Re: The second comming : Fri May 18, 2012 10:07 am  

[quote="Claytoa"]Cougars fans always need someone to have a go at and Barnett currently seems to be that man. It wont be long before he is hounded out like Alex Brown and Richard Knight were.

I can only speak for myself regarding Richie Barnett .. so here goes! he is an ex super league player who came to us as a flagship signing .. same as Semi, Korki, Sam etc etc . These players dont come cheap so are immediatley put on a platform to be shot at ! While the other big name signings have certainly added their wealth of experience to our game, Barnett has not, the Dewsbury debacle was the icing on the cake for me, He lacks confidence under a high ball and in his own ability pacewise. I was staggered to see him in the 17 last night but he put a good workmanlike performance in ... credit to him.
If they are deemed good enough to wear the shirt and dont perform ... then surely they deserve to be given some stick. ALL rugby fans are never backwards coming forwards and players should accept that (it comes with the territory) I think hounding out players is a bit strong ... this is not a witch hunt (well I hope not !!!) PS A superb all round performance last night

Re: The second comming : Fri May 18, 2012 10:27 am  

Players make mistakes and have bad days just like us all. All who have played sport will understand the good and bad days, especially golfers! Barnett is maybe more inconsistent that others, but this could be something that has blighted his career. I wasn't at Dewsbury so I can't really comment, but as I have said before there was more to the loss at Dewsbury than Barnett, or any other player for that matter. I don't think we should single players out as being responsible for defeats etc. Barnett had a solid game last night and credit to him for picking himself up and showing his metal. If as some posters have eluded to Barnett got stick from the off and throughout then I can't personally see any point to that. Maybe as this forum shows, you just can't please some.

Re: The second comming : Fri May 18, 2012 10:55 am  

What's with the crowd last night? 710? I was very surprised to see that figure. I would have expected about 250 more than that. I'm really at a loss to think what will get the people of Keighley and surrounding district down to Cougar Park to support the lads. We have a good team for heavens sake, competing well with the best the Championship has to offer. It's fantastic entertainment at a great price. I can't believe those who didn't turn up were watching it on Premier Sports - who subscribes to that? Not many I'll wager. I hope the club at least gets some TV money....? Perhaps a Sunday afternoon fixture may have attracted a healthier crowd.

Re: The second comming : Fri May 18, 2012 11:11 am  

716 was better than the York crowd for their televised fixture last week ... 476?

Not too many from Swinton though and a Thursday night isn't all that enticing for travelling support, especially when the game is being televised.

I agree though, that if the Keighley public can't support a winning team then who and what will they support especially given the fact that the Cougars are putting so much time and effort into dveloping an interest in the game at junior school level. Looks like it's a one-way effort to me. Isn't it about time that the Cougars started asking questions about what would entice the children who obviously enjoy playing the game into actually coming down to games?

If their parents are too apathetic to attend with their offspring would it be possible to see if a 'school trip' to a game could be organised?

Whatever happens, something needs to be done about coverting effort into crowds.

Re: The second comming : Fri May 18, 2012 12:23 pm  

Maybe they just plain can't afford to come.

Look at the demographics of Keighley at the moment. Lots of unemployment, a lot of hard working class folk struggling to get by, and don't get me started on the chavs.

£14 is a lot of money for some people. Especially when for pretty much the same amount you can take 2 adults and a kid to the cinema for 2 hours entertainment.

Re: The second comming : Fri May 18, 2012 1:03 pm  

i think jd needs a mention had a solid game

Re: The second comming : Fri May 18, 2012 1:08 pm  

I agree with Stealth's comments. I appreciate that a team at this level requires significant funding, however, from a personal point of view I rarely bring the family along in view of the overall cost. I appreciate that there are family season tickets available etc, however, for the average family, the cost of bringing a family of say 2 adults and two children even as a one off is very expensive indeed.

I'm not sure how the prices are set, however my question is, if the prices were lowered to make a family outing to Cougar Park far more affordable, would the increase in attendences more than cover any shortfalls?

Despite feeling that the cost represents good value for money in many ways, I feel that the overall cost is a significant factor in keeping many potential fans away.

I'd be interested to hear people's thoughts........

Re: The second comming : Fri May 18, 2012 1:45 pm  

One area in which i think the Cougars as a club scored a massive own goal this season was with the season ticket system. We were told that the season tickets were to be the booklet type again. Then all of a sudden passport style tickets not allowing the season tickets to be transferrable to others.
I took a friend of mine to Halifax away this season (hes a football fan) but he loved the game but cant afford to watch both , my point is this .... last night was a classic scenario . My brother , a season ticket holder couldnt make the game , if the ticket was transferable my friend could have gone instead with me , brought his daughter so thats money behind the bar a burger, sweets and pop for the child and another potenetial fan for next season. I have on very good authority that the costing of the tickets was not an issue at the time of manufacturing (although i know certain people at the club tried to use this as an excuse at the time when quizzed by supporters), Its little things like this that can attract extra people through the gate and hopefully become fans of the future.

Re: The second comming : Fri May 18, 2012 2:16 pm  

Would be good if the Club could announce now that it will charge just £5 each entrance for the last two home league games of the season. Hopefully wouldn't upset season ticket holders & might encourage waiverers to start attending matches now or at least come to last two home league games and get them fired up to attend the play-off matches. Could attract more away fans as well. Total revenue for those matches may well go up not down.

Re: The second comming : Fri May 18, 2012 3:25 pm  

From the whinging that we see all the time from cougar fans i think we all know people would kick off if that deal was offered. But if they diddnt offer it people would just complain about something else anyway.