Pigeonho said:
Tell me who will believe it? Who is going to listen to Neil Warnock saying we are lucky and then believe it. Not only that though, what damage could that person believing Warnock's lies possibly do?
Well, they aren't Colin's lies, so he demonstrates the problem in itself. He is simply repeating what others have mentioned. has he watched every City game to enable him to make that judgment? Has he bollocks, he is repeating the same shite others have spouted already without any critical analysis of his own. No less a propagandist than Josef Goebbels said that it doesn't matter what is true, what matters is how often it is repeated. And the number of propagandists (and indeed PR consultants) who have disproved that theory since then is precisely zero.
This bollocks about City getting breaks is getting repeated and repeated, and every time we get a bad decision against us it will be ignored, and every time we get a bad decision in our favour it will be added to the growing body of 'evidence' that we are in fact getting decisions we shouldn't on a regular basis. And it is being repeated across the board in the media to the point where most people other than City fans accept it without a second thought.
So maybe few people would listen to an original thought of Warner and take it as gospel, but he is simply repeating a lie which is being repeated so often and in so many quarters that it is becoming received wisdom without any actual foundation.
Now, what damage does this do? For evidence of the impact that PR management can have, just look at the rags. Why have Sky suddenly started talking about a 'Top 7'? Why is the media silent about the 'worst ever defence of a premier league title' that was the only story in town this time last year? Answer, because the Rag publicity machine has ground into gear to do what it can to arrest their palpable slide. Why would they bother if they know that what gullible fools believe doesn't actually have any real world effect? Answer, they wouldn't, of course. But they know, because there is an army of analysts who can give them chapter and verse demonstrating that this is so, that the more negative publicity surrounds a club, the less likely people will watch their games, click on website/newspaper articles connected to the club etc etc. Brand management - protecting the tarnish-free perception of the rags - is a crucial part of protecting the rags' commercial income, which is a very substantial part of their overall income.
So ask yourself this - we have produced a brand of football that is entertaining and high scoring. Does a general perception that we actually get a shedload of decisions we shouldn't get that add to that, and promote our brand, or detract from it?
And you have your answer.
