RD 9 City vs Brisbane 7:50 Sat 3/12/16

[Kinnibari]

Think the problem is the casuals went to the game on Wed, don't want to go to 2 (or 3 if they went last Sunday) games in week, and (rightly) thought we'd be tired and not have the best game tonight, and so stayed home.

[Thrillhouse]

shit crowd
aloisi's a cunt, whinging again got bruno crucified 
hope north and devere both have their legs broken 
brattan was shit again 
pingers way too predictable always going back to his right
quiet crowd
ref dead set spastic 

[ecguymer]

.....now, remind me, which coach was complaining about which team being overly aggressive over the last few days?

[n i k o]

I just want to know how the hell we get under 9k to this game with perfect weather. I simply don't buy the whole midweek game thing. We just won our first peice of silverware so I don't get it. Where are these people that don't show.  

[Dylan]

5 hours ago, n i k o said:

I just want to know how the hell we get under 9k to this game with perfect weather. I simply don't buy the whole midweek game thing. We just won our first peice of silverware so I don't get it. Where are these people that don't show.  

I think we are just going to have to be patient now as it seems like there is a ceiling in support for the league in Melbourne and there is little the club can do bar lowering prices. I reckon that giving Victory such a huge head start was always going to make a second team in Melbourne extremely hard in building support. We are lucky that we have owners that want to be here long term and have the most valuable sponsorship deals in the league. 

Edited December 3, 2016 by Dylan

[mjake1234]

1 hour ago, Dylan said:

I think we are just going to have to be patient now as it seems like there is a ceiling in support for the league in Melbourne and there is little the club can do bar lowering prices. I reckon that giving Victory such a huge head start was always going to make a second team in Melbourne extremely hard in building support. We are lucky that we have owners that want to be here long term and have the most valuable sponsorship deals in the league. 

Agree and it also makes the suggestion of a 3rd team in Melbourne untenable at this stage.

[jw1739]

9 hours ago, MHFC-FAN said:

Download "Ultimate A League" app. Disgraceful attendance given what has transpired this week!!

I don't have a cell 'phone but I can see it on-line. Thank you.

A very disappointing attendance, but perhaps the people who stayed away had better judgement than those of us who went. IMO a very average A-League match that wouldn't have interested anyone but a supporter of one or other of the two clubs. Just emphasises to me how expansion of the A-League needs to be handled carefully - merely adding a few clubs and filling the league with squaddie-type players would not do any good at all.

Overall I think we did well to scrape a point out of last night. Had Brisbane taken their changes we would have been buried before half-time. Have to say I thought Rose was the best of the players we had to bring in - he stood up pretty well and does try to get something working down the left, especially with Brandan. Muscat was but a shadow of the player he was at the start of the season, and Chapman was awful - he looks at panic stations every time the ball goes near him. Retre was invisible and Caceres wastes so many opportunities to get his pass away by going round in circles. Brattan unsurprisingly looked jaded. We really do labour to get the ball moving quickly enough to get it into the front third - same old problem. Kamau and Fitzy need the ball to them quickly otherwise they can't use their pace to advantage. Kamau still looks to me as though he is suffering effects from the ball he took to his face.

Agree with the view that Bouzanis, apart from one brain fade, is improving with every match. We were held together last night by him, Jakobsen, Colazo, Brandan and Bruno. Hard to pick MOTM, probably either Jakobsen or Colazo.

In the circumstances, a good point to take when we could so easily have lost. Onwards and upwards.

[Heart of Melbourne]

What a shit crowd. What's wrong with our members not turning up on a perfect Saturday night. 

[InMyHeart]

If we haven't realised by now that Sunday's are the best for our attendances I don't know when we will.

[HeartOfCity]

Is it possible that 3 games in a week is just to expensive to go to. Maybe people would rather go to the final. But i do find it surprising that we cant get more each week. 

[n i k o]

15 minutes ago, HeartOfCity said:

Is it possible that 3 games in a week is just to expensive to go to. Maybe people would rather go to the final. But i do find it surprising that we cant get more each week. 

What about the almost 12k members that have already paid up. 

