That's a whole load of bollocksWell, it's all about the reason, isn't it? If you didn't go because you thought we'd lose, or if you didn't go because you were disappointed in a lack of heart or effort from the week before, I believe are two different things. Any club thinking that it can turn on a weak display, offer no valid reasonable explanation and then turn on their supporters for walking away is kidding itself. It's a typical us-versus-them, working-class mentality that quite frankly shits me up the wall. Collingwood's Heath Shaw summed it up beautifully on Sunday's Footy Show when he talked about what he thought was the catalyst for their year — a winning culture that sees them play every game to win it no matter what.
There are no gimmes in competitive sport.
If the club wants to cry foul that their supporters stayed away, they need to be honest with themselves and ask why. It's healthy sometimes for any organisation to have it's revenue affected, it can be the best way to snap things into place. I honestly believe that sometimes fans can be detrimental, especially when they pat players on the back for lacklustre performances. They need to be held accountable, and when they turn on bad games (which they'll all do, all teams do) they need to be open and honest about why.
The teams that do this the best — Essendon, Hawthorn, West Coast — all enjoy VERY solid membership numbers, because the members know they're valued and wanted, and they know the club will work hard for them, not feed them some bullshit line. Rocket and the club might have contempt for the media, and some would argue rightly so, but they forget sometimes that behind the eyes and ears of reporters are the minds of members, who read the paper looking for an answer to why things are going wrong and are greeted with spin and bullshit.
Bagging out fellow supporters for being disappointed is not the way to success. First ask yourself: Does this person have a valid reason to be disappointed? Start there…