Tourists

[Blueband Brother]

ITS TIME TO THINK BIG
Have any of you seen that episode of family guy where a black guy was canoeing into a small town and then he met a frog playing an southern instrument ( cant remember the name). Then the black guy asked the frog ''excuse me, do you know the way to town'' and then the frog brought out a rifle, corked it, pointed at the black man and said '' yeah, its back from where you came''. Lol, i think the frog is called kermit the racist.

So whats the point im making. I lot of fans seem to have that small town mentality where they frown at visitors or newcomers and see them as invaders or disrupters of thier peaceful, traditional, family orientated little town and i think this is apparent in this thread.

I am not calling anybody a racist and it may not have anything to do with race but i want to implore those people in this forum with that small town mentality to realise that Manchester City FC is now a big town and is inevitably going to be a metropolis, like Real Madrid. Tourists, visitors and even new settlers (new fans) are part and parcel of being a big town.

So its time for everybody to start thinking big. Think New York and not Greenbow, Alabama.


NB: I am not giving mere opinion but making psychological deductions from my observations.

 

[rick773]

That reminds me. Did anyone else see the guy a couple of rows back in the Chelsea section wearing what seemed to be an Arsenal shirt?

That reminds me!! Did anyone see the Asian bloke decked out in full Everton gear before the Liverpool game walking around the stadium the other week?

Big lad,camped outside Summerbees Bar for a while. Very strange.

There was another large Asian -esque guy in the store @arndale getting a full nasri kit made the same day wearing a united hat/scarf.

As far as the other stuff on this thread , I don't think anyone is calling real fans from outside of manchester "tourists" but I also don't think any "real" fans local or distant would have taken a look around during the Madrid game and been able to relate that to what made them love city in the first place . I think the challenge will be on the club to make the stadium a place that can accommodate both, the surveys getting emailed around about suites and expensive sounding seats , and the support of trying safe standing seems like they may be trying to do something about it.

The last 5 game package was kind of weak though. More so from the standpoint of giving up on the league and capitalising off hope to make sure there wasn't a ton of unsold seats than trying to lure unsuspecting Chinese people into 2 month vacations in manchester

 

[jma]

You make good points jma- although you come across as ludicrously patronising, and full of your own importance, so I wouldn't be surprised if people disagreed with you/gave you abuse based purely upon how you come across.

That's a fair point and I do have a tendency to speak like that on topics like this.

However, it isn't without reason.

I was just starting a post quoting some of the replies to my initial post and the replies to my post today.

It crashed and I'm not going to do it again. Suffice to say, it you look at some of the interpretations, insults and the baseless "but tourists are the only way to progress claims" that are never expanded on more than that or talked about in relation to the revenue that they spend on match days compared to overall turnover and costs, you might get an idea as to why someone can be patronising in their manner.

I've been fairly careful, especially in my post today, to spell out exactly what I'm talking about and why. Yet within a couple of pages we have the whole "biggest Manc", "wants to stop foreigners at the airport" nonsense. So, it barely seems to matter how explicit you are in spelling it out (or patronising, if you like). People still seem incapable or unwilling to actual address the points raised in any amount of details or without making things up.

For example, for all the comments about "tourists are the only way to progress" and "they go home and spread the word" no-one has even attempted to consider how much money would be raised from replacing 10,000 blues with 10,000 tourists spending £50 in the shop every game. Or why it is that they are expected to go home and convert dozens of high spending mates to buying all sorts of City stuff, when if your mate had been to the San Siro and came back saying it was good, you wouldn't, on the strength of that, ever consider suddenly deciding to spend hundreds on AC Milan gear.

Being patronising might be a fault but is it worse than reading something that is really careful to spell out it's point but still constantly making things up about it or totally refusing to engage the points raised in any depth, yet still decrying them. One leads on to the other. Which comes first?

 

[Vic]

I hope it's not just me who thinks (a) the owners "get" City and don't just want us to replicate the Evil Empire and (b) a lot of the "tourists" know we're different too and choose us because we're different, not just because we're now good. (It doesn't explain the rash of half and half scarves - the market for them must be more than just one-off visitors.)

See that video <a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8r16Cg1e7w" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8r16Cg1e7w</a>
- as many have said, better "tourists" like that than the blanket and flask silent majority.

 

[sir baconface]

I don't think it's a case of having to justify an influx of "tourists" with economic data. What some off us are saying saying is it's inevitable and we might as well get used to it, if not embrace it.

City are funded mostly by global TV revenues and Arab money. The top brass are Spanish and the manager Italian. Our favourite players are Argentines, Spaniards, Belgians and Ivorians. Apart from the tea lady and non-football staff, there isn't a Manc in sight at the club.

Why would we expect the support to remain (almost) exclusively local?

 

[lancs blue]

I'm confused, I've been watching City for 47 years but for the last 26 years have been living outside Gtr Manchester, am I a tourist or not?

 

[TCIB]

I'm confused, I've been watching City for 47 years but for the last 26 years have been living outside Gtr Manchester, am I a tourist or not?

The worst kind i'm afraid, you need to turn yourself in for the TOURIST tatoo that's going on your fore head.

You shall be stripped of your inflatable banana and forever more be known for the scum that you are.

I hope your happy with your touristish life style, makes me sick :p

 

[lancs blue]

I'm confused, I've been watching City for 47 years but for the last 26 years have been living outside Gtr Manchester, am I a tourist or not?

The worst kind i'm afraid, you need to turn yourself in for the TOURIST tatoo that's going on your fore head.

You shall be stripped of your inflatable banana and forever more be known for the scum that you are.

I hope your happy with your touristish life style, makes me sick :p

Ok, thanks for clearing that up, I guess the best I can hope is that my S/T seat isn't near jma's (or yours!).

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

I'm confused, I've been watching City for 47 years but for the last 26 years have been living outside Gtr Manchester, am I a tourist or not?

The worst kind i'm afraid, you need to turn yourself in for the TOURIST tatoo that's going on your fore head.

You shall be stripped of your inflatable banana and forever more be known for the scum that you are.

I hope your happy with your touristish life style, makes me sick :p

Ok, thanks for clearing that up, I guess the best I can hope is that my S/T seat isn't near jma's (or yours!).

Do you sit anywhere near a guy that looks like this?

 

[TCIB]

Showsecs new mandate is to kill you all with extreme prejudice :D


Honestly though i couldn't give a hoot, i do feel for those priced out or will be soon.
However i worry about myself or at least do not concern myself with superfanism.

You want to be a top club, you take the fans that come with it, most i have spoke to (3) knew more about City than i fucking did (my memory is shocking) haha.