Why Are Hibs fans so Mean to their own team?

[spike220]

I follow a few sports and some of teams or individuals I follow are underachievers, but they don't get the abuse dished out so readily by our fans. Why are our fans so mean, is a Scottish thing? is it an Edinburgh thing? Is it because we care more? I cant put my finger on it.

[Saorsa]

No that auld chestnut again.

It's some Hibs fans not all, I dinnae got tae games and boo or abuse player during games. I sometimes find myself sitting with my heid in my hands though. Even if I wanted tae boo I doubt I could be ersed these days such is my indifference now tae what is being played out in front of my eyes.

[wearethehibs]

I dont understand it ether. The game v Utd was horrid, a mis placed pass was met with abuse. I thought we are meant to be supporters, not abusers.

I could understand abuse sometimes, if we are like 3 down with no chance of a come back. But at 1-0 down with lots of the game still left, to abuse the team and manager is stupid imo.

[SlickShoes]

People are fed up paying £25 to watch complete dross.

You could analyze it a lot more but when we are playing well you will notice a lot less moaning, people are entitled to moan at the team, it's not what I choose to do but you can't stop them.

[--------]

I follow a few sports and some of teams or individuals I follow are underachievers, but they don't get the abuse dished out so readily by our fans. Why are our fans so mean, is a Scottish thing? is it an Edinburgh thing? Is it because we care more? I cant put my finger on it.



You could ask why the team are so mean to the supporters, making us watch the sort of crap they do?

[Hiber-nation]

I follow a few sports and some of teams or individuals I follow are underachievers, but they don't get the abuse dished out so readily by our fans. Why are our fans so mean, is a Scottish thing? is it an Edinburgh thing? Is it because we care more? I cant put my finger on it.

It's a myth. In the first half of last season we were grinding out 1-0s in pretty unspectacular fashion but the fans were right behind the team throughout the 90 minutes.

[Ritchie]

It's a myth. In the first half of last season we were grinding out 1-0s in pretty unspectacular fashion but the fans were right behind the team throughout the 90 minutes.

:agree:

[Steve20]

It's simply not true. Considering what we have to watch, there are far less Hibs fans that shout abuse at our players than other fans do at theirs.

I actually think we have got right behing the team in recent years and got nothing back in return. So if anything, we've been far too good to the team.

[Captain Trips]

It's a myth. In the first half of last season we were grinding out 1-0s in pretty unspectacular fashion but the fans were right behind the team throughout the 90 minutes.

It is a myth and excuse, I have been to many matches and sat in with opposite fans and I hear the same stuff I hear when sitting with Hibbies. It is a leveller.

[The Green Goblin]

Ridiculous thread title award of the year

[Golden Bear]

Why are the team so mean towards the fans is an equally relevant question.?

If our bad boys produced the goods on the park more often then they wouldn't be subjected to so much abuse and ridicule from the stands.

[Hibernia&Alba]

I doubt there's anything different in the Hibs support than in every other club. Is there any evidence to support the theory that we are more critical than every other support?

[silverhibee]

I dont understand it ether. The game v Utd was horrid, a mis placed pass was met with abuse. I thought we are meant to be supporters, not abusers.

I could understand abuse sometimes, if we are like 3 down with no chance of a come back. But at 1-0 down with lots of the game still left, to abuse the team and manager is stupid imo.


Really, must have missed that on Saturday.

In general i would say the fans have got behind the team this season, yes there has been some booing but hey ho s*** happens, but lets not start blaming the fans for Hibs playing crap, booing happens at every ground around europe it ain't no new thing that has just happened at Hibs, if it is happening then the players should have the mentality to deal with it.

