Pep's spending is insane (£941m and counting at City)

[OldSchoolManc]

Is there a possibility that if City buy 3-4 big name players this summer, there could be a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth?
How will Pep keep them all happy if there’s a lot of rotation?
I might be clutching at straws, but discontent may be coming from a few of their players...

 

[totaalvoetbal]

Is there a possibility that if City buy 3-4 big name players this summer, there could be a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth?
How will Pep keep them all happy if there’s a lot of rotation?
I might be clutching at straws, but discontent may be coming from a few of their players...

They will be playing 60+ games this season, so there's enough minutes to go round. If they want to challenge on all fronts then they need 3 more signings. If Sterling or Sane get injured they have only one actual winger left. They are in the process of getting 2 players for every position which is what you need to challenge on every front.

Goalkeepers: Ederson and Bravo (If Bravo is sold, Gunn will probably become the #2)
Left backs: Mendy, Delph and Danilo (Angelino will most likely be sold)
Righ back: Walker, Danilo
Centre Backs: Stones, Kompany, Otamendi and Laporte
Pivote: Fernandinho, Jorginho, Gundogan (short term option)
Central axis: Kevin de Bruyne, David Silva, Foden, Gundogan (Possibly Bernando Silva but he hasn't been used there as of yet)
Wide players: Sterling, Sane (only true players that provide width), Bernardo Silva, Mahrez, gabriel Jesus
Central attacker: Gabriel Jesus, Kun Aguero and Raheem Sterling.

 

[do.ob]

Is there a possibility that if City buy 3-4 big name players this summer, there could be a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth?
How will Pep keep them all happy if there’s a lot of rotation?
I might be clutching at straws, but discontent may be coming from a few of their players...

By axeing anyone who complains.

 

[Treble]

Is there a possibility that if City buy 3-4 big name players this summer, there could be a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth?
How will Pep keep them all happy if there’s a lot of rotation?
I might be clutching at straws, but discontent may be coming from a few of their players...

My thoughts too. Remember the summer of 2011. Barca looked fantastic and added to their squad Sanchez and Fabregas. Didnt work at all.

 

[Cal?]

Sober yet

Eleven = XI

Basically rumors that one of his cronnies (a Chinese billionaire) is interested in buying United.

 

[RoyH1]

Not really insane. The International Petroleum Investment Company has assets for over 50 billion USD so there's a lot more cash for City as long as FFP is laughably unenforced.

 

[Adisa]

Is there a possibility that if City buy 3-4 big name players this summer, there could be a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth?
How will Pep keep them all happy if there’s a lot of rotation?
I might be clutching at straws, but discontent may be coming from a few of their players...

Sam Lee who's close to people there says the club expect only Jorginho and Mahrez to arrive this summer.

 

[totaalvoetbal]

Not really insane. The International Petroleum Investment Company has assets for over 50 billion USD so there's a lot more cash for City as long as FFP is laughably unenforced.

Baffling to see people keep going on about City's spending. They aren't doing anything to break FFP's rules and from what I've seen most of thier funds now are self generated. You can argue about the initial investment and finanncial doping that kick started their current 'era' but today they aren't spending more than they can generate and if they were sold, they will still be in a great financial position.

I know there is rivalry that exists here but why is it so difficult for some posters on here to just accept reality? City fans have posted things time and time again yet posters here keep parrotting the same nonsense rhetoric...

 

[roonster09]

Baffling to see people keep going on about City's spending. They aren't doing anything to break FFP's rules and from what I've seen most of thier funds now are self generated. You can argue about the initial investment and finanncial doping that kick started their current 'era' but today they aren't spending more than they can generate and if they were sold, they will still be in a great financial position.

I know there is rivalry that exists here but why is it so difficult for some posters on here to just accept reality? City fans have posted things time and time again yet posters here keep parrotting the same nonsense rhetoric...

