How representative is GOT

[technojoe]

We'll have to disagree on this mate, though I appreciate I'm likely in the minority.

I'm "local", support Everton because I had no choice and have a season ticket. I also abandon my common sense and pay/volunteer a lot of time for this place. Does all that mean my opinion has any more authority or credence to say, an Evertonian who emigrated to Australia, who gets up at silly o'clock to watch Everton? Or someone who just can't afford to go the game? I don't think so.

All that said, most of the most active posters by post count on this forum go the game.

Interesting.

My point is a forum which allows global input from fans who do/do not attend cannot be truly representative. As you mentioned yes there is a difference between being local and being from the other side of the planet just on culture/environment alone. try getting soaked on priory road to and from the game then go chuffing your stuff online when you get home and think it matters at all. I dunno just my 2 cents.

 

[Lanolin]

Interesting.

My point is a forum which allows global input from fans who do/do not attend cannot be truly representative. As you mentioned yes there is a difference between being local and being from the other side of the planet just on culture/environment alone. try getting soaked on priory road to and from the game then go chuffing your stuff online when you get home and think it matters at all. I dunno just my 2 cents.

See I'm actually the opposite.

If I watch a game at home/the pub I tend to find it a lot easier to go 'ah well, rubbish but nevermind' and just get on with my day. If I've done a 400 mile round trip, stood in the cold/wet, spent a couple of hundred quid etc, I find that I take the whole thing much more personally, as if the club has somehow affronted me by not producing the goods when I've gone to all that trouble to support them. Obviously it's irrational, but I find i'm far more irrational at games than at home.

 

[GrandOldTeam]

Interesting.

My point is a forum which allows global input from fans who do/do not attend cannot be truly representative. As you mentioned yes there is a difference between being local and being from the other side of the planet just on culture/environment alone. try getting soaked on priory road to and from the game then go chuffing your stuff online when you get home and think it matters at all. I dunno just my 2 cents.

The thing is though, what is representative?

Do 30k match going fans (9/10 are season ticket holders) best represent the entire fan base? That's a very small sample isn't it?

I don't think there is a right or wrong answer - I go the game and moan as much as anyone lol

 

[technojoe]

See I'm actually the opposite.

If I watch a game at home/the pub I tend to find it a lot easier to go 'ah well, rubbish but nevermind' and just get on with my day. If I've done a 400 mile round trip, stood in the cold/wet, spent a couple of hundred quid etc, I find that I take the whole thing much more personally, as if the club has somehow affronted me by not producing the goods when I've gone to all that trouble to support them. Obviously it's irrational, but I find i'm far more irrational at games than at home.

LOL! yeah well I vent my spleen at them if they don't show up at full time haha think that's enough for me, however I do come on here for a moan if I can muster the energy!

 

[Eggsyblueskin]

That's my impression too, at the game the frustration is vented to the players, I don't hear much shouting at Sam as it was when RK was here.

You didn't go to Burnley then?

 

[technojoe]

The thing is though, what is representative?

Do 30k match going fans (9/10 are season ticket holders) best represent the entire fan base? That's a very small sample isn't it?

I don't think there is a right or wrong answer - I go the game and moan as much as anyonelol

Yeah I think that's spot on! In fact one thing is for certain; there is something terribly sadistic with any modern Everton fan. How have we endured this bottling gash for so long. Moshiri even hinted he wanted to reward all the fans for their loyalty, said almost with a sigh in an interview not so long ago. Even he knows!

 

[andydgg]

We got a thank you email what more do we want

 

[everton1953]

A good team would be a better idea than a thank you. Replying to the title of the thread, I have been on a number of fans sites and am positive that the more extreme views so often expressed are not representative of the majority. That includes Radio Merseyside phone ins which tend to be a platform for "agenda types" many of whom I am fairly sure are phoning from home and never went to the match they are complaining about. Not saying that about GO,T as I have no idea how many as a percentage go to the home games or away games. However I am positive that everybody is dissatisfied with Big Sam and Everton's rapid decline which began before he came of course. There are better ways of expressing dissatisfaction than some of the insulting language written on here.

 

[Tak]

We'll have to disagree on this mate, though I appreciate I'm likely in the minority.

I'm "local", support Everton because I had no choice and have a season ticket. I also abandon my common sense and pay/volunteer a lot of time for this place. Does all that mean my opinion has any more authority or credence to say, an Evertonian who emigrated to Australia, who gets up at silly o'clock to watch Everton? Or someone who just can't afford to go the game? I don't think so.

All that said, most of the most active posters by post count on this forum go the game.



Sure, opinions on the quality of the food and beverage at Goodison is best from those who go the game.

On performances - often you get a better view of the game on TV than at the back of a stand at Goodison. I know that's true with me anyway but then my seat is a bit rubbish.

Yeah I meant more that not everybody will be watching every game on TV either, so may be going off highlights/what they read etc.

I'd also have to say that while you get a good 'view' of the ball on TV, you don't really get to see everything else that's going on. I'm often surprised by how good/bad a player is when I see them for the first time in the flesh because you see all the off the ball stuff that the TV can't show you. A player could make a brilliant run 10 times in a game but if you're watching it on TV it looks like they've done nothing if the ball never gets to them. Similarly in defence, on TV you might see a cross go into the box and someone get a header on it, but you don't see the full back getting sucked into the middle of the pitch by a dummy runner to create the space, or the centre half slip to allow the striker in ahead of him. Obviously if these things lead to goals you'll get a load of analysis on it, but if not you'll probably never realise it happened. I say this as a sad act who has been known to rewatch games on TV when I get home (only if we win though, so not often).

Good point from both of you there. My take is that the real issue is how to properly define a ‘fan’ and how to measure degrees of ‘fandom’ and how that relates to the significance/worth of their opinions. I mean to say, there is likely no good answer to those problems.

 

[AndyGray]

Are GOT members a statistically valid sample of EFC supporters? Yes.

Are the opinions of the most active members of this board representative of the total supporter base? Statistically no. A small statistically not representative minority make up 50%+ of the posts on here.

 

[Canuck Darryl]

Where are you based Canuck Darryl ? Assuming BC based on the Whitecaps Beardsley photo ....

It's actually a picture of Alan Ball, though Beardsly did put some time in with the Whitecaps, also.

 

[ricer10]

It's actually a picture of Alan Ball, though Beardsly did put some time in with the Whitecaps, also.

Crazy .... I'm sure Beardsley wore 23 as well ....

 

[Deleted member 28206]

On a serious note - offline from
Here I’ve met some proper decent blues, I would definitely say they are representative of the forum.

 

[Canuck Darryl]

Crazy .... I'm sure Beardsley wore 23 as well ....

I had to look it up, Beardsley wore 13.

I've been across to Powell River a couple times to play rugby. Couldn't socialize as much as we would have liked; had to catch the ferry.

 

[marcus]

Are GOT members a statistically valid sample of EFC supporters? Yes.

Are the opinions of the most active members of this board representative of the total supporter base? Statistically no. A small statistically not representative minority make up 50%+ of the posts on here.

This is spot on...