You are forgetting the mental make up of the average rag fan. Most of them have never been anywhere near the swamp or intend to.The rest have visited the superstore to pick up their goody bags when they have been in Manchester for business or other reasons, but rarely on match days unless it was a birthday gift or similar.The reason they buy all this shit is so they can wear it down the pub or on holiday,bigging it up that they support the biggest and best club in the world,you know the one that wins all the trophies and smashes everyone in sight. It is the same with their worldwide fan base too. They bought into success,not failure,indeed any rag fan under forty,that is probably all they have ever known.If they go five or ten years without winning anything how long do you think it will be before they give up hope and drift away and stop buying the merchandise?
If this happens we will see what hard core fan base they have,anyone like to guess? Forty thousand,above that? If they get fifty thousand in a stadium that holds seventy five thousand it is going to look empty.Interesting times lie ahead.