 

[Denis_unwise]

Is there a possibility that if City buy 3-4 big name players this summer, there could be a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth?
How will Pep keep them all happy if there’s a lot of rotation?
I might be clutching at straws, but discontent may be coming from a few of their players...

The main divisive factor at City will always be money. That's what everybody goes there for. Don't think the news of Pep & KDB's bumper pay rises will have gone down well in the dressing room. Many of the players will feel they are just as deserving of a pay bump. If many have a good WC they will be demanding increases. Jesus is stalling on a new contract & Sterling has expressed a desire to play abroad. All tactics to get a better deal. Many players will see this as the best time to get on the Pep gravy train. If their access is blocked mutiny will ensue.

 

[Cal?]

The main divisive factor at City will always be money. That's what everybody goes there for. Don't think the news of Pep & KDB's bumper pay rises will have gone down well in the dressing room. Many of the players will feel they are just as deserving of a pay bump. If many have a good WC they will be demanding increases. Jesus is stalling on a new contract & Sterling has expressed a desire to play abroad. All tactics to get a better deal. Many players will see this as the best time to get on the Pep gravy train. If their access is blocked mutiny will ensue.

But don’t players play for St Pep for free?

 

[Bubz27]

Eleven = XI

Basically rumors that one of his cronnies (a Chinese billionaire) is interested in buying United.

Who's XI?

 

[Zehner]

Is there a possibility that if City buy 3-4 big name players this summer, there could be a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth?
How will Pep keep them all happy if there’s a lot of rotation?
I might be clutching at straws, but discontent may be coming from a few of their players...

He won't. Guardiola never seemed to care too much about the squad's happiness. Guess there are few coaches who have made themselves so many enemies (but die-hard followers, too) within their squads as Pep. It's all about performance respectively willingness to listen and adapt to the system.

But I doubt the team will fall apart. The thing is, even if there are two or three totally disappointed players, Guardiola usually maintains a set of key players that admire him completely. De Bruyne, Silva, Gündogan etc. won't care if exemplarily Toure, Mahrez (if he ends up being a squad player) and so on are unhappy as long as Guardiola enables them to play as they did last season. It was the same with Ibrahimovic, Eto'o, Ribery and so on.

The main divisive factor at City will always be money. That's what everybody goes there for. Don't think the news of Pep & KDB's bumper pay rises will have gone down well in the dressing room. Many of the players will feel they are just as deserving of a pay bump. If many have a good WC they will be demanding increases. Jesus is stalling on a new contract & Sterling has expressed a desire to play abroad. All tactics to get a better deal. Many players will see this as the best time to get on the Pep gravy train. If their access is blocked mutiny will ensue.

I don't know, really. I think the Guardiola appointment has changed many things and was the icing on a cake of a really professional development going on for years. City used to be all about big paychecks and money and of course this is still important but nowadays there are few clubs with a better competitive perspective. City as a whole is modern, thought through, has brillant infrastructure and much, much expertise on almost every managerial position. Of course all this was enabled through money and their financial prowess still is something like a "door opener" but reducing the club to it is short sighted. There's much more to City than oil money nowadays.

 

[Cal?]

Who's XI?

Chinese Emperor (although technically his title is chairman)

Google Emperor Xi

 

[RoyH1]

Baffling to see people keep going on about City's spending. They aren't doing anything to break FFP's rules and from what I've seen most of thier funds now are self generated. You can argue about the initial investment and finanncial doping that kick started their current 'era' but today they aren't spending more than they can generate and if they were sold, they will still be in a great financial position.

I know there is rivalry that exists here but why is it so difficult for some posters on here to just accept reality? City fans have posted things time and time again yet posters here keep parrotting the same nonsense rhetoric...

Do you really believe that? You don't think their commercial deals and sponsorships are inflated due to their owners?

