Man citys fans

[Corcaigh_the_Cat]

I agree Man City seems to have lost its soul - I noticed when we beat them in 2015 - the Eithad was like visiting DisneyWorld. Citeh at Maine Road was usually a bit scary even in the 1990s.

It the atmosphere at the Riveriside is terrible I can't think how some Premier League atmosphere will be described when in 50k to 70k stadiums the managers can be heard shouting to their players.

You're confusing noise and atmosphere.

At Boro the best atmosphere I've known for consistency, where there was a buzz for just about every match, were Charlton's first couple of seasons and Rioch's first two.

It's louder now, there's a constant drone from the south stand that isn't anything to do with what's happening on the pitch. You can be sat bored stiff now but there'll still be noise. You've probably got the same ar Crystal Palace, you hear a section of their fans droning on constantly regardless of performance. No doubt there's other clubs with a minority noisy following too.


At the more well established clubs there hadn't been the space to make your own noisy spot because they've consistently sold lots of tickets. That hasn't been the case at the Riverside.

 

[Unravel_Morrison]

I used to live in Manchester and managed a bar within walking distance of Maine Road and I know a lot of City fans liked that they weren't 'like United'.

I think all that has happened is the same as a lot of PL clubs in that they have attracted several new breeds of fans; both from within the local area and then from further afield. The more successful you are, the more you get from that second group.

 

[indeedido]

I just do not understand fans that jump on to a club that becomes successful and glamorous if they have no prior connection to it and its not their local club..

My mate is a Gooner and I go a couple or three times a season with him. I like Arsenal and want them to do well.
I really wanted them to win the league yesterday and was lucky enough to be at The Emirates - a fantastic stadium and generally great atmosphere.

BUT, as the songs were running around the entire stadium, not just a section, and me knowing the words and me wanting them to win, I could not join in and sing about North London, we did this or that, or profess to loving anything about them. Had they won the league yesterday I would have been chuffed for lots of reasons, but I would have felt an imposter and in no way would have been wanting to go more often and thinking about what they were doing in this summer window.

I like Arsenal, but they will always be "them" and Boro will always be we.
I don't get how anybody from our area can think of Liverpool, City, Arsenal, United or anybody else as "we".

It also ***ed me off that getting off the train last night in Darlo there were so many locals calling the bar codes "we".

 

[viv_andersons_nana]

That’s a long reply to a charge of being bitter. OK, you’re not and I get why you aren’t but the number of threads are voluminous to suggest that quite a few people are. They have more money than most but they have spent well, they have recruited well and they are fantastic footballers. Ok the charges will one day come out and we will find out if they have breached the rules but until that happens their superiority over other big spending clubs is obvious. And I prefer them to Chelsea and Man U. And as for saying City are boring a good piece by Martin Samuel’s in yesterdays ST.

Man City’s four in a row is only boring if you think genius is a snooze

Pep Guardiola’s assault on the record books is anything but dull. This side is one of footballing beauty, played by a team of world-class stars and producing some of the most thrilling title races the game has seen

www.thetimes.co.uk

Does Martin Samuel’s son still work for City Football Group? And does he mention in what is presumably yet another puff piece that’s he regularly treated to all expenses paid trips to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and furnished with luxury holidays, hotel breaks and dinner on the Sheikh’s yacht? Or does he leave all that out, as he has done in the reams and reams of articles he’s written in defence of Manchester City’s owners over the past decade.

Am I bitter about City’s success? I’m not sure bitterness is the correct term. I’m more angry about it to be honest, that it was allowed to happen. The untold wealth has irreparably damaged the game imo. The rules don’t appear to apply to the owners in football just like they don’t appear to apply to them in wider life. They do what they want. If the Boro had those owners I’d bow out and go and watch more local football instead. These owners are horrible, unscrupulous and eternally compromised b*stards and should be nowhere near English football clubs.

 

[h_m_boro]

I just do not understand fans that jump on to a club that becomes successful and glamorous if they have no prior connection to it and its not their local club..

My mate is a Gooner and I go a couple or three times a season with him. I like Arsenal and want them to do well.
I really wanted them to win the league yesterday and was lucky enough to be at The Emirates - a fantastic stadium and generally great atmosphere.

