New York Times........

[Dyed Petya]

I suppose we can never know for sure what would have happened without Thaksin, but I suspect you're almost certainly right. That's why I said we should forget the past, move on and be happy with where we are now.

we must never forget our past, its as relivant as the future, ive had some great times being a city fan, and i wouldnt want it anyother way.
we must respect our past, and learn from it, its what has made us the fans we are, if we hadnt suffered like we have we wouldnt have that bond, that makes us the fans we are..
forget the past NO WAY MATE , im proud of our past, and ill be even prouder in the future because of it...I WAS ERE WHEN WE WHERE SHITE , wouldnt have any meaning if it wasnt for our past..

Sorry, you're absolutely right - and what I wrote was badly phrased. Sorry for writing something which didn't actually reflect what I wanted to say. Was distracted with other stuff (nothing interesting, sadly!).

What I meant was that we should forget the past in relation to Thaksin, and in particular the debate as to whether or not he was right for the club as an owner. He came, he went, he managed to offload us to owners who seem to have the genuine ability to make us a force. If ADUG eventually offload us and someone in a situation similar to Thaksin's looks like becoming the owner, there are lessons to be learned, but for now, we can just be happy that we've ended up wjere we've ended up, I think.

The past generally is a different matter, as you say. Our history might not be the most illustrious in the English game in terms of trophies won, but we have a rich history nonetheless that in my opinion is one of the most interesting club histories in British football and I'm very proud of it too. And having also been there for the last thirty years, I'll enjoy the success which I hope and believe will come all the more for having stuck with it in the barren times.

 

[colinbellsboots]

we must never forget our past, its as relivant as the future, ive had some great times being a city fan, and i wouldnt want it anyother way.
we must respect our past, and learn from it, its what has made us the fans we are, if we hadnt suffered like we have we wouldnt have that bond, that makes us the fans we are..
forget the past NO WAY MATE , im proud of our past, and ill be even prouder in the future because of it...I WAS ERE WHEN WE WHERE SHITE , wouldnt have any meaning if it wasnt for our past..

Sorry, you're absolutely right - and what I wrote was badly phrased. Sorry for writing something which didn't actually reflect what I wanted to say. Was distracted with other stuff (nothing interesting, sadly!).

What I meant was that we should forget the past in relation to Thaksin, and in particular the debate as to whether or not he was right for the club as an owner. He came, he went, he managed to offload us to owners who seem to have the genuine ability to make us a force. If ADUG eventually offload us and someone in a situation similar to Thaksin's looks like becoming the owner, there are lessons to be learned, but for now, we can just be happy that we've ended up wjere we've ended up, I think.

The past generally is a different matter, as you say. Our history might not be the most illustrious in the English game in terms of trophies won, but we have a rich history nonetheless that in my opinion is one of the most interesting club histories in British football and I'm very proud of it too. And having also been there for the last thirty years, I'll enjoy the success which I hope and believe will come all the more for having stuck with it in the barren times.

no probs mate , i started to go to matches in 1964,div 2, i was a child and cant remember that much about the game, i sat in the scorboard end(noth stand, before the noth stand was built) it was pissin down i got drenched as the stand was uncovered. i would hate to think that all that effort and time should be forgotten. wish i hadnt lost my programe of the match , when i was about 10...was given a city top by one of the players after the match, my DAD claimrd it... i would have given it to him , after all the pleasure this GREAT club have given me.....and yes i have on many occation said'' thats it ive had it with this lot, and im never going ever again'' only to be in the queue at the next game.....FUCKIN LOVE THIS CLUB< FUCKIN LOVE IT...

 

[Dyed Petya]

no probs mate , i started to go to matches in 1964,div 2, i was a child and cant remember that much about the game, i sat in the scorboard end(noth stand, before the noth stand was built) it was pissin down i got drenched as the stand was uncovered. i would hate to think that all that effort and time should be forgotten. wish i hadnt lost my programe of the match , when i was about 10...was given a city top by one of the players after the match, my DAD claimrd it... i would have given it to him , after all the pleasure this GREAT club have given me.....and yes i have on many occation said'' thats it ive had it with this lot, and im never going ever again'' only to be in the queue at the next game.....FUCKIN LOVE THIS CLUB< FUCKIN LOVE IT...

The passion really comes through in this post! Bet you never thought when you first went in 1964 that such a fantastic era was round the corner. I'm a bit jealous of those who saw that team built by Joe and Malcolm. My first game was Boxing Day 1975, so I never saw Summerbee, Lee or Bell before his injury, or even Rodney Marsh. Still, we did have a great side in my first few years. Look forward to more of the same soon. We've waited long enough for me to believe that we deserve it!

 

[colinbellsboots]

no probs mate , i started to go to matches in 1964,div 2, i was a child and cant remember that much about the game, i sat in the scorboard end(noth stand, before the noth stand was built) it was pissin down i got drenched as the stand was uncovered. i would hate to think that all that effort and time should be forgotten. wish i hadnt lost my programe of the match , when i was about 10...was given a city top by one of the players after the match, my DAD claimrd it... i would have given it to him , after all the pleasure this GREAT club have given me.....and yes i have on many occation said'' thats it ive had it with this lot, and im never going ever again'' only to be in the queue at the next game.....FUCKIN LOVE THIS CLUB< FUCKIN LOVE IT...

