As the article points out again, we just don't have the financial clout of our competition. And yet I don't think that impression filters out more widely. When I tell people why we aren't the force we used to be they react with incredulity.

I suppose this is a testament to how fantastically well we've done in the past without a sugar-daddy and with a millstone of a ground. I can't feel suicidal about NOW because at the back of my mind is always the fact that we've probably been punching above our weight in the past.

It would be more accurate to say that many of the the boo boys are a totally unreasonable idiots, who won't take anything less than a win, and who failed to see, or didn't want to see, what a vastly improved performance the team put up.

They seem to ignore all the good play and good tries. They seem to ignore all the hard tackles, and big hit ups. Yet they seem to suddenly find their voice when mistakes occur. They seem to find their "boo" whenever an Unfavoured One such as Platt or McNamara is in sight. My conclusion is that they are waiting, hoping and praying for bad play, errors and mistakes and deliberately shut out all the decent rugby from their brains. It never happened.

Personally I find it embarrassing that a grown man would seriously claim a "right to boo". I find the sight of an adult baying like a wildebeest very unedifying. In fact, I find it pathetic.

Presumably because the consequences were unexpected



Perhaps keeping McNamara on longer than many think necessary might be the real cause of the unitended consequences? I presume those booing were also paying fans rather than non-paying visting dignatories?

There were points in the game on Sunday which were unintentionally funny - Andy Lynch kicking on the fifth, Platt turning to pass to nobody - and frustratingly familiar from last season and this. Blame the players if you like (there's plenty to chose from), but I'm afraid the lack of organisation, poor tackling technique, lack of last play options etc scream poor coaching.

I think boo-ing makes things worse (see Wire) and is unhelpful, but then you have to ask how we've got to the point where people feel this is their only option.

The thing to be remembered is that people boo because they care. Once they stop caring they will stop coming.

That, I believe, is at the heart of so much of whats currently going on in and around the club (its what I always think about when people compare our declining crowds to the likes of Leeds and Wigan). I made the point back in 2006 and some people took the p!ss, but I stand by it and its good to see others might have the same thought. Its also why I refuse to be too depressed about the current situation.

The club has made great strides since the early/mid 90's and can kick on again I'm sure. But nothing is guarenteed, every team has a down period and they can be harder to get out of without financial clout and a bigger/historically more established fan base.

To insinuate you find people who Boo pathetic isn't the way forward and neither is it to call them idiots.

Nobody wants to see the team play bad or lose but when it's consistently happening what else can they do? There comes a point despite the clapping and the cheering nothing changes, at what point do we say enough is enough or do people blindly continue to accept what's happening.

There's been a lot of talk on these boards about the negativity of some poster's and how it's not helping the team, and to some degree i accept there can be a tendency to go overboard, but as passionate supporters they have every right to express there opinion, perhaps a counter argument rather than name calling is the best way forward?

No, no, no. What you do is this. You watch us knock on, pass to touch, go round in circles and you say in a quiet voice " I must say, this irks me somewhat".

You are Bertie Wooster and I claim my £5.

We can have all the good play and good tries

We can have all the hard tackles, and big hits


But until we look like we're in control of a game & start getting points on the table, you will always have those supporters, feeling let down. It's when they start talking with their feet and stop coming altogether, that I feel disappointed

I've never booed a team, no matter how they've performed, even when a player from the opposition puts in a bad tackle against one of our boys or we're up against another team where one of our players is now playing for them.

I cringe when I hear adults doing this, as I've always thought boos are made for the kids when they go see a panto.

All that said though, if I had a choice of hear boos or supporters hurling personal insults at the players/coach, I'd opt for maybe a boo instead

Don't be such a bounder.

We can have all the good play and good tries

We can have all the hard tackles, and big hits


But until we look like we're in control of a game & start getting points on the table, you will always have those supporters, feeling let down. It's when they start talking with their feet and stop coming altogether, that I feel disappointed

I've never booed a team, no matter how they've performed, even when a player from the opposition puts in a bad tackle against one of our boys or we're up against another team where one of our players is now playing for them.

I cringe when I hear adults doing this, as I've always thought boos are made for the kids when they go see a panto.

