BlueWolf

My balls are itchy this morning I have feet. I know, I am surprised as you are.

The sheikh didn't have a clue where the feck Manchester was before he bought us. IIRC he tried to buy a Spanish club but found out that the supporter-owned Spanish clubs were nearly impossible to buy. Thaksin (our prior owner) got into legal troubles and City nearly went broke after Thaksin's assets were frozen and he became a fugitive. Sulaiman Al Fahim came to Sheikh Mansour with the idea of buying a bad luck club in some place called Manchester, he got interested and the rest is history . We weren't his first choice, either. I doubt most fans remember this today. Been a bit busy of late so would have replied to this ages ago. Mansour also looked at the Bundesliga but instantly walked away after discovering the 51% rule - he could never have full control of a German club and that was simply a no-no. When he looked at the Premier League, he made an offer to Everton, but the board turned it down unbelievably, and Mike Ashley of Newcastle asked for far too much AND did not take it seriously. It was at that point Thaksin gave his friend, Mansour, a nudge, and so they had a good look at Manchester City. Brand new stadium, major city, plenty of free ground in the area, a sleeping giant, cheap, total control, and helping out a friend, all went in the club's favour. ADUG will always want as much control over their operations as possible, and being able to throw as much money as possible at it, too. They always find the right people to get the job done, and prefer to do things quietly and as efficiently as possible. That´s a slightly different story from what Garry Cook told.. and from what Dr Suleiman Al-Fahim that brokered the takeover told, and from what the supporters trust that had prepared a bid told their members. But maybe you had inside information? Dr Suleiman Al-Fahim was a bandwaggon jumper - essentially a nobody - after getting shunted away from City, he was found hanging around Portsmouth FC (wearing a black cape and holding a sickle) Why do you just make things up?.. He worked for Mansours brother Tahnoun at the time and together with Shearman & Sterling (the lawfirm that handled the due diligence) handled the takeover on behalf of Mansour. Never said he didn't, but he was an embarrassment and he was very quickly removed from the limelight. You both make very valid points. However, shall we start talking about Melbourne again now? So long as it is in relation to this thread. I thought I'd change tack somewhat as the constant bickering was getting a tad silly (many have made mention of this). On top of that additional information needed to be added. However, if one wants to go back to what it has been, be my guest, but I hope you don't.

The sheikh didn't have a clue where the feck Manchester was before he bought us. IIRC he tried to buy a Spanish club but found out that the supporter-owned Spanish clubs were nearly impossible to buy. Thaksin (our prior owner) got into legal troubles and City nearly went broke after Thaksin's assets were frozen and he became a fugitive. Sulaiman Al Fahim came to Sheikh Mansour with the idea of buying a bad luck club in some place called Manchester, he got interested and the rest is history . We weren't his first choice, either. I doubt most fans remember this today. Been a bit busy of late so would have replied to this ages ago. Mansour also looked at the Bundesliga but instantly walked away after discovering the 51% rule - he could never have full control of a German club and that was simply a no-no. When he looked at the Premier League, he made an offer to Everton, but the board turned it down unbelievably, and Mike Ashley of Newcastle asked for far too much AND did not take it seriously. It was at that point Thaksin gave his friend, Mansour, a nudge, and so they had a good look at Manchester City. Brand new stadium, major city, plenty of free ground in the area, a sleeping giant, cheap, total control, and helping out a friend, all went in the club's favour. ADUG will always want as much control over their operations as possible, and being able to throw as much money as possible at it, too. They always find the right people to get the job done, and prefer to do things quietly and as efficiently as possible. That´s a slightly different story from what Garry Cook told.. and from what Dr Suleiman Al-Fahim that brokered the takeover told, and from what the supporters trust that had prepared a bid told their members. But maybe you had inside information? Dr Suleiman Al-Fahim was a bandwaggon jumper - essentially a nobody - after getting shunted away from City, he was found hanging around Portsmouth FC (wearing a black cape and holding a sickle) Why do you just make things up?.. He worked for Mansours brother Tahnoun at the time and together with Shearman & Sterling (the lawfirm that handled the due diligence) handled the takeover on behalf of Mansour. Never said he didn't, but he was an embarrassment and he was very quickly removed from the limelight.

