Topic: Atmosphere at Anfield

[Son of Spion]

Was absolutely shite last night - worst I've seen it in 30 or 40 years. Pathetic.

Legends are made because of the reactions of people. A quarter final at Anfield would normally be a cauldron of passion and noise.

I'm wondering if this 'protest' has fucked all that. Atalanta and their fans must be waking up this morning thinking this 'famous' European atmosphere is a bag of shite and a joke. Once that becomes common knowledge and people know it's just a laughable scam then can you ever get it back?

Absolute fucking wank last night. Embarrasing. It felt like the players were affected by it too - if the fans don't give a shiny shite then why should we?

We've going to get fucked on Sunday if the Kop are as fucking bollocks again then. If you're going to protest then do it  right - give your ticket to someone that wants to be there and wants to get behind the team.

It's always been said that our crowd reacts to what's on the pitch. It's often also been said that the players feed off the crowd. It feels like a mutual thing. When the two come together, the magic happens.

It just felt that both were complacent last night. Both crowd and players maybe fed off each other's apathy, leaving Atalanta to dance through the tumbleweed almost at will.

I might be well off on that, but that's just the feeling I got from last night.

[Redley]

Wow....there are other ways and times to protest. Ones that don't affect the team during an important European tie, or league game.
Accepting a defeat, that more than likely ends our participation in a prestigious European competition is strange too.

Football hasn't become too expensive overnight. There are more appropriate ways to get the message through to the owners.

If you're looking to make a point by protesting something, you don't sit around a table and try to find the least impactful way to do it. Its like people stuck in traffic jams saying they'd support protests against global warming a lot more if they weren't impacting them on their commute. Course you would, or more likely....you'd give a lot less of a shit.

[MH41]

If banners made such a difference, how do you explain the Sheff Utd game then? The banners were out, the surfer banners in both the Kop and the SKD lower were out, scarves were out, YNWA got blasted out and yet Sheff Utd could and should have scored on 34 seconds and we were dogshit slow until the subs woke them up.

last night is 100% on Klopp and the team, they in the main had an absolute stinker, it happens. Its not Spion Kop 1906's fault, its the players.

But we won that game. There was no negativity throughout the 90 minutes.

I respect everyone's opinion. And the lack of flags might be being overplayed today, in all our frustration.
Mine is that you do nothing that might affect your team's performance during the 90 mins. Marginal gains etc

[rob1966]

It's always been said that our crowd reacts to what's on the pitch. It's often also been said that the players feed off the crowd. It feels like a mutual thing. When the two come together, the magic happens.

It just felt that both were complacent last night. Both crowd and players maybe fed off each other's apathy, leaving Atalanta to dance through the tumbleweed almost at will.

I might be well off on that, but that's just the feeling I got from last night.

St Etienne, Spartak Moscow in 1992,are 2 games I can think of where there weren't banners, but the noise was immense. I didn't go the St Etienne game, but I could hear the Kop from by Walton church, walking to the ground for Spartak, we could hear the Kop from Walton Hall Park. Chelsea 2005, there wasn't the same number of banners as now, but the whole ground was up for it from well before KO. The banners add to the atmosphere, but at the end of the day, its up to the 57,000 home fans to open their fucking mouths and SING AND SHOUT

[Red_Mist]

I wasn't and don't though, so you needn't have directed your post at me as it wasn't what I've been saying anywhere in here.

Sorry I thought you were one of the one who had implied that. Can’t be arsed reading back! My mistake.

We’ll agree to agree then!

I think a good response from the Kop would be to keep the flag protest going (obviously next game is a bit different given the date so there quite rightly will be appropriate flags) and create a good atmosphere regardless.

[rob1966]

But we won that game. There was no negativity throughout the 90 minutes.

I respect everyone's opinion. And the lack of flags might be being overplayed today, in all our frustration.
Mine is that you do nothing that might affect your team's performance during the 90 mins. Marginal gains etc

Not due to the pre match banners though, it was Elliott, Robbo and Jones coming on that turned that game, the players were so lethargic until 70 odd mins.

Sorry I thought you were one of the one who had implied that. Can’t be arsed reading back! My mistake.

We’ll agree to agree then!

I think a good response from the Kop would be to keep the flag protest going (obviously next game is a bit different given the date so there quite rightly will be appropriate flags) and create a good atmosphere regardless.

