Without a survey of those three thousand supporters, it’s a long shot to say they all felt sufficiently entertained. Some will buy through a sense of loyalty, tradition, obligation, hope, expectation and even a sense of philanthropy. I’m aware of a number of elderly supporters, who sit in fairly close proximity, who’ve berated Micky and a lot of performances, yet have still renewed; it’s in their genetics, a life-long requirement akin to the need to eat, drink and even breath. I guess whatever you do, some will remain dissatisfied and having a good old fashioned moan is a release of the pent up tensions that life bestows upon us; we all know “serial moaners” the Victor Meldrews of this world just as we‘re likely to know so-called “super fans” with their Tranmere duvets and matching curtains; they all have their place, diversity rules!
I’ve parted with £500 to cover my son’s and my own ticket; why? Interesting you should ask. I could add to the list of reasons given above in that, on the whole, my son is keen to go which adds pressure to accommodate his wishes and who doesn’t love avoiding the big shop with the wife on a Saturday!
It was a bit of a strange one v Oldham as he was disinterested, unusual for him, and commented that he didn’t want to go “What’s the point, they get your hopes up just to let you down”; ”Welcome to the world of following Tranmere” I replied “You have to take the good with the bad” reminding him of our recent good times; I also pointed out that we’re not unique in our disappointment and encouraged empathy for the travelling Oldham supporters who will be feeling a whole lot worse. His disappointment is understandable, he’s allowed it and should be encouraged to express his emotions; me tempering with gentle rationale to try to ease his woes eventually persuaded him to come along and he actually enjoyed the occasion, some of that down to the good humour of the Oldham chants “We’re on our way…. and Tequila” went down well (he is still clinging onto the hope we’re still in with a chance after one or two of the other results were kind, but I’m certain more gentle, fatherly comforting will be required come Saturday post-match).
I’m guessing my point is, football’s all about passion, emotion and opinions; we’ll all come at it from different angles, handle adversity differently and have different needs. You could argue that in a Utopian world we’d all be tolerant and accepting of our diverse views………but, the devil in me says scratch that, ain’t that one of the other beauties of football, heated debate!