 

[Thunderhead]

The main divisive factor at City will always be money. That's what everybody goes there for. Don't think the news of Pep & KDB's bumper pay rises will have gone down well in the dressing room. Many of the players will feel they are just as deserving of a pay bump. If many have a good WC they will be demanding increases. Jesus is stalling on a new contract & Sterling has expressed a desire to play abroad. All tactics to get a better deal. Many players will see this as the best time to get on the Pep gravy train. If their access is blocked mutiny will ensue.

you can say that for any club, at most clubs there is a hierarchy on players on the biggest wage and if they're seen to be contributing and driving the team forward I'm not sure those on lesser salaries would be too bothered unless they believe they're better players being sold short and as KDB is probably the best player in the club then I don't see there being too many issues. The problems will come if the team start losing and those on the highest wages are perceived to not be pulling their weight and still being picked in the first XI.

 

[Dansk]

City's funds are about as self-generated as a televangelist's private jet. Nobody outside of Manchester really cares about the club. They don't have any kind of global fanbase and the media barely bothers to talk about City, yet somehow the club is able to land absurdly large sponsorships from middle-eastern companies for whom sponsoring an English football team makes no possible sense except for their dealings with the Sheikh.

While I don't care enough to look up the studies, the consensus at the time (when FFP was topical) was that money was simply being funneled into MCFC by way of pretend-sponsors so that it looked like legitimate income instead of the owner's coffers. Some of their sponsorships are legitimate, of course - why wouldn't Nike or Tinder sponsor the English champions - but why would some Arab tech company, or the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture?

Those sponsorships serve one purpose: circumvent FFP by laundering a portion of the money put into MCFC by the owner.

 

[Bubz27]

Chinese Emperor (although technically his title is chairman)

Google Emperor Xi

Ah okay.

 

[Skills]

I also don't think they've distorted the market. Their record signing is £57m.
Don't know why people are acting like we've not been in this situation before.

Yeah it's PSG who have really take a massive shit on the market. 220m on Neymar and 170m on Mbapps really put player prices in a different stratosphere.

 

[totaalvoetbal]

Do you really believe that? You don't think their commercial deals and sponsorships are inflated due to their owners?

About 60-70% of their deals are not directly related to their owners from what I remember.

I think a City fan @padr81 posted some stuff in detail iirc. Not sure if he was the one but posters on here just ignored everything he posted.

 

[Thunderhead]

Do you really believe that? You don't think their commercial deals and sponsorships are inflated due to their owners?

they probably were are the start, but I think now £40m from Etihad, £20m from Nike, £20m from Nissan who I think are the 3 biggest sponsors which accounts for over a 3rd of commercial income isn't exactly inflated, add in SAP, EA, Nexen Tyre, Heiniken etc etc and it all starts to add up.

Think the Nike deal expires at the end of next season so I'd expect that to go up, be interesting to see what the next Ethiad deal is though.

 

[roonster09]

ManCity have 218 Million as commercial income, anyone with bit of thinking can say it's just bs.

Arsenal and Liverpool combined have 233 Million in commercial revenue, City alone have 218 million, it's just bs and cooked up sponsorships.

Didn't they sell some asset to their Australian club for 24 Million or something?

PSG also have reported 236 Million in commercial revenue, maybe we should believe that one too.

Not that it matters, winning on the field is what matters but coming up with bs like "City are self sufficient club" is just laughable.

 

[Andrew Wolf]

City's funds are about as self-generated as a televangelist's private jet. Nobody outside of Manchester really cares about the club. They don't have any kind of global fanbase and the media barely bothers to talk about City, yet somehow the club is able to land absurdly large sponsorships from middle-eastern companies for whom sponsoring an English football team makes no possible sense except for their dealings with the Sheikh.

While I don't care enough to look up the studies, the consensus at the time (when FFP was topical) was that money was simply being funneled into MCFC by way of pretend-sponsors so that it looked like legitimate income instead of the owner's coffers. Some of their sponsorships are legitimate, of course - why wouldn't Nike or Tinder sponsor the English champions - but why would some Arab tech company, or the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture?

Those sponsorships serve one purpose: circumvent FFP by laundering a portion of the money put into MCFC by the owner.

