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Melbourne Heart FC buy out - Man City, Melbourne City FC, etc.


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So do you all believe now ? Haven't posted for awhile, but as you can now see the CFG management don't say anything until they have something to say! As many have pointed out on here in the past, me included. I have in the past been gently lambasted on this forum for saying that your club will be huge and that you will influence and effect soccer in the pan pacific area, but I think you can see that the Sheik didn't buy you just for fun, MCFC has a huge part to play in the CFG group .

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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  :droy:  although I suppose they've included them thinking that "we remember what the club was before we arrived" sort of thing.

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The home jersey is a very shrewd move by city. The sky blue band will give way to sky blue sleeves in a season or two followed by sky blue trim in socks and shorts followed by more sky blue bands until they have eased in the jersey of choice in under a few years. I would encourage fans to vote with their wallets.dont buy it. If u have to buy a new jersey buythe away away one

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The home strip is still a hand me down Man City shirt. There's nothing of our club on it. They can't possibly say with a straight face that 'the home kit combines the white of the original kit...' It's bollocks. Just like the crap they keep feeding people about 'consulting with members'. I can't believe they even mentioned that survey in their email. Personally, I'd rather a sky blue shirt with a red and white stripe as it would be our shirt, not a Man City shirt, and would retain something of our colours.

 

But even more important than the colours is the disregard of supporters. Yes we don't 'own' the club, but good clubs actually listen to their supporters and make them feel like they hold an important place in the club - like the fan forums WSW held to decide what their club would look and feel like. I'll go to matches but it just doesn't feel like my club now. For me, it's a sad day.

 

And I hope Melboune City keep fighting to keep their name.

 

Re the bolded bit - I hope they do as well, and maybe learn how to spell whilst you're at it...

 

All jokes aside I really don't understand why you're so bitter - it's almost as if unless they did everything your way then you wouldn't be happy. I reckon no matter what they did you would find some gripe about it. Which is fair enough I suppose but not exactly a mature and measured response in regard to the situation.

 

You claim that the strip is a hand me down Man City strip and I can can definitely see why, however it is white and it was a predominant color of your previous home shirt, which by the way is is now your away shirt. To claim there are no links at all is extremely disingenuous. 

 

You don't know who they consulted, but just because you weren't consulted it means they mustn't have done anything.

 

You also confuse listening with doing exactly what you want them to. Just because they haven't done exactly what you've desired they mustn't have listened. I reckon they probably have listened, taken it on board, considered what feedback they have received and then presented this as a compromise. At it's core it's a name change, a logo change to something that is a more traditional crest and not the cringey bullshit the A League is known for, which retains the original colors and includes the Melbourne crest, and a move from the home to an away shirt and a new home shirt that is 90% one of the original colors. Ah yeah and David Villa and more to come. 

 

I've lurked on this forum for a good few months and I've seen a heap of comments about protecting identity but also a lot of other comments about changing the culture of the club. The same thing happened at City. Look up Typical City to get a vibe about what was the City identity pre-takeover. Winning the league one year and then getting relegated the next despite scoring the most number of goals in the division. Winning Cups for cock ups best sums it up. You could argue that 'typical city' was an intrinsic part of our identity. However success on and off the pitch has engendered a new identity. Success and typical city cannot live hand in hand. I think it's every fans dream to have a successful team - and success on and off the pitch will shape your identity.

 

I will admit that i'm not a Heart fan, however I am excited about what this will mean for football in Australia. Football has always been a poorer cousin to the other codes. This is such a great opportunity for football in Australia full stop. Great new facilities leveraging off the expertise at a global level. Hopefully this will start the process of lifting the standing of the game by the bootstraps. And with league and union in a bit of a disastrous state at the minute, now is the perfect time to strike. This can result in football becoming the second biggest code in the country (don't think it will be able to dent the AFL). Yet much like the story of Australia's football history and like typical city there have been so many instances in the not to distant past of the code shooting itself in the foot. We know the coverage for the A League is still not supportive, someone bringing a flare into a game will be reported as being 'hooliganism gone wild' whereas the countless drunk idiots who beat the shit out of eachother at league and union matches barely get a mention. This is a chance to start correcting that. If people objectively looked at the greater good that City's involvement with Heart would bring to football in Australia, they would be tearing down the roadblocks rather than erecting them.