The sheikh didn't have a clue where the feck Manchester was before he bought us. IIRC he tried to buy a Spanish club but found out that the supporter-owned Spanish clubs were nearly impossible to buy. Thaksin (our prior owner) got into legal troubles and City nearly went broke after Thaksin's assets were frozen and he became a fugitive. Sulaiman Al Fahim came to Sheikh Mansour with the idea of buying a bad luck club in some place called Manchester, he got interested and the rest is history . We weren't his first choice, either. I doubt most fans remember this today. Been a bit busy of late so would have replied to this ages ago. Mansour also looked at the Bundesliga but instantly walked away after discovering the 51% rule - he could never have full control of a German club and that was simply a no-no. When he looked at the Premier League, he made an offer to Everton, but the board turned it down unbelievably, and Mike Ashley of Newcastle asked for far too much AND did not take it seriously. It was at that point Thaksin gave his friend, Mansour, a nudge, and so they had a good look at Manchester City. Brand new stadium, major city, plenty of free ground in the area, a sleeping giant, cheap, total control, and helping out a friend, all went in the club's favour. ADUG will always want as much control over their operations as possible, and being able to throw as much money as possible at it, too. They always find the right people to get the job done, and prefer to do things quietly and as efficiently as possible. That´s a slightly different story from what Garry Cook told.. and from what Dr Suleiman Al-Fahim that brokered the takeover told, and from what the supporters trust that had prepared a bid told their members. But maybe you had inside information? Dr Suleiman Al-Fahim was a bandwaggon jumper - essentially a nobody - after getting shunted away from City, he was found hanging around Portsmouth FC (wearing a black cape and holding a sickle)

The sheikh didn't have a clue where the feck Manchester was before he bought us. IIRC he tried to buy a Spanish club but found out that the supporter-owned Spanish clubs were nearly impossible to buy. Thaksin (our prior owner) got into legal troubles and City nearly went broke after Thaksin's assets were frozen and he became a fugitive. Sulaiman Al Fahim came to Sheikh Mansour with the idea of buying a bad luck club in some place called Manchester, he got interested and the rest is history . We weren't his first choice, either. I doubt most fans remember this today. Been a bit busy of late so would have replied to this ages ago. Mansour also looked at the Bundesliga but instantly walked away after discovering the 51% rule - he could never have full control of a German club and that was simply a no-no. When he looked at the Premier League, he made an offer to Everton, but the board turned it down unbelievably, and Mike Ashley of Newcastle asked for far too much AND did not take it seriously. It was at that point Thaksin gave his friend, Mansour, a nudge, and so they had a good look at Manchester City. Brand new stadium, major city, plenty of free ground in the area, a sleeping giant, cheap, total control, and helping out a friend, all went in the club's favour. ADUG will always want as much control over their operations as possible, and being able to throw as much money as possible at it, too. They always find the right people to get the job done, and prefer to do things quietly and as efficiently as possible.

I am a City fan It makes me laugh when people bring that shit up about Cook....but to me it just shows he is a normal guy....he did great for our club and ensured our identity was built on. It is very easy for City fans to say what a great future that Melbourne will have but if the tables were turned all of us would feel differently I guess we will see what happens in the future but CFG certainly don't have the trust of Heart fans We will see. And we will see them win things. (By the way, bringing up "that shit" about Cook isn't funny) It is also bullshit......for the few gaffes he made he moved our club on considerably I don't doubt the New Melbourne team will win trophies.....just a pity it couldn't have been the old team for the fan's sake Perhaps, but that is no longer the case, so it is all moot. Mind you, I look at this as a metamorphism, and not "new".

I am a City fan It makes me laugh when people bring that shit up about Cook....but to me it just shows he is a normal guy....he did great for our club and ensured our identity was built on. It is very easy for City fans to say what a great future that Melbourne will have but if the tables were turned all of us would feel differently I guess we will see what happens in the future but CFG certainly don't have the trust of Heart fans We will see. And we will see them win things. (By the way, bringing up "that shit" about Cook isn't funny)

This would be the Garry that welcomed Uwe Rosler to the Manchester United Hall of Fame? TBH, I am surprised there are not more like yourself, silva10 - by the way an unusual name for a diehard Heart fan - but most seem to have already come to terms with it and realise the potential that Melbourne City will attain.

