How many teams would happily take City’s ‘crap’ season?

‘Now we can concentrate on the league’ – words all too often uttered through gritted teeth by long-suffering Manchester City fans.

It usually signified another abject exit from the FA Cup, the oldest national football competition in the world, starting way back in 1871.

Beautiful in Sky Blue - The FA Cup trophy.

City supporters of a certain age still cringe at the shocking 2-0 Fourth Round exit to Shrewsbury Town – at the not so aptly named Gay Meadow – in January 1979.

A year later came a horror show – arguably unsurpassed in City’s FA Cup history – one seared into the souls of the travelling support, with a humbling 1-0 loss to Halifax Town, only this time in the Third Round.

Yaya hammers home the winning FA Cup Final goal in 2011.

Tony Book and Malcolm Allison – the respective City managers who presided over such pathetic performances – blamed the poor state of the pitches, rather than their teams which boasted players of the calibre of Joe Corrigan, Dave Watson, Asa Hartford, Peter Barnes, Brian Kidd, Gary Owen, Mick Channon, Willie Donachie, Paul Power, Steve Daley, Tommy Caton, Michael Robinson et al.

Captain Carlos Tevez holds the FA Cup aloft, ending City's 35-year major trophy drought.

Another Third-Round embarrassment arrived courtesy of a 1-0 capitulation by Kevin Keegan’s motley crew to Oldham Athletic. David James, Danny Mills, Richard Dunne, Sylvain Distin, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Steve McManaman and Joey Barton were among those who further piled on the pain of City’s FA Cup cock ups.

City are still concentrating on the league, but for all the right reasons.

There’s been plenty of other FA Cup setbacks even in the Abu Dhabi era – the 2013 Cup Final shocker against Wigan with Roberto Mancini, a 2-0 reversal at home to Middlesbrough with Manuel Pellegrini in 2015, even a controversial 1-0 exit at Wigan with Pep Guardiola’s eventual Centurions in 2018.

Vincent Kompany was controversially sent off as City lost 3-2 to United in the defence of their 2011 FA Cup glory.

In days of yore the FA Cup played second fiddle only to winning the old ‘First Division’ – long since superseded by the Premier League in 1992.

Of course, European trophies – the European Cup, the European Cup Winners Cup and the UEFA Cup – all carried kudos and prestige, but they were different offerings to their successors, the obscene money-making machines of the Champions League and, to a lesser degree, the Europa League and the Europa Conference League.

The perception is that so many other competitions now overshadow the FA Cup and the fabled ‘magic of the cup’ where the proverbial David could slay a Goliath.

What are the chances of City retaining the Club World Cup and winning £97m in prize money?

They certainly do in terms of financial benefits; £177m for winning the Premier League, potentially £100m for the Champions League and £97m for winning FIFA’s soon to be revamped Club World Cup.

When City play Crystal Palace on May 17th the winners of the 153rd FA showpiece will pick up a ‘paltry’ £2m – with the runners up getting a mere £1m – the same amount both finalists won when seeing off Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa respectively, in the semi-finals.

City wouldn't mind celebrating another 5-2 win over Palace, only this time at Wembley.

Put into perspective, the money on the day is largely irrelevant to both clubs, it really is about the magic of lifting one of the most aesthetically pleasing trophies in world football.

The same cannot be said of the Football Association who are a disgrace to their own competition.

Fuelled by their own insatiable avarice, ticket prices range from £285 to £50 for adults. Concessions for pensioners usually extend to a reduction of a miserly £10 – whoop-de-fckin-doo!

Watching City's success at Wembley has never been cheap, but obscene ticket prices are making it less and less affordable for fans.

The greed of the FA is matched only by its largesse. Last week it revealed Chief Executive Mark Bullingham was paid £1.32m – including a £450,000 bonus – saying he had ‘met and exceeded robust targets’, in the year ending July 2024.

If bleeding loyal football fans dry was one such ‘robust target’ it’s easy to see why!

The FA care ‘Sweet FA’ for the match going fans – sorry that should be match going fodder – those travelling down to the Etihad South.

City fans jokingly refer to it as the Etihad South, but paying to attend a Wembley semi-final or final is no laughing matter.

It’s not a term of endearment for the Wembley-owning w@nkers, simply a nod to the fact this will be City’s 31st appearance at the stadium in the past 15 years.

Of course, it’s not just City fans who are treated with utter disdain to accommodate TV schedules and advertising revenue streams – it’s virtually any team north of Watford Gap.

What would an FA Cup Final at Wembley be like if the fans boycotted the event?

The insatiable avarice of the FA, ITV, Sky, TNT and other foreign outlets or streaming platforms, means the 90,000 or so fans who pack the arena – creating the atmosphere which helps sell ‘the product’ to a global audience – are an afterthought, even an inconvenience.

Marketing executives are preoccupied juggling the kick off with international timelines to maximise revenue streams.

It costs money to keep the lights on but the FA are fleecing match going fans at Wembley.

Football fans, the length and breadth of England are finally coming together, combining their efforts, making their voices heard, protesting at what they see as the exploitation of supporter loyalty.

Obviously, it’s not going to happen but, can you imagine if Palace and City fans boycotted the day, leaving the leeches at the FA and TV companies to market a Cup Final without any fans?

