City fans fume at derby day omission
Tuesday 16 September 2008 14:00
The Manchester Evening News did a feature on Mad For It last Thursday.
I had a straightforward chat with a good journalist about the book and rivalries. A local angle was put in the piece, the emphasis on the future of the Manchester derby given City’s new owners.
As well as being in the paper, the feature was then posted as a headline… on the Manchester City section of their website. The paper knew it would cause a stir. It did.
Bigger than the Manchester derby?
It was one of the most read articles last week and 179 people have so far felt the need to reply – most of them part of the hydra-headed massive in blue. I read through all of them yesterday. Here’s a selection of my favourites:
“This book is just another reason of why MANURE are disliked"
A Manc and blue
“Whats Old Trafford on a Saturday at 4.45pm and Wormwood Scrubs got in common? ANSWER: They are both full of Cockneys trying to get out."
Seven Stars Smooth Blue, Manchester
“Whisper it - the swamp dwellers are rattled.
I can smell the fear."
LOVIN' IT!!!
Fifth column blue (within smelling distance of the swamp), Trafford”
“Andy Muppet (sorry Mitten) is displaying the typical utd fan behaviour/mindset.
Nice try, but it won't wash, the only reason you are saying Liverpool is a more important game is that you have a better record against them than you do against City over the last few seasons."
bigusdickus, Brighton
“the venom coming out of the new BITTERS mouths is a sight to behold,why is this?Ive noticed a distinct quietness among my many United friends,why is this?Fergie payed over the odds for the smoking mard *rse,why is this?4 words my bitter red Herberts-MANCHESTER CITY FOOTBALL CLUB."
francis lee's bellybutton, Manchester
“Hahahaha....Andeh Mittohn, a typical arrrogant divvy Utd looking goon.
What does this 20yr old kid know about Manchester derbies and their history ?..... trying so hard at being a top boy Mancunian, stop it you big girl."
simon23
“Ha ha ha Andy would obviously state the DERBY isn't a great fixture these days considering the fact for example last season CITY won both games - deary deary me these are ill timed comments indeed. HOW I LOOK FORWARD TO ANOTHER SIX POINTS FOR CITY THIS COMING SEASON......"
ted knott, droylsden
“this idiot is just another london glory hunter how he can even say liverpool v utd is the derby is a joke but then again the rags are not from manchester are they? so the idiot could have a point after all
1-0 1-2 i bet that hurt alot more than they like to let on red scum
just look at his face on that pic doesnt homer simpson spring to mind? DOH
Bluetobitz
“this muppet knows nothing derby has always means two local sides against each other it does not mean anything to most united fans because most dont come from manchester simple as that, to not put City V United derby in his book is a discrace to all fans from manchester, City and United."
Bart the Blue,Springfield USA
“What a total prat. Doesn't know squiddly about squat. Mr whatever your name is, you are the singular of the toolbar prompt which is nestled between Favourites and Help at the top of my screen"
Peter Barnes
"Mitten, you don't know what you're talkin' about..."
It appears I’ve incurred the ire of City’s intelligentsia, attracting so many concise and well-reasoned points from what seem like thoroughly decent and emotionally balanced individuals. Therefore I must be wrong.
Another poster (I’ve spared your eyes) left his caps lock to deride me JUST SO I KNOW WHAT AN ARROGANT RAG MUPPET I AM!!!!!
Either that or the evil Ferguson will be to blame for the keyboard slip, him and the rest plotting with a United obsessed media to undermine City, Manchester’s true club, the richest in the world with the best fans bar none. I mean, which other fans could improvise with Arab head wear at such short notice?
A blue mate emailed: “I’m cringing with embarrassment at the posts of my fellow fans. Always thought your fan base had more clowns than the rest, but we’re giving you a good run.”
What can he possibly be getting at?
or
to add your comments
About Andy Mitten
Andy Mitten – whose great uncle Charlie Mitten starred in Matt Busby’s first great side – started
United We Stand, which he still edits, aged 15 in 1989. A regular writer for
FourFourTwo, his other credits include
The Independent,
The Mail on Sunday,
Sport,
The Guardian and
GQ in the UK plus foreign publications around the world. He has visited 85 countries in every continent, covering derby games from Israel to the Faroes, and interviewed players like Ronaldinho, Keane, Gerrard, Messi and John Gidman.
He has written or co-written 10 books including the critically acclaimed
We're the Famous Man United,
Glory Glory!, Paddy Crerand’s autobiography
Never Turn The Other Cheek and
Mad For It – From Blackpool to Barcelona, Football’s Greatest Rivalries. Manchester born and red, Andy divides his time between M16 and Barcelona.