BUT, as the songs were running around the entire stadium, not just a section, and me knowing the words and me wanting them to win, I could not join in and sing about North London, we did this or that, or profess to loving anything about them. Had they won the league yesterday I would have been chuffed for lots of reasons, but I would have felt an imposter and in no way would have been wanting to go more often and thinking about what they were doing in this summer window.

I like Arsenal, but they will always be "them" and Boro will always be we.
I don't get how anybody from our area can think of Liverpool, City, Arsenal, United or anybody else as "we".

It also ***ed me off that getting off the train last night in Darlo there were so many locals calling the bar codes "we".

Probably low self esteem, can't take the disappointment of losing. Mentally weak individuals who just don't get it.

Never got it either. The "local club" thing annoys me too. I live in Stockport, very well supported (now) League 1 club. Been in existence since 1883. But the number of Man City fans in the borough . They all seem to have dads, granddad's, uncles who at some point in time moved to Stockport from Moss Side, Rusholme, Fallowfield, Withington etc and then forgot where Maine Road was. So much, it took them 20+ years to stumble upon the Etihad and rekindle their Man City love affair.......that or they forgot where Old Trafford was, saw a City top in Sports Direct and the rest is history.........

Plastics will never get it.

 

[Unravel_Morrison]

I just do not understand fans that jump on to a club that becomes successful and glamorous if they have no prior connection to it and its not their local club..

My mate is a Gooner and I go a couple or three times a season with him. I like Arsenal and want them to do well.
I really wanted them to win the league yesterday and was lucky enough to be at The Emirates - a fantastic stadium and generally great atmosphere.

BUT, as the songs were running around the entire stadium, not just a section, and me knowing the words and me wanting them to win, I could not join in and sing about North London, we did this or that, or profess to loving anything about them. Had they won the league yesterday I would have been chuffed for lots of reasons, but I would have felt an imposter and in no way would have been wanting to go more often and thinking about what they were doing in this summer window.

I like Arsenal, but they will always be "them" and Boro will always be we.
I don't get how anybody from our area can think of Liverpool, City, Arsenal, United or anybody else as "we".

It also ***ed me off that getting off the train last night in Darlo there were so many locals calling the bar codes "we".

Well, I'm sure that a lot of people at that game were in the same boat as you yesterday. BoroinCheshire from these parts was there as well, as was the likely next Redcar MP.

I like to go and watch other teams; indeed went to both Germany and Spain for matches with the aforementioned BinC above as well as other games in Spain (I went to the 2nd game at Atleti's new ground). Going back even further I remember loads of Japanese fans at the 4-0 (I left at HT) match at Highbury in 2006. The guy who punched the Fresh Ponce threatened to insert one of their cameras where the sun doesn't shine.

 

[SCG]

A lot of Man City fans have been priced out and Newcastle suddenly sell out, guess what they’re hiking up their prices.

Anyone who lives in Manc or goes there, there’s loads of shops offering City or United tickets at markup to sell to the Tourists and they will sell, no bother.

Hard to get an atmosphere when you spend most of the game recording a video on your LG/Samsung

 

[Blf]

Exactly.
So it's obviously going to mean more, it's not because Middlesbrough fans are better or more passionate than Man City fans, it's just because we're far less used to success.

Every single fanbase in the world would be exactly the same.

Arsenal won the FA Cup in 3 of the last 5 seasons of Wenger's time in charge, their fans were kicking off all the time and wanting him gone.

Liverpool fans haven't been happy with the way this season has gone because they "only" won the League Cup.

Celtic have won almost every domestic single trophy in the last decade and their fans were calling for Brendan Rogers' head when it looked like they might miss out for once.

Real Madrid fans are insufferably entitled.

Nottingham Forest are a provincial club that have won absolutely nothing in my lifetime and their fans still see themselves as massive because of one manager's excellent reign.

Etc.

If Middlesbrough regularly won things, or had in the past, many of our fans would take things for granted too.

But we don't.

 

[18MFC76]

Yeah, right.

