Belief

[Douglas Higginbottom]

If you read or even worse believe all that's in the press you would think that there isn't 100% unity within the players with regard to Mancini and his methods.They try to get their digs in at every turn to undermine the club and the manager. Basically we have to take it on the chin and live with it but THE most important thing City could do was to show very early in the season that we mean business.

We had a tough start with Spurs away and the the scousers at COMS with a banana skin in the middle in Romania. At Spurs we had our luck but as the game wore on we got to grips with it and got a great point. Not many will leave WHL with anything.Then a controlled away europa performance and a nice little win and now tonight.

I don't think we should get carried away by tonight's great win. LPool were poor and we made sure they were with a very good professional performance from the whole team. It wasn't a great attacking spectacle but that doesn't matteras it was right for the game. The press haven't woken up yet to the fact that Yaya isn't there to play a defensive midfield role but that will come.

Most of all though I think this start and tonight especially will have given belief even to those doubters that we are the real deal.The players will surely reflect on this with some pride and realise that, even though we can play much much better in an attacking sense with more flair shown , chances created etc that when it's needed the team can come together and control games like we havent done before.

As I said nothing to get carried away about yet ( and let's face it that first half v Spurs was scary) as we need to do this consistenly over a long period but it's coming together.Last year against the better teams we were poor. 4 points out of the first 2 tough games and now for Sunderland to prove we are not dreaming.

[dikdik]

Please God we're not dreaming.

[The Man In Blue]

when i think about this team when they have had three months playing together i have to slap myself.

[gillie]

4 Points is better than 3.

[pepsi_dave]

Fair points there doug.... but touching on one of them, I had a discussion with a rag taxi driver tonight, one of his gambits was that we will play 3 holding midfielders, so I asked him to name them..... guess what his response was.... Barry, De Jong and Toure..... at that point I laughed, and said, so you've named one of them, who are the other two? Looking very bemused, I ripped into him saying "I'm fed up of all this 3 holding midfielders bollocks, de jong is our holding midfielder, the others are box to box players, NOT holding midfielders etc etc......."

Its something that at the moment really irks me, the press are more than happy to point out that just because we have players who can play the holding role, and the fact that the do play alongside the holding midfielder, that we set up with 3 DMs and we set up very negatively!!! In reality we all know that this isnt the case, but that doesnt stop it really pissing me off..... i'm no journo, nor am I a very well educated sports writer, but even I can see the flaws in what most of the so called "journos" et al, insist on spouting about city's negative tactics!!!

I'll tell you what though, if thats a team consisting of 11 mercenaries who are playing like strangers, I dread to think what our "team" are capapble of once they "gel" and "are playing like a team" etc.

Tonight was one way of sticking one up the press..... but what will they try next to unsettle us!!!

[Dronny]

Fair points there doug.... but touching on one of them, I had a discussion with a rag taxi driver tonight, one of his gambits was that we will play 3 holding midfielders, so I asked him to name them..... guess what his response was.... Barry, De Jong and Toure..... at that point I laughed, and said, so you've named one of them, who are the other two? Looking very bemused, I ripped into him saying "I'm fed up of all this 3 holding midfielders bollocks, de jong is our holding midfielder, the others are box to box players, NOT holding midfielders etc etc......."

Its something that at the moment really irks me, the press are more than happy to point out that just because we have players who can play the holding role, and the fact that the do play alongside the holding midfielder, that we set up with 3 DMs and we set up very negatively!!! In reality we all know that this isnt the case, but that doesnt stop it really pissing me off..... i'm no journo, nor am I a very well educated sports writer, but even I can see the flaws in what most of the so called "journos" et al, insist on spouting about city's negative tactics!!!

I'll tell you what though, if thats a team consisting of 11 mercenaries who are playing like strangers, I dread to think what our "team" are capapble of once they "gel" and "are playing like a team" etc.

Tonight was one way of sticking one up the press..... but what will they try next to unsettle us!!!

Count the number of bodies that were flying about when Joe made the double save, these boys are here for more than the money.

[brite blu sky]

Count the number of bodies that were flying about when Joe made the double save, these boys are here for more than the money.

this x3

[Ted Hughes]

That was one of the most vigourous midfield 'ratting' displays since the old Joe Royle, 2nd div days but the difference being we played football too. We can pick teams that will play with a lot more flair & will do I'm sure, but I recon the side we put out tonight will have scared the establishment more than if we'd played all the flair players & had some Keegan style massacre, because we were efficient & we fought like fuck. That was the part they thought we couldn't do.