This is it, we didn't have banners in the 70's and 80's, we just made noise (when we could be arsed and that's the issue)

[SamLad]

In 2016, when fans left on 77 minutes, we were 2-0 up. Game ended 2-2.

Do you think it was worth it then? Last night wasn’t so extreme, but who knows the difference it makes longer term when decisions are being made.

by your logic, fans should protest and hope we lose - that'll teach FSG a lesson. 
maybe they'll reduce prices in that situation, so  we should do it over and over!!

ffs.

[Macc77]

I didn't want to stick my nose in on the banners front but seems others have said what I have thought for a while. The flags and banners have multiplied in recent years (IMO) as an attempt to try and create something that has been diluted over the years. As the audio decreased the visual increased to try and make up for it and to try and maintain the aura and appearance of a ground and an atmosphere that is still special. To some extent it has worked, but for the 90 minutes those banners are down and gone, and in the moments this crowd has really punched its weight in recent years it's been spontaneous emotion and a spark that has ignited the place, not pre-match rituals or banners. So, I'm on both sides of the debate. I love the flags and banners, they paint a picture of our history, our culture, our unique city, our passion in a really direct way for all to see, but as a few others have said, we never had nearly as many when the Kop was truly famous. It became famous for the noise not the colour, and I think we've attempted to make up for the lack of noise with a bit more colour.

[Son of Spion]

St Etienne, Spartak Moscow in 1992,are 2 games I can think of where there weren't banners, but the noise was immense. I didn't go the St Etienne game, but I could hear the Kop from by Walton church, walking to the ground for Spartak, we could hear the Kop from Walton Hall Park. Chelsea 2005, there wasn't the same number of banners as now, but the whole ground was up for it from well before KO. The banners add to the atmosphere, but at the end of the day, its up to the 57,000 home fans to open their fucking mouths and SING AND SHOUT

I was at both the St. Etienne and Spartak Moscow games.

I'm with you regarding the noise. I never shut up when I was on the Kop. My primary reason for being on there was to make noise and bring colour.

[FlashGordon]

by your logic, fans should protest and hope we lose - that'll teach FSG a lesson. 
maybe they'll reduce prices in that situation, so  we should do it over and over!!

ffs.

Or, boards and players could stop being greedy c*nts and there'd be no need for any protests.

[SamLad]

Klopp has 3 games left at Anfield (hopefully 4).
Why not think of a more appropriate avenue and time to protest, and give Klopp the send off he deserves?
Take the battles against the owners outside the 90 minutes of a game.

100% correct.

[smutchin]

Wow....there are other ways and times to protest. Ones that don't affect the team during an important European tie, or league game.

If a protest is justified and needed, then it should be held at the time and place where it will be most noticed and have most impact. Otherwise what's the point?

As has been said several times already, this kind of protest is a last resort and isn't undertaken lightly. The fans don't want to see the team suffer by their actions but they need to draw the line somewhere. It's disappointing for all of us that it has come to this but the responsibility is with the club for their failure to engage with the supporters' groups.

[rob1966]

Or, boards and players could stop being greedy c*nts and there'd be no need for any protests.

I was at both the St. Etienne and Spartak Moscow games.

I'm with you regarding the noise. I never shut up when I was on the Kop. My primary reason for being on there was to make noise and bring colour.

Really jealous I wasn't at St Etienne, we knew the Reds had scored as we heard the roar, what a night. Spartak was a great atmosphere, right up until they scored 

[SamLad]

Or, boards and players could stop being greedy c*nts and there'd be no need for any protests.

so ... FSG should stop paying competitive salaries .... so we won't sign top players ... and we'll win less, or nowt .....

great plan.

[rob1966]

100% correct.

You've seen it all, what do you reckon makes a difference, the banners being waved for a few minutes, or a rendition of YNWA sung by 57,000 and then 90 mins of noise?

I feel like the lack of banners is being used as an excuse for a shit atmosphere and the players being wank on the night. The team didn't have a load of banners when they won 5-0 in Bergamo.

so ... FSG should stop paying competitive salaries .... so we won't sign top players ... and we'll win less, or nowt .....

great plan.

