I gave up trying to getting into M1 at 3-20pm and went to Mary Ds. I went back for the second half and got in.
There are things the club could do to get people in early, simple things like make a pie and a pint half price before 2-30pm.
If technophobes like me want a paper ticket/old style SC then it should be allowed. If a queue of 500 people takes 30 seconds each to find the ticket on the phone ( Remember in this day and age phone theft is rife and losing your phone can mean losing lots more than just being able to ring someone, people will be reluctant to walk around with their phone in hand) that queue is 4 hours long. If it takes 10 seconds its still over 1 hour. Factor in being searched, wanded, etc and you can see why it is a mess.
Fan culture as well, as long as I have been going we always got in 5 minutes before KO, Maine Road had lots of pubs in walking distance, the Etihad doesnt, so days like yesterday when trams were poor because of shortages of them then fans are stuck in town and will arrive later, plus have we have seen posted the motorways were fucked as well.
At 3-20pm yesterday i was on the verge of quitting going, by 3-45pm i was missing City, by 4pm i was in the ground. Yes its shit at the moment, the club have got lots of things wrong and it is easy to blame the fans for it, what we need to do is find a way around it.
I still think the suggestion of putting a ring around the stadium with lots of turnstiles at different points is the best solution. I don't like being in the ground until just before KO, i cannot stand all the bullshit that goes on the PA system but i have to listen to it all now because otherwise i may miss KO.
My friends and family are at different parts of the ground. If we had a ring around the stadium, we could all go through, meet, sit, chill, eat, drink and then 5-10 mins before KO separate and go through our entrances without having to join a que or get searched as we have already done that.
This would then alleviate the ques for the latecomers. A win win for everyone.
City put on all these attractions and amenities pre game around the stadium but by doing so make it difficult to actually see all of the 90 minutes of the attraction they have actually paid for.