Angus Kinnear

[brieverton]

"You could argue Man City no longer exist"

That's completely true. You see the like of Shaun Goater wheeled out to talk about Aguero as though it's the same club he played for. It ain't. Their entire identity now is Abu Dhabi. Simon Jordan (who does speak sense from time to time) called them manufactured which absolutely nails it. And because they are a manufactured entity they don't garner anywhere near the praise a team who authentically win things would get. Their "winning" is largely glossed over.

That may be the case but they're backed by a petrostate and you can't gloss that over.

Newcastle the same in terms they can no longer be dismissed.

You have the organic clubs to use that term, RS and Mancs. Arsenal to a lesser degree.

It doesn't mean we can't compete with any of them in a given season.

The rest of the clubs - Chelsea, Spurs, Villa - I don't see any reason why we can't compete with them and overtake them. Those clubs, with Newcastle as things stand currently, I would regard as fair game for us.

Man Utd too obviously but they are a global giant and you'd have to think that would count eventually. They must have still won 5 or 6 trophies since Ferguson left, that's some bad period when you consider we have one FA Cup to our name since last winning the title.

 

[windymiller]

I know all fans think their clubs are the best but I really struggle with Leeds fans genuinely thinking there's an argument for them being bigger. One comment from a Leeds fan on the Athletic gives this explanation

"One example would be shirt sales I suppose. Another thing for me when I go abroad - see loads of Leeds fans in terms of towels, tops, pubs etc - very few Everton. Another measure would/could be Sky viewers per game - my hunch is even at out different 'levels' right now we have a bigger audience than Everton"

Utterly delusional.

I live in Leeds, they are a rare breed. They sing "we are the champions, champions of Europe" non-stop, because they believe they were scammed out of a European cup in the Revie era. 50 years ago. My old next door neighbor had a Leeds crest tattooed on his calf, never went to the match, you could walk to Elland Road in 40 mins. I went to Elland Road more than he did but he got the new shirt every season to go with being permanently inked with a crest they no longer use. Second only to the Geordies in terms of self-delusion. The crazy thing is a one club city with a big population and satellite towns without professional clubs (Wakefield, Castleford, Pontefract, etc...) all around they should really have more success.