[PeeJay]

I follow a few sports and some of teams or individuals I follow are underachievers, but they don't get the abuse dished out so readily by our fans. Why are our fans so mean, is a Scottish thing? is it an Edinburgh thing? Is it because we care more? I cant put my finger on it.
I read some of the German club fan forums and they are just like any other fans: when the team is winning, things are sort of OK, when the team is losing they vent their frustration. If the club or the team or or Fenlon or Petrie want things to change: the team has to start playing good football and winning again. It's quite simple really.

[Phil MaGlass]

It's simply not true. Considering what we have to watch, there are far less Hibs fans that shout abuse at our players than other fans do at theirs.

I actually think we have got right behing the team in recent years and got nothing back in return. So if anything, we've been far too good to the team.

this

[LeithBoozy]

Not too long-ago McGee could not walk down the touchline and not get covered in spittle, whilst the Dons fans gave their team it tight. Also remember wee Glegg stating that Falkirk had the most torn faced fans in Scotland and he also said Hibs fans had more reason than most to be angry. So don't think its just us, the old-firm fans want their managers sacked after a couple of defeats FFS.

[basehibby]

I follow a few sports and some of teams or individuals I follow are underachievers, but they don't get the abuse dished out so readily by our fans. Why are our fans so mean, is a Scottish thing? is it an Edinburgh thing? Is it because we care more? I cant put my finger on it.

It's a sticky old chestnut that one - first of all as DD said above, not ALL Hibs fans dish out the abuse - just a vocal minority (something some of the shrinking violets out on the pitch would do well to remember).
But why are that vocal minority so vocal?

A combination of two factors:
1) Poorly managed expectations: Hibs are one of the bigger clubs in Scotland, but we're not THAT big. Hence we SHOULD expect SOME of our players to be real stars. But equally, we should also expect some of our squad to be made up of solid pros, journeymen and young hopefuls.
The louder moaners in our support tend to forget this and basically seem to expect everyone to perform to international standards every week, thus anyone having an off day - or just plain lacking in talent or fitness - will get absolute pelters from this minority, even if it's obvious to other onlookers that they may need encouragement more than anything else.
There are myriad examples of this but a perfect one is David VanZanten - a common or garden SPL Left Back who did a solid if unspectacular job at SPL level for St Mirren for many a season before being drafted in at Hibs to replace one David Murphy. Murphy of course was one of those players who DID perform to international standard on a weekly basis and was rightly a darling of the fans, so DVZ was walking into a tough gig right from the start. He continued in his solid if unspectacular style at Hibs and for this was almost instantly labelled "David Van-Gantin" and subjected to a cauldron of pressure at every home game which must have seen him somewhat relieved to return to a more sympathetic Paisley crowd after a couple of seasons.

2) Near perpetual underachievement and disappointment: Regardless of any inflated expectations, it cannot be denied that Hibs is a club which has chronically underachieved over the last 35 years or so. Despite being among the top 5 best supported teams in Scotland, our league finishes have rarely matched up to the advantages those extra resources have given to successive managers and chairmen.
Over that 35 year period, our closest peers (Dundee Utd, Aberdeen, Hearts and maybe Motherwell) have all won the Scottish Cup at least once and two of the four have won the league with our closest neighbours coming hilariously yet perilously close on one occasion in '86.
Hibs by comparison have won two League Cups but have also been relegated twice and struggled FAR too often with many clubs with a fraction of the resources regularly finishing above us. The last 5-6 years has been particularly frustrating as from a position of relative strength we have seen a continual succession of false dawns with progress on the pitch - the only real marker of success that the fans want to see - a tenuous and fleeting presence as managers have come and gone. Generally a state of affairs which would have a possy of saints chewing each others ears off in frustration.

So... you put the two above factors together and it's easy to see why ER is a tough gig for managers and players alike - BUT it IS actually worth it. Hibs is a tough place to succeed but when it happens the rewards are generally great - most players who do well at Hibs get international recognition and go on to set themselves up for life, and as for managers - they generally seem to do all right post Hibs whether they're successfull or not - recognition perhaps of the challenges the job presents and the valuable lessons learned.

