SKYSCRAPER CALLED OFF - POLICE

[SlimShadyRus]

Spot on PB, Cook would of done something about it no matter what, Cook isn't a City fan we know that but really cared for the club and fans, the majorityof MCFC officials don't support City and have no interest in our club apart from their pay packet.

But where is your evidence for that? Having spoken to a number of officials at City over the past couple of years my impression is that they all support City and are proud to do so.

Sorry Mods if this has gone off topic from the Skyscraper being called off.

You are seriously deluded if you think everyone that works for City are City fans, there are many in top jobs who support other teams United, Spurs, Chelsea, Liverpool and Everton to name a few, as long as they do their job does it matter, the point is they may not go that extra mile to help City fans in a situation in Moscow was the point I believe.

it's OK with everton, spurs, and other london teams' fans at our club (I even know about a couple of them) if we really need them, but.... united.... It crosses the line for me

 

[BillyShears]

I didn't say all, I said a number of officials at City. As someone else has said, do we know they were City officials or were they GMP who went over?

I have not long ago got back on the same flight as de niro, and I would just like to clarify this point as a few have questioned who was involved.

When we got chucked out of the ground it was by a group comprising of the head of security for MCFC, two MCFC stewards, and two plain clothes GMP officers. The person who spotted me personally was one of our stewards who had seen me at the youth game earlier in the day but they were all working together. Before they threw me out I was given a lecture by the head of security about the possible implications for City of UEFA sanctions if we were seen inside the ground with our colours. He immediately acknowledged I wasn't wearing any colours, but they were in no mood to turn a blind eye. I was escorted out of the stadium by them without any CSKA official or police knowing I was ever inside.

I can't speak for the others who got inside and were also thrown out - we all got in by different methods - but as I understand it similar happened to them. By the way, if the lads who organised the minibus back from Khimki to the sports bar and then into Moscow read this - thanks, I owe you one.

I wonder why the CSKA officials wern't as vigilant with their fans.

Not as afraid of UEFA as we are clearly.

Disappointed to read the experience of Regular Joe. To go all that way, get into the ground, and then have City people throw you out must stick in the throat.

It was clearly a situation which was handled badly from the very beginning when the first announcement was made that the game had to be played behind closed doors. What our bean counters should've done is found a way to offer refunds to those who had already booked travel/accom or bought tickets, then taken that fight up with UEFA. The inaction of basically ignoring the fact that people had already booked flights to somewhere like Moscow was always going to mean a complicated situation on the day on the ground.

I'm not sure though that this is reflective of some wider "the club don't give a shit about the supporters" attitude because I daresay that this would've happened in exactly the same manner five years ago, ten years ago.

 

[cleavers]

Sounds more like the new "head of security" is just carrying on where the previous one left off then.

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

I don't know what pressure the City officials were under but if it was just a handful of fans they could possibly have said "Look, you know you shouldn't be here but we'd rather not risk drawing UEFA's attention to it by throwing you out so come and sit with us and for god's sake keep your heads down."

 

[cleavers]

I don't know what pressure the City officials were under but if it was just a handful of fans they could possibly have said "Look, you know you shouldn't be here but we'd rather not risk drawing UEFA's attention to it by throwing you out so come and sit with us and for god's sake keep your heads down."

Difficult I would imagine, considering they were surrounded by UEFA officials and observers, also fans can't keep their heads down easily, I know I'd struggle. We have to be seen to be squeaky clean around UEFA, so there was no chance of being allowed to sit with the City party, maybe a blind eye could have been turned by ignoring them completely, but that's about it.

 

[jollylescott]

City demanding UEFA reimburse the fans who went yesterday shows not everyone at the club these days is a heartless corporate drone, there are still some in there with a conscience.

But yes, the club feels further away from the fans than it ever has of late. The expensive ticket prices (matchday + increase in ST costs which is an annual occurrence now) seem to have backfired and now these offers like kids-for-a-quid and BOGOF have almost been forced on the club because of bad turnouts (higher PL prices = people less likely to turn out for other competitions).

City strike me as the most image conscious club in the league. They want to build a brand that is loved by the world, just looked at their progressive social media work and all the PR coming from the new academy and ideas of creating the world's best young footballers. Oh, and of course the "cheapest season tickets in the league!", one of the biggest illusions of them all because a tiny minority get them while the rest of us pay more and more each year. But hey, it looks good on the "Price of Football" studies...

They have disillusioned many of the fans that should mean most, those who go to matches regularly and fill the stadium. It's not just increasing ticket prices but the worsening feeling of sterility at the ground (banners replaced by laughable digital versions, adverts, and tweets from people not even at the game).

Even after we swapped stadiums, it still seemed like an authentic community event and even in the years after the takeover I felt the same, like the club was making a concerted effort to retain that same feeling that separated us from our rivals, particularly the tourist attraction across town.

