Media bias against City

[dennishasdoneit]

Quite an enjoyable article on the ESPN website

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.espnfc.co.uk/club/manchester-city/382/blog/post/2460353/manchester-city-now-a-consistent-premier-league-club" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.espnfc.co.uk/club/manchester ... eague-club</a>

Manchester City anniversary a chance to reflect on club's rise

Joshua Parlby is not a name that comes up in Manchester conversations very regularly, but his part in Manchester City's history should be recognised here on this Thursday. For the club that has just sealed a second place finish in the Premier League was admitted to the Football League on this day in 1894. On a day of some excitement in Manchester, not only did the city gain a football league club for the first time, it welcomed the reigning monarch Queen Victoria to the city to open the newly completed Manchester Ship Canal.

Trade -- and indeed football -- in the city would never be quite the same again.

City took another 43 years to win their first title and were promptly relegated the following year, beginning a tale of slapstick inconsistency that gave birth to many a wicked title attached to the fumbling exploits of the sky blues. Relatively modern times have seen the club slide from one level to another, even scraping the barrel of the third-tier in English football in 1999. From that particularly turbulent episode, the club gained nicknames like Typical City that have stuck to the club over the years and which it is trying so hard to shed in the modern era.

Arsenal's failure to score against Sunderland in their penultimate league game this week marked not only salvation for the North East club but also made it impossible for the Londoners to pass City in second place. Thus the Blues have now secured third, first, second, first and second place finishes in the last five years, making them the Premier League's most consistent performers so far this decade.


MANCHESTER CITY LATEST
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Just let that sink in for a moment -- the league's most consistent performers over the last five years.

To some this may smack of small beans, but to those who have supported a club well-schooled in not only surprising its supporters at every turn, but also managing to secure defeat from the jaws of victory more often than anyone cares to remember, this is quite a feat. The intrinsically quirky nature of this grand old club is thus beginning to change, more slowly maybe than the outer -- more obvious - visual effects, but nevertheless, changing.

Hardly surprising that this deep-rooted inconsistency is beginning to leave the scene, I hear you say. The club's massive investment in talent and infrastructure has catapulted it into a small, gilded European elite. Whether the powers that be like it or not, Manchester City have joined the greats of Germany, Italy, France, Portugal and Spain in a tiny group of elite clubs that will -- for the foreseeable future -- fight it out among themselves for the game's top prizes.

Unlike past decades, since 2010 Manchester City have been consistently finishing near or at the top of the Premier League.
Unlike past decades, since 2010 Manchester City have been consistently finishing near or at the top of the Premier League.
While UEFA president Michel Platini and his cronies in Zurich battle to find an acceptable FFP template that does not crucify the well-intentioned and give a leg-up to the tired old money of Europe, it cannot be denied that City have been fortunate to be one of the last to crawl under the spikes before the portcullis came crashing down. With a multi-million pound squad, gleaming stadium and regular Champions League participation, the Manchester City that gained entry to the football league exactly 121 years ago in an upstairs room of the Old Boar Inn on Withey Grove, now looks fit for modern purpose.

Without the incredible power of persuasion of Parlby, City, a club then with neither a full playing staff nor the finances to glean one, might not be where they are today.

The vagaries of history, the subtle touches of Mother Fate that have pushed and pulled the club from triumph to disaster and from delight to despair seem now to consider it the right moment to let the club drift gently into a new era. "Drift", however, is possibly a word that undervalues what has happened to City in the last ten years.

The club has grown spectacularly from the unstable initial investment of Thai tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra to the prime example of modern football finance that we see before us. The old elite may huff and puff at this newcomer to the top table, but it cannot be denied that Manchester City have been around in one shape or another for an extremely long time, have been winning trophies longer than most of today's rivals and have every right to now count themselves among the modern game's movers and shakers.

Proof of that comes from noted Manchester City author and historian, Gary James: "Manchester City won a trophy four years before Manchester United, 26 years before Arsenal and 51 years before Chelsea. They won the FA Cup 61 years before Liverpool and were the first English club to win a domestic and European trophy in the same season."

That City are at this point of evolution and can do so, is down to the weird and wonderful combination of the modern day largesse of club owner Sheikh Mansour, whose generosity has built a new kingdom in Manchester to rival the game's greatest names and to Mr Joshua Parlby, a moustachioed, round-faced businessman from a bygone time, whose perspicacity and powers of persuasion brought Ardwick Association Football Club to the attention of the Football League, thus beginning a long and eventful journey to where the club stands today.

Glad you posted it so I didn't click and the author gets paid. That article is one of the biggest piles of crap I've ever been unfotunate enough to read, and I'm not exaggerating. Incorrect facts and blatant lies, outright untruths and utter slander, and he even claims to have "researched" (googled it) to gain credibility. Hard to imagine it even being allowed to be published.

Oh shit. Agenda. Never mind.

