HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Serves you right for missing our best performance in years.

I didn't stay away on purpose, but i said to the lads that that'll be the best performance of the season and I've missed it!!1st time season ticket holder too....


ho-hum,rock n roll eh

As I tried to sell one gobby twat a copy of MB he said to me
" I'm that confident about today I've bet on colchester to win" 7/4 he got but I don't know how much he LOST Ha,Ha.

My thoughts exactly. 3,800 not good enough - I think the lads are trying despeartely this season to put last season behind them. If we're going to mount the biggest challengein our history, we need a large crowd to act as the Twelfth man.

Speaking to one guy on Friday and I quote "not going,would rather go to the Headland carnival than watch that lot get tonked off Colchester".

OH YE OF LITTLE FAITH.

OK it's only the first game,but it's one hell of a base to work from.

Imagine you are Brown, or Porter, or Liddle, or Collins, and you see an inferior player picked in front of a quality player - what would that do to your morale???
There's players who win you the game from the start, and there's players who can maybe come on and do their best for 20 minutes or so but who aren't good enough to win you the game from the start.
People like Humphreys and Boland improve 100% when there's someone decent to pass the ball to - compare this to how they perform when there's no outlet.

Poor excuses I'm afraid. The people who deliberately stayed away are the same people who expect IOR to fork out huge sums (by Pools standards) on new players. Why should they if people can't get behind the team. Does anyone really believe Wilson deliberately sends out weak teams with the intention of getting turned over?

He can only pick what is available - he knows what has gone on during training, who is not quite fully fit or mentally prepared - not the armchair critics.

We have a peper thin squad at present, we all know that, and there will be times when players like Foley and Robson - two of the players who get most of the flak - will need to start. We need to encourage rather than start knocking them at every opportunity.

The crowd was the 5th lowest of the bottom two divisions. How can we be expected to compete on equal terms with support like that.

Before anyone moans that I have rose tinted glasses, I don't. I was disappointed with many performances lat season. I felt we should have done more in the transfer marked to strengthen the team. There are some players I don't feel are good enough at present. However they are MY team and I will get behind them and not look to pick fault at every opportunity as some on here seem to do.

Come on , Dibbs. Lack of perceived investment !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Are you for real or on the wind up?
This club has had buckets of investment over the tenure of IOR. Look at the ground, the pitch, the facilities........aye and even the squad. All massive improvements on the pre IOR days and all down to IOR investment.
Give thee heid a tug, laddie.

Aye, the very same Colchester who got a mauling on Saturday. Who by I wonder.....

We've turned in some very good performances to open previous seasons with too (Swindon, Luton) but without the reward. That we were able to convert domination to goals is to Pools' credit.
Having two strikers who know how to organise the ball into the net helps too of course.

if that line up is chopped and changed for no other reason than for chopping and changing's sake - expect a lot of angry posters Mr N, and rightly so.

I have no idea why the 'missing' fans were not there, mate.
I suppose it could be a combination of things, hols,weather,olympics on tele, test match on tele,the carnival, lack of funds due to hols, saving up for hols, generally skint, loss of interest, general apathy....................each will have their own particular reason I suppose.
I know Donny are on an adventure at the moment, but it is interesting to note that they took more fans to Derby than there were Pools fans at the Vic. Relegated Derby also enjoyed a full house. A pal of mine went and said that the figure read out re away fans was 3870. Pretty good that like.
I don't know what the answer is but it worries me to think how IOR see it, especially if you are right about the number of season ticket holders. Apparently IOR are currently subsidising the budget to the tune of £30k per week. How long do they keep that up for I ask?

Its the wnkers in this town and it will never change. We have had one season where we have had nothing to play for and its shown on the attendance for the first game.

Too many bounders still slag the club off, wearing their scruffy 1990's liverpool, man utd shirts etc...
Blame the parents, pools have taken the club to the schools and its still not paying off!! What more can the club do
I've spoken to a few so called supporters who wont be coming back after last season, they didn't blame wilson just said it was a shit season and rather spend their money elsewhere
People expect success year after year after year and there's people on here just as guilty of expecting that as the ordinary man in the street.
Foooking ell I could go on and on and on, nothing will change so lets hope ior are in for the long run like most of us on here.

