"Lukewarm Stamford Bridge"

[JamesGodfrey 87]

Jose has even noticed how poor our home support is and has mentioned that changes need made to make it a more intimidating place for the away teams to come too.

http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/mourinho---lukewarm-stamford-bridge-6290960?

“We, as a Trust, have had dialogue with the club and atmosphere came up. The atmosphere isn't all it could be and that's been represented to the club by both us and the Fans Forum (on which the Trust is represented).

“There are a number of contributory factors: the lack of young people, who are more inclined to sing; the lack of standing in the ground; and the cost of getting a ticket are all part of it.

“We need to get more people in to Stamford Bridge who want to sing. And, from my point of view, that means more younger people.”

[bushman 2,043]

Funny, Jose blames the crowd now ?

How about, if the team start playing much better, instead ?

[Clevemayer 764]

WTF?

Our Homesupport is an issue for qite long now... so what does this have to do with the team performing bad? Wahts your Point bushman?

[JamesGodfrey 87]

Funny, Jose blames the crowd now ?

How about, if the team start playing much better, instead ?

i dont see how Jose is blaming the crowd for the teams performance at all. I think he is clearly just stating it would do the team a lot of good if they could actually here some support for them in sticky situations, such as the west brom game.

If we could have have 4 Shed ends that would be brilliant

[bushman 2,043]

i dont see how Jose is blaming the crowd for the teams performance at all. I think he is clearly just stating it would do the team a lot of good if they could actually here some support for them in sticky situations, such as the west brom game.

If could have have 4 Shed ends that would be brilliant

As I said, play better, it could attract younger fans, more vocal crowds. The pensioners might be too timid ?

[Jase 43,479]

Can't say I disagree with him TBH. I know the team's performance can affect the noise generated by the home crowd support and all but sometimes, you just feel the place is a tad too quiet and doesn't feel intimidating enough generally. And sometimes, this can translate to dodgy performances on the pitch. It's kinda of a two-way thing.

[JamesGodfrey 87]

As I said, play better, it could attract younger fans, more vocal crowds. The pensioners might be too timid ?

If your a true fan you would go to support the team regardless of there current form, I know i would anyway. Our away support is fantastic, which i why i go to more away days than home ones.

[JamesGodfrey 87]

Can't say I disagree with him TBH. I know the team's performance can affect the noise generated by the home crowd support and all but sometimes, you just feel the place is a tad too quiet and doesn't feel intimidating enough generally. And sometimes, this can translate to dodgy performances on the pitch. It's kinda of a two-way thing.

couldn't agree more with you mate

[bushman 2,043]

If your a true fan you would go to support the team regardless of there current form, I know i would anyway. Our away support is fantastic, which i why i go to more away days than home ones.

Are you THE TRUE FAN, then ? You sound like some of the EXPERTS here. If you do not attend, " plastic fan " is pinned on you.

Since you posted, I attend more away games...should you be blamed for lack of support of home games too ?

[JamesGodfrey 87]

Are you THE TRUE FAN, then ? You sound like some of the EXPERTS here. If you do not attend, " plastic fan " is pinned on you.

Since you posted, I attend more away games...should you be blamed for lack of support of home games too ?

pin it on me all you want, the difference is i live in Scotland yet i travel to a lot of away games to watch us win, lose or Draw and regardless of the result our fans including me will sing happily for the full 90 minutes. I've went to Munich, Amsterdam and still made 3 home games last year, plus a lot of away days. All i'm saying is our home support should be our 12th man rather than relying on one stand to do all the noise and thats no disrespect to anyone who goes to home games and is a passionate supporter.

[bushman 2,043]

Perhaps, it may be too hard for some fans to pay plenty of money to attend Chelsea home games when they can sit home & watch it on TV. If I decide to attend any game in London, it costs me almost 400 eur. Flight ticket, accommodation, game ticket...it adds up.

Therefore, if I attend 2-3 games a season, I am lucky. Anyway, that´s not the point here. It could be considered too timid at home games, but it boils down to Chelsea´s performance, I feel. If Torres misses a sitter, Luiz kicks the ball into the bleachers, what´s there to be excited about ?

[bushman 2,043]

pin it on me all you want, the difference is i live in Scotland yet i travel to a lot of away games to watch us win, lose or Draw and regardless of the result our fans including me will sing happily for the full 90 minutes. I've went to Munich, Amsterdam and still made 3 home games last year, plus a lot of away days. All i'm saying is our home support should be our 12th man rather than relying on one stand to do all the noise and thats no disrespect to anyone who goes to home games and is a passionate supporter.

