that a lot of fans just want to hear because ultimately, a lot of people don't like the idea of not turning up to the Riverside on match-day. I honestly couldn't give a cack what the club puts out, I don't care whether they big it up or say bugger all, it's just not something that crosses my mind when I think about whether I make the investment again this year. But positivity is welcomed and celebrated by those that are ultimately going to turn up anyway and that's very different to having it sway you into going.

Well that's your opinion and I can only go on what I read online. I do remember the mood of our fans change dramatically after one press conference where people seemed convinced that we'd made the right decision. 

I'm not saying every season ticket holder signed up based on that, but do I think the club and Gazette's PR campaign helped to sell season tickets? Of course it will have done. 

Look, the club is operating as a business and needs to sell tickets. Football fans are quite an easy target market because they want to believe things are moving in the right direction. Theres nothing wrong with fans being optimistic but there's also nothing wrong with having a distrust of the club either if that's how some of us feel. 

If you want an example of the fans being swayed by the Gazette look at the comments supporting Adrian Bevington's role on here last summer. Some posters wouldn't listen to any criticism of him being appointed into a recruitment role. Fast forward a few months and Bevington is gone and now everyone is saying what a bad appointment it was. 

[wilsoncgp 4,745]

17 minutes ago, Duvel said:

Well that's your opinion and I can only go on what I read online. I do remember the mood of our fans change dramatically after one press conference where people seemed convinced that we'd made the right decision. 

I'm not saying every season ticket holder signed up based on that, but do I think the club and Gazette's PR campaign helped to sell season tickets? Of course it will have done. 

Look, the club is operating as a business and needs to sell tickets. Football fans are quite an easy target market because they want to believe things are moving in the right direction. Theres nothing wrong with fans being optimistic but there's also nothing wrong with having a distrust of the club either if that's how some of us feel. 

If you want an example of the fans being swayed by the Gazette look at the comments supporting Adrian Bevington's role on here last summer. Some posters wouldn't listen to any criticism of him being appointed into a recruitment role. Fast forward a few months and Bevington is gone and now everyone is saying what a bad appointment it was. 

I actually seem to recall the big difference in mood was when Pulis left, that's why most fans complained they wouldn't renew until the summer. Of course there was a positivity in mood when Woodgate, Bausor and Gibson actually come out to tell a tale of a glorious future. But again, do you think post that press conference that there was a significantly higher number of season tickets sold compared to a usual summer uptake? Do you think that brought back the fans more than Pulis leaving did, considering how many even just on here said they told the club they wouldn't renew whilst Pulis was in charge? As far as I can tell, for the large majority, it was nothing more than that. And for those it was, like yourself, a significant number just didn't come back.

I've never said it's a problem having distrust, you aren't on your own and I imagine you have plenty of season ticket holders on your side right now, I've made it pretty clear I'm not happy with them either but it's not the determining factor of whether I turn up.

I'll say it again, I think the majority of people want to read positivity out of any situation in terms of our club because if it ultimately is positive, it means the club is moving forward and that's what we all want to see. An overwhelming majority of us don't actually know what football clubs do behind the scenes but in the air of uncertainty, some fans will give the club a greater benefit of the doubt than others and give credence to positive ideas over negative ones. It's not the only things in our lives that people find comfort in reading what they want to read and hearing what they want to hear either. A lot of the discourse over something as huge as Brexit has had the same effect; those that want it to go well are incredibly willing to listen to the positivity and this patriotism can be just as easily applied to football and the club you follow. That's not swaying anyone's beliefs, it's reinforcing them.

[Changing Times 4,934]

There was a change in mood following Woodgate's appointment.  I spoke about it on here as I couldn't understand why the forum went from not wanting Woodgate at all to being kinda happy about it - not everyone by any means but quite a few people seemed to suddenly gain optimism on the basis of the press conference and nothing else.

