Seven years after Roy Keane's 'prawn sandwich' tirade it is not seafood snacks but corpses stinking out Old Trafford these days.
"The crowd were dead," said Alex Ferguson. "It was like a funeral out there. It was the quietest I have heard here for some time. Sometimes we need them to get behind us. They can help produce the right performance but we did not get that today."
Is it reasonable, then, for a United crowd who have grown spoilt by glory nights and thrilling football to no longer be able to rouse themselves for a scrappy, but important, 1-0 win over Birmingham?
Or is what Ferguson observed at Old Trafford happening everywhere; another step forward in football's consumerism, where fans are replaced by customers who can, and should, expect to be entertained for the money they are paying?
THE GOOD:
Fratton Park - Portsmouth
A raucous, intimidating atmosphere at home is one of the reasons no teams look forward to a trip to the South Coast. A traditional, tight ground with fans on top of the action helps, too. Just try and avoid sitting anywhere near that bloke with the bell.
Anfield - Liverpool
Though perhaps not everything Andy Gray will have you believe, few English grounds regularly produce the noise and fervour that Anfield does and the Kop's character has survived the introduction of seating better than most famous old stands.
Stadium of Light - Sunderland
It is easy to sing when you're winning but when you have been satistically the worst - as well as holding the dubious honour of the second worst Premier League side ever - team in the top flight in recent years and you still command passionate, vocal crowds suggests something works at the club. Or the shops are so bad, as Keane would have us believe, that people are just looking for something to do on a Saturday afternoon.
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Goodison Park - Everton
Deemed good enough to host a World Cup semi-final in 1966, Goodison has seen better days but the wooden seats and crumbling facilities do nothing to dampen down the spirits of the regulars. Crowds took their fall from the old 'big five' with better humour and equanimity than others fallen on harder times and are enjoying the rise again.
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THE BAD:
The Riverside - Middlesbrough
Rows of empty seats are not the sole preserve of Middlesbrough but regardless of wether you are a stadium half-full or stadium half-empty kind of fan there is often a desolate feel to the Riverside. In their defence, Middlesbrough is not a big a place, especially when compared to Sunderland and Newcastle, and several seasons of Steve McClaren has to take some sort of toll.
Craven Cottage - Fulham
Probably the nicest location and most picturesque environs for a football ground but the lack of a harsh, working class backdrop comes along with a loss of atmosphere, too. A limited number of sets when compared to their peers doesn't help either.
JJB Stadium - Wigan
Such has been the pace of Wigan's ascent to the top tier of English football it is perhaps understandable that many people were left behind. Rarely full and always quiet, Wigan are another small town team punching above their weight with a limited number of foot soldiers to make their presence felt.
Emirates Stadium - Arsenal
Highbury was derogatorily branded 'the Library' by visiting fans and Arsenal are still getting used to their new home. Few memories or shared experiences in the flash new stadium probably don't make it feel like home just yet. Only one defeat there mean there is usually something for the home fans to sing about but full houses should be able to muster more noise than they do.
...AND THE UGLY:
St James' Park - Newcastle
"I don't think I've heard a crowd that vicious," said Joey Barton of the Newcastle fans, and you would imagine he knows a thing or two about it. Regular sell-outs despite more than 50 seasons without a trophy speaks highly of their loyalty; their impatience and eagerness to get on the backs of players and, especially, managers does not.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml;jsessionid=ATLF0AUDLFFBBQFIQMGSFGGAVCBQWIV0?xml=/sport/2
Happens every game at Goodison. Only at Goodison you get drenched in Chang.
EDIT: Reply to the video Colin posted.
I think tramps that are in Sunderland have more pressing matters to worry about than football. Very insensitive aren't you?
Anyway i see more tramps on the streets of Newcastle than Sunderland.
Only when it comes to people from sunderland and great comeback. How long did you stay up thinking that gem up?
Sam Allardyce will be gone before the season ends because your fikle supporters can't accept you aren't a title challenging team...you had your bit of hope with Keegan. The top 4 are streets ahead of anyone else in all aspects. You's are ********ing 11th in the league....get over it!
Congratulations, you've managed to show a complete lack of understanding about the situation at Newcastle, bravo
Us on the other hand are in a relegation battle as we expected, bring in Sidwell, Savage etc and we'll be fine, Kieran Richardson is quality.
I don't think I've ever heard the words Kieran Richardson and quality in the same sentance before..
We are supporting our team and the last gasp winners are proof to that by keeping the players lifted. Proven best fans in the country.
Blah blah blah blah, 87% attendance this season. And lets not forget your amazing gates the last time you were in the Premiership or the season after you got relegated. Your support is no better than anyone elses, get over yourself.
The Kop is vastly overrated. Very good for big games and European nights but very average the rest of the time.
I hope this article warms the tramps of sunderland as they enjoy another season of relegation
I hope this article warms the tramps of Sunderland as they enjoy another season of relegation
I think tramps that are in Sunderland have more pressing matters to worry about than football. Very insensitive aren't you?