You clearly care, pal . Certainly enough to spew some of the regular bile out about them.

 

[tomaldinho1]

You clearly care, pal . Certainly enough to spew some of the regular bile out about them.

Whilst the disdain for City was obvious in the post, there's no smoke without fire.

If someone properly enforced FFP & investigated how money enters the club there would be chaos. That's not really bile, it's widely considered a fact. Luckily for them, FFP was just a buzzword that no effect on anything.

 

[OldSchoolManc]

I’m pretty sure that money laundering is still illegal. Unless you butter up the right authorities...
Abu Dhabi are basically ‘Cleaning’ their money through football and promoting themselves into western culture at the same time.
Man City are a puppet and plaything. They are worth nothing but contempt.

 

[padr81]

The main divisive factor at City will always be money. That's what everybody goes there for. Don't think the news of Pep & KDB's bumper pay rises will have gone down well in the dressing room. Many of the players will feel they are just as deserving of a pay bump. If many have a good WC they will be demanding increases. Jesus is stalling on a new contract & Sterling has expressed a desire to play abroad. All tactics to get a better deal. Many players will see this as the best time to get on the Pep gravy train. If their access is blocked mutiny will ensue.

You dont think... you don't have a clue what the dressing room is like, didn't look like there was too much unrest when it was announced. KDB's pay rise actually puts him not too much ahead. Has Sanchez wages destroyed United dressing room? Nobody knows. C'mon you're clutching at straws.
Reality check everyone goes everywhere for money, simple fact. You think Pogba is at United for the badge? or Sanchez. The days of that kind of loyalty are gone. No one gives a feck whats on the badge, only whats in their bank account. They can say whatever they like in interviews it reality.

Jesus is waiting until after the world cup on contract discussions continuing, he wants a not unreasonable £100k per week and the club have offered £90k so it's hardly the standoff people are making out. Also you'll find the club approached Jesus about a new contract without him even asking. A deal that has loads of time left by the way.

Sterling has made feck all noise about leaving or a new deal. He'd like to play in a different country someday "when the time comes to leave Manchester City" and it was a case of that combined with the fake rumors of him being offered to Arsenal. He said it in December 2017 strangely when that rubbish was being spread and the media were questioning what he'd do when he got binned.

What you are doing is clutching at straws buddy and adding 1 plus 1 and getting 57.

I can apply the same logic to any club.

 

[fellaini's barber]

I thought the whole point of this thread is Pep's insane spending but you are saying the spending would've happened anyways regardless of who's coaching City? Ok.

Its one of the dumbest things I've read on this forum so far

 

[padr81]

City's funds are about as self-generated as a televangelist's private jet. Nobody outside of Manchester really cares about the club. They don't have any kind of global fanbase and the media barely bothers to talk about City, yet somehow the club is able to land absurdly large sponsorships from middle-eastern companies for whom sponsoring an English football team makes no possible sense except for their dealings with the Sheikh.

While I don't care enough to look up the studies, the consensus at the time (when FFP was topical) was that money was simply being funneled into MCFC by way of pretend-sponsors so that it looked like legitimate income instead of the owner's coffers. Some of their sponsorships are legitimate, of course - why wouldn't Nike or Tinder sponsor the English champions - but why would some Arab tech company, or the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture?

Those sponsorships serve one purpose: circumvent FFP by laundering a portion of the money put into MCFC by the owner.

Lol.
Dont have any kind of global fanbase for real? Only the big 4 of United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea have bigger global followings then City in England. You can spout your other rubbish all you want and keep telling yourself that but it's simply not true. In fact City come in 5th in just about every metric and most lists these days.

• Cities attendances (despite the blue seats jokes) were are above that of Liverpool and Chelsea. 4th in England to United, Arsenal and West Ham.
• Cities attendances were 11th in Europe for 2016/17 with an average of 54k.
• This season City are 5th in terms of attendances again above Liverpool and Chelsea (Spurs at Wembley knocking them down)
• City are 5th (behind the usual suspects in terms of social media followers globally) albeit quite a way behind, comfortably in the top 20.
• City ranked 13th globally in shirt sales on average per season from 11-12 to 15-16. Again 5th in England behind the big 4 but above clubs like Atletico, Milan, Inter, Spurs etc..

