The media, us and the rags - the truth

[mancunial]

I would be worried if they did write good things about city, beware of Greeks as they say, at least we know where we stand, but as for cooper how as he got away with standing Outside the ground for so long without some sort of verbals

 

[The perfect fumble]

The long game is the only game City has.The excellent original post from Prestwich-Blue, and all the subsequent posts, have done a good job in cataloguing all the scum media fire power that can and is brought to bear against City. Against such overwhelming odds it would be pointless for City to take on the press, if this were a military campaign, no one would takes on these superior numbers.
It hurts us because we see it on a daily basis, the misrepresentation of the club is relentless all played out against a backdrop of pro Utd coverage like constant muzak you can't switch off, it stings because it seeks to demean and belittle the club we love and it is successful.
I live in Norwich and talk with Norwich fans all the time, City is hated here even more than Utd, we are the embodiment of everything that is wrong about football, the Norwich fans argument is one long stream of red top anti City talking points and I can't imagine it's any different anywhere else.
But we and the club have to take it, we have absolutely no choice. I'm of the strong opinion that the Ferguson succession will not be a smooth one and Utd will stumble big time, that will not bring about a sea change in favour of City, but it will give us an opportunity, we need to be in a position to seize it. But even if we do it will take years, if at all, before we can begin to redress the balance. I suspect Prestwich-Blue could re-post this in ten years time and even if everything goes to plan in City's favour, it will still ring true.

Taking the press on and generally emulating Baconface's consistently objectionable behaviour is not really an option for City, as you rightly suggest. Someone else noted that 'clicks' are all in the online world, and whereas the media might baulk at alienating half a billion armchair rags, they would be decidedly less reticent about pissing off a couple hundred thousand City fans. Indeed the reverse is probably true in so much as we represent a ready made villain that will get the rag loons a-logging, a-clicking and a-foaming by the bucketload. All in all I doubt there is an agenda in terms of a genuine animosity towards us, but money talks, and if they can sell copies by portraying a particular club in a particular way, then they're likely to carry on doing it.

There are some journalists whose own club allegiances shine through continually, and almost inevitably they represent those clubs most immediately threatened by City's emergence. Because of City, any two out of the Arse, Chelsea, Spurs and Liverpool are going to miss out on Chimps League football for the third season in a row. Because of City, the rags have won just 2 trophies in the last 3 years. When Tony Evans, James Lawton, Stephen Bates, Ian Herbert, Mark Ogden, John Cross, Rob Beesley and others then put pen to paper on the subject of City, the bitterness and spite frequently reach epic levels of absurdity.
As a City supporter, whilst I hate these fuckers with a passion, I can at least understand their motivational ire, and on the plus side there are journalists out there prepared to be far more objective - Martin Samuel and Henry Winter being obvious examples. Furthermore, elements of the media can still be won over. It was very noticeable how almost overnight Gary Jug Ears and Knobjockey Hansen went from snipers to defenders of the faith once they'd had Vincent Kompany on the show and realised what a top chap he is. Suddenly we were getting our own segment - complete with studio Poznan - on Sports Personality of the Year, and getting red cards overturned at the Arse.

What continues to grate though is those sections of the media (Talkshite being an obvious example) that deliberately use City as a sort of lightning rod for negative opinion, and I cannot understand those City fans who believe the club's image is not damaged, overtly or obliquely, by such attacks. If you want an example of what I'm talking about then I'll leave you with this. It comes, almost inevitably, from the most consistently vile newspaper in the land, the Daily Fail, and it concerns City's pre-season training camp in Austria last summer. Filled with outright lies, half truths and omissions, its intent is obvious, and quite categorically the paper would not have printed such spiteful bullshit about any other club. As I said, 'clicks' are all:

"Champion whingers: Pampered Man City stars ask church by Austrian training camp to stop ringing its bells... because the chimes are disturbing their beauty sleep"
Church bells in Seefeld ordered to stop chiming at 7am so stars can sleep

Players have Rome-designed mattresses and blankets that £1,000 each

Bottled water from England and fresh fish has been flown in every two days
Hotel staff must arrange the condiments on the dining tables a specific way

By Alex Ward

PUBLISHED:12:09, 10 July 2012| UPDATED:15:55, 10 July 2012

Comments (94)

Manchester City has asked for a historic Austrian church to silence its bells to avoid disturbing star players during their pre-season training camp in the Tyrolean mountains.

