Riyad Mahrez

[Any1aBlue]

i get that mate but Pep has alwasy been vocal in the need for squad refresh every couple of years as players get fizzled out working for him being so demanding etc and he worries about players dropping off? He also says if the players stop responding then he leaves so fuck that! lol. Younger, fresh hungry next gen stars for him to mould always seems to get his juices flowing as well and gives him extra appetite to go again.

Agree. Onwards and upwards. It’s been proved in the past that standing still isn’t good. The older ones need keeping on their toes and pushing for more success while we’ve got this amazing opportunity. I’m sure Pep and the owners feel the same from what they say.

 

[richards30]

I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole club takes a breather next season. We need to acknowledge that winning the treble will have an impact on players, coaches and the top brass.

City completed football in Istanbul. Wouldn’t surprise me if we start slow. I understand the need to avoid this by selling older players and bringing in fresh blood. Mentality wise it will be an interesting watch.

Khaldoon said Txiki, pep, Soriano and himself asked how we go again…so I have no doubt we are actively trying to strengthen the squad. We don’t need to throw silly money around, let the floundering competition do just that.

A few shrewd buys should be enough.

Khaldoon also said that we will improve and we have to be better and go better?

 

[blueparrot]

i get that mate but Pep has alwasy been vocal in the need for squad refresh every couple of years as players get fizzled out working for him being so demanding etc and he worries about players dropping off? He also says if the players stop responding then he leaves so fuck that! lol. Younger, fresh hungry next gen stars for him to mould always seems to get his juices flowing as well and gives him extra appetite to go again.

i know, and I'm pretty sure when, Pep, Txiki, Khaldoon, Berrada,and Soriano sit down and discuss the suumer transfers all those things are taken into account as then plan next seasons squad.

 

[Coatigan]

Corrected but still a fantastic deal.

Next year, arguably.

This year 50m is not unfair.

 

[BrazilianGus]

I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole club takes a breather next season. We need to acknowledge that winning the treble will have an impact on players, coaches and the top brass.

City completed football in Istanbul. Wouldn’t surprise me if we start slow. I understand the need to avoid this by selling older players and bringing in fresh blood. Mentality wise it will be an interesting watch.

Khaldoon said Txiki, pep, Soriano and himself asked how we go again…so I have no doubt we are actively trying to strengthen the squad. We don’t need to throw silly money around, let the floundering competition do just that.

A few shrewd buys should be enough.

We have two seasons left with the greatest manager of all time who is handsomely paid and a squad that is also more than decently compensated. I don’t think we should waste or settle for little because we had an overly successful season, especially still having Pep here. There is no guarantee that we can leave the top and come back the moment we please. This isn’t like Spain where Real Madrid can have a down season and the next it will still be there. Or Germany where Bayern could have lost to Dortmund and would still be the biggest thing. We “take a breather” and then we have to deal more than a handful strong oppositions.

On the other hand, I would agree with you that the squad as is will have a tendency to have a bureaucratic season. That’s the point, we have the summer market to act and change the squad make up enough so we can challenge for everything again.

We are not owed by destiny even being top 4 if we don’t work hard and serious for it. We can’t let the opposition smell blood in the water. And we need to milk every bit of Pep’s competence until he leaves as we frankly can’t have assurances for the next era.

 

[BrazilianGus]

i know, and I'm pretty sure when, Pep, Txiki, Khaldoon, Berrada,and Soriano sit down and discuss the suumer transfers all those things are taken into account as then plan next seasons squad.

This is the doubt I have. The planning didn’t start the day after we won the CL, it started long before. But I don’t think you can ignore that winning the treble should be a changing factor.

We should also maintain a level of skepticism ourselves. Let’s remember last summer. Chelsea wanted Ake. Oh I remember some of the fans’ reactions. “Let him go, we can use Mbete as the replacement”. There was even a bit of “Phillips can also play CB”.
What happened was that not only Ake stayed but at nearly the last minute we needed to make a rushed signing (“unlike City”) that was an admission that the squad hadn’t been planned that well. And I think we can agree there would have no treble without signing Akanji. We could also not have made that signing and right now we would be blaming losing another Champions League on “luck” and contemplating that Arsenal won the league because their energy levels couldn’t be matched etc. It’s the fine details that count sometimes more than the bigger picture, larger planning, process etc.

 

[wolviedinho]

Khaldoon also said that we will improve and we have to be better and go better?

Can you be better after having a treble season?

Can you really be better after winning 3 leagues in a row.

We can go for 4 or maybe win the champions league again but I would think the odds on us doing another treble or quad would be long

All I am saying is that we reached the top last season. Don’t mean job done but that’s the reality. Always go into the season hoping we win 1 trophy, preferably the league.

Does the squad need a shake up? Probably. Will we be ok with kova and gvardiol most definitely. Are we short in attacking areas? Again probably. Near impossible to have the perfect squad.