City. Football. Group. The original City is blue. Who thought that Melbourne Heart would not become Melbourne City, or that the home kit wouldn't be red and white? CFG has been mentioned so often here, yet people often forgot the 'City' bit. This is not me rubbing it in, as I am a newcomer here, but the writing was on the wall the moment Manchester City came waltzing into town. How have CFG let anyone down? It's already been said by stalwart fans, that no promises were made, and that what was best for the club would occur. That said, I do hope that everyone will get behind this new and improved Heart, because it is going to be one hell of a beast.

I presume this forum will keep the same name and colours, yes?

It would appear the general mood is that of "well, it could have been worse, so I guess I can live with it", which is somewhat interesting as I was under the impression there'd be pitchforks and blazing torches coming out. I said earlier in the "Help keep the Red & White" thread that MCFC will change things as they will want unity and conformity across all three clubs: 'City' and 'blue'. Not suggesting for one moment that they have done things the right way, or should have done it at all, but I saw it coming a mile away, as did a few others here. The new badge is okay, but yes, as already mentioned ... those two hearts although I suppose they've included them thinking that "we remember what the club was before we arrived" sort of thing.

Indeed. If Melbourne were going to play in blue, and the badge was blue, it would look great (to City) lined up alongside their own badge and the blue one of NYCFC in promotional material. But it isn't. It's red and white, and as such would stick out like a sore thumb. And as soon as you start talking about red and Manchester (as many will) people instantly think United, and City will not want that, ever. That is basically the short and tall of it. This could get unbelievably messy, not just for the club, but the league itself.

David Villa is reported to be signing for NYCFC on a 3 year deal. That is the kind of player Melbourne should be getting (should they get their collective shit together)

They already play in (a darker) blue.

Well, Khaldoon has now done his end of season message to the fans (which I think had been mentioned as something that would happen before anything does at Melbourne), but now something else has popped up, which I was blissfully unaware of. City have just bought a minority stake in Yokohama F.Marinos in the J-League. Nissan are the majority stakeholders (the stadium is called Nissan Stadium), and Nissan are very excited about the opportunity and "exposing them to a world-class soccer infrastructure and network not seen before in the J-League". Maybe this has contributed to a longer delay for anything happening at Melbourne?

Final stages are underway. Red and white away. June guys just wait for June Like most, I suspect, I am not sure if this is ITK or "taking the piss" but this is my thinking, too; it makes perfect sense. Do not get rid of the red & white, but relegate it to away matches and bring in the Sky Blue for all home games.

http://www.mcfc.co.uk/news/club-news/2014/may/club-statement-16-may Pretty vague, and without knowing what the terms are it's hard to discern what this means, and what the impacts might be. 2 guesses of mine are that Man City won't be so vague next time if/when they mention sales from Man City to Melbourne Heart, like the much discussed £22.45m ($40m AUD) "sale of intellectual property to related parties". A second guess is that perhaps there won't be such big intra-company business in the first place (especially with regards to unclear intellectual property sales). You'd wonder then if Heart is as necessary to CFG as they had originally hoped when they bought the franchise license. If it isn't then it opens a number of possibilities. Bela, Heart wasn't bought to circumvent FFP.....but with a longer term vision about creating a football dynasty worldwide Basically, having a number of teams playing with a similar philosophy so that they can produce quality players without having to spend lavish sums of money on transfers. Yes, one way to look at this is to see HeartFC and NYC FC as incubators, testing out young talent to see if they are capable of taking the next step to EPL level. HeartFC scouts Asia and NYC FC has the Americas. All wearing the sky blue kit for consistency and brand identification and the greater glory of MCFC and the Sheikh But you are wrong. Melbourne will get more out of City than city will get out of Melbourne. Football-wise I agree, non-football-wise I disagree.

I am rather happy, as you might suspect.

Curious but interesting. The FFA really have sort of power that they can dictate how a website should look? Staggering! Can't see ADUG liking that. At all.

I also suspect that we will see a brand new website for Heart, which will look like City's and now NYCFCs. Falastur is correct in that there will be a hell of a lot more videos. At the beginning City were constantly pushing the NYCFC thing, and then they stepped back a bit, and let NYCFC take over socially. I believe we will see the same thing happen here. Interestingly, should you go to melbournecity.com.au (and I imagine some here have) you'll stumble upon a quite awful website (they even have a tab that says "Melbuorne City Weather"), but there's a bar at the bottom, which reads "This domain name may be for sale". Clicking it asks you to enquire with a comment, presumable to suggest how much one would pay for it.