Why we put up with it I don't know.

very clever yaya tony..such a clever poster ....if we have been the most consistent performers over the past five years you would think we would have been saluted a touch earlier than now? do you think it would take five yrs for any other club to earn respect from the "experts" ..one well balanced article does not a summer make...stop trying to take the piss out of your fellow blue supporters, and get firmly behind the agenda crowd..its how a
"CAMPAIGN" is won...get it??
oh never mind son.

 

[dennishasdoneit]

No PFA award for Aguero is like La Liga ignoring Messi

No award for Manuel last year yet Jose wins the same and gets it.

United EDS beat ours it's all over the TV yet we beat them and I don't hear anything about it.

Mangala is classed as a flop yet Di Maria is hardly mentioned and will now be sold for £50m. Due to media shite we'd be lucky to get £15m for Mangala. Falcao again massive flop yet he's had no bad press.

The media is red they want us to fail which will make it sweeter when we wipe the floor with the lot of them.

do not tal;k such rubbish in front of ric or yaya tony...they will ridicule you and make out you are paranoid.

 

[Goater=Legend]

Nice of sky to do a top four season review

Oh wait.

 

[dennishasdoneit]

WTF, the media shown its true colours yesterday regarding City, we have Phil Thompson still harping on about City and the money they have stating the obvious that we would never have won the league without it. No mention of rogers spending close on 200m on absolute shite he must be hurting everyday haha. Half time results and jeff stelling mentions Fabianski is in with a good chance of winning the golden glove no mention of joe also in with a shout. Motd we get nothing said of joe winning the golden glove for a record 4th time, they mention Sergio winning the golden boot but then show a couple of goals by Kane because he's english. Moving on to the rags and Lvg has delivered what he was asked to do by qualifying for the champions league but they haven't qualified for that only for the qualifying round which I hope they get beat, no mention of the money he has wasted on Falcao, Di-Marie, close to 200m. Hardly any talk on lampard leaving the premier league but the love in for Gerrard continues, Frank has been a true professional throughout his career, we have had Jose and his outbursts along with his diving cheating players all season but hey the press love the little whinging shit, we have Brendan who for the last 2 years all and sundry have been blowing up his arse and telling us how brilliant he is, well looks like he has been found out now, we have so many negative stories about City it's untrue, Manuel has conducted himself with honour and dignity since the day he arrived, you have to be a city fan to realise all the green eyed monsters out there and come next season they will be out in force again, but we all know City are going to be a major force in the comming years and I'm loving it. We have great owners who are determined to succeed so all the haters can / the Neville brothers, Mills, Quinn,Shearer, Nicholas, Thompson,Tyler, Stelling, Merson, all those at Talksport and numerous reporters and the ones I've missed out all fuck right off.

Top mini rant.

one of the best for sure.

 

[Bill]

let me explain to the lentil eaters/rags/ and wimps.

the agenda IS a bias. they go hand in hand.
platini cheats to hold us up.
refs are quite clearly instructed to avoid giving us pens/ offsides whilst allowing opponents all sorts. just look at this season ffs.
the media ignore our successes as not to have plastic not click or not tune in.
moreso they highlight/promote anything negative they can, even if there is no truth in a story.

this breeds a negativity that fans world wide don't want to be part of. advertisers steer clear from and even some players wont sign for.
PL fixtures are arranged to lessen our away support. Swansea on NYD at noon? do me a fucking favour.
look at out any empty seat is reported. a fucking disgrace. look at the top tier at the swamp you fucking low life.

in a way its a compliment but we should really be fighting back and I feel we just don't do that.

 

[Stoned Rose]

I really do think that people are arguing about different things on this thread and its just about terminology and the use of the word "agenda"

There is definitely an agenda e.g. a planned and discussed approach by a number of disparate parties to slow down City and this is serious as it involves national and international organisations and rivals and involves FFP we have beaten them they know it hence there revision of the rules

To suggest that there is not a media bias and that all the examples of bias in this thread are "perceived injustices" against City is delusional IMHO. It is not an agenda e.g. a planned and discussed approach by a number of disparate parties to slow down City but it is the approach that a number of different outlets have taken for their own individual agenda's. Some have done it for revenue online outlets and Talksport and some journalists have done it for personal bias but until writing postive articles about us generates as many clicks as writing a negative one then it is likely to continue

It pays the media to criticise City. Do that and fans from our rivals will click write a positive article and only we will click. Talksport constantly talk about United, Liverpool and Arsenal why because they know who are likely to phone in and so generate income.