[Carheenlea]

Considering what we have to watch, there are far less Hibs fans that shout abuse at our players than other fans do at theirs.



You think? I have always felt we get on the backs of the players more so than other clubs. Can`t recall too many occasions of witnessing other sides fans barracking their team to the extent we do. Then again, by all accounts Stuart McCall is not very happy with Motherwell`s fans this season so far :dunno:

[Persevere80]

Frustration, pure and simple. Im not a boo boy myself but i sit with someone that is. Watching the malmo game he had a debate with a couple of fans behind him while the game was in play. Nothing wrong with letting your voice be heard in my opinion.

[Hibercelona]

You think? I have always felt we get on the backs of the players more so than other clubs. Can`t recall too many occasions of witnessing other sides fans barracking their team to the extent we do. Then again, by all accounts Stuart McCall is not very happy with Motherwell`s fans this season so far :dunno:

Supporters of other clubs don't put up with nearly as much crap as we do. Every other club at least trys to play football on a consistant basis. We seem to do our best not to.

Every club goes through bad patches. But our club completely takes the biscuit.

I can't tell anybody that i'm a Hibs fan, without them bursting out into a fit of laughter about how pathetic they think we are as a club.

[The Sea-gull]

Don't think we are mean. Sometimes we can be well "bed wetters" and "drama queens" as I think the preferred terms on here are but so can all sports fans.

Some of us go over-board with criticism when we are poor and see things worse than they actually are. By the same token, just as many get a wee bit carried away when we do well and start to think we are better than what we are.

Some posters on here are a bit over sensitive towards Hibs and get a wee bit upset when others come on and have a pop at players or the club, preferring to pretend everything is rosy regardless and start to talk about things like "long term vision" "trust" and "faith". They do it coz they love the club and can't stand seeing anything or anyone connceted to it bad mouthed even if sometimes a lot of what is said is true, they don't want to hear it, acknowledge it or admit it.

Others come on and criticise out of frustration. Again, they do it coz they love the club just as much as the ones who maintain everything in the garden is rosy.

As for players, managers and execs - if they can't take the fact that they and the club will get salughtered when things are not going well then they are in the wrong game. We're not "mean" as a support if things are generally going well on the pitch.

[blackpoolhibs]

Supporters of other clubs don't put up with nearly as much crap as we do. Every other club at least trys to play football on a consistant basis. We seem to do our best not to.

Every club goes through bad patches. But our club completely takes the biscuit.

I can't tell anybody that i'm a Hibs fan, without them bursting out into a fit of laughter about how pathetic they think we are as a club.

That does not surprise me?

[Hibercelona]

Don't think we are mean. Sometimes we can be well "bed wetters" and "drama queens" as I think the preferred terms on here are but so can all sports fans.

Some of us go over-board with criticism when we are poor and see things worse than they actually are. By the same token, just as many get a wee bit carried away when we do well and start to think we are better than what we are.

Some posters on here are a bit over sensitive towards Hibs and get a wee bit upset when others come on and have a pop at players or the club, preferring to pretend everything is rosy regardless and start to talk about things like "long term vision" "trust" and "faith". They do it coz they love the club and can't stand seeing anything or anyone connceted to it bad mouthed even if sometimes a lot of what is said is true, they don't want to hear it, acknowledge it or admit it.

Others come on and criticise out of frustration. Again, they do it coz they love the club just as much as the ones who maintain everything in the garden is rosy.

As for players, managers and execs - if they can't take the fact that they and the club will get salughtered when things are not going well then they are in the wrong game. We're not "mean" as a support if things are generally going well on the pitch.

:top marks

We're as mean as a parent who gives their boy a wee skelp for running onto the road.

We aren't mean, we just care so much about the club. We all want the best for the club and we all react differently when things aren't going well, or we feel the club is in some kind of danger.

