Do you remember the home game against Castleford (last of Cullen's reign). Were the fans entitled to "boo" then or should they have been more supportive? Maybe if we were more supportive we would not have appointed Tony Smith in the long run.

The hard fact is that there is a charge to watch the game imposed by the club. We are by virtue customers, consumers of a sporting event and merchandise if you like. The better we play the more come and watch. It's a leisure spend now for many as it is not cheap to support the Wire with a family. We probably have a hard-core of 3-4K who would watch us if we fell out of SL and with the also-rans.

In my experience the most ardent critics when we are not playing well are a) those with most games in and b) those who follow the team assiduously - home and away.

Coaches, players, conditioners etc come and go - they are all merely custodians of a club that is rooted in history and they are answerable to the fans through the turnstyle.

In summary. Pay your money you are entitled to voice opinion - positive or otherwise.

he's ordinary in my opinion, but the whole team has been ordinary, plus he isnt as bad as Matt King was in his first 18 months. So i dont get how people can single one player out to boo.

As already mentioned Paul wood who was excellent last season is atrocious at the moment, Carvell is shocking, Bridge out of sorts, both Monaghans gone AWOL one much more than the other......... the list goes on Lee Briers is ordinary, and whats with the tramp look?? it doesnt suit him and he spends all game moving his fringe out of his eyes ... Brian clough wouldnt have stood for that.

lets all boo Lee Briers ridiculous haircut please........

I can't agree with this at all. In my experience the fans who have "most games in" and "follow the team assiduously - home and away" tend to be much more forgiving (to the point of too forgiving) about performances. Being a Warrington fan falling into the two categories above you'd have worried yourself into an early grave over the last 20 or so years if you weren't forgiving of under-performing teams.

I find the most ardent critics can generally be found in the pub watching the game on Sky.

How would you feel if we lose to Castleford at home on the weekend and Tony decides to jack it in like Cullen did? People booed that day because we needed a change, people are booing today because we've been spoilt over the past few years by the best team I've seen in my years of service as a wire. At the end of the day a few people booing isn't going to make the people at the top make big decisions, or make the manager 'answerable', I'm sure a chairman or whoever would be able to see that for themselves. Booing is only going to dent the players. I didn't boo that day for the record.

I agree with the above that the people who follow us as much as they can tend to be more forgiving than the 'armchair' fan.

If we hadn't have had the season we had last year, and instead had this season as our 2011 season and comparing that to our 2010 season would we be complaing now?

I've never booed them. Ever. It's counterproductive. However, I understand why people feel entitled to and, to a degree, '71 is right on that score - they have paid, they have the 'right' to express their displeasure. I suppose it depends on what you view the people who turn up as. If you're a supporter in the truest sense, I don't think it's just about putting your money in...

As for PY's counterpoint to 71's about who is more likely to snap first; I reckon those who go home and away are less likely to complain than those who've been there for years. I remember plenty of old timers (in every sense of the phrase) at Wilderspool who used to stand near me who were practically waiting for the team to fail so they could moan. Regrettably, they didn't have to wait long in those days. They always seemed to be there, complaining. I often think of Warrington fans as those 3 supporters in the film Major League, even when they were champions "They're still s****y".

Turning back to Waterhouse, at the risk of contradicting what I've just written, booing him or ironically cheering his exit from a game is moronic. He's been here 5 minutes. He's still settling in. Some people have learned nothing from Monaghan (M) and King.

Many of our fans now see it as our god given right to win every game, and anything less than a hiding is a poor showing.
As usual, a signing from the NRL creates this god like assumption amongst our barrel of monkey nuts supporters; they look at his size and immediately think he'll be unstoppable. There's no logical thought pattern about how he might have to get used to a new climate, area, team mates, structure, expectation etc etc. The immediate expectation is that he must be great now otherwise he's "crap". We'll be bringing this thread up in 4 months, I bet you. Laughing.

The amount of crap you hear spouted about is hilarious so far this year.

"Myler is crap. He's not a scrum half and not good enough for Warrington"
"Morley is too old, time to get rid now"
"The players do not want to play with Myler cos he boned Harrisons bird"
"We need to get rid of Carvell because he's now "
"Waterhouse doesnt want to be here"
"Tony Smith has lost the dressing room"
"Everyone is too old"
"Joel Monaghan is a one trick pony, and doesnt work hard enough"

Joke "fans". Finished top last year and lets face it, should have won the GF as we were by far and away the best side all year, with Wigan too to be fair. Not 6 months later and we're too old, our defence is crap and our attack stinks.

