Would you prefer to be s**t again?

No I wouldn't.

I do think it has been a difficult transition for some as fans and there are certain facets that don't sit comfortably with me (the self entitlement mainly of all fans of the "big" clubs).

I do think we have a rare opportunity to have the best of both worlds though. We have years of experience of not winning and realising that getting a trophy at the end of the season is not the be all and end all. It is possible to keep that mindset of just enjoying seeing what's in front of us and the experience of seeing the players we are nowadays without the added pressure of expectation every game.

I mean, even with years of investment and some of the best facilities in the game, we still manage to have an imbalanced side with no fullbacks under thirty and a goalkeeper that rarely saves a shot on target. People could get incredibly frustrated and demoralised because we won't win anything as a consequence (amongst other things). Or, retaining a bit of sense of humour, it could be seen as typical city that even with everything that's happened, we're still able to self inflict flaws better than most!

It is a difficult balance though and understandable. Retaining the way it was is as much in the fanbase as it is in the club though, it is still a choice.
 
Not a chance! It always seemed fun going on games at maine road never knowing what to expect, i took my son on his 1st game in 2007 he's never seen us be shit really!! he thinks im making up half the storys i tell him about the "old days"!!!
 
When we were sh*t me and my dad used to drink cans at Stinky Brook (near the Fallowfield Hotel on Wilbraham Road) discussing how we were going to win the league/cup every season. We were getting drunk, and we knew we were deluded, but that is what football is about. We supported through thick and thin but would convince ourselves every season that we'd start well and be in form at the exact moment the team we played were out of form. Never once did you hope "I hope we underachieve this year and get relegated." You always aim for the best no matter how sh*t you are or what team you support, it's only as reality hits home and the season progresses that your goals change. So I can't see any football fan wanting to be sh*t, ever.

In retrospect there were things about those days that we don't do anymore. Taking over every place we went to was one, we only get c3,000 tickets for most away ground so apart from in the cup, gone are the days we'd get half a ground and pack all the pubs out. Blackburn 2000 is a good example, but we get Wembley instead though, taking over the roundabout etc. and I know which I prefer.

People are looking back with rose tinted specs. There were things about those old days that were good, because we made them good, we had to. But I never want to go back to that, I spent all my time hoping we would be where we are now and I'll never forget that, even if it does wind me up now that we "only" drew 2-2 away at Boro!
 
There was something perversely satisfying about being the only fools and horses of the footballing world (if you believe what the rags say). I do miss being 'little city'.

Being a global superpower has brought its own challenges. We don't need the corruptness of UEFA and FIFA to get on in the game which appears to have made us a target for refs and officials in general. Whilst this is mildy frustrating I'm enjoying the journey and I believe we are just round the corner from true greatness.
No doubt we'll attract some hangers on and glory seekers (which is what fills Old Scaffold and makes the only difference in crowd numbers btw) but we are on the cusp of something that will be bitter sweet having been where we were.

I guess in my ramble i'm saying enjoy the journey. We dont have to think about being shit again for a good while. If we end up there in the future then so be it.

Que Sera Sera.
 
This is an interesting question and in some ways it is relevant to the atmosphere thread. When we were shit and the football was dire we entertained ourselves by singing, chanting and acting the goat. The poorer we got on the field the louder we became off it, even if it was to sing, " What the fuck is going on?" or such. We took a perverse pride in our loyalty and humour no matter how bad we were.

The thing was though for us there was usually something to play and fight for, either promotion or relegation, so on the whole it was at least interesting and full of emotion one way or another. The worst period for me was when we had sort of established ourselves as a kind of mid table premiere league team. The gap between us and the top four was insurmountable at the time and it was an awful feeling knowing this was probably as good as it was ever going to get for us, mid table safety and boring predictability.

The discord we feel now is due to a mixture of things. The new fans who have latched onto us for success feel let down. For the old fans it is annoyance that in spite of being the richest club in the world we still aren't dominating domestic football and are still cocking things up, like an ageing defence and Bravo in nets. After 35 years of winning nothing and on the whole being a laughing stock we want our time in the sun, we don't want to be battered at Leicester and drawing at home to Middlesbrough we want to be dominating and winning games and trophies. We thought the days of transition and rebuilding were behind us.

But no........ there is no way I want to go back to the days of the only thing we had to be proud of was a loyal and vocal support.
 
burnley blue mcfc said:
Not a chance! It always seemed fun going on games at maine road never knowing what to expect, i took my son on his 1st game in 2007 he's never seen us be shit really!! he thinks im making up half the storys i tell him about the "old days"!!!
Click to expand...
That warm, damp feeling on the back of your leg if you were crammed in the middle of the Kippax, yeah?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Unread Posts

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top
✖
  AdBlock Detected
Bluemoon relies on advertising to pay our hosting fees. Please support the site by disabling your ad blocking software to help keep the forum sustainable. Thanks.