Has the Albion fanbase let Gary Hart down?

[Jam The Man]

The game he played at Leeds where I thought he was the best player on the park by many a mile showed to me and the albion backroom staff I chatted with that he was a player who if he was in the team, we could go far with. Its only a personal opinion obviously but I have not seen any of the friendlies, and do not intend to, and therefore when I see the first game I can, probably september time I hope to be pleasantly surprised...until then I still maintain we are a weaker side.

I think anywhere above 12th and I would be very pleasantly surprised

Time, as always, will tell!

 

[ben andrews' girlfriend]

Can everyone stop saying money is short please, i know its the truth but you dont all need to say it and i bet thats not the reason for everyone. I didnt go, because i didnt want too, end off.

Not everything is about you.

 

[BensGrandad]

There must be a lot of people who do not agree with players getting testimonials. To quote my brother ' I am not going to give him money when he earns much more than me for doing a job that I would love to be able to do' I do not agree and consequently went but I can understand his point of view. Having said all of that I shall go on Tuesday.

 

[Kylies Stunt Arse]

As already discussed on the other thread on this subject:

1) People are looking to save money, not spend it

2) It's the first week of the school holidays, lots of people are away

3) Even if they're not away, some will have problems convincing the wife on a lovely afternoon like yesterday that going to the Albion instead of taking the kids to the beach is a valid option

4) Hart's just been given a new contract, which even you'd have to admit is not a universally popular decision. If it had been his last game in the stripes, people would have turned out to thank him and say goodbye, as it is, it looks as though we'll have another season of him hanging around the bench/reserve team to little effect, so some fans probably thought "why bother".

I went, and I agree with all of that except the last point. It wasn't pay on the day, has been advertised for weeks, and Hart only got a new deal last week, so I'm not convinced that people objecting to that decision would have had much influence on the size of the gate.

As said earlier I think it has more to do with the opposition, and the "quality" of the legends on view. While it is always good to see John Byrne, Fozzie, and Gordon Smith, and nice to see the likes of Peter Smith, Watto, and Steele, apart from Micky the rest weren't exactly Albion legends and the TV "stars" were unheard of! I think Harty was let down by people who said they could turn out but didn't.

 

[Zesh Rehman]

Can you stop saying you didn't want to go please, you don't need to say it and i bet thats not the reason for everyone. I went, because i wanted too, end off.

genius there, specy gimp

 

[Zesh Rehman]

Not everything is about you.

im saying the reason i didnt go, as are most other people! idiot

 

[Del Boy]

But that's the point Tom, given the attendance I don't think he will get tbhe pay day he deserved.

Not really a great choice of words there considering what he has already made playing football? He has another year at least, which is more than some people in the current climate.

I have worked for a company for over 10 years before, did they turn round and give me a testimonial and the profits? No.

 

[ben andrews' girlfriend]

im saying the reason i didnt go, as are most other people! idiot

Many other people maybe, but the credit crunch is a factor, some people's mummies don't go food shopping for them, which is getting more expensive, meaning less money for extras. Same applies for gas, electricity, water bills.

 

[timbha]

I went and was thoroughly bored.

The legends(?) game was an embarassment - celebs no-one had heard of, OGH's brother (ok, nice touch for Gary but not worth a penny of the entrance fee) and Matt Hicks!!!! - the organisers mut have been badly let down by late drop outs. Then the Albion "legends"- how many more times in John Byrne going to do that "hilarious" dive. Nearly as funny as that bloke Reynolds on the commentary who only seemed to know a couple of the players names, then again we never saw him at the Goldstone or G'ham so why should he?

Rod Thomas, Peter Smith, Paul Emblem deserve credit for turning up but they will hardly go down in the Albion's history as anything other than the best of a bad bunch at G'ham.

Neville Southall and Gordon Smith deserve praise and is Fozzy trying to get in DK's good books? Paul Watson was probably told to play but I didn't see him do anything to mix with the Junior Seagulls - what a great opportunity to kick off his new job with a kids competition, etc.

Sadly for OGH this was a very poor version of Kerry's testimonial.

As for the main match - Charlton were just too good for us, particularly in midfield.

 

[Mendoza]

I was out the country, but would have gone. As has been said, I would have felt more guilty about missing the game had
a)I known it was his last game, and would never see him in the stripes again, and
b) not spent £50 on a ticket to his boxing night.

Having said that, I still hoped it was a good day anyway, the football sounded a bit dire, but as I wasnt there I couldnt comment.

At least the sun was out, and people got to see Micky back at Withdean, a new kit and some sort of legends.

At the end of the day he is an Albion legend, he got the recognition he quite rightly deserved, and had not just a good day, but a series of testamonial events, in which everyone contributed in some way

 

[Jim D]

Knowing that Charlton had sold-out their end I thought the attendance was a bit light, but not by 1400. I would have thought that 5000 was about right, but the prices were high for a friendly.