Almost spot on. The FFP ruling was supposed to be on Friday, it is now on Monday, and the club, evidently, are fighting it very hard, leaving UEFA panicking. They do not want this to go to arbitration, because it could go on forever (the Bosman ruling still hurts them to this day). Then we have the PL to finish, so that is up there at the top of the list if priorities, and of course, we know that many from Heart have been invited, alongside NYCFC. The match in Abu Dhabi was supposed to have happened in February and it was for the opening of a new stadium, but due to replays in the Cup it had to be cancelled, and so is being played next week. That one match will earn City millions of US $s. Then of course, yes, the World Cup, which starts in a little over a month, and many City players will be involved in it, so therefore so is the club to some degree. Then we have the opening of the new Academy this summer, and everything that entails. All of this (and more) is not good for Heart, as it is pushing things back further and further. City will need to hire more people to get things done, but also send someone (probably Marwood as many have suggested, but could be Soriano, or Begristain) of importance to Melbourne. The new season kicks off, fortunately, well after the PL does, but things do have to get moving very soon. Every day that goes by without a proper announcement is only going to compound fan's fears and hesitations. There is so much to be answered: players, marquee signing, staff, the Board, the ground, the name, the colours, ad finitum. When City were taken over (on the final day of the transfer window), nobody had a clue what was going on; it came, excuse the pun, completely out of the blue. Everyone is following the final hours of the transfer window, and suddenly names are getting thrown up - City were after a big signing immediately. A statement of intent, if you will, irrespective of cost. After that, there was very little. All season in fact. They did refit Carrington (training ground) with all sorts of goodies, and pulled in a couple of new sponsors. But it's really only been since 2010 that things have really kicked off. It'll happen, guys. But even I think something should have happened by now.

Slightly off topic, but pertinent nevertheless. In 1885 Hyde Football Club was formed, and then after WWI they reformed (I forget the specific of why) and became Hyde United. The colour red was predominant throughout the club: kits, stadium, etc. In 2010 Manchester City knocked on their door asking if the reserves could play there. After some negotiating, they said "yes" and City put down a new pitch, repainted everything blue, Hyde permanently dropped the name 'United' (now known as 'Hyde FC'), and changed their historic crest from red to blue, and as a thank-you wore white and blue during the 2010-11 season. Now I know this isn't exactly the same, but this happened because City came knocking.

The contrast is what puzzles me. NYCFC has had no history at all but fans have been involved from the beginning. MHFC has a distinct history and a loyal core of existing fans who have been ignored whilst CFG is rumoured to be airbrushing away the 'inconsequential' history so it can narcissistically reinvent Heart in the image of itself. If this turns out to be the case then I don't know why they are even bothering with the token 'Melbourne' in the franchise name. I guess the NYCFC is far much easier. If you have nothing to begin with, the World is your oyster in creating something, but you are limited somewhat in what you can do if something already exists. That said, I can understand the frustration here with the lack of happenings. We know that many have gone to Manchester (and elsewhere) for the final match, but I suspect that once the season is truly over (and don't forget City are flying to Abu Dhabi next week for a rearranged match) things will quickly pick up, and it will be a flurry of activity.

Melbourne (City) will not be a "mini City" or a "City Mark III", it will be a club in it's own right, although to look at NYCFC and what is happening there isn't quite the same, as they have a clean slate to do with what they like. Yes, they've brought the (new) fans in, as City have done of late, but most of what has happened and will happen was decided ages ago. The fans are what makes the club, and City know this. Without us there can be no club, but without a club there is no us either. MCFC will likely sweep in do their thing and then have a hands-off approach, whilst keeping an eye out on things. Where City will be involved heavily will be marketing, sponsorships, finding new avenues of finance, etc.

My feeling, too. They went to Sydney and they said "no", and they eventually ended up on this doorstep with the exact same plans. They were set in stone, but they did listen and they have probably come to a compromise that they are happy with as opposed to what the fans are happy with, Best scenario? Depends who you ask.