Laughable.

Good post that, people should also be aware that at this stage last season we had lost the same number of games that we have this season.

As I keep saying

Target 1 - qualify for the playoffs

Target 2 - depending where we finish win up to four games on the trot in the playoffs

It's a simple formula


We're getting too excited by all this - surely we have learnt from last season that its the playoffs that count

Unfortunately this is the situation that leeds created last year. Its created this mentality of frick the league it means jack poop. Personally I have thought its a pathetic way to run a competition, im not saying it because of what happened last year but they should go back to the league then the premiership as a seperate comp

Waterhouse has come over with a reputation for good attack and creative offloads but his only contribution has been in defence because he and the rest of the team are giving away cheap possession he has failed to offer anything in attack since the opening week at Hull where he made that blunder he also looks to be getting caught for pace on the edge would a spell at prop do him some good

Pretty much summed up what I was about to type.

At the start of the season people looked at Waterhouse, saw his size and assumed he would be a Louis Anderson type player with a bit of biff. When in actual he's alot more technical in his play. Think Yed mentioned on here a few weeks ago about his tackling and it's always a ball and all tackle.

If the team had been playing as they were last season, Waterhouse would have been hailed as a sensational signing because balls were sticking and we weren't losing so much cheap posession.

He's made a few errors but is no where near being our worst player at the moment.

Unfortunately we seem to have attracted a new breed of fan over the last 2 - 3 years who think we have a god given right to batter every team.

This view of 'pay your money, do whaever the you want' is more popular than I was expecting. Where does it end?

If I paid to go to a bar and starting shouting and booing the staff is that okay with you?

If I went to the imperial war musuem and starting pestering and hollaing at the staff, is that okay?

It's a stupid argument. Obviously no one has rights (and to say they do is preposterous_ who gave people rights?) But it's common decency, both to the olayer(s) and the fans. Follow the golden rule.

I don't buy this either. The fans who are new to Warrington or the game in general tend to be a pretty non-demanding bunch who enjoy the experience win or lose.

Well Im one of these "new fans" and I can honestly say I am still waiting to see what Waterhouse has to offer apart from tackling. I'm certainly not in the business of booing our own players though and have been around the block enough times to know new players can either be instant hits or take time to settle, there is no rule.
Have to say the rest of the team aren't exactly helping him settle.

So you're, by your own admission, "one of these new fans" but "have been around the block enough times to know new players ...."

How does that work?

Your kidding right PY? Common sense isn't limited to people who aren't 'new' fans. Just as new players having time to settle in especially 'big' names isn't limited to Warrington, RL or sport in general.

Yep, common sense seems to skip some people by.
I have a lifetime of being involved in many sports and players are the same over.
Its all in the mind and situation they are walking into when we are talking players settling.
Of course sooner or later enough people slagging them off will generally determine when a players time is up.
Managers and coaches dont want to upset the natives do they.

Whichever way you want to view this he needs to up his game and do it sooner rather than later. I am willing to bet he is well aware of that fact though.

Having seen almost every game this season, Waterhouse hasn't been the worst forward by any means. He may have been one that has least fulfilled my expectations - but maybe they were too high.

I was one (of many) who thought the same thing about Matt King. I was eventually proven hopelessly wrong and hope the same will apply to Waterhouse.

I think people can boo if they wish. If anybody wants to pay £20 to watch me at work and boo - I'll take their money.

I am planning to boo everyone at work tomorrow who I consider incompetent or not performing.

That's a lot of people; I will of course be giving myself a little cheer.

Shall we skip the needless abuse and go straight for the big positive reinforcement campaign that kingy got. He felt much better after he realised he was wanted here

I agree with you that we should get behind him and indeed all of the team. Yes, let's all have a "big positive reinforcement campaign", as other posters have alluded to on other threads, we are supporters first and foremost surely?

However, I don't think Trent has suffered "needless abuse" on this forum (or are you talking about the Keighley booing?) In the main, detractors on here seem to be saying that it is about managing 'big name' expectation, being given time to settle and hoping that they are proved wrong and he turns 'it' around, whatever 'it' is, in a Matt King way.

Onwards and upwards

Bookmakers are now offering odds as to who we blame next !

exactly i'm parralleling kings first 14/16 months. I mean, instead of getting to the point where some tool ends up venting his spleen stupidly, lets go straight to putting an arm round him, and saying, come on lad.

I reckon things would be different if we'd been singing the Dangermouse song.