| I hate these players! 17:20 - Feb 16 with 1889 views | dirtyboy |
Please see my posts below.
I apologise profusely to those I have offended with such a horrifc sight of a page filled with nothing but words, no spaces, no alignment, no paragraphs, just words.
Due to technical issues, this post has been broken down into bite sized chunks.
Will probably suit the younger generation with their short attention spans too.
[Post edited 17 Feb 11:02]
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| I hate these players! on 17:21 - Feb 16 with 1706 views | _CliveBaker_ |
A post with paragraphs will get even more. |  | | |
| I hate these players! on 17:21 - Feb 16 with 1704 views | dirtyboy |
WOAH! WTF happened to my paragraphs?!!?!?!? | | | |
| I hate these players! on 17:21 - Feb 16 with 1704 views | homer_123 |
I actually would like to read this but needs a little formatting DB. |  |
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| I hate these players! on 17:24 - Feb 16 with 1647 views | FrimleyBlue |
| I hate these players! on 17:21 - Feb 16 by dirtyboy |
WOAH! WTF happened to my paragraphs?!!?!?!? |
I feel a little better about my writing skills now lol |  |
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| I hate these players! on 17:26 - Feb 16 with 1654 views | bsw72 |
Right, enough of the panic and the performative outrage. After 30 games in 23/24 we had 60 points and a plus 15 goal difference and everyone called it a triumph; today we are on 54 points and a plus 22 goal difference and still fourth so before anyone starts writing obituaries check the actual scoreboard. Yes we have spent money and yes that legitimately raises expectations but transfers and wages are not instant deliveries you do not click a button and get a ready made 0.4 xG per 90. McAteer and Sindre Walle Egeli are young players who uprooted their lives did not set their own fees and need time to adapt and blaming them for strategic recruitment decisions taken above their pay grade is lazy and unfair. Expected goals or xG is not a fad it is a robust statistical model that assigns probabilities to shots based on angle distance body part and defensive pressure and over a season it is very predictive; last season we outperformed our xG by around 14 points which was extraordinary and driven by finishing momentum confidence and clutch moments. This season we are underperforming our xG which means the underlying chance creation and defensive numbers are stronger than the raw points suggest and regression cuts both ways so patience matters. Crowd effect is not folklore empty stadia during Covid showed home advantage evaporate refs are influenced by crowd pressure and noise changes player arousal and finishing so when Portman Road is aligned and loud it actually shifts marginal calls and marginal confidence moments and in a game decided by margins those moments compound. Add in the disruption of building a new training ground with temporary facilities different routines travel between sites and noise and you get short term friction for long term gain better recovery youth pathways recruitment and squad depth over time but elite athletes are creatures of routine and small disruptions compound so do not mistake observation for excuse making. The supposed lack of a number nine if the club tried and could not secure one points to a strategic or market issue at the top not a reason to hurl abuse at Hirst or Azon the difference between waste of money and great business is often a handful of moments a touch of luck and a run of form. We are fourth our goal difference is superior to the same point in our celebrated promotion season our underlying indicators suggest underperformance not structural collapse we are investing in infrastructure financially stable and competitive yet the mood reads like relegation form in League One which is self defeating during a promotion push. Criticism is fine debate is healthy but internal fracture costs points supporters support that word matters alignment is not blind loyalty it is directing frustration upward where appropriate and backing the players on the pitch so they can perform we outperformed spectacularly last year and are only slightly underperforming now the pendulum rarely stays at extremes so the rational position is not blind optimism but perspective the numbers do not lie the indicators are strong the league position is strong the infrastructure trajectory is strong so stop the doom scrolling bring the noise get behind the team and be bloody positive instead of spending energy on panic scapegoating and negativity because we cannot change the squad now and wasting our collective voice on that is the one thing that truly is within our control and would genuinely hurt the cause. |  | | |
| I hate these players! on 17:34 - Feb 16 with 1595 views | dirtyboy |
| I hate these players! on 17:21 - Feb 16 by homer_123 |
I actually would like to read this but needs a little formatting DB. |
I'm really sorry.
