Hard To Be Here

[mancboy]

I think when it’s your take, you are not the messenger. It’s your message, so we are allowed to shoot you :)

dont shoot @Fordyboy46 itll only give him something else to fucking complain about ;)

 

[KS55]

Spot on, I'm 64 65 in a few months and was on the way to Belle Vue bowling on the bus reading the MEN(?), I had a tear in my eye when I found out about Barnes & Owen being sold against their wishes. I have a lousy memory but that has been seared into my mind ever since.

No social media, internet or mobile phones in those days of course, although explaining that to anyone under about 40 just gets you blank looks today.

Edit: damn, I forgot how old I am :(

Just a junior FOC. You can join the first team squad in 5 years.

 

[KS55]

But we knew how shit we were and never turned up with a hope of glory. Swales as chairman completely ruined the club in the late 1970s with Big Mal; he sold all of Tony Book's players and young players like Barnes and Owen then overpaid on new signings, I loved Big Mal, but I thought he was out to ruin our club and take Swales with him

The New Breed of Manchester City fans will never understand ? How could they, when most of them are based all over the world and watched the AGUERO goal and wanted a bit of that

Swales and Mal were two narcissists together, a desperate combination. I’m convinced that Mal sold Skip’s team to prove he knew more than anyone. Right, Mal.

 

[blue by birth]

You'll never stop loving the club, impossible. But am I finding it harder to watch a game nowadays, absolutely. Last season and the start of this have been a very hard watch in the majority of games I must add not all. Our fluidity and exciting play has fallen off the edge of a cliff compared to the early Pep seasons. That's only my take and I expect not many will agree with me, so don't shoot the messenger please

Give up your season ticket then..don't watch games on TV..give up blue moon..
You might feel happier then.
Personally although the football isn't quite as exciting as previous years I still love going to games ..it's the fucking VAR experience that I hate with a vengeance

 

[eastmanc]

Really? I did. "Glory" was walloping the rags, beating Liverpool or the top dogs of the day (only to lose to the bottom of the league Club the following week!), a decent run in any of the Cup competitions, seeing a City goal as a goal-of-the-month contender, or generally just upsetting the odds and/or the establishment in our performance or result. In perspective, that was our definition of "glory" back then and I never turned-up without the hope of achieving it.

In the mid to late seventies we were one of the best teams in the first division, until Big Mal fucked it up. We competed nearly every season for 4 or 5 years.

 

[Georgian Maestro]

A while back I stumbled across the 1974 FA Cup final, the full game, and decided to watch it to see how the football looked over the course of a game. It also meant I wasn’t watching the game through blue tinted spectacles, as I love watching City clips from back then.

The standard was less than league 2 today in terms of technical ability. I accept it’s one game, and it doesn’t mean games weren’t exiting back then, but in terms of technical standards, close control, fitness levels, and of course the pitches there is a world of difference between now and then, and if people are struggling with our current style of football, fuck knows what they’d be like if it regressed to 1970s standards.

I watched the extended highlights of a Manchester Derby from the early 70s recently. Lee, Bell and Summerbee v Best, Law and Charlton. The standard was appalling. Neither team could string more than 3 passes together.

 

[ancoats]

Swales and Mal were two narcissists together, a desperate combination. I’m convinced that Mal sold Skip’s team to prove he knew more than anyone. Right, Mal.

It was very strange. Tony Book was happy to step down and become coach, then having to watch Big Mal rip apart his team, Swales had full control of anything at City, even the team. He even had a phone linked to the dugout

 

[ancoats]

I watched the extended highlights of a Manchester Derby from the early 70s recently. Lee, Bell and Summerbee v Best, Law and Charlton. The standard was appalling. Neither team could string more than 3 passes together.

It was the time and place, football was all about match-going fans, money and revenue was by the turnstiles, with very little sponsorship and TV money, pitches were cow fields, footballers were just normal people that went down the pub and had 5 or 6 pints and smoked.

 

[ancoats]

Really? I did. "Glory" was walloping the rags, beating Liverpool or the top dogs of the day (only to lose to the bottom of the league Club the following week!), a decent run in any of the Cup competitions, seeing a City goal as a goal-of-the-month contender, or generally just upsetting the odds and/or the establishment in our performance or result. In perspective, that was our definition of "glory" back then and I never turned-up without the hope of achieving it.

Noel Gallagher once said City was a club that had great games but won no silverware

 

[jimharri]

Spot on, I'm 64 65 in a few months and was on the way to Belle Vue bowling on the bus reading the MEN(?), I had a tear in my eye when I found out about Barnes & Owen being sold against their wishes. I have a lousy memory but that has been seared into my mind ever since.

No social media, internet or mobile phones in those days of course, although explaining that to anyone under about 40 just gets you blank looks today.

Edit: damn, I forgot how old I am :(

Damn; you're even older than me (63 in december).

How the hell did we manage back in the day with no Internet? Wireless, television and Ceefax, I guess. The papers were all yesterday's news, pretty much the same as today.

 

[ancoats]

It was after the Horse of the Year Show had been at Wembley just before the 1970 League Cup Final.

