Do we have an unrealistic sense of "entitlement"?

h_m_boro said:
I think a lot of our fans would be happy if we played some decent football, players put a shift in and they could see what was supposed to be happening on the pitch. If there were 6 better teams, so be it. Tried, but not quite good enough.

What our fans don't like - apart from the above - is a manager who b*llsh*ts and makes out the fans are clueless. Creates a discord which is very hard to come back from.
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This is often said but rarely turns out to be true. Fans always want more. There is nothing wrong with this by the way.

If we got in to the playoffs with boring football people would moan.

If we played great football but finished 7th every year people would moan.

I think, this season, it's a bit early to say Wilder is BS'ing us. I think he's been honest the last couple of weeks.
 
I think the fans are pretty realistic to be fair - we’re certainly not as deluded them two up the road. Expectation, or should that be optimism, is usually high because most pre seasons are filled with promises and whispers about big signings and really going for it. This summer there was definitely a buzz about challenging strongly with a new front two who’d smash 30 plus goals in between them, fed by our dazzling wingbacks. Well we did get one good forward in, albeit on loan, but that other big forward signing never arrived and of course we lost our best midfielder and never replaced him. All that early optimism has quickly faded with the realisation that the club have failed once again to get the players needed in place.
It’s so frustrating following this club - they build your hopes up every year then let you down after sucking you in with a great sales pitch 😳
 
I supported Boro when we were in the old Second Division for about 20 years and believed we were second rate. The only connection with first class football came when I watched David Coleman or Kenneth Wolstenholme presenting on TV.
We were given appetisers of the big time when Clough, Peacock and others were picked for internationals.

Big Jack and Robbo gave us further tastes of the big time, but with only 1 season from 13 up there with the big lads I think we are settling in as the NE’s third best team and it’s looking increasingly like our main aim this season is not landing in the third tier for the third time.
 
I think most Boro fans 'expect' that we'll be there or thereabouts for playoff places and might trouble automatics under the right circumstances.

I honestly don't think that with Wilder as manager, and a semi decent squad, that this expectation is too far off.

I certainly don't think we have a right to be in the premier league, not in the way I hear fans of other ex-premier league teams talk about their clubs.

But promotion aside, I expect us to not whimper to a home draw against Rotherham, nor to be 3-0 down at home to Cardiff by half time.

There's expectations and there's expectations. We are underperforming by any measure at the moment IMO
 
We were talking about this last night. The "problem" such as it is to me is that we were really good, and within recent memory as well. Not just Norwich, Bournemouth good - we were West Ham, Spurs good. Established Premier League, genuinely world class players, trophies, comfortable mid and upper finishes.

I still struggle to see how we piddled that away to the extent that we're now a middling Championship team that looks as far away from promotion as it ever did. But we did. This is not a great division by any stretch of the imagination. A lot of very average teams, and a couple of very good teams who'll lock up automatic by February. I mean, if we did get promoted by a fluke this season, I'd bet we'd come straight back down. That's partly the nature of the game these days, and partly because we've royally ****ed it up since Eindhoven.

So sorry if I wonder why I'm watching a scuffing 0-0 draw on a Saturday night against - with all respect - Rotherham, where we have players who really don't deserve to be first choice. We've been sliding into irrelevance for a decade and a half now. And it really didn't need to be that way.
 
Jedi boro said:
No we were 7th last year so we expect continuity if nothing else.

there’s no entitlement at all it was a disgrace wilder said such a thing.
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Former Premier league manager of the year, £10m on players and another £10m in the kitty.

That being said.. we haven’t replaced Tavernier
 
Lottowyn said:
I supported Boro when we were in the old Second Division for about 20 years and believed we were second rate. The only connection with first class football came when I watched David Coleman or Kenneth Wolstenholme presenting on TV.
We were given appetisers of the big time when Clough, Peacock and others were picked for internationals.

Big Jack and Robbo gave us further tastes of the big time, but with only 1 season from 13 up there with the big lads I think we are settling in as the NE’s third best team and it’s looking increasingly like our main aim this season is not landing in the third tier for the third time.
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Excellent post.
Boro's longest period of mediocrity was from 54-74 when we had 20 consecutive years outside the top flight.
We've had awful short spells of absence from the top flight, but this spell of 13 seasons out of 14 outside the top flight, is the mirror opposite of the previous 14.
It is also the worst run in our history other than that 20 year spell.

We have no divine right to be a top flight club, but the facts are that we have been more often than not.
The support base doesn't expect to be permanently top flight, but they expect much much better than 1 season in 14.

I genuinely believe our fanbase is too accommodating, too allowing; are almost deferential to Gibson.
Gibson is not (or should not be) the Club.
 