I spent a lot of time on that over the course of today, going back and forth lol! | | | |
| I hate these players! on 18:02 - Feb 16 with 1501 views | AVJones |
| I hate these players! on 17:34 - Feb 16 by dirtyboy |
I'm really sorry.
I spent a lot of time on that over the course of today, going back and forth lol! |
In 23/24 :
We had a cracking start, and took our chances. Excitement built, fast.
We knew the players, and had got to love them the previous season. Limited recruitment that summer helped in terms of liking the players, and feeling that they loved the Club too.
We knew the team were playing out of their skins, and that for pretty much all of them The Championship was their level. And they were smashing it!
The excitement, the fun - it was all new. We’d had years of stupor, despair, dismal football. Now, anything seemed possible. Going to Portman Road was the hottest ticket in town.
And that’s just some of it, we can all add our own feelings and memories too. It was, literally, the season of our lives.
So, it’s not surprising that this season feels very different. [Post edited 16 Feb 18:20]
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| I hate these players! on 18:03 - Feb 16 with 1498 views | Hugoagogo_Reborn |
Yeah, sorry, I have ADHD. I'm not going to get through that without paragraph spacing. I'll check back later to see if it has been edited. 😂 |  |
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| I hate these players! on 18:06 - Feb 16 with 1460 views | MattinLondon |
| I hate these players! on 18:02 - Feb 16 by AVJones |
In 23/24 :
We had a cracking start, and took our chances. Excitement built, fast.
We knew the players, and had got to love them the previous season. Limited recruitment that summer helped in terms of liking the players, and feeling that they loved the Club too.
We knew the team were playing out of their skins, and that for pretty much all of them The Championship was their level. And they were smashing it!
The excitement, the fun - it was all new. We’d had years of stupor, despair, dismal football. Now, anything seemed possible. Going to Portman Road was the hottest ticket in town.
And that’s just some of it, we can all add our own feelings and memories too. It was, literally, the season of our lives.
So, it’s not surprising that this season feels very different. [Post edited 16 Feb 18:20]
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I take issue with luck.
No such thing as luck - the squads never say die attitude, high press and attack minded created chances. |  | | |
| I hate these players! on 18:10 - Feb 16 with 1435 views | Swansea_Blue |
| I hate these players! on 18:03 - Feb 16 by Hugoagogo_Reborn |
Yeah, sorry, I have ADHD. I'm not going to get through that without paragraph spacing. I'll check back later to see if it has been edited. 😂 |
I didn’t have ADHD, but I think I have now. That’s made me uncomfortably agitated 🤣 |  |
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| I hate these players! on 18:12 - Feb 16 with 1426 views | Dubtractor |
| I hate these players! on 17:21 - Feb 16 by dirtyboy |
WOAH! WTF happened to my paragraphs?!!?!?!? |
You can edit it. Please do! |  |
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| I hate these players! on 18:13 - Feb 16 with 1424 views | dirtyboy |
| I hate these players! on 18:10 - Feb 16 by Swansea_Blue |
I didn’t have ADHD, but I think I have now. That’s made me uncomfortably agitated 🤣 |
Again I’m sorry
It’s got paragraphs when I try to edit.
I’ll ask Phil tomorrow if I can delete and do one of those blogs | | | |
| I hate these players! on 18:19 - Feb 16 with 1356 views | AVJones |
| I hate these players! on 18:06 - Feb 16 by MattinLondon |
I take issue with luck.
No such thing as luck - the squads never say die attitude, high press and attack minded created chances. |
Fair enough, I could certainly argue that we made our own luck! I’ve edited that out.
What about the other points? Do you agree or disagree with us? [Post edited 16 Feb 18:20]
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| I hate these players! on 18:20 - Feb 16 with 1353 views | SitfcB |
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| I hate these players! on 18:25 - Feb 16 with 1300 views | Swansea_Blue |
| I hate these players! on 18:13 - Feb 16 by dirtyboy |
Again I’m sorry
It’s got paragraphs when I try to edit.
