I was talking to a mate of mine (long time City fan) about the attendances yesterday and he says it's actually worse than it looks on TV. What City are doing in his section is putting in a row of season ticket holders, then a row of open sale seats, then a row of season ticket holders. So long as the season ticket holders turn up you don't see the empty seats. The drawback for him is that, come a big game, he has a bunch of tourists waving their phones or iPads around all game.
Oh, and the problem with the new ticket system has a small bit of truth to it. My mate was sent his 'ticket' for the next Prem match not the Champions League game. It took him a couple of minutes to sort out. It was almost like the club knew no one wanted to go to the game.