What are City playing at?

[fbloke]

What do you think City should do to promote a more positive agenda in the media? Is it the quality of the people employed at City? In my own limited experience with the media it seems to be as much about having the right relationships with key people in the industry then anything else.

If City are bothered about the club's image then they first need to decide what image they want to project.

City's current image is probably best encapsulated by the "Welcome to Manchester" poster. City fans loved it but to the neutral it projected a club wanting to be seen as combatitive, in yer face, brash. Add in the "bottled it" quote, the aggressive pusuit of Lescott and other players and the image is inevitably one of a club that doesn't care how it is perceived.

There will be many City fans who are quite happy with that image, but there's no point accepting that image and then complaining if the press respond as they have done.

In my experience almost every fan, other than Rags thought the Welcome to Manchester poster was class.

I cannot remember a single dissenting voice here in the North East, or back home about why we did it, the reaction it got and how successful it was.

 

[Neil McNab]

There now has to be some serious questions asked about the media/PR team at City.

We are continually having our pants pulled down by large sections of the written press and certain columinsts.

If some of this was happening to United, they would be down on it like a ton of bricks with banning orders.

The majority of local hacks are given a soft ride because in the main, they toe the line and know we are their bread and butter.

Admittedly, most of the anti-City agenda, they have no influence over.

However, it's time Vicki Kloss and whoeve,r start to apply serious leverage to City's availability.

It is the only avenue open to us in terms starting to clamp down.

I have read some articles today which are BEYOND BELIEF.

We've got Michael Calvin's Sunday Mirror piece hacking us to bits (AGAIN).

No real thread, just a variety of well-worn accusations, albeit casting our owners as The Muppets. He finishes with the all-out attack by saying the world must hope we fail.

Andy Dunn in News of The World - Cash crazy players, Balotelli's avarice.

And my personal favourite. The Sunday Star (Yeah, I know) Ray Ansbro Sports' Editor column.

For those of you who won't know, he is a huge United fan. This aside, to compare City to the Nazi's and their Blitzkrieg tactics is just unbelievable.

I do not agree, and cannot believe for a second, that all publicity, is good publicity.

Stop throwing the doors open, the patch journos will have nothing to write. The desk agendas will continue in spite.

Stop trying to be friends, it is getting us nowhere.

At the very least, why aren't these bastard sports' editors being dragged up here on luncheon?

It's no use giving stuff off the record to keep people sweet, making players available for interview, if the unpalatable result stays the same.

Start hitting them in the pocket.

-- Sun Aug 22, 2010 8:59 am --

Can I just add, the Sunday Star also has a spread by someone called Ben Fairthorne.

An interview with Buffon. Where the hell does this stuff come from?

I really can't believe someone actually go out of their way to ask him, 'So Gigi, Man City's defenders, not one of them would get in a top team'...?

Cue another knocking job...

Here,Here Tolmie we need to shut these muppets up once and for all get the club's legal team to rings these reporter's and ask if they have a good lawyer and when they ask why say if you print anymore shite about MCFC you will be sued faster than you can wipe your arse

You don't have to double click the return button!

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

IMO and experience City as a club are not proactive enough, football matters wise, though they have improved an awful lot with other bits of PR and fluff.

A reactionary force can only lead to certain damage limitation.

We should maybe not underestimate how the club's new media content, website, can take eyes of the ball.

 

[EalingBlue2]

There is a tonne of self righteous hypocrisy among City fans that i do find a touch uncomfortable and the idea we should try and supress opinion and the free press is laughable.

Be honest when the press slagged off United buying Veron or other big signings, slated chelsea or Blackburn off for trying to buy and trying to ruin football we probably agreed. In sport for me it is wrong that money can be such a factor.

The trouble is that the game of football was already ruined, money already dominated and the dreams many of us had of home grown players from the youth team and a good manager winning the league have died. We have had to resort to a wrong to try and break down a bigger wrong, hoping that two wrongs do make a right.

Where platini has it wrong is he wants to take down one wrong and leave another in place rather than really try and fix what is becoming an increasingly ruinous situation in the game.

So when the press hope we don't make it just by spending money and slag us off I kind of understand as if it was any one of the other 91 league teams being honest I would be slagging it off with the best of them.

Nowadays it is simple though you have to sell your soul or at least most of it for success and only with success will we become the media darlings you want us to be.

So lets suck it up, lets get revenge on the pitch, lets use it for us and lets stop thinking about behaving like the North Korean government. Above all lets stop being so feckin hypocritical. There is nothing i love more (ok there is a lot I love more) than a moderately true article slagging off the scousers or Scum and if I enjoy that how can I be all prissy when someone slags off my own!

 

[Didsbury Dave]

What do you think City should do to promote a more positive agenda in the media? Is it the quality of the people employed at City? In my own limited experience with the media it seems to be as much about having the right relationships with key people in the industry then anything else.

If City are bothered about the club's image then they first need to decide what image they want to project.

City's current image is probably best encapsulated by the "Welcome to Manchester" poster. City fans loved it but to the neutral it projected a club wanting to be seen as combatitive, in yer face, brash. Add in the "bottled it" quote, the aggressive pusuit of Lescott and other players and the image is inevitably one of a club that doesn't care how it is perceived.

There will be many City fans who are quite happy with that image, but there's no point accepting that image and then complaining if the press respond as they have done.

Agreed.