It's honestly how I feel. I spend a lot of time in Newcastle with work and the Geordies that I speak to have been going for years, during the sh1t times under Mike Ashley. They've now noticed a load of fans who were never interested before but have jumped on the bandwagon, claiming they have always been loyal supporters. These fans never used to attend games or were even remotely interested. That's what having billionaire owners also brings to the club.

I feel like anything Boro achieve has been earned and not just happened as a result of having an unlimited amount of cash to spend. We keep our identity as a club. Turn us a Man City or a Newcastle? No thanks.

 

[Norman_Conquest]

It's honestly how I feel. I spend a lot of time in Newcastle with work and the Geordies that I speak to have been going for years, during the sh1t times under Mike Ashley. They've now noticed a load of fans who were never interested before but have jumped on the bandwagon, claiming they have always been loyal supporters. These fans never used to attend games or were even remotely interested. That's what having billionaire owners also brings to the club.

I feel like anything Boro achieve has been earned and not just happened as a result of having an unlimited amount of cash to spend. We keep our identity as a club. Turn us a Man City or a Newcastle? No thanks.

So, when we spent money on Juninho, Barnby, Ravanelli, Emerson, Festa, etc you weren’t happy?

These fella’s never rocked up because they fancied it, they played for us because we blew everyone else out of the water.

I wonder how many fans started supporting us who had never been to Ayersome.

 

[Mwelolo]

We splashed the cash when we had it and I think would have continued doing this if we’d
had the werewithall to do so.

These threads always come across as sour grapes to me.

 

[18MFC76]

So, when we spent money on Juninho, Barnby, Ravanelli, Emerson, Festa, etc you weren’t happy?

These fella’s never rocked up because they fancied it, they played for us because we blew everyone else out of the water.

I wonder how many fans started supporting us who had never been to Ayersome.

We had a go and were paying some crazy wages in the 90's and 00's. We got to see some great talent and had some great times, cup finals etc. But was it an unlimited pot of money? Of course it wasn't. Players wages were high but they weren't what they are now. By the time it came to Southgate's reign as manager it became clear that we just couldn't do it any longer and we've struggled pretty much ever since.

It's long overdue but the structure of our club now with Kieran Scott identifying hidden gems is absolutely spot on.

I get a lot more satisfaction as a supporter with us achieving things this way rather than just having some middle eastern owner paying whatever it takes to be successful.

It's not sour grapes at all. It's about trying to make your club successful without completely losing your identity. It's just my opinion. You may have Boro fans who would take a billionaire owner tomorrow. I prefer us for what we are. A local owner who cares about the club and is a supporter himself. For Newcastle's owners it's like a real life game of Championship manager with an unlimited pot of money.

When we got to a European final it felt like we were punching above our weight and gave us a real sense of achievement.

 

[Norman_Conquest]

We splashed the cash when we had it and I think would have continued doing this if we’d
had the werewithall to do so.

These threads always come across as sour grapes to me.

Yeah, people in glass houses, etc.

Clubs must have been looking at us wondering what was going on.

 

[Cardiffdaffs]

Does Martin Samuel’s son still work for City Football Group? And does he mention in what is presumably yet another puff piece that’s he regularly treated to all expenses paid trips to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and furnished with luxury holidays, hotel breaks and dinner on the Sheikh’s yacht? Or does he leave all that out, as he has done in the reams and reams of articles he’s written in defence of Manchester City’s owners over the past decade.

Am I bitter about City’s success? I’m not sure bitterness is the correct term. I’m more angry about it to be honest, that it was allowed to happen. The untold wealth has irreparably damaged the game imo. The rules don’t appear to apply to the owners in football just like they don’t appear to apply to them in wider life. They do what they want. If the Boro had those owners I’d bow out and go and watch more local football instead. These owners are horrible, unscrupulous and eternally compromised b*stards and should be nowhere near English football clubs.

Didn't football get ruined by money before these came through though. I refer to Abramovic who wanted a Club to launder his ill gotten Russian gains. I was more angry with how they were able to get away with it (no due diligence from HMG) way before the sheikhs arrived.

 

[Centralscrutinizer]

We splashed the cash when we had it and I think would have continued doing this if we’d
had the werewithall to do so.

