FrannyLee1968

1 hour ago, Follyfoot said:

And how much has he spent achieving this amazing feat? Biggest myth in football 

https://www.transferleague.co.uk/premier-league-last-five-seasons/transfer-league-tables/premier-league-table-last-five-seasons

...and Ferguson spent how much achieving his feats?

14 minutes ago, TheAuthority said:

Whats somewhat sad is that the original fans of Man City were pretty loyal. It didn't have a hug fan base especially compared to United and they were somewhat of a yoyo club in the PL days. Now obviously they have millions of plastics because of the success (I have no idea which camp you are in.)

But the sadness is that the original fans were bribed, unknowingly.

Yes, we will come and buy you Robinho! We will buy you Aguero! we will spend on transfer fees and wages the GDP of small countries over a 10 year period. We will give money to local charities! We do all of this because we are benevolent: we are good people whoo believe in philanthropy and  the power of sport to solve all social ills!

Nah - they have spent all of the money to sportswash the brand of their country which commits horrific human rights abuses and they know that they are in a PR battle. If you want to believe that somehow their heart is in the right place, then I am afraid to tell you that you are deluding yourself. 

It's not really your fault, or other original fans of City. They dangled all these shiny nice things in front of you and having been not a very successful club for decades, and having a neighbor and closest rival having untold success, it's easy to see why you would be ecstatic. But sadly it's all an awful, awful lie. It is also helping destroy a beautiful game that we all (and I'm sure you also) absolutely love. How many teams will be left if the status quo continues? A Super League of 4? Where does it end?

Quite honestly i would be horrified if this had happened to Aston Villa. We were founded in 1874 not 2010 (or whenever you were taken over.) I know you will try and defend it but It is all just so very, very sad.

Success always brings plastics along with it, just ask the New England Patriots.  Plenty of them over here in Oz as well.  Ask them when they first made a SB and most will tell you 2001.

Just remember United were not a big club until after WWII and the Matt Busby years, and didn't really dominate until until Fergie came along. We had a golden period in the late 60' and 70's but then went into 30 years of wandering around in the desert.  Remember there are still more City fans in the city of Manchester than United fans, even after Fergie's successes. 

Would I change what's happened the last 10 years? Of course not.  Neither would MANY Villa fans if it happened to your club. When you've suffered long periods of pain, you don't refuse the pain relief when it comes.

1 minute ago, AVFCforever1991 said:

Leicester defence was hardly first choice, they were playing Ryan Bertrand at LB lol

Lets face it the Community Shield is a glorified practice match...always has been.

Never understood all the fuss about it to be honest.

The real games start with week one of the league season....always have.

4 minutes ago, TheAuthority said:

FTFY

ROFL!!!!!!!!

3 hours ago, Zatman said:

Win all the leagues he wants with a super budget but he cant win the big one. Greatest manager ever

If you are referring to the european knockout league, he's won it more times than any other manager in England.  Twice.

If you are referring to winning the best league in world football, he's done that 3 times in 4 years in England (the Premier League being the world's best league for at least the last 5-6 years), and done it 3 times in 4 years with Barcelona when La Liga was still considered the best league in world football.

Also won multiple titles with Bayern Munich in the Bundasliga. 

Name someone with a better record in three different countries.

10 hours ago, TheAuthority said:

What is really shitty is that the Charity Shield was always meant to be for, Charity! & even though Wembley made it very affordable the Mancs took hardly any fans down there.

So charities miss out because Arab blood oil money bought Pep the PL. Maybe should go in the games gone thread.

"Revenue from the gate receipts and match programme sales is distributed to the 124 clubs who competed in the FA Cup from the first round onwards, for onward distribution to charities and projects of their choice, while the remainder is distributed to the FA's national charity partners."

Maybe you should do some homework on how much money the City owners/CFG have put back into the City of Manchester and its community (including charities).

I'll give you a hint, its far more than most clubs in this league....including United.

12 hours ago, YouUnastanFren said:

"Cleared of"

But yeah this is something else. Well, it's exactly the same concept but new leaked (hacked and stolen) evidence for different incidences of financial doping.

It is absolutely clear cut from the leaks to me. I'm sure their team of 87 lawyers will protect them from any punishment though.

From a bonafide criminal and fraudster who has been jailed numerous times for hacking, fraud and deception, but is being paid from sources yet unknown to produce this information?

