Zagreb fans behaviour

[RACHACE]

Sorry you called out a whole nation and those who wish to visit it on the back of a few idiots, no different than someone calling out all the muslims on account of a few idiots setting off a bomb therefore not understanding anyone going to a muslim country as they breed scum? Imagine the response you would get on here. You say off the cuff? Christ look at the shit one of our players is in for doing something off the cuff. Who is the pillock?

You Ivan. You've been on holiday in Croatia a few times and you've come to the conclusion that the whole of our country is shit in comparison. Proper pillock.

 

[trevorriley]

I'm no stranger to witnessing violence and hooliganism in the 70's and 80's and as everyone knows it was far worse then than what it is today. Since we moved to the Etihad I stand at the end of a row in 111 right next to the segregation barrier, so I am as well qualified as anyone to comment upon last night and give it some context. I've witnessed within touching distance every group of away fans at the Etihad, whether they be rags, scousers, cockneys, Welsh, Scottish or indeed foreign fans from Italy, Poland or Eastern Europe. So here is my two pence worth on last night.
Whilst the Zagrab fans last night aren't even close to being as violent as it once was, they were by far the worse that I have seen at the Etihad, and I've seen every single one of the away fans followings. Right from kick off they were aggressive and intimidating, particularly those next to me at the bottom corner near East Stand 111. This was made worse in that particular section due to the fact that one particular City fan was openly wearing an Hadjuk Split football shirt, Zagrebs hated rivals, only a few yards away from the segregation barrier. This provocative act certainly had its desired effect to the already boisterous and aggressive Zagreb fans near to us in 111. The missiles were thrown initially towards this fan but many innocents were hit in the barrage. I was hit on the head with a lighter and numerous coins, together with being hit on the head by a seat which also broke my spectacles as they were hit and fell on the floor. I collected six euro coins and handed them to a senior Showsec steward to aid his memory and include it in any post match report or debriefing he may do.
After around 15 minutes two plain clothes police from Zagreb informed Showsec stewards and the six or so GMP officers there of the offending shirt and he subsequently put his coat on before eventually moving away from the area. It was obvious that the situation could easily have got out of hand, not just near us but almost everywhere along all the segregation lines around their fans. The Showsec stewards were out of their depth and comfort zone, as the majority on duty were either young girls or young lads, more used to working pop bands at the MEN Arena, than boisterous Eastern European football ultras. There were a total of six GMP officers without riot gear near to us and a further nine dotted around the other segregation lines. This was clearly insufficient to control the Zagreb fans, who by now were openly drinking, smoking, kicking seats, spitting, throwing seats and generally behaving aggressively without any form of intervention whatsoever. The game was 70 minutes old before 15 GMP officers arrived near to 111 to stand on the segregation line properly kitted out in helmets and the like. Even then they deliberately refused to remove any Zagreb fan displaying threatening behaviour, making Nazi salutes, or indeed the customary "offering out" of our fans. There were no takers from our side, whether this was due to a lack of "back up numbers" or from seeing sense.
After 30 minutes or so, missiles were still being sporadically launched, my 22 year old son was hit on the temple by a flying seat. My other son, 24, stood next to his brother and directly behind me, quite rightly had seen and had enough, not just his Dad and brother being hit on the head with seats, but by GMP's authoritative attitude towards us and not towards the Zagreb fans. He became verbally aggressive and kicked at his seat in frustration, at the complete lack of control shown by the stewards and GMP. But guess what? All of a sudden a couple of GMP officers decided to show a bit of authority and got another couple of GMP officers ready to throw out (arrest maybe?) my two sons and myself for what can only be described as us showing frustration at the events, not even showing meek retaliation. To avoid being thrown out or arrested or seriously hurt by flying coins and seats, I had to tell my two sons to leave the area minutes before half time. I too decided it best to leave the area so watched the rest of the game from near the back of the stand.
All this leaves a few questions needing to be answered. Why were there NO Police manning the segregation lines at the beginning of the match? Why were there insufficient numbers of Police on the segregation lines throughout the whole game? Why did it take 70 minutes before 15 Police dressed appropriately in riot gear, arrive at the volatile area near to 111? Why did GMP Police only act against City fans who had reacted to being hit with missiles, or covered in spit and piss? The Police were clearly outnumbered and ill prepared and it was no wonder they refused to control the Zagreb fans, clearly refusing to go in amongst the Zagreb fans for fear of their own safety and/or further inciting the already volatile away fans atmosphere.
These questions need answering because without doubt, if the Zagreb fans near to us in 111 really wanted to jump over the segregating barrier, then they could have easily done so. No doubt much fisticuffs would then have resulted and quite a few innocent City fans would have sustained injury. We have all seen pockets of European fans over the years in "our ends" at the Etihad and we have all seen rowdy and boisterous European away fans along the segregation lines. Unfortunately UEFA and the GMP will not learn or heed the warnings from last night and previous. It is unfortunately only a matter of time before it does "kick off" properly. Apologies for the long post.