We all squabble on here. But we're all fans of Hibs at the end of the day and we just want what we feel is best for the football club.

[Scouse Hibee]

Supporters of other clubs don't put up with nearly as much crap as we do. Every other club at least trys to play football on a consistant basis. We seem to do our best not to.

Every club goes through bad patches. But our club completely takes the biscuit.

I can't tell anybody that i'm a Hibs fan, without them bursting out into a fit of laughter about how pathetic they think we are as a club.

I think there are supporters out there who put up with far more than we ever do, there are teams who have lost their grounds, lost their identity, had name changes forced upon them, seen their club change from their traditional colours, seen their clubs move to new locations etc etc.

We are talking about us not getting it right on the pitch (I know that is what matters most to us) but surely the bigger picture is that we are still far better off than fans of many clubs across Britain.

[Leith Green]

I follow a few sports and some of teams or individuals I follow are underachievers, but they don't get the abuse dished out so readily by our fans. Why are our fans so mean, is a Scottish thing? is it an Edinburgh thing? Is it because we care more? I cant put my finger on it.



Gotta be kidding , right??
Here we go, lets blame the fans again cos our board, manager, and first team squad are useless!

[GreenCastle]

Gotta be kidding , right??
Here we go, lets blame the fans again cos our board, manager, and first team squad are useless!

:top marks

It's anything but the fans fault for the problem we are in.

Next we will be blaming the new dug outs or Rowan Vines beard :rolleyes:

[Hibercelona]

I think there are supporters out there who put up with far more than we ever do, there are teams who have lost their grounds, lost their identity, had name changes forced upon them, seen their club change from their traditional colours, seen their clubs move to new locations etc etc.

We are talking about us not getting it right on the pitch (I know that is what matters most to us) but surely the bigger picture is that we are still far better off than fans of many clubs across Britain.

I certainly don't disagree with any of that.

When I say "put up with more crap than most", i'm talking specifically on the pitch.

We're a club that promotes entertaining, fast flowing football. A club that claims to play football the "right way". However, 9 times out of 10, we're so far off the mark, it's unreal.

For years now, we've been getting out played by clubs a fraction of our size, simply because they know how to show a little competence on the pitch. They're capable of getting the basics right and building a strong team around those basics.

We seem completely incapable of this. When for a club of our size, it should be routine stuff.

[monktonharp]

I follow a few sports and some of teams or individuals I follow are underachievers, but they don't get the abuse dished out so readily by our fans. Why are our fans so mean, is a Scottish thing? is it an Edinburgh thing? Is it because we care more? I cant put my finger on it. Right then, here are the main reasons: and before I give them from my point of view, I think I speak for quite a lot in my age range. 1. we ARE the world's biggest underacheivers, have been for years. this opinion decided from the FACT that we have one of the most loyal fan bases in the UK, maybe only surpassed by Newcastle( not going into attendance numbers ) 2. we are no longer prepared to watch people getting a bloody good wage, for playing a game that most can only dream about, without giving 100% effort. 3. we are fed up being fed "the party line" when it comes to Rod Petrie explaining the way forward for the club we love, or in other words.......Petrie speak. 4. we just cant see the prospect of having better times ahead, before maist o' us are DEID! 5. we have grown up, watching good football at ER, but it's got lost somewhere, added to one of the most important things that kids,friends, relatives etc that we have introduced and persuaded (sometimes coaxed/cohersed/pleaded/demanded.) people we know, to go with us to the holy ground and been embarrassed by what we've seen on many occasions. 6. all this is catching up, with the people in younger groups, who have been stalwarts in our fanbase too. It has got to stop or there will be half the amount of ST holders next year, for a start. if the fans at ER see a team that gives it's all during a match, with a leader amongst the team, they will back the team and not complain in the way you originally questioned.