[KSK_47]

Regarding crowds the issue is that although the membership numbers have increased the increase is due to attracting derby specials and theatre goers. Most are not interested unless its a big game. We are still a novelty for a lot of our members.

Not having a go at the club. We are getting there but theres no short term fix. We just need to consistently deliver entertainment.

[GreenSeater]

It could have just been me, but the GA end of the ground looked a lot more full than any of the members areas. Does this mean that a lot more newbies showed up this week after Wednesday?

[jw1739]

49 minutes ago, KSK_47 said:

Regarding crowds the issue is that although the membership numbers have increased the increase is due to attracting derby specials and theatre goers. Most are not interested unless its a big game. We are still a novelty for a lot of our members.

Not having a go at the club. We are getting there but theres no short term fix. We just need to consistently deliver entertainment.

Well, if I go to the club web-site I see that there is not a spare seat in Bay 28 where I am. Yet last night it must have been nearly half empty. In City Gold for $600 per season for an Adult, that's a fairly expensive novelty.
So I am more inclined to think that you're closer to the mark with your final sentence. IMO people want to go and see the team win comfortably, but instead this season we've seen one loss, one draw, and three wins by just a single goal.
I think what we've learned this week is as posted by mjake1234 above. The attendances this week, despite the "satisfaction" with the FFA Cup Final, make it very clear that "  the suggestion of a 3rd team in Melbourne (is) untenable at this stage." Considering the number of corporates, the Sydney supporters who made the trip down, and our 11,600 members, the attendance at the Final wasn't really inspiring.

[ecguymer]

1 hour ago, n i k o said:

What about the almost 12k members that have already paid up. 

those people still need to pay to get to the match, and for any food/drinks they want....

 

Also, Aloisi realy needs to get a new hobby (he's having a go at us yet again): http://www.fourfourtwo.com.au/news/aloisi-sledged-by-city-players-443420

[playmaker]

We have 12 000 members and 8000 (66%) turned up on the 3rd game in 6 days. I regard this as normal really.

Just for comparison the tards had 16k (61%) on Friday and they have 26k members.

So , you could say we outperform victory on attendance% per member.

[HeartOfCity]

2 hours ago, n i k o said:

What about the almost 12k members that have already paid up. 

Yeah i kinda agree but all i can think of is people have lives outside of football and theres always people that cant make it especially this time of year. 

[jw1739]

28 minutes ago, ecguymer said:

Also, Aloisi realy needs to get a new hobby (he's having a go at us yet again): http://www.fourfourtwo.com.au/news/aloisi-sledged-by-city-players-443420

He's rapidly becoming rather pathetic. IIRC he did name one of our players specifically (Bruno) as cheating to get free-kicks, so he deserves all the comments he's getting from City. I'm actually quite surprised that JvS is saying what he is saying, because usually he's very much in control of his public persona.

[Deluka]

surely get a tifo displaying JA's W:L:D ratio for next game against Brisbane, accompanied with something along the lines of 'thanks for the shit times, it helps us appreciate the silverware/success even more' haha

[KSK_47]

28 minutes ago, Deluka said:

surely get a tifo displaying JA's W:L:D ratio for next game against Brisbane, accompanied with something along the lines of 'thanks for the shit times, it helps us appreciate the silverware/success even more' haha

Making a tifo bringing attention to a managers WDL record as a way of making us look superior is perhaps not the best idea

[belaguttman]

2 hours ago, n i k o said:

What about the almost 12k members that have already paid up. 

I missed this game, along with Mrs G who was riding L'etaps Australia in Jindabyne. Poor timing for us really because it would have been great to humiliate Bambi after he did such a good job of it whilst he was coaching us. Given that we played our B team I was actually expecting a loss from this and the next game as per usual Heart/City so this is promising result in context. It was also good to see JVS fired up instead of being a fatuous mannequin on the sidelines.

Positives:

We didn't lose and created enough chances to win.

Positive games from Colazo and Bouzanis

Our goal was delicious irony after North's bad acting. First Kilkenny and now this, FFA need to stamp it out particularly as the ref didn't act on this simulation

We were monstered by a physical team and didn't back down or become intimidated, other teams don't like that because they are used to pushing us around.

