[Archived] The Sick Malaise Over Ewood Park

[Mike Graham]

People like Lambert and Bennett must sometimes wonder why they bothered coming to Ewood.

I was disgusted at the the "welcome" given to Brown when he came on and every time he had the ball, along with the sick tweets to some of the Rovers players.

Brown may not be terribly good but he was putting in more of a shift than Rhodes and was more of a threat.

This will get to all the players....not just Brown and Duffy.

I have strong views about the lack of ability of many of our players and hell I want the best; but get real- will public slagging off of players achieve anything apart from worse results?

Please think before you act.

[The_Expert]

Hear, hear! What some people forget is that what is said (often shouted) from the stands is audible on the pitch, especially when there is a lack of other (positive) noise from the crowd. Agreed Brown is a poor footballer by 'Rovers' standards, but it can't help his confidence to be reminded constantly of the disdain and contempt with which he is viewed by the club's 'supporters'. Indeed perhaps some need to reflect on what is meant by the term, 'supporter' and consider what the effect of some more positive noises might be in encouraging better results from those wearing Blue & White on the pitch.

[Tom]

It was sad that the ironic cheers for brown were as loud as the crowd got before the goal.

There seems to be no respect in football anymore from players or fans.

[K-Hod]

Hear hear. I am always so embarrassed by people doing that.

I think it's a hangover from the last 6 years of crap, I mentioned people booing at everything and it's infuriating. FGS what is it supposed to achieve? It's like people's default reflex and it's completely and utterly embarrassing.

[Mattyblue]

We now have a ground that is two thirds empty and what remain is largely a hardcore of cynical buggers (myself included) that watch our cloggers with a mixture of pity (for myself and the club that was) and incredulity of some of the abject displays on the pitch. 5 years with nothing to shout about can lead to the sad spectacle of one of our players having the pi$$ taken out of his every touch and hardly a chant all game.

The whole operation just seems to be in terminal decline, the Rovers Return draw was about £150, the whole ground looks like it needs a good scrub.

It is a bloody depressing place to be and as we sat there in the cold on Tuesday, as Duffy mindlessly hoofed the ball for about the 25th time, we actually commented to each other, 'why do we do this?', and we arent the type of fan that easily jump ship to watch Soccer Saturday.

You look at Burnley who out of nowhere got promoted and then swiftly relegated, but that one season has them in a much stronger position on and off the pitch than ourselves, our pretty much unbroken 20+ years at the top table has led to nothing, no foundations, no base to rebuild.

The Lambert appointment to me smacks of one last throw of the dice by Venky's, if this fails, then who knows where we'll be in another 5 years.

[jim mk2]

I have to say Ewood is starting to look a bit shabby in places and in need of sprucing up. It's more than 20 years since the ground was rebuilt and it looks like very little has been done to it in terms of maintenance since. The signages look very dated.

All football grounds are quieter in general these days and the lack of atmosphere is made worse by the b. awful musak before the game. Crowds are quite capable of generating their own atmosphere (or at least they used to be in the old days) without that sort of hype right up until kick off.

Mickey taking has always been present on the "terraces" but it was always done with a (very British) sense of humour which sadly seems to be lacking these days. Instead it seems to have descended into a barrage of abuse, most of it very unpleasant and sometimes vile. Where has our native wit gone ?

[toogs]

I have to say Ewood is starting to look a bit shabby in places and in need of sprucing up. It's more than 20 years since the ground was rebuilt and it looks like very little has been done to it in terms of maintenance since. The signages look very dated.

All football grounds are quieter in general these days and the lack of atmosphere is made worse by the b. awful musak before the game. Crowds are quite capable of generating their own atmosphere (or at least they used to be in the old days) without that sort of hype right up until kick off.

Mickey taking has always been present on the "terraces" but it was always done with a (very British) sense of humour which sadly seems to be lacking these days. Instead it seems to have descended into a barrage of abuse, most of it very unpleasant and sometimes vile. Where has our native wit gone ?

