Source: Daily_Mail
You are so wrong, Colin...we can all still love our City
In last week's Sportsmail, Colin Shindler accused the Manchester City moneymen of stealing the soul of the club he has loved for 50 years. His views had an incendiary effect in the light blue quarters of Manchester, sparking a fierce debate in City pubs which spilled into online chatrooms. Here, we print an open letter to Shindler from fellow City fan Colin Savage...[LNB]Dear Colin, We don't believe your views are representative of the vast majority of City fans. [LNB]Being a City fan is a unique experience. What other club, with much the same squad, could win the title one season then get relegated the next - despite being the top goalscorers in the division? [LNB]Big spenders: Carlos Tevez is just one of City's summer signings, but will the club manage to keep its identity?[LNB]What other team could attempt to play out a draw in the last match of the season, not realising they actually needed to win to avoid relegation? Which was the first club to win a European trophy and end up playing in League One? [LNB]What other club could be taken over by a billionaire with no money? There's only one - and that's the club we (but maybe not you) still love. [LNB]And isn't it that maddening, but somehow endearing capacity to do the unexpected exactly why we love City? [LNB]Many would agree that we lost something when David Bernstein left, at a time when things were really starting to look up. We were back in the Premier League after years in the wilderness, with a high-profile manager, an exciting team and a brand new stadium promising extra revenue. [LNB]Yet somehow, a few seasons later, despite being one of the best supported clubs in the league and having one of the highest revenues outside the top four, we ended up flirting with relegation under Stuart Pearce, with John Wardle having to prop the club up financially. Some fans fell out of love with City then, but most of us ploughed on, hoping against hope that things might get better one day. [LNB]Thaksin's ownership was indeed 'smoke and mirrors' and he nearly took us to the brink of disaster - yet we still went to games. [LNB]The soul of any club is not the chairman, the manager or the players. They come and go, but the fans remain. We - the fans - are the soul of the club because we know its history, we have experienced the highs and lows and we have the trademark City sense of humour. We don't go in for maudlin self-pity; we take the knocks, move on and laugh about it afterwards. [LNB]Do you really think we had any more 'soul' when we were owned and run, with varying degrees of ineptitude, by a series of local businessmen made good? Did we have 'soul' when we were everyone's favourite laughing stock, the Comedy Club or the Theatre of Base Comedy? [LNB]Read Colin Shindler's blast at the City owners hereYour memories of the City of old are akin to the ones which tell you that the summers of your childhood were invariably long and hot. That television was better, despite there only being two channels and both in black and white. That chocolate bars were bigger and that there was never any crime. [LNB]Yes, we had some great years and exciting football but we also had some dross. Colin Bell sometimes had a bad game and Maine Road could be quiet as a grave when we were playing Everton on a dull November Saturday. Last season against Arsenal, Villa, Portsmouth and Hull, we were as good as I can remember. [LNB]Now we have new owners (or 'that Abu Dhabi lot' as you disrespectfully refer to them) who have lots of money and are prepared to invest it in the club. There may be something in it for them, but there 's a lot more in it for us. [LNB]Money does not in itself ensure success, as Newcastle fans know, and we've won nothing yet, so no one is counting their chickens. But more important than giving us their money, the new owners have given us and the club respect. They are professional and now see us as true stakeholders, to be consulted and courted, instead of just 'customers'. [LNB]The owners don't just pay lip service to the club's history but have tried to understand it. [LNB] City fans have shown support for the new Arabic owners of the club in their own unique style[LNB]One of the first people they spoke to was the then club historian, Gary James, in order to understand just where City had come from and what it was. They understand our relationship with the club and what we want from it, off the field as well as on it. And they are delivering. [LNB]At the UEFA Cup quarter-final against FC Hamburg, they reduced entrance prices to £5 in order to have a full house that would generate an atmosphere. And we did generate an electric atmosphere that night. Were you there? [LNB]I resent your statement that the club is 'rotten to the core'. On the contrary, it's more vibrant and exciting than it's ever been since the 1960s and 99.9 per cent of us are looking forward to the future. There's more soul now than there has been for years. [LNB]Things have changed in the world in general - and particularly in the game of football - sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse and sometimes for both better and worse. Likewise, the City you knew has changed. To you, she was a dotty, eccentric, slightly down-at-heel girl, who could be amusing and irritating in turn. Someone the local lads laughed at while wolf-whistling at the local vamp in red. [LNB]But for all her imperfections, you and her other friends stuck with her, even though she embarrassed you from time to time. [LNB]Well now she's won the lottery, had liposuction, a facelift, a boob job and gone on a shopping spree at Harvey Nicks. [LNB]She's gone from being a mousey brunette to being a striking blonde. She looks like a million dollars but hasn't lost her sense of fun. She's someone you want to be seen with, even if you're still not sure whether she'll do something she really shouldn't. [LNB]And everyone's taking notice now, so you perhaps feel a little jealous of all the attention she's getting and that's only natural. But she's made it clear that she's not going back to what she was, just to keep you happy. [LNB]There are new people chasing her affections, but as long as her original friends are still there in her inner circle, she'll never be allowed to forget what she once was. We'll still be her real soul. So swallow your pride, stop whingeing and get on the bus. It's going to be an exciting ride.[LNB] Colin Shindler: The heart has been ripped from the club I loveRoque road to recovery for City star as Santa Cruz's debut is put on holdEverton reject Lescott's request but Man City are confident of £20m dealMANCHESTER CITY FC