I spoke to security / stewards they where surprised at the game being classed category A / low risk... Yet for a week or two it was clearly talked about as a game that would outshine most for aggressive behaviour. I think whoever took control of security for the match day can count themselves fortunate not to have seen a major incident / pitch invasion due to lack of policing. In a day and age of "blame" it is just a matter of time before a fan claims against the club for not providing sufficient protection for fans whilst in the stadium. While it sounds unfair, clearly in tues night there was a total lack of policing / security. We don't mean batons waving riot squad, but far more mesh across seats to separate & segregate fans, strong netting across the barrier of away fans so to prevent missiles being throne, rather than young students lining the away end we should have police & security, not allowing fans on tier two to mass over hang at the front so they can spit and throw bottles ( probably mesh the first four front rows and not allow fans to go there at all ), don't serve drinks at all in plastic bottles only thin plastic cups this way bottles cant be tempted to be thrown. Its pretty simple basic stuff this, if me as a fan can see this why cant the specialist.

On the subject of the fan in the shirt in 111, what about the daft sod in 115 with united top on ! He was ejected quickly.

 

[citizen]

This is what some Europeans think of us, not a lot of love lost really.

You can buy a team, a dream, and a title, but you can't buy a crowd, or a party. Manchester City's ground on European nights seems to contain as much spirit as Napoleon's retreat from Moscow.


Either the City fans from Maine Road have become dispossessed, or Roy Keane's Prawn Sandwich Brigade now occupy the joint.

Fans of City have quickly become spoiled. It is quite astonishing to accept that the City's fans can't take to a match with a side such as AS Roma.

It seems that they turn up, expect to be entertained and expect their players to win because they are the wealthiest club in the world.

https://www.eurosport.co.uk/all-spo...s-manchester-city-fans_sto4706613/story.shtml

bang on to be honest, our atmosphere is pathetic

 

[Tim of the Oak]

I spoke to security / stewards they where surprised at the game being classed category A / low risk... Yet for a week or two it was clearly talked about as a game that would outshine most for aggressive behaviour. I think whoever took control of security for the match day can count themselves fortunate not to have seen a major incident / pitch invasion due to lack of policing. In a day and age of "blame" it is just a matter of time before a fan claims against the club for not providing sufficient protection for fans whilst in the stadium. While it sounds unfair, clearly in tues night there was a total lack of policing / security. We don't mean batons waving riot squad, but far more mesh across seats to separate & segregate fans, strong netting across the barrier of away fans so to prevent missiles being throne, rather than young students lining the away end we should have police & security, not allowing fans on tier two to mass over hang at the front so they can spit and throw bottles ( probably mesh the first four front rows and not allow fans to go there at all ), don't serve drinks at all in plastic bottles only thin plastic cups this way bottles cant be tempted to be thrown. Its pretty simple basic stuff this, if me as a fan can see this why cant the specialist.

On the subject of the fan in the shirt in 111, what about the daft sod in 115 with united top on ! He was ejected quickly.

Anyone with a decent knowledge of football would know that Dinamo Zagreb (and Red Star Belgrade if we ever play them) are in the top 5 of hostile crowds in Europe.