I am not here to " put it on you," as written. How much does it cost you to fly to London from Glasgow ? 35 quids ?

[Reddish-Blue 2,511]

pin it on me all you want, the difference is i live in Scotland yet i travel to a lot of away games to watch us win, lose or Draw and regardless of the result our fans including me will sing happily for the full 90 minutes. I've went to Munich, Amsterdam and still made 3 home games last year, plus a lot of away days. All i'm saying is our home support should be our 12th man rather than relying on one stand to do all the noise and thats no disrespect to anyone who goes to home games and is a passionate supporter.

Completely agree, I feel the home support could be a bit louder in tricky situations.

The flipside is that our new players haven't created that connection with the fans yet.....the process will take time.

Hopefully we stick with Jose, build some stability and recreate the atmosphere we had a few seasons ago!

[JamesGodfrey 87]

I am not here to " put it on you," as written. How much does it cost you to fly to London from Glasgow ? 35 quids ?

Average these days is £80-£120 return, plus the price of a hotel etc. Its easier for me to go with a bunch of fans up here in the car and split the cost in fuel. My next home game is United in January.

All i'm saying is can see where Jose is coming from and for the players coming out to a packed Stamford Bridge full of noise would only help them massively in my opinion.

[JamesGodfrey 87]

Completely agree, I feel the home support could be a bit louder in tricky situations.

The flipside is that our new players haven't created that connection with the fans yet.....the process will take time.

Hopefully we stick with Jose, build some stability and recreate the atmosphere we had a few seasons ago!

Agree 100%

[Hutcho 8,443]

Away Fans are Amazing.

Home Fans are not because of the reasons we all know.

Make the tickets 20 quid. Introduce standing in both ends and your soon get the atmoshphere up.

But its not just a problem with us. Its most home grounds in the country... At least the "big" teams.

[bushman 2,043]

Average these days is £80-£120 return, plus the price of a hotel etc. Its easier for me to go with a bunch of fans up here in the car and split the cost in fuel. My next home game is United in January.

All i'm saying is can see where Jose is coming from and for the players coming out to a packed Stamford Bridge full of noise would only help them massively in my opinion.

I am envious now. I too, would split the fuel of cost, happily. If I attend, I pay an arm & a leg to see Chelsea´s struggle.

Of course, Jose is right to question their home support. However, today´s economical situation, folks may think twice to attend. Those that do, may not be an ordinary Joe, but most likely corporate season holders. Therefore, they may not care much.

[Sidzeret 2,257]

I reckon he didn't feel it when he sat with the crowd at the Norwich game.

[The only place to be 11,313]

It's not something you can fix overnight. A lot of times it's down to a bit of anxiety or simply because the teams who come to the Bridge stifle the play so much that games can become a little dull.

Football crowds are pretty weird things too. In this country you tend to find we become more vocal in adversity, and that's a tough role for us to adopt when we're one of the biggest, richest clubs in the world. When you're on an away day, you're in 'enemy territory' in the role of the underdog so there's a greater will to fight the 'occupying force'. Plus I can only talk about myself but I tend to drink more before an away game, so that helps.

You have to look at the profile of our fans though. We're not unique in seeing a change in the type of fans going, but the whole atmosphere has changed. My earliest memories are of half-time stinking of booze and fags, but then it changed to families literally bringing packed lunches. It's almost like we've been domesticated in a way.

That's not to say we don't have the ability to be louder, but it's often in the games where there's a rivalry or the other team comes to attack us. It's not going to be as simple as reducing the price of tickets because that's not possible every week in the current stadium. I actually think any solution is going to come with a move to a new ground where you can maybe look to standing areas (although I've seen plenty of times the MHL has been all standing but there's still an anxious feel amongst the fans) or reduce prices in certain areas but still maintain the income you need.

Ultimately though, we're a rich club with expensive seats in West London. That's going to have a massive bearing on what type of people you attract to the club.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Our home atmosphere has been poor ever since the away fans were moved to the Shed End. Stamford Bridge is a graveyard. I was in the MHL on Wednesday for the Schalke game, and everyone seemed genuinely shocked - literally, people were speechless - when about 15 people in the West Lower started singing. Even the MH Stand isn't as vocal as it once was. Too many prawn sarnie-eaters and middle-class businessmen in trenchcoats for there to be a decent atmosphere, I feel.