Our Season - An Alternative View

Brents Goulet said:
THIS........
This is what I'm talking about
This mind-set; we were supposed to be moving onwards and upwards and we aren't......
We've moved onwards and upwards for six consecutive seasons, and for the first time in that period we wont beat the previous season's performance, but still, we may well finish mid-table in the Premier League (we currently sit in 12th)
Some of our fans have such a sense of entitlement, it's frightening
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I hope you don't mind me 'checking in' again....I think it was the term 'checking in' that made your reply sound like some sort of corporate response to a disney land ride that had derailed for a day leaving a load of upset customers.Lets be honest the PL is rather like that isn't it. Sit down, shut up, free flags, sweet Caroline and why the hell do I think our next stunt will be those happy clapper things they gave to those soton fans.

Some of our fans have such a sense of entitlement you say ? I base my entitlement like many, on travelling thousands of miles the length of the country, spending a fortune in the process and sleeping in sh it hotels. In that respect I count myself lucky that I can sleep in a sh it hotel when other poor sods are spending 20 hours on a coach, When at home I'm spending my hard earned each season sitting in a temporary stand ( with appalling toilet and refreshment facilities) that cost one fifth of the value of Jordon Ibes car parked 75 yards away.

You say we're all entitled to an opinion but have such a sense of entitlement. That's an oxymoron isn't it ?

Most of us know where we stand and thus have extremely limited expectations about our unbelievable presence in this league ( Yes I still can't believe we're here) but something changed on Saturday. I was you, the half glass full guy, pouring scorn on the naysayers (ask Neil D) . It wasn't the result, it was the manner of the defeat, the attitude on the pitch or the complete absence of it. This wasn't a one off. Someone mentioned a few months back we'd limp over the line with the odd draw, how right they were. Why are we limping over the line, lets not brush it under the carpet anymore and pretend some real issues don't actually exist.
 
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we have earned the right to another season in The PL garden of Eden and to feast on the hanging fruits!

It goes without saying that not many of us probably expected four consecutive seasons of top flight footy...it will obviously have a shelf life, as with the likes of Wigan, Reading and others in the relegation lottery...

We are rubbing shoulders with the elite...and if it all ended next season nothing would take away the amazing memories!

One day Eddie Howe will move on, maybe Max Demin and the investors too?

I don't think that we have any sense of entitlement, to think that would be forgetting all the tough tough times that the club has been through , and we are unique in that respect amongst all other clubs IMO...

As fans we have been treated more shoddily in our current situation than when the club depended on our undying support...new JCL's have come on board and constantly clash with the older wiser(?) The journey has sometimes seen some fans moan and groan about things we could only have dreamt about in the past!

I will still be banging on here no matter what happens, because AFCB matters in my life...whatever the future!
 
Brents Goulet said:
We may well finish mid-table in the Premier League (we currently sit in 12th)
Some of our fans have such a sense of entitlement, it's frightening
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We could be higher, and have many more points than that though. The way this season is going, we're more likely to finish 16th-14th. And that's still amazing!

Or is it mediocre? I believe that this squad is capable of a top half finish as is, with everyone fully fit and firing. To finish near the bottom would be a failure. Just because we used to be s***, doesn't mean we're entitled for wanting the team to play their best football.
 
Neil Dawson said:
I will give you a real example. I’ve been to Liverpool three times. First year I saw a team fight their socks off...so proud to play there. Fought every inch and denied by a ref. Second year same effort but with more quality. Never stopped running and ground them down to nick a point.

This year... Defoe didn’t chase one ball, Ibe gave up every cause, Cook sat off them in midfield, Gosling didn’t put a shift in at all. All very complacent and over deserving of being there. That’s not the fault of the league one old guard...they kept the score line respectable.

Liverpool fans after the game saying that we didn’t put up same fight...

You can’t ignore evidence in front of your eyes.
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This, exactly.
 
one thing that seems to have desserted us a little is how we distribute the ball, we seem to be giving it away more, not sure if that is just trying to be more clever or that we have players who lack the ability or who's accuracy is waning?

If you took a view of most goals that we have conceded I am convinced that a good majority have come from poor passes out of defence, poor ball control, and sideways passing breaking down?
 
At times we have tried to be too clever to gain an advantage and failed with the basics.

It is always dangerous for the full backs to get ahead of the ball down either wing to anticipate a pass but how many times this year has the midfielder lost the ball with the defender caught out of position.

Like Saturday, what is the point of having our three tall defenders in the penalty area for a corner or free kick and not play the ball into them then lose the ball faffing around with it. At times you despair at our tactics.
 
