Let's Give Alison Brittain A Warm City Welcome On Sunday ;-) (Richard Masters Chickened Out)

[Saddleworth2]

And most genuinely believe City need to be delegitimised to “save the business” of football.

Why do they believe that though.

 

[supercity88]

I think we are going to have to agree to disagree so we don’t hijack the thread with further debate.

I will just say the American owners don’t think in terms of years, they think in decades, and they know what it takes to manipulate fans in to eventually backing smaller, seemingly less intrusive changes, one-by-one, until they’ve achieved their main goals. They’re doing that now with social media influencing campaigns and media spin to realise the functional “salary cap” proposal, which is merely one step of many already completed and many to come. They’ve already used the ESL debacle to win further concessions from UEFA (along with the ownership groups of Real Madrid, Barca, and Bayern, who are all heavily influenced by American consultants and PE entities now), and will use similar threats and events to win more, until the structure of the CL is not far off from the ESL. They are backed by clever people that literally do this sort of thing in much larger and more complicated industries; they are masters of regulatory capture and market dominance. I have worked directly with some of them, so know their tactics and their success rate.

At any rate, I may not be around to say “I told you so” in five or ten years time, but I am fairly confident that if we don’t take the threat seriously, my missus can put that on my headstone.

It's the wrong thread for the discussion. As I said, the Masters no show is nothing to do with this debate in my opinion. Fundamentally I recognise what they want to do, but I don't think they'll ever achieve it because of fan power in this country which no manipulation will ever overcome. I also don't think there's a united front on what they want to happen. And I see it far more likely that the US Owners will end up selling up and going back home long before we see an NFL style game with a draft system and games in the states.

Either way, our owners will certainly not underestimate them. I wouldn't dismiss Middle Eastern business men either though, they've got a way of getting what they want too. And they don't wait decades for it.

 

[SebastianBlue]

Why do they believe that though.

For many reasons, but in my opinion the most prominent are:

1) racism/jingoism
2) the belief that City’s model is unsustainable
3) the belief that City’s model is an existential threat to “fair competition”
4) the fear that City’s model renders the American model of ownership (and league structure) obsolete
5) the knowledge that City’s model threatens the status quo

Some hold only one of these beliefs; some several at one time. A few of these are obviously contradictory and/or unsavoury, but that has never stopped powerful people from allowing these sort of beliefs to motivate or guide their decision making.

And the American ownership groups are by no means a monolith. They have competing interests, aims, and thoughts on the way to go about achieving them. Their visions clash regularly and some are more reluctant with signing on to certain actions and strategies than others. A few even have rivalries that are completely separate from football.

But they do agree (or at least cooperate) on a few things, and the need to delegitimise City is generally one of them.

As I said, very few among the growing American ownership cabal see themselves as malicious actors. Most of them likely see themselves as on a “holy crusade” for the “good of sport”. I know one person (an American that consults on market expansion and customer engagement in sport) behind Liverpool’s business operations that definitely see their efforts that way.

And, once more, they are definitely carrying out efforts to make fans of their clubs believe this is a “holy crusade”.

 

[SebastianBlue]

It's the wrong thread for the discussion. As I said, the Masters no show is nothing to do with this debate in my opinion. Fundamentally I recognise what they want to do, but I don't think they'll ever achieve it because of fan power in this country which no manipulation will ever overcome. I also don't think there's a united front on what they want to happen. And I see it far more likely that the US Owners will end up selling up and going back home long before we see an NFL style game with a draft system and games in the states.

Either way, our owners will certainly not underestimate them. I wouldn't dismiss Middle Eastern business men either though, they've got a way of getting what they want too. And they don't wait decades for it.

I don’t underestimate our owners. I only think our fans tend to underestimate the league capture of the owners of the other clubs in the league. And the fans of those clubs are largely being manipulated in to accepting (if not supporting) the changes the American ownership groups want in the name of combating what those groups have claimed City represent.

Let’s hope, though, you are right, and fans of all clubs become wise to the manipulation and push back to the changes being pursued in the PL and CL, with or without Masters.

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

I thought she was superb yesterday & she looked honoured & spoke to each recipient. It seems simple when you write it but quite clearly this simple award ceremony is often cold & emotionless for it to stand out.

I agree.

 

[eike]

What a difference between Alison and that miserable twat masters who clearly didn't want to be here last season.Allison seemed to be really enjoying herself, well done please come back next year x

 

[manimanc]

I thought she was superb yesterday & she looked honoured & spoke to each recipient. It seems simple when you write it but quite clearly this simple award ceremony is often cold & emotionless for it to stand out.

I thought she seemed genuinely thrilled to be up there and seemed to speak to everyone she handed medals.
I actually take back what I said in a drunken rant about her a couple of days ago, I feel really embarrassed by what I said. I just seen she works for the Premier League and went in there with two feet, studs showing and everything.

 

[r.soleofsalford]

I thought she was superb yesterday & she looked honoured & spoke to each recipient. It seems simple when you write it but quite clearly this simple award ceremony is often cold & emotionless for it to stand out.

She did look like she enjoyed the experience.

 

[bumbleblue]

She was a damn sight more professional than that Shameless patsy Masters.

 

[Ric]

Just watching the Sky coverage back, and can only echo what others have said. Despite her United background, she looked like she genuinely enjoyed the occasion and there was a warmth to her that Masters clearly lacks. Feel a bit bad for booing her at first now! She even wore a blue dress for it, so fair play to her. Whether or not it has any significance in relations between the club and PL, who knows.