chatroom poison

[Diggeragain]

I'm sorry I don't know what that means...

[SNFT]

this has been building up with me for a while. and it is how much damage chat rooms like ours do. those of us who can't get to the matches regularly get more and more of footie fix from the Internet. Some of its fun, some of it is blowing off steam, too much of it is poison. The constant slagging of individual players, Rafa, Rick and other teams fans too. It's getting to me. this is not about being an out-of-towner. It is knowing how to be a proper supporter. I've always been ultra loyal to Liverpool managers and refused to slag off a player unless he wasn't trying. Now I too sit and scream at the telly at individual players, shout at Rafa for baffling decisions (he'd often baffled me by the way but he's more than not right), and compose long posts in my head about my current pet hate - mine at the moment is Voronin. I haven't seen him live - I have no real right to pass judgement. But the chat room poison is telling all of us that we are not properly passionate supporters if we don't treat every match as a matter of life and death. It is just because we care that we are allowed to get every moronic grumble off our chests.

Do not think that this Internet licence does not matter. It does. It will get managers sacked, turn once good players into quivering jellies and will destroy good will between fans and players, and fans of different teams. Just witness some of the horrible chanting that we hear now. A few season ago at Millwall I was sitting there and shocked at the hideous Hillsborough chants from Millwall. At the time we noted that not even ManU fans chanted that stuff. They do now.
Many of you will think the fan sites are good for the game. Some of you will think you have a birthright to get any knee-jerk reaction off your chest any time you want. You may think it is harmless enough to shout your mouth off on a safe fans-only site. When we end up with Rafa sacked, good players destroyed and hooliganism creeping back into the game - I wonder will you take any responsibility then?

Wondered why we'd started singing Munich songs again, not in the ground i may add, but always here it in the pubs!!

[darkknight]

this has been building up with me for a while. and it is how much damage chat rooms like ours do. those of us who can't get to the matches regularly get more and more of footie fix from the Internet. Some of its fun, some of it is blowing off steam, too much of it is poison. The constant slagging of individual players, Rafa, Rick and other teams fans too. It's getting to me. this is not about being an out-of-towner. It is knowing how to be a proper supporter. I've always been ultra loyal to Liverpool managers and refused to slag off a player unless he wasn't trying. Now I too sit and scream at the telly at individual players, shout at Rafa for baffling decisions (he'd often baffled me by the way but he's more than not right), and compose long posts in my head about my current pet hate - mine at the moment is Voronin. I haven't seen him live - I have no real right to pass judgement. But the chat room poison is telling all of us that we are not properly passionate supporters if we don't treat every match as a matter of life and death. It is just because we care that we are allowed to get every moronic grumble off our chests.

Do not think that this Internet licence does not matter. It does. It will get managers sacked, turn once good players into quivering jellies and will destroy good will between fans and players, and fans of different teams. Just witness some of the horrible chanting that we hear now. A few season ago at Millwall I was sitting there and shocked at the hideous Hillsborough chants from Millwall. At the time we noted that not even ManU fans chanted that stuff. They do now.
Many of you will think the fan sites are good for the game. Some of you will think you have a birthright to get any knee-jerk reaction off your chest any time you want. You may think it is harmless enough to shout your mouth off on a safe fans-only site. When we end up with Rafa sacked, good players destroyed and hooliganism creeping back into the game - I wonder will you take any responsibility then?

......... don t worry - after a while you ll come to ignore 70% of the **** on here. sleep through 10%, laugh at 10%, engage in 5% and spend the other 5% in some good hearted banter in those worth your time and effort.

It s all in the Math

[Pablo]

The best tactic is to stick to the non-footballing forums when we arent winning. People massively over-react when we arent winning games and it makes depressing reading. It willl get you down after a while.

Much more fun on here when we are winning, and even then there are plenty of people moaning!

[badpiggy]

The anonymity that the internet provides means that many of us cast aside our usual restraints when it comes to expressing ourselves.

If we are sat talking to our mates after a match we have the same feelings but express ourselves entirely differently, building our case perhaps and trying to look at things from different sides. If we went straight in with "Rafa is ****e, sack him" we would instantly be involved in a heated debate with the others, most of whom would agree that the point was extreme and stupid.

