The surest way to enrage fans is to play around with the definition of what constitutes a big club.
A supporter claiming a mega-cash injection has made his team massive or a manager dismissing a rival team as small can inspire a loathing that is never forgotten. Ask Rafael Benitez. The size of rivalries rarely antagonises though, because we all know who hates who the most. Yet Jamie Carragher hit a raw nerve by describing the rivalry between the current Manchester City and Liverpool sides as the most intense in English history.
He was referring to the quality of their football but it drew a mocking reaction from many Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea fans who argued that earlier this century the rivalry between their teams was proper old-school fierce.