Jedi boro said:
No we were 7th last year so we expect continuity if nothing else.

there’s no entitlement at all it was a disgrace wilder said such a thing.
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Hi Jedi.
Im not certain he spoke of "entitlement".
Every Manager and player has repeated the "where we belong" narrative.
Im thinking more of us as fans.
Do we have a kind of arrogance and expectation that we should be there?
 
Gains said:
The problem is, if we eventually get promoted and the fans are united at finally getting where we want to be, the same fans who you're talking about will be shouting for the manager to be sacked and Gibson to sell because we're fighting PL relegation. It's just the nature of the majority of Boro fans who think they know better than people who are far more qualified than them.
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There is a growing realisation in the fan base that it isn't all the fault of the succession of managers that have been appointed; that actually the "king" who makes all the decisions has spectacularly failed and is perhaps the real issue.

If we are not going to compete, it is only a matter of time before we are relegated, not promoted.

Let's have this right. The club is in the current unsaleable position because of Gibson's decisions since 2006.
We can't move on from him because of the financial state he has got the club into, unless he writes off the Group undertakings and converts the debt to equity, or at least the vast majority of it.
He won't do that, so nobody else will take on his mess.
There's that and his remarkable view that he is the only person who can - and should - run the club.
 
MolteniArcore said:
This is often said but rarely turns out to be true. Fans always want more. There is nothing wrong with this by the way.

If we got in to the playoffs with boring football people would moan.

If we played great football but finished 7th every year people would moan.

I think, this season, it's a bit early to say Wilder is BS'ing us. I think he's been honest the last couple of weeks.
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It wasn't aimed at Wilder per se - we've had a few managers who thought they knew everything, and fell short.

Currently the performances, tactics and results leave a lot to be desired hence the fans frustrations.

Of course all fans won't be happy whatever - we could play like 1970 Brazil for 46 games, and fans would still complain that we conceded a few sloppy goals (despite winning 6-2).

There is a gulf appearing between manager and fans, started last season after the Burnley link, and has continued with 4 wins in 18.
I hope everything calms down, the performances improve and the wins come - but based on his inflexibility setting up, favourites and squad we have (midfield) I'm a bit concerned as to where this is going.
 
h_m_boro said:
There is a gulf appearing between manager and fans, started last season after the Burnley link, and has continued with 4 wins in 18.
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It really has people can dismiss it all they want but something has definitely changed even his demeanour in interviews. Results back this up as well.

Look at Preston away on the final day.
 
The thing is we probaly spent more on signing hoppe to play for the u21s than the cost of assembling that Rotherham squad last night
 
I dont think our fans have an unrealistic sense of entitlement. Expectations come with big signings and the perceived strength of the team/squad.

We finished 7th last season with some gaping holes in the starting 11. We seemed to have solved and filled those holes. New keepers, attacking threat on the left wing, a left footed centre back ect. Despite that we seemed to have regressed and its deeply frustrating.
 
Mfc79 said:
I dont think our fans have an unrealistic sense of entitlement. Expectations come with big signings and the perceived strength of the team/squad.

We finished 7th last season with some gaping holes in the starting 11. We seemed to have solved and filled those holes. New keepers, attacking threat on the left wing, a left footed centre back ect. Despite that we seemed to have regressed and its deeply frustrating.
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We needed the midfield addressing, at least 2 CMs brought in. More speed, athletic types who could run about the pitch for 90 mins, get stuck in and wouldn't be bullied.

We sold Tav.
 
I don't believe I do. I thought we would have a chance of the playoffs. Possibly top half but not in the relegation zone.
If we stay there too long I would be happy to see Wilder go.
 
Zoophonic said:
All fans do Roofie. Not just us. Just read messageboards of other clubs who are struggling. They are full of fans wanting (and demanding) so much more for their clubs
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Im not so sure "all fans" have "unrealistic" expectations.
The question is do "we" have a sense of entitlement?
Our history proves differently.
 
I don't know roofie. What I do know is some of the language used to describe custodians of the club are childish in the extreme and afforded through the, seeming, anonymity of social media. Someone on another thread said that the way Gibson had run the club its largely dog *****. Lovely fella.

We probably live in an age of entitlement more generally, football aside. Social media gives a platform to people when 20 years ago they would be getting ignored down the pub.
 
This sense of ‘entitlement’ is purely based on what Wilder came out with after Preston. That’s it. Personally I’d have been perfectly content competing for promotion, but we were promised that we’d be turned from a possibility to probability. An so far, he hasn’t delivered anything but discord and disharmony.

It’s him. He’s so far up his own **** it’s ridiculous.
 
I hope now others can see why I was so angry at those accepting a relegation threatened season.

We are now 6 th.
 
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