Anyway i see more tramps on the streets of Newcastle than Sunderland.
Sam Allardyce will be gone before the season ends because your fikle supporters can't accept you aren't a title challenging team...you had your bit of hope with Keegan. The top 4 are streets ahead of anyone else in all aspects. You's are ********ing 11th in the league....get over it!
Us on the other hand are in a relegation battle as we expected, bring in Sidwell, Savage etc and we'll be fine, Kieran Richardson is quality.
We are supporting our team and the last gasp winners are proof to that by keeping the players lifted. Proven best fans in the country.
ps this is a debate before any of the biased mag moderators threaten to ban me again.
predictable
But its the truth.
I really dont get this Kop myth, from the many years I've been with City.
And I've even been in the Kop for Liverpool vs Arsenal (the 2-1 win when Fowler scored the second goal) and the atmosphere wasn't that impressive then.
Quiet as mice, but the few times they do crank it up, are often the games that more people watch on TV. Every club's fans have games like this per season, but they dont get televised as much as the big clubs.
Kop = shyte
What a laughable and rather rambling whine. Yet again you jump on a factually correct post of mine and completely ignore everyone else who agreed with the point made. Your first sentence is ignorant enough and it only continues to go downhill from there.
I know i rambled on and on, you dont need to tell me...whats your point?
The Kop is vastly overrated. Very good for big games and European nights but very average the rest of the time.
Agreed.
I agree with the mystique surrounding Liverpool. Catch them mid-season and you can hear a pin drop.
Birmingham City really impressed me when they were first promoted a few years ago.
I used to think Tottenham fit that old "you only sing when you're winning" song, they impressed me.
What a laughable and rather rambling whine. Yet again you jump on a factually correct post of mine and completely ignore everyone else who agreed with the point made. Your first sentence is ignorant enough and it only continues to go downhill from there.
Only when it comes to people from sunderland and great comeback. How long did you stay up thinking that gem up?
Congratulations, you've managed to show a complete lack of understanding about the situation at Newcastle, bravo
I don't think I've ever heard the words Kieran Richardson and quality in the same sentance before..
Blah blah blah blah, 87% attendance this season. And lets not forget your amazing gates the last time you were in the Premiership or the season after you got relegated. Your support is no better than anyone elses, get over yourself.
No, you and the many other NUFC fans have shown a complete lack of understanding. It takes time to build a succesful team....time that YOUR fans won't give any manager at anytime.
"87% attendance"....ha...brilliant. Fulham have bigger crowds that us because they have nearer 100% attendance...love your way of thinking!:rolleyes:
43,228 for a team in the bottom 3 is outstanding. Last season we average 32,000 in the championship.
Sunderland are a huge football club...potentially one of the biggest in England....so are Newcastle.
If you want to get technical then explain why Liverpool are 16th in the league when you monitor the decibel levels of the crowd? I'll ignore your childish whine above because had you read the thread you would have noticed that I never made any positive claims in relation to Man Utd.
The Kop is vastly overrated. Very good for big games and European nights but very average the rest of the time.
Old Trafford sounds like an U12's sunday match compared to Anfield...golf clapping, no standing up and inside voices only.
You just have to look at this video from 1994 to see how things have changed
http://youtube.com/watch?v=a97Dpp78qrE
But true. None of the top sides have a decent support week in week out.
He didn't call it great -- only good. Supporters still make up original songs. Seldom happens anywhere else in the Prem. And better on the average than the other top sides.
If you want to get technical then explain why Liverpool are 16th in the league when you monitor the decibel levels of the crowd? I'll ignore your childish whine above because had you read the thread you would have noticed that I never made any positive claims in relation to Man Utd.
You dont have to make another positive claim about Man Utd, everyone on BS knows where you stand. But it seems like whenever there is a post that involves Liverpool, you arrive and say your bit...actually its not a bit, its always an attack or something to hit the nerves of Liverpool supporters...not fans, like the majority of Man Utd, but supporters, those who picked up the club because we wanted to, not like many Man Utd fans out their who picked them up because they were famous and recently successful. I know from personal experience in Australia as the Man Utd fanbase is very strong in Aus and seems to surge, not rise slightly, whenever there is success. Yet all the Liverpool supporters are still backing and supporting the club even though we havent won the title in 18 years. Everytime there is something about Liverpool you bring out these stats or this evidence of why we are shit...well if we are shit, then so be it...none of us are going to jump ship. And how many does Anfield hold? Is it the 76,000 mice at Old Trafford, or the Library at Highbury and 60,000 at The Emirates, or the 48,000 at City...and do you know how many supporters of the 45,000 at Anfield fit into the away stand? How about give a link to your 16th decibel stat? Or maybe all of this decibel BS doesnt matter, because i dont give a shit about it...i support the club, not for the reputation or the sound that comes from the stadium.
But true. None of the top sides have a decent support week in week out.
The Kop is vastly overrated. Very good for big games and European nights but very average the rest of the time.
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