Views from the Sieve

Has W.B. got a job yet. .........In football.......Being silly.

DI Mike Dashwood wrote:While on the subject of Saturday and the seats, I am coming round to Arnu and other peoples way of thinking with regards to the TBS stand.

We were sat right above the tunnel on Saturday, and firstly it is a great view. Secondly, the segregation was very "soft". We came in through turnstiles next to the away fans without any issues, and then once inside refreshment facilities and toilet queues contained both home and away fans, with no issues at all. There appeared (couldn't really see) to be some issues with a few away fans while in their seats (damaging some signs) but no issues between the fans.

Now the reason I say all this is, the noise generated from this stand is quite impressive. Am not sure how loud it sounded in the rest of the ground, but from the other end of the stand the away noise sounded good. My little girl was most impressed, jumping around and clapping with the Yeovil chants before I told her to sit down and shout for our lot. By contrast, I am not aware if there was any singing from the sieve, but if there was you couldn't hear it. I have also noticed this from a different angle when sat in the Sponsors Seats (above the dugouts).

Not sure what the Club's plans will be ticketing and segregation wise next Year in Conference, but they should maybe look at this. Not many Teams will bring more than 200 next Year, and so for the most part they could be housed in the BC Stand. And if Braintree for instance bought 250, then an arrangement similar to Saturdays could be put in operation?? It could be of course that due to cost issues the TBS is closed for all but 5 or 6 games next Season, so guess we will have to wait and see.

The issues in the TBS were that the Yeovil fans decided not only to stand, but to stand in the walkway to about half way down the steps. When asked to move by stewards, it looked like they said there wan't enough room, which led to the stewards taking a flag off seats to the centre of the stand, however they refused to move still. After a lot of "we stand where we want" etc. the plod arrived and had another debate with the standing folks then they headed off to the corner of the sieve to drink tea leaving them exactly where they were.

I'm not sure what the point of all that was but it didin't look like anyone was either ejected or actually moved to seats. Having been up there it is pretty steep and standing on the stairway isn't the brightest thing to do. If we are not going to enforce the gangways though I guess we will wait until someone hurts themselves and sues the club.
It was quite gratifying when they scored and one of them went headfirst down the stairs. He got up though. Maybe next time....

After half time they then decided that they should take down the board at the back of the stand which shows the seat numbers and wave this at the stewards, who took it off them and again left them standing where they were. I take it we pay these people to stand and watch supporters vandalise the ground? Given the way some people were jumped on in the sponsors seats at the Barnet game for daring to yell some abuse at the rubbish we were being served up it seems a bit odd that genuinely dangerous behaviour is let go in the away section.

Meanwhile, there was very little noise from the sieve throughout. We also didn't hear anything from the Daggers in the TBS so if you were making a noise it didn't show up against the din the Yeovil fans were making. I think it's the "away" factor as ever. The noisier folk tend to get together on away days whereas at home they get spread out so it rarely gets going unless there is actually something to cheer, which there hasn't been for a while now.

Anyway, I reckon a rethink about how the ground is allocated is due when we go down. It's as likely to be that we shut the TBS altogether as we share it though. Personally I'd allocate most away teams the Barking College stand and open the TBS up to the sieve folks to get a beer and sit if they want to. Back to changing ends?

DI Mike Dashwood wrote:While on the subject of Saturday and the seats, I am coming round to Arnu and other peoples way of thinking with regards to the TBS stand.

We were sat right above the tunnel on Saturday, and firstly it is a great view. Secondly, the segregation was very "soft". We came in through turnstiles next to the away fans without any issues, and then once inside refreshment facilities and toilet queues contained both home and away fans, with no issues at all. There appeared (couldn't really see) to be some issues with a few away fans while in their seats (damaging some signs) but no issues between the fans.

Now the reason I say all this is, the noise generated from this stand is quite impressive. Am not sure how loud it sounded in the rest of the ground, but from the other end of the stand the away noise sounded good. My little girl was most impressed, jumping around and clapping with the Yeovil chants before I told her to sit down and shout for our lot. By contrast, I am not aware if there was any singing from the sieve, but if there was you couldn't hear it. I have also noticed this from a different angle when sat in the Sponsors Seats (above the dugouts).

Not sure what the Club's plans will be ticketing and segregation wise next Year in Conference, but they should maybe look at this. Not many Teams will bring more than 200 next Year, and so for the most part they could be housed in the BC Stand. And if Braintree for instance bought 250, then an arrangement similar to Saturdays could be put in operation?? It could be of course that due to cost issues the TBS is closed for all but 5 or 6 games next Season, so guess we will have to wait and see.

This is a very good point.

I wonder how many families came with young children on Saturday and could hardly see a thing on the terrace I know I could not in my normal spot. The facilities and view that the away end has are what people expect from football these days.We should certainly be using it to its full potential for home fans next season.

Mike, there was no actual singing from the Daggers fans in the TBS to be honest, apart from a few kids singing Digger Dagger in the second half. Oh, and one more point, that Easterly wind meant it was freezing cold in there!!

My point with the noise is that even when the sieve does get some chants going, rare these days, when you are not in the sieve you can hardly hear it. The fans from the Yeovil section on Saturday could be heard from halfway up Rainham Road as I left 5 mins before the end and even though wind was in wrong direction you could still hear it.

I guess the question atmosphere wise would be, would people be willing to move from the sieve on a regular basis and sit together in the TBS?? I think the chance to have a beer and not have to watch the second half would tempt a few, but if they are all downstairs guzzling then they won't be making any noise??

NBDag wrote:

ARNU wrote:
Not trolling.Getting on your nerves a bit maybe.My views are quite consistent.I consistently liked Wayne,then I didn't, then I did again and then I recognised he had to go in December.None of that is against the law and thinking John Still has made things even worse is not only true but you also seem to have recognised it too.Changing your mind isn't a crime.Im sure if we trawl back thru your posts you'd have said something counter to what you believe now in the past.No biggie !

We agree Wayne had to go,we agree Still hasn't done anything to improve matters.

I don't care if you agree with me or not....just cant help noticing that you do.

Well deliberately trying to wind people up is trolling... And I wouldn't go as far to say it's getting on my nerves. Can you see what you're saying haha? Saying you consistently liked Wayne and then didn't and then did again isn't being consistent. If that was a joke it is quite funny but if it's not then it's even funnier. Can't hide from the fact that what you do say cracks me up sometimes.

I never said bringing Still in has made things worse I only said it hasn't made things better.

This isn't really going anywhere is it ? My overall view is well documented.I just had a better tolerance of Wayne than others.It would have been nice if Stilly had pulled us out of this mess but im quite sure he hasn't and wont.

The original thrust of this thread was a little nod at those who thought and said it would be all sunshine when Wayne went.It isn't is it ?

I said early in the game to my group that Yeovil had come to roar their team on to a win despite their horrific season, whereas our lot were all nervously wringing their hands waiting for the inevitable.

I'm not sure if the action on the pitch reflected this or if it was an unhappy coincidence but we looked timid whilst they looked to take charge. I'm not saying the effort wasn't there but maybe a bit of belief was missing.