Leaving Early = Lost the Fanbase = Doomed?

[DI36O]

Win lose or draw
We're leaving on 64'
We're gonna beat the traffic all the way

 

[HighfieldBlade]

I'm still on row LL on the Kop.
Am I the winner?

 

[Matlock Blade]

I never leave early even when we are being thrashed. Luckily my son borrowed my season card for his girlfriend yesterday so I didn't have to endure the torture of him nagging at me to leave early!

 

[Finn Keane o' Balmaqueen]

im not having us fans taken for granted.

 

[Bladesman]

I'm still on row LL on the Kop.
Am I the winner?

You get a free pukka pie.

*expired 2023

 

[Webding]

You went to school in a pit village. Kiveton Park Colliery was half a mile from Wales, Dinno 3 miles, Maltby 4, Shireoaks 5.

You've spent too long in Scab City.

Grow a pair and force yourself back up the M1. Maybe a few sneck jokes and a Betty impression , but FFS don't give up on us now.

Family duties; I still drag myself there every game when there’s no nurse/orderly duties to perform. But when there is something forcing me to not go, I really don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything anymore… and I’m guessing that level of apathy is relatively common right now.

 

[SouthStandGBlock]

One of the most fun batterings if that is a thing was losing 6-0 to Arsenal in the League cup in I think it was 2008, nothing to do with on the pitch but I remember it getting to 5-0 and for some reason all the blades fans just went through our repertoire of songs for ages, as they were 5-0 up before 60 minutes , the Arsenal fans that were close by couldn’t understand it and were trying to shout back and were outsung.

I was there for that. Good wasn't it!?!!

I left just after half time though. Mate of mine offered me a lift back which was going to save me two hours travelling, so I legged it.

We were never getting that back were we?

 

[SouthStandGBlock]

I stayed until the end on Saturday - because we always do.

It was abject though. Shit performance by a load overpaid shite players. Dead atmosphere.

I'm another who has a 200 mile round trip, and I reflected that I'd spent more effort getting there than most of them showed on the pitch.

I'm treating myself on Saturday - I've given my ticket away, there's loads of stuff to do at home, and my time will be better spent doing that.

It's a hard watch at the moment, and has been since Souttar got injured, almost 12 months ago.

 

[unitedbhoy]

I couldn’t get my head around some people stood proudly clapping at the end of the game. I get if it was a spirited performance. But it was shite, they didn’t deserve a an applause from anyone.

 

[Billyblade]

I couldn’t get my head around some people stood proudly clapping at the end of the game. I get if it was a spirited performance. But it was shite, they didn’t deserve a an applause from anyone.

I clapped at the end.
I wasn't 'proudly' clapping the team.
I was clapping the player who was closest to me, the one who had the bottle to come nearest to the Kop at the end and the only one who deserved any recognition.

 

[John Street West Terrace]

I left on 70 mins because it was fkg dire .. we were creating nothing , losing every 50/50 & there were no leaders out there .. they just gave up .. can’t see me how me staying for another 20 mins of watching that god awful shite was gonna change the dynamics of the match ?
When I can see players genuinely trying , working hard & giving it all for the cause then they’ll always have my full support fir the full 90 minutes

 

[Revolution]

I couldn’t get my head around some people stood proudly clapping at the end of the game. I get if it was a spirited performance. But it was shite, they didn’t deserve a an applause from anyone.

O'Hare did. He bust his arse on Saturday. Head and shoulders above everyone else.

 

[S64 Blade]

Personally i haven't noticed any improvement in the atmosphere that i was promised.
Hope we kept the receipt.

It may help a bit if non season ticket holders could buy a ticket there.

 

[S64 Blade]

My rule is 3-0 and I’m off.

 

[Loco Blade]

You went to school in a pit village. Kiveton Park Colliery was half a mile from Wales, Dinno 3 miles, Maltby 4, Shireoaks 5.

You've spent too long in Scab City.

Grow a pair and force yourself back up the M1. Maybe a few sneck jokes and a Betty impression , but FFS don't give up on us now.

I went to Wales High School when it first opened im 72 . Headmaster was Welsh and made us do sports in a Wales rugby kit ?? wanker

 

[Dambuster.]

