Aleksandar Kolarov

[Lancet Fluke]

I assume Clichy wanted to give it a season under Pep and see what transpired just like a number of others who ended up leaving on frees this summer. Nothing wrong with that, they honoured their contracts, gave it a year under Pep, realised they weren't in his long term plans as first choice so left. As for this Kolarov business, hope it is true as it will mean we are definitely in for a centre back but I will believe he has gone once the club tell me because there have been a number of summers where I thought he couldn't possibly survive the cull but he's always there again at the start of the next season.

 

[bluealf]

Danny Mills milked his contract, Wayne Bridge milked his contract, Nigel fucking Clough milked his contract, Clichy did not.

Next puzzle solved shortly.

 

[PannickAtTheDisco]

He wasn't capable of performing at a level comparitive to that contract.

I said it mid season when he was costing us points for fun, as much as I despise rat face, at least he was man enough to realise when he was hurting the rags and retired on the spot. Clichy was happy to turn up every week and have a shocker. If Aleks walks, it's an admission by him that he isn't up to the level required and he's happy to play somewhere he will be good enough...it's an admirable stance if that's the case as we win as does he. I wouldn't be surprised to see the club allow him to leave for free as a gesture of goodwill for that reason.

why should Clichy renege on a contract just because we don't fancy him anymore? that's our problem.

 

[Colin Bells Boots]

Danny Mills milked his contract, Wayne Bridge milked his contract, Nigel fucking Clough milked his contract, Clichy did not.


Totally agree .

 

[Cityfan]

Danny Mills milked his contract, Wayne Bridge milked his contract, Nigel fucking Clough milked his contract, Clichy did not.

Next puzzle solved shortly.

This, Clichy played 39 games in the last season of his contract he might not have been the best player but Pep clearly thought there was no one better in his position on our books.
(And whisper it quietly but he did actually have one or two pretty good games amongst them)

 

[Lancet Fluke]

Danny Mills milked his contract, Wayne Bridge milked his contract, Nigel fucking Clough milked his contract, Clichy did not.

Next puzzle solved shortly.

I think it is difficult to get too worked up about any player playing until the end of his contract and then leaving. It is just players looking after themselves. What I would say though is that those you mention who we would desperately have wanted to get rid of but stick around and take the wages or those, like Milner, who we want to sign a contract extension but won't and walk away on a free, leave a bit of a sour taste. It is technically fine but it doesn't feel terribly honourable. In the case of someone like Clichy (and a few others this summer), it just doesn't feel like either of those situations at all to me. I think it suited all parties for them to stay till the end of their contracts and then go this summer with our thanks.

 

[ninjamonkey]

We had no choice but to play him once we realised we were stuck with him and Aleks for last year. If a bid came in we'd have bit their hands off, but no one was bidding for that player on that contract, and he was happy to stay for 12 more months for that very reason. Quality certainly didn't come into the conversation.

Absolute bollocks. You can question his quality if you want (i personally think he's been a very good servant for the club if not spectacular) but the guy put the effort in every week. "we had no choice but to play him." we did have a choice, we had several. We had other options in that position and there was nothing stopping us replacing him at any time. Pep and managers before him in previous seasons obviously felt he'd be adequate in that position and there was other more pressing areas of the pitch to address. I've no idea how you can possibly blame Clichy for the contract he was on. The club choose to give him that contract, If somebody offered you an over inflated sum of money to do a job, would you turn around and say the job i'm doing doesn't warrant you paying me this much, have some of it back?

Clichy wasn't a Winston Bogarde where he sat on his arse for years doing nothing earning a wedge and refusing to leave. He was consistently first choice left back in title winning seasons and was very much a big part of the squad. Suggesting he somehow should have asked to leave because fans deem him not good enough despite him being consistently picked by several managers is one of the most ridiculous things i've heard for a while. And this is bluemoon...

 

[oakiecokie]

Absolute bollocks. You can question his quality if you want (i personally think he's been a very good servant for the club if not spectacular) but the guy put the effort in every week. "we had no choice but to play him." we did have a choice, we had several. We had other options in that position and there was nothing stopping us replacing him at any time. Pep and managers before him in previous seasons obviously felt he'd be adequate in that position and there was other more pressing areas of the pitch to address. I've no idea how you can possibly blame Clichy for the contract he was on. The club choose to give him that contract, If somebody offered you an over inflated sum of money to do a job, would you turn around and say the job i'm doing doesn't warrant you paying me this much, have some of it back?

