Init boring

[trickster]

Roll on Saturday lets have some action, its dead on here we all need our footy fix me thinks.

We need to start showing a bit of ambition on the pitch, a bit of desire players putting their bodies on the line when defending and busting a gut to get on to a ball when attacking, we’ve all read the sabre rattling in the local rag now the players need to man up and start putting a string of good results together, it’s been two steps forward and three back so far this season, we are still in a decent position to make this a good season but it won’t fall into our lap, they’ve got to go out there and make it happen, roll on Saturday, COYR.

[Robin]

Without wishing to sound negative Saturday will likely be tougher than many expect it to be and I think I would take a scrappy 1-0 now!

[Nesty]

That's not what the goat says

[ghandi]

"Init boring" just about sums it up.Thirteen times i've walked round to whaddon thinking it was going to be the highlight of my week (i'm a sad b#!#%#d).But its like different day,same s#!t.I'ts all so predictable,always the wrong team selection,formation,tactics & use of subs.Surely Mr Baker won't be looking to extend this management teams contracts?Pheraps he'll react if he can see the game attendance dropping like a stone,people won't keep paying to see this c!#p.

[Si Robin]

So why do you go?

[ghandi]

Because i've bought a season ticket for the last 25 years.This season more than any others i'm wondering why?If i had further to travel and had to put my hand in my pocket on the day,i'd seriously think it was'nt worth the time and money.Paul Baker knows he's running a company in the entertainment industry,so if this was a west end show it would be struggling to survive.He could change the stage manager,that might make a differance.

[Shade]

Poeple have such short memories.

[Joey]

Because i've bought a season ticket for the last 25 years.This season more than any others i'm wondering why?If i had further to travel and had to put my hand in my pocket on the day,i'd seriously think it was'nt worth the time and money.Paul Baker knows he's running a company in the entertainment industry,so if this was a west end show it would be struggling to survive.He could change the stage manager,that might make a differance.

Without Yates the show might have been Cheltenham town against Braintree town.

That's a West End show that would struggle to survive.

[Oldun]

Or Cheltenham town v Bristol City

[C.V]

Poeple have such short memories.

Correct the season before last we got to the playoff final,last season we got knocked out at the knockout stage.Go on tell us where we are now is it progress.

[Circa 1887]

So why do you go?

For me, I go through a sense of loyalty and the hope that I might be entertained or see us win, at a cost of around £21. However, given the probablity of entertainment has greatly reduced - why pay £21 to not be entertained when I can have the same experience, for free.

We may have had sucessful seasons for the last two years, but so what? I don't buy the argument that spending cash on tickets = loyalty and that I should spend money based on previous success. We funded that success and now we are funding mediocracy. If I was hard up, would the club let me in for free out of loyalty? No - it's a business, i'm a customer - and that's that.

[Joey]

Poeple have such short memories.

Correct the season before last we got to the playoff final,last season we got knocked out at the knockout stage.Go on tell us where we are now is it progress.

2009/10 season - 22nd with 48 points.
2010/11 season - 17th with 52 points.
2011/12 season - 6th with 77 points.
2012/13 season 5th with 75 points.

Under Yates, we've played some of the best football a CTFC side has ever played. Brought players of a tremendous caliber such as Butland, Pack, Cureton, Jombati and Noble to the club. The likes of players we would have no chance in hell of signing under Allen or Schofield.

It took Hudderfield Town three attempts at the play-offs before they were promoted. Promotion isn't just a thing you can have at the wave of a magic wand, sometimes it takes a bit of time.

Yes, this season has been poor but it's completely unfair to claim that we have not progressed as a club under Yates.

[Si Robin]

I don't get those who compare any other activity to watching football.

I've been reading Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby again and what he says about supporting football and football fans is as true now as it was then (1992). I've just read the chapter where he refers to Alan Durban, then Stoke manager, telling the press that if they want entertainment, go and watch some clowns. And he's right. If we had won every game this season 1-0 and were running away with the league with hoofball tactics then no-one would be moaning, in fact we'd just be getting ready to pop the champagne corks.

Football isn't like any other entertainment. You don't go for the show, you go because you love your club and more than anything you go in the hope that they win. Even when we were getting beat left right and centre a couple of years ago we still turned up in the hope that we would win, just so we didn't miss that game where we did win. We didn't go to White Hart Lane because we wanted to see a big stadium, we went on the off-chance that maybe, just maybe, our little club would beat the big boys. We certainly didn't go to Spurs to be entertained.

The way I look at it, if you support the club you go when and if you can and stop when you can't go (financial reasons, work, kids, etc...). If you stop going because it's not entertaining, then maybe football isn't the game for you.

[51/84]

The post above should be made a sticky on this board

I agree 100%

[RED ROB]

Well said, whatever happens I find myself in the Kemble pre match then off to the game.
As peed off as it gets I'm always there the following game.........it's what I've always done.

