Hitting the 4500 target

[real]

I picked 2003-4 because after modestly rising for the previous two seasons attendances held up that season despite the crisis the club found itself in.

 

So you actually picked a season with a high-ish attendance to prove your point. I would suggest that 2003-04 was a season where the rallying cry was sounded and that cry, coupled with the increased gates of previous years shows exactly why it is a biased choice and actually disproves your point.

 

You've now added the Ritchie years, but all of those were lower than this season - one was sub 5000, so again you're not dealing with facts.

 

The simple fact is that the gates are varying around pretty much the same level - 5800in 2002, 2006 and near enough 2009 too - there's no evidence of a huge decline, massive exodus, or indeed, people leaving in droves. You think there is, but the facts say otherwise.

 

As for the "some of the more intelligent posters seem to like it"; Oh please, you're starting to love yourself a bit too much. Like a lot of what you say it's just speculation in contradiction of the facts, rather than in accordance with them.

[Corporal_Jones]

So you actually picked a season with a high-ish attendance to prove your point. I would suggest that 2003-04 was a season where the rallying cry was sounded and that cry, coupled with the increased gates of previous years shows exactly why it is a biased choice and actually disproves your point.

 

You've now added the Ritchie years, but all of those were lower than this season - one was sub 5000, so again you're not dealing with facts.

 

The simple fact is that the gates are varying around pretty much the same level - 5800in 2002, 2006 and near enough 2009 too - there's no evidence of a huge decline, massive exodus, or indeed, people leaving in droves. You think there is, but the facts say otherwise.

 

As for the "some of the more intelligent posters seem to like it"; Oh please, you're starting to love yourself a bit too much. Like a lot of what you say it's just speculation in contradiction of the facts, rather than in accordance with them.

 

 

 

So there's no difference in the average attendance now and in the struggling Ritchie years? Coming from somebody who likes to claim that the club has made progress since then (despite the fact that we still play in the same division, have a ground now in a worse condition with redevelopment stalled and are ripping up the squad for about the fourth time in five years on what is said to be a reduced budget) this is hardly consistent. Don't you think it matters that the renewed hope of the TTA years (or at least the early part) has resulted in no increase in the fan base, particularly as the idea of promotion now seems to be reliant on a wing and a prayer?

 

Like it or not, I do sometimes get praise from the more reasonable kind of poster who has the ability to see that all is not as rosy as we'd like it to be at BP, whereas my detractors seem to either be foamers who can't give a proper counter argument and so resort to insult, or else those who seem to accept everything they're presented with as good coin, or exist solely on blind optimism (and sometimes also fall back on insults.)

Edited May 20, 2009 by Corporal_Jones

[Diego_Sideburns]

ST renewal applications from me and Mrs. S are in the post.

 

We're willing to get back on board the Latics roller-coaster, although we don't know what new twists and turns will be introduced. We may be over-optimistic but we feel there is a wind of change blowing through BP and our hope is that the players who get signed up will share the fans' desire to get out of this League. Nothing to substantiate that yet, other than Penney's stated thoughts. All we can do is show faith at this stage.