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| |  Posted 05/10/2006 14:00:06 | |
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Premiership Poster
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Last Login: 02/05/2008 09:58:40
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| Slow, steady and sensible wins the race. You don't need buckets of cash to land the best players. How much did Fabregas cost Arsenal? For that matter how much did Henry or Vieira cost them? For the cost of a SWP you could have Johnson, Rossicky and Duff (ok, wages are an issue, but you get my point). A canny manager can build a strong squad with a fraction of the funding the likes of Utd and Liverpool have. Wages for City are only such a big issue right now because of the financial situation we find ourselves in. We have a fantastic stadium with a pretty big capacity. We have the means when debt free to pay wages (without being silly) to attract better players. Of course, you also need to offer European football in order to attract the best players and that has to be the first target. So how do we get to that stage from where we are now? Well, it ain't all that difficult, as far as I can see...
This season we will be fine. No relegation worries here. We have a reasonable squad, a blend of youth and experience that should see us finish somehwere mid to lower table, but nothing to get stressed over. What happens next summer is most important however. We will get nowhere fast if we continue to ship out and ship in players of a similar standard. For me consistency is important and we wont achieve that making unecessary changes to the squad. As I see it, the only definite changes required next summer are Distin, Hamman (yep, reckon so), Sinclair and Dickov. We also need a permanent solution on the left wing and something more at left back. 6 players in, and probably little more than £5m to spend. So more free and loan signings required, but I would like to see at least one quality player brought in, of a young enough age for them to grow with the squad we are trying to build. i.e. another Samaras. Of the squad we already own, I reckon we have a few positions covered long term with the quality required to challenge for European football. GK is covered, be it any of the four, Dunne will be around for a few years to come, Richards is undoubted quality, Joey gets better with every game and Samaras is going to be special. Thus we already have the spine of the team sorted out. All thats required now is Wenger like transfer dealings whereby we can build around that spine on a very small budget. Never overstretching ourselves. So long as we stick the guidelines we should see ourselves established in the top ten, if not top 6 (ala Bolton) within a few seasons. By then one would hope the debt will be much reduced enabling us to spend a little more each year (and only a little mind) and free up a little more on wages also. Now we may lose one or two players along the way, as we did SWP, but so long as we don't flog them cheaply and replace them with sub standard players, then it's no bad thing as that will serve to speed the process along a little. Sooner rather than later we will have a balanced squad, both in terms of symmetry and quality. By quality I mean we will have a strong first 11 throughout, with decent back up. Now, it is most important we don't do what Spurs seem to be doing and buying and selling like Harry Redknapp on speed. When we have a good balance, the only players you then need to add are replacements for any that have left (retired or sold) and the addition of one or two quality signings that ensure the steady progress you desire. Look at Bolton and Everton for examples of this. Both are now in a position of being able to spend £8m on strikers without overstretching themselves. Thats the position we need to get ourselves in. Financially sound and able to cough up a few million each year so long as it's all within budget. Of course you need a manager capable of making the right signings, but by the time City are in that position I think we will know one way or the other how good SP is going to be. It's still too early to judge SP. Rightly or wrongly he's been chucked in at the deep end and is still learning his trade. Hopefully he's learning from his mistakes and we wont suffer anything disasterous in the meantime. Every manager has to go through it. No one gets it right first time all the time. The trouble for SP is that his mistakes are highlighted more because they happen in the Premiership. Martin O'Neill had his teething problems at Wycombe. If SP isn't it, then we get the right man in at this point. Anyway, back to the plan...
Once we have ourselves in a similar state to what Everton are in now, it's really just a case of keeping the squad together, making additions here and there when you can and taking your opportunity when it comes along. Everton didn't capitalise on their opportunity as they went out of the CL qualifiers. Spurs bottled it last season and missed theirs. That brings me to a most important factor in all this, the psychology. It seems to me we have a very defeatist attitude in this country. It's a peculiar thing as we see with the national team we all think England can win the WC before the tournament begins, but a game and a disappointing performance in and its all doom and gloom. City fans are the epitome of this. I believe Spurs threw away their opportunity last season, as Everton almost threw away theirs the season before, because they didn't believe enough in themselves. All we 'lesser' teams have it drummed into us so much that we are inferior and that we have little chance of breaking the quadropoly (new word?  ) that we are beaten before we've even begun. I don't believe the same is true in Spain. They seem to have new teams qualifying for the CL each season. Their league is much more competitive than ours and this is a country who we previously scorned for having a duopoly. Even Scottish football is more open than ours these days. For further evidence look at the CL. I thought the advent of this format would mean the days of a PSV or Steau Bucherest or Porto winning the top European competion were over. How wrong was I? Ok, so it's a knock out and any team can win a knock out on their day, but if so, how come the FA Cup is dominated these days by the same four teams that dominate the league? Because of our attitude, thats how. City fans are the kings of negativity. We revel in it. Is it any wonder our team continually lets us down when secretely thats what we all hope for, just so we can have a whinge and a moan. We thrive on defeat, probably because, like someone who spurns love for fear of rejection, we fear the disappointment of having allowed ourselves to hope and dream only for those ambitions not to be realised. Well, I'm telling you it's ok to hope and dream, cos one day it WILL happen. It IS possible, as I hope I'm proving to you right now.
