You seem to be backtracking slightly with each post. What you said is on display for all, so no point pretending you didn't say it.
There are a lot of things a fan can say. Tell us the CEO, board, any/all of the players need to be turfed, fine. Tell us this person doesn't know what they're doing, that person is dragging the club down, etc etc, that's all fine.
Anybody who knows anything about where we've been understands why that is the worst possible thing you can say. For ANY club, for a fan to say that they shouldn't be in the league is completely not on (especially when there no promotion/relegation setup). But for us? Even before our first match we were constantly attacked by media pundits, football 'supporters' and other so-called 'experts' telling us that we should exist. No club has copped that like we have. Right from the start, and the intensity of that denial of our existence has been ferocious.
That has formed our identity. Sure, we're the smallest club with the smallest catchment area and you don't think we exist? Well, f*** you, we'll show you what a club that apparently shouldn't exist can do.
That's why we won the first piece of silverware on offer. That's why we have one of the fullest trophy cabinets in the league. That's why we've set the standard for youth recruitment, building relationships with other areas both domestically and overseas, and for planning for the future. That's why we've set the standard for some of the greatest Marquee recruitment this competition has ever seen. Repeatedly. That's why we've set the standard by managing to be not only financially viable, but profitable (off and on - which is still pretty good for a sporting club). That's why we've set the standard for one of the highest match attendances per capita for our catchment area.
It's a direct response to this that we take tremendous pride in being 'the little club that could'. That's a fundamental part of our identity, our club culture. People on here have had 'Can you smell the fear?' as their signature - because fear of what a small region can do in a league dominated by capital cities is the only reason we can think of for the unjustified hatred. And my god, it gives me so much pride to stick it to all those elitist pricks.
Despite all that, the cowards, scumbags and idiots (yes, I'm looking at the coke snorter in particular) still try to argue that we shouldn't exist. We can't even call these people supporters of the game any more, because to deny what we bring to the table is just beyond idiotic, beyond ignorant, and shows that irrational hatred is far more important than the league or sport itself. We still cop it, and it's disgraceful. It's pathetic. It's slanderous. It's sickening. It's persistent. It's persistent. It's so f****** mindnumbingly persistent.
So to use our one really bad season after everything we have accomplished as an argument against our very existence, from pundits it's nothing but sheer hysterics and it's completely absurd.
To hear it from CCM members?
It's completely unforgivable.
So please, for everybody jumping on the 'CCM don't belong in the HAL' bandwagon. Burn your f****** jersey if you ever owned one. Delete your account and forget the mariners. Give your tickets to charity or something. Because if that's the sort of statement anybody is going to make, then I can't even accuse you of no longer being a fan - because you never were. Worst possible comment anybody could make on here, and I hope this helps explain why.
I'm choosing to believe that the above paragraph doesn't actually apply to anybody on here, because I'm (hopefully) choosing to believe that even those on here who have made those comments don't truly believe that, and have just sought an irrational, unreasonable or hysterical manner in which to show their unhappiness. Even if those are the reasons and the comments are just recklessly made with no consideration for their true meaning, they are still completely crossing the line and not something a fan should ever be saying, so I hope this gives a few of your cause to reflect upon what you've actually been saying on here.
As a fan it's certainly you're right to come on here and rant and complain every single week about how inept the management and players are. You do not ever question, even by a vague indirect implication, our right to exist.
Ever.