Look at the MEN website on the left there is a section with most read articles to day it states

Most Read in Sport

Manchester United FC
Van Gaal: Manchester United transfer plans are in place
Louis van Gaal
Manchester United confirm Radamel Falcao has left the club
Manchester United FC
Van Gaal: Manchester United need midfielder in summer transfer window
Manchester United FC
Manchester United transfer rumours: Reds ARE after Cristiano Ronaldo and updates on De Gea
Manchester United FC
Hull 0 Manchester United 0: Player ratings

Now if any of us were in charge of that paper whose customer base would you want to keep happy City or United

It doesn't make it right but it does make it understandable and as City fans who like me use News Now to get articles to read about my club it is frustrating. It is frustrating because the media do not know what our club is doing or more likely don't care and to read the tired old cliches such as the Talksport article about our season and it immediately states our "expensively assembled side" you know they have no understanding about the club and what it has done over the past 2 years

So lets just use the right terminology there is an agenda at the top level, there is a bias within the media

So lets just use the right terminology there is an agenda at the top level, there is a bias within the media

But what if they are in cahoots?

 

[ToorakBlue]

let me explain to the lentil eaters/rags/ and wimps.

the agenda IS a bias. they go hand in hand.
platini cheats to hold us up.
refs are quite clearly instructed to avoid giving us pens/ offsides whilst allowing opponents all sorts. just look at this season ffs.
the media ignore our successes as not to have plastic not click or not tune in.
moreso they highlight/promote anything negative they can, even if there is no truth in a story.

this breeds a negativity that fans world wide don't want to be part of. advertisers steer clear from and even some players wont sign for.
PL fixtures are arranged to lessen our away support. Swansea on NYD at noon? do me a fucking favour.
look at out any empty seat is reported. a fucking disgrace. look at the top tier at the swamp you fucking low life.

in a way its a compliment but we should really be fighting back and I feel we just don't do that.

Hysterical nonsense.

 

[Hamann Pineapple]

 

[moomba]

Hmmm. Should the award for the keeper in goal for the most clean sheets be given to someone other than the keeper in goal for the most clean sheets?

Interesting concept.

 

[TheThirdDeano]

In my opinion there is both an Agenda & a bias against us. Perhaps their intentions aren't malicious but the damage they cause the branding & the annoyance they cause us as fans are both an unfortunate but inevitable side effect.

You can plug your ears and deny it if you wish but the fact of the matter is that bigging City up doesn't sell newspapers/ad-space. Maybe it did back when we were the loveable underdogs constantly shooting themselves in the foot but now we're ruffling feathers and not only dining with the big boys but we're setting our eyes on the seat at the head of the table. And the Worst (or best from our perspective) part? We're succeeding. The Scum know it, Maureen knows it, Wenger is a bit senile but probably can see it and everyone with even one brain cell in the media can see it. But no-one wants us to. so for them to print loads of stories about how brilliant our players are or how even with "Tactically inept" managers we've been the most consistent team in the past 5 years is bad business & let's be honest here, Sports "news" has been dead for a long, long time. Now it's main focus is profits. And whilst this isn't a slight at some genuine writers (Brennen & Samual in particular) the unfortunate reality is everyone has to trot the line in order to sell the papers and they're always going to sell more papers bigging up and sticking their tongue as far into the rear cavity of the others as space will allow than they would from printing positive things about us.

The flip side of this is the comfort the average person would feel to read about when something they don't like is having a bad time. Which is why you're more likely to read about Jovetic, Dzeko, Mangala, Fernando being a flop than you will Di Maria & Falcao. But do notice how our flops compare to theirs, particularly Mangala. After reading so many news stories I can't remember if we paid £50mil or £60mil for him to come over here and be the worst defender this side of Charvet. Whereas Falcao is actually from Yorkshire & plays for his supper but unfortunately couldn't find his feet. (Or the net.) But again this is because of human psychology, particularly of bad losers as our 'neighbours' have established themselves frequently, they take comfort in others downfall to mask their own insecurities. Upshot of this, we are more likely to see negative stories about city than we are the other big teams.


Stepping away from that though to say that this isn't damaging and that we shouldn't care is almost as damaging. City are trying to expand into a global powerhouse, but this isn't a short-term goal, this is something that requires us to plant the seeds in future generations, to get them to support us when everyone on here is dead and gone, we need to establish ourselves as the team supported by the average Joe that aren't even that interested in football but like us anyway. Although they might not be 'true' fans and I know that's a dirty subject but it all equates to money in the bank for the club + ensures us a stable revenue.

We've done absolutely brilliant the past 4 years & that does speak volumes to people watching around the world but the amount we get our achievements replayed & shown on a loop this is only a week or so of coverage, then we go back to being slated week in week out. The by product of this is that everyone with a passing interests reads that we only won the league because of dirty oil money & that all our players are mercenaries and that we kill puppies as half time entertainment, they are left with a negative impression of our team and they go away not wanting much to do with us, same with kids when they hear all these "Facts" from the Television, radio, their parents, their friends. It's a well known idea that anything repeated enough becomes a fact & that's the danger we run by letting this campaign continue.

The difficult part is, how do you combat it? Although I could ramble on and on about the lack of morals & ethic in modern Journalism but I think that it suffices to say that there's not much we can do except not be deterred and continue along on our journey to the top.