The Dog

Honest answer - by ignoring the request of the supporters trust to boycott and attending the game, you are directly opposing the Trust’s strategy to oust Chansiri and placing yourself at diametric odds with the thousands of Wednesdayites that are onboard with this. By definition, this puts you in the pro-Chansiri camp, whether you like it or not.

This is a fanciful pipe dream. The ten minute protests at Hillsborough have all been very low key up until last Saturday, when the pitch invasion galvanised the small crowd into full voice - something that was very welcome and fantastic to see. It is crystal clear that anti DC protests of any note need a catalyst - a spark to light the fire. We could try the same for the derby but I think we need to go further. A full pitch invasion and the abandonment of the game gets my vote although there will be plenty of dissenters against. This is always going to be the case with not everyone agreeing with direct action. But The season is over from a playing perspective. Look at the dramatic effect that the Weaver injury has had on our team and imagine just how bad things will be with a couple more out? And a double digit points deduction on top? The damage to SWFC from the Chansiri car crash is now starting to be fully revealed and it is horrendous. Desperate times call for desperate measures. On the pitch for the derby match. Thousands of us. And we remain there until the match is abandoned. It’s time to take a stand.

Done. Held the club out to dry too.

Not you flower. No one does. And a business going into receivership is a nuanced thing with horse trading across the board. You’re catastrophising. There are many options available before it gets to this point.

You don’t half spout some tripe. Five contract breaches in the past seven months (which is the tip of the iceberg) and you’re banging on about the advantageousness of Chansiri’s position?? Ridiculous. Absolutely laughable. I think you’re suffering from Stockholm syndrome.

Erudite and sagacious in equal measure. Fingers crossed you don’t choke on one of your crayons.

Let’s say he was….

You could not be more wrong but I respect your opinion.

I thought Weaver and Amass were decent but went for the keeper. He made some excellent, if unorthodox, saves to keep the score down. Am surprised to see Baz in the lead on this as I thought aside from a couple of fabulous dribbles, he was out of sorts. And he loses 5 points for throwing his hands up at the protesters!! Several were very poor. J. Lowe, Valery, Cademarteri, McNeill and Iorfa had really bad days at the office. Coventry were good all over the pitch. Their number 4 at centre half was very good.

Absolutely. It would be huge. massive in fact.

We won’t be attending and I think this is a great move from the Supporters Trust. Absolutely spot on. I do know several who will go though and I respect their decision.

I wasn’t having a go at anyone. I was simply making the point that if we can find some way to channel the type of energy that we get with instant match reactions, into a protest related action, it would be fantastic. In terms of the demographics and the criticism of boomers, of the three of us that went on the pitch yesterday, two are from that cohort!!!! And I’m Gen Z!

It continues to surprise me that those around me erupt in noise and fury when the referee makes an error that goes against us or gets something wrong. Yet when the time comes to sing your hearts out in protest against the man that is literally destroying our beloved club, the reaction is silence and tacit disapproval in some cases. Why is this? My view is that there are several factors at play. The first is that the referee is right there in front of them and what he does is immediate and visible. This means it is easy to join the loud and instant reaction - it is safe. Everything Chansiri is doing is more distant though and directing anger towards him is less instinctive and not caused by something obvious, there and then. Also, football culture has embraced the idea that referees are villains with it being an accepted part of the matchday ritual to boo or shout at the officials. Again - normalised. More than that though is the risk of being the lone voice or being disapproved of by your fellow Owls. Criticising the referee does not carry that risk. It also lets people express loyalty to Wednesday but criticising the owner perhaps feels like turning against the club which is a more complicated emotional step, especially for lifelong supporters. I think this is the most important point, shouting at the ref is defending Wednesday, shouting at the owner could be construed as undermining Wednesday at some level or in some way. My point being that if as a collective we could somehow tap into that immediate energy and channel it into a protest, everything would be massively ratcheted up. Perhaps the pitch invasion yesterday was a case in point? People saw it and there was an immediate reaction which transformed the energy level of the 10 minute protest. Interesting stuff. At least I think so.

I was one of the 52, as were two of my close friends. I made my way back to my seat unchallenged and watched the rest of the game. Nothing else happened. There may be further consequences of course as a result of facial recognition and so on. What will be will be. On reflection, I am comfortable with the decisions I made and course of action I took. It galvanised the ground into the best and loudest (home) protest against the owner to date.

Take my money now.