City used to be fun

There was a time when I enjoyed reading about City. Dipping into their press was like a comforting respectable holiday at Haven, Centre Parcs or Butlins (if they didn’t wear red.) Despite how bad things were for Spurs fans, it was always worse for them. I miss those days, I miss the comedy, I miss the club that was run so badly they didn’t realise they were being relegated until it was too late. This new slick, commercial savvy, dipped in oil City isn’t as fun, actually they are quite scary.

As a conscious Spurs fan for over two decades I have grown up with our neighbours enjoying more success than us. I may not like it, but I have learnt to bear it, thankfully though I have been able to take some solace in the fact that of all city rivalries in the Premier League, ours isn’t the one most sided.

Sir Alex once called them “noisy neighbours” but in all honesty he was paying them far too much respect. As United swept up league titles, FA Cups, a World Club Cup and Champions Leagues over the last few decades, City, to be kind to them, have languished.

It was a comforting thought for a Spurs fan that no matter how bad we had it, someone else had it worse.

The warm feeling I had towards City probably manifested itself in 1996, the day they thought they were safe from relegation. In the pre-3g, wi-fi, Twitter and mobile phones days, spreading news instantly was tricky. The generic last day of the season image was grown men with their head pressed to a portable radio, it was a giant “Chinese Whispers.”

At Maine Road, the Citizens were fighting for survival when someone told the City manager that results were going their way and they were safe, they weren’t, but they didn’t know that, so they started time-wasting. It proved a costly error.

[linequote]I felt sorry for them, perhaps because I am a Spurs I was able to see some resemblance between us and them[/linequote]

United won the league, City went down, it’s proof that the old adage of “there is always someone worse off than you” is true. I felt sorry for them, perhaps because I am a Spurs I was able to see some resemblance between us and them.

City however have metamorphosed since those dark days. They have risen, thanks mostly to money, up to the same level as their rivals, and this season look set to surpass them for the second time in three years.

We talk a lot about glory at Spurs, but surely there is nothing as glorious as toppling a neighbour, especially one so used to being on top. We speak fondly of those seasons we came excruciatingly close to Arsenal, I can only imagine the trouser mess-making, cross-eyed ecstasy of toppling them. Forget nurses outfits, five lusty Victoria Secret “Angels” or a flushed Natalie Portman pirouetting towards me as the “good swan,” finishing above Arsenal would be better.

Despite the rise of City, generally we have had the better of them, for a time. Before the Arab money came spilling in, first it was Thai money spent rather unwisely by Sven Goran Eriksson.

This new found fortune however, led directly into more crisis and it wasn’t until Sheikh Mansour swooped  did the club stabilise. The Sheikh then financed a £100 million splurge by Mark Hughes, who signed such luminaries as Roque Santa Cruz and Kolo Toure.

Despite the outlay, despite the players and despite moving to a new stadium, they were still no better than Spurs. In fact when Roberto Mancini was parachuted in to replace Hughes, it came down to straight fight for fourth between us and them which with the help of Peter Crouch we won. It was glorious for us, but football also rejoiced that day, money had been defeated.

[linequote]I can only imagine the trouser mess-making, cross-eyed ecstasy of toppling Arsenal[/linequote]

This was however the pinnacle of Spurs v City over a 38 game season. We were/are still able to give them a good game, as we saw in the 0-0 at White Hart Lane where Joe Hart had a man-of-the-match performance, or last season where we came back from one down to triumph 3-1.

Even away at theirs it took a Crouch OG, an Edin Dzeko last-minute strike and a last gasp Mario Balotelli penalty to spilt us, but over a season, their squad and their financial clout is too much for us to live with.

The City I used to enjoy for comedy and fun has grown up, now I can only respect them for the fact that they occasionally deny a team or two that wear red some silverware.

Of course the old City does occasionally shine through. This season away to Bayern Munich they were giving the German Champions League holders a pasting, however, to win the group and avoid playing a seeded team in the next round they had to score one more goal.

Manuel Pellegrini, the manager, mistakenly thought they had to score two and with time ticking away subbed off Kun Aguero, it’s an error that now means they face Barcelona, not Olympiakos or another category B team in the next round.

City can spend around £25 million on the wonderful forward Stevan Jovetic and not play him, but they can’t afford a calculator, or an 18 year-old intern to do some admin. It is comforting to know that despite the money, the slickness, Txiki Begiristain, Patrick Viera and other well paid officials at the club, they can be still dumfounded by a simple mathematical sum.

This comfort though won’t do much come tonight. Already we have been exposed to their raw attacking power and sheer self-confidence.

In one of AVB’s last games it took just slightly longer than it takes Usain Bolt to run 100 metres for our game plan to melt like the face of a bad guy in Robocop. Jesus Navas, Alvaro Negredo, Samir Nasri, Michael Dawson, Aguero, Younes Kaboul and Yaya Toure combined to form a living, breathing, pulsating nightmare.

[linequote]Some may argue that there is no shame in being thrashed by City: “they thrash everyone,” but trust me there is shame[/linequote]

Some may argue that there is no shame in being thrashed by City: “they thrash everyone,” but trust me there is shame.

I don’t want that feeling, especially not at home and especially not under the lights. Tim Sherwood will have his work cut out, but if he can continue to instil belief into the players, perhaps slot in an extra central midfielder, then why can’t we beat them?

They may have money, they may have world class players but it’s football. We have experienced one home spanking already this season, our quota is now full. It has been a while since any club has done the league double over us, now isn’t the time for that run to come to an end.

City used to be fun, why can’t they be fun again?

[author name=”ARLombardi” avatar=”https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/378800000789662677/0ad5704c93624459c70b906dab544185_bigger.jpeg” bio=”I read, I write, I speak, I edit for The Fighting Cock” twitter=”ARLombardi[/linequote]