These threads always come across as sour grapes to me.

But we never sold our heritage/culture to a Russian gangster/American Investment body/Sovereign wealth fund. Thats the difference now, it's not funded by a fan like Boro is or Blackburn or organically built up like Man U, it's sold out.

 

[Squarewheelbike]

Be honest, "Citeh" are now probably taking over Manure and the Scousers as Southern based fake fan glory hunters!

 

[Jonathan]

Be honest, "Citeh" are now probably taking over Manure and the Scousers as Southern based fake fan glory hunters!

Based on what?

 

[viv_andersons_nana]

The most telling aspect of Manchester City’s dominance is that nobody is really that arsèd about them. People are a bit annoyed or unhappy about their owners and the alleged cheating and financial breaches, but there’s no real animosity or hatred towards them because there’s no story to it. There’s no personality, no struggle.

They haven’t been rebuilt from rubble like Busby’s Manchester United and then rebuilt again by Ferguson, they haven’t been rebuilt from the ground up by a Shankly-type figure and turned into the most formidable team on the planet over the course of a decade or more. There’s no Brian Clough figure, taking journeymen and local boys and cheap punts from the second division to European glory.

They’ve just spent a few billion quid on the best players, coaches and executive staff and then cruised their way to unprecedented domestic dominance. I heard someone say yesterday the team is easy to admire and impossible to love and I agree with that. They’re a well-oiled machine. But there’s no romance to it, no jeopardy, no real human interest story to it. It’s just a handful of rich people steamrollering over everyone else.

For most of us, it’s not even interesting enough to rail against as you may have done against Ferguson’s United or the 70s and 80s Liverpool. It’s a vanity project that leaves most of us cold and inspires little other than general ambivalence.

 

[Jonathan]

The most telling aspect of Manchester City’s dominance is that nobody is really that arsèd about them. People are a bit annoyed or unhappy about their owners and the alleged cheating and financial breaches, but there’s no real animosity or hatred towards them because there’s no story to it. There’s no personality, no struggle.

They haven’t been rebuilt from rubble like Busby’s Manchester United and then rebuilt again by Ferguson, they haven’t been rebuilt from the ground up by a Shankly-type figure and turned into the most formidable team on the planet over the course of a decade or more. There’s no Brian Clough figure, taking journeymen and local boys and cheap punts from the second division to European glory.

They’ve just spent a few billion quid on the best players, coaches and executive staff and then cruised their way to unprecedented domestic dominance. I heard someone say yesterday the team is easy to admire and impossible to love and I agree with that. They’re a well-oiled machine. But there’s no romance to it, no jeopardy, no real human interest story to it. It’s just a handful of rich people steamrollering over everyone else.

For most of us, it’s not even interesting enough to rail against as you may have done against Ferguson’s United or the 70s and 80s Liverpool. It’s a vanity project that leaves most of us cold and inspires little other than general ambivalence.

I know it's not necessarily the crux of the post, but I don't think this part is really true. Other than Haaland I don't think they've really gone out and bought the "best" players at all. It's not like "galactico" Madrid, or PSG hoovering up Neymar, Mbappe, Messi, Sergio Ramos, etc.

I think this is what sets them apart from other clubs like Chelsea, Man Utd, etc. For however little or much people might like them, they're just an incredibly well run club. They don't typically buy superstars, they buy players like Akanji, Stones, Ake, Doku, Nunes, Rodri, Dias, Ederson, Bernardo Silva. Players like Rodri and Bernardo Silva became the players they are now at City, not like they were heralded as superstar signings when they joined. Even De Bruyne wasn't exactly considered the superstar player he is now when they signed him.

I don't totally get the "nobody really cares about them" thing really, cause I don't really give a **** about Man Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea potentially winning stuff either. There's really only Newcastle where I would care about them winning anything, and Sunderland I guess but they're nowhere near winning anything anyway. But also, why would anyone that isn't a City fan love them? And regardless, plenty of people demonstrably do care and rail against them, need only look online to hear people furiously talking about them cheating and falling over themselves to go "115 charges!".

 

[Squarewheelbike]

Based on what?

Having lived "darn sarf" since the 80's!