ian1964 10,416 Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 ...If they don't wake up now they NEVER will!. CROSSROADS moment for Dave King and Co. as they await to see if the fans flock back to Ibrox for a fiver in crucial Play-off second-leg game with Queen of the South. When did we become glass half-empty merchants? When did we start measuring who didn’t turn up to a game rather than who did? Probably when the Old Firm were spending the best part of two decades trying to pee further up the wall than each other, right? It’s a hard habit to break. They still get huge crowds. Compare them around Europe and gates in the mid-30,000s are impressive. But these days the first thing we do at kick-off is measure how many empty seats there are at Ibrox and Celtic Park, rather than revel in how many full ones there are. And we’re accused – maybe rightly – of negativity. With Rangers though, their stand-in chairman Paul Murray made the count a legitimate exercise. Back when he stood with Dave King and John Gilligan that day in the bowels of Central Park on March 7, the intoxicating aura of fresh success still glowing from them, Murray said bullishly: “We have seven home games left and we’d like to see them all sold out.” Considering the crest of the wave they’d just rode in on, considering the unity of purpose amongst their support as shares were bought and dawn was seen to be breaking on the horizon, it actually didn’t feel much of a stretch when he said it. The reality? In seven games, only once did they even get an attendance above 40,000, far less hit their 51,082 capacity. The average for the seven matches was 34,168 from the official attendances given – and who knows if they’re ever accurate? But let’s assume for a second they are. Total reported attendance at their seven games has been 239,182. Total capacity was 357,574. Which means 118,000 and some smash went unused – and more importantly unpaid for. Which is probably not a kick in the backside of £2million they were dreaming about that hasn’t come close to the coffers. When every penny is not only a prisoner, but an orange-suited Guantanamo Bay detainee, that has to hurt. For their sake, you hope they weren’t budgeting on the stampede. They’d have been nuts if they were. Then again … They should be worried, though. Sweating that there’s still such a big latency in their support which has yet to subscribe to them and what they’re supposed to be doing. And you can’t help but ask: Where are they all? Is it a lingering scepticism over King and his brave new dawn that is keeping ‘fans’ away? Or have they simply just gone? Lapsed? Answers are at hand, though. Next Sunday in Govan. The ultimate litmus test. A fiver a skull. For a game that means the world. If they don’t come out of the woodwork then, they’re never coming. It’s an experiment that should actually tell us two things. One, and it’s a general point, is whether price sensitivity matters as much as everyone claims it does in football. That the game’s too expensive, that families are priced out, that if it was cheaper the crowds would flock back. But two, and it’s the point Rangers should be worried about, is whether they still have a sleeping support left to call on. In their well-documented battle with the SPFL over pricing for the game with Queen of the South, they settled on a £5 entry for a reason. To break even, no more, no less. Cover the 80 grand it costs to open the doors, then hand over the bare minimum to the league for their contentious 50 per cent play-off levy. Which is fair enough – I’ve said for two seasons the levy and the way it’s distributed is unjust, so circumventing it is not a problem. What could be a problem is their break-even point is predicated on a 41,000 crowd. A figure their new regime has yet to see. Surely, you’re thinking at a fiver the place will be full to the gunnels. Promotion is on the line. Parents will bring kids, diehards will persuade pals. Who knows, King may even have been given the nod by the SFA to officially ride in on his white charger by then. Then again, the game is live on the box. It’s a Sunday, not a Saturday. And who knows, maybe King will still be eating the custard pie the SFA have flung at him, and the fans will be sitting wondering if he’s ever going to invest what he said he would. It’s a crossroads moment they’re at. What the new regime needs are the days when the stadium was packed to the rafters with the glory hunters who pitched up when the trophies were rolling in. The problem with attracting glory hunters, though, is that first you actually need some glory… http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/opinion/sport/gordon-waddell-rangers-sleeping-support-5671041 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aweebluesoandso 290 Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 (edited) Typical of that paper and it's journalist's (i use that word advisedly) more like bloggers of a certain persuasion . I would like to know his thoughts on why his team Celtic can't get a full house the day they picked up the league trophy, that's a far bigger question. Edited May 10, 2015 by aweebluesoandso 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
26th of foot 5,836 Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Gordon Waddell is a good writer. A genuine Falkirk fan, and regularly swings the boot at both halves of the old firm. A couple of weeks past, he filleted Peter Lawwell, legitimately questioning the number of hats worn by ra Sellik's Chief Executive. He wondered aloud, if Peter sometimes forgot the titfer atop his noggin? He reminded Peter of his constant utilising of the old advertising adage, 'you need a hat to get ahead'. It was a hard hitting piece and I am sure Peter swapped another hat, to ensure the publishers of ra Sellik View and the match day programme for ra Stydome, 'Media Scotland'(also publish the Sunday Mail and Daily Record) even the score. Waddell alludes to the fact that both grounds of the old firm are mostly half full, then specifically labels those missing Bears as glory hunters. It begs the question, why are ra Sellik failing to attract supporters whence the glory continues? Surely, a more pertinent question? Further, older Bears will confirm that the five years between 1966's Scottish Cup win and 1971's League Cup victory, saw ra Sellik's relentless march to nine-in-a-row, and a Europen Cup success. Interestingly, Rangers average crowds in five long trophy less years topped ra Sellik's, by a fair few thousand. There are a number of reasons why Ibrox is on average, just more than half full. I venture recession, style and quality of football to be endured, and the constant uncertainty experienced by Rangers these last several years. I suspect Waddell has been instructed to pen such a lazy piece? Further, I suspect he would much prefer to fill his column with the possibility of glory for his own club, Falkirk at the up coming Scottish Cup final? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trublusince1982 243 Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 A negative story about looking at things negatively. The day after the first game of the playoffs and they still cant be positive. Maybe more fans would go if they watched and read more positive coverage that encouraged thoughts of exciting promise ahead 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
der Berliner 3,247 Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 It will be interesting to see how many Bears will come to the 5 pounds home game next week. On another note, those various Friday night fixture sure did not help to fill Ibrox either, thwarting hundreds if not thousands of Bears from Ulster and Southern parts of England et al. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Real PapaBear 0 Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 So much of attending games has to do with habit - and once the habit is broken, it's hard to get back into it. When you have a season ticket, you just go to games. You don't think about it. the game's on; you go. Simple as that. But if you don't have a season ticket and have to think about forking out every time, arranging lifts or driving through on your own the hassel factor rises and it's more difficult to make the effort. That's why the damage that the previous bunch of con-artists and crooks was so serious and long lasting. We will have permanently lost thousands of fans after the boycott and it will take time and success to get the next generation to come. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveC 150 Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Gordon Waddell is a good writer. A genuine Falkirk fan, and regularly swings the boot at both halves of the old firm. A couple of weeks past, he filleted Peter Lawwell, legitimately questioning the number of hats worn by ra Sellik's Chief Executive. He wondered aloud, if Peter sometimes forgot the titfer atop his noggin? He reminded Peter of his constant utilising of the old advertising adage, 'you need a hat to get ahead'. It was a hard hitting piece and I am sure Peter swapped another hat, to ensure the publishers of ra Sellik View and the match day programme for ra Stydome, 'Media Scotland'(also publish the Sunday Mail and Daily Record) even the score. Waddell alludes to the fact that both grounds of the old firm are mostly half full, then specifically labels those missing Bears as glory hunters. It begs the question, why are ra Sellik failing to attract supporters whence the glory continues? Surely, a more pertinent question? Further, older Bears will confirm that the five years between 1966's Scottish Cup win and 1971's League Cup victory, saw ra Sellik's relentless march to nine-in-a-row, and a Europen Cup success. Interestingly, Rangers average crowds in five long trophy less years topped ra Sellik's, by a fair few thousand. There are a number of reasons why Ibrox is on average, just more than half full. I venture recession, style and quality of football to be endured, and the constant uncertainty experienced by Rangers these last several years. I suspect Waddell has been instructed to pen such a lazy piece? Further, I suspect he would much prefer to fill his column with the possibility of glory for his own club, Falkirk at the up coming Scottish Cup final? "A good writer"? I think not, he is an utter cretin who revelled in our downfall, as he was churning out formulaic tabloid excuse-for-prose. Week after week he egged on anyone attacking us and said he'd never tire of punching us in the face. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tannochsidebear 2,315 Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Can't agree that Waddell is a good writer. He is of the Leckie mould, a wee team supporter who hates both of the OF equally. Why can we not have writers in this country who can write neutrally on the big stories with informative, researched, balanced articles. Is that really too much to ask from the so-called professionals. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rousseau 9,374 Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 (edited) Can't agree that Waddell is a good writer. He is of the Leckie mould, a wee team supporter who hates both of the OF equally. Why can we not have writers in this country who can write neutrally on the big stories with informative, researched, balanced articles. Is that really too much to ask from the so-called professionals. To be fair, it's an opinion piece; it's not supposed to be impartial. Moreover, the quality of his prose is not linked to his content or opinion. His opinion is valid. I don't really disagree with it. (What's with the one-sentence paragraphs?!) Edited May 10, 2015 by Rousseau 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zappa 0 Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 (edited) (What's with the one-sentence paragraphs?!) Unnecessary line breaks are the norm for shitty tabloid/red top newspapers like the Record. Most of Jackson's pieces use them and Jim Traynor's used to too, so without having studied it in any way, I'd guess it's probably just a general editorial stance on padding pieces out when writers don't really have much to say or submit short (and/or to the point) pieces. Edited May 10, 2015 by Zappa 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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