Agreed.

The music volume is diabolical to the point I cant have a chat with my hard of hearing Dad before the match or at half time.

All the posts above are valid. Is any of this ever fed back to the club, and if it is, why does nothing ever change?

The product now is just so poor, I'm beginning to ask why I bother any more. I've been an ST holder for 35 years, so this isn't a knee jerk reaction.

[chaddyrovers]

Great post Preston Blue.

Its time that Rovers fans stop moaning and B!tching and got behind team totally and cheer them

[Mike Graham]

At the very least stop slagging off the players.

As for wit we lost that when Thenodrog was banned (joke!!); regardless of Gordon let's focus on how we support the Team.

Next up Brighton, and then Newport.

[onlyonejackwalker]

It's hardly new slagging our own players.

Jimmy Quinn. Norman Bell. Windy Millar. Atkins. Branagan. Wilcox. Sherwood. Andrews. Roberts. MGP. The list goes on.

Agree with the sentiment entirely. What idiots like to boo our own players and what do they think it will achieve?

It will take years to regain our supporters trust, interest and hope. It may never return as we knew. In the meantime those that go should understand the importance of a united crowd offering loyal, lasting and knowledgeable support.

[den]

Not worth worrying about PB, you can't change it. Worth noting that the critics always come across louder when the crowds are low.

[tomphil]

To me it's all very familiar to just before Jack took over when we were playing awful stuff with a right rag bag of a team, that was what you'd call bad times. The crowd were pretty unforgiving back then and it was awful because that team wasn't capable of anything but it desperately needed support but all it got was abuse and mickey taking.

Thinking about Browny reminds me a bit of Steve Livingstone (looks a bit like him) and things were that bad Brown would have been hailed a good signing back then

Thankfully we got rescued and a few decent signings sparked it into life and that's what is desperately needed now. Be nice if the fans decided to cheer the team on for 90 mins instead of the last 5 though.

[LDRover]

Agree with a lot of the above especially the parts about it hardly being a new phenomenon. I remember Jimmy Quinn for instance getting absolute dog's abuse at Ewood that left him looking like a broken man.

On the subject of Chris Brown though, I sensed a change in the 'abuse' towards him to being more light hearted whereas before it's been pretty heavy duty stick. I have a feeling he may become something of a cult hero - a bit like Nathan Blake at the end of his time here.

[rigger]

Agree with a lot of the above especially the parts about it hardly being a new phenomenon. I remember Jimmy Quinn for instance getting absolute dog's abuse at Ewood that left him looking like a broken man.

On the subject of Chris Brown though, I sensed a change in the 'abuse' towards him to being more light hearted whereas before it's been pretty heavy duty stick. I have a feeling he may become something of a cult hero - a bit like Nathan Blake at the end of his time here.

Beamo

[Steve Kean's Hypnotoad]

This issue in a nutshell is the reason I don't regularly go to Rovers anymore. Its nice to hear someone else bring it up because I used to think I was a bit odd in considering it a massive deal.

I've spent years moving seats at Rovers, longing for some area of the ground that collectively encourages the team. I found it for 1 season in the Darwen End in 2009/10 under Big Sam and it was bloody brilliant. Couldn't believe how much fun it was.

The rest of the time I've spent significant portions of games thinking "Why am I always sat near to the idiot?" as some ignorant, entitled, wannabe-manager d-head yelled another set of abusive instructions at whoever the scapegoat of month was at the time. After a while it started to dawn on me that I'm always sat near to one because about 20% of our fans are "the idiot".

There's loads of reasons why people become "the idiot" at football games, and I don't buy for one second the common excuse that Rovers are playing rubbish so its justified. It happens no matter how we're playing. We didn't have 3 years of every fan in the ground doing the Macarena under Hughes because we were playing well did we? In general the reasons are less excusable/more pathetic:

• Doesn't believe in fans encouraging their team, it should be the team encouraging the fans.
• Thinks the players require his instructions.
• Thinks the manager requires his instructions.
• Has a chip on his shoulder about the amount of money players earn.
• Is a bully and enjoys abusing people who can't answer back.
• Has anger issues and gets to vent them at football
• Thinks it'll impress his mates
• Its the easy option, if you don't pledge loyalty to something through support, it can't let you down.