 

Put the self interest aside for the good of the game in the country and then they might actually start going places.

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As Big Kev use to say I'm excited!! Like the name, playing strips and delighted to have David Villa gracing our shores, if only for 10 games. Can't wait to see who our 2 marquees will be.

Also I don't think I've seen so many people on this forum at once.

Good times ahead and I'm sure the tards are quaking in the boots.

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Surprised they actually listened to the fans and what they wanted that is a very good sign of things to come. Pleased with the outcome.

How the fuck did you come to this conclusion?

 

The fact they kept the red and white stripes(Even if it is an away strip). They incorporated the melbourne flag into the logo. Keeping john van't schip on. Only to name a few. 

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The home strip is still a hand me down Man City shirt. There's nothing of our club on it. They can't possibly say with a straight face that 'the home kit combines the white of the original kit...' It's bollocks. Just like the crap they keep feeding people about 'consulting with members'. I can't believe they even mentioned that survey in their email. Personally, I'd rather a sky blue shirt with a red and white stripe as it would be our shirt, not a Man City shirt, and would retain something of our colours.

 

But even more important than the colours is the disregard of supporters. Yes we don't 'own' the club, but good clubs actually listen to their supporters and make them feel like they hold an important place in the club - like the fan forums WSW held to decide what their club would look and feel like. I'll go to matches but it just doesn't feel like my club now. For me, it's a sad day.

 

And I hope Melboune City keep fighting to keep their name.

 

Re the bolded bit - I hope they do as well, and maybe learn how to spell whilst you're at it...

 

All jokes aside I really don't understand why you're so bitter - it's almost as if unless they did everything your way then you wouldn't be happy. I reckon no matter what they did you would find some gripe about it. Which is fair enough I suppose but not exactly a mature and measured response in regard to the situation.

 

You claim that the strip is a hand me down Man City strip and I can can definitely see why, however it is white and it was a predominant color of your previous home shirt, which by the way is is now your away shirt. To claim there are no links at all is extremely disingenuous. 

 

You don't know who they consulted, but just because you weren't consulted it means they mustn't have done anything.

 

You also confuse listening with doing exactly what you want them to. Just because they haven't done exactly what you've desired they mustn't have listened. I reckon they probably have listened, taken it on board, considered what feedback they have received and then presented this as a compromise. At it's core it's a name change, a logo change to something that is a more traditional crest and not the cringey bullshit the A League is known for, which retains the original colors and includes the Melbourne crest, and a move from the home to an away shirt and a new home shirt that is 90% one of the original colors. Ah yeah and David Villa and more to come. 

 

I've lurked on this forum for a good few months and I've seen a heap of comments about protecting identity but also a lot of other comments about changing the culture of the club. The same thing happened at City. Look up Typical City to get a vibe about what was the City identity pre-takeover. Winning the league one year and then getting relegated the next despite scoring the most number of goals in the division. Winning Cups for cock ups best sums it up. You could argue that 'typical city' was an intrinsic part of our identity. However success on and off the pitch has engendered a new identity. Success and typical city cannot live hand in hand. I think it's every fans dream to have a successful team - and success on and off the pitch will shape your identity.

 

I will admit that i'm not a Heart fan, however I am excited about what this will mean for football in Australia. Football has always been a poorer cousin to the other codes. This is such a great opportunity for football in Australia full stop. Great new facilities leveraging off the expertise at a global level. Hopefully this will start the process of lifting the standing of the game by the bootstraps. And with league and union in a bit of a disastrous state at the minute, now is the perfect time to strike. This can result in football becoming the second biggest code in the country (don't think it will be able to dent the AFL). Yet much like the story of Australia's football history and like typical city there have been so many instances in the not to distant past of the code shooting itself in the foot. We know the coverage for the A League is still not supportive, someone bringing a flare into a game will be reported as being 'hooliganism gone wild' whereas the countless drunk idiots who beat the shit out of eachother at league and union matches barely get a mention. This is a chance to start correcting that. If people objectively looked at the greater good that City's involvement with Heart would bring to football in Australia, they would be tearing down the roadblocks rather than erecting them.

