Are we, the fans, part of the problem?

Maglor

I feel as depressed as the next fan at the moment and fully understand the frustration we all feel but...

Are we making the team nervous, unsettling the youngsters?

I saw a few glimpses when we got behind the team yesterday when the players got an extra step in their pace.

I am not suggesting the current position is the fan's fault in any way and I have been pleased given some of the results by the lack of abuse (most of the time).

If we want our Charlton back we need to support the team no matter how bad it gets and whatever league we play in. I am sure all true fans will. I am renewing my season ticket next year even if we are in league one.

leftbehind

No we are not the problem

I will be renewing what ever but we can not take any of the flack for whats going on on teh pitch

To me if i was getting grief i would be out there doing my best to shut the booers up

Weegie Addick

The Burnley game proved we are not the problem. AP is the one tearing this club apart.

Southendaddick

No, I have honestly felt at times under Pardew with 20k in the ground the atmosphere has been better than in the glory days with sell outs.

We have lost that extra 3-5k of fans who only turned up cos we were playing Arsenal etc that diluted the atmosphere.

I also think it could have been a lot lot worse yesterday.

ShootersHillGuru

There is fear and tension from the dug out through the team right out into the crowd at The Valley just now. Its a self perpetuating circle at the moment. The players are fearful of putting a foot wrong and the fans are understandably quick to criticise. It often said that teams in our situation find it easier playing away from home although we have seen nothing that would suggest that this is the case with Charlton. We need something, anything that gives us a lift. but its hard to see anything other than sheer luck doing that right now. I am confident that we can dig ourselves out of this mess and perhaps lady luck might start the process.

northstandsteve

I aint the problem,i was in the bar at 3.10 yesterdayI weren't giving them stick i was gettin pissed.

mad83

We are not to blame. The fans are the only faithful thing at this club. Players, managers and directors come and go we are the life blood of this club without us there would be no club. Fans may sometimes get frustrated but it's only because they care so much.

stonemuse

fantastic support at palaaarse and we still lost

carly burn

Abosolutely not.It's part and parcel of football.Fans pay hard earned money and are fully entitled to have a go if they don't think they are getting anything in return.You can only take so much.
If the players can't handle it then they are in the wrong game.

ShootersHillGuru

mad83 not sure the directors are part of the come and go in football. Ours have been around for ages and are just as much fans as you and I.

valleyman1973

We all have the best view of whats going on, on the pitch and its not pretty to watch, isn't it about time that the club listened to us, we have watched them through the bad times into the good times and are now in our worst position for over 20 years, pardew had one simple remit : to keep us in the premier league which he didnt, then to get the best side in the division promoted - he didnt and now were staring towards the trap door to the 1st division, its not our fault the man couldnt motivate Mr. Motivator!

EGAddick

I agree with SHG, it's a self perpetuating circle. I thought yesterday people seemed a bit more up for it before the game but conceding 2 mins in absolutely killed the atmosphere, once it was 2-0 The Valley had given up.

Red_Pete_in_Dubai

I think that you raise a very good point Maglor. Yes, of course the fans ARE part of the problem. The atmosphere at the Valley for most of the season has been horrible. So many of our supporters have expectations that hugely exceed the actual ability of this team. They get on the players' backs as soon as they make the slightest mistake. What is needed is a caring, nurturing atmosphere that encourages the players to have a go but doesn't criticise them if things don't always work. I really believe that we, as supporters, have let the team down badly this season. There is an atmosphere of fear & trepidation.

Personally, I've had enough of all the booooo merchants & after 40+ years I'm considering not going any more.

LenGlover

It's chicken and egg.

Yes the atmosphere is not ideal for youngsters like Shelvey, wright and Basey to settle into the side and the fans are responsible for that but when you consider the lack of end product and bullshit of Pardew since he came is it any great surprise?

The fans respond to what they see on the pitch.

bingaddick

I don't think it helps when the fans call for Pardew's head during a game. It's to some extent inevitable but it doesn't help.

I have heard people say, we are customers and if the club were a restuarant and we received a really bad meal everytime we went, we'd soon complain, demand our money back, or vote with our feet. As fans though, we have an emotional bond with the club that to some extent transcends normal customer feelings.

