City are England's best football club, the titles prove it, not just this season but over a sustained period.
But who is the bigger club? City or Utd? Where do we rank with Liverpool, Arsenal etc?
In one sense all that matters is the League Table, we're Champions...again. But alongside the league table we all have a subjective measure of the size of a club. Are Sunderland a big club? Are Everton bigger than Leeds? Rhetorical questions. It does matter because a club's current status and prestige allows them to take footballing hits and recover so that in time you can expect the league table to reflect 'status', but the two feed on each other. Look at the South Coast and the fortunes of Bournemouth, Southampton and Portsmouth. Bournemouth fans have laughed in the face of the big clubs of the South coast and over-turned it. They have fought the odds, and to an extent changed them in the process.
Two decades ago, City fell to the 3rd division of football but we were too big to stay there. Sometimes though footballing failure can not be overcome and a big club dies.
Post Fergsuson, Man Utd have failed under 3 coaches: Moyes, Van Gaal and now Mourinho. Their fans are complacent. They think they are No.1 and will always be so. "However many times Moyes, Van Gaal or Mourinho fail, there will always be tomorrow". They think their size assures their future success, and it does, but their power changes. Liverpool were once sat on their perch after all. And times changed. Are City about to knock Man Utd off their perch? Have we already done it?
The only objective way of measuring the size of a football club is through footballing revenue because that is what delivers football on the pitch.
In 2016-17 City had revenues of £473m ,United £581m. United have just issued guidance for 2017-18. It's flat at £575/585m.
The reason is obvious: broadcasting is negotiated collectively and changes step-wise over time and we're now in the middle of a cycle & their corporate revenue is flat because of their footballing failure. City will too have flat and unchanged broadcasting revenue, but I expect corporate revenue to increase.
We can not know what is going to happen in the future, but we can guess. Guardiola is here now for three more years. If the past is any guide, City are going to dominate on the pitch in that time.
The Sheikh Mansour takeover marked a tipping point in English football. That takeover was accompanied by huge investment in the playing squad and infrastructure of the club. City are no longer financed by Sheikh Mansour. We haven't been for a long time. We are fast approaching another tipping point when Manchester City will be the biggest club in England, and knowing the mentality of Utd supporters that will be when their supporters start to desert their club.
But who is the bigger club? City or Utd? Where do we rank with Liverpool, Arsenal etc?
In one sense all that matters is the League Table, we're Champions...again. But alongside the league table we all have a subjective measure of the size of a club. Are Sunderland a big club? Are Everton bigger than Leeds? Rhetorical questions. It does matter because a club's current status and prestige allows them to take footballing hits and recover so that in time you can expect the league table to reflect 'status', but the two feed on each other. Look at the South Coast and the fortunes of Bournemouth, Southampton and Portsmouth. Bournemouth fans have laughed in the face of the big clubs of the South coast and over-turned it. They have fought the odds, and to an extent changed them in the process.
Two decades ago, City fell to the 3rd division of football but we were too big to stay there. Sometimes though footballing failure can not be overcome and a big club dies.
Post Fergsuson, Man Utd have failed under 3 coaches: Moyes, Van Gaal and now Mourinho. Their fans are complacent. They think they are No.1 and will always be so. "However many times Moyes, Van Gaal or Mourinho fail, there will always be tomorrow". They think their size assures their future success, and it does, but their power changes. Liverpool were once sat on their perch after all. And times changed. Are City about to knock Man Utd off their perch? Have we already done it?
The only objective way of measuring the size of a football club is through footballing revenue because that is what delivers football on the pitch.
In 2016-17 City had revenues of £473m ,United £581m. United have just issued guidance for 2017-18. It's flat at £575/585m.
The reason is obvious: broadcasting is negotiated collectively and changes step-wise over time and we're now in the middle of a cycle & their corporate revenue is flat because of their footballing failure. City will too have flat and unchanged broadcasting revenue, but I expect corporate revenue to increase.
We can not know what is going to happen in the future, but we can guess. Guardiola is here now for three more years. If the past is any guide, City are going to dominate on the pitch in that time.
The Sheikh Mansour takeover marked a tipping point in English football. That takeover was accompanied by huge investment in the playing squad and infrastructure of the club. City are no longer financed by Sheikh Mansour. We haven't been for a long time. We are fast approaching another tipping point when Manchester City will be the biggest club in England, and knowing the mentality of Utd supporters that will be when their supporters start to desert their club.