I’ll ask Phil tomorrow if I can delete and do one of those blogs |
Absolutely no problem. A blog would be great. In the meantime, and I hope you don’t mind, but here it is in the style of Shakespeare via ChatGBT:
Good sirs and gentle dames, lend me thine ears!
Behold, a title wrought for provocation—aye, bait upon the hook! For naught so stirs the rabble as a post that cleaveth opinion twain. I confess it freely. And though this parchment seem a mighty tome, ’tis but a minute’s read—unless thou still consort’st with primers fit for babes. Indulge me, then.
The world were dull indeed if all men’s thoughts were cast in one mould. Yet there be seasons when alignment of spirit—if not of mind—proves virtue, not vice. I would that the supporters (mark that word well) of Ipswich be united once more. What say you—am I now the grand ideologue of TWTD? A jest! Yet the air feels fractious, brittle as frost. And if we take no heed, such chill may seep from forum to field.
First, let us deal not in florid oratory fit for tyrants crowned in self-regard. We shall traffic in fact.
After thirty contests in that noble campaign of 23/24, we stood thus:
Sixty points.
Goal difference +15.
Fourth place.
Now, in this present hour:
Fifty-four points.
Goal difference +22.
Fourth place.
Then, it was hailed a triumph resounding.
Now, ’tis whispered a crisis.
Why? Because gold hath been spent. And where coin flows, expectation followeth close behind. In this, reason speaks true. Wages and transfer treasure oft walk hand in hand with league position. The learned men of account and study have shown as much. Spending mattereth.
Yet football is no marketplace for trinkets dispatched by swift courier. Thou canst not cry, “One ten-million right winger, delivered anon!” and expect a measured portion of goals by morrow’s dusk.
Consider young McAteer. Consider Sindre Walle Egeli. Lads who left hearth and homeland for unfamiliar soil. They set not their own price in gold. The weight thou feel’st is not truly of them—but of expectation.
Now let us speak of that curious oracle: Expected Goals.
It is no conjurer’s trick. ’Tis a reckoning of probability—angle, distance, pressure, the foot that struck—each shot weighed against history’s ledger. Across a season, it prophesieth well.
In 23/24, we outstripped our expected tally mightily—some fourteen points above the cold arithmetic. Such excess is rare. ’Twas variance in our favour, confidence aflame, momentum riding high. Everything kissed by fortune’s breath.
This season? We underperform that same measure. Our creation and defence are sturdier than our points confess. This speaketh not of guaranteed ascent—but of performance misaligned with outcome. Regression bendeth both ways, like the pendulum in a tower clock.
Last year we played unburdened, aflame with hope, expectation absent. This year, gloves upon cold hands, applause held hostage till goals be scored. We expect. “Deliver by five of the clock,” we cry, as though ordering wares from some celestial shop.
Judge not by result alone, lest thou be slave to the short term.
And pray—wouldst thou have our masters rule as Marinakis at Forest, whose temper flares like summer lightning? Or that lord at Hull who cast aside Rosenior with haste? Stability is no small blessing.
Now mark a thing too oft dismissed: the crowd.
’Tis no mere pageantry. When plague silenced the stands across Europe, home victories waned. Referees, freed from the roar, favoured the traveller more boldly. This is recorded fact. Noise bendeth human judgment under uncertainty. It stirreth player confidence, sharpeneth edge, lifteth limb.
Confidence begets finishing. Finishing exceedeth expectation. Thus doth noise translate to number.
When Portman Road thunders as one, it altereth reality in marginal measure. And football is a game of margins.
Add this: we build anew our training ground. Construction breedeth disruption—altered routines, borrowed pitches, the clatter of works where calm once reigned. Such friction precedeth gain. In time shall come better recovery halls, sharper science, richer youth, deeper squad. But in the interim, small inconveniences compound. Even the moving of a humble stapler may unseat a man’s temper—what then of athletes bound to ritual?
This is no excuse. ’Tis context.
As for the cry of “We lack a nine!”—dost thou think the club slept? Likely they sought. Likely they failed. That burden lies in strategy, not upon the brow of Hirst nor Azon, who play the roles assigned. To curse a man for not being another is folly.