I stayed until the end on Saturday - because we always do.

It was abject though. Shit performance by a load overpaid shite players. Dead atmosphere.

I'm another who has a 200 mile round trip, and I reflected that I'd spent more effort getting there than most of them showed on the pitch.

I'm treating myself on Saturday - I've given my ticket away, there's loads of stuff to do at home, and my time will be better spent doing that.

It's a hard watch at the moment, and has been since Souttar got injured, almost 12 months ago.

Completely agree, since souttar got injured we never seemed to be the same team. No leadership on the pitch.

 

[ekke287]

I stayed until the end, as I pay on the day and don’t get to many. £40 minimum down the pan to watch us get outplayed by a team we doubled last season. Absolutely pathetic and doesn’t fill me with motivation to stick my hand in my wallet again.

You may say that’s fair weather, or supporting through thick and thin, but for me it’s not. I have a very simple mantra that if the players don’t care then why should I, when I could spend my afternoon with my family instead.

Whatever the reasons may be, they simply don’t look like a team, there’s no fight, no drive, no passion, nothing. And then we get the abject lines from the dugout shifting blame for a complete lack of tactical nuance.

CW now has had more time with this squad than Selles, knows and recruited half the players, and has no idea of what to do with any of them.

Our tactic is literally “give it to the best player (Hamer or O’Hare) and hope something happens”.

We are pathetic top to bottom. The icing will be the inevitable loss to the pigs in a couple of weeks, for as much as we mock them, they’re more cohesive and playing for their club.

 

[Pintor75]

I stay till the end ,but fans should leave when they want to, they pay good money it's their choice, who knows they might have work to go to or whatever. With this current rubbish in the last few weeks it's up to them

 

[Tickhill Blade]

I went to Wales High School when it first opened im 72 . Headmaster was Welsh and made us do sports in a Wales rugby kit ?? wanker

Where I went to school in Donny we played rugby, and Wales High School was the only place they chucked stones at our coach as well left

 

[Loco Blade]

Where I went to school in Donny we played rugby, and Wales High School was the only place they chucked stones at our coach as well left

Yes it’s gone downhill since then but it did produce a world champion super bike rider in James Toseland . I moved to Rochdale and had to endure Lisa Stansfield at our school.

 

[Webding]

I went to Wales High School when it first opened im 72 . Headmaster was Welsh and made us do sports in a Wales rugby kit ?? wanker

We had a couple of years of him before they performed the incredible handbrake turn of replacing him with a permed bloke from Barnsley.

Was still a rugby school though.

 

[Iffy Onuora's Shiny Head]

I've been there for nigh on 60 years and been through the lot but this time is different.
When we fell into the 4th Div and in many similar depressing situations , we hadn't just thrown away 7 season's worth of PL & parachute £.
We were a £ poor club and we could all understand that a rollercoaster life of support was to be expected , with ups dependent on great managers coinciding with some great players blossoming.

When we sunk precious £ into the SS in 73-76 , thereby getting relegated, the club could be forgiven for trying to make concrete progress.

This time , the club has taken a 12-bore and shot off its own legs , through sheer incompetence.
From any objective standpoint , the club looks totally ridiculous ,
which leaves fans with a powerless mixture of raw fury & sheer embarrassment.

It's been said 1000 times but how can you go from a whisker away from the PL to scrapping against the odds to avoid L1 , spending all the £ as you go ?

And if we entered administration tomorrow , what would we have to show for 7 seasons as a yoyo club ?

A field in Dore and a bunch of players worth less than their purchase price.

A side that is so incompetent , it can't negotiate it's way across the halfway line , create any excitement or entertainment.

Leaving early in protest at such diabolical waste of £ hundreds of millions and failure to take an opportunity to remain a yoyo club until the £ was there to land a berth in the PL ?
LEAVING EARLY ?

And people call it disloyal ?

Chuff me , I'd like to burn the whole place down - that's a perfectly proportionate reaction to what they've done to my love & ambition for them since 2019.

You want to call me "entitled" in a perjorative sense of the word ?
What utter rubbish !

I've followed an under-achieving club for over half a century.
I'm fully entitled to expect it not to be a national laughing-stock for its antics in ownership , management , recruitment and ultimate failure to make progress when presented with 2 promotions.