I agree with the need for proper policing. It’s not the job of stewards to be jumping into a very hostile crowd to remove trouble makers with force.

Anyway, it’s good news that there weren’t any serious injuries.

 

[blue b4 the moon]

I spoke to security / stewards they where surprised at the game being classed category A / low risk... Yet for a week or two it was clearly talked about as a game that would outshine most for aggressive behaviour. I think whoever took control of security for the match day can count themselves fortunate not to have seen a major incident / pitch invasion due to lack of policing. In a day and age of "blame" it is just a matter of time before a fan claims against the club for not providing sufficient protection for fans whilst in the stadium. While it sounds unfair, clearly in tues night there was a total lack of policing / security. We don't mean batons waving riot squad, but far more mesh across seats to separate & segregate fans, strong netting across the barrier of away fans so to prevent missiles being throne, rather than young students lining the away end we should have police & security, not allowing fans on tier two to mass over hang at the front so they can spit and throw bottles ( probably mesh the first four front rows and not allow fans to go there at all ), don't serve drinks at all in plastic bottles only thin plastic cups this way bottles cant be tempted to be thrown. Its pretty simple basic stuff this, if me as a fan can see this why cant the specialist.

On the subject of the fan in the shirt in 111, what about the daft sod in 115 with united top on ! He was ejected quickly.

@OffertonBlue should be all over this & at the very least get a claim in for his specs.

 

[eastmanc]

bang on to be honest, our atmosphere is pathetic

I don’t know how old you are but I’m 55 and I can’t be arsed singing any more, used to when I was younger but now I watch and cheers and get behind the lads in my own way. I think the fact that our main fan base is ageing is a problem for us. If and when our fan base gets younger then I think the atmosphere will get a lot more raucous. At the really big games I don’t think there is a problem but at a chumps league game then yes it can be a bit quite, but that’s a lot of grounds these days.

 

[Electric Blue]

Just watch, when we got out there in Dec and put a foot wrong at their place the riot cops will steam in and smash us to bits- followed by a heap of blame on our fans by eufa
Our cops are shitbags who just take easy pickings 2 miles over the speed limit etc absolute wankers imo !

 

[Gray]

Just watch, when we got out there in Dec and put a foot wrong at their place the riot cops will steam in and smash us to bits- followed by a heap of blame on our fans by eufa
Our cops are shitbags who just take easy pickings 2 miles over the speed limit etc absolute wankers imo !

Don't forget double yellow lines, some of which are so faded you can hardly see them.

 

[feedmpenzaandhewillscore]

Just watch, when we got out there in Dec and put a foot wrong at their place the riot cops will steam in and smash us to bits- followed by a heap of blame on our fans by eufa
Our cops are shitbags who just take easy pickings 2 miles over the speed limit etc absolute wankers imo !

Very true, easier to let them behave like dicks for 48 hours in Manchester and put them on the plane rather than take them to task for how they are behaving. I don’t think GMP had the stomach to take on some football hooligans from the Balcans as they would have been up against all sorts of shenanigans.

 

[Tanzeylee]

Portugal you say! Love the place of there in a few weeks myself!

May I suggest however that you burn your passport and stay in the shit tip twat infested hovel of a country that we have to call home. Portugal does not need Polluting with pillocks with your views.

Your comments on Croatia are absolute uneducated drivel the prove you are no better than the idiots that showed up at the Etihad last night. Croatia is a fantastic country in so many ways vastly superior to the UK. The people are fantastic welcoming generous and hospitable. Many of them have experienced the kind of shit you cannot begin to imagine.

There is no excuse for what went on last night and I guarantee you the loons who are in this country are a tiny minority af the population compared to what our country can exhibit in holiday resorts across the continent each summer. I am currently in Croatia where I have been four times and will come many more times. You can walk the streets in safety here unlike most towns and cities in the UK.

You need to get an education and be embarrassed and ashamed to have posted such absolute utter drivel.

You are the Head of the Croatian tourist board and I claim my 5 kuna