Without the nightmares of the 80s and 90s where would we be now ?

[M147WN]

There were some pretty dark days in the 80's & 90's but I was a young spunker back then & it was nowt but eventful!
Looking back I see it as a very difficult apprenticeship where you were the butt of all the time served blokes jokes and jibes but it made a man of you and even more resalute to keep the faith! Bad was really bad but good was fookin ace!
The Sheikh buying rags, dippers, spuds etc would have been no challenge!
Buying us? Well that was a challenge!
So to answer the OP. We'd probably be stoke city or maybe Spurs?
But by god I'm glad I'm City! The dark days were darkest just before the dawn but now we've seen the dawn and we're in our speedos with a jumbo bottle of Ambre Solaire in the mid day sun! Happy days!

 

[Grassland Blue]

Any chance of those redevelopments taking place would have hinged on getting rid of Swales much earlier - to a large extent our fate for the 80s and 90s was sealed when Mal returned and we ripped apart the squad that had finished 2nd and 4th in successive seasons. We were on a downward spiral from then on despite the odd blip such as the '81 Cup Final and a couple of top 6 finishes under Reid.

Big Mal,
Never a manager.
Tony Book should have been the man.

 

[Grassland Blue]

Very disrespectful of your fellow fans don't you think ?

Very disrespectful of your fellow fans don't you think ?

I couldn't have put it better myself. Also the Sheikh isn't going to leave anytime soon (even though it would please the rags immensely ) and even if he did the legacy is sustainable.

 

[ONTHERUNWITHTHAKSIN]

You have to go through shit times to appreciate the good

The mistakes and problems in life are what make you.

Look at 2 different sets of fans Ours and Arsenal

The Tarquins expect trophies, glory and fantastic football and kick off at all and sundry when they don't get their own way

We appreciate being pulled out of the shit and watching Fantastic players playing fantastic football hopefully winning trophies

 

[sir baconface]

In fact, I always thought we were, and still are, the most rock 'n' roll club out there. In the 80s and 90s, just like an underground band with no singles chart success, but with a massive following.

Great post :)

 

[bobbyowenquiff]

If it hadn't been for Swales we would have remained a top four club and never been relegated. We would probably have picked up a few cups and challenged for the league. It would have been harder for United to dominate like they did. We'll never know for sure but don't underestimate the damage wiggy did. He almost killed us as a club.

 

[Blue Whale]

If it hadn't been for Swales we would have remained a top four club and never been relegated. We would probably have picked up a few cups and challenged for the league. It would have been harder for United to dominate like they did. We'll never know for sure but don't underestimate the damage wiggy did. He almost killed us as a club.

This. Pathetic club management did it for us. The rags weren't a so-called 'bigger club' in the 60's and 70's. We should have capitalised on our earlier successes as they did.

 

[JASR]

We'd probably be arrogant, obnoxious and self entitled - and part of an expanded cartel Sky4.

IIRC things like the billboard adverts for the pre-season over the years - there was only ever 4 players shown... from oh a certain 4 clubs... it was a surprise (and a visual jarring as not the repeated norm of the past) when spuds kit appeared on an additional 5th player in 2006 (or 2007), and eventually, grudgingly, us in 2012.

 

[Blue Til Death]

A club with history?? ;-)

 

[Gingers Dad]

If I wasn't a City supporter I would view Malcolm Allison as an egotistical southern cock who helped bring greatness to the club then because of his ego he near enough broke the club. Aided by Swales in the late 70's the damage he did to the club was unforgivable (in my eyes). What followed after was directly responsible for what followed for the next three decades. Swales was a complete and utter cock, a 2 bob Manchester millionaire who milked the club for all he could while basking in the notoriety that his involvement with City brought him.
I do not look back at this period in the club's history with any misty eyed misplaced nostalgia. I think I'm one of the few City fans that was happy to leave Maine Road. I loved the place in the 70's (first game in December 73) but the ground we left was a dump. The Etihad is a magnificent stadium in comparison. And for the first time in my life apart from the ticket office obviously, the club appears to be free from the clowns that used to blight it's very existence - Swales, Allison, Lee, Pye, Ball, Clarke, Benson, Frizzell, Halford to name a few. I am not one of those City fans who think we owe a debt of gratitude to those from the 60's, Genial Joe being the exception. Allison and Lee ultimately did more harm to the club than they did good.