 

Put the self interest aside for the good of the game in the country and then they might actually start going places.

 

Are you likening CFG changing everything about the club with supporters wanting everything their own way? For the majority, everything was acceptable except changing the home colours to sky blue. That was a change few wanted and many considered a step too far. The fact that CFG went to the FFA with their plans for a sky blue home kit, without speaking to the members or STH about it doesn't help build good sentiment with their leadership. I think it is far from unreasonable to expect people to be upset and your comments on it are baseless.

However, I absolutely agree on your other points, this is a huge boon for the sport in this country, and dare I say, the region.

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I find the new website uninspiring.

 

https://www.melbournecityfc.com.au

Dont click that anyone

Dont click that anyone

 

That IS the new website.

 

Just not built yet.

You linked to the https version, which for some reason doesn't just forward back to the http version http://www.melbournecityfc.com.au

Same shit as before, they've just swapped the logo.

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My memory is shot. Was Heart's centre stripe ever red? My jersey has white in the centre.

article-2649301-1E7C8B3900000578-404_634

Well, here's last season's home jersey. By the looks of it the 2014-15 away kit has more stripes, stripes have returned to the sleeves, and the ridiculous turtleneck has gone.

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Agree a lot with Sash.

 

The way Man City have interacted with the fans has been disappointing overall. Man City and Soriano clearly said at the start that "The first thing we intend to do is listen, learn and better understand every aspect of the Club", and "Naturally, this process will also include hearing from fans, members and partners that have supported this Club during its short history. We want to listen and learn first, and take well-supported decisions immediately thereafter." (http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/melbourneheart/news-display/a-letter-from-the-ceo-of-manchester-city-fc/84083). And recently they said: "On the matter of colours, as we have said previously, any decisions made in relation to the club's identity will be guided by the traditions of our existing fan base, including their passion for red and white, and the opportunities provided by our new ownership" (http://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/melbourne-hearts-bid-to-become-sky-blue-blocked-after-sydney-fc-object-20140529-zrs76.html).

 

That all looks like hollow words and promises now. There was no meaningful consultation with the supporters whatsoever. And there's some uncertainty around the decisions. Does Man City plan to eventually morph the home and away kits to mimic the Man City FC ones? It simply isn't known.

 

And the fact that they campaigned to try and make the home kit sky blue for months, against the wishes of the vast majority of supporters, makes the above words seem downright deceptive. They clearly only resorted to having a white home kit that mimics Man City FC's third kit when they couldn't get the sky blue home kit they wanted, so it is BS for them to say they created the home kit with the supporters in mind.

 

 

On the flip side, the badge is almost certainly permanent. So it's good to see red and white dominate the centre of the Melbourne City badge.

 

And while they didn't create the home kit with supporters firstly and foremostly mind, they could have chosen a worse and more disrespectful home kit. White is a very neutral colour. And even though they probably picked the home kit they did because it's Man City's 3rd kit, white still is half of Melbourne Heart's colours. Still, it feels very bittersweet for us supporters to tell them that "Melbourne is Red and White", and to "Keep the Red and White", and to only get white (with some blue) on the home kit.

 

I was fairly sure they'd get rid of the red and white kit altogether, as Man City FC and NYCFC's kits don't have a drop of red on them. So it's arguably something of a consolation to see the red and white away kit (I'm unsure how I fully feel about it, though). 

 

I'd like the club to make clear that red and white will stay, at least for the away kit. The closest thing I've heard in that direction is Scott Munn (who seems to still be the CEO) saying "we've worked really hard with the FFA, and listened to what the fans wanted around both our logo and the colours, and we think we've come to a good outcome, and we're really excited about it. I think the logo's fantastic" (https://soundcloud.com/sen1116/melbourne-city-ceo-scott-munn). And then Munn talks about Heart supporters bringing the Flag of Melbourne frequently to away matches (BTW, how often has the Melbourne flag been displayed at Heart games?). I think that suggests the badge and colours won't change. Maybe they won't change because they can't change them the way the want, because of the FFA and Sydney FC. But still, more clarity around the permanence of the club's kits and colours would be welcome, and if the current kits are what the club's sticking with for the foreseeable future, then arguably it's a decent and respectable outcome.

