So true, they've never been bigger than City, not before the PL rolled around and not in the PL era. They broke into the top 4 around the same time we did. Spent most of the 90s and early 00s as a mid table club. Fair enough they didn't have as bad a 90s as City did, but that's not much an achievement.
Yet, they pushed Pochetino to give soundbites such as "Spurs are a bigger club than City"(Who does that btw? Not even the big sly 3 clubs are that desperate) while Pellers was manager I seem to remember. Some of their fans talk as though they were as big and successful as Arsenal and need to get back there. I find some aspects of that club very bizarre. They should view the big sly 3 like City fans do and even Chelsea fans do. Instead they seem to have deluded themselves enough, to give themselves the same entitlement complex that the big sly 3 have, without any justification for it. They think they are part of their crew rather than the one desperately trying to tag along, seeking validation and approval all the time.