Believe me, if you could play football back then, you were special
It was a man's game and players used to kick the shit out of everybody and then pick them up and got on with the game, Football Boots. heavy footballs, cow fields pitches, poor travelling, no posh hotels, and the dreaded cold sponges

 

[Lavinda Past]

It was after the Horse of the Year Show had been at Wembley just before the 1970 League Cup Final.

And it snowed heavily the day before the match...

It's all relative. The general standard of football was poor but, as fans, we enjoyed watching the games just as much as we ever had. It was watching our team, and having a pint or two after while discussing how good/bad player A,B,or C had been.

It’s no different nowadays. The game has developed, pitches are better, players are fitter and more skilled, but fans are exactly the same. It's just that some of us have grown tired of seeing the same performance over and over again, no matter how good it is.

Football in general, not just City, has become stale for some people.

 

[mexico1970]

And it snowed heavily the day before the match...

It's all relative. The general standard of football was poor but, as fans, we enjoyed watching the games just as much as we ever had. It was watching our team, and having a pint or two after while discussing how good/bad player A,B,or C had been.

It’s no different nowadays. The game has developed, pitches are better, players are fitter and more skilled, but fans are exactly the same. It's just that some of us have grown tired of seeing the same performance over and over again, no matter how good it is.

Football in general, not just City, has become stale for some people.

Players like Jamal, Ronaldo and the ball jugglers wouldn't have been doing much fucking juggling with Chopper Harris and Mick Doyle watching over them on muddy pitches and with heavier balls and boots that's for sure.

It's all pedicures and a façade, it was exciting back in the day without the glitter and razzamatazz, and what's with the 5 substitutions the drink breaks and even talk of holding the WC games at midnight because it might be a bit hot?

Games fucked I tell ya ;-)

 

[Fordyboy46]

dont shoot @Fordyboy46 itll only give him something else to fucking complain about ;)

Especially if he doesn't do the job right, lol

 

[mancboy]

Players like Jamal, Ronaldo and the ball jugglers wouldn't have been doing much fucking juggling with Chopper Harris and Mick Doyle watching over them on muddy pitches and with heavier balls and boots that's for sure.

It's all pedicures and a façade, it was exciting back in the day without the glitter and razzamatazz, and what's with the 5 substitutions the drink breaks and even talk of holding the WC games at midnight because it might be a bit hot?

Games fucked I tell ya ;-)

get em playing on hough end and lets be done with this playing in stadiums business an all ;)

 

[pride in battle]

A while back I stumbled across the 1974 FA Cup final, the full game, and decided to watch it to see how the football looked over the course of a game. It also meant I wasn’t watching the game through blue tinted spectacles, as I love watching City clips from back then.

The standard was less than league 2 today in terms of technical ability. I accept it’s one game, and it doesn’t mean games weren’t exiting back then, but in terms of technical standards, close control, fitness levels, and of course the pitches there is a world of difference between now and then, and if people are struggling with our current style of football, fuck knows what they’d be like if it regressed to 1970s standards.

About 15 years ago i watched the 1966 world cup in its entirety...fucking hell it was a hard watch, apart from the goals the actual standard was so poor, like you say league 2 standard...

 

[69FACUPfinal]

She didn’t fluke anything, she fought her way through qualifying and beat everyone they put in front of her in the main draw without dropping a set. As an 18 yr old. Absolutely amazing achievement

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with her behaviour but, that said, one of the dozen or so coaches she’s worked her way through since then might disagree with me !!

You sound just like the OH when I say she fluked her way! I'm not a tennis afficanado BTW, but I do watch the odd match she plays and I still maintain fluked. She has no variety to her game, all baseline stuff. Not that I can cba much, it's just a running joke and bantz with me and Mr.

Her behaviour I can slightly excuse in that she had a lot of pressure put on her as a child prodigy. But that doesn't make it right, she goes through coaches like the opposition running through our high back line, and some of her comments are just unbelievable, no concern for others.

Anyway my Blue credentials, been a fan since 69, season ticket in the 80s, so I've seen late 60s/ early 70s games live and whilst our current play is not as exciting, talent levels are way above past decades

BTW another good team to watch as an objective observer currently are Fulham. No pushovers.

 

[69FACUPfinal]

In the mid to late seventies we were one of the best teams in the first division, until Big Mal fucked it up. We competed nearly every season for 4 or 5 years.

We were. 1977 was so annoying. Dropped points boxing day iirc to them? For my sins i was going out with a Dipper match attending bf ( I didn't marry him), so there was a lot of rivalry alongside our late teens lurve in exploits.....

 

[eastmanc]

We were. 1977 was so annoying. Dropped points boxing day iirc to them? For my sins i was going out with a Dipper match attending bf ( I didn't marry him), so there was a lot of rivalry alongside our late teens lurve in exploits.....

That match against the dippers lost us the league. The match shouldn't have gone ahead due to the frozen pitch. Was it an own goal from Dave Watson? I was absolutely gutted as a 13 year old kid.

 

[eastmanc]

Swales and Mal were two narcissists together, a desperate combination. I’m convinced that Mal sold Skip’s team to prove he knew more than anyone. Right, Mal.

Probably spot on with your analysis.