CITY supremo Garry Cook is intent on eradicating the phrase "typical City" from the club's vocabulary forever.

The Blues' chief executive believes the next phase of the task of rebuilding City is to win over the supporters.

City fans have a reputation as hangdog stalwarts, hardened into cynicism from years of failure and unfulfilled promises, sustained only by their loyalty, camaraderie and gallows humour.

Cook believes one of the biggest tasks the new regime at the club faces is to give those supporters a new outlook, without losing the essence of what it means to be a Blue.

As well as wanting to build an "untypical" new club, Cook also wants to take the negative edge off the old Blue war cry of "City `til I die."

That doesn't mean tinkering with their lifelong dedication but rather removing the bleak aspect of the phrase.

He said: "There were two phrases which struck me when I first came here - 'typical City' and 'City 'til I die.' They tell you two things about the personality of the culture.

"`Typical City' says to me `We're not very good, but it's OK.' It means you are embarrassed by mistakes - you shouldn't be, because we all make mistakes.

"It's also an excuse for when you do make a mistake - you can just say `Well, that's us.'

"And 'City `til I die' seems to mean the fans have been through the pain and the agony and were all getting on a bit.

"To build for the future you want eight-year-old kids saying 'I want to play for City' because that helps everything. He doesn't want to think about dying, because he's just got here!"

SWP

The theme has been picked up by Shaun Wright-Phillips, who knows all about "typical City" from his two spells at the club.

He said: "The fact that on the day I came back to City we stayed in the UEFA Cup through a last-minute own goal against Midtjylland and then won a dramatic penalty shoot-out made me smile," he said.

"I'm used to that being the way with City - it was always like that when I was coming through the ranks.

"We always liked to do the things the hard way, but hopefully the boss is slowly but surely getting that out of us now and this is a club geared for sustained success."

As well as aiming to transform the team on the pitch, Sheikh Mansour and his new executive team have set about revolutionising the club from within.

They want Eastlands, Platt Lane, and Carrington - as well as the new academies to be rolled out around the world - to be vibrant, positive, optimistic work places.

"I think our fans are appreciative of Sheikh Mansour because we have something real here," said Cook.

"There is consistency in the management team, we have a new executive leadership team, we are opening a new retail store, building new offices, we have a new website, the kit launches next week, and we are buying new players.

"When you talk about those things, it can be infectious, and that is what we are trying to do, make it infectious."

The change which the Arab owners want to effect at City is deeper and longer-term that what Roman Abramovich's riches have done at Chelsea.

But Cook recognises that City do see the evolution at Stamford Bridge as a yardstick for their own progress, even though Chelsea began from a stronger position as they were already a Champions League qualifier when the Russians moved in.

"On Wednesday of last week it was six years to the day that Roman Abramovich took over Chelsea," said Cook.

"You keep looking at these marker stones from the past and try to learn from what has been done, both good and the bad."

Do you think it is possible for City to shake off their old characteristics? Have your say.