 

Also, the original values of the club, to promote youth, play attractive football and to be a community club seem like they are being honoured (after the club largely strayed from those values for a 1 and a half years under Aloisi). The first signings for next season show that the club is serious about youth, and Soriano pledged that the club would play attacking football, and Man City football coaches will come to Australia with City Football Schools, and will have youth clinics at at least 4 local areas in Melbourne.

 

The club will still play at AAMI, and the club having numerous Heart players, coaches and staff also could be used to argue there's continuity.

 

 

So I can see the arguments from both sides, and I still don't know how I feel about the changes. Man City has clearly disrespected supporters, with both the process/way they've done things, and the decisions they've made. But at the same time I'm fairly impressed with how much the badge respects Melbourne Heart, and arguably a white home kit (with only some blue) and a red and white away kit is a decent and respectable outcome. And the club continuing to follow Heart's values and play at AAMI and have lots of Heart players, coaches and staff are arguably all very welcome continuity as well. 

That's the whole picture, I think, and it's fair IMO to have mixed feelings about these changes. Overall, though, I'm pleased things weren't as bad as I expected, and if Man City continue to earn respect (by making clear the place of Red and White at the club, paying homage to Melbourne Heart and doing other things to demonstrate continuity with Melbourne Heart), then I might be on board for next season. It'll take time, though.

Owe you a like Murf.

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The home strip is still a hand me down Man City shirt. There's nothing of our club on it. They can't possibly say with a straight face that 'the home kit combines the white of the original kit...' It's bollocks. Just like the crap they keep feeding people about 'consulting with members'. I can't believe they even mentioned that survey in their email. Personally, I'd rather a sky blue shirt with a red and white stripe as it would be our shirt, not a Man City shirt, and would retain something of our colours.

 

But even more important than the colours is the disregard of supporters. Yes we don't 'own' the club, but good clubs actually listen to their supporters and make them feel like they hold an important place in the club - like the fan forums WSW held to decide what their club would look and feel like. I'll go to matches but it just doesn't feel like my club now. For me, it's a sad day.

 

And I hope Melboune City keep fighting to keep their name.

 

Re the bolded bit - I hope they do as well, and maybe learn how to spell whilst you're at it...

 

All jokes aside I really don't understand why you're so bitter - it's almost as if unless they did everything your way then you wouldn't be happy. I reckon no matter what they did you would find some gripe about it. Which is fair enough I suppose but not exactly a mature and measured response in regard to the situation.

 

You claim that the strip is a hand me down Man City strip and I can can definitely see why, however it is white and it was a predominant color of your previous home shirt, which by the way is is now your away shirt. To claim there are no links at all is extremely disingenuous. 

 

You don't know who they consulted, but just because you weren't consulted it means they mustn't have done anything.

 

You also confuse listening with doing exactly what you want them to. Just because they haven't done exactly what you've desired they mustn't have listened. I reckon they probably have listened, taken it on board, considered what feedback they have received and then presented this as a compromise. At it's core it's a name change, a logo change to something that is a more traditional crest and not the cringey bullshit the A League is known for, which retains the original colors and includes the Melbourne crest, and a move from the home to an away shirt and a new home shirt that is 90% one of the original colors. Ah yeah and David Villa and more to come. 

 

I've lurked on this forum for a good few months and I've seen a heap of comments about protecting identity but also a lot of other comments about changing the culture of the club. The same thing happened at City. Look up Typical City to get a vibe about what was the City identity pre-takeover. Winning the league one year and then getting relegated the next despite scoring the most number of goals in the division. Winning Cups for cock ups best sums it up. You could argue that 'typical city' was an intrinsic part of our identity. However success on and off the pitch has engendered a new identity. Success and typical city cannot live hand in hand. I think it's every fans dream to have a successful team - and success on and off the pitch will shape your identity.

