Alex the Blue said:
Ian Cheeseman is 100% blue and probably bluer than anyone else on here. I for one love listening to his commentries. His knowledge of City is probably only 2nd to Gary James.
Thanks for the mention. Much appreciated. I will say that I'm one of the lucky ones who has managed to write and research about the Club but I would say that every Blue offers something different and there are plenty of City fans (some don't even contribute to forums etc.) who are much 'bluer' than I am. Every Blue is different and has something to offer - no Blue should ever be seen as being more Blue than another. We're all just Blue.
When I write or talk about City I try to be truthful but I also try to be positive. One of the biggest issues MCFC have faced during the last 40 years is the ability to self-destruct at key points and because of that I think we all get a little nervous at times like these. We somehow need to rise above this and focus on the strengths.
Every football club has issues and inevitably the media have to highlight those (but if they do they may get banned from certain clubs, but not ours because we seem to believe in free speech). To be fair to Ian he is a Blue but he does work for the BBC so he has to report the stories whatever they are. He must face some real dilemmas at times.
For me personally I believe we as fans need to focus on helping City maintain their success and not on the negativity. We cannot allow negativity to kill off what we have and what we can achieve.
On days like today when we're about to face Ajax in a game where some will be looking (and rivals hoping) for the self-destruct City of the past it is important that we take a different approach and develop a strong mentality. We should focus on the task in hand and how we can all play our part in beating Ajax.
Whether there are problems or not I don't think we should focus on them now (certain other teams wouldn't get embroiled in these types of debate). This is the perfect time for critics and rivals to destabilise the season - last year the sudden reporting of the Cook email story appeared in Sept (almost a year after it had actually happened!), then there was the drawn out reporting of the Tevez situation - both were caused by City employees of course but the media coverage came during the crucial Sept-Nov period.
We need to ensure we act like we did last year and don't let these unsettling stories dominate.