Bodicoteblue said:
Just a few years ago we were " Ickle City" the joke club.
Now , they can't wait to spit their bile and venom at us.
That tells you all you need to know!
Of course there is a different perspective now to a few years ago.
Lets be honest, a few years ago, the chances of City winning the league were as remote as finding rocking horse shit on the moon. You were, and I mean this with great sincerity, a mediocre team. One that didn't really threaten our domination of the game. Yes you were local rivals, but you never appeared on our radar as a team that could potentially take away our position as the most dominant force. Derby day was a mater of local pride. If we lost it didn't really matter because at the end of the season it wouldn't make too much difference. Winning gave us local bragging rights, and thats about it. Now its far more important. Derby day brings a whole new scenario to the table because if you win the Derby ( like you did last season at the council house ( sorry I couldn't resist that one ) then it can have a huge effect on who wins the league title.
Teams like Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool were the teams that caused us the biggest headaches. Arsenal in fact became the target of most of our venom, because of all the teams in the last 20 years, they are the ones who have really got under our skin. The period between 1998 and 2005 was simply us versus them. Two team battling it out.
So whilst you had local rivalry, there was little about City that really got us running scared.
Now however, you have hte best team you've had since 1968, and the standard of the two teams has never been as close as it is now. You are a seriously good team, and one that could cause us the same amount of problems that Arsenal did.
The fact we now are targetting you as our main rivals is in fact a compliment to yourselves, because its proof of how far you've come in the past few seasons, and if you want the real truth, you've got us running scared. Chelsea were a temporary irritation, Arsenal were an annoyance. I can see City being a complete pain in the arse to United. Far more than the others ( barring Liverpool ) could ever be.
Though many reds will refuse to admit it, you're gaining some respect from us at last, and some would call it "you've got us running scared"..