We had the UEFA decision overturned in CAS which included this type of "evidence" being presented, and after another shot by whoever is behind this criminal/fraudster we will be cleared by the PL.

6 minutes ago, Genie said:

How have they been artificially inflating their income?

Whilst the club has links to the people sponsoring the shirts the value is comparable to what you’d expect it to be (maybe even a bit on the low side looking at some of the others).

 

This is true, there's no inflation of income or direct funding from the owner, the club has been standing on its own two feet for 7-8 years.  Income has ratcheted up to higher levels over this period.

Its like the throw away line "how can City afford player X & Y", when they don't even look at the income level OR the player sales/sell on clause revenue.

On another note the owner has invested heavily in the city of Manchester as well with affordable housing and the like, are the United owners doing anything like this?

Not sure if Villa's owners invest in the Birmingham community or not.

3 minutes ago, Mr_Dogg said:

You can quote the Sun and I can quote The Telegraph, don't know which is worse or believable.

True....... I'm just putting up what's out there.

I'm not sure any of it is the right numbers.

21 minutes ago, Mr_Dogg said:

Over £350k a week? But the talk was that Villa offered more? 

I think the initial story was that he would get £200k and Villa offered £1 million a month.

1 minute ago, Fairy In Boots said:

Truth to it we laugh as lads but Pep won’t he will either comply or it’s over for him

Don't expect miracles in year 1, as alot of players coming to City have taken time to learn and prosper in Pep's system.

1 minute ago, FrannyLee1968 said:

Agreed, makes no sense to me.

If Messi was to sign at City for a year (meaning we pass on Kane), I'm fine with that if the plan is to activate Haarland's release clause next year.  Haarland's always been my preferred choice to replace Aguero anyway but only in 2022.

1 minute ago, villalad21 said:

Grealish is more of a long term investment. 

Messi is 34 years old 

Agreed, makes no sense to me.

3 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

Don't think Pep gives a shit what their fans think.

He will no doubt take Grealish to another level. 

The main gripe (unbelievably) is why would they give Jack the #10 shirt when Messi's available?  I mean really?

Did you guys see this?

3 minutes ago, est1874 said:

But that's 40 years before Citeh existed...

1880

but I understand Villa were 6 years old back then

1 minute ago, ReasonforRevolution said:

Genuinely feel for you, mate. You should enjoy these times because it's the stuff of dreams. You'll have witnessed Wright-Phillips and players leaving. Not that it's on the same scale. I was having a good chat with some older City fans at the final a few years ago. True gents and grounded. But the large majority acted like Man Utd fans of yesteryear. Arrogant, condescending, and spoiled.

Understand believe me, there's many I won't follow (and block) on twitter because of that type of attitude.

Real City fans know where we came from, the problems and ups and downs we encountered from the late 70's to 2008 and the like.

In those years we lost good players to the better teams, so know how it feels.  You never forget where you came from....unless you were never there.  

1 minute ago, FrannyLee1968 said:

Well I don't frequent Bluemoon for a number of reasons, some already expanded on here.  I've been  a City fan since 1968 when I was 5 years old, not one of these bandwagon jumpers from the last 10 years.

..and I will post on other threads through the season, especially when we play each other, and I'll be the first City fan here to congratulate you if you win against us.

I have a mate who I work with who is a Villa fan (another ex-pat englishman) so discuss your team often.

I just wish you all the best for the season (except against us), hope its a good one for you guys.  

..and just to say I joined here because the Jack Grealish situation locked the two teams together in a transfer saga and I was interested in what Villa fans thought of him 

7 minutes ago, alreadyexists said:

Visiting supporters are always welcome in VT, and for the most part they are respectful  and even insightful.

Cheers bud. Good luck to you too, you won’t need it!  

Cheers

https://theathletic.com/news/jack-grealish-transfer-man-city-aston-villa/mNpZh59DIar2

Where will he fit in at City?

Sources close to City manager Pep Guardiola indicate that Grealish will feature as a No 8, rather than as a left winger as he has done at Villa in recent seasons.

It’s thought that Grealish prefers playing centrally and that he will be rotated with Ilkay Gundogan in City’s midfield.

Grealish’s creativity is a huge upside and he will be expected to continue in the same vein as last season — the Villa man was second in the Premier League for both chances created and chances created from open play, despite making just 26 appearances.

City expect Bernardo Silva to leave the club this summer and while the two are different types of players, Silva’s departure opens up a slot for Grealish in Guardiola’s rotation.