As the tour groups squeezed inside one of the least welcoming away dressing rooms, they learn of the quick plastering and painting job performed by director Eric Hogg to spare the club's blushes on the morning Manchester City were due in town to help to mark the stand's centenary, and the gamesmanship by which heating in the tiny room was cranked up on match days to leave the opposition feeling hot and bothered before they even ran out into the cauldron of a ground.