How many of us must feel that the decision-making - since the American Idiots arrived - has been of a way lower quality than a £ multi-million business deserves.
Especially when it carries the hopes of 25k regulars.

And what hope is left ?
We're stuck with a clueless manager , an insipid squad and about to fall off a £ cliff-edge.

The icing on the cake being the sheer lack of endeavour or entertainment in matches.

Leaving early is only a token form of censure and one of very few that are available to fans who feel the club is being let down by those who own and run it.

Although I've never left before the end , I can fully understand those who do.

Such a good summary

After five years of mediocrity in League One, we finally had a golden few seasons — two promotions in three years built on unity, smart tactics, and a bit of luck where everything just 'clicked'. That team had identity, skill and heart. We also had on loan the best current English Goalkeeper for 2 seasons.

Then came the Prince’s full takeover and after first year in the Premier League, the beginning of the decline. Court cases, dreadful transfer decisions, and money wasted on average players. £17m for McBurnie, £23m for Brewster, £10m on Mousset — a string of misjudged “young British talent” punts that never paid off.

We were on a journey with Wilder’s core league 1/championship side, but once the magic wore off, the squad aged, recruitment failed, and we slid backwards. The Covid season exposed every weakness. Then came the Slav “rebuild” which had no actual rebuild. Hecky steadied things briefly, but his football was dull, and his success and promtion owed everything to Ndiaye’s brilliance - our best player in 30+ years.

The Premier League return was a humiliation: best players sold, Sharp binned, cheap replacements, and no plan. The new owners since then have made things even worse — dithering on the manager post play offs, terrible transfer planning, hiring an unproven coach, panic-buying at the end of the window, then crawling back to Wilder again.

Now we’re left with a stale, uninspired squad, no footballing identity, no excitement, and no connection to the fans. It feels like we’ve come full circle — right back to where we started a decade ago.

 

[RWE]

Such a good summary

After five years of mediocrity in League One, we finally had a golden few seasons — two promotions in three years built on unity, smart tactics, and a bit of luck where everything just 'clicked'. That team had identity, skill and heart. We also had on loan the best current English Goalkeeper for 2 seasons.

Then came the Prince’s full takeover and after first year in the Premier League, the beginning of the decline. Court cases, dreadful transfer decisions, and money wasted on average players. £17m for McBurnie, £23m for Brewster, £10m on Mousset — a string of misjudged “young British talent” punts that never paid off.

We were on a journey with Wilder’s core league 1/championship side, but once the magic wore off, the squad aged, recruitment failed, and we slid backwards. The Covid season exposed every weakness. Then came the Slav “rebuild” which had no actual rebuild. Hecky steadied things briefly, but his football was dull, and his success and promtion owed everything to Ndiaye’s brilliance - our best player in 30+ years.

The Premier League return was a humiliation: best players sold, Sharp binned, cheap replacements, and no plan. The new owners since then have made things even worse — dithering on the manager post play offs, terrible transfer planning, hiring an unproven coach, panic-buying at the end of the window, then crawling back to Wilder again.

Now we’re left with a stale, uninspired squad, no footballing identity, no excitement, and no connection to the fans. It feels like we’ve come full circle — right back to where we started a decade ago.

I was just about to post the exact same, that in nearly 10 years since Wilder took over it’s been a genuine full circle where the manager who took us up from league 1 to 9th in the Prem (and had us playing some fantastic football in those 5 years) looks to be the one who’s going to take us down this year (playing some god awful stuff). wtf has happened to him? but also what has happened to our club? It’s so typical of this football club that we can fuck ourselves over in literally 10 years time.

This years my first year without a season ticket (and thank fuck it is btw) but I can’t bear to waste any more of my time and money every week watching a club top to bottom who are clueless. We are literally the same as them pig bastards who spent a fuck ton on wages and transfer fees on subpar players back in 2017 and look where that got them. I genuinely can’t see a future or any direction for this club at the minute which is my biggest worry, and they won’t be having anymore of my money and time whilst they fuck about with an institution that’s been around for 136 years.

 

[LBA_Blade]

I was there for that. Good wasn't it!?!!

