BlueWolfie sent us the following:
I had been, and still am, sick and tired of the constant City bashing in the UK media which then spread to all corners of the globe, by way of lazy websites simply repeating other reports word-for-word.
It had been mentioned as much in the threads of Vital Manchester City, on more than one occasion (read: too many to count), but the question was, simply why?
Some would say, because City were – and are – upsetting the balance of the Big Four, and as so many reporters supported these teams, it would be an easy assumption to make. But is it really that easy?
Maybe, because even though City have been around since the late 1800’s – that what is going on at the club, makes an interesting story, and as the English way is to put someone down immediately, one could argue that it goes to follow that City are now fair game.
I had suggested to VMC members that they send me newspaper articles condemning City, or simply bashing them for the reason of selling newspapers, and to their credit they have been doing.
I could mention Michael Henderson at The Telegraph, who on January 22 of this year, laid into Manchester City as if it threatened him and his family:
‘Being a laughing-stock in England was never enough for a club of such overwhelming ambition. Now, after a week of buffoonery unparalleled in the history of football, they have finally achieved the international recognition they craved for so long. Manchester’s little-regarded other team is now a laughing-stock throughout the world!’
He does go on to say that Mark Hughes should walk out of the club, and that nobody would hold it against him.
Then of course we move onto the Arsenal game last weekend. Oh, the reporters had fun with that one!
Just prior to the game, John Holt of the Daily Mirror, stated that Arsenal fans should verbally lay into Adebayor, thusly…
‘So please spare me the ‘don’t give him a hard time’ line, he did well for Arsenal and other such nonsense before Saturday`s game. Adebayor deserves everything he gets.’
So according to Mr Holt, that would be okay for some of the Arsenal fans to be racist and then go on to verbally attack the player’s parents? Nice, real nice Mr Holt.
After the game of course, the reporters really had something to sink their teeth into. Matt Lawton and Ian Ladyman, explained why, in their opinion, Adebayor was at fault for being able to start a riot, because well, y’know, people can’t decide for themselves, that, that kind of action is simply wrong. And on top of that, they couldn’t make up their minds whether he had ‘raked’ his studs at RVP, done a ‘dangerous kick’, or simply gone on a ‘crazed rampage’, so they opted for all three, but apparently it was important to remind everyone of how much he cost City in transfer fees.
Stan Collymore, who was no angel himself during his playing days – of The Sun (which likes to use certain words in capitals, such as ‘BLINDED’ because well, using lowercase letters isn’t quite enough is it?
Oh, and also compare Ade to Cantona, in terms of losing it) was virtually demanding that the FA come down hard adding that he himself would give him a two-match ban and then let the FA take over, oh, and add a ‘retrospective ban’ for the riot he caused (see above). There were others, but this article is already very long.
Now, I know that the UK is a country that has free speech, and that these reporters are only airing their views, but more and more, these reporters are becoming the judge, jury and executioner, and as such, in their opinion, demand to be heard. But they must understand that (and I apologise to the great Stan Lee), they must learn to be careful with their words, because they must be responsible. Just as, so they say Adebayor had the ability by celebrating a goal, to turn regular fans into a raving mob, that put someone in hospital, their words can change the views of their readers, particularly as Mr Holt instructed people to do, to give him everything he deserves.
Our library of quotes and members comments can be found here.
May I suggest you take a look around the web and if you find a lazy ill-judged hack reporting on MCFC and you think the story is unjust, simply add the link.
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