I know these types have always been there but they're on the rise in football in general and it seems at Rovers in particular. I do sometimes wonder whether they're even aware of how much they're spoiling it for everyone else, but then as most seem to be obnoxious prats I doubt they're bothered.

[PeteJD13]

I mentioned this on another thread. I used to have a season ticket which I gave up at the end of 2011 when I moved to South Wales so my Rovers watching was from afar or away from home, having moved back up north a couple of months ago I have started going to Ewood again. I decided to take my wife for the first time for the QPR game she was quite disappointed by the complete lack of atmosphere the guy in front of us constantly berated everyone non stop for 90mins.

Needless to say she isn't really that keen to come back, I wonder if we do get the odd fan who turns up ( good ticket prices ) and then things sod this the place is so negative from the football and to a degree the stands, perhaps without understanding what's happened at the club in the last few years to make it like that.

It struck me we are a bit like Cardiff gates are down most of there fans are disgusted at how the clubs been run so they are disaffected and it has massively impacted on the atmosphere there as well.

This isn't a moan its just my general observation

As an additional point the facebook groups are just as bad, when did people become so fickle Lambert out after 9 games, every player being slated, then the revisionism of Bowyers tenure, so many negative vibes.

[ABBEY]

Great post Preston Blue.

Its time that Rovers fans stop moaning and B!tching and got behind team totally and cheer them

A bit like you did in you're half time post ?

Not worth worrying about PB, you can't change it. Worth noting that the critics always come across louder when the crowds are low.

Especially them obsessed with criticising Rhodes..

[JHRover]

I don't believe there is a malaise over Ewood Park. I don't believe the atmosphere or standard of football on offer is really much different to that seen around the other 23 Championship grounds on a weekly basis.

Rovers are faced with two problems atmosphere wise. One is that our expectations as a fan base as higher than they are at pretty much every other club in this division. Almost 20 years of relentless cheap Premier League football, European campaigns, trophies has raised the bar extremely high, which means that many people cannot cope with the product that is currently on offer in the Championship when compared to others who have been accustomed to this standard or lower for much longer and have paid more to watch it. The other is that our ground is disproportionately big because it was built in the glory days which most of our rivals have never got close to. Notwithstanding that half empty stadia are more common than not in this league also.

What we saw on Tuesday night wasn't some unprecedented dire performance. In my experience it is par for the course in this league. Its a Tuesday night, middle of January, bottom half Championship, between two sides out of form. We've been poor in our last 3 away games, but nobody can really say Reading, Bolton or Cardiff played much better or offered some fantastic style of play that we should aspire to. Nobody can say that the atmosphere at Madejski, Cardiff or the Macron was any better than at Ewood. All those grounds had thousands of empty seats.

For 4 years now walking off Ewood its always the same story. People complaining about performances and style of play. Perhaps some people need to be more realistic as to what to expect in the attrition and battles of the Championship.

Which team(s) have come to Ewood this season that would get people on the edge of their seats? Because I've not seen one. Even the so-called quality sides, Burnley, Derby, Ipswich - how many attempts did they have? How entertaining were they to watch? They were all dire.

It's the second tier and we're in the bottom half of it. It's not going to be pretty. Burnley and Ipswich are top six and their football is mind-numbing most of the time. Birmingham going strong yet spent 75 minutes camped in their own half when we played them.

If you go to Ewood expecting free flowing football and edge of seat entertainment then I'd like to know which teams in this league offer that, because there aren't any, and certainly not any that are successful.

