Different reactions to City and Arsenal defeats

[tusker]

I read the BBC live report and it oozed positivity and when they reached the sending off it redoubled its sympathetic agenda. The difference in reporting the two matches was STARK! MD was vilified for gettin sent off and the arse red card at worst wrung a few hands at best and he was awarded the night's total wheelbarrowful of sympathy! Don't anyone tell me there is no agenda in the British rag meedya! Just wait till Spurs start their campaign in Europe again and they will be granted the same 'let's support a British team' shite that is never applied to City!

I do completely agree. But you have to ask why this is, don't you. What is it about City that they don't like?

It's not the managers surely. We had the darling of the media Mark clueless Hughes, followed by Mancini who oozed charisma and who they generally liked and now Pellegrini who is cool and calm and also seems liked and respected. So it's not the managers.

We don't have any obnoxious players. Even the rag forums say our team is hard to dislike. No John Terries or biting divers in the team. (Micah has been known to do the odd bit of gymnastics, but he doesn't bite and is generally liked by the media.)

And it can't be the money either. Yes, some people are jealous and there's too much made of the money, but Chelsea have had oodles of money thrown at them and the media don't hate them, or are not as critical of Chelsea compared to us.

My guess is the reason they don't like us is because we are not from London. It was bad enough having the rags dominating english football and now another team from out of town are damned well doing it. And these southern wanker reports don't like it.

There's also the casual racism that they indulge in when sneering at our owner, the Arab.

There you go nailed it. spot on.

 

[Bluebottle]

We get upset about what is written in the papers and said on tv about us.

We used to get upset about what was said about us on Talksport.

Slowly we realised that Talksport were just targeting their audience, getting people on the hook to boost ratings. So now we dismiss them....

Maybe we'll view print and tv media the same way soon? Doesn't seem that different to me at the moment.

Once we start winning everything and the glory-hunters floating vote swings behind us then the media may alter their 'viewpoint' to take account of this increase in potential audience ratings.

 

[Balti]

It was a different reaction for a game that was much the same the way it worked out

yet again they are just biased bastards and they obviously care more about clubs we don't give a flying fuck about

oh well

City City

Fuck all the rest

 

[aidyblu76]

I think receiving more criticism just shows that we are quickly becoming the top, most feared team in the country. If the top team loses they are criticised and portrayed as not good enough and out classed. If a lesser team loses in the same circumstances they are plucky, heroic and unlucky. This has always been the British media way. Not only in football but in all sport. Always praise the underdogs when they lose and slag off the favorites when they lose.

 

[Puppet Master Silva]

I actually disagree with the prevailing opinion that both games were similar. The result and stats may have suggested that the games were identical but I didn't see it that way. Arsenal flew out the blocks and put Bayern straight onto the back foot, Dante and Boateng couldn't get a foot on the ball, or play it out from the back. Right up until the penalty Arsenal were all over them like a rash, they didn't show them too much respect and they didn't worry about what may happen if they press too high. With stark contrast our first 15 minutes were frustrating as hell, I know it's difficult to know when to press Barcelona but to allow them to have 70% possession as easily as we did was really annoying for me. I don't want to get into team selection because I'm 100% behind Pellers and we've had a lot of injuries recently, but Kolarov on the left didn't sit well with me before kick off, that's not a slate on Kolarov I just think that he's not the best with the ball at his feet and if ever there's a game where you need a possession magnet (Nasri if he was fit) it would have been that one.

Schezny's red card was just as silly as MDM's, difference being that he flipped the wanker sign as he went down the tunnel, how noble and classy of him. I would argue that we were much better with 10 men than Arsenal though, we managed to carve out a fair few chances and didn't give away too many. I thought to a man we were outstanding when we only had 10 on the pitch against one of the 2 worst teams in the world to have a player sent off against.

My point is that I won't moan at Savages column tomorrow unless it's an absolute piss take because I largely agree. I don't like the way we approached the game, I think we showed Barca far too much respect. We concentrated far too much on what they can do to us and forgot just how terrifying we are going forward. I know this isn't most peoples opinion on the matter and that the majority are really proud of the team (as am I), but I just feel if we got at them from the off the game could of gone a complete different way.