 

I will admit that i'm not a Heart fan, however I am excited about what this will mean for football in Australia. Football has always been a poorer cousin to the other codes. This is such a great opportunity for football in Australia full stop. Great new facilities leveraging off the expertise at a global level. Hopefully this will start the process of lifting the standing of the game by the bootstraps. And with league and union in a bit of a disastrous state at the minute, now is the perfect time to strike. This can result in football becoming the second biggest code in the country (don't think it will be able to dent the AFL). Yet much like the story of Australia's football history and like typical city there have been so many instances in the not to distant past of the code shooting itself in the foot. We know the coverage for the A League is still not supportive, someone bringing a flare into a game will be reported as being 'hooliganism gone wild' whereas the countless drunk idiots who beat the shit out of eachother at league and union matches barely get a mention. This is a chance to start correcting that. If people objectively looked at the greater good that City's involvement with Heart would bring to football in Australia, they would be tearing down the roadblocks rather than erecting them.

 

Put the self interest aside for the good of the game in the country and then they might actually start going places.

 

Are you likening CFG changing everything about the club with supporters wanting everything their own way? For the majority, everything was acceptable except changing the home colours to sky blue. That was a change few wanted and many considered a step too far. The fact that CFG went to the FFA with their plans for a sky blue home kit, without speaking to the members or STH about it doesn't help build good sentiment with their leadership. I think it is far from unreasonable to expect people to be upset and your comments on it are baseless.

However, I absolutely agree on your other points, this is a huge boon for the sport in this country, and dare I say, the region.

 

 

Mate - I'm responding to Sash's post about him complaining about the fact that even though 95% of the colors of both the new home and away strips are the clubs original colors he is still railing.

 

The home kit is not sky blue. It is 85% white with a strip of blue.

 

If the home kit was predominately sky blue, then yes I would say that the criticism of you, the fans, would be warranted. But it's not, yet that's still not good enough. 

 

As I stated so many fans are confusing consultation and listening with doing exactly what they wanted.

 

CFG not only have the fans interests to take into account but their own business interests as well.

 

How would you feel if you bought a house for $12mil but then the tenants in it told you you can't make any changes to it? What CFG has done, in my opinion. is a pretty decent compromise so that the original tenants can still enjoy the house, and that CFG can achieve their objectives in increasing the value of the house, and attempt to reshape the housing landscape...

 

From what was proposed to what has now been delivered - I couldn't see why there was still this outrage. 

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Billy, unfortunately you can't please all of the people all of the time. As Malloy has said, right from the start the words used clearly indicated there were going to be changes, and all that was going to be decided was how far the compromise was going to go.

 

Let's hope that over time any remaining wounds will heal, and that people like Sash and Rellum will come back into the fold. I for one don't want to see them leave.

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That is because you are not, as stated, a Heart supporter.

I am very disappointed there is no red on the home strip. The Melbourne flag incorporated into the badge is a good move, however I would have liked us to keep a shield instead of the circle.

The away strip should be our home, and the away white with red and perhaps a little sky blue.

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The home strip is still a hand me down Man City shirt. There's nothing of our club on it. They can't possibly say with a straight face that 'the home kit combines the white of the original kit...' It's bollocks. Just like the crap they keep feeding people about 'consulting with members'. I can't believe they even mentioned that survey in their email. Personally, I'd rather a sky blue shirt with a red and white stripe as it would be our shirt, not a Man City shirt, and would retain something of our colours.

 

But even more important than the colours is the disregard of supporters. Yes we don't 'own' the club, but good clubs actually listen to their supporters and make them feel like they hold an important place in the club - like the fan forums WSW held to decide what their club would look and feel like. I'll go to matches but it just doesn't feel like my club now. For me, it's a sad day.

 

And I hope Melboune City keep fighting to keep their name.

 

man_city_third_kit_combi_2013_14_nike_sj

 

Last seasons MCFC third kit.

 

They can't go with navy for shorts/socks for the A-League, can they?

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I have said it before. Listening and hearing what the fans have to say is not the same as listening to the fans and acting on their advice or listening to the fans and acting in their best wishes.

 

Not once have they lied to us. They said something with carefully worded sentences and the fans took it to mean what they wanted it to mean.