Now, Everton are in a position to add one or two quality players a season without putting their finances in peril. Rossicky cost Arsenal £7m. Duff cost Newcastle the same. World Class doesn't have to mean a £30m price tag. Ok, wages are an issue, but not every player is a money grabbing mercenary. The right manager will get the right players and wont be held to ransom. I'm sure Rossicky could have got more money had he gone elsewhere. He's just one example. So, we are now aiming for the CL. Qualify for that a couple of years running and we are well on our way to firmly establishing ourselves in the top 6. Regular European football will attract some very good players. However, we must always be mindful of the budget. NEVER spend more than you can afford. No speculation for accumulation. Once we have ourselves in this position, and the name Manchester City is known throughout Europe we will become a force to be reckoned with. Then it's down to luck. Keep the kids coming through, keep making the right signings, keep the faith and one day it will all come together. We'll never have a period of domination like Liverpool or Utd, but we will win the league once, at least, within the next three decades so long as we adhere to the plan. I promise.I don't go to watch City to be entertained. Not least cos I don't find losing a game very entertaining. I don't go for the sense of belonging to a community, although I do enjoy the feeling of sharing a common cause. But only if that common cause is that one day we will all know what it is like to support the champions of England. I don't want to share in the pessimism and defeatism and the prospect of City never fulfilling my dreams. I want to be proved right that the long wait makes it all worth while. I want to celebrate with my family and friends and just for once to wear a City shirt without thinking other people see me as some kind of masochist. And, tbf, what do I have to lose if I carry on hoping and it doesn't happen before I die? I'll not know any better then anyway. Nothing to lose and so much to gain by a positive attitude, and THAT is why I choose to have one.
I'm not interested in any negative response to this post. Not interested in being told I'm living in a fantasy world. If you've nothing constructive or positive to say then you can stay well clear, as someone who is willing to just accept their fate and are happy just go on feeling sorry for themselves is not someone I want to converse with. It displays a distinct lack of imagination that frankly I cannot fathom.
Sometimes I wish that I could stop you from talking when I hear the silly things that you say |
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| | | Posted 05/10/2006 14:03:06 | |
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Premiership Poster
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| Could you summarize all that in 10 words as I can't be arsed to read it? 
Si thi tha nos |
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| | | Posted 05/10/2006 14:09:34 | |
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Premiership Poster
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Last Login: 02/05/2008 09:58:40
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| You'd better stick to the apathy thread then.
Sometimes I wish that I could stop you from talking when I hear the silly things that you say |
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| | | Posted 05/10/2006 14:13:45 | |
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Premiership Poster
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Last Login: 02/05/2008 20:29:16
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| Has that been works in progress for last 3 months or did you steal it from elsewhere?
Heck, not sure where to start to reply...
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~ Listen to the tales and romanticise, how we follow the path of the hero. |
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| | | Posted 05/10/2006 14:17:45 | |
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| Dannys_studs (05/10/2006)
Has that been works in progress for last 3 months or did you steal it from elsewhere?
Heck, not sure where to start to reply...Just sommat I knocked up over lunch!
Sometimes I wish that I could stop you from talking when I hear the silly things that you say |
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| | | Posted 05/10/2006 14:19:34 | |
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Premiership Poster
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Last Login: 12/05/2008 14:08:36
Posts: 1,640, Visits: 1,435 |
| | Here's sommat I knocked up over lunch 
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| | | Posted 05/10/2006 14:36:37 | |
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Premiership Poster
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Last Login: 02/05/2008 09:58:40
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| NoddytheBoltonBlue (05/10/2006)
Here's sommat I knocked up over lunch
Sister?
Sometimes I wish that I could stop you from talking when I hear the silly things that you say |
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| | | Posted 05/10/2006 14:39:34 | |
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Second Division Poster
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| Hope you have got it right BU.Most people want to see massive success tomorrow that won't happen.Hence I guess the bitching and screaming??I too don't go to COMS to be solely entertained, I would like to be but I prefer to see success and sometimes that success may well be a 0-0 depending on the team and circumstance after all a point won is a point won.I still can't believe the comments from some on this board after the 2-0 win against WHU.I only hope we can hold on to the quality we have while a few of the youth mature and continue the process of growth and consolidation as a team challenging for Europe rather than one potentially clinging on to the middle reaches of the table. Change as you describe it will take time. I would like to think SP is the man to evolve with his team also.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------PB more irritating than Cilit Bang and Bassman.
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| | | Posted 05/10/2006 14:40:12 | |
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Premiership Poster
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Last Login: 12/05/2008 14:08:36
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| Born Unlucky (05/10/2006)
NoddytheBoltonBlue (05/10/2006)
Here's sommat I knocked up over lunch
Sister? That's the style down your way isn't it mate? We stick to cousins up here
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| | | Posted 05/10/2006 14:57:11 | |
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