Clichy wasn't a Winston Bogarde where he sat on his arse for years doing nothing earning a wedge and refusing to leave. He was consistently first choice left back in title winning seasons and was very much a big part of the squad. Suggesting he somehow should have asked to leave because fans deem him not good enough despite him being consistently picked by several managers is one of the most ridiculous things i've heard for a while. And this is bluemoon...

A fucking big fat +1.

 

[Cityfan]

He wasn't capable of performing at a level comparitive to that contract.

I said it mid season when he was costing us points for fun, as much as I despise rat face, at least he was man enough to realise when he was hurting the rags and retired on the spot. Clichy was happy to turn up every week and have a shocker. If Aleks walks, it's an admission by him that he isn't up to the level required and he's happy to play somewhere he will be good enough...it's an admirable stance if that's the case as we win as does he. I wouldn't be surprised to see the club allow him to leave for free as a gesture of goodwill for that reason.

As a matter of interest do you feel the same way about Zab?

 

[franksinatra]

Absolute bollocks. You can question his quality if you want (i personally think he's been a very good servant for the club if not spectacular) but the guy put the effort in every week. "we had no choice but to play him." we did have a choice, we had several. We had other options in that position and there was nothing stopping us replacing him at any time. Pep and managers before him in previous seasons obviously felt he'd be adequate in that position and there was other more pressing areas of the pitch to address. I've no idea how you can possibly blame Clichy for the contract he was on. The club choose to give him that contract, If somebody offered you an over inflated sum of money to do a job, would you turn around and say the job i'm doing doesn't warrant you paying me this much, have some of it back?

Clichy wasn't a Winston Bogarde where he sat on his arse for years doing nothing earning a wedge and refusing to leave. He was consistently first choice left back in title winning seasons and was very much a big part of the squad. Suggesting he somehow should have asked to leave because fans deem him not good enough despite him being consistently picked by several managers is one of the most ridiculous things i've heard for a while. And this is bluemoon...

The fullbacks and keeper have been conveniently blamed for all the failings of last season as it prevents any criticism of the manager, established players which for some is to uncomfortable.

Neither Kolo or Clichy let us down last season. Yes granted their are better players in that position on the market but they are certainly not the reasons for our failing to mount a serious title challenge.

 

[ADegenerate]

Hi everyone,
I'm a Besiktas fan and i've just heard about on social media that kolarov is about to move istanbul.
We were chasing him last year this time, but then we decided to buy adriano correira from barca, even i wanted kolarov more.
But the news about him is little bit strange. Cos we already have adriano and turkish national team left back caner erkin.
And also pepe from r.madrid is quite close to us. So we have no need for cb.
And we are trying to cope with ffp that means buying a player is not allowed till we sell.
But, there are few things which it makes this transfer rumour come true.
Few chinese teams chases adriano, who played well last season. Even he isnt quite volunteer.
And as far as i read your comments, city may release him free.
Dusko tosic, who is serbian national and a good friend of kolarov, may a significant factor for him to come besiktas.
Thats all about kolarav from turkish side. Wish you and Bournemouth (where i live for a year) good luck for next season.
By the way, i need to say something about ederson. I watched him against us in cl matches, one of which was live in stadium, he is the gk who has strongest feet i have ever seen.
His goal kicks were like cross inside our penalty area.
It was unbelievable.
Even i m not sure of his gk skills, his feet are perfect.

Thanks for the Insight.

 

[schfc6]

I assume Clichy wanted to give it a season under Pep and see what transpired just like a number of others who ended up leaving on frees this summer. Nothing wrong with that, they honoured their contracts, gave it a year under Pep, realised they weren't in his long term plans as first choice so left. As for this Kolarov business, hope it is true as it will mean we are definitely in for a centre back but I will believe he has gone once the club tell me because there have been a number of summers where I thought he couldn't possibly survive the cull but he's always there again at the start of the next season.

I can assure you that Clichy was desperate to play under Pep. He made radical changes to his lifestyle in order to be in the best condition possible.
He returned to pre season as fit as ever and I'm told his performance stats were as high as they've been at City.
Pep was also very impressed with levels of fitness & aptitude.
I know the above as fact.

My opinion though, is Clichy was trying far too hard to adapt and simply struggled.
I know he was desperate for a contract extension and loves the place, but I just don't think he was frankly good enough to be what Pep wanted and in a desperate attempt to developer he forgot was he was best at.
Like always though, after a solid run of games he started to show his best form.
He has never flourished when rotated.

As you say, he didn't milk us, he tried his best and sadly that wasn't good enough.

Regards Kolarov, I also know first hand that Pep was incredibly impressed by his fitness and devotion. I think his time may be up, but I believe his and Gael's efforts impressed Pep and earned them a stay.