[gumboots]

I don't expect free flowing attacking football and edge of seat entertainment but I do expect a few more high points in a match than I saw on Tues. The occasional good run into the box, crunching tackles (as far as they're allowed nowadays) and some semblance of a system or style would get fans more up for it than the mind numbing stuff we saw under bowyer and the very frustrating stuff were currently witnessing. I do agree that the crowds reaction to brown was poor but things did actually improve marginally when he and Williamson came on so it obviously didn't affect him too much. And I do think we worry too much about the effect we have on our team. There are other places where it's every bit as bad if not worse. We are tired of poor performances, tired of trying to inspire a team that does little to inspire us, and frustrated by the seeming lack of football intelligence in the majority of our team. I don't agree with personal abuse and wouldn't personally boo a rovers player, and I don't like the guys who stand there yelling abuse all the time but I don't think our overall atmosphere is any worse than a large number of stadia

[Steve Kean's Hypnotoad]

One is that our expectations as a fan base as higher than they are at pretty much every other club in this division. Almost 20 years of relentless cheap Premier League football, European campaigns, trophies has raised the bar extremely high, which means that many people cannot cope with the product that is currently on offer in the Championship when compared to others who have been accustomed to this standard or lower for much longer and have paid more to watch it.

Great post in general but I think this is an excellent point in particular. We're not now seeing a particularly bad entertainment experience being served up, mid-table/bottom half mediocrity outside of the PL has been the lot of many clubs for a good while. Whereas before baldy took over we'd been spoilt rotten since Don Mackay.

Full Members Cup win.

3 play-offs

2 promotions

Premier League Title

Countless European campaigns.

Nearly 20 years in the PL, most spent either incredibly challenging the likes of Spurs/Everton just behind the top 4 or an exciting relegation scrap.

Countless domestic cup quarter/semi finals.

Watched some of the best players to play in the PL play for us (Shearer, Cole, incredible).

I mean the list just goes on and on. We've supported arguably the most exciting club in football for 25 years up until recently and fans got used to thinking that was normal. This is normal, that era was incredible. The fact that fans used to moan loads even back says it all really about the obnoxious nature of many footy fans.

[Neil Weaver]

As LD and OOJW etc have said, it's nothing new. Jimmy Quinn got loads of abuse in the mid to late 80s, worse than Brown is now. And Quinn was a half-decent centre forward, scored a fair few, and was an NI international (OK, NI aren't world beaters, but even so.........). It's just the way society is these days - instant gratification, Twitter, forums like this : folk are quicker to express what's on their mind, do so in a more personal way, and think they have a right to do it. It's only us old-timers with rose tinted glasses who'd do things differently (that's no defence for the 'idiots' by the way, it's just the way things are).

[Jock]

We've always had the boo- boys as have most teams. It just sounds worse in our 2/3 empty stadium. Got in to a few heated debates in the 80's about good professionals Nicky Reid & Chris Sulley getting abuse..

[roverandout]

I have no sympathy for people who are paid well for being mediocre in any walk of life

[Rover_Shaun]

It's human nature when people are frustrated. When the minimum requisite is being able to pass a ball straight it's not surprising when people vent their frustration towards the ones who can't. You can't blame the fans for the mood as it has been generated by the dossers on (and off) the pitch over the last 5 years

[Leonard Venkhater]

It's human nature when people are frustrated. When the minimum requisite is being able to pass a ball straight it's not surprising when people vent their frustration towards the ones who can't. You can't blame the fans for the mood as it has been generated by the dossers on (and off) the pitch over the last 5 years

Absolutely. I don't think we can get away from this stark fact.

It would be bad enough anyway, but after five years of soul destroying sh1te?!

For what it is worth, I was ashamed of fans' treatment of Quinn, Heaton and others. I was not comfortable with people abusing Brown, even as he came onto the pitch. However, I can't pretend that he has contributed anything at all in any of the home games, although radio commentary tells me he has offered something away from home.

To quote David Dunn, I guess we have to get real.

Most supporters aren't Jesus or Gandhi and they have suffered the indignities of watching their club being dismantled, stick -a- pin -in a -donkey(!) team building and some of the worst Rovers performances I have ever seen. Anger will always find a scapegoat.