If we don't finish in the top 4.

[Bluez]

We have definitely made progress even if we come 5th. It would be the first time we qualified for Europe on league position for donkeys years. But after being 4 points clear with a few games left, and looking at who Spurs had to play, there will be a tinge of disappointment if we don't make 4th. Fair play to Spurs though 2 wins from Chelsea and Arsenal was expected by no-one. I could probably deal with it better if I didn't hate that twitchy dodgy fucker so much

[ashton287]

i'd be happy with 5th but not straight away, it would depend on if we won the europa league or not.

if we finish 5th then win it, i wont class it as a failure just a good oportunity to put our name on a trophy that will be below us from then on, if we get 5th then have nothing to show for it by the end of next season then i'll think this entire season will have been a complete waste of hope, which is so hard to have as a city fan.

i just wish tevez would have found his current form earlier in the season. Give him a decent creative mid to work off next season and CL football will be gauranteed because we will finish top or second.

[Vhero]

Saying not getting 4th is a disappointment but is not the end of the world is crap. I think it would be a complete failure considering this is the year we had probably the biggest shot we had thanks to bin dippers failure to get anything from this season. Sick of living in the munichs shadow and Bacon face is right we are small minded if we carry on thinking that anything less than 4th wouldn't be a failure (he never actually said that but said we were small minded so we should think big and 4th is big).

[Dazzacity]

Id be so gutted we didnt get 4th ,Id really struggle gettin into the swing of things if we had to make do with Europa..

[btajim]

Mancini was brought in to get 4th and if he doesnt then I want Mourinho....if we cant get Mourinho then stick with Mancini.

Brutal but fair Imo.

I was waiting for someone to mention targets.

Sven = Top half and got sacked
Hughes = 6th and was sacked whilst we were in 6th

Would Mancini go if he doesn't get 4th? Only if Cook follows him, IMHO.

[Dazzacity]

Mancini was brought in to get 4th and if he doesnt then I want Mourinho....if we cant get Mourinho then stick with Mancini.

Brutal but fair Imo.

I was waiting for someone to mention targets.

Sven = Top half and got sacked
Hughes = 6th and was sacked whilst we were in 6th

Would Mancini go if he doesn't get 4th? Only if Cook follows him, IMHO.

But they changed Hughes' goal after he spent so much on players. Im sure they changed it to forth , which is fair.. On our form under Hughes, I think we can all agree that 4th dint look likely

[Mark Garrett]

A top 6 finish was my target at the start of the season and it remains so now. So as long as we do that, it's been a successful season.

We finished 10th last season and i don't care how much money is spent, to go from 10th to 4th in one season is very difficult and if we manage it, we will have had an unbelievable season.

We are building, we are improving and thats what we want - lets not expect too much too soon. Let's not forget, a top 6 finish this season would be the first time we've managed this since we came 5th in 91-92 season.

[LookMumImOnMCF.net]

Saying not getting 4th is a disappointment but is not the end of the world is crap.

So what if we finished fourth next season instead? How does that make not getting in this the end of the world?

Sick of living in the munichs shadow and Bacon face is right we are small minded if we carry on thinking that anything less than 4th wouldn't be a failure (he never actually said that but said we were small minded so we should think big and 4th is big).

No.

Small minded is wanting to finish fourth just to prove someone wrong. Small minded is not seeing the long term. Small minded is constantly comparing ourselves to United. Small minded is using a tragedy that happened over 50 years ago to refer to a football club.


I almost hate myself for being pulled in by your complete and utter bullshit, but you shouldn't have been allowed to get away with it for this long.

[btajim]

I was waiting for someone to mention targets.

Sven = Top half and got sacked
Hughes = 6th and was sacked whilst we were in 6th

Would Mancini go if he doesn't get 4th? Only if Cook follows him, IMHO.

But they changed Hughes' goal after he spent so much on players. Im sure they changed it to forth , which is fair.. On our form under Hughes, I think we can all agree that 4th dint look likely

You can't set a target and change it half way through the season. And everything like budget and transfer targets must have been agreed in advance. It's far more likely that they decided 4th was more realistic given the strength of the Squad and they appointed a man more likely to achieve it once the initial Wins had dried up. Either way, City don't stick with Managers. Royle, Keegan (allegedly told to piss off), Pearce, Sven, Hughes: All sacked.

I think the top 4 battle will be clearer after this weekend.

Edit: I've read the whole thing and would be happy with 5th and no major changes. We've barely been in 4th all season. Expecting it is unrealistic and is setting us up for disappointment.

