We have one of the most negative fan bases in football

[Scaring Europe to Death]

I remember travelling to Bournemouth on the old City "Special" train for a night match in Bournemouth, around December 1987. We won 2-0, and the train pulled into Piccadilly around 4am.

1987-88 remains one of my favourite seasons, yet looking back, we averaged less than 20,000, and dropped all manner of stupid points, conceding the promotion race, around mid March.

Nowadays, we average 54,000, and the players have won 5 competitions in the last 7 seasons. However, if we don't beat Bournemouth tomorrow it will be viewed as an unmitigated disaster.
That's the reality, regardless of whether we moan, or always see the positive side.

 

[yerwot?]

it's the expectation of instant success, it makes normally rational people lose all sense of proportion. The internet gives a platform that didn't exist before, to all and sundry , from school kids to old-timers like me, armchair heroes to hard-core home-and-away fanatics, scientists to, er not-scientists. Give them all a place like BM and this is the outcome..... City fans are by no means unique in this respect, a trip round other forums will bear this out. I see nothing on here that is worse than the normal abuse that rained down from the Kippax, the difference is that nowadays it is 24/7 instead of a couple of hours at the weekend. It would be totally unrealistic to expect anything much different than what we have , imho of course.

 

[DelToro]

I see nothing on here that is worse than the normal abuse that rained down from the Kippax,

Paul Power says hello.

 

[roj]

Paul Power says hello.

Nicky Summerbee ducks

 

[BigBluey]

Gallows humour I'm afraid Op
Cut many a blue in half and you'll see it running through them like a stick of Blackpool rock!!

 

[RACHACE]

I don't think Mancs or northerners in general are the happy clapping type.

On the pitch, there's probably not much to moan about, especially when you consider what most have been used to for most of their football watching lives. However, being as poor as we have been in the past has no doubt been engraved into our mindset and that will never change for most. It's really hard for city fans (well I think so) to come across as positive. I personally shy away when in general chat with a supporter of another club. I seem to take a backward step and play down city as not to come across as privileged or expectant while they bang on about who they're signing or how they're going to do.

I do believe tho that for your general Seasoncard holder there's a lot going on that is hard to ignore and even harder to be positive about. Away ticket allocation, being moved out of your seats, lack of engagement with supporters by the club and ticket increases are all things that are negative and really matter to your average season card holder or supporter in general. That kind of negativity can make you feel bad towards the club and being decent on the pitch doesn't make those things ok.

We're also not living a California lifestyle either are we. We're northern English blokes, we will always moan.

But I do agree with the sentiment that on the pitch at least, we've never had it so good.

 

[kiam06]

All down to the media.

 

[Ablue Dhabi]

I moan about the refs.

 

[PW]

I don't think as fans we are negative, just honest, realistic and best of all humorous. Most fans of my age, early to mid forties followed the club through thin and thinner and for long periods had to make do with sparce moments of enjoyment.

I was having a chat with some fellow blues the other day and we were discussing the bleak times and came to the conclusion that even if we pulled of the quadruple every year for a decade, we'd still all have the same nervous hard wired mindset from the darker days. Its ingrained into blues of a certain era and even my Dad who's eighty and witnessed the teams of the sixties and seventies eventually succumb to this way of thinking. Its like we expect the worse, but when it doesn't happen that way it makes success all that much sweeter, Augero's goal against QPR being the finest ever example of typical City, not being typical.

In days gone by I'd do twenty Embassy Number One per game and lived on my nerves, but watching us win away at Blackburn in 95 on the Friday night and Gaudino scoring the winner against Liverpool on the Monday probably brought us as genuine fans more pleasure than other teams plastic fans winning trophies.

We are a unique set of fans in that we have tasted both extremes. This I believe keeps our feet on the ground and makes us realise that despite our wealth we do not have a divine right to steam roll the opposition week in week out (Scum aside) we are not the be all and end all and that no matter how much success we have on the field we don't become engulfed with entitlement.

 

[Bentheblue]

You must lead a sheltered life then, they were slating him all over the place last season, until they won the Europa League.

I can remember radio phone ins where rags gave Ferguson no end of abuse after a poor result, even when they were on their way to winning yet another league title. It's how football fans react in general.