EVERY club should reduce salaries, the PL wage bill is well over £2 BILLION a season

[killer-heels]

so ... FSG should stop paying competitive salaries .... so we won't sign top players ... and we'll win less, or nowt .....

great plan.

The gate receipts make up a small proportion of our general income doesnt it?

[rob1966]

The gate receipts make up a small proportion of our general income doesnt it?

Think its about £80 million. The rise only brings in a very very small additional amount, but for people struggling to go as it is, it's a huge amount to have to find.

[Lisan Al Gaib]

Maybe SOS should open themselves up for more questioning about situations like this. I don't believe they represented the fan base well here, which is their primary objective.

92% of member surveyed by SOS want them to campaign to reduce ticket prices so yeah they're representing their members extremely well right now

[Lisan Al Gaib]

They are doing it again on Sunday.

I fully expect us to lose that game.

They aren't. They'll be having the Hillsborough flags out on Sunday and I think we can all agree that that'll be the right course of action to take

[mattyyt]

so ... FSG should stop paying competitive salaries .... so we won't sign top players ... and we'll win less, or nowt .....

great plan.

One of the lads on The Anfield Wrap mentioned that the price rise would be equivalent to each player in the 25 man squad taking a pay cut of 40k a year. Salah earns £18.2m annual base salary, for reference. It’s peanuts to the millionaires that us working class folk pay to watch. 

[Lisan Al Gaib]

Ah., ok, so it wasn't the lack of flags and the protest that contributed to the atmosphere being flat, it was just fans couldn't be arsed? With a Europa League Quarter final in Klopps final season? Ok, got ya.

Yeah people couldn't be arsed. Evidenced by the number of people on here saying they aren't arsed by the Europa League and by the sheer amount of completely new faces around me in my ACS spec where I know the other specs are ACS as well. We're talking around about 20 just from the faces I know who have been to different games and now didn't show to last night. Evidenced again by a lad posting on Twitter about how he took his 3 year old to his first ever match because he got a ticket off someone who couldn't be arsed to go to this game. So yeah, people couldn't be arsed with a Europa League Quarter final in Klopps final season.

[Lisan Al Gaib]

so ... FSG should stop paying competitive salaries .... so we won't sign top players ... and we'll win less, or nowt .....

great plan.

Please do tell me how a ticket rise that is going to add circa £1m per year onto a turnover over circa £600m a year is going to allow the club to pay a competitive salary and sign top players when it doesn't even cover 1 month of Salah's wages?

[Lisan Al Gaib]

Wow....there are other ways and times to protest. Ones that don't affect the team during an important European tie, or league game.
Accepting a defeat, that more than likely ends our participation in a prestigious European competition is strange too.

Football hasn't become too expensive overnight. There are more appropriate ways to get the message through to the owners.

When is the right time to protest then?

[Yorkykopite]

St Etienne, Spartak Moscow in 1992,are 2 games I can think of where there weren't banners, but the noise was immense.

There were loads of banners against St Etienne - probably the greatest number that had ever been on the Kop until that point. That season was indeed 'the season of the banner'. There were quite a few against Zurich as well and absolutely loads for the home games v Man United, Man City, Ipswich and West Ham. I doubt in terms of sheer numbers of flags that the West Ham game has ever been exceeded. Maybe Norwich on the last day. That's all.

[rob1966]

There were loads of banners against St Etienne - probably the greatest number that had ever been on the Kop until that point. That season was indeed 'the season of the banner'. There were quite a few against Zurich as well and absolutely loads for the home games v Man United, Man City, Ipswich and West Ham. I doubt in terms of sheer numbers of flags that the West Ham game has ever been exceeded. Maybe Norwich on the last day. That's all.

Like I said, I've only seen it on telly and I don't remember organised banners like SK 1906 and the other lads take. What I do remember was being able to hear the crowd from 2 miles away though

[MH41]

When is the right time to protest then?

I have mentioned above, the right time is outside the 90 minutes of a match.

If you were to go by some poster's opinions, the best opportunity would be our final home game of the season, with still a chance of winning the title. Last night's game was every bit as important.

There is an appropriate time and place. During an important football match is not that, in my opinion.

[rob1966]

I have mentioned above, the right time is outside the 90 minutes of a match.

If you were to go by some poster's opinions, the best opportunity would be our final home game of the season, with still a chance of winning the title. Last night's game was every bit as important.