Unless Ipswich bring 900 fans we won't have any more on Tues - and probably a lot less.

 

[Zesh Rehman]

Many other people maybe, but the credit crunch is a factor, some people's mummies don't go food shopping for them, which is getting more expensive, meaning less money for extras. Same applies for gas, electricity, water bills.

mummy doesnt shop for me either, thanks. i wasnt trying to claim that the credit crunch isnt happening, my point was that everyone doesnt need to say it in every post and also that everyone cant use that as an excuse.

 

[Withdean Wanderer]

mummy doesnt shop for me either, thanks. i wasnt trying to claim that the credit crunch isnt happening, my point was that everyone doesnt need to say it in every post and also that everyone cant use that as an excuse.

It's a thread about why people didn't go to the game. What are they expected to put if the lack of money was a main factor?!?!

 

[Il Duce]

mummy doesnt shop for me either, thanks. i wasnt trying to claim that the credit crunch isnt happening, my point was that everyone doesnt need to say it in every post and also that everyone cant use that as an excuse.

Well, it's why I didn't go. When food, bills and petrol cost a lot more it has a knock on effect as to what I have to spend on other stuff. It sucks but it's not as trivial as you make out.

 

[Harty]

By the way Harty, saw you in Worthing Town Centre this morning, and you looked grumpy and a little plump [/QUOTE]

Hungover and bloated

 

[Brovion]

Against my better judgement my wife and I went. This was at her insistence as until Tom Fraser broke into the team Gary Hart was her favorite player. She also pointed out that nowadays we only go when the club drop the price and this was 'only' £15 per person and thus was cheap. I pointed out that it wasn't a proper match and consequently was about £5 too high for a friendly - but she told me not to be such a miserable tightwad.

Without wishing to be churlish it was a waste of an afternoon. The 'Legends' game was lacking one thing - legends. Absolute and total respect to the likes of Gordon Smith (who could still probably do a job in our midfield), Steve Foster and Neville Southall, and an honourable mention to people like Lee Steele and Rod Thomas, but the others were simply ex-players and very minor local celebrities. The event reached its nadir when Darren Freeman's son came on!

The main game was simply a training exercise with a level of substitutions that would have made Sven blanche. All great for a behind-closed-doors friendly but it wasn't a 'match' that should have been inflicted on the public.

The general view among my non-NSC Albion-going friends (occasional fans and STHs) is that not everyone is enamoured with the Wilkins sacking and Adams returning. Couple that with Virgo, Hart and Mayo all back in the fold the club can hardly claim to be moving forwards. Not necessarily my view (although I do have some sympathy with it), just reporting what other people think. Taking all that into account, plus Edna's excellent summary, and I think OGH was NOT let down by the Albion public.

 

[John Byrne]

I went, and I agree with all of that except the last point. It wasn't pay on the day, has been advertised for weeks, and Hart only got a new deal last week, so I'm not convinced that people objecting to that decision would have had much influence on the size of the gate.

As said earlier I think it has more to do with the opposition, and the "quality" of the legends on view. While it is always good to see John Byrne, Fozzie, and Gordon Smith, and nice to see the likes of Peter Smith, Watto, and Steele, apart from Micky the rest weren't exactly Albion legends and the TV "stars" were unheard of! I think Harty was let down by people who said they could turn out but didn't.

Agree 100%. Gotta say i enjoyed the legends match more than the proper one!

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

The attendance figure could have exceeded 6000 if OGH was saying goodbye rather than staying for another season. Perhaps more Charlton fans would have turned up if they were allocated more tickets as it was only a friendly. In the old days , players were given a testimonial after 10 years to help them when they retired from the professional game and set them up in a different job.

 

[Gazwag]

All these people partly blaming Hart re-signing for us as a factor, I cannot agree with. If he had been offer the new contract on 1st July then maybe, but this happenned less than a week before the game, most people who wanted to go would have bought a ticket by then.

 

[BUTTERBALL]

I went, and spoke to Gary Hart afterwards briefly as he was leaving the car park. He seemed quite pleased with the turn out and thanked us for coming.

For £15 for an adult and a child it was good value and a chance to say thanks to a man who has been a favourite with most fans for 10 years. The sun was out and it was a gorgeous afternoon. We had a couple of beers in the Sportsman garden afterwards and had a great day. Ok, so the football was a little lacklustre and in truth, it looked like a typical slow paced pre-season game. But Charlton did not outclass us, we were just a bit pedestrian, probably due to a combination of the hot weather and that we were not at full fitness. It left me with plenty of optimism for the season.

I would imagine that the weather might have kept the crowd a bit lower, plus being the first week of the school holidays, many people would have gone away.