Etihad atmosphere

Atmosphere will be far better on Wednesday. We all love a good crisis. Back to the good old bad old days.

You could well be right on that - got a feeling that it will be surprisingly better than expected. Also, I notice on the planner that there aren't too many tickets left - we've got the normal away section in the 3rd tier of the SS and most have been sold. Any empties will be more down to non-attending ST holders rather than seats that haven't been sold.
 
the guardiola song has been sung to death now. and oh what a night, i think its a bit shit tbh. unless its against united most fans aren't gonna join in. we could bring back songs that everyone knows and carry on for more then 30 seconds.

city til i die
blues go marching in
you are my city

all songs everyone knows, but are barely sung in the south stand. more songs just about city.


See what you mean mate. I would keep the guardiola song though because it is in support of our manager so it is a song for city.

I prefer songs about our club / our city, we need to have a few flagship songs and not worry if we sing them for the next 5 years. If you swap and change songs to often it causes confusion. "oh when the blues go marching in" is a great song. Been sung for donkeys years, has clapping in it to keep rhythm and can go on and on ( has been known to for 10 minutes non stop ).

Some fans get pissed off with never felt more like singing the blues, but i see it more as a tradition than a song to sing only when the fact is there.

The best atmosphere stadiums dont have 90 minutes non stop singing, they just give that impression because when they do sing it is loud and goes one for a minute or two.

I stand at the back of 115, the first 10 minutes are always very good. But then you get this utter confusion were we have 3 short songs being song at the same time or just before one song finishes somebody cracks out bluemoon or stand up if you love city. Fans are confused, the game gets frustrating and fans take over moaning so the singing stops. All of this put together creates silence.

We dont have a chamce of improving the noise unless we get a bit more organised. I dont mean we set our watches to perfection and have a song sheet, its not rocket science what we need.


Bluemoon - sing it at the beginning at KO time, then maybe again in the second half when we are cruising or after a goal.

Stand up if you love city - If we are 2 nil down or atmosphere is quiet its never going to carry. Should be down towards the end of the game if we are controlling the game.

Poznan - for godsake bring it back, do it if 3 nil up or 2 nil towards end if game.
 
I am a Celtic supporter (Be nice, don't shoot me please ha-ha) and have a season ticket at Celtic Park. Now before I start, I know absolutely nothing on the setup you have at the Etihad so forgive my lack of knowledge but I will try and expand on what they have at Celtic Park.

  • A ''Green Brigade Ultras'' supporters group with official recognition by the club.
  • Safe Standing area - Around 3000 seats in a lower corner of the East stand
  • An ever growing songbook
  • Banner/Fan/Seat Displays

To the first point - I'm not sure if there is a link between City supporter groups and the club, but to get anywhere in addressing these issues you need the backing from your club first and foremost before you can even think about adopting change. City need to create a group of ''Ultras'' and these need to be managed and controlled by a committee head member or members. This leader (Spokesperson) will have direct input into the club and will be the middle man between club and supporters. This person (or persons) can negotiate with the club to listen to their plans and help adopt changes that the fans are wanting.

Safe Standing area - Now I'm not sure if this is even an option in England yet, but if not, identify an area in your stadium that will house your newly created ''Blue Brigade'' set of fans. Probably somewhere in the region of around 3000 seats.

Now, you need to find 3000 ''Ultra'' type fans, this ideally will be controlled by the head(s) of the "Blue Brigade" committee and not the club itself. You need to identify 3000 fans that will sing and create an atmosphere for the whole 90 mins. These fans will be dedicated to the cause and will sing whether the team are winning, drawing or losing. They need to be 'hardcore' fans that their sole purpose of being in that section is to generate noise, (Not sit down, eat burgers, discuss the weather or whine about the management or players, their job is to sing, not relax) - There needs to be about 5-6 'head' members in particular that will control this section by standing at the front (1 with a megaphone) and co-ordinate the singing. This member(s) will choose which song or chant they want the rest of the section to sing. Ideally, there will be 1 or 2 fans standing beside this person with drums to set the tone of the chant/song. You will need a team of 5-6 members to rotate to keep it going for the 90 mins. These members will be facing the fans and will not be watching the game behind them.