There is an appropriate time and place. During an important football match is not that, in my opinion.

You don't need banners being waved, before kick off, to create an atmosphere for 90 minutes, you just need people who want to make a noise in the ground. the 57000 there last night could have all turned up with scarves if they wanted colour.

We got beat last night because the players on the pitch didn't perform. All this banner stuff is just smoke and mirrors to cover up an absolutely abject performance.

[RainbowFlick]

Must be just some mad co-incidence that this was the shittest I've ever heard Anfield in any game I've ever been to.

Even when we have played lower level conference sides in the cups or shit league teams when there was nothing to play for, the atmosphere was ten times better than it was last night.

The kop was completely silent for most of the games - they managed a couple of half verses here and there.

I'd guess the protest had an impact. But what do I know. Obviously everyone protesting, not bothering to support the team was just one of those things then?

it was definitely one of the worst i've experienced. with the flags it may have been about 5% better. pretty bizarre that seems to be the focus of frustration for some of our fans. imo a bigger contributing factor is everyone selling on their tickets.

we were complacent, on and off the pitch. i don't think the flags led to that, nor did it lead us to missing chances or creating minimal opportunities. not many really put in a shift in either. Atalanta's manager won against us away again and they played well enough to exploit us.

just feels like some fans are finding the flag protest to be a place to apportion blame. we haven't been great for a few matches now. things aren't clicking.

[Macc77]

I was at both the St. Etienne and Spartak Moscow games.

I'm with you regarding the noise. I never shut up when I was on the Kop. My primary reason for being on there was to make noise and bring colour.

This has got me thinking. I went to the Spartak game, I can remember sitting on the 10 bus predicting we'd win 4-1 with a bunch of scallies who came and sat with us at the back of the top deck. But I can't remember anything about the game other than we got beat.

[Yorkykopite]

Like I said, I've only seen it on telly and I don't remember organised banners like SK 1906 and the other lads take. What I do remember was being able to hear the crowd from 2 miles away though

There was nothing organised, that's true. Flag Days didn't really come in until the late 1980s/early 1990s. But believe me there were hundreds of home-made banners and flags on the Kop v St Etienne. They were much smaller than they are today of course, and much cruder in the way they were made. Some were on single poles, but the biggest were on two. TV footage of the match doesn't do the event justice because there's no film (that I know of) of YNWA before the teams came out. But I can still all the flags in my mind's eye. It was an exhilarating sight and I'm sure raised the atmosphere a notch for everyone there.

[LuverlyRita]

the lack of flags might be being overplayed today, in all our frustration.

Agree with this. The flags are put away before the game anyway and, while they add to the colour of the spectacle, it's the voices that matter most

It's always been said that our crowd reacts to what's on the pitch. It's often also been said that the players feed off the crowd. It feels like a mutual thing. When the two come together, the magic happens.

It just felt that both were complacent last night. Both crowd and players maybe fed off each other's apathy, leaving Atalanta to dance through the tumbleweed almost at will.

I might be well off on that, but that's just the feeling I got from last night.

That's how I saw it too. Everyone was complacent and we failed to show sufficient respect to Atalanta.
Klopp didn't field his strongest side.
One thing that Henderson, as captain, did well is that he so often set the tone and tempo of the game. By way of contrast, Virgil was lackadaisical last night and that spread throughout the team.
The players were bullied off the ball, the final ball was awful, our finishing was poor and our defending was shocking.
None of these things were due to the lack of flags.
In the stands it wasn't much better. There was an idiot in the Main Stand who booed the players off at half time and who hurled dogs abuse at Klopp during the game including calling him a c**t. The only difference a flag would have made to that entitled prick is if we could have rammed one down his throat. It wasn't a voice I recognised and I hope I never hear it again.
Atalanta were the better side on the night, their fans outsung ours, they pressed well, they were fast on the break and they defended solidly. In short they beat us at our own game and they deserved their win. 

[Lisan Al Gaib]

I have mentioned above, the right time is outside the 90 minutes of a match.

If you were to go by some poster's opinions, the best opportunity would be our final home game of the season, with still a chance of winning the title. Last night's game was every bit as important.

There is an appropriate time and place. During an important football match is not that, in my opinion.

The protest was done outside the 90 minutes of a match and didn't happen during the match so it seems the stayed within your own criteria. Perfect!

