City have lost their soul

[Didsbury Dave]

Lost our soul?

On Sunday we found it..

 

[halfcenturyup]

Nice post. Thanks for sharing!

Those who say you've lost your soul obviously didn't see the passion on and off the pitch as Aguero's goal went in! I celebrated that goal like i was a city fan myself! (and i'm a leeds fan). I didn't go nuts cos i detest man utd (even though i do). I celebrated cos i could relate to what you were feeling. the abject misery of entering injury time needing two goals and the utter elation and sheer disbelief as 5 minutes later you were premiership title winners. I've felt the same emotions and i know what it feels like on both sides of the coin.

i'm absolutely chuffed to bits for your fans..especially the ones who've stuck with city through thick and thin..you deserve every bit of this success and happiness.

 

[pauldominic]

This bollox statement has been doing the rounds ever since the takeover. So many journos and fans of other clubs would bleat on about how city fans would never feel the same about the club as it was just some Arab's plaything with a load of mercenary players.

Well, I don't know about the rest of you guys but I've never felt more part of the city 'family' than I do now. I have been a ST holding blue since 1995 and I can't think of any time when the whole club has felt so close and 'together' (#together it could be said).

Of course the modern social media helps but we couldn't dream of having a leader as good and as engaging as Vinnie in years gone by. Not only one that wears an armband and leads the players on the pitch but one that actively communicates with and inspires the fans too. His tweets, faceache page and captain's videos are absolutely superb and everyone knows he's our inspiration.

The improvements to the website and initiatives such as tunnel cam and inside city have brought the whole reality of daily life at the club into our homes and make it a lot easier to 'feel' what is going on. Other clubs don't have this and they pop along to our OS to have a look regularly.

City square, the blue membership video (which I confess I was actually in if anyone can guess who I am haha :P) etc etc have all contributed to the feeling I get now that the club's soul is better than it's ever been and we're all in this for the longhaul. Yes, we'll get new supporters along the way but I know that between ourselves and the club's media side we'll indoctrinate them into OUR way of being fans and not along the lines of the horrible and arrogant sods across the road.

The Etihad is now our home and it feels like it. Look at the reaction of the players, staff and fans on Sunday and try and convince me we've lost our soul!

I'm glad I was brought up blue and glad we all shared Sunday's tears, ups and downs and jubilation as much as we'll surely share disappointment and angst in the future. Regardless, we can always be sure we have a team and a management that are feeling it just as much as we are and care just as much as we do. That has not always been the case eh!

City has always been a club with soul and I agree. We have a new home to replace Maine Road.

The experts at the club and the owner have identified the elements and brought it to the fore.

 

[yankcitizen76]

So having "soul" is when you cant even afford to keep your grounds maintained or stay out of the third division. Hate to see what our critics idea of 'hope' is.

 

[Skashion]

As long as City fans continue to have the same humorous and daft spirit, anything else is a bonus. We've had no issues in that department. Not from where I'm standing, these past two seasons with Alan, the Poznan, "let's all do the throw in", the various Sick Swan jibes, the banter with Joe etc. all top-notch. We've lost nothing and the reaction to Aguero's goal up and down the country shows our fanbase is still respected and that the media bullshit trying to sell us as the most hated club is nonsense. The only club's attitudes who've changed towards us are those who've been dislodged by us and whose players we've bought, namely Arsenal, Everton, Spurs and Chelsea.

 

[tiggsywiggsywoo]

Our soul as been bared for decades of everyone to see, poke fun at, ridicule and sympathise. It was there on Sunday for the whole world to admire. Tears Joy Laughter Song Hugging Fight what more do these people want?

 

[mancunial]

Having no soul is attaching yourself to something which is successful then using that lie to to make themselves feel superior to other people, having a soul is to be at Halifax York and Lincoln, then saying to yourself this will not demoralise me it will make me stronger and we will prevail!

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

I have always maintained that no club has more soul, personality and character than City.

It is why I have always found the accusations of us having no history as being absurd. There is no club with a more colourful history than this club and that has created a club with soul and supporters of character.

I have always maintained that you either 'get' City or you don't. Robbie Fowler and Danny Mills never did. Joe Royle and Kevin Keegan are perhaps less obvious examples of those that did and do.

It is important we keep that identity as much as possible as we continue to evolve as a club. It's not going to be easy and I think we are perfectly entitled to sneer at united fans, we are human after all, but how we are perceived by the rest of football needs to be managed as much as possible. It is inevitable that people are going to say we've changed. I think it's fair to say we have to some extent - that's not altogether a bad thing, I have found the depressive negativity of some of our fans down the years to be a deeply unpleasant presence at times - but we have to hang on to our core qualities as supporters, and I'm sure we will. Perhaps if someone like Abramovic had bought our club and we'd had success then this would present a real possibility, but with the owners we have and their commitment to the community and their vision for the club I think we will keep our feet on the ground as much as humanly possible. It's not having money that defines whether you have a soul or not, but more what you do with it.


The OP touched on another point. The rest of my family are reds and the one time I was, for want of a better word, jealous of them was around 1996. Not because of their success on the pitch per se, but with the team they had at the time, especially with all the youngsters, they felt a connection with the entire team that I felt I never would with any City team. There wasn't a single player on that podium who didn't make me smile on Sunday. That, of course, is partly a function of success, but it is also down to the fact that we have a great group of players who have an amazing team spirit. They are part of something new and exciting and are building bonds with each other and us, as supporters, that will endure as a consequence.

Great times to be a City fan and player alike. We never lost our soul and days like Sunday are good for it. Another amazing chapter in the incredible story of this football club.

 

[Gissy]

I am enjoying my self far too much this week to worry about what other people might think about us.....

 

[charliebigspuds]

IMO the fans are a clubs soul, if the club keep the ticket prices in line with average Mancunian wages and therefore our hardcore support continues to be Mancunian then our soul will never be lost. Thats the problem with them lot from Trafford, their crowd has been diluted too much.