The issues many of us have with our Bosnian fans can be summed up pretty quickly, and clearly. We believe that many of them aren't City fans. They are, in fact, fans of Edin Dzeko. They didn't care about, or even know too much about, City prior to Dzeko joining us, and they will be gone, and not give a shit about City, as soon as he moves on. Now I'm sure that's a generalisation and that there will be some who will, to one degree or another, stay as City fans, but there will definitely be a large number who will not. It's those fans who we City fans have a hard time dealing with, their opinions are tainted by their allegiancies to the player and not the greater good of the team. In fact, in some instances, I'm sure there will be some who would rather Dzeko started every game, and City struggled/lost than he sat out matches and City won.
On the wider issue of foreign fans and our acceptance of them into the City "family", I personally don't have too many issues with that. There will be some who, having berated United fans for years for coming from Malaysia, Singapore etc will struggle to come to terms with our growing fanbase in these far flung places. However, this is modern football, the most important thing in remaining competitive is money, pure and simple. The best way, especially now FFP has been introduced, to have money to spend, is through expanding your influence and tapping into foreign markets. Sales, sponsorship, and corporate partnerships will follow. It's a neccessary element of modern football, and we need to accept this as a fact.
One thing I will say is that, in my mind anyway, there will always be a certain cache with supporting your local team. Foreign fans may not accept, believe or even understand the difference, but it will always be there. Foreign fans will, I'm sure, identify with the club. They will like what the club stands for, how it handles itself, the way they play football. They'll see where we've come from, and where we're going, and they'll want to be a part of it. That's great, and it's a big part of why we all support a particular team, but what it doesn't address is that "extra" element. City are my local team. I've never lived more than about 10 miles from City's ground (whichever ground that may be, The Etihad, Maine Road or indeed Hyde Road). My dad was a City fan. His dad was a City fan. I grew up in an era when City were piss poor. My local school was filled with United and Liverpool fans, City were a joke. But they were MY joke. Did I want us to be a global power, winning trophies? God yes. Did it change my opinion, or affection for them, simply because whilst United had Mark Hughes and Bryan Robson, we had Kenny Clements? Of course not. I'd grown up a City fan, I was always going to be one come what may. I've watched us play aganst Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, but I've also watched us against Plymouth Argyle, Wycombe Wanderers, Grimsby Town and Lincoln City, all as equals. Football clubs began as community entities, over the next century or more that community link, to some, has seemed watered down, less important. Not to me. I could have found a club out there that did things I liked, that handled itself well, that played good football, that had come from modest surroundings to become a great side, one you'd be proud to be a part of. But I didn't. I was from Manchester. I was a City fan. Ultimately that was the only thing that mattered.
