Sold for 18m 18 months ago, being bought by City at a 40m profit to Wolfsburg.
This isn't a WUM article, I just genuinely want to know what he has done to justify that. His last stay in England was notable for the fact he couldn't break in to the Chelsea team. I have hardly seen anything of him so am not in a position to say it is a good or bag signing.
City fans, is he really worth that much? What does he bring to your team that you don't already have? And do you think he will cut it in the Premier League when he gave up on it only last year?
De Bruyne
posted on 27/8/15
I thought Umbro was 'the heart and soul of football'.
Umbro are Nike Lite, unfortunately as I was quite happy when they sponsored City. I dislike Nike and have never bought any of their products.
posted on 27/8/15
I can't find my article on the old 606 unfortunately, my mindset has changed a fair bit though and I'm not sure it would have been entirely relevant anyway!
If you think of what a soul is, its not a tangible entity or a real thing. It's an emotion thats felt, which is what football from a fans perspective is all about for me - a collection of shared memories. The best thing about winning the league in the QPR game for example wasn't the fact that I was happy City had won a trophy (I was, but that wasn't my primary reaction), it was the look of unbridled joy and emotion it brought to my sons face, who I shared that experience with.
That is what the essence of football is and always has been for me. A club can completely change - its owners, its players and staff, even its name and colour nowadays, so the only constant that can possibly hold that intangible link going is in the fanbase.
Now where Hoody is coming from, I think, is that the way that clubs are operated nowadays and football in general means that the way we think of clubs and our attachment to them has changed slightly, and a lot of that is down to the globalisation and over-saturation of the sport.
When I was growing up, it very much felt like clubs were almost solely community based. They might not have been run well (City definitely weren't) or have the best facilities, but the fanbase and interest in them was mainly based on the local area. Due to this being pre the premier league and the times of the Bosman ruling, there wasn't the movement of players we see now and most clubs were still predominately looking to their academy for the majority of their players, rather than the hope that one or two could come through. If the club did well, it felt more like the community and the area did well, as most aspects from the players up to the owners were local people.
Nowadays, City along with the other top clubs operate on a multinational basis, again from the players right up to the owners and also the fan base. Following a team isn't something nowadays that is solely done within a localised community, so it is no wonder that identities start to change along side that.
Coupled with that is the knowledge increase. When I was growing up, you would see the top players only really when they came to visit your team, or they were the chosen big match on sunday. They had a mystical property to them as it was a rare experience to see them - it made going to the match even more special. Nowadays, my son watches Messi and Ronaldo on what feels like a daily basis at times. When I took him to see City Barcelona last year, him seeing Messi in the flesh didn't have anywhere near the same impact as I had the first time I saw Glenn Hoddle!
It's not just players, it is the way the club is run too that comes under the microscope far more than it used to, particularly from a financial aspect. Clubs yearly reports get the same coverage on the back pages as anything else does nowadays, and players wages and transfer fees are scrutinised over far more than I imagine most fans know about their own bank accounts.
There is no unknowns anymore ultimately, which personally I think can give the perception to some that some of that soul, that intangible thing that is difficult to define, is being chipped away.
Ultimately though, you will only feel that if you have a comparable to start with, which is where Raheem was right. I'm sure everyone elses parents were the same as mine, and used to say it was better in their day and say that football lost its soul the day Trevor Francis was sold for over a million, or going back further, when Sir Henry Norris bought Arsenal into the league, or going back even further, when Notts County decided "we could make some money out of this game you know, let's make our players professional..."
Soul in a wider sense will always be there. What it will do is continue to evolve and its simply changing like the rest of the world is. The reason it is perceived to be changed or lost is the same as the reason why music or cartoons or anything felt better in your youth. People will always want to feel the way they felt when they were a child, and that isn't going to happen. Instead, it's the next generations turn and football for them absolutely has sole, they've never known anything different.
posted on 27/8/15
Or even soul in that last sentence!
posted on 27/8/15
I don't like Manchester United's choice of corporate typeface.
Change that, and the soul of football is secure.
posted on 27/8/15
The only real difference I feel is i actually get less of a buzz now we have this array of galacticos in the light blue shirts than when the outcome was far less predictable.
Away days to London to see City at Spurs or Arsenal for instance were never about the actual result because that never really mattered,I'd always expect to get a hiding anyway so a draw was a bonus. It was all about the craic with mates and following this bunch of no hopers around the country,for what aim I'm not entirely sure.There were times when going to Maine Rd were nothing but a chore but go we did,bit like a Catholic and his Sunday morning ritual when they would much rather stay in bed.
Perhaps it's an age thing but I do feel with every multi million pound deal coming into the club,the very essence of what has basically been my life for decades is gradually getting further and further away.
That to me is the definition of the soul but I suspect it's different to many
posted on 27/8/15
No that was what I was referring to as well Paul. I do think it is an age thing though as there has to be a comparable.
My personal thing is I think I will always find it hard after winning the league in that way to have anything come close to it. That almost felt like a natural end due to the years and years of build up to it.
posted on 27/8/15
Did post an emotive and personal reply, but my stupid mouse clicked back and I lost it.
Lost the will now.
posted on 27/8/15
But not my SOUL!!
posted on 27/8/15
I did that as well Raheem!
posted on 27/8/15
comment by meltonblue (U10617)
posted 30 minutes ago
I did that as well Raheem!
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Thought it was just me Melton. Time to get a new 'simple' mouse!