[C.V]

I do agree to a certain extent to what Si has said.But we all know we have some fantastic players and on our day we are capable of beating anyone in this league.The frustrating thing is this season in particular Mark Yates seems to have hit a brick wall.
The team set up has been so wrong the substitutions are made to late or the wrong players are taken off.Hes admited to the press hes made mistakes yet hes still doing the same mistakes week after week.The majority on here me included still go for the reasons Si mentions but that number is dwindling.We arent atracting new fans.Something needs to change otherwise people will find other forms of entertainment.

[Daveangel]

I don't get those who compare any other activity to watching football.

I've been reading Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby again and what he says about supporting football and football fans is as true now as it was then (1992). I've just read the chapter where he refers to Alan Durban, then Stoke manager, telling the press that if they want entertainment, go and watch some clowns. And he's right. If we had won every game this season 1-0 and were running away with the league with hoofball tactics then no-one would be moaning, in fact we'd just be getting ready to pop the champagne corks.

Football isn't like any other entertainment. You don't go for the show, you go because you love your club and more than anything you go in the hope that they win. Even when we were getting beat left right and centre a couple of years ago we still turned up in the hope that we would win, just so we didn't miss that game where we did win. We didn't go to White Hart Lane because we wanted to see a big stadium, we went on the off-chance that maybe, just maybe, our little club would beat the big boys. We certainly didn't go to Spurs to be entertained.

The way I look at it, if you support the club you go when and if you can and stop when you can't go (financial reasons, work, kids, etc...). If you stop going because it's not entertaining, then maybe football isn't the game for you.

What an absolutely superb post.

[Circa 1887]

I do agree to a certain extent to what Si has said.But we all know we have some fantastic players and on our day we are capable of beating anyone in this league.The frustrating thing is this season in particular Mark Yates seems to have hit a brick wall.
The team set up has been so wrong the substitutions are made to late or the wrong players are taken off.Hes admited to the press hes made mistakes yet hes still doing the same mistakes week after week.The majority on here me included still go for the reasons Si mentions but that number is dwindling.We arent atracting new fans.Something needs to change otherwise people will find other forms of entertainment.

100% this. I go, but i've missed more home games this season that I have all other seasons combined. I can afford to go, I can find the time to go, but I have gradually felt disconnected from the club.

This is largely due to the reasons CV mentions, but also because this season I have literally find myself yawning and day dreaming at some games; bored by our inability to string five yard passes together, or watching us hoof long balls to a 5ft nothing striker. It winds me up when we produce a dire first half display, then after half-time come back out with exactly the same approach again. No tactical tweaks, no subs, just more of the same until there isn't enough time to do anything about it. All of that combined with paying the highest ticket prices I have ever paid in my 20+ years following the club.

I guess this season is causing me to lose my passion, which is probably because i'm losing my patience with our performances, as I know we are capable of much better.

[Nesty]

I do agree to a certain extent to what Si has said.But we all know we have some fantastic players and on our day we are capable of beating anyone in this league.The frustrating thing is this season in particular Mark Yates seems to have hit a brick wall.
The team set up has been so wrong the substitutions are made to late or the wrong players are taken off.Hes admited to the press hes made mistakes yet hes still doing the same mistakes week after week.The majority on here me included still go for the reasons Si mentions but that number is dwindling.We arent atracting new fans.Something needs to change otherwise people will find other forms of entertainment.

100% this. I go, but i've missed more home games this season that I have all other seasons combined. I can afford to go, I can find the time to go, but I have gradually felt disconnected from the club.

This is largely due to the reasons CV mentions, but also because this season I have literally find myself yawning and day dreaming at some games; bored by our inability to string five yard passes together, or watching us hoof long balls to a 5ft nothing striker. It winds me up when we produce a dire first half display, then after half-time come back out with exactly the same approach again. No tactical tweaks, no subs, just more of the same until there isn't enough time to do anything about it. All of that combined with paying the highest ticket prices I have ever paid in my 20+ years following the club.

I guess this season is causing me to lose my passion, which is probably because i'm losing my patience with our performances, as I know we are capable of much better.

make that another sticky !!

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

The post above should be made a sticky on this board

I agree 100%

Me too. Before each game that excitement comes. Fulham fans will travel to The Emirates dreaming of a miracle and CTFC fans to Whaddon hoping for a win.

Before White Hart Lane I'd walk to work imagining goals in my head, miming curling winners by Pack inbetween lampposts.

Even if we were adrift at the bottom I'd have the same buzz and hope on a Saturday morning.

A play in The West End has the same plot and acting every time. People go to see a story they know.

Football is sport, the opposite of a play. It is the unpredictability and hope that brings which makes many people love the game.

[Malabus]

The post above should be made a sticky on this board

I agree 100%

Football is sport, the opposite of a play. It is the unpredictability and hope that brings which makes many people love the game.

Surely that depends if you have seen/read the play before the performance.