All that said though, if I had a choice of hear boos or supporters hurling personal insults at the players/coach, I'd opt for maybe a boo instead

If everyone with unwavering support were to shout oob, would it cancel it out?

I say Bertie my chum Gussy Finknottle is a whiz of a rugger player and wildly infatuated with Amelia who my Aunt Agatha wishes to see married to yours truly! This would be a turn of events that wouldn't sit favourably with yours truly, perhaps your butler Jeeves could suggest a way out off this sticky wicket?

Ocelot Ponsonby-Smythe

The paying fan has to the right to express their views in any way they desire (within limits of course).

After weeks and of poor performances and very little signs of improvements maybe some of the fans feel that enough is enough.

I am a true Bradford and will go to the games no matter how bad it gets because red, amber and black runs through my veins.

However the players have to take some of criticism and for me the Hull match was just enough. They play with no passion, no pride and no fight.

They need to take a long hard look at themselves and get something sorted.

Aunt Agatha? That old Stoat. She made Tabitha's corsage out of the blackout curtains. And as for Jeeves. The man is infuriation personified when it comes to our delightfully neuvo code of Rugby. Not a real mans game, not enough players, hardly the done thing. Just not...right.

"Nothing wrong with checkers old boy, but I prefer chess". Personally, when it comes to Union I don't give a flying rook.

nope we'd just have lots of boooob

boo + oob = boooob

Not exactly going to be appropriate for families now is it

I really don't care what impression he got of the fans. To me a fan who boos is more passionate than one who stands there in silence. We could use a bit more passion on the terraces imo. Or at least something to fight the appathy

maybe not but how funny would it be for the players if boobs were being shouted at them.

What has changed (in terms of financial clout) with you and the competition since 2005?

Serious question since whatever it was it certainly didn't hold you back between 1996 and 2005.

I think you had some great people behind the scenes at the beginning of SL and no doubt you were the flag bearers. Somewhere, someone took their eye of the ball in terms of junior development and that has led to the current malaise. Players emerge and leave, it happens at all clubs, even Leeds but look at who you have had to replace the likes of Vainakolo, Hape, Pryce, reardon and Peacock with? Journeymen, at best.

I have absolutely no idea what you have coming through the ranks but we managed to fabricate a half decent team from 1997-2001 whilst we were waiting for the current crop. We were lucky that we had a coach like Murray who could get players playing above themselves. We won league games with Marvin Golden in the and he made Andy Hay an international, for example.

I think you guys have been very fortunate and enjoyed a golden period of success. Its' over and you have to try and prepare for the next one. That is not an easy sell to spectators especially when we're just down the road enjoying our golden era.

Question asked and answered.

And that's precisely my point.

Booing the coach or the team might make you feel a bit better in the short term.

But if a guy who is in a position to significantly influence the development on which the future of the club rests goes away thinking "I don't need to bother here...the crowd are not behind them so why do I need to be?" then all you have done is jeopardised the long term.

But never mind; you feel happier right now, and that's what matters.

And for the avoidance of doubt - fans are entitled to boo (I did it once, in 1998 was heartily ashamed of myself and will never do it again), and I agree your point regarding passion, but my point was that the consequences may be not quite what you expect.

And as for Sutcliffe... he'll never get my vote - unless, maybe, he tangibly helps to bring the OSV about. That would be a service worth voting for.

Do you really think that one game where a few fans showed what they thought would influence a decision like that, I'm sorry but it's not going to sway him one way or another. The club would use the stadium for 30+ years in that time, SM and his players will have been and gone...the decision is not based on the here and now but the future



I agree not the best thing for him to see/hear but neither is a half empty stadium.

Hence my reference also to the "Stay-aways".

Yes of course, that one experience won't be the be-all and end-all. But as to whether it could be the thing that swayed him if he was unsure which way to go, well who knows?

And he's a politician ffs, and politicians take decisions for the here and now! Thats where the votes are...

To an extent I don't disagree but I'm not sure how that sways the debate on what he witnessed on Sunday and how that effects the decision.

I'm sure if he asked anybody there on Sunday if they thought OSV was a good idea, every single person would have said yes....however if that was at the footy match I'm sure it would have been reversed.

Just making the point that when you get down to influential individuals, blind chance can come into play. We need all the help we can get.