07 Feb 2016 11:14:23
HI Ed please post
My take on the walkout yesterday:
I am an old traditionalist, where I believe we support the 11 on the pitch, what goes on in the background obviously concerns me however when the 11 men step onto the pitch my allegiance will always be behind the team.
I can understand that the increase in the ticket prices has upset a lot of people, especially the season ticket holders, however football is ever changing, times are changing. Football is now a commercial business, it's about making money, if we walk out about the ticket prices shall we also walk out due to the rising cost of a beer at the ground, or the excessive cost of the gear in the club shop, the pie cost or even the extortionate wages the players demand for below par performances as seen yesterday.
My fear is that we have hard core of fans who may divide the club and take us down a road that we may not be able to turn around, a road that will cause a cancerous rift between the owners and the fans a rift in which the players and management sit in the middle, and we saw the consequences of that yesterday. You'll never walk alone: we certainly walked alone yesterday, half still sitting and half leaving!
Sometimes following the loudest voice is not the best policy, there are many other ways of skinning a cat, if we want to show our disapproval we should not do it on a Saturday in front of millions, we have prided ourselves for supporting the team and yesterday we failed. Would it have been better to boycott the club shop, purchasing any of the beer or food! not buying a programme, there are many other ways of proving our point and stopping revenue going to the club, but walking out I feel was a poor decision.
It frightens me who the people are following, who are these faceless people we are following, we have to be very careful. The miners followed a militant leader who went about a conflict the wrong way taking thousands along with him, and we all know what happened. Be very careful who we are supporting here, I am all for standing up for the rights of the supporter, however I am not up for standing behind someone who has his/ her own personal grievance against the club!
A Little story for you, I often watch the game at Anfield, I get the tickets from a club close to the ground (I won't mention the club), season tickets that are spare go behind the bar, I can get one for around £20-£30 over the asking price! Which I am willing to pay. How does the season ticket individual feel when he puts my £20 in his pocket? Was he one of the ones who walked out yesterday, just a thought. We all like making money don't we!
Evered.
{Ed001's Note - again missing the point, this is taking a stand against the ridiculous prices of kits etc as well as ticket prices. The greed endemic in a game that brings in more money than any other league around the world, yet we still pay amongst the highest ticket prices. Is it not time, maybe it is a bit late, to try and stop it before it goes too far?}
07 Feb 2016 12:03:47
Your making it sound like some sinister club or cult, following "faceless people", these are ordinary fans who have had enough of being fleeced and the "turning fans into customers" gaff coupled with the pricing announcement was the final straw for most of us.
This hasn't just come out of the blue, we've been arguing ticket prices for years, you must have seen the Liverpool and Arsenal protest against it surely? Also trying to say scargill was to blame for what happened to the miners is completely incorrect, as we know exactly who left those men there family's and whole community's to rot and she's playing with 🔥 down in the devil's kitchen.
Let me tell you a story aswell, I work continental shifts so over the years I've not been able to get to games and used to give my ticket away to friends because at the time my eldest son wasn't old enough to go on his own, now as prices rose I had to start asking money for it, not the full amount but maybe half or two thirds of the amount of the cost of my ticket, my eldest son is 22 now and obviously I give it to him, but if he can't make it because of work commitments I sell it for £10 less than it costs to anyone who wants it and most of my mates do exactly the same, so don't try and use that as justification of the club putting prices up, and to do so is reprehensible behaviour on your part.
07 Feb 2016 11:58:06
Hi Ed
All due respect, I don’t think I am missing the point. I agreed that the money in the game is obscene, however the one common thing that bonds us is the team in the Red jersey we must support the team. One thing is for sure there will be many future owners of the club and all will want to take as much money out of the business as possible. We cannot make a stand, alone, if we want to make a stand let’s get all clubs to walk out against the excessive prices, it affects us all. Standing alone will get us nowhere if we are serious then we have to get the support of all not just the few. We are putting our head above the parapet and moving in isolation.
Did yesterday really achieve anything apart from probably losing us 2 points, the stronger the team the more successful we will be, then the more power the supports will have. If the team fails to be successful over the next few years, there is a possibility that we will unfortunately become a seasoned mid table club with diminishing support and much less influence in the football world. First and foremost, we must get it right on the pitch and to do that the club needs the support of the fans. Sometimes you have to lose the battle to win the war. With Klopp we are in a transitional, pivotal period in our history, please let’s not blow it. The more successful we are the stronger we will get.
Evered.
{Ed001's Note - you are missing the point as you were talking about all the things that were a part of the issue as not being taken into account.}
07 Feb 2016 12:36:17
Evered, you're deluding yourself in the romanticism of football and therefore missing the point people are making. The Bayern president Uli Hoeness put it very well saying "We could charge more than €130 (£104). Let's say we charged €380 (£300). We'd get €2.5m (£2m) more in income, but what's €2.5m to us? In a transfer discussion you argue about the sum for five minutes. But the difference between €130 and €380 is huge for the fans. We do not think fans are like cows, who you milk. Football has got to be for everybody. "
You might jump straight to the argument Bayern are rich blah blah. but its the same throughout germany. I could go to pretty much any laliga game too without spending over 50e.
