john68 wrote:Raoul,
My friend, I understand that you find it necessary to defend your club's fans and their support and I also understand that you are very proud of the noise/atmosphere that they create. However my friend, it is not Ted that shows a lack of knowledge about this but yourself and with your kind permission, I will respectfully attempt to explain.
In the 1960's, at most English grounds, singing choirs evolved. Whole groups of fans, many thousands more than you have, would congregate, sing and chant in support of their team. At Maine Road (our old ground) The Kippax Street held around 30,000 standing fans, most of whom would join in. On occasions, the whole ground, sometimes as many as 60,000 would join in and create a massive wall of sound....But there was a major difference and this difference is what Ted refers to.
Most important, was that the noise was reactive and relevent to the game on the field. The crowd had specific chants and songs for specific players and specific incidents. If a player did something well. a crescendo of noise and a song and a chant would result to cheer him. If City attacked, the noise levels rose. If a goal was scored, the noise levels exploded. Certain players of opposing teams would be targetted and opponents' weaknesses would be targetted. Opposing players visibly wilted when the played alongside the Kippax Street. We lifted our team constantly. IT WAS ALL SPONTANIOUS AND AT NO POINT WAS IT NECESSARY FOR A CHOREOGRAPHER TO CONDUCT US.
Last night, I sat above and next to you fans, which gave me an excellent view of events. Your fans were loud and constant but they didn't support your team, they simply sang like a choir with a repetoire. The noise levels never rose when City scored to lift you team to greater heights and better efforts. There was no reaction to events on the field...it seemed quite emotionless. You came to sing and that is what you did.
Some years ago, in another sport, The fans at Bradford were very loud at their own ground. On the pitch they had a guy who conducted them, he told them what to sing and when to sing. The Salford fans found it amusing that they needed to be told this and the Salford fans sang to them that night....
Maybe City fans should have copied the Salford fans of that game,to your fans last night.
"SING WHEN YOU'RE TOLD TO...YOU ONLY SING WHEN YOU'RE TOLD TO...etc"
Hello John, thank you for taking the time to reply.
An advanced apology for the length of text that follows, just felt I had to clear things out.
There's a difference between what you're pointing out and what I've been trying to say. That is we literally never had the chance to react on any of the events going on on the field. Simply because our side was constantly & completely outclassed in this specific match. Aris had lots of trouble keeping possession, created almost zero scoring chances and was never a threat in the whole 90 mins. Joe Hart could've actually joined our end, it would make no difference on your clean sheet :)
We are not a robotic choir that denies to respond to the game that is played. We just never got the opportunity to show you that, this pretty much applies on both matches we played against you guys. There is no question that City is -many classes above- a superior team. We sure know how to react on the action when our team actually does something on the pitch. The way you describe it, sounds like we'd keep on having the same response even if we scored, and this is far from the truth. You'd know that if you'd watched any other matches of Aris where we'd been the dominant side. And on Thursday night they just weren't able. Should we strictly follow their performance, we'd be a silent mass of people over there.
To be honest -and with no personal disrespect as it's been mentioned by others too- I can't help myself laughing at the "sing when you're told to" kind of comments... Some other City fan at Blue Moon even suggested we'd read Orwell's "1984"!! > what a load of blx!! - If you think your individuality and freedom of choice are jeopardised when attending a 2hr football fixture then you'd better think again how much of a free thinking person you are in general. Being able to get one voice out loud ain't no sheep attitude ffs, the conductor you saw at our end is just another one of us who helps that happen properly. We know how and WANT TO sing all together, it sounds better as you might 've witnessed.
However, what I was trying to explain to Ted is that cultures differ and not everyone has the same approach in football support. You can't claim you know your kind of support is better than another, just because it is solely attached 'on what happens on the field'. Mediterranean fans are much like Latin American ones, we like to sing, be noisy and colourful regardless of the outcome. A matchday is always a fun fiesta for us, we get to the stadium many hours earlier than KO, we sing, we drink, we bang our drums, we jump up & down and all that stuff makes our day. Aris in particular has a backbone of latin players and they highly appreciate this kind of support, as it is the atmosphere they 're used to & feel well in since they were kids. This is how they get their kick, why would you diss that just for being different?
You also have to understand that getting the chance to play in Manchester is not an everyday thing for Aris. Our league is a miserable swamp of corruption and we're so happy to see our team play in Europe every now & then, far from this environment. No wonder why so many of us traveled 1500 miles and spent a fortune to be by their side for just a day of fun. At this point, Aris is still too weak of a team to provide a spectacle. Since 2005 it is a solely fan-funded club and we get to elect the ones who run it. Only 3 league titles before WWII, no silverware for 41 years and twice relegated in the past 15 years. Trust me, it's a major feat we still exist. But this only happens due to the unconditional love bond i aforementioned.