[Vhero]

Saying not getting 4th is a disappointment but is not the end of the world is crap.

So what if we finished fourth next season instead? How does that make not getting in this the end of the world?

Sick of living in the munichs shadow and Bacon face is right we are small minded if we carry on thinking that anything less than 4th wouldn't be a failure (he never actually said that but said we were small minded so we should think big and 4th is big).

No.

Small minded is wanting to finish fourth just to prove someone wrong. Small minded is not seeing the long term. Small minded is constantly comparing ourselves to U***d. Small minded is using a tragedy that happened over 50 years ago to refer to a football club.


I almost hate myself for being pulled in by your complete and utter bullshit, but you shouldn't have been allowed to get away with it for this long.

WTF is that supposed to mean?? You really need to grow up mate and actually look at yourself and realise not every fucker in the world agrees with everything you say and think. That's not how life works.. So what if we don't agree on shit?? You think I shouldn't be allowed to post because we don't agree on the same ideas about the club and the way its going?? Your fucking deluded mate and your acting like a spoiled child who is used to getting his own way. Well guess what? I ain't about to fucking bend over and change who I am and how I think just because you (and probably a few more posters on here) don't like it.

Sick to death of people like you on here who give people shit because they disagree with you rather than just discuss. Why can't people just discuss and put there point across anymore without smacktalking other member and talking complete shit like that? Worst of all the constant name calling members get just because others don't agree with them it's an absolute joke.. Some people really need to look at themselves in a mirror and realise this is a fucking forum and I am expressing my opinion that is all it's not like the club is gonna do everything I say is it??

[brite blu sky]

I said in the beginning of the season that I'd be happy/satisfied with 5th and good push for 4th. We are certainly giving whoever finishes 4th a run for their money so I'll be satisfied. I haven't seen any reasons to change the targets. No big money has been splashed or anything like that since.

I also said 5th before the season but I also set the budget for our company and changed it after the first quarter due to changes within the industry...therefore I did a revised budget....very much like the Arabs did , hence getting rid of numbnuts.

4th it has to be and I see no reason to think otherwise.

Well Carl has a point here, if i read him correctly, that the owners changed the target to 4th after they decided to shell out on all the targets Hughes wanted at once. ( presumably here they sensed an urgency ? socrates' platini argument? ) personally i can't remember an official statement on that. I agree with Carl that organisations do revise their target upwards if circumstances demand/allow, i have been involved and argued for the same. However the demand for upping the anti has to respect the resources available and if need be invest.
Now i have two points. 1. When do we all agree that 4th was set as a target, with Hughes or Mancini ? and second on from that, if it was with Mancini then i think it was unfair because no major investment was made for extra resources.

( it is a bit wierd of an argument for me as i truly believe this set of players are capable of 3rd or above against current opposition in the Prem.. BUT only if we were not forming a team almost from scratch and had had a year or two to develop. So by that argument i fall on the owners as not being completely realistic if the demand is 4th or bust )

[Beefymcfc]

It will be an unmitigated disaster.................................for some!

For me, it is progress and will feel proud to achieved it in the right way. 15th, 14th, 9th, 10th, and then 5th or 6th is quite an achievement, regardless of how much is spent. You can't change a whole mentality overnight, and not only ours.

4th would be a massive achievement, 5th or 6th is no disgrace.

[Kladze]

When we were asked what was a reasonable target I said fifth and within shouting distance of fourth would do me, along with a good cup run. I seem to remember that most on here were of the same opinion.
The only disappointment in finishing outside the top four, for me, would be ending up behind Spurs and not Liverpool.


By the way, Christiano's mum has been assaulted :o

http://i.imgur.com/aY0sQ.gif

[gillie]

I still believe we WILLfinnish 4th.And one other thing if we dont just remember where we were 10 short years ago.

[Beefymcfc]

I still believe we WILL finnish 4th.And one other thing if we dont just remember where we were 10 short years ago.

I'd prefer an English fourth!

[ruralblue]

I won't be fucked off tp the point of suicide if we don't get that last spot, but yeah I will be a little disgruntled. Probably more so if it's just a point in it as then I will look back to the two months of back to back draws and think if only we didn't allow Fulham back into it or how the fuck did we not hammer Burnley at home?. If one of them 7 draws had been a win...... and so on and so on. Until I get to a point where I think 'ok we have just had the most excited season in years, a Summer of the world cup and the specualtion of how we will grow next year and what potential we have and the impact we have had.