Now it feels like we're doing them a favour by going. There is an oppressive "sit down and shut up" feel and the aggressive stewards writing down seat numbers do not help matters. Calls for a serious atmosphere area, separate from the declining 'Kippax' corner and South Stand are still unanswered by City. I was told to sit down by a middle aged City fan when I stood up during a dangerous City attack the other week. I am not one of those who will pretend the atmosphere has ever been amazing at the City of Manchester Etihad Stadium, but I am sure, from personal experience, that as recently as 2 years ago it was better than it is now.

Love the football on show, but the day as an 'occasion' is just not what I wish it would be, as lately the atmosphere is worse than it would be at a pub without the multiple Sky TV angles. And in a way I think the club have conditioned the fans to be like this through the 101 rules, policing and restrictions (saw a teenager have a flag confiscated a few months ago). At least the derby should be good, the one time of year we have it at the Etihad, when suddenly people make that little bit of effort to really support their team and the stewards realise that it's impossible to police 40,000+ fans so just let us be.

It seems to be an increasing trend to sanitise the match day experience in the UK.

Yet when I look around at the best example in Europe (the German match day experience) there is much to learn. The Germans generally have fantastic fans who are actually encouraged to go bonkers during the game. I took my son to watch Leverkusen play a couple of years ago and it was a brilliant experience. When the singing started almost every fan got involved, even the proverbial little old lady. In contrast watching Liverpool play Real Madrid it was like watching in a church, with muted whispers during the game.

I think ticket prices make a big difference, because the rank and file fan can still afford to attend if the tickets are set at a reasonable price. Particularly young fans like students who are generally hard up financially, yet are the next generation of City supporters. City needs to be encouraging the next generation, not alienating and disenfranchising them by pricing them out of the market. This is partly why the German experience is so positive. Ticket prices are set at a level where young people can afford to attend. After all they make the most noise, not us middle aged geezers.

I really can't understand the attitude of the City hierarchy. City is perfectly placed to lower prices. Match day revenue is a drop in the bucket in terms of overall revenue. There would be tremendous goodwill generated if City set an example for the rest of the league. There are many City fans who aren't well off. In my view the club has to recognise this. City fans don't need the occasional BOGOF to entice them. They need ticket prices which are affordable for the average City fan, both young and old.

 

[mrtwiceaseason]

The players always s say how good the fans are how good a gesture would it be if each player stumped up a couple of hundred quid and put their money where their mouth is ?

 

[Bill]

look, this was a con from start to finish. uefa are as corrupt as fuck and wouldn't dare react to the cska fans being allowed in. if just one sponsor took along one fan the floodgates would open for others to follow. too much money at risk to argue with them.

we don't know what our club were told as to what sanctions we would face had we overlooked a few fans getting in but going off previous we would get hammered. remember us getting fined far more for taking to the pitch late than any side making flares or racial comments. or the ffp fine being distributed amongst our rivals, it is as clear as day that we are being targeted and on this occasion we were right to tow the uefa line. I trust our owners to take a rain check and one day we will have our day in the sun. we'll hurt uefa one day mark my words.

 

[raininspain]

look, this was a con from start to finish. uefa are as corrupt as fuck and wouldn't dare react to the cska fans being allowed in. if just one sponsor took along one fan the floodgates would open for others to follow. too much money at risk to argue with them.

we don't know what our club were told as to what sanctions we would face had we overlooked a few fans getting in but going off previous we would get hammered. remember us getting fined far more for taking to the pitch late than any side making flares or racial comments. or the ffp fine being distributed amongst our rivals, it is as clear as day that we are being targeted and on this occasion we were right to tow the uefa line. I trust our owners to take a rain check and one day we will have our day in the sun. we'll hurt uefa one day mark my words.

Spot on, Robert (or Bill).

 

[Regular Joe]

look, this was a con from start to finish. uefa are as corrupt as fuck and wouldn't dare react to the cska fans being allowed in. if just one sponsor took along one fan the floodgates would open for others to follow. too much money at risk to argue with them.

we don't know what our club were told as to what sanctions we would face had we overlooked a few fans getting in but going off previous we would get hammered. remember us getting fined far more for taking to the pitch late than any side making flares or racial comments. or the ffp fine being distributed amongst our rivals, it is as clear as day that we are being targeted and on this occasion we were right to tow the uefa line. I trust our owners to take a rain check and one day we will have our day in the sun. we'll hurt uefa one day mark my words.

I agree with your general point, except I don't see how City were at risk of any sanctions unless they sent a security team over to weed out undercover blues in the ground. If UEFA cared about a few fans finding a way into the ground as "sponsors" or "journalists" - which they have since clearly shown they don't - then this would be CSKAs responsibility. City did not encourage fans to travel and were not in charge of entry points to the ground. The more I think about it the more it smells like a bullshit excuse for their unnecessary actions to me. Had any of us started bringing attention to ourselves inside the ground then that would have been a different issue, but we were all clearly going to lie low and what they did leaves a sour taste in my mouth.