woeful attendance

[PaulWinch again]

Not re-investing money that's come in won't get people through the turnstiles unfortunatley, even if it did need to be done.

That's the vicious circle really, if we don't show some ambition people won't turn up and thus our revenue goes down. We need to spend to actually get some money coming in.

[Steamin_330]

Hi all first post

I was one of the ones who chose not to renew after eight years of being a season ticket holder. It wasn`t down to one single reason but a combination of reasons. Appointing McLeish and he`s style of play was the final straw. I`ve only know football in the sky era.  For me it`s now more than ever a business first and a sport second. Us fans are now customers and it appears many fans are acting like customers.
If your favroite restaurant takes their best dishes off the menu month after month, replaces the chief with one from KFC and the owners ignored what the customers want, Yet tell you please come next week, it won`t be any better but it will cost you 5% more would u go back?
If that makes me less of a fan or fickle then many be I am. After all I along with many expressed my anger at Wycombe!
For those who say the club will be better off without the fans that chose not to attend do the sums. For a club like ours trying to balance the books it’s not small change we`re talking about.

[hilts_coolerking]

It says everything about modern football, if not modern capitalist life, that the man in the street is asked to shell out more for an inferior version of what he has had before for less because the billionaire owner hasn't got enough money.

[Chris Smith]

It says everything about modern football, if not modern capitalist life, that the man in the street is asked to shell out more for an inferior version of what he has had before for less because the billionaire owner hasn't got enough money.

 I think it says a lot about modern football fans, or customers as they want to be called, that they're not able to accept that there are ups and downs in sport. I'm from an era when supporting your club was about following them through thick and thin so struggle with the idea of withdrawing it when things aren't quite as good.

Just imagine if everyone had the new attitude, nobody would watch Crewe or Sheffield Wednesday.

[pauliewalnuts]

It was the clubs and the Premier League who started treating us like customers rather than supporters, not the other way around.

[hilts_coolerking]

It says everything about modern football, if not modern capitalist life, that the man in the street is asked to shell out more for an inferior version of what he has had before for less because the billionaire owner hasn't got enough money.

 I think it says a lot about modern football fans, or customers as they want to be called, that they're not able to accept that there are ups and downs in sport. I'm from an era when supporting your club was about following them through thick and thin so struggle with the idea of withdrawing it when things aren't quite as good.

Just imagine if everyone had the new attitude, nobody would watch Crewe or Sheffield Wednesday.

I think that just it though: it's about coming from a different era.  When 40-somethings were kids, there were fewer, and generally less exciting options for what to do with your time.  Plus the league was more competitive than it is now and it was easier to identify with the players in the team.

Now kids have so many different things to do, have to pay a significant amount to watch the football, with players not much older than themselves earning more in a week than they will earn in a year, and without much chance of winning anything.

As far as the moneymen are concerned, the fan who goes come what may, regardless of the cost or quality of what's on offer, and in some cases actually boasts about going even though it's shit, is the ultimate consumer.  It's the ultimate irony that he is expected to keep going as the team is declining and the billionaire owner is cutting costs right left and centre.

[Big Dick Edwards]

I think it says a lot about modern football fans, or customers as they want to be called, that they're not able to accept that there are ups and downs in sport. I'm from an era when supporting your club was about following them through thick and thin so struggle with the idea of withdrawing it when things aren't quite as good.

Just imagine if everyone had the new attitude, nobody would watch Crewe or Sheffield Wednesday.

Well said.

[JJ-AV]

Ultimately, for 2 seasons running we were very close to the Champions League. The level of investment from Randy was massive*. But it's got to that awkward point where we either needed to start filling Villa Park every week or putting the prices up to enable us to compete. Neither was happening and while that's the case we can't afford to have three right backs earning £2.5m a year.

Ultimately Randy did the best he could financially for 3.5 years of turning us into a force, and he must have expected our fanbase to grow and inturn our revenue swell. It didn't happen so we're going back to square one (although slower than anticipated due to our inability to get rid of the shite) in order to re-think and try again.

You can't blame people for not being willing to put money in again (and a little bit extra) when we've essentially been told the next year or so isn't gonna be any fun.

I still back Randy and I think we'll have another good crack at the top 4 again under him, but I don't see it for a while yet.