[The_Exile]

I wouldn't say Hibs fans are bad in that respect, it's the minority, especially on web forums, who shout the loudest, and I'd imagine a few just follow the herd and vent their frustrations, folk around me at the game are very supportive and just want the players to play well. I find the concept of booing your own players utterly reprehensible, why would you boo your own? Even if they're having a bad spell of form, it's so alien to me personally, although I do have a wee moan myself from time to time! Case in point being last week when Lewis got moved to right back, that was more aimed at the wee man being hung out to dry again but he performed admirably. I do go to Junior games a lot and have frequented some lower league teams games, the atmosphere is of pure and unbridled togetherness, it sucks you in. Apologies for lack of paragraphs, for some reason my return button won't work on here!

[Hibernia&Alba]

Supporters of other clubs don't put up with nearly as much crap as we do. Every other club at least trys to play football on a consistant basis. We seem to do our best not to.

Every club goes through bad patches. But our club completely takes the biscuit.

I can't tell anybody that i'm a Hibs fan, without them bursting out into a fit of laughter about how pathetic they think we are as a club.

Let them laugh, mate. There are many, many clubs who would swap places with us, particularly in Scotland. It's no secret we are perpetual underachievers, we all know the stats that are thrown at us. True, for a club of Hibs' size to not have won the Scottish Cup for over a century is nothing short of scandalous, and I can see why fans of the other clubs find it funny. In terms of support and stadium it's all in place, but until we start doing it on the pitch the laughter will continue. Smaller clubs than us constantly outperform us. We're a soft touch, bobbing along in a sea of mediocrity.

[NAE NOOKIE]

I dont think our fans are any worst than most and probably a lot better than some when it comes to this stuff.

For my part I rarely pick on a player who is off form and abuse him from the stands because I cant see how it helps. Unlike some I dont start booing the minute the team goes 1 - 0 down.

What is guaranteed to get me riled against any player is when a guy on £2,000 a week to do his job cant pass the ball within 5 yards of the player 10 yards away he was trying to pick out. When a player gets to the byline and his cross either goes behind the goals or 20 feet over the head of the striker. Players who cant contol the ball and who cant get a shot on target. Players who cant master the basics of movement into space.

I could do these things when I played football, but not anywhere near the standard required to get within a million miles of being a professional football player ..... but I always thought being able to master these skills to a standard above the ordinary was the reason that a few folk become pro footballers and thousands who love the game dont and play pub league. I thought that being given the opportunity to master these skills under past exponents of the art on a full time basis would enable them to get better and better.

Looks like I was wrong.

[le bill]

Because were pish

[Jonnyboy]

Anyone else hear the chanting for ninety minutes by the Dinamo Tbilisi fans as they watched their side get horsed 5-0 by Spurs?

[Golden Bear]

Anyone else hear the chanting for ninety minutes by the Dinamo Tbilisi fans as they watched their side get horsed 5-0 by Spurs?

Positively obscene eh!

[The Green Goblin]

Anyone else hear the chanting for ninety minutes by the Dinamo Tbilisi fans as they watched their side get horsed 5-0 by Spurs?

Boca in Buenos Aires are famous for doing that too. But then Boca are a poor (financially) club who play with nothing but passion for the jersey and who have given their fans plenty in return in recent seasons. Can we really say the same about Hibs in recent years? Some good posts on this thread btw. As a team/club, on the park, there is no sense that we are actually going in any direction except more of the same mediocrity. As a fan, when I had a ST, or when I go to ER on a visit home, I never once booed one of our own players, I just couldn't do that, but because I care a lot about the club, I do feel it's fair to say when I am not happy with how things are going.

[Purple & Green]

I follow a few sports and some of teams or individuals I follow are underachievers, but they don't get the abuse dished out so readily by our fans. Why are our fans so mean, is a Scottish thing? is it an Edinburgh thing? Is it because we care more? I cant put my finger on it.