We also (this season aside) have been in a CL semi-final and a CL QF, which while pretty.

We are also now England highest rated club in terms of European Coefficient which means we've done the best in Europe in the last 5 years, which means more tv time, which means bigger sponsors. We are the 8th most consistent team in Europe during that time, Spanish dominance takes up 4 of those places.

Yes we are dwarfed by United, Barca, Real for certain and still to an extent by Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea but we're actually making inroads on the on the later 3 in particular.
Your burying your head in the sand doesn't change that we are no longer a small club who nobody gives a feck about outside Manchester. In fact everything points to the opposite.

Middle East companies doing business with a middle Eastern businessman... has to be some sort of crime right? Wrong. In reality of course the Sheikh is going to do business where he knows best. You should actually look into how much of our income comes from Abu Dhabi and it's associates.

Absurdly large sponsorships from the Middle East? Back this up with one to verify this claim please. You'll find since failing FFP all our deals have been deemed perfectly fair by Uefa and you can be pretty sure our books are gone over in finer detail than most clubs in Europe.

Why would an Arab tech company sponsor and get on board with a club who is owned by the Abu Dhabi royal family? faces and images are literally plastered around the place? eh... seriously... Lets see... Abu Dhabi royal family literally have City splashed everywhere. I mean why would an Abu Dhabi tech company want to promote their business in Abu Dhabi anyway.

And another lie, good going. Do you really think Uefa and their army of financial specialists are stupid enough to miss this stuff, while you who have openly admits you can't be arsed looking it up, and would never see the books anyway are right? Wheres the logic in that?

 

[Treble]

Lol.
Dont have any kind of global fanbase for real? Only the big 4 of United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea have bigger global followings then City in England. You can spout your other rubbish all you want and keep telling yourself that but it's simply not true. In fact City come in 5th in just about every metric and most lists these days.

• Cities attendances (despite the blue seats jokes) were are above that of Liverpool and Chelsea. 4th in England to United, Arsenal and West Ham.
• Cities attendances were 11th in Europe for 2016/17 with an average of 54k.
• This season City are 5th in terms of attendances again above Liverpool and Chelsea (Spurs at Wembley knocking them down)
• City are 5th (behind the usual suspects in terms of social media followers globally) albeit quite a way behind, comfortably in the top 20.
• City ranked 13th globally in shirt sales on average per season from 11-12 to 15-16. Again 5th in England behind the big 4 but above clubs like Atletico, Milan, Inter, Spurs etc..

Your attendances are above those of Liverpool and Chelsea only because you play at a bigger stadium your home games. That's all.

 

[padr81]

Your attendances are above those of Liverpool and Chelsea only because you play at a bigger stadium your home games. That's all.

Of course West Hams stats alone show that. There is no denying that which is why I still class Liverpool and Chelsea as much bigger clubs and never for a second implied otherwise. But my point was more to dismiss the notion we are some small no-bit club with no followers outside Manchester. How we got there is open to question, but whether or not we are there now is unquestionable.

When everything is stacked together it pretty much dismisses the argument we have zero support outside Manchester.

 

[Bestietom]

He’s a a cheque book manager, plain and simple who has never and will never put himself in a position where he has to show his worth as a manager. As soon as this City side start to decline and he can’t motivate them anymore, he’ll go running to the next cheat mode project. I can’t bring myself to rate him.

Not much different than Mourinho then. Don't think you would see any of them managing Burnley.

 

[OldSchoolManc]

Of course West Hams stats alone show that. There is no denying that which is why I still class Liverpool and Chelsea as much bigger clubs and never for a second implied otherwise. But my point was more to dismiss the notion we are some small no-bit club with no followers outside Manchester. How we got there is open to question, but whether or not we are there now is unquestionable.