Premier league clubs are to recieve the biggest tv deal in history. It is an absolute disgrace that the fans are being asked to fork out more with the money coming in. You say the fanbase at matches need to get behind the team but if the fans are priced out of going what good will that do the club. Zero atmosphere, prawn sandwich brigade going to spur on the team. We need the real fans that basically can't stand the thought of the team losing as it actually affects them personally. Also the walkout had nothing to do with defensive incompetence on the field. We've been seeing that week in week out.
{Ed001's Note - if the atmosphere goes then the TV deals will go too. No one wants to watch a game with no atmosphere.}
07 Feb 2016 12:38:15
Evered,
the club is going to share in a lot of TV money this coming season, i think its 8 billion i'm not sure so there is no need to put the ticket prices up when they are going to get even more money, and the fans who walked out supported the team yesterday they went the game and left on the 77th minute to make a point, its not as if they never went the game, so i don't see your point, so ask yourself this why is the club putting ticket prices up when they are getting so much TV money.
07 Feb 2016 12:52:51
Waro
I didn't say Scargill was at fault for what happened to the miners I said he went about it in the wrong way, the same as I am saying i support the decision to stand up against the ticket prices, however i believe the walkout was wrong way to go about. I grew up in the miners strike and it affected my family and community directly so i know better than anyone what the rat catcher was like.
And guys read what I said - I agree with all that you are saying i just think we went about it in the wrong way!
Evered.
07 Feb 2016 12:54:52
Well put camc. just because you can charge more doesn't mean you should (and I'm not a local so have no vested interest in seeing lower ticket prices personally) . I have been to Anfield however and the atmosphere is amazing and that comes from dedicated local fans - not from pricing tickets to the highest common denominator. I'd rather we spent a little bit less on transfers and maintained the unity and passion.
07 Feb 2016 12:55:35
So the walk out on 77 minutes caused mignolet to line up his wall in completely the wrong place and subsequently let a soft shot slip under his hand and also cause sakho to be caught square and outmuscled then turned by a 5ft 2 34 year old in the twilight of his career?
Just come out and say what you really feel about the walk out, man up and stop intimating and subtly trying to twist things to suit your opinion. The reason we drew that game was the poor players involved in the two goals, who do you blame for mignolets poor performances since he got here, Sakho conceded a carbon copy goal against Norwich except on that occasion he wasn't turned the lad outmuscled him again and back heeled it through his legs who's was to blame for that?, stop trying to demonise the people who walked out yesterday.
07 Feb 2016 13:05:27
Well what's the right way? Genuinely curious? What can fans do en masse to make a statement? The club had been in discussion with spirit of shankly for over a year and then chose to just blatantly ignore all discussions.
07 Feb 2016 13:27:52
Hi Waro
Read the original post i have said what i really feel and not hiding behind it and certainly not twisting my opinion. I have an opinion and that's what I believe, i have supported the team long enough to have an opinion. The team ARE very poor at the moment probably the worst I've seen in 40 years, however if we are going to get out of it we need a way to stick together - the owners and the supporters. what's next shall we all stick together and not go to the next home match! let's get rid of the owners and get new ones, or shall we try to work together. I rememmber when all our dirty laundry was done behind closed doors not in the public domain.
07 Feb 2016 13:50:16
Waro i
One way is to get support enmass, talk to other clubs supporter base, the problem is just not Liverpools ts a Premiership probem a football league problem. Liverpool are not the only ones are going to get massive revenue and charge extortionate prices, everyone is feeling it. we have to try to get greater movement from all supporters. What a statement it would be if all clubs walked out! we cannot do it alone, harping back to Scargill if he had a vote early on he would have had the support of more of the miners more sympathy and more of a chance.
We are a small part of a big problem, we need a bigger support base.
{Ed002's Note - The other clubs don't have the self-inflicted massive debt resulting from years of financial mismanagement of the club.}
07 Feb 2016 14:49:21
Ed002
You are correct and a big majority of that was spent to appease the fans in buying so called marquee signings.
However i am sure Arsenal fans have a lot so say when they are one of the most profitable clubs but still have one of the most expensive ticket price in the league.
{Ed002's Note - You are not equating like for like at all. The demographics are entirely different, the disposable income in the south will be a lot higher, and whilst the Liverpool fans have every right to complain if they wish, this is a massive over-reaction to a pretty trivial matter. If you look at ticket prices across the Premier League then it will be higher for the London clubs - but keep in mind their costs are higher as well.
This whole matter has now become yet another a direct attack on the owners who are not responsible for working out the new ticket prices. There is an incredible level of naivety among the Liverpool fan base compared to other clubs. And there is vast evidence that the Liverpool fans really struggle with the financial aspects of the game, and indeed the business.}
07 Feb 2016 19:28:16
Ed002
Totally agree that is why I am against the walkout as i have sais earlier, football is changing and the supporter has to change with it.