*The investment from a personal point of view was massive. Comparatively to what Levy and the 2 Americans at Liverpool were putting in atleast - their revnues are higher than ours.

[Hopadop]

It says everything about modern football, if not modern capitalist life, that the man in the street is asked to shell out more for an inferior version of what he has had before for less because the billionaire owner hasn't got enough money.

 I think it says a lot about modern football fans, or customers as they want to be called, that they're not able to accept that there are ups and downs in sport. I'm from an era when supporting your club was about following them through thick and thin so struggle with the idea of withdrawing it when things aren't quite as good.

Just imagine if everyone had the new attitude, nobody would watch Crewe or Sheffield Wednesday.

It was probably the 'thick and thin' that got supporters hooked. Nothing kills passion for a club more than the prospect of trundling along mid-table. And that's the product on offer down the Villa these days.

[Risso]

It says everything about modern football, if not modern capitalist life, that the man in the street is asked to shell out more for an inferior version of what he has had before for less because the billionaire owner hasn't got enough money.

 I think it says a lot about modern football fans, or customers as they want to be called, that they're not able to accept that there are ups and downs in sport. I'm from an era when supporting your club was about following them through thick and thin so struggle with the idea of withdrawing it when things aren't quite as good.

Just imagine if everyone had the new attitude, nobody would watch Crewe or Sheffield Wednesday.

There you again, just as I was saying earlier, you really are only happy when you're smugly having a go at other supporters for not being as good as you. 

[john e]

For better or worse i am on favour of the financial sort out, i personally would rather watch Herd, Bannan, Clarke, Albrighton etc than more experienced players that cost fortunes and do no more than what we've got already,

When the wage bill is bought under control then we can invest hopefully to build and complement what we already have

Untill then I'm quite happy to watch this crop of younger players many of which we've bought through the academy develop and compete at premier league level,

[Risso]

For better or worse i am on favour of the financial sort out, i personally would rather watch Herd, Bannan, Clarke, Albrighton etc than more experienced players that cost fortunes and do no more than what we've got already,

When the wage bill is bought under control then we can invest hopefully to build and complement what we already have

Untill then I'm quite happy to watch this crop of younger players many of which we've bought through the academy develop and compete at premier league level,

I suspect that anybody who expects there to be any more "investment" after the fire sale has finished is going to be sorely disappointed.

[pauliewalnuts]

When you charge people 40 plus quid for a ticket, I guess it is inevitable that they're going to be more demanding and "elastic" in their support.

It's a bit too easy to get on a high horse and apply a blanket criticism of "modern fans" - I, like many on here, watched us through the mid 80s when we were utter gash, and dreaded the thought of missing a game, no matter how grim it all was.

The difference was, it cost a few quid back then, not 40, and that is a big, big difference. It's much easier to be a "thick and thin" fan when it costs next to nothing.

When you get to charging people that kind of money, you've got the advantage that your ticket income is massively increased. The flip side is that people start to apply the same sort of logic to football tickets that they apply to other expensive, luxury items.

[Hopadop]

When you charge people 40 plus quid for a ticket, I guess it is inevitable that they're going to be more demanding and "elastic" in their support.

It's a bit too easy to get on a high horse and apply a blanket criticism of "modern fans" - I, like many on here, watched us through the mid 80s when we were utter gash, and dreaded the thought of missing a game, no matter how grim it all was.

The difference was, it cost a few quid back then, not 40, and that is a big, big difference. It's much easier to be a "thick and thin" fan when it costs next to nothing.

When you get to charging people that kind of money, you've got the advantage that your ticket income is massively increased. The flip side is that people start to apply the same sort of logic to football tickets that they apply to other expensive, luxury items.

Absolutely.

Compare the stick Wenger's starting to get with the way Forest supporters stuck with Clough - even when he was clearly past it and going to take them down.

And at the prices they have to pay, I'd be booing if they didn't provide a sufficiently high quality product.

[CBAV06]

I dont see how any one can criticise fans not turning up, it is the only vote fans have got and they are excercising that vote. Dont blame the fans but look a little more closely at why they are not coming.

I would agree...as long as the fans realize the owner may do the exact same thing. The crowds arent coming out and buying tickets, to run the team responsibly the amount spent on players and other areas has to be cut back accordingly. Of course most fans will argue the owner should do no such thing...but if you look at this thread you will see complaints about the ticket prices and complaints about the lack of spending.