 

For example: "On the matter of colours, as we have said previously, any decisions made in relation to the club's identity will be guided by the traditions of our existing fan base, including their passion for red and white, and the opportunities provided by our new ownership"

 

The club have made a decision with both Man City and us the supporters in mind. They clearly were guided more strongly by the "opportunities provided by our new ownership".  The fact that the away kit is pretty much our home kit means IMO that they have been true to their words. They never said to what extent the decision of the colours would be guided by the existing fan base.

 

In conclusion us fans can only blame ourselves for thinking that they were going to do any different.

 

The writing has been on the wall ever since they made their first statement.

 

I didn't use the word 'lie', although I think there's even an argument for that word. I used the word 'deceptive', which they were. How is the decision to change our red and white strips home kit to this white with some blue home kit 'well-supported'? It isn't, at all, in any way. That's also true of the large body of text stating that "any decisions" will be "guided" by the club's traditions and the passion for red and white, even though there's those final few words that go on about "opportunities". 

 

Call it want you want. It's either 'misleading in the extreme' or deceptive. Either way, it's not a respectable way to go about communicating with supporters that try to be loyal to the club.

 

This is splitting hairs, really. The point still stands that supporters only asked the club for one thing, a red and white home kit. A name change, a badge change, an away kit change and many other changes all were ready to be tolerated, and even though Man City couldn't get what they wanted (a sky blue home kit), they didn't give supporters the only 1 real thing we've been asking for. And then, as I said, on top of that they knowingly used language that was misleading in the extreme (don't belittle them. They would have known exactly what they were doing, and were consciously trying to placate supporters in the lead up to these changes).

 

Going forward, I hope for the sake of this club and its supporters that the club works to build a better relationship, where the supporters can be trusting of the club. Because right now, supporters don't have many reasons to seriously trust this club.

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The home strip is still a hand me down Man City shirt. There's nothing of our club on it. They can't possibly say with a straight face that 'the home kit combines the white of the original kit...' It's bollocks. Just like the crap they keep feeding people about 'consulting with members'. I can't believe they even mentioned that survey in their email. Personally, I'd rather a sky blue shirt with a red and white stripe as it would be our shirt, not a Man City shirt, and would retain something of our colours.

 

But even more important than the colours is the disregard of supporters. Yes we don't 'own' the club, but good clubs actually listen to their supporters and make them feel like they hold an important place in the club - like the fan forums WSW held to decide what their club would look and feel like. I'll go to matches but it just doesn't feel like my club now. For me, it's a sad day.

 

And I hope Melboune City keep fighting to keep their name.

 

Re the bolded bit - I hope they do as well, and maybe learn how to spell whilst you're at it...

 

All jokes aside I really don't understand why you're so bitter - it's almost as if unless they did everything your way then you wouldn't be happy. I reckon no matter what they did you would find some gripe about it. Which is fair enough I suppose but not exactly a mature and measured response in regard to the situation.

 

You claim that the strip is a hand me down Man City strip and I can can definitely see why, however it is white and it was a predominant color of your previous home shirt, which by the way is is now your away shirt. To claim there are no links at all is extremely disingenuous. 

 

You don't know who they consulted, but just because you weren't consulted it means they mustn't have done anything.

 

You also confuse listening with doing exactly what you want them to. Just because they haven't done exactly what you've desired they mustn't have listened. I reckon they probably have listened, taken it on board, considered what feedback they have received and then presented this as a compromise. At it's core it's a name change, a logo change to something that is a more traditional crest and not the cringey bullshit the A League is known for, which retains the original colors and includes the Melbourne crest, and a move from the home to an away shirt and a new home shirt that is 90% one of the original colors. Ah yeah and David Villa and more to come. 

 

I've lurked on this forum for a good few months and I've seen a heap of comments about protecting identity but also a lot of other comments about changing the culture of the club. The same thing happened at City. Look up Typical City to get a vibe about what was the City identity pre-takeover. Winning the league one year and then getting relegated the next despite scoring the most number of goals in the division. Winning Cups for cock ups best sums it up. You could argue that 'typical city' was an intrinsic part of our identity. However success on and off the pitch has engendered a new identity. Success and typical city cannot live hand in hand. I think it's every fans dream to have a successful team - and success on and off the pitch will shape your identity.

