This was a conversation with fans from various clubs back in the 90s. It's the first time I'd ever considered how other fans saw us & it was sobering.
We were bobbing up & down the divisions, but still referring to ourselves as equals to ManUre, Arsenal & the Dippers etc. However their fans saw us as the equivalent of a Norwich or Coventry et al. Everton were withdrawn from the comparison after 4 of them agreed the Toffees were a bigger club under Kendall than we were.
How City fans view Manchester City is totally different to how opposition fans view us. This is further evidenced by the way the 'Istree' clubs sneer at our recent achievements which they say are tainted, because we're an oil money club who cheat.
Another mate of of mine who's a home & away going season ticket (as it was back then) holder was miffed after a post match conversation with some QPR fans, who were lamenting the attitude of the big clubs, toward smaller clubs like City & them.
My mate was aghast that QPR thought our clubs were of a similar level, but again this is our perception of City vs those of others... \0/