Should McAteer conjure three goals and six assists ere May, and Hirst bury half a dozen, how swiftly would scorn turn praise? The gulf between “waste” and “wisdom” is but moments.
Recall too: Burns was plying trade at Fleetwood when of similar age. Patience is no vice.
Now step back.
We sit fourth.
Our goal difference surpasseth that of our lauded ascent.
Our underlying numbers whisper promise, not decay.
Infrastructure riseth.
Finances hold firm.
We contend.
Yet the mood resembles doom in League One.
Critique is welcome. Debate is health. But fracture amidst promotion’s chase is self-sabotage. Supporters support. The word itself declareth duty. Alignment need not be blind fealty—but it must not be friendly fire.
We outpaced expectation wondrously once. Now we trail it slightly. Extremes seldom linger. The rational stance is neither delirium nor despair—but clear-eyed faith in the indicators before us.
The numbers stand strong.
The table stands strong.
The trajectory stands strong.
The noise? That resteth with us.
And in a sport governed by inches and instants, noise mattereth.
So lift thy voice. Bring thunder to Portman Road. Be bold. Be loud. Be positive as sin.
The squad is set; the die is cast. To waste breath in scorn is folly. Spend it instead in roar—and let the margins fall our way. | |
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| I hate these players! on 18:26 - Feb 16 with 1284 views | MattinLondon |
| I hate these players! on 18:19 - Feb 16 by AVJones |
Fair enough, I could certainly argue that we made our own luck! I’ve edited that out.
What about the other points? Do you agree or disagree with us? [Post edited 16 Feb 18:20]
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Oh I agree with the points in your post.
The team then played out of their skins and the excitement that season generated was immense.
Maybe KM has been tactically traumatised from last season and this has resulted in this being slower and not as attacking. Or maybe we simply expect to go up - a bit like knowing what you’re getting for Christmas beforehand.
But a lot of the excitement as gone. | | | |
| I hate these players! on 18:27 - Feb 16 with 1284 views | Kieran_Knows |
Yeah but what about Woolfie? What about Broadhead? What about Luongo?
This current lot are b0ll0ckless and not a patch on them lads.
Something like that anyway. |  |
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| I hate these players! on 18:31 - Feb 16 with 1243 views | Meadowlark |
Good points. Well made. |  | | |
| I hate these players! on 18:55 - Feb 16 with 1117 views | SE1blue |
| I hate these players! on 18:25 - Feb 16 by Swansea_Blue |
Absolutely no problem. A blog would be great. In the meantime, and I hope you don’t mind, but here it is in the style of Shakespeare via ChatGBT:
Good sirs and gentle dames, lend me thine ears!
Behold, a title wrought for provocation—aye, bait upon the hook! For naught so stirs the rabble as a post that cleaveth opinion twain. I confess it freely. And though this parchment seem a mighty tome, ’tis but a minute’s read—unless thou still consort’st with primers fit for babes. Indulge me, then.
The world were dull indeed if all men’s thoughts were cast in one mould. Yet there be seasons when alignment of spirit—if not of mind—proves virtue, not vice. I would that the supporters (mark that word well) of Ipswich be united once more. What say you—am I now the grand ideologue of TWTD? A jest! Yet the air feels fractious, brittle as frost. And if we take no heed, such chill may seep from forum to field.
First, let us deal not in florid oratory fit for tyrants crowned in self-regard. We shall traffic in fact.
After thirty contests in that noble campaign of 23/24, we stood thus:
Sixty points.
Goal difference +15.
Fourth place.
Now, in this present hour:
Fifty-four points.
Goal difference +22.
Fourth place.
Then, it was hailed a triumph resounding.
Now, ’tis whispered a crisis.
Why? Because gold hath been spent. And where coin flows, expectation followeth close behind. In this, reason speaks true. Wages and transfer treasure oft walk hand in hand with league position. The learned men of account and study have shown as much. Spending mattereth.
Yet football is no marketplace for trinkets dispatched by swift courier. Thou canst not cry, “One ten-million right winger, delivered anon!” and expect a measured portion of goals by morrow’s dusk.
