Lu Martin: Allegedly Guardiola sees City as "small club"

[ballinio]

I'm quite riled about a comment in the media. Apparently it's come from Pep's mouth.

'He see's City as a second rate club in England, similar to Villareal in Spain'.

We are in no way comparable to Villareal. We never have been and never will be, I can't fathom the justification behind it. Last season they averaged just over 17,000 fans a game. We got over 35,000 MORE than that. We come from a big industrial City (which Villareal is not - it's a small fishing port) which we share with the most successful club in England. We've always been a cup side and have won numerous trophies (even before our late resurgence) whereas they have never won anything. I genuinely can't understand that comparison at all.

Now if you want to discuss how big a club is, there are only two things you need to look at. Firstly I'd argue trophies. In the entire history of English football we're 8th (out of hundreds). If you look at the most successful teams over the last decade (which is more relevant to how big a club currently is) we're third - ahead of the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal, Everton, Villa.

Now the next thing, and most importantly (IMO) is attendances. Our average attendance last season was higher than the following clubs: Rangers, Celtic, Liverpool, Inter Milan, PSG, Athletico Madrid, Benfica, Feyernord, AJAX, Newcastle, Monchengladbach, Hamburg, Juventus and AC Milan. We're the 8th best supported club in Europe. We hold the highest attendance away from Wembley in England and have done so for 80+ years. When we were in division three we averaged 28,261 fans. That was more then the following clubs (who played in the top division): Sheffield Wednesday, West Ham, Blackburn Rovers, Nottingham Forrest and Southampton. You could argue the number of travelling fans held us back from averaging over 30,000 fans that year too.

We are a big club. The only clubs in England that can argue to be much bigger than us are Arsenal/Liverpool/Rags. That's the be all and end all. I can understand that we're not as big as Barca or Bayern, but don't ridicule us and put us in the same bracket as a club that can't average more than 20,000.

Did Guardiola really say that ?

 

[kaz7]

Did Guardiola really say that ?

See above

 

[ballinio]

So journalists are doing pieces about what other people are thinking now ? Here's me thinking they were all just vile scum who hate us & want Utd & Liverpool back at the top, when really they're clever fucking mind readers.

 

[The Riot Club]

;)

(any excuse to use this gif)

What he said!

 

[ancoats]

So journalists are doing pieces about what other people are thinking now ? Here's me thinking they were all just vile scum who hate us & want Utd & Liverpool back at the top, when really they're clever fucking mind readers.

you said liverpool and mind readers

 

[borassic]

http://meninblazers.com/2016/12/29/podspecial-pepguardiola/

sorry if posted but he's bang on.

 

[daztrueblue91]

If becoming more like Bayern, United, Liverpool and Barca is what it take to be a 'big club' then I'd happily stay just as we are.

I know the Sheikh and Ferran etc. have different ambitions for the club, but speaking as a fan, I don't give two shits if I never see a person wearing a City top from outside of Greater Manchester, never mind trying to be as universally known as United.

The media have an angle to drive though and the fact it has come to the big club/less fans debate shows every single person in the world where their allegiances lie. When they mocked us for not winning anything and saying we would never be successful, that bothered me. I wanted to see City compete with the best and win trophies. We made the hacks eat their words and then they changed the angle to us being a badly run, moneybags, financially doping club. Again, we made them eat their words and every club in the PL would love the have the model we have in place for the future.

Now their goalposts have moved to the only thing they have left and that is the big club/less fans/no history debate. What's the biggest irony in it all is that all of those plastic rags who lap it up used to mock the Dippers for saying exactly the same thing.

The real issue in football is not a 'small' club like City averaging 50k+ every other Saturday and having fans who have stuck with the club in the dark times, its all the other leeches who call themselves football supporters who latch onto the success of a 'big club' despite having zero affiliation to the club. Don't get me wrong, we are attracting a huge amount of those calibre of 'fans' to the Etihad and at the end of the day they have just as much as a right to be there as me.

However, it's the mindset that I don't understand and never will. How can you support a team just because they win things or are popular in the media? To actually support a club is much more than buying a shirt or turning up to the odd glamour fixture. It's about that feeling you get when you watch your side play. You can't just switch off those emotions, and trust me there are times when I wish I could! I was at Villa Park on Boxing Day with the family and it felt soulless me being there. I just didn't get that buzz I get when I watch City.

Fans who feel that way about a club know that they can never fully replicate it to another club. So all these people who claim "I'm a Northampton Town fan but my second team is United or Liverpool" are glory hunters or even worse, they're sheep who flock to something popular to feel wanted.

 

[nellyonthewing]

It's a generation thing, when I was a young kid, Liverpool we're dominant, then utd took over. if we keep being successful, all the kids growing up now will all see us as a big successful team for the rest if their lives, whether they support us or not

Exactly "If we keep being successful". That means winning things not pissing around for 3 -5 years in transition.

 

[bobom]

Discussion threads like this can only give us a bad name. If we stamp our feet and say "No! We ARE a big club" then we look as if we are trying to big ourselves up, and if we admit we aren't a massive club then we're somehow showing a lack of ambition.

Best thing is to ignore whatever this journalist says Pep may or may not have said. Who gives a damn?

 

[balotelli's back pocket]

But nobody on here ever buys into the media narrative...
they want fans to turn on pep. What this shows is that if one passing comment from a guy who knew pep a few years ago riles you all up, you were alreadymlooking for an excuse. Get over it