EGP looks at messageboards Tuesday, 16th Oct 2007 00:28
EGP returns after a with a look at recent controversies involving internet messageboards and clubs' reactions to things that displease them.
Internet Message Boards are a funny place. They are the written version of
those conversations in the stands or in the pub. They have replaced fanzines,
and to some degree murmurings of discontent on the terraces. They are the new
tap room domain of the fans, where really only fans are welcome.
A new user name crops up and it’s like a stranger walking into a new boozer only
for the pub to hush and look with suspicion at the interloper. Acceptance is
only offered if the newcomer can demonstrate that they are part of the family.
Debates rage about the club, the team and a whole host of other topics, often
leading to cyber scraps before an older head can bring order to the bucking
stags, unlocking their antlers before damage is done.
Rochdale is no different to any other club in this respect. We have our
messageboards where fans old and young chew the fat over a pint of cyber with
ice. It is quite easy to pick out the knowledgeable ones, the older ones, and
the younger ones based on their prose and opinion.
More recently though, throughout the world of football, there has been an
alarming trend of the clubs ‘taking on’ these internet sites when things have
been read that hurt those reading them.
The most famous recent case involved our friends at Hereford, where their
Chairman/Manager Graham Turner banned the site moderator for not removing a post
written by somebody else which was found to be offensive.
The post in question raised doubts to Hereford’s ability to give out an accurate
crowd figure, suggesting that they were giving out a figure lower than the
number of fans present! Let’s be honest…..every fan of every club in the country
has questioned that of their own club. Also, many is the time I have travelled
away only to find the official following was far less than the number I thought
had travelled! The most famous example was at Scarborough in a cup game in 1998
when Dale practically filled 2 sections of the 3 in the away end, and the
following was given as 551 despite the stand holding over 1500 overall.
In the end, Hereford saw sense and lifted the ban on the moderator – a season
ticket holder for 20 years at Edgar Street, but the ill will the episode caused
will have damaged Graham Turner’s relationship with the fans irreparably
forever. The trust – at best an umbilical cord in football – has been severed.
There was a recent case at Sheffield Wednesday where the club issued legal
proceedings in September against Owlstalk, where several irate owls had been
having a go at the club (who had just lost their first six matches of the
season) and the ‘suits’ couldn’t take anymore. This high profile case threatens
to go to the courtroom as Wednesday are a big club with a fan base not prepared
to be pushed around. They have joined forces and are standing up to the top Owls
at Hillsborough.
In a recent BBC interview, it was noted that our Chief Executive was quoted
saying, “you can’t ignore the messageboards.” Whilst that might be so, it seems
baffling that our top brass are huddled round a computer day and night
incandescent with rage at anything that maybe said in a public forum. Freedom of
speech is as English as roast beef and Yorkshires, but unlike the popular roast,
freedom of speech from one man’s mouth, can often stick in another man’s craw.
All of which suggests that our manager reads the messageboards. Following on
from the disappointing double header versus Bury, regular messageboard users
were up in arms at the flatness of our displays with one or two remarks
questioning the professionalism of our staff. It was typical knee-jerk stuff on
a messageboard from people who care about the club, but who may have a penchant
for using inflammatory rhetoric.
Our Manager has a tremendous upbeat mentality and his PR suggests that he wants
everybody believing and pulling together. Yet his interviews surrounding the
fine win at Grimsby showed a different side to his nature. There was without
question a hint of exasperation towards the fans, and, reading between the
lines, his tenor suggested he was not best pleased at certain remarks on a
messageboard. That said, it could be argued that the interviewer was also
playing a role with leading questions angled craftily to get a reaction, but
that is good journalism.
Of course, just about every Manager this club has ever had has found it hard to
rise above the fans’ criticism. The previous incumbent often, and with just
cause, had a go back at the fans. Graham Barrow looked set to jump into the away
enclosure at Darlington after one dreadful performance, and Dave Sutton refused
to put anymore than nine words on his programme page for 6 consecutive home
matches.
Back then, messageboards were not as prevalent as they are today though, and
opinions written as though they were being slurred over a pint in a pub suddenly
hit a much wider audience often drawing an adverse reaction. The recent spate of
clubs versus messageboards though suggest that clubs do take to heart the views
of the fans. On the one hand this is no bad thing if the views are constructive,
but on the other hand, it can lead to unseemliness which serves neither the fans
or the club any good purpose.
Photo: Action Images
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