McGhee spot on in the Argus

[Albion Rob]

hmm, I dont think it has changed that much in the time since McGhee has left. If people were fed up at paying the 23 quid then they probably wouldn't have turned up at the start of the season (especially as MM was playing quite negative football).
I have no idea what the reason is for the poor attendances, Maybe people have got fed up with Knight choosing the cheap option?

Two things.

1. The Saturday park leagus generally kick off in early to mid September so you've got plenty of blokes with nothing to do on a Saturday afternoon who love football, stands to reason that a fair few will find their way to Withdean (I know I did).

2. Clubs generally see good attendances in the first few home games. As supporters we all indulge in a spot of blind faith over the summer. Remember 96/97 when a fair number of people thought we would be risiing high in Division Three?! Once you get into October and November and have remembered just why the season before was so disappointing, it can be quite tempting to spend your hard earned cash elsewhere.

 

[Da Man Clay]

Two things.

1. The Saturday park leagus generally kick off in early to mid September so you've got plenty of blokes with nothing to do on a Saturday afternoon who love football, stands to reason that a fair few will find their way to Withdean (I know I did).

2. Clubs generally see good attendances in the first few home games. As supporters we all indulge in a spot of blind faith over the summer. Remember 96/97 when a fair number of people thought we would be risiing high in Division Three?! Once you get into October and November and have remembered just why the season before was so disappointing, it can be quite tempting to spend your hard earned cash elsewhere.

Agreed to both but does that really come down to between 1000 and 1500 supporters? Id say id expect a 300 or 400 drop in attendances but nothing like what we have at the moment.

EDIT:And we didn't seem to have that problem last year.

 

[vulture]

top comebacking

Oi shut it hartys lapdog

 

[Albion Rob]

Agreed to both but does that really come down to between 1000 and 1500 supporters? Id say id expect a 300 or 400 drop in attendances but nothing like what we have at the moment.

EDIT:And we didn't seem to have that problem last year.

IMHO, the increase in ground capacity had a part to play in that last year, floating fans popped back to have a look as for the first time in ages they were confident of getting tickets. Unfortunately we didn't do enough on the pitch to keep them. Added to that is the liklehood that teams in the Championship would sell out their away allocations whereas the away end is rarely full these days.

I'd suggest:

Lost floating fans - 500

Less away fans - 300

People playing rather than watching - 400

Looking at 1,200 there before you event hink about people tightening their belts or just getting pissed off with Withers (as I did).

 

[Da Man Clay]

IMHO, the increase in ground capacity had a part to play in that last year, floating fans popped back to have a look as for the first time in ages they were confident of getting tickets. Unfortunately we didn't do enough on the pitch to keep them. Added to that is the liklehood that teams in the Championship would sell out their away allocations whereas the away end is rarely full these days.

I'd suggest:

Lost floating fans - 500

Less away fans - 300

People playing rather than watching - 400

Looking at 1,200 there before you event hink about people tightening their belts or just getting pissed off with Withers (as I did).

But the increase didn't come in untill the Palace game. We were already improving on our early season attendances in September/October time. It doesn't really matter hugely, I dont think its anything to do with Wilkins or Mcghee but probably a combination of plenty of factors.

 

[Publius Ovidius]

Oi shut it hartys lapdog

not for long

 

[Biscuit]

My god Naylor really does love McGhee doesnt he. Thank god we sack him, he was clueless! No lets all please forget this mcghee crap and consentrate on Wilkins, our current gaffer!

 

[London Irish]

hmm, I dont think it has changed that much in the time since McGhee has left. If people were fed up at paying the 23 quid then they probably wouldn't have turned up at the start of the season (especially as MM was playing quite negative football).
I have no idea what the reason is for the poor attendances, Maybe people have got fed up with Knight choosing the cheap option?

Sadly, I think there is something in that. Wilkins' appointment was mainly welcomed by the hardcore fans who have followed his progress with the youth team very closely and can recognise a talented coach. The fan who picks and chooses his games wanted a bigger name to enthuse him.