 

[citymad]

I actually disagree with the prevailing opinion that both games were similar. The result and stats may have suggested that the games were identical but I didn't see it that way. Arsenal flew out the blocks and put Bayern straight onto the back foot, Dante and Boateng couldn't get a foot on the ball, or play it out from the back. Right up until the penalty Arsenal were all over them like a rash, they didn't show them too much respect and they didn't worry about what may happen if they press too high. With stark contrast our first 15 minutes were frustrating as hell, I know it's difficult to know when to press Barcelona but to allow them to have 70% possession as easily as we did was really annoying for me. I don't want to get into team selection because I'm 100% behind Pellers and we've had a lot of injuries recently, but Kolarov on the left didn't sit well with me before kick off, that's not a slate on Kolarov I just think that he's not the best with the ball at his feet and if ever there's a game where you need a possession magnet (Nasri if he was fit) it would have been that one.

Schezny's red card was just as silly as MDM's, difference being that he flipped the wanker sign as he went down the tunnel, how noble and classy of him. I would argue that we were much better with 10 men than Arsenal though, we managed to carve out a fair few chances and didn't give away too many. I thought to a man we were outstanding when we only had 10 on the pitch against one of the 2 worst teams in the world to have a player sent off against.

My point is that I won't moan at Savages column tomorrow unless it's an absolute piss take because I largely agree. I don't like the way we approached the game, I think we showed Barca far too much respect. We concentrated far too much on what they can do to us and forgot just how terrifying we are going forward. I know this isn't most peoples opinion on the matter and that the majority are really proud of the team (as am I), but I just feel if we got at them from the off the game could of gone a complete different way.

Trouble is they seem to like playing a team that counter attacks and with their speed and movement I can understand why we were cautious. Go a goal down early and we would've been forced to attack and then what ? Yes we may have scored but then messi just may have run riot with us. It was a difficult decision how to approach it but actually thought weathered the storm quite well and I was quite happy with 0-0 at half time.
On Savage I'd put money on it that he would never have written the same piece if his mate was still in charge. Savage is a very poor pundit and no one can take him seriously on 606.

 

[chesterguy]

Is there some mastermind working against City no

Is there a general anti City bias in the media yes. To suggest that journalists don't discuss "the line" is naive at best.

You only have to look at the headlines in 95% of the papers after his comment when he said City have been better than United this season. Every one had the angle "City is bigger" clearly designed to produced a response from all other fans why to get hits and to sell papers

In the old days managers and the press had a behind closed doors "off the record" relationships. Nowadays all the media are invited to the same briefings and so hear the same things but for us as City fans we get to listen to those same briefings and get tell the difference between what is said and what is reported other fans dont

Very rarely do journalists provide original news they just pander to the stereotypical views of their readership ie "moneybags City" "history of United" "classic European night at Anfield" "Mourinho mindgames"

Most journalists have grown up in the Premiership era with City being the butt of jokes it will take a generation for that to change

 

[Chris in London]

Is there some mastermind working against City no

Is there a general anti City bias in the media yes. To suggest that journalists don't discuss "the line" is naive at best.

You only have to look at the headlines in 95% of the papers after his comment when he said City have been better than United this season. Every one had the angle "City is bigger" clearly designed to produced a response from all other fans why to get hits and to sell papers

In the old days managers and the press had a behind closed doors "off the record" relationships. Nowadays all the media are invited to the same briefings and so hear the same things but for us as City fans we get to listen to those same briefings and get tell the difference between what is said and what is reported other fans dont

Very rarely do journalists provide original news they just pander to the stereotypical views of their readership ie "moneybags City" "history of United" "classic European night at Anfield" "Mourinho mindgames"

Most journalists have grown up in the Premiership era with City being the butt of jokes it will take a generation for that to change

I think that's how the media operates in a nutshell. When all is said and done, at the end of February we will still be in the hunt for four trophies. Our chances of winning the champions league are slim but they are still a fair bit better than the rags chances of winning the premier league (because with one miracle result we will be back on track, whereas the rags need four teams all to have a spectacular collapse).

So what, when you actually look at what MP said, is in the least bit controversial? None of it, because he limited it to this season, and specifically commented on the rags history.

But we all know the party line adopted by a media keen to sell papers "Pellegrini says city bigger than united".

It's an editorial slant deliberately adopted for reasons of commercial gain.

 

[Hamann Pineapple]

SSN have just put up a graphic showing the 'average' possession for City and Arsenal over the 2 games. I'm astonished.

 

[bobom]

I think we're over-reacting. Sure, the media responses to the two matches were stark. But I think that's more to do with the fact that no one expected anything of Arsenal, whereas they thought we might actually beat Barca. It's interesting in fact, that impartial observers in the media were perhaps more optimistic about our chances than a lot of fans. We're seen as a big club now but we don't quite have the self-confidence ourselves yet...

Plus, Arsenal were away, we were at home.