Neither were the best in the business but at times in their careers with us they were very good and offered plenty.

 

[BlueAnorak]

The fullbacks and keeper have been conveniently blamed for all the failings of last season as it prevents any criticism of the manager, established players which for some is to uncomfortable.

Neither Kolo or Clichy let us down last season. Yes granted their are better players in that position on the market but they are certainly not the reasons for our failing to mount a serious title challenge.

Yes they did let us down at left back. Regularly in fact. Not their fault though as age is a killer in professional sport and they each have lost a yard or two of peace.

 

[Thaksinssoldier]

As a matter of interest do you feel the same way about Zab?

Good question and a toughie, but there's two big differences. 1. Zab wasn't put in a position to look as bad as Clichy was. By Jan he was effectively 3rd choice RB, and 2. We weren't close to as weak to on that side(but we were weak) as we were at LB. LB wasn't even championship level last year. Plus Zab did the honourable thing and announced to th club his intention to leave. Clichy said sweet fuck all and sat there praying for an extended contract, when anyone worth their salt could tell you he wasn't up to th job.

This defending him are either blind or clinging on to the Gael Clichy of 2011, who was a classy little player. What we had last year was a parody of that player.

I can't wait to see the change new lb's will make to us.

 

[adrianr]

Yes they did let us down at left back. Regularly in fact. Not their fault though as age is a killer in professional sport and they each have lost a yard or two of peace.

Which I reckon just about puts Kolarov in minus figures.

 

[simon23]

Ive never been a fan of Kolarov at all....at fullback he is awful...he cant defend, has no pace, is poor in the tackle (which is more frustrating with his fake hardman persona that he gives off) and is poor at defending the back post. He has no right foot whatsoever and often slows the forward movement of the ball as he has to turn back and play the ball backwards if the ball up the line or long diagonal isn't on. He has no confidence in his right foot to play the pass inside.

At centre half he was improved but all the other options we have are better...his passing between the lines was good (as long as he is on his left foot).

His crossing has always been overrated. he has the capability and sometime does deliver world class crosses BUT he also misplaces, or hits them too hard quite a bit...in short he isn't consistent but he is made to look better by the fact that we have had no one else until very recently.

If he goes I for one will be quite happy. I just hope his replacement can defend better than he can......

 

[Lancet Fluke]

Ive never been a fan of Kolarov at all....at fullback he is awful...he cant defend, has no pace, is poor in the tackle (which is more frustrating with his fake hardman persona that he gives off) and is poor at defending the back post. He has no right foot whatsoever and often slows the forward movement of the ball as he has to turn back and play the ball backwards if the ball up the line or long diagonal isn't on. He has no confidence in his right foot to play the pass inside.

At centre half he was improved but all the other options we have are better...his passing between the lines was good (as long as he is on his left foot).

His crossing has always been overrated. he has the capability and sometime does deliver world class crosses BUT he also misplaces, or hits them too hard quite a bit...in short he isn't consistent but he is made to look better by the fact that we have had no one else until very recently.

If he goes I for one will be quite happy. I just hope his replacement can defend better than he can......

Agreed, he has been a liability for the vast majority of his time at City. Usually each season putting together a run of 5 or 6 decent performances to save himself from being ditched after months of being consistently rubbish. Last season people seemed to be raving about his distribution from CB but in the second half of the season he had increasingly reverted back to just blasting the ball aimlessly up field. If we have genuine pretentions to be one of the top teams in Europe under Pep then he's nowhere near the level required imo.

 

[abu13]

He was a key part in our recent success, he scored some important goals for us during his time as well. I don't understand why people have a pop at our own players but at the end of the day there are now better options available to us and I wish him all the best for the future.

 

[franksinatra]

Agreed, he has been a liability for the vast majority of his time at City. Usually each season putting together a run of 5 or 6 decent performances to save himself from being ditched after months of being consistently rubbish. Last season people seemed to be raving about his distribution from CB but in the second half of the season he had increasingly reverted back to just blasting the ball aimlessly up field. If we have genuine pretentions to be one of the top teams in Europe under Pep then he's nowhere near the level required imo.

Can I ask you do you actually believe Mancini, Pellers and now Guardiola have been tricked by his 5/6 good performances and this has not been noticed by all our assessors, performance coaches but Lancet Fluke has spotted it?

 

[Rammy Blue]

Can I ask you do you actually believe Mancini, Pellers and now Guardiola have been tricked by his 5/6 good performances and this has not been noticed by all our assessors, performance coaches but Lancet Fluke has spotted it?

Yep