 

I will admit that i'm not a Heart fan, however I am excited about what this will mean for football in Australia. Football has always been a poorer cousin to the other codes. This is such a great opportunity for football in Australia full stop. Great new facilities leveraging off the expertise at a global level. Hopefully this will start the process of lifting the standing of the game by the bootstraps. And with league and union in a bit of a disastrous state at the minute, now is the perfect time to strike. This can result in football becoming the second biggest code in the country (don't think it will be able to dent the AFL). Yet much like the story of Australia's football history and like typical city there have been so many instances in the not to distant past of the code shooting itself in the foot. We know the coverage for the A League is still not supportive, someone bringing a flare into a game will be reported as being 'hooliganism gone wild' whereas the countless drunk idiots who beat the shit out of eachother at league and union matches barely get a mention. This is a chance to start correcting that. If people objectively looked at the greater good that City's involvement with Heart would bring to football in Australia, they would be tearing down the roadblocks rather than erecting them.

 

Put the self interest aside for the good of the game in the country and then they might actually start going places.

 

Are you likening CFG changing everything about the club with supporters wanting everything their own way? For the majority, everything was acceptable except changing the home colours to sky blue. That was a change few wanted and many considered a step too far. The fact that CFG went to the FFA with their plans for a sky blue home kit, without speaking to the members or STH about it doesn't help build good sentiment with their leadership. I think it is far from unreasonable to expect people to be upset and your comments on it are baseless.

However, I absolutely agree on your other points, this is a huge boon for the sport in this country, and dare I say, the region.

 

 

Mate - I'm responding to Sash's post about him complaining about the fact that even though 95% of the colors of both the new home and away strips are the clubs original colors he is still railing.

 

The home kit is not sky blue. It is 85% white with a strip of blue.

 

If the home kit was predominately sky blue, then yes I would say that the criticism of you, the fans, would be warranted. But it's not, yet that's still not good enough. 

 

As I stated so many fans are confusing consultation and listening with doing exactly what they wanted.

 

CFG not only have the fans interests to take into account but their own business interests as well.

 

How would you feel if you bought a house for $12mil but then the tenants in it told you you can't make any changes to it? What CFG has done, in my opinion. is a pretty decent compromise so that the original tenants can still enjoy the house, and that CFG can achieve their objectives in increasing the value of the house, and attempt to reshape the housing landscape...

 

From what was proposed to what has now been delivered - I couldn't see why there was still this outrage. 

 

My apologies, I forgot to include a section stating that I personally feel this compromise is acceptable.

I think you are confused. CFG have changed everything they wanted to change, they couldn't change the home kit to sky blue even though they had every intention to. The only compromise they made was with FFA/Sydney FC. They ignored the fans and/or had no intention of communicating with the fans.

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I have said it before. Listening and hearing what the fans have to say is not the same as listening to the fans and acting on their advice or listening to the fans and acting in their best wishes.

 

Not once have they lied to us. They said something with carefully worded sentences and the fans took it to mean what they wanted it to mean.

 

For example: "On the matter of colours, as we have said previously, any decisions made in relation to the club's identity will be guided by the traditions of our existing fan base, including their passion for red and white, and the opportunities provided by our new ownership"

 

The club have made a decision with both Man City and us the supporters in mind. They clearly were guided more strongly by the "opportunities provided by our new ownership".  The fact that the away kit is pretty much our home kit means IMO that they have been true to their words. They never said to what extent the decision of the colours would be guided by the existing fan base.

 

In conclusion us fans can only blame ourselves for thinking that they were going to do any different.

 

The writing has been on the wall ever since they made their first statement.

 

I didn't use the word 'lie', although I think there's even an argument for that word. I used the word 'deceptive', which they were. How is the decision to change our red and white strips home kit to this white with some blue home kit 'well-supported'? It isn't, at all, in any way. That's also true of the large body of text stating that "any decisions" will be "guided" by the club's traditions and the passion for red and white, even though there's those final few words that go on about "opportunities". 

