Unbelievable

Quoted from sonofmadeleymariner

I for one have given up based on performances since January followed by the solid decline this month instead of charging head first trying to win as many games as possible, I don't count today we put out a reserve side it was what it was making sure we didn't pick up any stupid injuries or red cards.

But I just can't be optimistic about the next couple of games when in the back of my head Hurst is going to set up to counter Braintree and not pick a side to play the best football we can, theres always that rick of Toto being played at RB because they have tall players or he's going to play Macca up front and Amond in goal because they would never expect it.

Whatever you may predict the side will be Macca, Tait, Horwood, Toto, Josh, Dis, Nolan, Arnold, Monky, Podge and Omar which is the best team we have available...............This is the side that played realty well versus Woking a couple of weeks ago and can do it again,

I'm not convinced based upon recent weeks but that was then and this is now, yes Braintree have had a good run but are now in uncharted waters, Dover have not won in 4 and VGR are making what looks like panic decisions..........We have as good a chance than any of the other 3.      

The fact that people think certain fans would rather us not get promoted so they can say "told you so" is ridiculous, I'm not a Hurst fan but I would rather us get promoted and I look an absolute idiot than us not getting promoted, every fan wants us to get promoted.

Anyway I don't think we're being too negative just realistic, remember how far we have fallen, it's the frustration and anger that has built up over the last 18 seasons which is coming to the boil.

"Unbelievable" is the right title for this thread, seeing as fairly uncontroversial contributions saying we should support the team from the first to final whistle are heavily voted down.

Quoted from GrimRob

I think a handful of people actually do! Just so they can say: "I told you so". Even if we do win there will be the inevitable jibes that we fluked it, or got lucky.

We are more likely to lose than win, every team that enters the play-offs is, that's the nature of the beast. You need a slice of luck to win any competitive football game, and you've got to win two of them to win the prize.

By saying we're going to lose people are hedging their bets because they know it's more likely to happen than not that we do lose and therefore they'll be able to crow about being "right".

By any stretch of the imagination that logic is flawed. So a premiership team plays a non league team in the F.A. Cup and they need a slice of luck to win? HUH?
And the playoffs is NOT a lottery!  The team who wins through over 3 games will have deserved their promotion. They may have some good fortune on the way but it's not a simple 1 in 4, no way is that true.
And how can anyone be right or wrong? It's just opinions at the end of the day.

Quoted from HackneyHaddock

The other week Ross Hannah put his finger on it when he said his team's tactic would be to stay in the game and quiten the crowd down (or words to that effect) because "the crowd can turn on them if things don't go right"

It's pretty obvious that'll be part of Braintree's game plan. They'll maybe have 200 supporters out of 6 or 7,000 so they'll be relying, to some extent, on OUR fans not doing their job and supporting Town heartily enough.

So when people say "it's up to the team to give me something to shout about because I've paid my £18", well sorry, but you're wrong.  It's the fans' job to support the team unconditionally on Thursday from start to finish, because, even if we're 2-0 down in the 90th minute, one goal could make the difference to us over the two legs.  

To say home advantage and support counts for nothing, know nothing about competitive sport.  It's vital that every single person in the ground on Thursday and Sunday, does their duty.

Jeez, do we go around in circles, blaming the fans and getting the excuses in early. How many noisy Town fans showed up at Halifax a few months ago, and what happened?

Perhaps it's you who knows nothing about competitive sport. It's vital that every player does their duty on Thursday first and foremost. As a Town fan I can think of scores of occasions when thousands of noisy fans turned up and the team didn't. You talk about our fans 'not supporting the team heartily enough', but for the 100th time - fans do do not win promotion, the team and manager do. Or don't. Christ - that support today, that backing, that noise. You couldn't better it. Unbelievable. Did it engender a decent shot on goal from the team? A spell of pressure? A spirited performance? Did it balls. You're in danger of getting the cart before the horse IMO. The fans need to get behind the team - agreed, but the results will be down to the performance of the players.

You're correct chaos33, but there will be times when the team is doing badly and that bit more noise from the fans helps push them to find that bit extra.  Sometimes it won't.

Anyway, I don't think anyone on here, even those with their reservations like yourself, will be doing anything other than supporting the team as loudly as they can on Thursday and/or Sunday, so maybe now is a good time for us to put this one to bed until after it's all settled one way or another.

Quoted from chaos33

Perhaps it's you who knows nothing about competitive sport. It's vital that every player does their duty on Thursday first and foremost. As a Town fan I can think of scores of occasions when thousands of noisy fans turned up and the team didn't. You talk about our fans 'not supporting the team heartily enough', but for the 100th time - fans do do not win promotion, the team and manager do. Or don't. Christ - that support today, that backing, that noise. You couldn't better it. Unbelievable. Did it engender a decent shot on goal from the team? A spell of pressure? A spirited performance? Did it balls. You're in danger of getting the cart before the horse IMO. The fans need to get behind the team - agreed, but the results will be down to the performance of the players.

Just to be clear. Are you saying that fans behind the team make no difference at all? Size is relative but I doubt Liverpool would've beaten Dortmund without that wall of noise behind them...incredible atmosphere. I've been to away games this season where the backing has had a major effect-Bromley and FGR just two off the top of my head. I was there today and the backing might not have produced the required result but the fans didn't once get on the players backs regardless of the justification for doing so.  Try as I might I just cannot see that  happening at B.P. especially if we go a goal behind. Also I might be on my own but I didn't feel in the least bit slighted for Hurst not publicly  thanking me.

[mail][/mail]when we think of sacking a manager for getting us to the play offs there is a strange madness in the air.  If Hurst wento Lincoln if we didn't go u who would we find with a better record at this level? Whoever it was would we give them a year to get settled and have their own squad?  Paul Hurst will not be short of a job at this level

Quoted from HackneyHaddock

You're correct chaos33, but there will be times when the team is doing badly and that bit more noise from the fans helps push them to find that bit extra.  Sometimes it won't.

Anyway, I don't think anyone on here, even those with their reservations like yourself, will be doing anything other than supporting the team as loudly as they can on Thursday and/or Sunday, so maybe now is a good time for us to put this one to bed until after it's all settled one way or another.

Dis has gone on record on a couple of occasions stating what a difference it makes to this group when the fans make some noise.

Quoted from barralad

Just to be clear. Are you saying that fans behind the team make no difference at all? Size is relative but I doubt Liverpool would've beaten Dortmund without that wall of noise behind them...incredible atmosphere. I've been to away games this season where the backing has had a major effect-Bromley and FGR just two off the top of my head. I was there today and the backing might not have produced the required result but the fans didn't once get on the players backs regardless of the justification for doing so.  Try as I might I just cannot see that  happening at B.P. especially if we go a goal behind. Also I might be on my own but I didn't feel in the least bit slighted for Hurst not publicly  thanking me.

No I'm not. I do think the fans can and do have a positive impact on performances, but the fact is, that it has the desired effect about half the time, and no effect on performances/results the other half. I do think we all need to get behind the team in the play offs, and I'm sure we all will. But it's a spurious argument, in my opinion, to be saying, at this point, that the fans have to do this and that in order to inspire the team to promotion. The team have been backed magnificently in numbers and in volume both home and away, and especially away. Has it created a championship winning team? A title challenging team? An irresistible force that other teams fear? No to all. If the fans won promotion for a club, we'd have scooped the title months if not years ago.

We need to do our bit on Thursday - we can all agree, but this is inconsequential compared to how the players and Manager approach the game and acquit themselves on the pitch. The fans, who'll be there anyway, will react to that.