It is one on a long list of strict conditions City boss Roberto Mancini’s has requested that also include handmade £1,000 specially-designed mattresses and the meticulous arrangement of condiments on hotel tables at meal times.

Details of City’s travel requirements were revealed by Alois Seyrling, manager of the Klosterbrau Hotel - a former monastery that is almost 500 years old - which will be the squad’s home until July 20.

The bells at St Oswald’s in Seefeld, a 13th century Catholic church which adjoins the five star hotel, normally chime on the hour from 7am but during City’s stay they will be delayed by an hour to start at 8am at the request of team officials, Mr Seyrling said.

He said it was a very special request.

‘They wanted to ask the priest to switch off the bells of the church because we are attached to it and the bells are ringing at seven in the morning, eight in the morning and nine in the morning,’ he said.

City are spending more than £200,000 for their stay in the small village, a favourite destination of wealthy winter sports fans, in preparation for defending their Premier League title.

The hotel has spent three months preparing for the arrival of stars like Sergio Aguero and Yaya Toure in what has been a painstaking process.

They were required to import specially-approved mattresses, handmade in Rome, as City insisted on a specific density and height to offer optimum support for players’ backs.

Along with lightweight blankets, which had to be 3cm thick, the cost came in at little under £1,000 per bed for each of the 54 rooms booked out by last season’s title-winners.

When it came to accommodating 6ft 3in Yaya Toure, it required a specially-extended bed, driven over personally by the manufacturer in time for the Ivory Coast international’s arrival.

Toure is also the only player to have his own massage table in his room.

The restrictions also stretch to the dining room, with the team’s Italian coach making sure the player’s dietary requirements are kept in check by forbidding all chocolates and snacks in minibars, bread and butter, and ordering hotel staff to not place sauces on tables.

Mayonnaise or ketchup will only be allowed on special request and the parmesan cheese must be situated in the exact position for every meal.

The City chef has been brought over and fresh fish is flown in every two days as well as a huge amount of bottled water from England.

Mr Seyrling said: ‘They want privacy in the restaurant and we have a very clear set-up for the buffet.

'The set-up is very detailed in the restaurant - down to how much space is in between the chairs.

'The manager I have heard is quite strict. They sent us the menu so we have all of the products so their chef can prepare the meals.

'Fish is flown in. Most of the products we always buy locally because Austria has a high standard, especially for beef but the special fish they requested will be flown in fresh every two days from France, the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea.

City have also brought their entire medical and fitness teams with them to the picturesque region.

The hotel offers a range of unusual spa treatments to help the players wind down after a day’s training including a tiny room in the stone-walled basement, containing an old-fashioned bread oven and three easy chairs.

It is intended to offer a relaxing experience while guests can also enjoy the aroma of freshly baked bread.

There is also a tank filled with garra rufa fish to eat dead skin from the feet as well as hay bath.

Players could also do a session in the infra red room to help ease tension.

The quaint Austrian town has proved to be a popular destination for football teams with Monaco currently staying in a nearby hotel and the five-star hotel has accommodated Holland as they prepared for the 2010 World Cup and Inter Milan are negotiating to stay there next summer.

I agree wholeheartedly with your post, and I remember that Daily Mail article about the Austrian training camp, it is so obviously spiteful as to be ridiculous, but in a way that is the point. So much football coverage is treated as if it were a soap opera, it is a deliberately debased form of journalism that sets the objectivity bar so low that this kind of "freshly plucked out of my arse" story sits quite comfortably within it. We have all become accustomed to this trivialisation of sport and football in particular, it serves a purpose, if you set the standard so low, for long enough, it becomes the norm.

