Unfortunately, the ground will remain empty until the product on the pitch improves. Attempts to inject life will always be undermined by a good drubbing on the park. We have a poor team and play dull rugby. All in all 18 pounds to watch a game represents relatively poor "value for money".

If we are being honest we have had a minority of buffoons following the club for years. That is one of the reasons I stopped attending away games. Yes they are annoying and should be dealt with but it is not their fault that the club on and off the field is in a mess. They are a symptom rather than the cause of the current problems.

Well done, Bobby. You've missed my point completely. I'm not saying you should go into the ground and sit on your hands, I'm saying we shouldn't get behind the team and I'm not saying we shouldn't enjoy ourselves as much as we can (although that's getting harder and harder with the state of things at the moment.)

What I am saying is that you don't have to act like a balloon, you don't have to 'whip up a frenzy' or anything like that. To be honest, that's more likely to put people off at times. If some see people ballooning around they often think 'Christ, what are them nutters on? Pack it in.' But, if you just get on with supporting the team without trying too hard you're more likely to get the odd casual singer joining in with you.

Take Uniteds away support through the late nineties and early 2000s. No ballooning, no over-excited jumping around, no scarf waving, no waving your hands around in a funny manner. Just a few thousand people stood up singing. No fuss, no frenzy, no nothing. And the players were lifted by it. Then you get the Geordies 'support', ballooning, shirts off, acting up in a 'frenzy'... And the rest of the country think they're a bunch of f*ckwits.

Ballooning around does not automatically equal getting behind the team in a positive manner. In the same way, not ballooning around does not automatically equal not getting behind the team in a positive manner.

As for being beaten down for trying to be positive, can you blame people? The club's stuck in a serious rut at the moment and there's a whole list of things that people have a gripe with. To attempt to go on blindly thinking everything's okay at the moment is a bit silly. But whilst that shouldn't hinder you getting behind the team for 80 minutes, it also shouldn't stifle people from saying what they see and aiming criticism and the club, staff and players.

Turn up, don't take it so seriously, relax and just sing. Don't worry about having a connection with the players, they come and go, don't worry about people whinging, that'll happen regardless, just concentrate on supporting the side during the match. You'll feel a lot better about life, trust me.

Not entirely in agrrement with you there GT although you do raise some valid points imo.

I think what we are seeing here, in observation of yourself and Bobby is a contrast in characters. A mild introvert in opposition to a strong extrovert. Hmm, just about to write a piece on the subject for you to read but I think I'll save it for another day. Back to my homework for now.

People arnt machines GT, you just dont plug em in and they will keep singing till the batteries run out, there were probably a few hunderad who were living the dream having a ball and everyone just got sucked in, Frenzy is the wrong word, when somebody is in a frenzy it usually means Violent imo, it helped a lot that United had a winning team and when the crowd needed lifting the team did it.

You cant expect to create a buzz if you aint willing to give a bit, Leigh away good friday, everyone got soaked, nobody cared, nobody went hiding in the seats, we wernt gonna melt because we got a bit wet so we all got on it we all just lived the dream and rode the wave of enthusiam that night and it still remains one of my best memories watching salford, if it was sunny and walm that wouldnt have happened wouldnt have happened

Perhaps GT is a machine? That would explain alot. Sort of like a Ginger Terminator.

plus i dont feel you can compair us to manchester uniteds away support in anyway as United have experienced success over many decades and the supporters of many ages have had regular tastes of success and the fact you would have to multiply our away support by at least 5 to get a comparison which means 5 of YOU ( ) 5 of me ( ) 5 of the right side of the shed ( ) 5 of the numpties at the bottom ( ) 5 of the left side of the shed ( ) making 5x the noise which isnt too bad when you think of it that way, the main differece is at Manchester United so both the club and the Supporters arnt scared of winning.

Also i dont feel you can compair a home fan to a awau supporter as both are a different type of beast.

us on the other hand are scared of winning both on and off the field, we will win little cups (arriva cups, 2nd division) but put us in a challenge cup quaterfinal and we'll freeze because its the unknown, thats where we are imo

United's away support was the best in the country when the team was sh*t. So your point is invalid. As is the rest of your nonsense about dividing them up into sections. The United away support at the time I'm talking of was made up of 95% of the same type of people. No ballooning, no waving your colours around, no 'frenzies'. Just stood inside the ground singing for 90 minutes supporting the team. Ballooning about, to me, is the equivalant of that prick from Portsmouth with his wig, tattoos and stupid bell. That wouldn't make me want to get behind the team, not in the slightest.

The Leigh game... Well, it was a cracking night, I'll give you that. The rain added to it, but I think a few hours on the ale had helped a few, too. Again, it didn't really feel like ballooning to me... Just a group of lads (and lasses) having a laugh and supporting the team.

As for all this "living the dream" and "having a ball" nonsense... Jesus, Bobby, what are you on? What we do is called supporting the team. Friday night proved my point - no ballooning, no dancing around like a tw*t, we just got on with it. Sang. Supported the team. Funnily enough, other people joined in with us as well, without us having to 'whip up a frenzy' or whatever we've decided the non-violent form of that is. We just supported the team. It worked.

As for being a mild introvert... That's a new one on me.

But you spend £23 to sit on your hands on Friday

friday fight night!

bobby the optimist parkinson vs GT holdsworth

venue: the pitch at half time

we will all be ballooning like k#ob heads in the shed

Well, we could go back to the club's early years when they nearly got relegated to the third tier of English football if you want to get technical. However, aside from that, the only time United have ever dominated was the '90s onwards. United were getting higher attendances at Maine Road than city during their brief stay there and they won one trophy in that time.

And as for expecting success and the like, we went 26 years thinking we were never going to win the title. Hardly a case of turning up and thinking something would turn us around eventually.

It's a moot point, anyway. Success has nothing to do with the level of support. City have been turd for 34 years now and even when they were down in the third division they had a fairly large following. Difference being they thought the way to support a team was inflatable bananas and the like... That's the difference, they 'ballooned', United just got on with supporting the team.

This is the point I'm trying to make. You don't have to act like a loon, you don't have to jump around and you don't have to deliberately try to have fun to get behind the team. It works just as well with people, as you put it, "standing looking cool" but singing at the same time. That Red Army chant at Warrington was good, but did jumping around like a tw*t at the same time really add anything to it? Of course not.

You don't have to 'balloon' to support the team. That is all.

I feel like I'm going around in circles now, so I'll leave it.

PS - It's tête-à-tête.

But we did win FA cups, League Cups and European cup winners cups during that period so its not exactly a barron period where fans didnt experience the joys of winning big trophies




What did you do? Did you get lost in the moment and jump around.... bet you did
See educated

I know, I know, this is my final post, I promise...



So what you're actually saying is that success is the only thing that bouys supporters? That United's support wouldn't have been as good without success? That without success they would have had to have 'ballooned'?

Give over.