The irony about McGhee is that although he was a divisive figure by the end, expectations in him remained very high, hence the binfests that would occur following a defeat, hence why he still has the two biggest attendances of our season so far. Expectations in Wilkins are far lower, hence there is no big reaction to our present defeats. But these lower expectations have led the floating fan to reason that there is no pressing need to attend Withdean at the moment, as this is going to be a quiet, non-event type of season with little chance of great progress.

 

[British Bulldog]

My god Naylor really does love McGhee doesnt he. Thank god we sack him, he was clueless! No lets all please forget this mcghee crap and consentrate on Wilkins, our current gaffer!

I thought the article was rubbish anyway, All this roll your sleeves up & grind out results and McGhee thinking he could've got us more points than Wilkins! Shame he could'nt practice last season what he preaches now!

Wilkins is in charge now so f**k off McGhee and keep your nose out of our buisness!

 

[Les Biehn]

I can't be arsed to read all the thread but I imagine attendence was better under MM because a) we were in the Championship b) because people thought we would do well having just gone down.

 

[Da Man Clay]

I thought the article was rubbish anyway, All this roll your sleeves up & grind out results and McGhee thinking he could've got us more points than Wilkins! Shame he could'nt practice last season what he preaches now!

He would have done IMO. We certainly wouldn't have lost 5 on the bounce twice in a season.

 

[Albion Rob]

Sadly, I think there is something in that. Wilkins' appointment was mainly welcomed by the hardcore fans who have followed his progress with the youth team very closely and can recognise a talented coach. The fan who picks and chooses his games wanted a bigger name to enthuse him.

The irony about McGhee is that although he was a divisive figure by the end, expectations in him remained very high, hence the binfests that would occur following a defeat, hence why he still has the two biggest attendances of our season so far. Expectations in Wilkins are far lower, hence there is no big reaction to our present defeats. But these lower expectations have led the floating fan to reason that there is no pressing need to attend Withdean at the moment, as this is going to be a quiet, non-event type of season with little chance of great progress.

I largely agree with what you're saying there but would point out that during his tenure, McGhee had a lot more to work with than Wilkins (that said, two of the better players, Piercy and Roberts, were forced to retire) so I think it carries that expectations were higher. Ie, the reason we were left with youth team players was McGhee's making and we expected results based on his judgement.

Wilkins has found himself in charge of the same group of players but has not had the opportunity to work with anything better so people are a bit more patient.

 

[Silent Bob]

He would have done IMO. We certainly wouldn't have lost 5 on the bounce twice in a season.

Did you get a crystal ball for Christmas?

 

[Biscuit]

I thought the article was rubbish anyway, All this roll your sleeves up & grind out results and McGhee thinking he could've got us more points than Wilkins! Shame he could'nt practice last season what he preaches now!

Wilkins is in charge now so f**k off McGhee and keep your nose out of our buisness!

Spot. On.

 

[Yorkie]

Ie, the reason we were left with youth team players was McGhee's making and we expected results based on his judgement.

Wilkins has found himself in charge of the same group of players but has not had the opportunity to work with anything better so people are a bit more patient.

McGhee's making or the board's lack of funding?

 

[Da Man Clay]

Did you get a crystal ball for Christmas?

I did say IMO. Did we ever lose 5 in a row under McGhee? (I think the answer is probably yes but I doubt we did twice in half a season.)

 

[British Bulldog]

I did say IMO. Did we ever lose 5 in a row under McGhee? (I think the answer is probably yes but I doubt we did twice in half a season.)

6 in a row for the last two seasons, And lets not forget a spell of 1 win in 16 last season.

 

[Da Man Clay]

6 in a row for the last two seasons, And lets not forget a spell of 1 win in 16 last season.

Did we? When? (the two 6 in a rows)

 

[British Bulldog]

Did we? When? (the two 6 in a rows)

2004/2005 6 defeats from 5th march - 5th april and just one win in the last 11 games.

2005/2006 6 defeats 4th feb - 4th march in the spell of just one win in 16 games.

 

[London Irish]

Did we? When? (the two 6 in a rows)

Both in the spring, the period when lack of financial support for a threadbare squad really tells.

And it goes without saying that these losses were against current Premiership teams like Reading and Wigan, not Chesterfield or Port Vale.