Re: The Football Chat Thread : Fri Nov 05, 2010 7:11 pm
Cibaman wrote:
City finished the 2007/08 season 32 points behind the champions, losing our final match 8-1 at Boro.
Our starting line up for the first game of the following season, just before the takeover was: Hart, Corluka, Ben Haim, Richards, Garrido, Etuhu, Fernandes,Johnson, Petrov, Elano, Evans.
Our line up against United next week should be something like: Hart, Boateng, Kompany, Toure, Kolorov, de Jong, Barry, Milner/Johnson, Toure, Silva, Tevez.
I'm not aware of any managers that have built teams without wasting money on duff players. Names like Kleberson, Veron, Djemba Djemba, Jeffers, Wright, Shevchenko, Kezman spring to mind. The pace that City have tried to progress and our starting point has inevitably meant that we would have a higher turnover of players and more failures than more settled teams.
It always seemed to me that City's progress would be a case of two steps forward, one step back. I dont think that the past couple of seasons has been any better or worse than could realistically have been expected.
Our starting line up for the first game of the following season, just before the takeover was: Hart, Corluka, Ben Haim, Richards, Garrido, Etuhu, Fernandes,Johnson, Petrov, Elano, Evans.
Our line up against United next week should be something like: Hart, Boateng, Kompany, Toure, Kolorov, de Jong, Barry, Milner/Johnson, Toure, Silva, Tevez.
I'm not aware of any managers that have built teams without wasting money on duff players. Names like Kleberson, Veron, Djemba Djemba, Jeffers, Wright, Shevchenko, Kezman spring to mind. The pace that City have tried to progress and our starting point has inevitably meant that we would have a higher turnover of players and more failures than more settled teams.
It always seemed to me that City's progress would be a case of two steps forward, one step back. I dont think that the past couple of seasons has been any better or worse than could realistically have been expected.
In answer to both you and Dan.
Would I sack him now? Not now, but if things carry on for a few weeks in the current vein, I see no option. West Brom away is now crucial, perhaps more so than the derby in a way because we know we will be up for the derby and we know they will come at us so it's a game that suits the way we play.
In answer to Dan's other question, the top four is the aim and I'd be delighted with that. However, we are there by luck more than anything else at the moment. If we are still there this time next week, I would be very, very surprised.
Progress has been painfully slow as far as I can see. 4th was there for the taking last year and we failed to take it. Do we look any better than Spurs at the moment? I would say not. However, whilst you say progress could not have been expected to have been any quicker, Harry Redknapp took over Spurs two years ago when they were rooted to the bottom of the table. Since then, for a small fraction of the money we have spent, he has taken them up the league, to the Carling Cup Final, into the top four and onto handing the European Champions a lesson. That shows what can be done with a good manager and tactics that are tailor made for English football.
You offer no comments on the style of football we are playing. At the risk of sounding pro-Hughes here, I remember saying on the radio last September, when asked what the mood was like amongst the fans and that was "people are now turning up with a smile on their face, not hoping that they were going to be entertained but knowing they were going to be entertained". Well that smile has gone to be replaced by the old favourite thought that the chances are you are just about to witness another mind-numbing 90 minutes of tedium.
Personally, I can take the failure. I've had a lot of time to get used to it, but a failure to even try to play any semblance of attacking football with all those multi-million pound footballers in the squad, is just disgraceful, and under this manager that is never going to change.
The ridiculous thing is, they all need a rest every European and Cup game despite none of them ever having to do anything bar play at his one-paced, methodical football. Most of them never even break sweat.
That said, how many of last night's £150 million squad would make the Chelsea or United side? The likes of Richards, Bridge, Lescott, Wright-Phillips, Vieira, Adebayor and Zabaleta cost not far off £100 million themselves and are quite plainly and simply not good enough for where we want to be. Granted, they are not first choice but for the amount of outlay over the last two years, you need something beyond the first eleven. Take our eleven away and you are left with a selection of players who are simply stealing a living.
