OpinionManchester City fans turn to Einstein for consolation
Much as some fans try to justify their club's demise, the defeat by Southampton proves the cheque book is not the long-term answer
One would think a soccer stadium might be the last place to find devotees of Albert Einstein and his theory of relativity.
Not so. Many Manchester City fans have an acute understanding of the eminent physicist's famous concept and deployed it in spades after their 3-1 defeat by Southampton last weekend - a loss which by Monday's end and Manchester United's 2-0 win over Everton left them 12 points adrift of their second successive title.
As Einstein determined, constant motion can feel like you are sitting still, as when on a train or plane. But to observers watching from the outside, the train or plane and it occupants are whizzing by.
The dynamics of e=mc2 are complicated. In essence, although we all live by the same law of physics, we will not always see the same thing when objects are in motion.
City fans such as Steve Shaw relied on the theory for answers after the race for a second successful EPL title had been almost certainly lost by mid-February. Shaw was among those travelling fans seeing the implosion of his team in an entirely differently light to the rest of "planet football".
For him, the spectacle of Roberto Mancini's highly expensive squad handing United the championship on a plate thanks to a comedy of errors was not the catastrophic train wreck it looked to the rest of us.