On a chat room, however, we can just say what we want and walk away from it instantly without any feeling whatsoever for the consequences. There is no need to be restrained in any way. You can see from this site (by no means the worst) and many others that people happily insult each other big time for the slightest perceived transgressions. If we did that in real life we wouldn't make it through the week without ending up in hospital. And you know that half of the ones on here who end up spouting venom left right and centre and 9st geeks who would piss themselves at the first sign of trouble in the real world.

Also, when you get home you can stop talking about it until you meet up again. On the internet you can go on and on and on and always find people ready to respond.

That is why you get a fair proportion of extreme posts on these kind of fansites, nestling right up against informed opion, in a way that you don't in real life.

It's a great place to watch people blowing off steam. There's nothing more relaxing than seeing others heading towards their early evening coronaries.

However I don't think it has any effect at all on the real world. "Responsibility"? We shouldn't kid ourselves that anything we post on here really makes a difference.

i know what diggeragain is worried about but i have to say that this post gets it 100% right in my opinion. forum fan responsibility doesn't exist. what do people mean by supporting the team, anyway? if you're at the matches and you constantly shout abuse at the manager or players then that's not really supporting the team. but why is there this false distinction being made between being a supporter and not criticising the set-up online?

what does it actually mean to say on an internet forum to a group of people where 95% won't be at the next match "lets get behind the team" "they really need our support now"? it means **** all i think. it means an awful lot less than saying "i don't understand rafa's ideas" or "we're playing **** football under rafa" or "SG is not a good midfielder" etc...

the concept that this team owes the fans seems to be forgotten - without the people who buy the jerseys, season tickets, matchday tickets etc LFC would not exist. we have incredibly loyal - and whether the superfans are willing to admit it ir not - but increasingly frustrated fans. how about taking the responsibility away from the fans and putting it on the multi-millionaires who run, manage and play for our team supposedly fulfilling thier lifelong dream to be professional footballers at a massive club? and if it all fell apart spectacularly tomorrow and we were relegated i'd still be an LFC fan - would there be injunctions against online fan criticsm then or would that be a time to "really get behind the lads"?

this forum does nothing to affect LFC but if milliionaire footballers get wind of it and it demoralises them then they deserved every bit of criticism they get in the first place.

[Diggeragain]

Wondered why we'd started singing Munich songs again, not in the ground i may add, but always here it in the pubs!!

I think this makes my point. The poison is creeping in. Its coming from somewhere - do people really think there is no relation to the anger in the chatrooms and the anger outside?

[red g]

People vent anger thats what happens and apart from gary neville I wish no harm to anyone i slag off

[red g]

I think this makes my point. The poison is creeping in. Its coming from somewhere - do people really think there is no relation to the anger in the chatrooms and the anger outside?

Most internet warriors are scared of there own shadow.

[PTP]

Because it's nice to see reasoned debate rather than the feet-stamping , dummy-spitting nonsense that prevails in the LFC forum at the minute.

to be fair it is, thats why i have left it here as it's the only reasonable debate going on

[SNFT]

I think this makes my point. The poison is creeping in. Its coming from somewhere - do people really think there is no relation to the anger in the chatrooms and the anger outside?

There's always been anger outside since i've been going the match week in - week out. And that was back in 1979, so i notice no difference, particular when the manc ****s are concerned.....:whatever:

[tomasjj]

On the other hand, there is less violence now right?

[red g]

On the other hand, there is less violence now right?

do you want a fight about that?

[Diggeragain]

On the other hand, there is less violence now right?

I'm afraid it's only a matter of time before that changes. A lot of people here seem to be really reluctant to imagine that they have any responsibility for any real consequences outside. I think there is a connection - we help create a climate where anger and abuse is seen as a normal part of our passion for our teams. It matters

[Venton]

I'm sorry I don't know what that means...

Another part of the site downstairs for more intellectual types of debate. I smoke a pipe when I'm looking at it, it's that clever down there.

[Nic83]

Your being a bit dramatic pal. Relax a bit, having critics is good for managers and players, keeps them in their place. Otherwise they wouldnt try.
Nobody is seriously abusing players. Just stating the obvious which is that some of them are crap.

Hopefully Voronin pays attention to the slagging and quits though