Enzo Maresca hopes to see the stands filled with inflatable bananas as Manchester City take on Ipswich this weekend.
The City manager believes everyone at the Etihad Stadium has been brought closer together by the ongoing crisis engulfing the club.
City were found by an independent commission to have committed more than 100 breaches of Premier League regulations following an investigation into their financial affairs. The club have maintained their innocence and appealed against the judgement.
While Maresca and his players have shown togetherness in their performances, supporters have also demonstrated their defiance and loyalty.
One symbol of that has been the return of the inflatable banana, a throwback to a craze from the 1980s and 1990s when City fans took them to games to lighten the mood amid difficult times on the pitch.
Maresca, who oversaw an impressive 3-0 win at Liverpool in City’s first match since the verdict, feels it has been a strong visual sign in the face of heavy external criticism.
The Italian said: “It’s very nice. I didn’t know the history behind the banana, but I hope tomorrow I can see many bananas in the stadium.
“I think it creates a nice environment for the fans and for everyone that is in the stadium.”
He added: “I think Ruben [Dias] said that people don’t like City to win, but we like to win. So I think that is a good message for everyone.
“I think probably since the noise, I can see from my personal point of view, the fans, the club, the team, more together for sure.”
Maresca’s own children have even been asking him for bananas.
He said: “I have four kids. They already asked me, but tomorrow they’re going to be at the stadium and we’ll see.”
Maresca has been the public face of the club since the verdict, fielding numerous questions on a serious off-field matter beyond his control.
He insists that has not been a problem for a him.
The 46-year-old said: “I’ve said many times that I don’t feel any kind of stress about the outside situation, because it’s something that I don’t control. I just focus on, again, how we can try to win the next game.”
Maresca has also been happy with how his players have coped, with victory at Anfield followed by a spirited second-half response in Wednesday’s 4-2 defeat by Paris St Germain.
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He said: “I’m very pleased. We handled it quite good, all together, the club, the fans, the team, everyone.
“But Saturday’s game is a three-point game, exactly the same points as Anfield. So that’s why it’s important to continue on our run and try to win.”
City have won all six of their Premier League games since Maresca took charge, equalling the best start to a managerial reign in the competition’s history set by his predecessor Pep Guardiola, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Carlo Ancelotti.
Maresca said: “To be honest, I’m just focused on how we can win the game.
“These kind of records, they can be good if at the end of the season you achieve something. Otherwise, they are not important.”