Lack of effort is lack of effort, whatever league we're in,
harking back to what KBG and ND alluded to - Eddie always, and rightly so, points to performances over results and those performances have dipped this season, culminating in that Saints debacle on Saturday - our best chance ever to put one over on our patronising neighbours and the players failed to take it
 
Garbo said:
one thing that seems to have desserted us a little is how we distribute the ball, we seem to be giving it away more, not sure if that is just trying to be more clever or that we have players who lack the ability or who's accuracy is waning?

If you took a view of most goals that we have conceded I am convinced that a good majority have come from poor passes out of defence, poor ball control, and sideways passing breaking down?
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Totally agree,
I don't believe the players have lost the will to win and don't care.
They have become clumsy trying to play the Man City way, but the balls are too easy to read and not hit firm enough. But then the receiver has to know how to control the ball or know who to pass it on to.
If you can't play it short because of pressure, then stick it over the top for the forwards to run on to.
 
FrankBartonsBeard said:
our best chance ever to put one over on our patronising neighbours and the players failed to take it
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But that's the root of all of this outpouring of disappointment.

I grew up in Montreal and believe me the hockey rivalry between Montreal and Toronto in the late 50's and 60's was pure hatred. Each game was a reenactment of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. English versus French. The "centre of the country" Ontarians versus the insecure "negres blancs"of Quebec. Montreal was given first dibs on any Quebec born junior player - Toronto and the other 4 original teams drafted from the rest of the country. So even in this sense, Quebec was isolated. This stuff goes way beyond hockey, but hockey was the outlet. And Montreal were kings.

Fast forward five decades ... I hardly watch hockey much anymore. Most of the players of my youth have passed on. Montreal last won the Stanley Cup in 1993, Toronto in 1967. I could barely name 10 players on both teams today. But, the same acrimony for Toronto hockey fans, enjoying their disappointments and failures, almost more than any Montreal success (which has been not a lot) still burns today. So, I get this reaction.

Let's play out a scenario where we draw with Swansea and Soton draw with Everton on Saturday. We are now officially safe. Swansea then beats Soton on the ensuing Tuesday, and Soton are relegated. Does that assuage any of the angst, or is it more to the point that we didn't put the boots to them in possibly a once-in-a-lifetime chance?
 
Toronto John said:
Let's play out a scenario where we draw with Swansea and Soton draw with Everton on Saturday. We are now officially safe. Swansea then beats Soton on the ensuing Tuesday, and Soton are relegated. Does that assuage any of the angst, or is it more to the point that we didn't put the boots to them in possibly a once-in-a-lifetime chance?
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Now that is a very good point!!!
 
If Southampton still go down I will feel better to a degree ...to the point that our game against Swansea holds very little interest to me other than I hope it goes towards them still getting relegated ...and before anyone says, what about , I don’t give a sh*t about getting an extra million or whatever by finishing higher .
 
Toronto John said:
But that's the root of all of this outpouring of disappointment.

I grew up in Montreal and believe me the hockey rivalry between Montreal and Toronto in the late 50's and 60's was pure hatred. Each game was a reenactment of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. English versus French. The "centre of the country" Ontarians versus the insecure "negres blancs"of Quebec. Montreal was given first dibs on any Quebec born junior player - Toronto and the other 4 original teams drafted from the rest of the country. So even in this sense, Quebec was isolated. This stuff goes way beyond hockey, but hockey was the outlet. And Montreal were kings.

Fast forward five decades ... I hardly watch hockey much anymore. Most of the players of my youth have passed on. Montreal last won the Stanley Cup in 1993, Toronto in 1967. I could barely name 10 players on both teams today. But, the same acrimony for Toronto hockey fans, enjoying their disappointments and failures, almost more than any Montreal success (which has been not a lot) still burns today. So, I get this reaction.

Let's play out a scenario where we draw with Swansea and Soton draw with Everton on Saturday. We are now officially safe. Swansea then beats Soton on the ensuing Tuesday, and Soton are relegated. Does that assuage any of the angst, or is it more to the point that we didn't put the boots to them in possibly a once-in-a-lifetime chance?
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For me, the fact that it was against Southampton is only one part of the problem.

I'd have been just as annoyed with that performance if it was against Chesterfield (and have been).
 
DJ said:
For me, the fact that it was against Southampton is only one part of the problem.

I'd have been just as annoyed with that performance if it was against Chesterfield (and have been).
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was it cheaterfield where we were 2 or 3 down before half-time, and there was a mass exodus to the bar?
 
DJ said:
For me, the fact that it was against Southampton is only one part of the problem.

I'd have been just as annoyed with that performance if it was against Chesterfield (and have been).
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Or Rochdale - the sort of defeat that it takes a week before anger subsides and you still get intermittent spasms of disappointment for a further two weeks.
 
Mark my words , we’re going to be talking about this one like we bang on about f**king Blyth Spartans , god knows how many years later .
 
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