I know what you mean but disagree. When our owners started to transform the club and demonstrate our business model was working, Arsenal, United and Liverpool had a choice. They could either copy us or try to stop us moving forward with the plan.
Thank God they chose the latter. At the time there were quite a few sports economic papers published pointing this out. Even better they had multiple time periods to review their failed decision and turn back. There was a tipping point about 5 years ago where it was their last chance to catch and then overtake City using their historical popularity to their advantage, and all three carried on down the road to nowhere refusing to invest in their own clubs.
We are now the strongest football club in the World both on and off the pitch.There is no reputational damage at all except in fans heads and the press. The Club, in the time this has been going on, has won 17 major trophies has the highest revenue in football and is the biggest brand overtaking Real Madrid and Barcelona. City are now expanding the area around the stadium in addition to the stadium itself. They own or have a controlling Interest in 13 clubs around the World. Contrast those huge achievements with the clubs that tried to stop us…how have they got on? Did it work?
The red clubs have put enormous effort into trying to stop us and, at the same time, have slipped further and further behind until they are now too late.
So what is left? Surely the supporters of those clubs would be furious at their own club? Well one set is but the others….not so much. What can they do to distract people from their abject failure to tackle City correctly when they had the chance?
The answer is to create a situation whereby fans believe huge reputational damage has been done to City from which they will ultimately never recover. “We called them cheats, we said they had no history, we said nasty owners” It didn’t cost them a penny.
It’s a shame that some of our own fans believe we are losing an important battle but it doesn’t make any difference. City decided to be “best in class” in all areas and it’s worked quicker than they expected because nobody effectively challenged them In the way they thought. Jesus…Khaldoon even told them at one point “we are not responsible for your failures” and “just accept we are here” He was basically saying if you don’t like it copy us If you think you are losing out.
City fans often say why don’t the club sue this person or that person for lying…not a warning, actually do it. The reason they don’t is because City will not get involved in battles that do not matter to them. They focus on the plan and move forward, ever evolving.
City will never tell its own fans not to get upset about the press, they will hope they notice that it hasn’t worked and enjoy the success but, in the end, even that doesn’t matter to them either, it’s not their job.
People will believe what they want to believe but the facts are what matter. City have played it beautifully.
As for the other clubs well they should thank their lucky stars football has loyal customers. In any other businesses their boards would have been fired by the shareholders years ago for failing to respond to the challenge and instead claiming victory by way of reuputational damage while their clubs sank without trace.
It doesn’t look like a big win for them because it isn’t, quite the opposite in fact.
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