Like others at the start of the season I thought 5th or 6th, but like someone else said targets change. Should Mancini lose his job if he doesn't get fourth??, well unless we stick with a manager for a while the riches of success will take longer to come.

rural

[Grob]

Considering Hughes's slow build approach was given the push for a proven man to come in, take the reigns and take us into the top 4, id be disappointed in Mancini failed to get us there and so would the higher ups i believe.

Not getting 4th would have a deflating effect on the club.

[Nick]

Part of me would be slightly disappointed. With the calibre of players we have now we should be challenging for titles. 5th would be a failure.

Though of course remembering the past and looking forward to our future, it's hard to stay too disappointed for long.

I hear this line of reasoning a lot and though I support our players I don't think it matches up with reality. Most of the big names that we've brought in have been second choice for top clubs (Tevez, Bridge, Toure, Vieira) or troubled/on their way out anyway (Adebayor). The couple of genuine starters that we poached from "smaller" clubs have had injury problems and/or hugely underperformed (Lescott, Santa Cruz). Our top performers were here last year and are not globally recognized worldbeaters by any stretch (Zabs, De Jong, Bellamy, Kompany). The only acquisition who has really fulfilled promise has had a couple of rough patches as well (Barry).

Given all of this, I actually think our squad right now worth about 4-6 place. In that sense we've overachieved and we're lucky to be in the mix for 4th.

BUT, if we don't get 4th I won't help but be disappointed because of the WAY that we arrived there:
- Liverpool's laughable season which won't happen too often
- Untd's last second winner and continued title challenge
- Losing out on 4th to Spurs!

Our squad at the moment is the kind of squad you can assemble with a good homegrown base plus some money. Champions League would allow us to add some recognized world class players and THEN we would be on our way for challenging for the league.

I agree with you mate. I think hes right IMO.

I'd be GUTTED if we didnt get fourth as it was in our hands. At the start of the season i expected 6th but privately wanted a push for 4th. Its more gutting if we didnt get it becasue of the other factors mentioned.

BUT; im sick of the arguement that we bought many class players.

The only genuine class players we have bought were robinho and tevez. Both around 30 million. Robinho was amazing in his first season. Tevez has scored nearly 30 goals in his first season. There signings I would say were successful (although robinho poses question marks)


The rest:
Ade = causes trouble / often lazy and was in reality our second choice to signing Eto (who just wanted the money anyway).
Toure and Lesscott are also what I would consider 'B' defenders. Although Lescott is younger and english and i do have high hopes for him. They were also back ups for John Terry (at the time i wanted lescott more, as again he would have been another mercenary. Imagine the problems we could have had if we hit a bad spell with terry and eto in the team).

I almost forgot; Barry. IMO he comes after tevez as our other big player because he was amazing last season, young, english and wanted by liverpool who were more of a force at the time.

January:
AJ: not as big a signing as any of the above, but you can argue he could be one of the best signings as he genuinely has the hunger to be successful with the club (regardless of his poor show on saturday).

Our squad is not capable of winning the league IMO. Our two best players last season have dissappeared. Our defence is dodgy; and our most consistent players are still the lads that put 110% in every game and were here before the take over e.g. de jong, kompany. On saturday there was nobody i was happy to come off the bench and change the game. SWP and Stevie really need to sort themselves out; I just dunno what has gone wrong with stevie.

[simon12]

Well if the 2 lists that`ve been drawn up for purchases, depending if we qualify for CL or not, I`d be gutted if we don`t, now I`ve seen them. Even tho I do understand they have to agree to join/be sold etc. I also think we`ve been THAT close it`ll be deflating for everyone.

[walmai]

From afar, it didn't seem to me that changing to Mancini actually improved your prospects of 4th place. It was a decent bet when Hughes was in control and the odds haven't altered massively.

I'd say that progress is marked not by elevation into CL in one leap but a cup, as a marker, before consolidation in repeated top 6 finishes. The regularity of qualification for CL on a season in, season out basis is based on domestic supremacy, or at least membership at the top table of the domestic set up.

And, given that Everton, on a single occasion have recently managed to break the hegemony, you've got to be able to do well in both domestic and European competition to stand a chance of CL year after year.

Chelsea and Arsenal were reasonably dominant in the domestic set up before they ousted Newcastle and Leeds from firstly the upper echelons and thereafter repeated CL qualification.

I'd be disappointed to come away from this season - if I were a blue - with nothing at all, but that's not going to happen. I'd then be satisfied with a bit of stability with the squad progressing on 3 or 4 fronts. You've come pretty close to a Wembley Final and top 4 and could obtain one of those. So long as the money's there to strengthen whenever needed, the only way is up.