Serious discussion about football, power, money, ownership, the gentrification of the game can be found, but they must be sought out, the popular press are simply not interested, as you say, they follow the money and the maintenance of the status quo is where the money is.

In a perverse kind of way I admire it, once you've dug this cesspit on the back pages and everyone has become accustomed to the smell, then you can dump on City, or anyone else that threatens the prevailing power structure, as much as you like.

 

[Pingu the Penguin]

There's clearly a media love in for the rags

But they are box office, so it is playing to the galleries really

Thing that gets me though is why it isn't a constant source of motivation for our players....

 

[Vienna_70]

I ws interested to read what Prestwich wrote about rag journos gettiong together to decide the angle they would take.

I've just been to ASDA, so I thought I'd have a look.

On their report on our match Saturday, the Mirror, Star and Sun all go with the same theme: Joleon Lescott will have to leave to secure a place in England's World Cup squad.

In all three rags, the actual match received a few lines at the end of the article.

Says it all, really.

 

[MCFC BOB]

That is true, though. If Lescott doesn't get first-team football next season, the likes of Cahill, Jagielka, Ferdinand, Smalling and Jones will eventually be picked ahead of him.

There's not really any particular spin on that to put United in a good light, it is just what's going to happen. Lescott's getting older now and Nastasic is turning into a defender that has quality above Lescott's capabilities. Because of this, Lescott won't get in the team as often as he'd like and will therefore not be picked for England as much.

 

[Cellarite]

That's true. But anyone with any sort of intelligence and football knowledge will see right though this bullshit from the media. Only the dullards will be falling for all this. Which is exactly why City don't react to anything.

It's the dullards that buy the papers in their millions though and that's why the shite is churned out. Living in Hull, I get to see how the pro rag media affects people. They simply buy into everything that is fed to them. A lad who "supports" Newcastle and I get on well with 90% of the time was desperate for United to win the league both last season and this. He couldn't justify why when I pointed out that United had always been more of a rival to his team than we had.

It was perfectly summed up shortly after the Premier League chairmen got together to decide on their FFP rules being brought in. I was sat having dinner with managers, accountants and planners (intelligent people) discussing the FFP rules. They were all, to a man, in favour of it because "City are ruining football for everyone". I pointed out that by being for it, they were effectively accepting that Hull City would NEVER win the Premier League. The confusion on their faces was a picture. I pointed out that since United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham, City and Chelsea are already light years ahead of them in terms of revenue, and Hull City would never be allowed to spend more than they earn, they would NEVER be able to benefit from investment to get them into Europe or a Cup final. The confusion turned to horror when it slowly started to sink in that I was right.

I honestly think that this is the case around the country and we are the people's villains and United are the people's champions despite the fact that we bring money into the game and disperse it around the sport whereas United take money out of the game and give it to the banks. This is purely and simply down to the media.<br /><br />-- Mon Apr 29, 2013 8:23 pm --<br /><br />

That is true, though. If Lescott doesn't get first-team football next season, the likes of Cahill, Jagielka, Ferdinand, Smalling and Jones will eventually be picked ahead of him.

There's not really any particular spin on that to put United in a good light, it is just what's going to happen. Lescott's getting older now and Nastasic is turning into a defender that has quality above Lescott's capabilities. Because of this, Lescott won't get in the team as often as he'd like and will therefore not be picked for England as much.

BOB, the point isn't the truth in the story or opinion. The point is that there is a negative aspect to our match report rather than simply doing what they are supposed to and write a match report. This doesn't happen with United match reports. You need to read what people are posting rather than try to shoot down every post which suggests us and United are treated differently.

 

[waspish]

That's true. But anyone with any sort of intelligence and football knowledge will see right though this bullshit from the media. Only the dullards will be falling for all this. Which is exactly why City don't react to anything.

