It's just a shame it couldn't be replicated in the final.
Which isn't a criticism of the fans at the game. I was at both and wasn't on the same form in the final as 2 weeks before. With the sun , nerves and lack of water I was struggling to stay on my feet at points let alone belt out some songs.
Have said before that the Europa League final was two well matched teams and in a game that tight and difficult it's unlikely the players give much thought to the details of what is going on in the stands. Ibrox is obviously different to an away ground or a neutral ground as when the Rangers players hear noise at Ibrox they know it is backing for them. So what I'm saying here is that I don't believe the fact the Rangers fans were more quiet than normal at the final would have any effect on the players during the game.
This thread shows that we take pride in the support we give to the team so from the supporters point of view there are a lot of lessons to be learned by the club and support in time for our next European Final.
Our lack of TIFO put us on the back foot straight away and gave Frankfurt fans a good start.
Frankfurt were obviously more street-wise in sneaking flares into the stadium long before the match, possibly at the same time as taking their TIFO in.
Rangers fans at the final seemed to include a much broader age range than Frankfurt with more young and old. To be honest this is great to see although it might affect the overall noise of the support especially when the temperatures, walking distances, queuing time, lack of water are taken into account. I don't believe nerves is a valid reason for being quiet as I've always found the best thing for that is to shout and sing.
We all know of people who were at the Final that don't regularly attend games and wouldn't know the words to some of the newer songs so tickets need to be targeted better next time, and possibly get all Union Bears in attendance placed together in the same way Frankfurt seemed to get their ultras together.
People were spending a fortune to be at the final so it's understandable that the whole break was treated like a holiday by most and I would expect many supporters peaked too early, especially with the conditions at the game. For games at Ibrox we all have a routine and know what we need to do to peak for the game.
When European teams come to Ibrox there are usually only a couple of thousand of their supporters at the most but I've noticed they sing their chants perfectly in time which makes them louder. We need a good range of simple chants that we can sing perfectly in time to be able to compete with supports like Frankfurt if we are ever in a similar situation again. I see it like a football match where you've got to win the battle first then you can start to do the more intricate stuff. Long rambling songs such as Derry's Walls would be difficult to keep in time with the way the crowd was setup in Seville with pockets of singing fans dispersed all over the ground, and a backdrop of Frankfurt fans all singing the same simple words in time. So we need to be prepared to sing these basic chants first to compete with our European opponents.
Our support at Ibrox and away in Europe is great so the above is only relevant when we have a situation such as the Europa League final.
Let's be fully ready for the next one.