[Yorkykopite]

Rob - for a sense of what the Kop looked like in 1977, check this out. (The opening minute or so). It's Tommy Smith's testimonial just after we won in Rome. There may not have been quite this many flags on the Kop v St Etienne, but it wasn't that far off. And - yes - it helped generate the extraordinary atmosphere. These were the days when the Kop was Red (Chopper would have hated it!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12mSFeLAcX4

[rob1966]

There was nothing organised, that's true. Flag Days didn't really come in until the late 1980s/early 1990s. But believe me there were hundreds of home-made banners and flags on the Kop v St Etienne. They were much smaller than they are today of course, and much cruder in the way they were made. Some were on single poles, but the biggest were on two. TV footage of the match doesn't do the event justice because there's no film (that I know of) of YNWA before the teams came out. But I can still all the flags in my mind's eye. It was an exhilarating sight and I'm sure raised the atmosphere a notch for everyone there.

I thought it might have been like that. Therefore, those that went last night could have made or bought flags outside the ground from one of the stalls, brought or bought a scarf and made a colourful atmosphere. Instead, they didn't and SK1906 are getting blamed for the crowd and the team being shite.

Agree with this. The flags are put away before the game anyway and, while they add to the colour of the spectacle, it's the voices that matter most
That's how I saw it too. Everyone was complacent and we failed to show sufficient respect to Atalanta.
Klopp didn't field his strongest side.
One thing that Henderson, as captain, did well is that he so often set the tone and tempo of the game. By way of contrast, Virgil was lackadaisical last night and that spread throughout the team.
The players were bullied off the ball, the final ball was awful, our finishing was poor and our defending was shocking.
None of these things were due to the lack of flags.
In the stands it wasn't much better. There was an idiot in the Main Stand who booed the players off at half time and who hurled dogs abuse at Klopp during the game including calling him a c**t. The only difference a flag would have made to that entitled prick is if we could have rammed one down his throat. It wasn't a voice I recognised and I hope I never hear it again.
Atalanta were the better side on the night, their fans outsung ours, they pressed well, they were fast on the break and they defended solidly. In short they beat us at our own game and they deserved their win. 

I'm not going to start picking on individuals, it was the collective, but there was one point 1st half where he sort of jogged after the bought down the left touchline Kop end and got robbed of the ball. This was happening all over the pitch.

[Andy @ Allerton!]

I thought it might have been like that. Therefore, those that went last night could have made or bought flags outside the ground from one of the stalls, brought or bought a scarf and made a colourful atmosphere. Instead, they didn't and SK1906 are getting blamed for the crowd and the team being shite.

I'm blaming you for not wearing your lucky bobble hat in solidarity.

[LuverlyRita]

Wow....there are other ways and times to protest. Ones that don't affect the team during an important European tie, or league game.
Accepting a defeat, that more than likely ends our participation in a prestigious European competition is strange too.

Football hasn't become too expensive overnight. There are more appropriate ways to get the message through to the owners.

There was one banner protesting about ticket prices and perhaps more of the same is the way to go - that way you don't lose the colour but you get your message across. German fans are great at doing this.

[LuverlyRita]

I'm not going to start picking on individuals, it was the collective, but there was one point 1st half where he sort of jogged after the bought down the left touchline Kop end and got robbed of the ball. This was happening all over the pitch.

I wouldn't normally pick on individuals and every player had a mare last night but, as captain, Virgil should be influencing things on the pitch - either vocally or through his own actions and I saw neither.

[rob1966]

I wouldn't normally pick on individuals and every player had a mare last night but, as captain, Virgil should be influencing things on the pitch - either vocally or through his own actions and I saw neither.

Sorry, didn't mean to imply you were, as I thought the same, the Captain needs to get a grip and drive them on.

I'm blaming you for not wearing your lucky bobble hat in solidarity.

I did have my lucky undies on though

[RedDeadRejection]

Perhaps agree to disagree on the flags and move on. We've got some supporting to do. Onwards!!!

[rob1966]

Perhaps agree to disagree on the flags and move on. We've got some supporting to do. Onwards!!!

Those who are going Sunday need to take their scarves or buy one outside, take, make or buy a flag, clear their throats, drink plenty of fluid and shout and sing until they can't sing anymore. The do the same for all the remaining games.