Kopparberg Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 A leading Manchester City supporters group says manager Pep Guardiola's call for more fans to attend their Premier League game with Southampton is "disappointing and uncalled for". After Wednesday's Champions League win over RB Leipzig, Guardiola said he "would like more people" on Saturday. Kevin Parker, general secretary of City's official supporters' club, said the comments were "frustrating". "It's not factual, our attendances are generally excellent," he added. "He [Guardiola] doesn't understand the difficulties that some people might have getting to a game on a Wednesday evening at 8pm." Attendances for City's Champions League games at home have tended to be lower than those for Premier League games. The Etihad Stadium capacity is about 55,000 and there was a crowd of 38,062 against RB Leipzig, with the away section virtually empty. Guardiola wanted more Man City fans at FA Cup win over Fulham City averaged 54,219 during the 2019-20 Premier League season and more than 51,000 attended their first two league games at home this term. "It does also play into the hands of supporters from other teams who want to take every opportunity to have a go at City for what they think are the poor attendances," Parker said. "People refer to the Etihad as the 'Emptyhad'. It's a little bit of fun by the opposition supporters but there's no justification for it. "He [Guardiola] is absolutely the best coach in the world but, in the nicest possible way, I think maybe he should stick to that." 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellis Rimmer Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 Guardiola throwing their fans under the bus. He doesn’t have a clue how embarrassing that is to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scram Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 Yeah Their fans have tons to moan about... 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trev Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 Bored of winning....I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drewswfc Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 Sonofbert needs to pull his finger out and get down to ethihad 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matthefish2002 Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 Think if the Abu Dhabi royal family had brought a similar sized London club like Spurs they might get more support being in London basically. Manchester City don't have the glamour for whatever reason Man United or Liverpool have so don't pick up that sort of fan who has a club as a sort of fashion accessory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreshOwl Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 How are the fans gonna play victim in this scenario I don’t see what he’s done wrong, apart from ask for more fans to show up. I’m sure I’ve seen managers do that before. Paranoid fanbase Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scram Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 26 minutes ago, FreshOwl said: How are the fans gonna play victim in this scenario I don’t see what he’s done wrong, apart from ask for more fans to show up. I’m sure I’ve seen managers do that before. Paranoid fanbase It's embarrassing really, isn't it Multiple trophy winners with one of the best club sides in the world - if not THE best. Some of the worlds best players - win most weeks at home and abroad And all the manager asks is for the fans to show up and support Big ask... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markg Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 Is there fanbase big enough to attract more fans to the ground though? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kopparberg Posted September 17, 2021 Author Share Posted September 17, 2021 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEnchanter Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 The ones getting upset aren't fans. They just buy the merchandise and watch them on TV. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellis Rimmer Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 1 hour ago, FreshOwl said: How are the fans gonna play victim in this scenario I don’t see what he’s done wrong, apart from ask for more fans to show up. I’m sure I’ve seen managers do that before. Paranoid fanbase The fans are annoyed because as we know fans take a lot of pride in their attendances, and their attendances are excellent but he’s still moaning-showing how out of touch he is because he can’t comprehend why these people can’t get to the games 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markg Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 11 minutes ago, Ellis Rimmer said: The fans are annoyed because as we know fans take a lot of pride in their attendances, and their attendances are excellent but he’s still moaning-showing how out of touch he is because he can’t comprehend why these people can’t get to the games Agree 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreshOwl Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 34 minutes ago, Ellis Rimmer said: The fans are annoyed because as we know fans take a lot of pride in their attendances, and their attendances are excellent but he’s still moaning-showing how out of touch he is because he can’t comprehend why these people can’t get to the games When sky decides to misquote or reframe the sentiment, you realise where the problem is. Just listen to the clip and be done with it. Dragging this on for no reason. British football fans, so weird man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreshOwl Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 He literally said they’ll need the support of the fans so everyone should come. Sky and other news outlets are milking it as much as they can. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard Wednesday managers over the years say something like “we’ll need everyone to turn up on Saturday to support the team” but that wasn’t an issue? UKs gone barking mad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellis Rimmer Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 15 minutes ago, FreshOwl said: When sky decides to misquote or reframe the sentiment, you realise where the problem is. Just listen to the clip and be done with it. Dragging this on for no reason. British football fans, so weird man “I would like more people to come to the next game on Saturday,” Guardiola told BT Sport after the 6-3 victory, attended by a crowd of just over 38,000. “We will need the people next Saturday, please, because we will be tired. I invite all our people to come next Saturday, 3pm, and watch the game.” I dunno-for me it’s a bit disrespectful, they’re good fans, they turn up, they get more fans than Chelsea or Liverpool in, in Europe they don’t have loads of floating fans and tourists to make up the numbers like other clubs have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runningaround Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 start of the end with fans but he already declared wants not to renew, he wants a CL before going Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quickly Kevin Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 The sensitivity comes from the Emptyhad jibes from fans of other teams. So the banter will be " even Pep knows its the Emptyhad etc etc. All a bit pathetic really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheffield_dave Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 35 minutes ago, Ellis Rimmer said: I dunno-for me it’s a bit disrespectful, they’re good fans, they turn up, they get more fans than Chelsea or Liverpool in, in Europe they don’t have loads of floating fans and tourists to make up the numbers like other clubs have. Agree. People have lives and other commitments. City probably don't have the support base to rely on filling a 50,000+ stadium for every game regardless. It might be the one area where the historical difference between them and United remains the most apparent (and might always be). If you're a Man City fan who has to pick and choose their games for whatever reason, I'm not sure you pick the midweek CL game either. These CL group games at City always look super flat to me in terms of atmosphere. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kopparberg Posted September 17, 2021 Author Share Posted September 17, 2021 New comments from Pep : https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/58596728 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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