Jump to content

Identity


BigRonFaeTheQueenVic

Recommended Posts

1 minute ago, azertyuiop said:

Hilarious - But the point around the drum is that a group of teenagers who prob have multiple distractions feel engaged enough to put the time in together to make the flags and prepare something for the Saturday afternoon. And it's tolerated /accepted by the rest of the support. Look at the video of them on YouTube marching into For Park together on Europa League night. Going by your response maybe we have exactly what we deserve.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 minutes ago, BigRonFaeTheQueenVic said:

I left Fir Park and wandered into the Motherwell evening with the sounds of Hungry Heart echoing behind me from the tannoys. The Boss is not everyone's cup of tea, but it seemed an inspired choice for a club in Scotland's post- industrial heartland that seems to have successfully maintained a place in the hearts and minds of its modest support.

With the 100 Club up and running again and another social club operating in the Davie Cooper Stand, the fans are spoiled for choice before filing into 3 disparate and sorry looking stands that suddenly spring to life and seem just right for the job at hand - creating an atmosphere to inspire the team. I dare say the big OF sell-out stand looms over them like an unwelcome guest at their party, but the seemingly assimilated Ultras sit nearby and build an atmosphere to let the away fans know they've arrived at a club with identity and spirit.

The images of Davie Cooper and Phil O'Donnell on the outside of the stands caught my wee boy's attention before we went into the ground. He loved the drumming, he was desperate to go back into the 100 Club after the game. These are the distractions that kids love as they're not going to sit and study the match for 90 mins. He loved the spectacle of the Celtic fans bouncing away at Rugby Park the other week (like it or not) but is already clocking at 6 years old that our fans don't show and that we always lose, and he's already getting bored with Killie. Not with football and all its razmatazz, but with Killie - despite all my efforts.

When I got home last night  Facebook was full of images of a noisy wee St Johnstone (bare chested???) Ultras section that Hibs fans were complimenting for raising an atmosphere,  a St Mirren Ultras group with flags and noise galore, chatter about an enormous Aberdeen travelling support and of the numerous songs Hibs fans were singing. A footie event night I went to last week touched on Queen's Park running into the pitch to The Specials, due to a tenuous black and white link someone at the club came up with. What about us though? What do other fans, and their young kids, remember about us these days?

We all bought into Bobby Fleeting's dream in the 90s and in all honesty if he had said 40,000 seats we'd have said yes please. The stadium though has become the elephant in the room - 2 decades of watching the Old Firm troop in and own it have killed it for a lot of fans.  And now we sit in a mostly empty ground and the away fans might as well be sat on the moon, they're so far away from us. We're all generally sat as far away from each other as we can get away with it as well, it feels like. Anyone new doesn't know which one of the 15,000 empty seats to choose as they all have white stickers on them claiming ownership by a long gone ghost supporter. Instead of social clubs we have the hotel and bar from the days we though we were Chelsea. We've had years and years of losing far more than we win, with only Mixu and Kenny to break up the grind, along with a few characters amongst the players who unfortunately get discarded by the club along the way. As the town has expanded into the countryside it seems to be forgetting about it's club that also forgot it was part of the town.

All is not lost. The youth players coming through are fantastic to see and the club is doing a lot of good work at development level. The pitch everyone moans about is a false flag that detracts from the harder debates. But we feel a long long way away from a day when away fans leave hearing a song ringing out that makes them think of the identity and soul of our wee club, and when our kids leave the ground buzzing with chatter and excitement.

Talk is cheap, and it would be easy to offer a pile of solutions, but I'll continue to drag the wee man along in the meantime although a positive change in our club's matchday experience and identity feels a long way off.

 

 

 

 

Stoatin' comments, cannot disagree with any of it.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 minutes ago, skygod said:

They had players signing autographs yesterday too.

 

DJRTrT-W4AUET1x.jpg

Apparently ( I'm not a Rugby fan) the Glasgow Warriors guys don't get to go and shower until they've signed every last autograph and posed for every last picture with piles of kids that hang around inside the stadium after every game - maybe makes them try a bit harder during the match.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Watched the interview with Robinson on TV last night when he talked about what they were trying to achieve and the kind of player he wanted to bring to Motherwell. His passion was there for everyone to see and and seemed to be relishing the job and the challenges he faces.

McCulloch has never came across like that. If he doesn't inspire me as a fan, can he inspire the players? The answer so far would seem to be no. As someone else said he looks like a person who has a lack of confidence in his abilities.  

 

Edited by historyman
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Summed up a lot of our problems very well. 

 

Concerning your son, I had a similar experience with my wee boy. He quite liked going to the games but got bored and didn't seem to enamoured by Killie. That changed the day of the play off when we beat Falkirk. He seriously got the bug that day and now, for his sins, is in as deep as the rest of us. amazing what a bit of atmosphere and a good performance can do. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's no leadership at the club. 

Directors? Nope - none of them even want to be chairman. 

Chief Executive? Who?

Manager? Hardly the type to inspire the troops over the top. Couldn't even decide whether he wanted the job. 

Monty is the only one who seems to have any passion. 

Big opportunity for McClymont to make his mark. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some great points here.

Once you're in love you're in love and it doesn't take much to sustain it ......... pride, a sense of belonging and the odd good performance. The Warriors autograph point was interesting. The way things are players at RP will be able to have a ten minute chat with each home fan!

One of the saddest things is that as crowds and interest dwindle (communication with the hard core should therefore be easier) the club seems to get more remote even with the opportunities afforded by improved technology.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, skygod said:

There's no leadership at the club. 

Directors? Nope - none of them even want to be chairman. 

Chief Executive? Who?

Manager? Hardly the type to inspire the troops over the top. Couldn't even decide whether he wanted the job. 

Monty is the only one who seems to have any passion. 

Big opportunity for McClymont to make his mark. 

 

This x100. For me this is our biggest problem at the moment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
On 11/09/2017 at 5:44 PM, Calummoore86 said:

Surprised Gary Holt is currently unemployed and the club are showing no interest in getting him involved in some way. Theres plenty he can do and he knows what it takes when it comes to performing on the pitch. A wasted resource who would hopefully jump at the chance if it was given.

If you were LM would you want Holt working at the club ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great points raised by the original poster and followed on by Skydog. I've got a 9 year old who only got into football in the last two years. Sometimes I look at him especially at Rugby Park and wonder if I'm doing the right thing bringing him to the games. Sometimes you can see that he's truly bored. No passion, no atmosphere, no colour and only the odd shout  of "he'll no dae get him off"or similar. Went to the Motherwell game as well and their stands were pretty full and created a great atmosphere. We've all talked about it before and it'll be talked about again, but is our stadium now our "white elephant". With crowds dropping and only the old firm really filling the stands could we/should we get rid off it for say a 10,000 all seater ? (and even that may be too big at the moment).

Edited by Charlie's Dad
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, gdevoy said:

Don't see this as a big selling point. Look how well the plastic grass has worked out.

I don't know. Can still get a decent atmosphere indoors, with the added benefit of the Scottish weather not being something to worry about. I think it'd be pretty cool actually, if designed and built correctly. Not that it'll ever happen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...