Consider young McAteer. Consider Sindre Walle Egeli. Lads who left hearth and homeland for unfamiliar soil. They set not their own price in gold. The weight thou feel’st is not truly of them—but of expectation.
Now let us speak of that curious oracle: Expected Goals.
It is no conjurer’s trick. ’Tis a reckoning of probability—angle, distance, pressure, the foot that struck—each shot weighed against history’s ledger. Across a season, it prophesieth well.
In 23/24, we outstripped our expected tally mightily—some fourteen points above the cold arithmetic. Such excess is rare. ’Twas variance in our favour, confidence aflame, momentum riding high. Everything kissed by fortune’s breath.
This season? We underperform that same measure. Our creation and defence are sturdier than our points confess. This speaketh not of guaranteed ascent—but of performance misaligned with outcome. Regression bendeth both ways, like the pendulum in a tower clock.
Last year we played unburdened, aflame with hope, expectation absent. This year, gloves upon cold hands, applause held hostage till goals be scored. We expect. “Deliver by five of the clock,” we cry, as though ordering wares from some celestial shop.
Judge not by result alone, lest thou be slave to the short term.
And pray—wouldst thou have our masters rule as Marinakis at Forest, whose temper flares like summer lightning? Or that lord at Hull who cast aside Rosenior with haste? Stability is no small blessing.
Now mark a thing too oft dismissed: the crowd.
’Tis no mere pageantry. When plague silenced the stands across Europe, home victories waned. Referees, freed from the roar, favoured the traveller more boldly. This is recorded fact. Noise bendeth human judgment under uncertainty. It stirreth player confidence, sharpeneth edge, lifteth limb.
Confidence begets finishing. Finishing exceedeth expectation. Thus doth noise translate to number.
When Portman Road thunders as one, it altereth reality in marginal measure. And football is a game of margins.
Add this: we build anew our training ground. Construction breedeth disruption—altered routines, borrowed pitches, the clatter of works where calm once reigned. Such friction precedeth gain. In time shall come better recovery halls, sharper science, richer youth, deeper squad. But in the interim, small inconveniences compound. Even the moving of a humble stapler may unseat a man’s temper—what then of athletes bound to ritual?
This is no excuse. ’Tis context.
As for the cry of “We lack a nine!”—dost thou think the club slept? Likely they sought. Likely they failed. That burden lies in strategy, not upon the brow of Hirst nor Azon, who play the roles assigned. To curse a man for not being another is folly.
Should McAteer conjure three goals and six assists ere May, and Hirst bury half a dozen, how swiftly would scorn turn praise? The gulf between “waste” and “wisdom” is but moments.
Recall too: Burns was plying trade at Fleetwood when of similar age. Patience is no vice.
Now step back.
We sit fourth.
Our goal difference surpasseth that of our lauded ascent.
Our underlying numbers whisper promise, not decay.
Infrastructure riseth.
Finances hold firm.
We contend.
Yet the mood resembles doom in League One.
Critique is welcome. Debate is health. But fracture amidst promotion’s chase is self-sabotage. Supporters support. The word itself declareth duty. Alignment need not be blind fealty—but it must not be friendly fire.
We outpaced expectation wondrously once. Now we trail it slightly. Extremes seldom linger. The rational stance is neither delirium nor despair—but clear-eyed faith in the indicators before us.
The numbers stand strong.
The table stands strong.
The trajectory stands strong.
The noise? That resteth with us.
And in a sport governed by inches and instants, noise mattereth.
So lift thy voice. Bring thunder to Portman Road. Be bold. Be loud. Be positive as sin.
The squad is set; the die is cast. To waste breath in scorn is folly. Spend it instead in roar—and let the margins fall our way. |
Here it is as a country song:
“Bring the Noise at Portman Road”
(Verse 1)
Well I wrote this down on a restless night,
‘Cause the mood’s been turnin’ sour,
Thirty games gone, we’re fourth in line,
But folks act like we’ve lost our power.
Last year at this very mark,
Sixty points and feelin’ free,
Now it’s fifty-four with better goals,
But it feels like misery.