Now, how do you recruit 3000 Ultra type fans? Well, these fans need to be vetted. Every single one need to be capable of belting out song after song for 90 mins and membership criteria would need to highlight this. If you like to go to the game, sit down, watch the football and relax, this group is not for you. Now at Celtic Park, I would say that the majority of the fans that make up the Green Brigade are working class, alcohol fuelled and under the age of 50. Now, you don't need to be pissed to sing and chant but I think it does help, many people grow in confidence with alcohol inside them and in my opinion, it may be a confidence thing as to whether they openly sing or not. Personally, I always sing and chant a lot more after a few beers, when I'm stone cold sober, I can be a lot quieter. Recruitment of these 'Die Hard' City fans therefore need to be vetted by the fans themselves and not the club. You want all your singers together, not dotted around all over the place.

You need songs, plenty of them, 20 or so minimum different chants/songs that you can keep it going. No point having 3-4 chants and singing them 6 times every half. Now, if you don't have these songs, someone creative needs to create these songs/chants. The advantage of having a 'blue brigade' type group is that you only need to teach this song to these 3000 people (the rest of the stadium and fans will soon learn) - How do you do that? Create a 'Blue Brigade' forum where each of the 3000 members will have a login. Post up the chants, co-ordinate the chanting as above and people will soon adopt.

Celtic for example, have a popular chant of "Celtic, Celtic" "Come on you boys in green, Come on you boys in green", Glasgow's Green and White, Glasgow's green and white" - That's it, easy.

Look at the effect it has... (Celtic Away at Kilmarnock)




Easily changed to "City, City" Come on you boys in blue, Come on you boys in blue" Manchester's blue and white, Manchester's blue and white" - Keep it simple. In this case, you need to try and co-ordinate it like the Celtic fans do with one section responding to the original chant so its choreographed. You have to admit, that simple chant above in those videos comes across very well.

You need creative members to lead all this, you need someone dedicated pretty much 24/7, live and die City type to be in charge. He wont even be fussed about the football behind him, his job is to control the group of Ultra supporters underneath him.

Ask the club for funding for the group, for co-ordination, for banner displays etc etc

When the laws change, ask the club for a safe standing section.

Now I'll probably get flamed for this post, Why do we want to be like Celtic etc etc? Guys, this is in no way meant as patronizing, derogatory or a we are better than you attitude, it's just simply ideas on what I believe are easy changes to make that can help out with your atmosphere problem

In summary, get all the City die hards together, create a City "ultras" group, find someone to head that Ultras group, ask the club for a section, co-ordinate them all and don't stop singing for 90 mins irrespective of the score line.
 
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See what you mean mate. I would keep the guardiola song though because it is in support of our manager so it is a song for city.

I prefer songs about our club / our city, we need to have a few flagship songs and not worry if we sing them for the next 5 years. If you swap and change songs to often it causes confusion. "oh when the blues go marching in" is a great song. Been sung for donkeys years, has clapping in it to keep rhythm and can go on and on ( has been known to for 10 minutes non stop ).

Some fans get pissed off with never felt more like singing the blues, but i see it more as a tradition than a song to sing only when the fact is there.

The best atmosphere stadiums dont have 90 minutes non stop singing, they just give that impression because when they do sing it is loud and goes one for a minute or two.

I stand at the back of 115, the first 10 minutes are always very good. But then you get this utter confusion were we have 3 short songs being song at the same time or just before one song finishes somebody cracks out bluemoon or stand up if you love city. Fans are confused, the game gets frustrating and fans take over moaning so the singing stops. All of this put together creates silence.

We dont have a chamce of improving the noise unless we get a bit more organised. I dont mean we set our watches to perfection and have a song sheet, its not rocket science what we need.


Bluemoon - sing it at the beginning at KO time, then maybe again in the second half when we are cruising or after a goal.

Stand up if you love city - If we are 2 nil down or atmosphere is quiet its never going to carry. Should be down towards the end of the game if we are controlling the game.

Poznan - for godsake bring it back, do it if 3 nil up or 2 nil towards end if game.

some good points there mate. the things you suggest would definitly improve it. I've been in the south stand quite a few times this season and imo there is an obsession with trying to get the same few songs going or to not sing just about city. songs like oh what a night or billion in the bank/ the zaba song i hear 4 or 5 times a game now. songs like 'city til i die' i associate most with city, but ever since gary cook said he didn't want us to sing it its died off. or hey jude ever since we sung it after the game no one sings its anymore.

as you say lets get more organized and lets get some of these just pro city songs going.
 
We did it.

All the runs that Kinky makes are winding.
All the goals that Rosler scores are blinding.
And after all you're my Alan Ball.


Think Don't look back in anger would be a better option. Decent size verse before a big chorus.

Like the idea of using an Oasis song. I know they're not everyone's cup of tea but most will belt it out when they've had a few down them. Also think it's better than blue moon because most will know the verse lyrics rather than just the chorus.
 

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