The passion really comes through in this post! Bet you never thought when you first went in 1964 that such a fantastic era was round the corner. I'm a bit jealous of those who saw that team built by Joe and Malcolm. My first game was Boxing Day 1975, so I never saw Summerbee, Lee or Bell before his injury, or even Rodney Marsh. Still, we did have a great side in my first few years. Look forward to more of the same soon. We've waited long enough for me to believe that we deserve it!

the future is blue , the future is city, weve all suffffffffeeeerrrrrd, now it looks like we are gonna be rewarded. FUKIN LOVE THIS CLUB... BLUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON
oh i envy those that saw burt, and frank RIP, so i know what you feel..

 

[Lmarkham-blueblood]

i reakon cook had a hand in this considoring he wants to make city a household name across the globe

 

[Dribble]

I was 8 years old and a Liverpool supporter when I changed to a Blue. There was no Footballing loyalties in our house when growing up, but being a typical kid I liked football and just chose the most successful team at the time who were Liverpool.

My older cousin who I greatly admired reasoned with me saying, "Why support a team in a city that you've never been to, when you can support your local team who are nearly as good?" That was good enough for me and I instantly became a Blue and so started a life of battered expectation, ups and downs and despair!!

Being a Blue has been character building for me because I've learned to deal with the disappointments of adult life from my experiences of devoting the 95% of my football loyalties to Manchester City. I work in an office full of Reds, so I've had to take it on the chin for years from them, but my support of God's own club never ever wavered as I stood like a lone Blue beacon in a Red Hell called work. I remember when we gained promotion, only for the Swamp Dwellers to win the coveted treble, it made my life at work even worse.

My greatest regret is that my 2 eldest boys are Reds. They were of strong enough character to oppose my wishes of becoming Blues and switched to being Reds so that their friends wouldn't take the piss out of them. I kept telling them that nothing lasts forever including United's superiority, but there was no swaying them as they could never envisage a time when City woudn't be the shit underdog! I pleaded with them citing Liverpool's dominance in the 70's and 80's, and the fact that Utd used to be in the old 2nd division, but it was to no avail and was a lifetime before they were born.

I can't recall which team we played but it's when we were in the 2nd division (old 3rd division) and were soundly beaten on a wet Tuesday night by some shit team and I recall when 'er in doors' suggesting to me that I switch my allgience to Utd because as she put it, 'City always lose which makes you miserable, and Utd always win which would make you happy!'...... Needless to say we are no longer a couple.

A wife is for the term of your marriage, Manchester City are for life!!!

 

[Matty]

I did sour not so much on City but on the bitterness of the "discussions" around here during the Thaksin days.

There were some rather heated discussions around that time. If memory serves your issues were around Shinawatra "the person" rather than Shinawatra "the investor". If you had been concerned about whether Shinawatra had the finances and the wherewithall to get City where he professed he wanted then, ultimately, you would have been proven correct. However, my understanding of your viewpoint was that, you had issues about Shinawatra which were unrelated to football or his finances, they were related to his actions when Prime Minister of Thailand and, specifically, his human rights record. There was never any doubt that Shinawatra had made some questionable decisions when he was Thai PM, but many of us questioned the relevance to City and our place to judge based on limited understanding and contradictory "evidence".

Ultimately it came down to a heated battle between the two camps, those who felt Shinawatra shouldn't be associated with City and those who felt what he'd potentially done previously had no bearing on his ability to improve the club.

 

[Thad Williamson]

actually Matty, while I did argue that the human rights issues needed to be taken seriously, my concern was not the human rights stuff or whether he was a good or bad politician (a complicated question and as I said repeatedly, there are things about what he tried to do as PM I admire, and others I do not), but the fact that he wanted (and in fact did) try to use as a pawn in his ongoing political struggles in Thailand, which in turn was/is related to his desire to regain control of his financial empire and frozen assets. For that purpose, he wanted to be the face of City (which in my opinion was a big reason why he ended up dumping Sven), though at the same time his attention necessarily was often diverted elsewhere (to his legal and political struggles).

Given his motivations, it couldn't have ended well over the long term, and I do think that anyone who had read the available English-language scholarly literature about Thaksin available at that time would have found many reasons to be sceptical about the guy and his claims, not just with respect to the human rights issues, but regarding the fundamental way he operates--see Duncan McCargo's book "Thaksinization of Thailand." The guy is a first-class self-promoter with long experience in buttering up the media, and a long history of trying to silence critics and attack anyone who challenges him. Obviously it didn't work out with Sven and it wouldn't have worked out with Hughes either if he had stayed. Could anyone have predicted exactly how it would have played out ahead of time? No, of course not and I understand the argument for taking a gamble. But there were plenty of reasons all along to be very sceptical, which is why I called the blog thaksinskeptic. I do give Thaksin credit for selling on the club and don't begrudge the fact he made a nice profit off of it.

The situation with the current owners is completely different in all these respects. The owner is not in it for personal fame or because he wants to be cheered by 45,000 fans at a stadium or to make himself more popular, and is not going to make grandiose claims that can't be backed up.

cheers,TW

 

[Frank the Yank]

As a part time (currently) resident of thailand Thaksin still stirs up the emotion of the Thai electorate. Some still absolutely LOVE hime many hate him. Go figure......

Love him or hate him, I dont see how anyone can not express some gratitude towards him. Not only due to the situation beofre he took over but also bringing our club into the able hands of ADUG.