Ross County vs St Johnstone 17/12/22

[Costanza]

What benefit is there in County over reporting the attendance figure? The old joke used to be that teams would under report it and pocket the cash in the days of split gates. All this does is make County look ridiculous as there clearly weren't anywhere near that amount of people there.

[Comrie]

5 minutes ago, Costanza said:

What benefit is there in County over reporting the attendance figure? The old joke used to be that teams would under report it and pocket the cash in the days of split gates. All this does is make County look ridiculous as there clearly weren't anywhere near that amount of people there.

Trying to hide that swathes of the support have not come back still.

[PauloPerth]

Yes it’s ridiculous, lucky if there was 1200 there today looking at the pictures.

Absolutely nothing wrong with that, Dingwall isn’t that big a place, it’s a week before Christmas on a cold winter’s day.  

But why lie?

[Rcfc fan]

From the highlights Oliagbe looked a good threat , Dhanda’s cross for the goal was immense as was the header from white. Red card was probably right but feels soft , fair play to Crawford 2 well taken finishes, hard to watch Graham Carey taking free kicks like that one that hit the post against us he was one of the most gifted players for us in our recent history

[Matty-RCFC]

9 hours ago, Rcfc fan said:

From the highlights Oliagbe looked a good threat , Dhanda’s cross for the goal was immense as was the header from white. Red card was probably right but feels soft , fair play to Crawford 2 well taken finishes, hard to watch Graham Carey taking free kicks like that one that hit the post against us he was one of the most gifted players for us in our recent history

The red card was the most stonewall red card I’ve ever seen, nothing soft about it.

[Matty-RCFC]

Also, the attendance facade; probably the funniest part of the game yesterday when they announced the 4000 people in attendance. My understanding is that they’ve given an absolute rake of tickets out to schools in the past week in Inverness, but the kids just didn’t turn up yesterday. Then, they’ve counted the tickets that they handed out and whacked that into the fantastical figure that was spouted out yesterday. 

[Valentino Bolognese]

11 hours ago, Comrie said:

Trying to hide that swathes of the support have not come back still.

Curious to know, are these fans likely to come back when the place is purged of racists or is there not a concern they'll be lost to the club for good? Have to assume that some of them will be.

 

[Matty-RCFC]

11 minutes ago, Valentino Bolognese said:

Curious to know, are these fans likely to come back when the place is purged of racists or is there not a concern they'll be lost to the club for good? Have to assume that some of them will be.

 

I think the ship has sailed for a few. There was a small scale outrage when he was appointed and the way the fans were treated as an afterthought by McGregor probably caused some fans to Chuck it completely. A few folk I know go and watch Clach or Alness United on a Saturday now instead and probably won’t be rushing back.

[forkboy]

14 minutes ago, Valentino Bolognese said:

Curious to know, are these fans likely to come back when the place is purged of racists or is there not a concern they'll be lost to the club for good? Have to assume that some of them will be.

 

I can't speak for anyone else, but I'll almost certainly go back when Malky is gone, even though that doesn't address the problem of the guy who appointed him & kidded on the fans had nothing to be mad about while going on about empty "community club" clichés. Watching North Caledonian League football is fun. but since Inverness Athletic went from Ardersier to the IRA it's already less convenient than in it was for me. I suppose I could go watch Nairn County, that's not so far, but end of the day Ross County is the team I've supported since I was in primary school, hard to completely abandon that.

[Forfinn]

2 hours ago, Valentino Bolognese said:

Curious to know, are these fans likely to come back when the place is purged of racists or is there not a concern they'll be lost to the club for good? Have to assume that some of them will be.

I have no idea how big a deal the Mackay issue is for the average punter who is less online than some of us. I suspect that rather than being a primary cause of the malaise, it's just another contributing factor alongside:

• Changing habits over lockdown - once you're out of the routine of going every week, I can imagine some people have moved on to other things
• Cost - football is an expensive hobby, and we're now charging walk-ups £28 across the board in a cost of living crisis
• A wider drift in identity at the club - the "community club" schtick has been getting hollower by the year
• Generally being a bit rubbish - how enjoyable has the football actually been in recent years?
• Fewer freebies - I think the club cut down on the number of free season tickets that used to be in circulation (part of the reason "sold out" big games have hundreds of empty seats). Some of those tickets will have been used, but perhaps not by people bothered enough to actually pay

For my part, I've not been to Dingwall since pre-pandemic. I was usually good for a handful for home games a season and most away games (Dingwall is a long way from Edinburgh). I didn't go back at first because I got in to the habit of doing different things at the weekend and restrictions that remained in place would have made it a less enjoyable experience than before. The we went and appointed Mackay and my objections became more principled. I'm sure I'll go back again once he's gone, but overall, I care much less than I did before.

[Pete the Jakey]

3 hours ago, Valentino Bolognese said:

Curious to know, are these fans likely to come back when the place is purged of racists or is there not a concern they'll be lost to the club for good? Have to assume that some of them will be.

 

There are a few martyrs to the cause such as Forkboy who indulge us with their virtue signalling every time we lose, but the Malky factor is negligible on attendance figures. There is bigger lethargy at play, the product isn’t good, the cost doesn’t represent value for money, the fans aren’t getting any younger. 

I’ve seen a few folk who vowed to have nothing to do with the club have returned. Bunglebonce gave up his article in the P&J in disgust but has since taken an interest again. I think the Club has problems, not least succession, but our managerial appointment is not a particularly huge one imho.

Edited December 18, 2022 by Pete the Jakey

[Comrie]

3 hours ago, Valentino Bolognese said:

Curious to know, are these fans likely to come back when the place is purged of racists or is there not a concern they'll be lost to the club for good? Have to assume that some of them will be.

 

I probably will be, supported County since 1994 and as much as Clach are my local, it's no the same.

[Valentino Bolognese]

5 hours ago, Valentino Bolognese said:

Curious to know, are these fans likely to come back when the place is purged of racists or is there not a concern they'll be lost to the club for good? Have to assume that some of them will be.

 

Thanks for all the responses to this.

Interesting to hear that folk think that the Chairman is damaging the 'community club' vibe. I've always thought that's a strength that Saints have and with new ownership likely it's something I hope and expect we'll be protective of. It's very important when you don't have a big population to pull support from.

[Sonam]

£28 quid for a walk up is just far too expensive. All the clubs are taking the piss. Shame really. I miss the 3rd Division days, affordable football often more entertaining as well!

These days players stay max 2 years, if that. No club loyalty, anywhere really. Short career I know, but its the fans getting ripped off. How much is it for a ticket at Arsenal? Total joke. There comes a time when fans of all clubs should boycott before it gets worse.

[bunglebonce]

18 hours ago, Pete the Jakey said:

I’ve seen a few folk who vowed to have nothing to do with the club have returned. Bunglebonce gave up his article in the P&J in disgust but has since taken an interest again. I think the Club has problems, not least succession, but our managerial appointment is not a particularly huge one imho.

For my part, I never watched County for a year apart from occasional YouTube highlights. Jacking the P&J column was the right thing for me to do. After a year, my wife was fed up not going to the football because of me - she wisely made me realise my stubbornness was not benefiting anyone and I was excited about the Dhanda signing.

I've been back to the majority of home games this season, and although I love watching Dhanda I don't have the same pull to go every week as before. I don't like how the club and press have completely avoided the elephant in the room in particular.