Topic: Chris Bascombe column

[treble2001]

As per usual brilliant, I think anyway

There was one heck of a shock in store for everyone by full time at Portman Road on Saturday.

No, it wasn't the fact Liverpool's ability to play attacking football was finally being acknowledged.

It wasn't because the Reds played well without Jari Litmanen on the pitch (sorry Jari!).

It wasn't even the idea that Liverpool can score six and threaten even more without the winger everyone's been demanding.

The surprise was much greater. Looking around the stadium, no-one could believe there were so few empty seats around. Despite being played off the park, the Ipswich fans stayed for the entire match and even applauded their side off at the end. Incredible. Has no-one told them fans aren't supposed to behave like this? They've paid good money. They're supposed to boo aren't they?

Put it this way, if Liverpool were ever 6-0 down with a minute to go at Anfield, how many fans would still be in their seats?

Fair enough, it takes a great leap of imagination to picture the Reds anything more than two behind on their own patch at any stage of a match, and the expectations of both clubs are galaxies apart, but it's still a fair question.

Bearing in mind the Reds were booed off just a few weeks ago and they weren't even losing the Ipswich fans deserve a pat on the back for sticking by their lads in the face of humiliation.

Perhaps it's just a reflection of the standards others are prepared to accept which Liverpudlians aren't, but give the good folk of Suffolk the benefit of the doubt.

There are certain fans, not just at Anfield but across the country, who will leave a match five minutes before the end no matter what the situation.

Liverpool could be 3-0, 1-0 or 1-1, and you will find a certain type making an early exit.

The psychological process these people go through would have mystified the Freud dude.

There must be season ticket holders at Anfield who've missed as many goals as they've seen. Without fail, and this is by no means a modern phenomenon, they will zip up their coat jackets at twenty to five and swiftly leave the stadium.

The excuses for this escape range from avoiding the match day traffic (if you don't like traffic jams, heading for a stadium with 40,000 others isn't a good idea is it!), making sure they catch the first bus or taxi outside Anfield or, if the side's played badly, making a point of showing contempt by refusing to stay for the final whistle.

What's particularly annoying in the era of the all seater stadia is that everyone else in the vicinity of the 'twenty to five' crew have to pay for this impatience.

Look around Anfield ten minutes before the end. It's like an impromptu, hot-potch of the Mexican wave is taking place as fans have to stand up and sit down again to make way for the little old man who has to get home for five-o-clock otherwise his tea's in the dog.

Thousands of fans go home with bruised knees as their legs have to bang in front of the seat in front of them every two minutes before half and full-time, allowing twenty to five man to squeeze past. So annoying.

Have a conversation with these guys and they have a completely different view of Liverpool FC history because of all the late goals they've missed.

They'll talk about the great championship winning side of 1989 which lost to Arsenal 1-0 in the last game but won on goal difference.

Remember those exciting 3-3 draws with Newcastle in the late 1990s? Twenty to five man does.

On a more serious note, Liverpool's victory on Saturday means they have won more away matches than home this season.

This is not a coincidence because the away support is, at a rough estimate, 20,000 million times better than anything the players experience at Anfield.

Having had the good fortune to travel and see every Liverpool match home and away this season, I can state with authority the travelling Reds are not only epitome of everything the club's fans have come to represent, they are also louder, wit tier and more supportive than any visiting fans who come to Anfield.

So it's a great shame that the Reds now only have four away league matches left and the remaining seven are at home.

Technically, this should be an advantage, but it isn't. The Liverpool away fans are worth a goal start to the players. The home atmosphere, in recent times, has been a hindrance, simply because the minority of whingers are heard louder than the rest.

That's not to say it can't change. With the Premiership trophy a realistic goal, wouldn't it be refreshing if the example of those travelling Reds was followed by the everyone?

Just for the sake of seven games, the moans and groans when things go wrong could be put on hold. All complaints could manifest themselves in a nasty letter rather than the booing of players.

You never know, on such small details the title could be decided.

And sticking with the players beyond the disappointment of temporary setbacks, which could still occur between now and May, isn't too unreasonable a request to make is it? Ask Ipswich fans.

[Steve C]

Spot on as per usual.

If the home bunch were anything like the away lot this season, I think it could (would) have made a difference.

[TheKid.]

Well written; witty, clever, and above all, bang on the money!!

I've been sayin to all me mates about how many Liverpool fans would have stayed if WE'D have been six down, very few indeed!!

Come on Reds, get right behind 'em and cheer 'em on to the title!!

[Mottman]

I've only ever once left a match early, that was Arsenal away years and years ago early 70's. They beat us 2.0, we had 100's of nut cases behind us and it just got too hot to handle.

Highbury station flowed with blood, from both sides, not a happy memory.

[redtel]

We sit lower Cent. kop end near  corner-flag , and have same 2 blokes leave at 4.40 every game, which is bloody annoying when we all have to stand up and get interrupted view.

Think we should all have a word with people who leave ,especially if its 1-1 or similar and tell them to support the team to the end.I am gonna do this now . As Chris says , it could just make the difference. Cant see the point in going early.  :but:

[Paul]

Chris was spot on as he always is. Best sports writer in the country  

And BTW, I have never left early and never will (not even at Stamford Bridge). The closest I have come to leaving early was Villa at home this season when we were getting the piss taken at the end, but I decided to just look at the floor instead.

[Steve C]

Stayed to the end always. Even @ Soton away when I was gutted with the way we played (well the effort we put in really), and the crap support in the away bit.

And Chelsea away I was gutted, but still proud of how we'd played and supported the team.

YNWA

[Paul Tomkins]

We sit lower Cent. kop end near  corner-flag , and have same 2 blokes leave at 4.40 every game, which is bloody annoying when we all have to stand up and get interrupted view.

I sit in exactly the same place as you, Roger (row 27), level with the corner flag, and SO many people leave before the final whistle. Why? Do these same people leave films just when things start getting interesting? If you've got a long drive home (as we do) then why drive all that way just to miss the best bit?

[KFC]

Next time when you see this just tell them to pay a bit of respect to the players and all the other fans.  They should be ashamed of themselves.

[Anthony]

Or, even better, why not print out the article and discretely leave it on their seats for when they arrive.

I don't get to Anfield often - I can't afford the fare up too often and planning for a match is becoming more and more of an exercise in military logistics taking  weeks prior to the game. Therefore, when I do go I want my money's worth - no difference there to a lot of travelling supporters you say - but I mean that I want to be there from the beginning right through to the end. I want to see Anfield fill up, I want to join in with the singing before the match, I want to sing YNWA, I want to see *every* minute of the match, I want to see the players off at the end and I want to see Anfield empty while I digest what I have seen (I think I was the last supporter off the Upper Anny Road against Barcelona!).

I'll take a stroll around the perimeter and see the day winding down. I'll wander round to the player's entrance and see if there's anybody coming out (although I'm probably a bit old now to be clambering over everybody for autographs...). Now that I've met some people from this site I might go into the Albert now as well.

Funnily enough, I don't have any problems with traffic jams, bus queues or catching a taxi (although Barca was a bit tight for getting back in time for the coach!) - the road is clear by the time I'm ready to leave. So why leave early? Is it because you know the next time you will be back? Because you take it for granted that you will be back? Or because, at the end of the day, supporting Liverpool "just isn't worth the hassle".