(Pre-Chorus)
We spent a little money, so the bar got raised,
Now every draw feels wrong,
But you can’t just order glory up
Like it’s shippin’ from Amazon.
(Chorus)
Hey, bring the noise at Portman Road,
Let the blue and white wind blow,
‘Cause football’s won on inches, boys,
On the margins we don’t see show.
Don’t turn on your own in a tight promotion fight,
Don’t let that fire run cold,
We’re still fourth place with a strong embrace—
So bring the noise at Portman Road.
(Verse 2)
Last year we outran the numbers,
Ridin’ high on a wave,
Scorin’ more than the models said,
Every shot so brave.
This year the math says we’re better
Than the table might confess,
Chances made and chances saved—
Just short on finishin’ finesse.
(Pre-Chorus)
Regression swings like a pendulum,
It don’t stay high or low,
You blame a kid for a price tag bid
He never chose to owe.
(Chorus)
So bring the noise at Portman Road,
Let it shake the referee,
Crowds can sway the smallest call,
That’s sports psychology.
Confidence turns half a chance
Into history retold,
In a game of fine, thin lines—
Bring the noise at Portman Road.
(Bridge)
They’re buildin’ up a trainin’ ground,
Dust in the air, change in routine,
Even pros feel small disruptions
In the spaces in between.
We ain’t got a brand-new number nine,
But these boys still wear the shirt,
Blame the plan if you need to, friend—
Don’t pile it on the hurt.
(Breakdown)
‘Cause if three goals come from McAteer,
And Hirst puts six away,
This whole damn town would change its tune
By five o’clock Saturday.
(Final Chorus)
So bring the noise at Portman Road,
Lift ‘em up, don’t tear ‘em down,
Supporters gotta support
When the pressure’s all around.
We can’t change the squad tonight,
So let belief take hold,
In a season balanced on a breath—
Bring the noise at Portman Road.
(Outro)
Yeah the numbers say we’re in this thing,
The table says the same,
So sing it loud and stand up proud—
And back the boys again. |  |
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| I hate these players! on 19:21 - Feb 16 with 1012 views | vilanovablue |
You speak sense the fact I had to copy and paste the text somewhere else and then format it to make sense somewhat detracts from some excellent points. The underlying numbers don't lie and we're still in a strong position. [Post edited 16 Feb 19:44]
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| I hate these players! on 10:54 - Feb 17 with 695 views | dirtyboy |
Turns out it's just too much writing for the TWTD servers to handle on a Monday.
I'll post in chunks...probably worse, but perhaps better as people can comment on sections. I've made a right mess of this!
Ok. Attention seeking title. Amazing how a divisive post will get more engagement! I don't btw.
This looks like a metric s**t ton of writing, but it's literally a minute or two, (unless you're still on Ladybird books) so humour me for a second.
I want to offer my thoughts, probably should be a blog, but never done one, so here...suck it up, it would be a boring world if we all thought the same, but in some circumstances, thinking the same, or at the very least, being aligned, can/could be a good thing right?
I would like Ipswich supporters (remember that word is important) to unite again. Aren’t I just the ideological kingpin of TWTD lol!?
Things feel fractious at the moment and if we are not careful, that can have an actual real world impact. Remember 'momentum' ?
Let’s get some facts down first. We’re not here for “Dear Leader” oratory nonsense. We deal in grown-up, real-world stuff.
After 30 games in 23/24 (Championship season), we were:
60 points
+15 goal difference
4th place
Right now:
54 points
+22 goal difference
4th place
That season was deemed a roaring success at this stage.
This one? Apparently a crisis.
Why?
£££££. | | | |
| I hate these players! on 10:55 - Feb 17 with 689 views | dirtyboy |
We’ve spent. Therefore expectation rises. That is rational. In football, wages and transfer spend have correlated with league position. Deloitte and various academic studies have shown payroll explains a large proportion of league outcomes, so yes, spending matters.
But.... it does't work like Amazon Prime. You don’t click “£10m right side midfielder” and get 0.4 xG per 90 delivered next day.
