West Stand ManMmmMonsterMunch It's no coincidence that as the team gets worse year on year, the support gets worse year on year. Not saying its right but you can sense most Reading fans don't expect much on the pitch for the next few years.
Sorry, but that is nonsense. Th time that are being talked about above (when the noise was louder) were when we were in Divs 3 and 4 and playing some pretty rank football (at times). MOST Reading fans do expect a lot on the pitch and they should do. I can't explain why the chanting is less loud now that it was a short while ago but I'll give you one possibility;
follow the 'proposed new chant/ song / anything else' threads and witness the virulent attacks on anyone who tries to suggest an idea. The weight of opinion is always that it is naff and that 'we are proper football fans who sing/ chant proper football songs etc'. The truth is that the naff songs like Man City's, Stoke' s and yes, even Leeds's do get the crowd going. It doesn't happen overnight but it does happen. Witness how wound up the opposition get when a mass of Stokies sing Delilah - it is totally naff but it does the trick.
The club has tried to create that with Sweet Caroline (a great chorus that could ring around the stadium), Sing for the Royals etc but there is a mass objection to it from us the fans (well not me, obviously!). Might I suggest that all it takes is for the crew at the back of the East Stand to come up with a song, to sing it (even against the pressure of silence from other areas and it will, eventually be adopted en masse.
Anyway, back to the original point, to suggest that the quality of football is lower now than in the hey days of the South bank is just wrong, wrong and wrong.
I meant the team getting worse since getting promoted in 2006 by the way. Certainly didn't mean historically. The atmosphere at the Mad Stad was fantastic when we got promoted but bit by bit it has fallen away as fans can see the team isn't going anywhere. I'm not saying that is an excuse but it absolutely is a factor. This season has been the quietest I can remember for a long time.