Quote Originally Posted by the_anticlough View Post
The atmosphere against MK was different gravy. It wasn't the Meadow Lane we know. Hating Crowley was fun.

How can we get that level of passion more often, cos it really adds to the match day experience.
Sad to say, we probably have to go up a league or two to build some proper rivalries

Another point is the media training and everyone playing it so safe all the time. Managers only praise other teams, nobody ever says anything controversial to avoid winding up the opposition.

Example, if Maynard says he hates Karl Robinson, Salford are a bunch of time-wasting cheats and Robinson hits back, the atmosphere in the play-off games would be turned up 10 notches on the dial. But they won't. I guess there's still the danger of fans kicking the sh** out of each other. So it's back to a society-thing, we deserve the library, morgue-type atmospheres we get because we're too dumb collectively to just enjoy sports without overstepping into actual violence.
It’s pretty clear that a passionate, up-for-it crowd will have an effect on the players of both sides - some will thrive on it, others will shrink away from it. What’s also pretty clear is that being in a vibrant stadium is a lot more fun than sitting in library-esque silence. A good match day atmosphere adds to the fun and also makes it more a more enticing experience for neutrals - it’s like a gig where lots of people are jumping around and singing along, rather than merely applauding politely between songs.

Maybe having the safe standing section will help next season?