Ok maybe respected not the right word , however they were thought a lot better of than they are now by most people.
The reason they are all over this thread is they desperately want the respect and acceptance that the big clubs have from the media, authorities and a world wide fan base. They thought buying a few titles would give them that but they can’t handle the fact that is not how it works. Every single trophy they buy is tainted by what their rulers are. They know this and they know why this is, it eats away at any enjoyment they feel about buying the trophies they are.
I'd say they were actually respected to some extent. Yes, they had a minority of feral scumbags following them back in the day, but most were ok. I've only ever known one fan of the old Man City, and he was a lovely fella who got us Reds tickets for the stand opposite the Kippax for our games there. Last I heard was he binned them off after they became a Sportswash vehicle.
To be honest, I always found Maine Road one of the most depressing grounds in the country to watch a game for some reason. I always disliked even seeing it on MotD. That bloody Helen woman ringing that bell too. Every time I went to see us there we beat them though.
They have had some really good players though, and many of their fans had a decent attitude. They retained a solid hardcore regardless of yo-yoing up and down the divisions and got good crowds considering how shite they were. They also had a rather endearing sense of humour in the face of adversity which won them some admirers. In the face of the brash arrogance and insane self-entitlement of their neighbours, they did seem like a refreshing change.
Sadly, since the sheikh bought them off, they have abandoned all that and have become everything they despised about their neighbours. Everything they said they were against, they have now become. Brash, arrogant, entitled, lacking in awareness, selfish, greedy, pompous. They have become everything they hated. Even worse though, the neighbours they despised actually earned their success, but these Abu Dhabi apologists know full well their 'club' haven't.
I saw something in the paper the other day where someone said they are sad that the likes of Colin Bell, Tony Book, Francis Lee et al are not around to see all this. Personally, I think they'll be turning in their graves at what their club has become. The old Man City weren't especially successful, but at least they stood for something. The current abomination has seen them become everything they hated and stood against. They are the ultimate sellout. All principle abandoned for the love of money and the trinkets it can buy.
They aren't respected, never will be respected and never can be respected. Their current fans aren't respected and they never will be. They don't have any self-respect, so how is anyone else expected to respect them? They don't respect the game either, so will not gain respect from anyone in the game who has an ounce of awareness.
Manchester City do not exist anymore. A repugnant regime bought the name and bought off much of the fanbase in order to launder a terrible reputation. The ugly entity that now carries the City name will buy trophies and distort and destroy the game, and their apologists won't care because that's the type of people they've become, but they'll never have respect.
The fact they don't even enjoy their off-the-peg success is quite telling. They are still desperate for the kind of approval they won't get because they haven't earned it. I've never actually know a fanbase so unhappy when picking up trophies. They are still so desperately insecure, despite everything.
They are a tainted, asterisk club that picks up tainted, asterisk trophies.
Really, there is nothing in there to respect. It's nothing but a hollow, soulless sham.
