True supporters

[Chuckles]

I'm still waiting for a relevant fact from the great man.

He will answer in his own verbose non sensical manner, otherwhise known as "Jabba Script", totally useless to man and boy

 

[Shabba]

So the recession has been going for 6 years. But it didn't effect our attendances in league 1. Poor football, relegation and people choosing to do other things with their money and Saturday afternoons has been a result of falling attendances.

 

[jabba the gut]

So the recession has been going for 6 years. But it didn't effect our attendances in league 1. Poor football, relegation and people choosing to do other things with their money and Saturday afternoons has been a result of falling attendances.

You're failing to make the distinction between an underlying, structural trend and superficial variations. It's entirely possible that the recession did affect our attendances in League 1, but that it just wasn't obvious. For example it's possible that our League 1 attendances may have been even larger in better economic times. Alternatively it could be the case that the attraction of attending matches at that time may have been sufficient to overcome the effects of the economic downturn, whereas the attraction of League 2 football is not sufficient to mask the effects of the recession in the same way.

It isn't sensible to construct an argument that relies on such unusual circumstances as the team securing promotion to a division that we have so rarely played in and then achievingung a joint highest ever league position. As I've pointed out elsewhere we have only reached League 1 a handful of times in all our 81 years playing in the Football League and have finished in the top ten of said division on only three occasions. A City supporter would probably have to be more than 25 years old to have much recollection of the last period we played in the third tier and he or she would probably have to be pushing 40 to remember the last time we finished eighth. On top of that we were playing in an unusually strong League 1 with a lot of extremely attractive home fixtures, such as the visit of Leeds United and so on.

I'm not aware that anyone has argued that the fortunes of the team have not led to falling attendances. That would be nonsensical - although they don't seem to have been affected quite as much as some of the prophets of doom like to claim. What I have disputed is the implication that attendances are falling off a cliff in a way that is somehow unique to Exeter City, that this can all be attributed to mismanagement and everything going to sh*t and that the fall in attendances is the first sign of an impending disaster.

 

[jabba the gut]

So, are you implying Exeweb is not doing its job of monitoring and sanctioning inappropriate comments, Jabba? Yes, or no (as you like to say)

I'm not sure what your point is. I was quiestioning missy's sense of balance, not commenting on the moderation of the site.

 

[Shabba]

Jabba we had better attendances than we do now in league 1. That is all that matters.

I'm sorry but I haven't read the rest of your post as it is pointless wittering on for half a dozen paragraphs.

You're a true supporter cos you love Tisdale. As I am obviously critical of Tis and certain people high up then in your eyes I am not a true supporter but you couldn't be more wrong.

 

[jabba the gut]

Jabba we had better attendances than we do now in league 1. That is all that matters...

The point about attendances was introduced by the usual supects in an attempt to demonstrate that there is something rotten in the state of Exeter City Football club based on falling attendances. Therefore it's important to discuss the possible reasons behind those fluctuating attendances and to determine if any of these give credence to the usual suspects' hypothesis. Simply stating the obvious - i.e that attendances go up when we're playing well and go down when we're not - doesn't throw any light on the subject.

I'm sorry but I haven't read the rest of your post as it is pointless wittering on for half a dozen paragraphs.

Three paragraphs, containing ten lines.

You're a true supporter cos you love Tisdale. As I am obviously critical of Tis and certain people high up then in your eyes I am not a true supporter but you couldn't be more wrong.

I haven't commented on what defines a true supporter or not, either in this thread or elsewhere. I'm sure you're just as passionate about the club as I am. I have no problem with honest criticism of Tisdale - as I keep saying there are times I've criticised certain things he's said or done on this very forum, as I've criticised Taggy. It's the almost pathological desire to find fault and to declare Tisdale to be exeweb's new folk devil that I find absurd - especially given the level of his achievement and the high regard in which I believe he holds the club.

 

[motorservices]

and yet again anything can be spun, to back any opinion

Jabba, you continue to post the same ****e = you love the club

the usual suspects, pick fault with Tizza and the players = they love the club

spin that however you want, i dont care, what you post or what you think for that matter, you see, opinions are like ar**holes, everyone's got one

your not right/im not right, who cares???

 

[jabba the gut]

A point about the championship season average to put it into context. Once we were relegated under Gerry Francis we were generally poor throughout the next few years and our average gates I think were two to three thousand.

Less than 2'000 for one of the following seasons.

When TC took over our gates were much worse than they are now and remember after we lost the first game in 88/89 the next couple of home gates were less than two thousand. So once the championship season started our expected home crowds would have been somewhere between 2500 and 3500. Our good form meant our crowds started to go up but it took a little while to encourage the fans to come back, we also had a number of good crowds in cups against Blackburn, Blackpool Sunderland and Norwich which if included would push the home average higher still.

From Xmas onwards our home gates were very good, the point I'm making is if we had a similar season now with no home losses in thirty one games with twenty six of those wins the average gate would be higher now as our crowds had been on an upward curve until the end of 10/11. Sure tisdale gets some credit for our crowds increasing as we went up two divisions but you can't compare the basic figures between now and 89/90. There is no doubt we are losing fans, we have some local games which can pull the average back up a bit but to make a significant difference we need to be winning and/or providing entertainment. The other difference now is we have a lot more local sides bringing decent followings compared to the level of away support in 89/90.

That's a reasonable argument. Of course we're losing fans, but as you've indicated the cause is almost certainly due to form and lack of entertaining football, rather than anything more sinister, or even terminal.

 

[PeteUSA]

Of course we're losing fans, but as you've indicated the cause is almost certainly due to form and lack of entertaining football, rather than anything more sinister, or even terminal.

"Sinister"!? What could you possibly mean by sinister?

 

[jabba the gut]

"Sinister"!? What could you possibly mean by sinister?

Shape-shifting lizards and other things that go bump in the night, Pete.