It's one thing winning games when all the Elano's Ireland's & Robinho's turn it on, but everyone knows that the lazy bastards will just cave in the week after. We now have the ability to win games without those type of players if we want to but we have plenty of them to provide as much flair as we need.

The test now, imo, is to see what happens when we're a goal behind. If we can come back from behind & win games, we're already on track to be title challengers.

Mancini wiped the floor with Woy tonight too.

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

I have to say that four points out of these first two fixtures is great start point wise. The way I see it, we have 11 really hard fixtures (the usual suspects + Tottenham + Villa away. To have two of those out of the way and four points on the bag is delightful.

What's most important, we were coming together as a team yesterday and after sticky start played some pretty nice football.

[john68]

The point about caution is well made Doug. We don't have to go too far back to remember our sprint start under Sven then the gradual slowing down to a slower pace.
The difference this time is that the quality of player we have, the depth of quality in the squad to replace tired bodies and the options that those beeter quality players offer the management should mean that we can still keep pace at the top for the whole season.

With regard to squad unity, there is no doubt that the media are taking every opportunity to destabilise us. That said, there are rumblings coming from other sources close to the club that do echo player tensions.
I don't think it is too much to worry about and I think it is only to be expected, considering the enormous changes that have taken place at City. Some players such as Given will not be happy at being relegated and only the other night I heard about Ade being upset at being on the bench. As time goes on and our squad build up personal relationships and stronger bonds, this problem should ease.

We are lucky that on tonight's showing, not withstanding any personal tensions, the players were proffessional enough to be a team on the pitch.

[Slim]

The point about caution is well made Doug. We don't have to go too far back to remember our sprint start under Sven then the gradual slowing down to a slower pace.
The difference this time is that the quality of player we have, the depth of quality in the squad to replace tired bodies and the options that those beeter quality players offer the management should mean that we can still keep pace at the top for the whole season.

With regard to squad unity, there is no doubt that the media are taking every opportunity to destabilise us. That said, there are rumblings coming from other sources close to the club that do echo player tensions.
I don't think it is too much to worry about and I think it is only to be expected, considering the enormous changes that have taken place at City. Some players such as Given will not be happy at being relegated and only the other night I heard about Ade being upset at being on the bench. As time goes on and our squad build up personal relationships and stronger bonds, this problem should ease.

We are lucky that on tonight's showing, not withstanding any personal tensions, the players were proffessional enough to be a team on the pitch.

I think we have enough games now to satisfy two keepers though, I was slightly surprised that Hart started midweek and Ade will probably be playing at least 90 minutes a week until Christmas. However in the league right now, certainly Hart has not only earned his spot, he has justified his selection.

As for depth, you could pretty much make another competitive team out of the players who didn't start tonight. Given, Kolarov, Boateng, SWP, Silva, Vieira, Ade, Balotelli all wouldn't look out of place in a top half side.

And what exactly is "beeter quality players"? Some sort of vegan footballers?

[Trautmann]

I thought tonight was a watershed night for this club. I think we have now entered the ranks of the elite. I'm not expecting the premiership title yet, but we will be a serious contender with a good shot at being top 4. There was something silky and unruffled about our play that I have never seen before. And look at who is on the bench, yet to be used....

[mcfc1632]

Good points Doug - we do need to be right behind CITY - because everyone will want us to fail

Re: "The press haven't woken up yet to the fact that Yaya isn't there to play a defensive midfield role but that will come...."

Well same could be said for a lot on here - Ya Ya is so much more - the way he hardly ever loses the ball - sprays it around left and right - it brings so much calmness and encourages the likes of Barry to play a better possession game - he becomes the natural outlet and can link defence to attack - he was my choice for captain - I just hope he stays injury free

Nigel is our only 'out and out DM and just look at the shift he put in - the media have been wanking over that scum ginger twat - do you think he would have impressed against us? - would he have been allowed the freedom of the park?? - don't think so!!

[john68]

Slim,
I am amazed at your foreign language deficiencies mate...It's obviously Mancini speak..."They beeter da scousers 3-0"...erm!!!

I agree Trautmann, I too am not expecting the Premiership title yet. I am quite happy to wait until the other 36 games have been played...:-)

[irblinx]

Some players such as Given will not be happy at being relegated and only the other night I heard about Ade being upset at being on the bench

Exactly as he should feel about that, what he said in interview the other day was that he wasn't happy to be on the bench so spoke to Mancini about and now he is happy with what he was told.

