Who would have thought a bluffer's guide would cause such a reaction on twitter? Clearly not I and I'm the man who asked for it to be written.
I have an admission to make. I've been working one the websites at MCFC for a few months and I can't help myself, I now care about the Club. I didn't think I'd cave in, but working with the @mcfcgeeks team has been great and some of their passion has rubbed off on me. I don't know much of the history, and I want to know more. More importantly, I thought there would be other people out there who might want to know more too so I asked one of our excellent journalist team - a man who has been a City fan since birth and is a diehard Blue - to write me a guide. And so the bluffer's guide was made. The tone was intentionally light-hearted, a bit tongue-in-cheek, open and welcoming. It was relying on the Mancunian sense-of-humour …but clearly some people didn't take it that way.
"Cringeworthy" seems to be the main complaint on twitter and I apologise to the hardcore fans for the misunderstanding.
I'd have thought it pretty obvious, but this wasn't an article meant for you and it wasn't meant to be patronising. We've been getting more people coming to our website - showing an interest in the Club's community and atmosphere as well as players and the success this season - and these are the people we were trying to help. Brits like me or people from overseas who weren't brought up on football or who don't know the full story.
Twitter can be a really powerful medium - but it can also make it really easy for people to jump on a bandwagon. There's nothing easier than clicking RT and it doesn't always convey a depth of thought. However, it's clear from the reaction that there are some loyal supporters who feel very passionately and we try hard on the site, on twitter and facebook to listen to the fans. Of course, as a club that's having some success we will get interest from people who haven't been fans before. We will need to find a way to welcome them into the City way of life - and maybe the reaction to this story suggests we need to have a conversation with the lifelong fans about the best way to do that.
I suppose the word 'Bluffer's' might be the problem. We could have called it 'a briefing' perhaps, but I think most people would agree that it's short-hand for giving a quick explanation of the topic. It was hardly a genuine attempt to help people pretend to be fans - more an explainer to help those who might wonder what on earth the Poznan was if they see it on global coverage of the FA Cup.
What amazes me about some of the online comments is how quickly reaction can change. Yesterday, about an hour before the bluffer's guide went live, we put up Tunnel Cam. Exclusive footage from inside the tunnel at the match against Spurs. Reaction online was great and it's not the only example of our efforts to be more open and accessible to our community of fans. I don't know of any other football club, or even sports club for that matter, who give the level of frank, honest, straight-talking behind-the-scenes content that we do. What's more, that interaction with the community is a reflection of the work the Club does in and around Manchester - more players have spent more time with supporters' clubs and visiting hospitals or kids clubs over the last couple of years than ever before.
In real life, I've found the fans and the Club's atmosphere to be open hearted, welcoming and willing to indoctrinate me into a great culture and the rituals of City life. It seems, in the online world, we face the challenge of how to share the culture in a way that welcomes people who want to get to know the Club better.