[Smoggydownsouth 1,233]

8 minutes ago, Changing Times said:

There was a change in mood following Woodgate's appointment.  I spoke about it on here as I couldn't understand why the forum went from not wanting Woodgate at all to being kinda happy about it - not everyone by any means but quite a few people seemed to suddenly gain optimism on the basis of the press conference and nothing else.

I will say I was on of these... thought he spoke logically and had a plan... that said I also whole heartedly wanted a local lad to succeed and take us forward. Still hope he succeeds and I'm willing to scrape through this season and go again... the team would have to hit the ground running in August though.

[Rioch's Braves 547]

Woodgate talks about a future plan and hopes the fans can see where we are actually going with it, well unfortunately the majority of us fans are  all just a bit thick because we're not sure what he means or what he is trying to achieve on the football pitch, so it would be pleasing if Woody could go on Radio Tees and once again enlighten us all as to the future plans for our football club so we can all get on board, hopefully that will not include the R word and Division 1..

[Dan_Boro_Till_I_Die 689]

Lose Saturday and that's the nail in the coffin for me. 

[AnglianRed 2,747]

2 hours ago, wilsoncgp said:

I really think you're over-egging the contribution of the 'PR campaign'. It's a message that a lot of fans just want to hear because ultimately, a lot of people don't like the idea of not turning up to the Riverside on match-day. I honestly couldn't give a cack what the club puts out, I don't care whether they big it up or say bugger all, it's just not something that crosses my mind when I think about whether I make the investment again this year. But positivity is welcomed and celebrated by those that are ultimately going to turn up anyway and that's very different to having it sway you into going.

Agreed.

I've seen quite a few fans of many clubs interviewed and the real hardcore ones, that show up rain or shine, through thick and thin, seem to be driven by tradition, nostalgia and general love of the club, regardless of the players or manager. Quite a few also seem to have personal connections as well...met their significant other at a match, had a wedding reception there or something like that.

 

[BoroAbroad 186]

46 minutes ago, Dan_Boro_Till_I_Die said:

Lose Saturday and that's the nail in the coffin for me. 

Hope not considering your user name. 😬🤣🤣

[AnglianRed 2,747]

Just for the heck of it, here is how I see the remainder of our season panning out. Will check back in May to see how I did...

 

 

This would give us 50 points total - surely enough to keep us up.

Of course, this comes with the HUGE caveat that the players find the motivation to put in some decent performances.

 

Edited February 17, 2020 by AnglianRed

[BoroAbroad 186]

4 minutes ago, AnglianRed said:

Just for the heck of it, here is how I see the remainder of our season panning out. Will check back in April to see how I did...

 

 

This would give us 50 points total - surely enough to keep us up.

Of course, this comes with the HUGE caveat that the players find the motivation to put in some decent performances.

 

I like the optimism. Based on our recent performance's 3 victories seems one hell of a mountain to climb. It is certainly not unachievable and in all fairness we should be able to claim more.
But this team of ours seem hell bent on self destruction. So something needs to change fast.

We could always park the bus and anything else we can find. Go for a goalless draw in every game and achieve the same total. 🤔
 

But, yes. Looking at that list I am with you. I think we will just survive.

[AnglianRed 2,747]

12 minutes ago, BoroAbroad said:

I like the optimism. Based on our recent performance's 3 victories seems one hell of a mountain to climb. It is certainly not unachievable and in all fairness we should be able to claim more.
But this team of ours seem hell bent on self destruction. So something needs to change fast.

We could always park the bus and anything else we can find. Go for a goalless draw in every game and achieve the same total. 🤔
 

But, yes. Looking at that list I am with you. I think we will just survive.

Well Sanddancer just pointed out on the Luton thread that another 3 wins would be in keeping with our season average of 1 win every 4 games (8 from 33 so far).

Though knowing us we'll somehow beat Leeds, Forest and Bristol instead, or something nearly as mad.

But yeah, if we can just somehow average a point a game, that'll do us nicely.