The "Welcome to Manchester" campaign certainly generated a load of attention, so I suppose it was worthy in that respect.

I found it crass and cocky too, to be honest.

And we don't help ourselves when we have disgruntled players/ex-players mouting off too.

But some of the negative press we are getting is terrible.

Whilst there's always going to an element of that, you have to look to the poeple concerned. I presume Vicky Kloss is responsible.

 

[levets]

I seem to remember that a certain section of Bluemooners were critical of our ex-Head of Communications (Paul Tyrrell) and his way of dealing with the Press.

People were quite happy to slate the Club's old policy of being in the journalists's faces everytime the Club got negative articles.

To be honest, in comparison to what we're reading these days, it is fair to say that the Club's response was a bit disproportionate and should have been more sensible sometimes.

But I am wondering if the Club's current PR strategy is valid, or indeed if they have one at all. Whether we like it or not, City do not have an experienced PR chief, i.e someone who has been a journo him/herself and has the right connections .... and more importantly, someone who truly knows what being a journalist really is (You have to wonder why Chris Bailey "Head of Content" is really there for). I agree with "Keith Moon", the way they handled Sparky's dismissal proves that they truly do not know anything about PR. If we listen back to the different press conference/interviews soundbites from Cook/Mancini/Khaldoon et al., it is clear there was no consistency .... i.e noboby had briefed them, nobody went and said "this is the official Club line and you stick to it", nobody went and secured a proper press exclusive whereby a Club official would have gone to speak to a journalist and explained the a/b/c reasons behind the sacking and the closed the shop. Other journos would only have had to quote what would have been said in the original interview ... and that would have been the end of it. Journalists trust each other .... but they don't trust an OFFICIAL website ....

Also, is City's lack of aggression towards certain journalists linked with the (well-known) fact that someone from the PR team at City is involved with a member of the Press?

Good post mate. You clearly have some experience of the world of PR.

Like you, I too believe we are a bit short of credibility and presence in our media dealings. I still believe we need an "Alistair Campbell" type figure to take the media on, rather than constantly being reactive to them.

Maybe Mike Summerbee or Franny Lee could help in this direction, as they are usually very pro-active with any City matters in the media.

Other than that, how's about appointing a "heavyweight" from Fleet street as our representative?

I'm sure they would be more wary of a hard-bitten journo than they are the present time dealing with Ms Kloss...

Also, is City's lack of aggression towards certain journalists linked with the (well-known) fact that someone from the PR team at City is involved with a member of the Press?
=================
Maybe she needs a talking to?

 

[Didsbury Dave]

Good post mate. You clearly have some experience of the world of PR.

Like you, I too believe we are a bit short of credibility and presence in our media dealings. I still believe we need an "Alistair Campbell" type figure to take the media on, rather than constantly being reactive to them.

Maybe Mike Summerbee or Franny Lee could help in this direction, as they are usually very pro-active with any City matters in the media.

Other than that, how's about appointing a "heavyweight" from Fleet street as our representative?

I'm sure they would be more wary of a hard-bitten journo than they are the present time dealing with Ms Kloss...

Also, is City's lack of aggression towards certain journalists linked with the (well-known) fact that someone from the PR team at City is involved with a member of the Press?
=================
Maybe she needs a talking to?

I think it was more of a "seeing to" that she got.

I'm surprised heads didn't roll over that one. Or did they, behind the scenes?

 

[levets]

Also, is City's lack of aggression towards certain journalists linked with the (well-known) fact that someone from the PR team at City is involved with a member of the Press?
=================
Maybe she needs a talking to?

I think it was more of a "seeing to" that she got.

I'm surprised heads didn't roll over that one. Or did they, behind the scenes?

No idea mate.... she's still there I believe.

 

[BlueRockape]

There is a tonne of self righteous hypocrisy among City fans that i do find a touch uncomfortable and the idea we should try and supress opinion and the free press is laughable.

Be honest when the press slagged off United buying Veron or other big signings, slated chelsea or Blackburn off for trying to buy and trying to ruin football we probably agreed. In sport for me it is wrong that money can be such a factor.

The trouble is that the game of football was already ruined, money already dominated and the dreams many of us had of home grown players from the youth team and a good manager winning the league have died. We have had to resort to a wrong to try and break down a bigger wrong, hoping that two wrongs do make a right.

Where platini has it wrong is he wants to take down one wrong and leave another in place rather than really try and fix what is becoming an increasingly ruinous situation in the game.

So when the press hope we don't make it just by spending money and slag us off I kind of understand as if it was any one of the other 91 league teams being honest I would be slagging it off with the best of them.

Nowadays it is simple though you have to sell your soul or at least most of it for success and only with success will we become the media darlings you want us to be.

So lets suck it up, lets get revenge on the pitch, lets use it for us and lets stop thinking about behaving like the North Korean government. Above all lets stop being so feckin hypocritical. There is nothing i love more (ok there is a lot I love more) than a moderately true article slagging off the scousers or Scum and if I enjoy that how can I be all prissy when someone slags off my own!

Think you hit the nail great post.
Of Course we don't want to here bad things but some of it is justified

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

City DO have a strategy, which has been set and agreed by the owners with the input of Simon Pearce, their PR consultant. We don't know what goes on behind the scenes but, as people have said, you can't stop people writing their opinions, however crass, stupid and offensive those opinions may be.

When the story changes (with sustained success) then so will the opinions.