I left just after half time though. Mate of mine offered me a lift back which was going to save me two hours travelling, so I legged it.

We were never getting that back were we?

I went to the Highbury game in the FA Cup and that was great but even their "weakened" side in the League, I had a look at that today although they were youngsters then Wilshere and Bendtner were quality that day. Being midweek I took the next day off and decided to stay down London town but it is bizarre games like that, that you remember for the atmosphere. The only home game that I genuinely have walked out on early was when the 3rd went in for Swansea in the FA Cup when they were in League one and we were a Premier League side under Warnock. Now with me and my mates having families those few hours plus travel and maybe a sneaky 1 or 2 before and after are the only time, I get to catch up with them so usually do stay until the end.

 

[Geordie Blade]

I don’t care for stay away fans who only show up when we are good .

Football fans are a strange breed. I love football but, ultimately, it's an entertainment business. You pay for your ticket, and you do what you like with it. In no other field of commerce do people get so worked up about what other people do. Imagine if it applied at the supermarket?

"You bastard - you only enjoy asparagus in June. Where were you in February when it was flavourless?"

"Why didn't you buy pears, you wanker?"

"Leaving early??? You haven't even been down the pet food isle yet, nobhead."

 

[54yrblade]

Football fans are a strange breed. I love football but, ultimately, it's an entertainment business. You pay for your ticket, and you do what you like with it. In no other field of commerce do people get so worked up about what other people do. Imagine if it applied at the supermarket?

"You bastard - you only enjoy asparagus in June. Where were you in February when it was flavourless?"

"Why didn't you buy pears, you wanker?"

"Leaving early??? You haven't even been down the pet food isle yet, nobhead."

I did buy pears.

Thank you

 

[Panini]

Not bothered what division we're in or whether we're doing well within the division, that won't stop me going.

No doubt the covid seasons and the batterings in the last PL season had some impact, probably numbed me more than anything.

However there are 3 things that switch me off going to matches and right now all 3 are true:

1) we're boring. Not just uneventful but painfully predictable and just ... nothing

2) players not being bothered and leaving it all out there

3) a manager allowing these things to happen while telling us to ignore what we can see with our own eyes

 

[TJ blade]

Been going 60 odd years.. ups and downs we've all endured, never in a million years would I think I'd get fed up! Until the finish of the play off final! Something died in me that day sadly regarding the blades! Still had my yearly season ticket though, but this bag of shite as really knocked the stuffing out of me! And now confession time, had an invite Saturday with my lad to go to Macclesfield v Totten f.a.cup match, visited several pubs and you know what enjoyed the day immensely Macc finished 6 -3 winners, and then enjoyed some more beers after the game. Maybe it's an age thing or is the blades becoming less interesting!... as things stand in i might be looking at an alternative to Saturdays home& away with the blades

 

[FriethBlade]

Not sure what 'losing the crowd' means really. Some of us stay to the end, some don't. Some sing and clap, some grumble and boo. It's always been that way, the only difference now is for us, I honestly think a large portion of our fan base has PTSD after that God awful Premier League season. Seriously, we're playing shit, we go two nil down and the nightmare returns.

We've had teams that still gave us hope despite being up against it, this one doesn't. We're fucking terrible truth be told.

Agree with this and its partly down to the fact thst we don't have a player or two to rally around. There's no Dane Whitehouse or Bradders, there's no Morgs or Booker to clear someone out. There's no Deano who never stopped running. We dont have a folk hero or anyone who will put a massive tackle in and get the crowd going. In short we have no identity and its permeating the entire club.

Two things could help us turn a corner, firstly beating the Pigs and secondly getting Blaster back in tje 11 fit and healthy to give us someone we can 'invest in'

 

[FriethBlade]

Football fans are a strange breed. I love football but, ultimately, it's an entertainment business. You pay for your ticket, and you do what you like with it. In no other field of commerce do people get so worked up about what other people do. Imagine if it applied at the supermarket?

"You bastard - you only enjoy asparagus in June. Where were you in February when it was flavourless?"

"Why didn't you buy pears, you wanker?"

"Leaving early??? You haven't even been down the pet food isle yet, nobhead."

Genuinely nearly PMSL at that, have a gold star for post of the week...well so far anyway