I thought about this after the Ipswich game. There were a few chanting "Pardew out" but not many joined in. After we gave the penalty away, but before they took it, the chant was taken up again. This time, no doubt grabbed by the emotion of the moment, quite a few joined in. After the penalty was saved, the gallows humour took over and there came the chant of "we only want one shot", which was negative, but much less destructive. It seemed to galvanised the team some what: all of a sudden we were laughing with them not at them. After the goal it changed to "we only need one shot" and the team's play improved to an extent that we could have mugged a win.

So I prefer the fatalist self deprecating humour rather than full on abuse of managers and players. One can't escape the unpalatable fact though that the louder the protests by fans, the more potent the message to those in authority that maybe enough is enough. I feel thats how far we've fallen.

charlton_carl

I dont think we are part of the problem.

I dont think our expectations are to high at all. I expected us not to get stuffed at home by Barnsley yesterday, is that to high an expectation?

I expect the team i support to go out and fight for every ball with the passion and commitment that they should show. Instead we get the crap that has been served up to us this season.

The atmosphere may of changed after the first goal went in yesterday, and the reason for it was, everbody probably thought the same thing, Here we go again..

I understand that we have youngsters on the pitch but it is Pardews job to get these players to feel comfortable enough to make a pass and make a tackle, not ours.

LoOkOuT

[cite]Posted By: charlton_carl[/cite]The atmosphere may of changed after the first goal went in yesterday, and the reason for it was, everbody probably thought the same thing, Here we go again..

Typical Charlton! Insecure and self-loathing. At a successful and confident club, the immediate thought in that situation would be: "How dare they stick one past us! We're going to make you pay!" Or something to that effect! ;-) That competitive spirit should run through every player, fan and manager/coach in the ground. But it doesn't. And that's down to all of us, from the top on down. Pardew has to play his part, every player has to, as does every fan who is hurting.

charlton_carl

when was the last time we came from behind to win a game???

mad83

The fans do have a part to play but there's no excuse for what can only be described as a lack of effort from the players.

I mean not getting stuck in against the scum was unforgivable, most of them players knew how much that game means to the fans from last seasons matches but yet they still didn't turn up.

Fans are quite easy to motivate sometimes all it takes is a crunching tackle or an encouraging rallying cry from a player to the crowd but we don't get that from them. We just get them giving the ball away and letting attackers shot from anywhere with all the time in the world.

When the bullets have been flying this season most of the team have hid and coward in the trenches when they need to be toughening the sinew and going over the top for glory and the love of this fine club.

ShootersHillGuru

Some decent points there mad.

mad83

[quote][cite]Posted By: charlton_carl[/cite]when was the last time we came from behind to win a game???[/quote]

Plymouth Away I think last year but I think that was the first time in a long time.

10 Years ago or so whenever we went behind I always knew in my heart we weren't out of it because of that unique Charlton spirit the fans and players use to have which was never say die and more often then not we'd come back and win. The players have lost that spirit and the fans have lost faith that whenever we go behind we will come back, understandably so.

Friend Or Defoe

[cite]Posted By: charlton_carl[/cite]when was the last time we came from behind to win a game???

Sheff Wed home 07/08 I think.

TEL

Discussed this in the pub with Maglor after the game yesterday, having slept on it I havent changed my opinion Kev....we are in a results business and we just arent getting them. ITs not as if we just arent getting the rub of the green is it? We are so stagnant, predictable....Ive said it time and again...we want defenders who do exactly that and the same goes for those further up the pitch...yesterday we had all 11 players in or around the box...nobody on the half way line and still we were 3-0 down at half time to a Barnsley team with players in it that Ive never heard of....they had heart...we were souless and Kev, we tried raising the tempo against a very good and workmanlike Burnley side, and look what happened. So no mate, we arent the problem...just watch what happens when things change at the helm and we start to perform again.

nth_london_addick

Nope i turnt up there in full voice full of optimisum only for some big nosed bstd to spoil it

aliwibble

I'd argue we are part of the problem. We're not the main problem, but we're not helping much. Admittedly conceding so early on didn't help, but booing before quarter of an hour had gone? FFS! Call yourselves supporters? I could've kissed the person who started the "I'm Charlton til I die" chant in the second half.

nth_london_addick

that was NSS you wouldnt want to kiss him

northstandsteve

i aint that bad especially after 10 pint of guiness