[Sprout Picker]

I do agree to a certain extent to what Si has said.But we all know we have some fantastic players and on our day we are capable of beating anyone in this league.The frustrating thing is this season in particular Mark Yates seems to have hit a brick wall.
The team set up has been so wrong the substitutions are made to late or the wrong players are taken off.Hes admited to the press hes made mistakes yet hes still doing the same mistakes week after week.The majority on here me included still go for the reasons Si mentions but that number is dwindling.We arent atracting new fans.Something needs to change otherwise people will find other forms of entertainment.

100% this. I go, but i've missed more home games this season that I have all other seasons combined. I can afford to go, I can find the time to go, but I have gradually felt disconnected from the club.

This is largely due to the reasons CV mentions, but also because this season I have literally find myself yawning and day dreaming at some games; bored by our inability to string five yard passes together, or watching us hoof long balls to a 5ft nothing striker. It winds me up when we produce a dire first half display, then after half-time come back out with exactly the same approach again. No tactical tweaks, no subs, just more of the same until there isn't enough time to do anything about it. All of that combined with paying the highest ticket prices I have ever paid in my 20+ years following the club.

I guess this season is causing me to lose my passion, which is probably because i'm losing my patience with our performances, as I know we are capable of much better.

I find myself agreeing with your post. I love the sentiment in Si's post above but just don't feel as enthused as I used to. Missed my first game at home for 15 years earlier this season and wasn't as upset as I thought I'd be. Nice job abroad in decent places and I was quite content. I think I'm at an age where other things are taking priority a bit more and it needs to be entertaining to keep me interested.

Gutted Noble is out (assuming he doesn't play vs AS) - one player definitely worth the admission fee.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

The post above should be made a sticky on this board

I agree 100%

Football is sport, the opposite of a play. It is the unpredictability and hope that brings which makes many people love the game.

Surely that depends if you have seen/read the play before the performance.

Yes, but even a quick search on-line can tell you the plot and what happens.

Football and sport is a completely random event - not one person knows before kick off how the game will unfold, yet the result matters so much, which is why so many have to go to games or have instant goals services as the mix of the unknown yet importance of the result means people have be in touch with the game. I personally get genuinely anxious and distressed if I am out and about between 3 and 5pm on a Saturday with no access to the latest scores and instant goals.

That's why I don't care about friendlies as the result doesn't matter and why a team marooned in mid-table relaxes at the end of the season because the results don't matter.

[Malabus]

Football and sport is a completely random event - not one person knows before kick off how the game will unfold

Just these Asian betting syndicates have the knowledge.

[horlickfanclub]

I share the thoughts of many here and today I will miss my first home game of the season. Maybe its the January blues but I cannot face another groundhog day of diamonds and excuses and the witterings of our Manager and coming home soggy and depressed and making my winter cold last longer. After decades of support my enjoyment has gone this season and I will save my money for a more deserving use.

[kora]

I heard a rumour it's a flat 4 today, no diamonds in sight.

[Nesty]

I share the thoughts of many here and today I will miss my first home game of the season. Maybe its the January blues but I cannot face another groundhog day of diamonds and excuses and the witterings of our Manager and coming home soggy and depressed and making my winter cold last longer. After decades of support my enjoyment has gone this season and I will save my money for a more deserving use.

wash your mouth out.... you'll invoke the evil glare !!
thats how I feel mate, I'm going today - last chance saloon before the weather deteriorates into Arctic conditions. I have been going to WR man and boy for nigh on 60 years, and I have never felt so flat about it all.

[Shade]

Well good for you and those that you speak for. I'm going to watch us play Accrington in the hope that we win and play well. But I'd take a scrappy win. If not, oh well, I supported my team and there's always next time. The same as thousands of fans up and down the country today. Why you think we, or you, are special, I don't know.

If you're not enjoying it anymore then fine, don't go, but to use the excuse of it's because it might not be entertaining, because we might not win or because the other team (how dare they) might be better is poor. You might want to try watching something with a certain outcome instead. Like a film that you've watched before.

[Circa 1887]

Well....that was soul destroying.

[RED ROB]

[quoteWell said, whatever happens I find myself in the Kemble pre match then off to the game.
As peed off as it gets I'm always there the following game.........it's what I've always done.][/quote]

I wish I had stayed in the Kemble.
I'm finding it very hard to back Yatesie but the players shoulder the blame equally.
The chances ( easy chances ) we had second half should have seen us get all three points.

[Nesty]

Well good for you and those that you speak for. I'm going to watch us play Accrington in the hope that we win and play well. But I'd take a scrappy win. If not, oh well, I supported my team and there's always next time. The same as thousands of fans up and down the country today. Why you think we, or you, are special, I don't know.

If you're not enjoying it anymore then fine, don't go, but to use the excuse of it's because it might not be entertaining, because we might not win or because the other team (how dare they) might be better is poor. You might want to try watching something with a certain outcome instead. Like a film that you've watched before.

cheers - I will take your advice...........

[C.V]

And me along with the hundreds of others that missed todays farce

[asl]

I succumbed to Man-flu and wussed out. Glad I didn't force myself.