It's the dullards that buy the papers in their millions though and that's why the shite is churned out. Living in Hull, I get to see how the pro rag media affects people. They simply buy into everything that is fed to them. A lad who "supports" Newcastle and I get on well with 90% of the time was desperate for United to win the league both last season and this. He couldn't justify why when I pointed out that United had always been more of a rival to his team than we had.

It was perfectly summed up shortly after the Premier League chairmen got together to decide on their FFP rules being brought in. I was sat having dinner with managers, accountants and planners (intelligent people) discussing the FFP rules. They were all, to a man, in favour of it because "City are ruining football for everyone". I pointed out that by being for it, they were effectively accepting that Hull City would NEVER win the Premier League. The confusion on their faces was a picture. I pointed out that since United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham, City and Chelsea are already light years ahead of them in terms of revenue, and Hull City would never be allowed to spend more than they earn, they would NEVER be able to benefit from investment to get them into Europe or a Cup final. The confusion turned to horror when it slowly started to sink in that I was right.

I honestly think that this is the case around the country and we are the people's villains and United are the people's champions despite the fact that we bring money into the game and disperse it around the sport whereas United take money out of the game and give it to the banks. This is purely and simply down to the media.

-- Mon Apr 29, 2013 8:23 pm --

That is true, though. If Lescott doesn't get first-team football next season, the likes of Cahill, Jagielka, Ferdinand, Smalling and Jones will eventually be picked ahead of him.

There's not really any particular spin on that to put United in a good light, it is just what's going to happen. Lescott's getting older now and Nastasic is turning into a defender that has quality above Lescott's capabilities. Because of this, Lescott won't get in the team as often as he'd like and will therefore not be picked for England as much.

BOB, the point isn't the truth in the story or opinion. The point is that there is a negative aspect to our match report rather than simply doing what they are supposed to and write a match report. This doesn't happen with United match reports. You need to read what people are posting rather than try to shoot down every post which suggests us and United are treated differently.

Your right media do influence people for some reason! You would thought after phone hacking scandal the penny would drop..

 

[Chris in London]

I'm curious as to why none of you believe what journalists write in newspaper articles, but are quick to believe this particular journalist's reporting because he's said what you wanted him to say.

Or have I just answered my own question?

The innuendo behind this post appears to be that the OP and those who have agreed with him lack objectivity and have accepted uncritically what this journalist has said.

That is an offensive stance to take. If that innuendo is not what you intended, you should apologise and if it is what you intended you should be prepared to justify your position.

Are you prepared to do either?

 

[bobbyowenquiff]

The red top staff have always operated as a pack. They do compare notes and agree a line for their stories after press conferences. It has more to do with covering their backs rather than an anti-city agenda. But there is certainly a pro United agenda which is driven by two things 1. United's aggressive stance with anyone who doesn't toe the line 2. The commercial reality that United have more fans (and potential readers) than anyone else. It is not a co-incidence that the other club which gets the most kickings in the press is Liverpool. It has happened since Hillsborough when their fans were unfairly vilified. There is also a pro-London bias in most national papers. It will take decades to turn this round but it would help if our PR team were stronger in press conferences. The tabloids have misquoted and twisted Mancini's comments since day one.

 

[andy h]

I don't think we have a choice in the way we handle the media. Rafa Benitez was slaughtered for telling the truth about United. "Rafa's rant" has become synonymous with bottling it purely on the basis of the media coverage. Were they interested in the truth ? No. Keegan was similarly treated and both will be forever tainted.

Basically, we have to keep our mouths shut, take it, and enjoy it when things go our way. Everything comes to he who waits.

Agree with what you say mate. I would only add that the best response is for the team to keep performing where it matters - on the pitch. As long as we keep driving onward with the project and the team keep winning things, they can write what they like. In my opinion, the thing that the media are most concerned about is that we are going to usurp the golden goose, the beloved national icon....it's the fear factor, as we aren't going to disappear.