 

Call it want you want. It's either 'misleading in the extreme' or deceptive. Either way, it's not a respectable way to go about communicating with supporters that try to be loyal to the club.

 

This is splitting hairs, really. The point still stands that supporters only asked the club for one thing, a red and white home kit. A name change, a badge change, an away kit change and many other changes all were ready to be tolerated, and even though Man City couldn't get what they wanted (a sky blue home kit), they didn't give supporters the only 1 real thing we've been asking for. And then, as I said, on top of that they knowingly used language that was misleading in the extreme (don't belittle them. They would have known exactly what they were doing, and were consciously trying to placate supporters in the lead up to these changes).

 

Going forward, I hope for the sake of this club and its supporters that the club works to build a better relationship, where the supporters can be trusting of the club. Because right now, supporters don't have many reasons to seriously trust this club.

 

 

I don't think that the change to the home kit was well supported and I don't think anyone is trying to argue that. What I am saying is that people read/heard something from CFG and took it to mean what they hoped it would mean. I do believe that the colour decision was guided by our want to keep the colours. I believe that city came here intending us to play City home kit and city away kit. They saw how much the fans wanted to keep red and white and thought that red and white away was a good enough gesture (many of us would argue that it is not). They were then stopped in their tracks by Sydney FC in changing the home kit to sky blue so they settled for what is now the home kit (I think we will see the home kit changed to Sky Blue in the coming years)

 

I do agree that they may have been somewhat devious in that they chose to word things carefully. 

 

My point is they didn't try too hard to pull the wool over our eyes and it was somewhat obvious that they were going to do what they have done.

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I have said it before. Listening and hearing what the fans have to say is not the same as listening to the fans and acting on their advice or listening to the fans and acting in their best wishes.

 

Not once have they lied to us. They said something with carefully worded sentences and the fans took it to mean what they wanted it to mean.

 

For example: "On the matter of colours, as we have said previously, any decisions made in relation to the club's identity will be guided by the traditions of our existing fan base, including their passion for red and white, and the opportunities provided by our new ownership"

 

The club have made a decision with both Man City and us the supporters in mind. They clearly were guided more strongly by the "opportunities provided by our new ownership".  The fact that the away kit is pretty much our home kit means IMO that they have been true to their words. They never said to what extent the decision of the colours would be guided by the existing fan base.

 

In conclusion us fans can only blame ourselves for thinking that they were going to do any different.

 

The writing has been on the wall ever since they made their first statement.

 

I didn't use the word 'lie', although I think there's even an argument for that word. I used the word 'deceptive', which they were. How is the decision to change our red and white strips home kit to this white with some blue home kit 'well-supported'? It isn't, at all, in any way. That's also true of the large body of text stating that "any decisions" will be "guided" by the club's traditions and the passion for red and white, even though there's those final few words that go on about "opportunities". 

 

Call it want you want. It's either 'misleading in the extreme' or deceptive. Either way, it's not a respectable way to go about communicating with supporters that try to be loyal to the club.

 

This is splitting hairs, really. The point still stands that supporters only asked the club for one thing, a red and white home kit. A name change, a badge change, an away kit change and many other changes all were ready to be tolerated, and even though Man City couldn't get what they wanted (a sky blue home kit), they didn't give supporters the only 1 real thing we've been asking for. And then, as I said, on top of that they knowingly used language that was misleading in the extreme (don't belittle them. They would have known exactly what they were doing, and were consciously trying to placate supporters in the lead up to these changes).

 

Going forward, I hope for the sake of this club and its supporters that the club works to build a better relationship, where the supporters can be trusting of the club. Because right now, supporters don't have many reasons to seriously trust this club.

 

 

What about what the owners want? You know the one's who are actually paying the bills? They get no say at all?

 

Be realistic.

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They did say they were not going with "The Cardiff Solution" did they not? 

 

They have pretty much gone with the Cardiff solution have they not? 

 

Just sayin'. 

 

They didn't say they were not going to go with the Cardiff solution. They said they didn't want a Cardiff situation.

 

The two are entirely different. We got the Cardiff solution, where as a Cardiff situation is the fans continually protesting after getting the Cardiff solution

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