McAteer, Sindre Walle Egeli. Two young players who uprooted their lives and moved into a completely different environment. They did not negotiate their own transfer fees. That part is a fact.
The frustration isn’t really about them.
It’s about expectation.
Now here’s the part that needs grounding as something tangible.
Expected Goals (xG)
Expected Goals is not something made up (otherwise Bet365 financials wouldn't look as good). It is a statistical model that assigns a probability to each shot based on historical data – angle, distance, body part, defensive pressure etc. Over a season, it becomes very predictive.
In 23/24, we significantly outperformed our xG. I've looked and we were around +14 points relative to expected metrics by the end of the season. That is not normal. That is finishing variance, confidence, momentum and clutch performance all lining up beautifully. Momentum possibly?
That season was extraordinary.
This season? We are underperforming our xG.
This simply means the underlying chance creation and defensive numbers are stronger than our current points total suggests.
That doesn’t mean “promotion guaranteed.” It means the data says the performances are not aligned with the outcomes. That matters.
Regression works both ways. 23/24 year we ran riot, a wave of optimism and...no expectation....we were on fire.This year we are putting gloves on because our hands are codl and feels like the clapping is reserved for goals only. We expect to win. Please deliver for 5pm on Saturday. (I like shopping analogies it appears).
If you only judge by results and ignore underlying performance, you are reacting to what's happening in the short term. I can't be alone in not wanting our owners to be like Marinakis at Forest or that dude at Hull who binned Liam Rosenior. | | | |
| I hate these players! on 10:55 - Feb 17 with 686 views | dirtyboy |
Can we also please talk about something people dismiss as irrelevant but isn’t.
Crowd effect.
There is proper research on this.
Multiple peer-reviewed studies have shown measurable home advantage linked to crowd presence. During COVID, when stadiums were empty, home win percentages dropped significantly across European leagues. Refs awarded less fouls and cards to away teams without crowd pressure. That’s documented, not opinion.
Crowd noise has also been shown in experimental settings to influence referee decision-making under uncertainty.
That means atmosphere is not just “nice to be about.” It has behavioural impact.
Noise influences officials. Influences players’ arousal levels and confidence.
Confidence influences finishing.
Finishing influences xG overperformance.
That’s not opinion. That’s sports psychology and probability 101.
When Portman Road is aligned and pumped, it is not just nice to be part of as a supporter. It's actually doing something tangible. It's why Kieran has mentioned the crowd a number of times. Attention to detail matters. Marginal gains......It shifts marginal calls and marginal confidence moments. And football is a marginal game. | | | |
| I hate these players! on 10:56 - Feb 17 with 682 views | dirtyboy |
I'm still going....no shutting me up now. Let’s add a little context some people are ignoring.
We are building a training ground.
That is not a minor detail. Construction work changes training logistics, pitch availability, routines and travel between sites. Noise. Temporary facilities. It’s disruptive. Clubs that redevelop infrastructure often go through short-term friction before long-term gain.
A new training ground will quite likely improve;
Recovery facilities
Sports science capacity
Youth development pathways
Recruitment attractiveness
Squad depth over time
However, during construction, conditions are rarely perfect. Elite athletes are creatures of routine. Small disruptions compound.
I'm not doing excuse-making, it's just a reality. Hell, I throw a fit if someone puts my stapler in the wrong place on my desk. | | | |
| I hate these players! on 10:56 - Feb 17 with 681 views | dirtyboy |
Now about the “lack of a 9.”
Did the club try? Almost certainly.
Did they get one? No.
Does that make Hirst and Azon terrible footballers? Obviously not.
Recruitment failure, if that’s what it was, sits at strategic level. Blaming players for not being someone else is irrational.
If I told you right now McAteer would produce 3 goals and 6 assists between now and May, and Hirst would convert six of those chances, the entire forum would pivot in tone overnight.
The only difference between “waste of money” and “great business” is about moments.
(Although i'll grant the 'eye test' is valid, but also point to McKenna noting that Burns was playing for Fleetwood when he was McAteer's age....so let's not write him off just yet, please...) | | | |
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