The move from Ninian to CCS has highlighted one main aspect in my mind and goes along way to explaining the sharp decline in atmosphere and volatility - we only have up to 10,000 hardcore fans at the very most who are willing to translate their passion for the club into genuine noise and hostility.
Ninian parks smaller capacity and more intimate structure coupled with the historical familiarity certain groups of boys/ fans had with various areas of the ground ensured the main noise was concentrated and blasted from intense sections such as the Grange end, Bob bank, Grandstand next to the aways etc.
The same numbers of fans have now obviously made the move over to CCS however the added/ higher attendances are now made up naturally of the more casual or band wagon fans which is fine - but as we're in a new bigger stadium there is no longer a familiarity with various areas of the new ground with large groups of boys etc (the seats and lack of terrace makes this hugely difficult - especially if your not season ticket holders) and the bigger stands not only absorb and dilute the hardcore element but it it also makes it more difficult to get a genuine noise out of such a vast area, in comparison to the more compact grange end for example.
You would anticipate the smaller pockets of the boys who start the chants etc would act as an ignition for the rest of the stand to join in - but its a rare occurance and something needs to be done urgemtly by the club to address this otherwise we're going down the pan in this respect big time. I used to hold considerable pride in our match day experience when hearing and reading of fans accounts from other teams of their experiences at Ninian etc...now its just embarrassment as we hang by our finger tips on old reps.
I sincerely hope the club is considering this issue seriously and is building a direction which they would like to take the issue for the good of us fans otherwise we're going to have very distant memories of what is was like to be the real 12th man. Lets hope pre-season (hopefully for the Prem) this is sorted or at least inroads are made because imo this season is lost already in this respect.
We're 3rd in the league with a massive chance of making it to the Prem automatically here, but I dont think I'm alone in still feeling pretty pissed off because of our timid conduct in the stadium - for all of Ninains faults, we would never have felt like this there. im aware we needed to move, but this is such a vital aspect that unfortunately I cant see an improvement in any time soon. I hope I'm wrong...