When everything is stacked together it pretty much dismisses the argument we have zero support outside Manchester.

Wasn’t there a recent police report stating ACTUAL attendances at City being way below the stated ticket sales?
Which would mean that the club sell phantom tickets to people that never actually go to the game.
Suspicious much?

 

[Random Task]

Of course West Hams stats alone show that. There is no denying that which is why I still class Liverpool and Chelsea as much bigger clubs and never for a second implied otherwise. But my point was more to dismiss the notion we are some small no-bit club with no followers outside Manchester. How we got there is open to question, but whether or not we are there now is unquestionable.

When everything is stacked together it pretty much dismisses the argument we have zero support outside Manchester.

It really isn't.

Spotting a City fan outside of Manchester (specifically Didsbury and Stockport) was a task in itself prior to the takeover. In my hometown, which is roughly 35 miles NW of Manchester, City fans were a rare commodity. You were either United or Liverpool, with the occasional Leeds fan thrown in for good measure. City fans were practically non-existent save for the odd few. Nowadays they are a dime a dozen, fully grown men whom would have you believe they have followed City their entire lives. 'Where were you when you were shit' immediately springs to mind of course.

It's safe to say that with the helping hands of the ABU Dhabi regime, City's fanbase has grown expotentially. Without their help things would be very very different.

 

[OldSchoolManc]

It really isn't.

Spotting a City fan outside of Manchester (specifically Didsbury and Stockport) was a task in itself prior to the takeover. In my hometown, which is roughly 35 miles NW of Manchester, City fans were a rare commodity. You were either United or Liverpool, with the occasional Leeds fan thrown in for good measure. City fans were practically non-existent save for the odd few. Nowadays they are a dime a dozen, fully grown men whom would have you believe they have followed City their entire lives. 'Where were you when you were shit' immediately springs to mind of course.

It's safe to say that with the helping hands of the ABU Dhabi regime, City's fanbase has grown expotentially. Without their help things would be very very different.

The modern City fan - The definition of a glory chaser.
Would be interesting how many would still be there if all the money was pulled back out and they went back to their true selves.
One can dream...

 

[M18CTID]

It really isn't.

Spotting a City fan outside of Manchester (specifically Didsbury and Stockport) was a task in itself prior to the takeover. In my hometown, which is roughly 35 miles NW of Manchester, City fans were a rare commodity. You were either United or Liverpool, with the occasional Leeds fan thrown in for good measure. City fans were practically non-existent save for the odd few. Nowadays they are a dime a dozen, fully grown men whom would have you believe they have followed City their entire lives. 'Where were you when you were shit' immediately springs to mind of course.

It's safe to say that with the helping hands of the ABU Dhabi regime, City's fanbase has grown expotentially. Without their help things would be very very different.

I’d say 35 miles is outside the natural catchment area of all clubs to be fair so it stands to reason that most fans from your town would support one of the 2 most popular clubs in the country. Go a bit closer to Manchester and there are more blues, and not just in places like Stockport. Glossop, for instance, has long been a City stronghold for reasons I can’t explain despite being in Derbyshire and 15 miles away from the centre of Manchester.

As for people popping up in City shirts in your town who have only just started supporting the club, I’d imagine that’s pretty annoying and is a symptom of on-field success. It’s hardly confined to City, and United and Liverpool are the 2 biggest examples of it. Crikey, I’ve even seen Leicester shirts within close proximity of Manchester since they won the league in 2016.

 

[M18CTID]

Would be interesting how many would still be there if all the money was pulled back out and they went back to their true selves

I wouldn’t know - I’ve only been following them since the money came in

 

[el magico]

It really isn't.

Spotting a City fan outside of Manchester (specifically Didsbury and Stockport) was a task in itself prior to the takeover. In my hometown, which is roughly 35 miles NW of Manchester, City fans were a rare commodity. You were either United or Liverpool, with the occasional Leeds fan thrown in for good measure. City fans were practically non-existent save for the odd few. Nowadays they are a dime a dozen, fully grown men whom would have you believe they have followed City their entire lives. 'Where were you when you were shit' immediately springs to mind of course.