It's like a self fulfilling prophecy...the worse Hibs perform, the more the fans barrack them, the worse Hibs perform. But, gee whizz, what we've had to put up with these last few years is extremely sare to bear. Would it be better if we gave the team superb backing all the time, regardless? Maybe, but I'm unconvinced.

That said, I really cannot be doing with how some Hibs fans behave - it's not even just barracking the team, would you curse and swear and abuse someone in the street like that?

I don't think so.

[lEXO]

I think there are supporters out there who put up with far more than we ever do, there are teams who have lost their grounds, lost their identity, had name changes forced upon them, seen their club change from their traditional colours, seen their clubs move to new locations etc etc.

We are talking about us not getting it right on the pitch (I know that is what matters most to us) but surely the bigger picture is that we are still far better off than fans of many clubs across Britain.
Spot on :top marks

[Davy Mac]

We need a wee bit of that fella who used to chant in the east on his own "Russell Latapy, Russell, Russell Latapy" - that used to fair cheer me up that

[Purple & Green]

Anyone else hear the chanting for ninety minutes by the Dinamo Tbilisi fans as they watched their side get horsed 5-0 by Spurs?

JC I didn't but what did you think of Tblisi's performance compared to ours v Malmo?

Our performance - by a team composed of a number of extremely able individuals - was absolutely passionless.

[Jonnyboy]

JC I didn't but what did you think of Tblisi's performance compared to ours v Malmo?

Our performance - by a team composed of a number of extremely able individuals - was absolutely passionless.

I thought Tbilisi looked out of their depth B, but they never stopped trying. Hibs never seemed to start trying, let alone stop

[Purple & Green]

I thought Tbilisi looked out of their depth B, but they never stopped trying. Hibs never seemed to start trying, let alone stop

You won't be surprised that I agree with that. I think you hit the nail on the head.

[MADE IN LEITH]

Supporters of other clubs don't put up with nearly as much crap as we do. Every other club at least trys to play football on a consistant basis. We seem to do our best not to.

Every club goes through bad patches. But our club completely takes the biscuit.

I can't tell anybody that i'm a Hibs fan, without them bursting out into a fit of laughter about how pathetic they think we are as a club.

Your right wee man, you tell it how it is :greengrin

[lEXO]

We are no more mean than any other football fans. Probably less than a lot. When things are bad it obviously stands out more. Aye there are supporters who moan about everything regardless of how we are playing. People have every right to moan just now. I don't boo or abuse the players though, I don't think it helps. At the United game last Saturday a guy behind me slated every player, booed and generally shouted nonsense all through. When we scored he was shouting for us all to sing, as he was now singing. My laugh at that was lost on him....

[Hibby 2005]

We turned up in droves for the Cup Finals and backed them but it didn't make a difference therefore I doubt a few boos will either.

[lEXO]

We turned up in droves for the Cup Finals and backed them but it didn't make a difference therefore I doubt a few boos will either.Very good point.

[SouthamptonHibs]

I think one of the problems is Scottish fans watch the EPL on sky and want to see the same / similar talent on show in the SPL, for the older supporters up until 1992 there was not much between the teams now we are miles apart. A lot of Scottish fans moan at the prices of the matches but the reality is that £20/£25 for an adult is not that much imo to watch football. Clubs offer great prices for kids around £1 a game (which is outstanding). I think the reason us Hibs fans moan so much is because we have under achieved season after season, we have sold our best players built up our infrastructure have one of the biggest budgets in our league, our location is the best (city of Edinburgh) but season after season we get beat to Ross County, St J' s Inverness etc. Fans are fed up and bored of what's happening. If Hibs were getting beat 4-3 each week there would be a better atmosphere at ER and less moaning, getting beat 1-0 and hardly having a shot at goal is what's driving the fans mad imo. Fenlon is negative, surely it can't be that hard to put an attacking team together. Hopefully we win today. I'm off to Southampton v Sunderland today, ticket price £39.50 (incl booking fee), EPL over priced pish! HAIL HAIL