stuart brennan said:
Zabbasbeard said:
stuart brennan said:
To say we find the negative angle far more often is just not true. It's just that the negative angle gets blown up, and the positive ignored.
When Chris Bailey did the job, the same accusations were being levelled at him and the MEN, and the same for his predecessors, going back years and years.
And the next time Winter, Samuel, Wallace or Herbert write something even vaguely perceived as being negative, they will get the same treatment.
Yes, you are correct there was negativity historically and much of it was justified. However, there was less negativity about Chris Bailey's work than there is about yours and Spencer's. You are lucky Stuart in that you are not viewed as negatively as your editor and other journalists at the MUEN.
Wallace, Herbert, Winter and indeed Samuel (even if The Daily Mail stinks as a paper politically) have criticised City in the past but they have done it objectively. That is fair enough, and that is why they are not reviled on here and by City fans in general. They don't seek a negative angle like many others, your paper included, has done, far too often.
Underestimate us if you must. Lump us all together as having "prejudices", if that makes you happy, Stuart, fine. But remember, we can read and are more discerning. Many of us can see the lies and spin against our club and the truth. We can separate fact from fiction: spn from reality. Many of us have turned away from your paper/website. Why? The answer lies within.
I'm not lumping you all together as having prejudices. There are many City fans who don't think we have some kind of agenda (our editor is one of them!).
Can you tell me when the MEN has sought a negative angle, and not treated a story objectively? Just give me an example or two.
-- Tue Oct 30, 2012 4:01 pm --
City Raider said:
you'll be well placed stuart to comment on the perecived difference in how the 2 clubs are treated. Are the nationals more likely to be positive about utd and negative about city? Obviously there will be exceptions but is this the default position?
No I wouldn't say the nationals see it like that at all. Journalists are strange creatures - a story is a story, regardless of which club.
There is no story that a reporter would print if it involved City, but wouldn't if it involved United.
Fergie constantly bans reporters. He doesn't do it because they write positive stories.
Here’s one for starters (I have a day job!) I am sure I can find you more.
<a class="postlink" href="http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/sport/football/manchester_city/s/1489512_manchester-city-set-for-100m-strike-force-overhaul" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://menmedia.co.uk/manchesterevening ... e-overhaul</a>
It's an unnecessary attempt to destabilise our strikers during last season (it was March). Groundless speculation about Balotelli and Dzeko being sold last summer, picking holes in our strikers. You wrote:
“Edin Dzeko has bagged one goal in his last nine away league matches, Mario Balotelli’s game has faltered just as the stakes have been raised… The goal scoring charts show that the big Bosnian has 18 goals so far, a decent return, but 13 of them came before Christmas. The same goes for Balotelli, who has netted 11 of his 15 goals in this campaign before the mid-season point.”
Well the fact is that stakes were raised all last season, weren’t they. City set a hot pace in the autumn and it was nip and tuck all season – not just in the Spring run-in. Mario Balotelli is an inconsistent youngster, not someone who has faded under pressure. His performance to win the game against Tottenham at the end of January proved that he can perform under pressure. It is not just about the strikers, though. City as a team weren’t quite as good away from home as we were in the autumn. We were pretty good overall, though, and we went on to win one of the best leagues in Europe!
Whilst Stuart makes the fair point that Dzeko would benefit from quality wide service like he did at Tottenham in August, there is no recognition of the fact in his piece that he has made a difference in games last season when coming on from the bench, which is worthy of credit. After all, being a striker is not all about scoring goals. He wasn’t actually blessed with quality wide service, as much of our play last season (and this) was through the middle. When we did play Adam Johnson, he cut in and shot rather than cross. That may be a more direct route to goal, and good for the team, but it doesn’t make Dzeko a failure.
I seem to recall Balotelli set up the winning goal on May 13th, after Dzeko scored an important equaliser on May 13th. Dzeko is now our top scorer.
As for Spencer, if he is a Blue (!!), he sure covers it well. There was a stream of unfounded stories linking our better players like Silva leaving in the summer, in the MUEN. A paper which should be objetive rather than cutting and pasting/rewording the tabloid stories of one or even two days before!
Now Stuart, perhaps you'd like to tell us why people are turning away from the MUEN?