It's safe to say that with the helping hands of the ABU Dhabi regime, City's fanbase has grown expotentially. Without their help things would be very very different.

That's great news. Can you imagine how much the commercial revenue will increase over the next few years? That SER bloke will be having a right meltdown.

 

[Random Task]

I’d say 35 miles is outside the natural catchment area of all clubs to be fair so it stands to reason that most fans from your town would support one of the 2 most popular clubs in the country. Go a bit closer to Manchester and there are more blues, and not just in places like Stockport. Glossop, for instance, has long been a City stronghold for reasons I can’t explain despite being in Derbyshire and 15 miles away from the centre of Manchester.

As for people popping up in City shirts in your town who have only just started supporting the club, I’d imagine that’s pretty annoying and is a symptom of on-field success. It’s hardly confined to City, and United and Liverpool are the 2 biggest examples of it. Crikey, I’ve even seen Leicester shirts within close proximity of Manchester since they won the league in 2016.

No denying that. I worked in London for a spell and the sheer amount of United and Liverpool shirts on show was staggering. I swear I spotted more United and Liverpool shirts than that of a London club. Not that it makes any difference where you are from, the team you choose to follow is your prerogative. Just don't be expecting to attend many home games. Not that I have attended many myself in recent years, the last time I watched a home game The Great Man was still running the show. I haven't missed a great deal by all accounts.

Plus I rate our London fanbase in a big way. I went to see Palace vs United at Selhurst Park a few years back and the noise the away support created was incredible. They have had my respect ever since.

 

[Bubz27]

Wasn’t there a recent police report stating ACTUAL attendances at City being way below the stated ticket sales?
Which would mean that the club sell phantom tickets to people that never actually go to the game.
Suspicious much?

Most, if not all, clubs report their attendances as number of tickets sold rather than people who've come to the game.

There has been times when Old Trafford as wanted us to believe we had 74k in there when we definitely haven't.

 

[M18CTID]

No denying that. I worked in London for a spell and the sheer amount of United and Liverpool shirts on show was staggering. I swear I spotted more United and Liverpool shirts than that of a London club. Not that it makes any difference where you are from, the team you choose to follow is your prerogative. Just don't be expecting to attend many home games. Not that I have attended many myself in recent years, the last time I watched a home game The Great Man was still running the show. I haven't missed a great deal by all accounts.

Plus I rate our London fanbase in a big way. I went to see Palace vs United at Selhurst Park a few years back and the noise the away support created was incredible. They have had my respect ever since.

Yeah, it’s not necessarily where you’re from but how you support a club that’s important. There are United fans who travel from the other end of the country and beyond on a regular basis for home games and others who live in Manchester who have never set foot inside Old Trafford and have no intention of doing. I remember reading a post on here some years back by a United fan from Plymouth who was up here one weekend for a home game. He was out in Manchester in the evening and got talking to a local red who was ranting that he didn’t attend home matches due to the high cost of tickets. Nothing wrong with that on the face of it because it can be an expensive hobby but the Plymouth guy made the point that while he was sounding off about it, he was spending a not inconsiderable amount of money on alcohol. Out of those 2 it’s clear to me who is more of a fan, and City’s recent successes will no doubt attract more of those local non-attendees too. And while we’ve poked fun at United’s non-local fan base down the years, some of our own most loyal fans don’t come from anywhere near Manchester. I’m good mates with a bloke from Nottingham who I’ve gotten to know at away games and he’s been a fan since 1980, and a regular home and away attendee pretty much ever since. Another guy from Leicester has only missed 20-odd games home and away since 1989, averaging out at less than 1 game missed per season. At the League Cup semi at Old Trafford in 2010, I got talking to 4 City fans from Peterborough and one of them hadn’t missed a single home or away game in something like a decade or so.