Burnham away.

I'm with Rasam, TRM is a right whinge bag, and that Devils Advocate fella is a right nutter. Get a life and stop moaning. Hackett 4 Eva idst

Aled wrote:I'm with Rasam, TRM is a right whinge bag, and that Devils Advocate fella is a right nutter. Get a life and stop moaning. Hackett 4 Eva idst

I'd normally have a go back at you for a comment like this Aled but since Tom Daley's announcement about the pair of you the other day i know you're feeling a bit "delicate" so i'll let you off this time :-)

Be fair Devil, I'm old enough to be his dad, and you're old enough to be my dad!

Aled wrote:Be fair Devil, I'm old enough to be his dad, and you're old enough to be my dad!

A tad harsh my little snowman loving friend,you're obviously well into your 40's and i'm only just in my 50's.

I know it was "free love" in the 60's but i wasn't sh@gging at the age of 7.

Even at Hob Green infants and junior school we didn't start until 10 but i do admit there was a girl who would "show you her's" if you "showed her your's" under the desk back in the infants school!

Ha, I went to Hob Green too. Small world eh. I'm still in my 30's by the way. Boom!

rasam wrote:as a new forum user and long time supporter of the club i really am surprised at the negativity of some of the forum users. as always supporters are entitled to their opinion but i think this borders on stupidity on occassions.
What ammuses me even more is that the last few years have been incredible so if the team is that bad as some would suggest why do you support them, you could go down the road to the grove i expect they would would welcome your support.
Some of you need to grow up and get behind the team and gary and enjoy what you are getting at the moment you never know it may never happen again.

Rasam - when I read your post earlier today I wasn't really sure how seriously to take it. However, unlike one or two others, and having noted that you comment without the "benefit" of watching us play away I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and take you seriously, and I'll try to explain where I don't quite agree with your thinking...

Yes, the last few years have been "incredible" (in a literal sense, I think that's a fair word given where we were at 12 or so years ago). The promotions, the Cup runs, the steady improvement on and off the pitch during the Premier Division years - all that is something the Club should be proud of. But none of that is necessarily relevant to the here-and-now.

We are now in a position, certainly off the pitch, where the financial benefits of those Cup runs should be enabling us to really push on for promotion. This is not over-ambitious, it is a serious and achievable target for a club with an average support around the 450 mark. Those sorts of crowds would put us above several established clubs in Conference North for starters. In fact, I would go further and say that promotion in the very near future is essential if we are even to maintain those crowds - human nature is such that a certain percentage of people will only keep following a club if it continues to be successful.

Just because things were brilliant six years ago, or two years ago (or even last week) does not mean you should rest on your laurels today - that goes in any sport at any club, or in any walk of life for that matter. You must constantly be looking to improve, to progress, to build. If you stand still, as StourSi is rightly fond of pointing out, you will find others moving forwards and overtaking you - hence you will end up going backwards.

The team is not "that bad", but it is not perfect (no team ever is). There is room for improvement and in some games away from home recently performances have been below par. There are reasons for that - some of which I think are justified, some maybe less so.

The reason we don't go off to the Grove, as you suggest, is that we support Stourbridge FC. Most of us have done so for many, many years. This is possibly the best era I can recall for the club, certainly over a sustained period of more than a season or so, but this ISN'T yet the end. The potential is there to go further and the frustration among those of us who have seen most of the away games in the last few weeks is that we are not making the most of that potential either from the current resources, or by strengthening through new recruits. That is, of course, a personal opinion, and it comes from somebody who has never played football at any level beyond my cubs' team in Wollaston! But it is one I know I am not alone in holding. I make no apologies for expressing it.

I spoke to Andy P at some length recently. As it happens we didn't discuss team matters because I don't believe it is my place as a humble supporter to put the Chairman in an embarrassing position about that kind of stuff. It's between him (or the Board) and the manager. However, in all other aspects of the Club I am in no doubt at all that he is determined that SFC should be aiming for promotion to Conference North this season.

We all "get behind the team" at matches. I would urge you seriously to get yourself to an away match some time whenever you have the chance. You will see how much people who travel the length and breadth of the country (paying lord knows how much for the privilege) care deeply about the Club and its fortunes, and what happens to it in the future. As I've said elsewhere, if we didn't give a stuff we wouldn't bother!

Devil's Advocate wrote:

Aled wrote:Be fair Devil, I'm old enough to be his dad, and you're old enough to be my dad!

A tad harsh my little snowman loving friend,you're obviously well into your 40's and i'm only just in my 50's

A bit harsh to describe somebody who looks about 12 as being "obviously well into your 40s"!

TRM wrote:

Devil's Advocate wrote:

Aled wrote:Be fair Devil, I'm old enough to be his dad, and you're old enough to be my dad!

A tad harsh my little snowman loving friend,you're obviously well into your 40's and i'm only just in my 50's

A bit harsh to describe somebody who looks about 12 as being "obviously well into your 40s"!

I was very kind about your dad TRM!

Incidentally,Andy Hill gave me a copy of some of his old handbook's from the 70's the other day and in the team picture from the 76-77 season i found myself looming over the shoulder's of Mickey Moore and Maurice Head,i got the magnifying glass out to confirm it to family but i remembered the picture being in the County Express that season and being pleased that i'd got my "fizzog" in the paper!

Spooky looking back at a 15 year old "me" and seeing your old man stood there who was then about 6 years younger than what i am now!

Don't think we'll both be on a photo taken 35 years from now alas!