Re: The Football Chat (cont) : Sun May 06, 2012 10:03 pm  

I think Van Persie is nailed on for City IF Arsenal don't make next season's Champions League.

A player of his calibre won't not be at a Champions League side and there is probably only City who have the cash to force Arsenal to part.....He hasn't signed a new contract yet, so, in theory, he could go on the cheap, but City have the finances to waive the discount, and a £35 million sort of bid would probably see Arsenal cash in.

He'd also be a massive improvement on either of Balotelli or Dzeko, both of whom could be sold to pay for a large percentage of any fee for Van Persie.

Re: The Football Chat (cont) : Sun May 06, 2012 10:27 pm  

lefty goldblatt wrote:

Tevez - I still can't see him at the club, come the end of August
Dzeko - we don't play with wingers, so I can see him going
De Jong - Mancini needs to make his mind up, on how he wants to play him
Ballotelli - he'll be staying, on his final written, absolute, don't do it again, please, written warning
Barry - why on earth would any City fan want him to leave. He does the tough stuff (unseen by the majority), fantastically well
Lescott - (imo) a shoe-in for the Euro's. He's built up a fantastic rapport with the best defender on the planet.
Savic - wont be going anywhere (alas). I think he's Mancini's Djemba-Djemba, Kleberson, etc.

Make no mistake. City, unlike Blackburn in the past, aren't going downhill, anytime soon. This is a team (don't pay any attention to the muppets in the media, who STILL refer to City as individuals) who are going to compete for trophys for years. And long may it continue. Well done City. I hope I'm as contented, this time next week.

Pretty much spot on. Especially about Barry, great signing and just the sort of player we need. Would give him captaincy in Kompanys absence.

Re: The Football Chat (cont) : Sun May 06, 2012 10:36 pm  

What on earth was going on at Arsenal today? Are the officials just that poor than they didn't seen RVP being bundled over to stop him scoring? Two hands square on his back and a push? Gervinho was offside so they should have given offside, but having not done, how do they get away with not giving a penalty there?

Re: The Football Chat (cont) : Sun May 06, 2012 11:22 pm  

citywolf wrote:

I'm not too sure. Barry has been immense for us at times this season. And Lescott has a great understanding with Kompany.

Our problem has been that if Lescott or Kompany are injured Savic has been dire, so central defense cover is paramount. I also expect 2 of Tevez, Dzeko and Balloteli to leave so 2 strikers to arrive too.

Point is, you can improve on them. Imagine if Citeh had Javi Martinez instead of Barry? Martinez is better than Barry at everything and more, he'd be class.

Your defensive weaknesses are well exposed. Kolo Toure is average, Savage is average whilst Lescott is OK, he isn't in the class of Ferdinand or Vidic.

I do think the most pivotal part of Citeh's summer transfer activity will be signing a plan B. They desperately need to invest in the great plan B. Dzeko clearly isn't capable, so they will have to sign somebody else; Cavani? Llorente? Adebayor coming back? Citeh need to realise, if they can't win games by completely outplaying their opposition, they need a tall striker to head the ball around.

Re: The Football Chat (cont) : Sun May 06, 2012 11:51 pm  

Saddened! wrote:

What on earth was going on at Arsenal today? Are the officials just that poor than they didn't seen RVP being bundled over to stop him scoring? Two hands square on his back and a push?

Bizarre.

Re: The Football Chat (cont) : Mon May 07, 2012 12:18 am  

'Didier Zokora'nın Emre Belözoğlu'na Attığı Tekme'

zakora caught up with repeated alleged racist emre earlier

Re: The Football Chat (cont) : Mon May 07, 2012 12:07 pm  

Well done to Juventus on winning the Scudetto last night. What a job Antonio Conte has done there, fantastic manager. Looking forward to having them back in The Champions League next season.

Re: The Football Chat (cont) : Mon May 07, 2012 12:11 pm  

Just recovered from my promotion party 2 day binge. Unbelievable scenes at Hillsborough on Saturday.

Re: The Football Chat (cont) : Mon May 07, 2012 1:33 pm  

lefty goldblatt wrote:

I can see Johnson going, far too lazy
Milner and Mancini need to get their heads together. I've no idea why they've fallen out, but Milner is a player we need to keep. He was sensational before Christmas, can't understand why he's not been given much game time, since

I see Johnson's problem as a short term maturity issue rather than being basically lazy. He gives the impression that he's spent all his junior football as his team's flair player, the one given license to stay forward and not track back. Now he's having to adjust to having better players around him. And he probably had his head turned a bit when he received so much praise early in his City career. But I think that his bad habits can be drilled out of him.

The bigger question is whether he's genuinely good enough to play at the very top level. In cricketing speak he's something of a "flat track bully". He's excellent against poor full backs playing for mediocre teams. He's scored some very good goals and shown moments of true class. But he's never really done it against the better defenders.

He's in a Catch 22 situation now. Mancini clearly doesn't have enough faith in him to play him in the big games. And until he can prove that he can do it in the big games he's not likely to get many more chances.

Re: The Football Chat (cont) : Mon May 07, 2012 1:42 pm  

Cibaman wrote:

I see Johnson's problem as a short term maturity issue rather than being basically lazy. He gives the impression that he's spent all his junior football as his team's flair player, the one given license to stay forward and not track back. Now he's having to adjust to having better players around him. And he probably had his head turned a bit when he received so much praise early in his City career. But I think that his bad habits can be drilled out of him.

The bigger question is whether he's genuinely good enough to play at the very top level. In cricketing speak he's something of a "flat track bully". He's excellent against poor full backs playing for mediocre teams. He's scored some very good goals and shown moments of true class. But he's never really done it against the better defenders.

He's in a Catch 22 situation now. Mancini clearly doesn't have enough faith in him to play him in the big games. And until he can prove that he can do it in the big games he's not likely to get many more chances.

Johnson looks a bit like Wright-Phillips used to at Chelsea......Not good enough for the first team, but will get a run out when a few of the better players need a rest.

If he wants to play regular football (and I'm never sure with the modern day footballer) he should be seeking a move out of Eastlands pretty soon.....Personally, as an Evertonian, wouldn't mind seeing him join the Everton squad as a replacement for the pretty average Drenthe - He would get a lot more game time and, though I hate to say it, we are probably his standard of club at present.