 

Negatives:

We didn't win and Roar created enough chances to win it

We missed Kilkenny, both because he's a better stopper than Brattan and we then missed Brattan's penetration forward

Pushing our 2 FBs so far forwards required better ball retention in midfield and continues to leave us vulnerable

We've scored significantly less goals than last season, I think that we are too reliant on Bruno. It's too easy to double team him and our wingers aren't taking advantage of the space. I'd expect more goals from Cahill and Brandan.

Colazo should have played as a 10 if he was fitter

The refs have been too influenced by opposition coach's comments on Bruno, if he were half as protected as Broich we would have had several penalties

Rose - no

It's really sad seeing how Aloisi has changed Roar from a proactive ball playing football team into a cynical defensive counter-attacking team

[Deluka]

1 minute ago, KSK_47 said:

Making a tifo bringing attention to a managers WDL record as a way of making us look superior is perhaps not the best idea

Just tongue in cheek mate!

[KSK_47]

Just now, Deluka said:

Just tongue in cheek mate!

Same here man. All good

[NewConvert]

With regards to the attendance figure I thought I have a look at how MV were travelling - well they got about 16k to their game when the average is about 24k so that's about 33% drop off. I then had a look at their lowest attendance figures and its in December. So, yes it is disappointing that the numbers were low but this is not unusual in December. I normally go with my brother but he had his Xmas work do at the same time so I used his ticket to take a mate. Maybe in December it is better to have games on the Sunday and let CCM/NJ have the Saturday and Friday time slots.

[strider]

6 hours ago, InMyHeart said:

If we haven't realised by now that Sunday's are the best for our attendances I don't know when we will.

Yep

I went out with the missus instead of watching the game vs Roar. Roar doesn't excite me and I only show up for derbies

[fensaddler]

3 hours ago, ecguymer said:

those people still need to pay to get to the match, and for any food/drinks they want....

 

Also, Aloisi realy needs to get a new hobby (he's having a go at us yet again): http://www.fourfourtwo.com.au/news/aloisi-sledged-by-city-players-443420

The man is beyond contempt and has no self awareness.  They're sledging you sunshine because you've spent weeks dragging their reputation through the mud, not least Bruno.  JVS needs to put it out there next time that he reckons Brisbane players and their manager are trying to get our players penalised through simulation.  We need to get into the ref's head before Aloisi does.

[Kiro Kompiro]

Would like to see how City/Heart and Victory crowds go when both play at home in the same round.

I know some who just go to a game, regardless if it Victory or City.

Shit scheduling by FFA.

[Jovan]

14 minutes ago, Kiro Kompiro said:

Would like to see how City/Heart and Victory crowds go when both play at home in the same round.

I know some who just go to a game, regardless if it Victory or City.

Shit scheduling by FFA.

Same.  I got 2 mates that are members at both us and Victory and go to both regularly. Weird what some people do.

[jw1739]

20 minutes ago, Kiro Kompiro said:

Would like to see how City/Heart and Victory crowds go when both play at home in the same round.

I know some who just go to a game, regardless if it Victory or City.

Shit scheduling by FFA.

It happened this round...

[Jovan]

5 minutes ago, jw1739 said:

It happened this round...

That was his point. Usually Victory play away the weekend we are home so that every week there is a game in Melbourne. (Now i haven't checked the fixture it's just from a mate that goes to any game in Melbourne he can).

[jw1739]

45 minutes ago, Jovan said:

That was his point. Usually Victory play away the weekend we are home so that every week there is a game in Melbourne. (Now i haven't checked the fixture it's just from a mate that goes to any game in Melbourne he can).

I'm afraid I still don't get the point. Even if the two clubs do play at home in the same round it is not simultaneously, or even on the same day, so he can still attend both if he wishes. Unless you're suggesting that for some reason he has to choose one or the other.

It's more a discussion for another thread, but this week suggests to me that the real reason behind the crowd numbers is that the market for A-League football in Melbourne is saturated, or close to it. I think we will continue to see slow organic growth, but IMO the only way we will see something really significant is if we sign a superstar such as David Villa. And I don't think we will steal confirmed Victory supporters by doing that, not many anyway, but we will attract some additional support that way from casuals and Euro-snobs etc. That's how I see it at the moment.