Good post Tree i was surprised at the turn out on Saturday also.
New season. JB starting up front. fully fit squad. and every thing to play for excuses are wearing thin for the stay aways it baffles me what some fans want.

I think i've already said that, but there's some on here who have threatened or didn't go on saturday because they had one or more issues with the way the club is run or who is running it

We had one feller who came down from London on saturday and I bet he absolutely loved it. It just pisses me off when people who come on here (supposedly a pools forum) who threaten not to go to the games (barring financial reasons) for this that or the other.
Honestly, sometimes I wish we could go back to the 1700 loyal fans we had years ago, at least u know who you're dealing with!!

We had one feller who came down from London on saturday and I bet he absolutely loved it.

That was me! And Mr Lightning Tree is 100% correct, I loved every minute of it. A great performance and worth paying the £95 train fare just to watch Brown's excellent goals. I should be getting a bit of the train fare back as it happens because the train was delayed both ways!

I enjoyed congratulating the Exeter fans at darlow station for picking up a point at the White Elephant as well.

IOR INVEST? UR HAVING A LAUGH, THEY HAVE PUT ENOUGH IN TO KEEP THE CLUB SOLVEN, WHICH IS FAIR ENOUGH , BUT WE WILL NEVER ACHIEVE SUCCESS UNLESS THEY PUT REAL MONEY INTO THE BUYING OF PLAYERS. AS FOR THE GROUND THEY HAVE SPENT MONEY ONLY ON THINGS THAT WILL BRING IN TWICE AS MUCH REVENUE( BARS,CATERING ETC). THE GROUND ISNT BIG OR GOOD ENOUGH, IOR HAVE SAID THEY WANT TO BUY IT BUT HAVE NOT SAID WHAT THEY INTEND TO DO ONCE THEY ACQUIRE IT.

THE CLUB WERE GETTING 5400 3/4 YEARS AGO, 4500 FOR FIRST GAME LAST SEASON. SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN ATTENDANCES , YET IOR REFUSE TO TALK ABOUT THIS.

THE FANBASE TOOK AGES TO BUILD UP, WE ARE PAYING THE PRICE NOW FOR NOT KICKING ON 3 OR FOUR YEAR AGO.

I think you need to look at the books a bit more mate.

IOR have thrown somewhere in the region of £9 million in to Pools since they took over. Not Chelsea levels of dosh admittedly but still a hell of an investment.

My only gripe with Pools is the perception (rightly or wrongly) that its a closed shop and anyone questioning anything is blacklegged. There is a percieved barrier between club and fans and this is unhealthy.

I dont think my excuse was poor

oh well

THE PITCH??

BILLINGHAMS PITCH??

RITCHIE BARKER??

SAM COLLINS??

THE STUDY CENTRE??

THE NEW ROOF ON THE MILLHOUSE??

HOW DO ALL THEM ONLY BRING IN MORE REVENUE??

FACT: THE GROUND HAS NEVER EVER BEEN CHOC FULL SINCE IOR TOOK OVER, NOT EVEN FOR THE PLAY OFF SEMIS.

NOW STOP FOOKIN' SHOUTING.

sadly I disagree with you. Foley and robson shouldn't be at pools full stop. We were winning on saturday so he brings on foley and robo and they score 2. If you talk about morale going down when inferior players come on then why would you want inferior players on from the start?

Everytime Mr Wilson broings on these two for the last 20 minutes or so you can see a vastly different, less confident team playing...

It was piss poor, stop kidding yourself

anyways, it wasn't an excuse it was a reason

Don't forget the rugby ground in Brierton Lane, was it West ?? had covernants on it till the sun went out but am I right in thinking that the club or a sponsor managed to sell the ground and now they play in catcote road on what used to be a school pitch.....

It just makes me wonder why IOR want to own the ground when the likes of Newcastle don't own their ground but still improve it... (pity they don't improve the footballers ) This has probably been gone over before but it makes me wonder?

Aye, cause IOR really need the money they would get from selling the Vic, after all with Oil the price it is an' all........

Aye, cause IOR really need the money they would get from selling the Vic, after all with Oil the price it is an' all........[/quote]

Don't get me wrong, I think IOR are ok. Personally I'd like to see a big new stadium and the vic as a trainging ground.... but then I also put £100 on pools to be in the premiership within 5 years... 6 years ago aso I know nowt.....

I'll leave it to those who know...