City will need to keep Palace threat Eberechi Eze quiet at Wembley

The FA would end up with another derivation of ‘Sweet FA’ one which might conceivably see Mark Bullingham fail to meet or exceed one of his ‘robust targets’.

In reality, the Palace fans will be taking the Tube to Wembley while the City support will be driving the 200 miles down the M6 or M1.

Palace fans will help generate an electrifying Wembley atmosphere.

Alternatively, City fans might chance the train from Manchester Piccadilly to Euston – praying City can win in the regulation 90 minutes – thereby giving them a chance to catch the last trains back north

Pep has experienced both highs and lows at Wembley. His visit in 2017 didn't go well against Arsenal.

It’s a track well-travelled in the Pep era.

Putting aside the four consecutive League Cup Final victories, the Community Shield lifts, City created FA Cup history with a seventh consecutive semi-final appearance, before goals from Rico Lewis and Josko Gvardiol propelled them into a third final on the bounce.

Rico Lewis' opening goal set City on the way to semi final glory.

Take a step back into Pep’s debut season in 2016/17 – his only trophyless campaign with City – and even then, his team contested a Wembley semi-final with Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal. A 2-1 defeat could and should’ve been a City win.

City were denied a goal against Arsenal when the ball was wrongly adjudged to have gone out of play.

A perfectly valid Raheem Sterling goal was ruled out after a first half Leroy Sane cross was wrongly adjudged to have swung out of play in mid-air. Sergio Aguero’s second half strike would’ve seen City 2-0 up, but it wasn’t to be.

VAR had yet to be invented – bloody typical!

City will be hoping for similar celebrations on May 17th.

It’ll be Guardiola’s third FA Cup Final win if his team can deny Palace their first major trophy. Oliver Glasner’s team should not be underestimated. They were centimetres away from going 3-0 up at the Etihad before VAR – thankfully now in use – limited the lead to 2-0 and helped facilitate City’s 5-2 comeback.

City took the lead against United in just 12 seconds in 2023.

A 6-0 whipping of Watford in 2019 was surpassed by the 2-1 defeat of Manchester United in the second leg of City glorious 2023 Treble.

Last season’s incongruous 2-1 reversal to Erik ten Bob’s reds still rankles but, as the saying goes, ‘shit happens’.

The bitter irony of City’s three most recent FA Cup semi final defeats to Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool – covering 2020 to 2022 – has been Guardiola’s concentration on the league – the Champions League. It’s a question of priorities.

Emotional times as Pep & Gundo celebrate the FA Cup success of 2023.

Sadly none of them paid off for Pep.

When asked recently if winning the FA Cup and qualifying for the Champions League would represent a good season for City, Pep was unequivocal with his response: “NOOOO! I’ve said many times NOOOO! The season has not been good, at times crap. We are a thousand million points behind Liverpool, come on!”

High flying Gvardiol seals City's semi final win over Forest.

Of course, he’s 100% correct if City are to be judged on their recent history-making, unsurpassed four Premier League titles in a row between 2021-2024.

It's impossible to overstate the loss of Rodri this season.

The loss of Rodri, injuries which have decimated and disrupted the defence, the mystery illness which has afflicted Phil Foden, an underwhelming summer transfer market – hindered by Pep’s indecision on his City future – and an ageing, physically and mentally fatigued squad have all been factors.

Will the Palace defence be able to keep up with City's wingman Doku?

That said, if you’d asked the fans of virtually any other Premier League club if winning the FA Cup and qualifying for the Champions League constituted success, you’d have received a resounding ‘yes’.

There's no love lost between City's serial winners and Arsenal's perennial bottlers.

Arsenal’s ‘Tarquins’ would’ve most likely been the exception on the premise they’re always ‘gunner’ win the Premier League – poor deluded souls that they are.

City’s present nine game undefeated run – six wins and three draws across both PL and FA Cup couldn’t have been timelier – given what’s gone before in the deepest, darkest depths of winter.

Pep has finally got City back into winning ways - just in time!

It’s still not vintage City but with four games left of the domestic season they are now masters of their own destiny.

Any team in the world would miss the the present Ballon d'Or winner.

Erling Haaland will almost certainly be fit to face Palace, whereas the prospect of Rodri reappearing at Wembley has moved on from Mission Impossible, to Mission Implausible to Mission Definitely Maybe.

An FA Cup lift would be joyous, a Premier League runners-up slot remarkable and then there’s the tantalising Stateside trip to try and retain the Club World Cup.

2024/25 has been tough for Pep, but it'll look a whole lot better if City retain the Club World Cup this summer.

Yep, Pep’s right – a Palace date, Champions League qualification and possible world domination – it could end up being a sh*t season for City!

Dedication…

Dedicated to Nick Brown – a long serving, much loved and highly revered member of the Gloucester & Cheltenham Branch of City’s Official Supporters Club. Nick battled long and hard against illness – he did what his team does and fought until the end. Many a glass has already been raised in his memory and his loss will be sorely missed by so many fellow Blues, friends and family.

By David Walker

www.readbutneverred.com 

Twitter @ReadButNeverRed

@djwskyblu