[Jovan]

38 minutes ago, jw1739 said:

I'm afraid I still don't get the point. Even if the two clubs do play at home in the same round it is not simultaneously, or even on the same day, so he can still attend both if he wishes. Unless you're suggesting that for some reason he has to choose one or the other.

It's more a discussion for another thread, but this week suggests to me that the real reason behind the crowd numbers is that the market for A-League football in Melbourne is saturated, or close to it. I think we will continue to see slow organic growth, but IMO the only way we will see something really significant is if we sign a superstar such as David Villa. And I don't think we will steal confirmed Victory supporters by doing that, not many anyway, but we will attract some additional support that way from casuals and Euro-snobs etc. That's how I see it at the moment.

The only point I'm trying (pretty badly) to explain is that my mate likes to go to an A League game every week but probably won't go to 2. Say Friday and Saturday. 

Why we had such a low crowd after Wednesday is bemusing and makes no sense to me. 

[fensaddler]

I think it's like this.  There are those of us sad obsessives who post on discussion boards who make every match they can.  Then there are members like my missus who admitted that after three games in a week, she was a bit over live football.  She came to the match because I was going, but I'd imagine that if we'd had a competing commitment,  or it had been up to her, she'd have given it a miss.  I suspect many of our members and others felt that three games in a week was too much, and they wanted or needed, for all sorts of reasons, to do something else.

[recyclosaurusrex]

2 hours ago, fensaddler said:

I suspect many of our members and others felt that three games in a week was too much, and they wanted or needed, for all sorts of reasons, to do something else.

Exactly this. The wife and I travel up from near Moe each game and 3 in a 7 day period was a bit much for us. We did it. But coming home from the game last night I wish we didn't have another home game for a month. Once a fortnight is perfect for us.

[Shahanga]

13 hours ago, strider said:

Yep

I went out with the missus instead of watching the game vs Roar. Roar doesn't excite me and I only show up for derbies

You have a missus?

Are you constantly nagging her to dress up as a certain French footballer?

[possiblygeorge]

20 hours ago, InMyHeart said:

If we haven't realised by now that Sunday's are the best for our attendances I don't know when we will.

nah man, comedown Sundays 

[mjake1234]

11 hours ago, fensaddler said:

I think it's like this.  There are those of us sad obsessives who post on discussion boards who make every match they can.  Then there are members like my missus who admitted that after three games in a week, she was a bit over live football.  She came to the match because I was going, but I'd imagine that if we'd had a competing commitment,  or it had been up to her, she'd have given it a miss.  I suspect many of our members and others felt that three games in a week was too much, and they wanted or needed, for all sorts of reasons, to do something else.

This. After two matches in a week it was decided that we needed a bit of culture. So we went to the opera in the park.

[The Aardvark]

Membership numbers are never a good indication of how many people should be attending a match. Just look at the AFL. Clubs like the Bulldogs and North have around 35,000-40,000 members, however their attendances would typically be in the high 20,000's. Hawthorn claim to have 70,000 members, they certainly don't average that. 

I think having the FFA cup game would have hurt Saturdays attendance as much as it hindered. Sure here would be many who would have been keen to go again and did, but there would also have been those (especially families) that can't justify going to 3 or even 2 matches in a week, and would have chosen the FFA cup match to spend their brownie points on. 

Also in my experience now is the time Christmas functions and commitments start to kick off meaning many struggle to find the time on a pre-booked Saturday night to go to the soccer. 

[Kiro Kompiro]

16 hours ago, jw1739 said:

I'm afraid I still don't get the point.

Ok its like this:

Some attend a professional football game once per week in Melbourne.  This can be either Victory or City.  They are not emotionally invested more in one or the other.  They want to see a live professional game.  That's their thing, its what they do

So yes, they do choose ONE game.  

[Johnno cpfc.]

We attended the sat game and the cup final and most likely would have come to the Roar game as well but we had a prior engagement that we knew about some time before the Roar game so we did not come. However this time of the year there are workplace Christmas parties etc so attendances are bound to be hit but moreso with the fact that the Dollar only spreads so far and then something has to give specially where family commitments are concerned.