We are lucky that on tonight's showing, not withstanding any personal tensions, the players were proffessional enough to be a team on the pitch.

I don't think luck had anything to do with it, well drilled and well organised and playing with the belief that they can be winners, a heady combination.

I think it is also fair to say that despite all the talk of his supposed acumen in the transfer market when he came, most of the signings that Hughes made are starting to pale when compared to the latest recruits. The good ones, such as Barry, will hopefully raise their game but a few might well go the way of all the Sven signings.

[Slim]

Slim,
I am amazed at your foreign language deficiencies mate...It's obviously Mancini speak..."They beeter da scousers 3-0"...erm!!!

I agree Trautmann, I too am not expecting the Premiership title yet. I am quite happy to wait until the other 36 games have been played...:-)

That's my cobber.

TITLE THIS FUCKING SEASON!

Fuck gelling, fuck working out the system, do that as we walk the fucking trophy back to Maine Road!

[Ted Hughes]

Some players such as Given will not be happy at being relegated and only the other night I heard about Ade being upset at being on the bench

Exactly as he should feel about that, what he said in interview the other day was that he wasn't happy to be on the bench so spoke to Mancini about and now he is happy with what he was told.

We are lucky that on tonight's showing, not withstanding any personal tensions, the players were proffessional enough to be a team on the pitch.

I don't think luck had anything to do with it, well drilled and well organised and playing with the belief that they can be winners, a heady combination.

I think it is also fair to say that despite all the talk of his supposed acumen in the transfer market when he came, most of the signings that Hughes made are starting to pale when compared to the latest recruits. The good ones, such as Barry, will hopefully raise their game but a few might well go the way of all the Sven signings.

Actually the opposite is true as Tevez, DeJong, Kompany & Barry were outstanding & Lescott did an excellent job at left back. There's no need to start trying to score points when we're gelling together a great team from a mixture of players signed by various managers & including 1 or 2 home grown players too. Lets just enjoy it. If we want to be clever about it, the 2 best value signings have been engineered by Pearce & Marwood anyway.

[Slim]

Some players such as Given will not be happy at being relegated and only the other night I heard about Ade being upset at being on the bench

Exactly as he should feel about that, what he said in interview the other day was that he wasn't happy to be on the bench so spoke to Mancini about and now he is happy with what he was told.

We are lucky that on tonight's showing, not withstanding any personal tensions, the players were proffessional enough to be a team on the pitch.

I don't think luck had anything to do with it, well drilled and well organised and playing with the belief that they can be winners, a heady combination.

I think it is also fair to say that despite all the talk of his supposed acumen in the transfer market when he came, most of the signings that Hughes made are starting to pale when compared to the latest recruits. The good ones, such as Barry, will hopefully raise their game but a few might well go the way of all the Sven signings.

Actually the opposite is true as Tevez, DeJong, Kompany & Barry were outstanding & Lescott did an excellent job at left back. There's no need to start trying to score points when we're gelling together a great team from a mixture of players signed by various managers & including 1 or 2 home grown players too. Lets just enjoy it. If we want to be clever about it, the 2 best value signings have been engineered by Pearce & Marwood anyway.

Yeah, but Samaras plays for Celtic now.

[avoidconfusion]

I think the Sheikh needs to be at every game from now on, he is obviously a lucky charm!

[Ted Hughes]

Some players such as Given will not be happy at being relegated and only the other night I heard about Ade being upset at being on the bench

Exactly as he should feel about that, what he said in interview the other day was that he wasn't happy to be on the bench so spoke to Mancini about and now he is happy with what he was told.

We are lucky that on tonight's showing, not withstanding any personal tensions, the players were proffessional enough to be a team on the pitch.

I don't think luck had anything to do with it, well drilled and well organised and playing with the belief that they can be winners, a heady combination.

I think it is also fair to say that despite all the talk of his supposed acumen in the transfer market when he came, most of the signings that Hughes made are starting to pale when compared to the latest recruits. The good ones, such as Barry, will hopefully raise their game but a few might well go the way of all the Sven signings.

Actually the opposite is true as Tevez, DeJong, Kompany & Barry were outstanding & Lescott did an excellent job at left back. There's no need to start trying to score points when we're gelling together a great team from a mixture of players signed by various managers & including 1 or 2 home grown players too. Lets just enjoy it. If we want to be clever about it, the 2 best value signings have been engineered by Pearce & Marwood anyway.

Yeah, but Samaras plays for Celtic now.

Those were the days.