Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Monday 11 March 2013

11 March 2013

Miss Guest Diary writes: It was great to see a larger than usual crowd at Blundell Park on Saturday - for one thing it provided shelter at the back of the Pontoon from the biting wind. But it made me cross to see people leaving early, some after Kidderminster's third goal went in on 76 minutes, and a lot more before the final whistle. I simply don't understand this behaviour. Do these people leave the cinema before the end of the film if the plot isn't panning out the way they'd expected? Or leave a restaurant before they've finished their meal if it doesn't taste as great as they'd hoped?

If they are trying to get back at the players and management for not giving them the result they wanted, then it's working. In their post-match interviews with John Tondeur, both Shouty and Jamie Mack mentioned their disappointment at fans leaving early. I don't think anybody is going to pretend that Town's performance on Saturday wasn't below par, but walking out when things aren't going well, or booing players off the pitch, is no way to encourage the team to do better.

It's become a bit of a cliché to talk about the crowd being the twelfth man, but I know that crowd response does affect the spirit and confidence of the team because I have seen it work both for and against Town. Back in 2001 Town were away at Nottingham Forest and winning 1-0 at half-time, but Forest equalised early in the second half. As reported at the time (for a rival website) by Cod Almighty's Tony Butcher: "This lifted the Forest crowd who suddenly roared their team on and made the ground rock. The effect on the teams was palpable: Town seemed to cower and Forest players ran around quicker." And Forest eventually won the game 3-1.

And then we have a home game in the same season, against Tranmere, with the scorelines reversed: Town losing 1-0 at half-time but going on to win 3-1, with the home crowd once more seeming to play an important part. Again quoting from Mr Butcher's match report: "The crowd went wild. There was a sense that the game was turning and the crowd did get behind the players, making noise and roaring them on into every tackle, every clearance, every throw-in gained... You could almost see the metaphorical roof falling in on Tranmere. Their players almost shrank as the Town players became rampant."

You might say that fans have paid their money and are entitled to their opinion. I agree, but believe that they should wait until after the game to express that opinion in the pub with their mates or on a messageboard. Football isn't like cricket or tennis or a host of other sports, where the crowd will express appreciation for a good shot or move by the opposition. Football is fiercely partisan, and if you can't stay 100 per cent behind your team when you're in the ground and stick it out to the bitter end no matter what the scoreline, maybe you should stay at home and watch Man Utd on TV. Or as Shouty so eloquently put in last season: if you don't like it, don't [expletive deleted] come.