Tolm said 2 more after gvardiol so that sounds about right.

 

[BrazilianGus]

Can you be better after having a treble season?

Can you really be better after winning 3 leagues in a row.

I don’t think it’s about improving on the results. It’s the team that can certainly be improved. What we win is the consequence

 

[wolviedinho]

We have two seasons left with the greatest manager of all time who is handsomely paid and a squad that is also more than decently compensated. I don’t think we should waste or settle for little because we had an overly successful season, especially still having Pep here. There is no guarantee that we can leave the top and come back the moment we please. This isn’t like Spain where Real Madrid can have a down season and the next it will still be there. Or Germany where Bayern could have lost to Dortmund and would still be the biggest thing. We “take a breather” and then we have to deal more than a handful strong oppositions.

On the other hand, I would agree with you that the squad as is will have a tendency to have a bureaucratic season. That’s the point, we have the summer market to act and change the squad make up enough so we can challenge for everything again.

We are not owed by destiny even being top 4 if we don’t work hard and serious for it. We can’t let the opposition smell blood in the water. And we need to milk every bit of Pep’s competence until he leaves as we frankly can’t have assurances for the next era.

Pep might sign another extension? Not beyond the realms of possibility. The squad last season was tweaked and led us to a treble. The same squad that many people thought looked weak.

At some point other teams will close the gap. The club only acts on the market if the right player emerges. No one is panicking. The reality is that it’s hard staying top, pep gives us that edge which allows the club to take its time. City tend to stay away from an auction and prefer under the radar signings unless it’s a Grealish release clause. We buy good players with Pep’s coaching turning some into world class.

Also FFP and the premier charges must be an issue.

Every season the fans want world class players and every season bar Haaland that’s not the player we buy. We have a method and it works. The success is unprecedented. How can you argue with this approach?

 

[decmancity]

This narrative does make me laugh. As if the ridiculous money he is on now is somehow deemed as insufficient. Mahrez is reportedly earning £160,000 a week (not to mention bonuses, boot deals, advertising deals etc). I’m sure he and his family will just about manage to scrape by

Insufficient if he wants to own a 200ft yacht, yeah.

Huge difference between having 40m in the bank and 250m.

 

[blueparrot]

This is the doubt I have. The planning didn’t start the day after we won the CL, it started long before. But I don’t think you can ignore that winning the treble should be a changing factor.

We should also maintain a level of skepticism ourselves. Let’s remember last summer. Chelsea wanted Ake. Oh I remember some of the fans’ reactions. “Let him go, we can use Mbete as the replacement”. There was even a bit of “Phillips can also play CB”.
What happened was that not only Ake stayed but at nearly the last minute we needed to make a rushed signing (“unlike City”) that was an admission that the squad hadn’t been planned that well. And I think we can agree there would have no treble without signing Akanji. We could also not have made that signing and right now we would be blaming losing another Champions League on “luck” and contemplating that Arsenal won the league because their energy levels couldn’t be matched etc. It’s the fine details that count sometimes more than the bigger picture, larger planning, process etc.

Well I look at those names and think I have nothing at all to worry about.

 

[BrazilianGus]

Pep might sign another extension? Not beyond the realms of possibility. The squad last season was tweaked and led us to a treble. The same squad that many people thought looked weak.

At some point other teams will close the gap. The club only acts on the market if the right player emerges. No one is panicking. The reality is that it’s hard staying top, pep gives us that edge which allows the club to take its time. City tend to stay away from an auction and prefer under the radar signings unless it’s a Grealish release clause. We buy good players with Pep’s coaching turning some into world class.

Also FFP and the premier charges must be an issue.

Every season the fans want world class players and every season bar Haaland that’s not the player we buy. We have a method and it works. The success is unprecedented. How can you argue with this approach?

Let’s be honest, Pep isn’t staying beyond his current contract.
Again, what I just said in another post, the squad tweak that won us the treble wasn’t the months long process of picking targets carefully, it was “fuck, we need another CB” and signing Akanji at the last minute that actually did it. Maybe I am more skeptical than the majority here about how efficient our process is. It’s a hard point to make because you say, “look at what we won!” But I do believe in certain moments we could have replaced certain players earlier and not waited as long as we did to fill in certain positions. And I understand Pep likes to work with a smaller squad, but with just an extra little more bodies (as other clubs), which the club could have pushed, we could have had more than one Champions League by now, more domestic cups, maybe avoided losing the league in 19/20, or at least made it harder for them. I am not talking about things that compromise the project, but small decisions that are ultimately influential.
I look at how we handled certain failed transfers in the recent period and wonder, were we actually arrogant in how we handled these? Did we assume the other parts involved would fold to our interests?

When you mention the charges, for me that’s actually something else that I keep thinking about. Firstly, how much of a role are they playing in us landing targets and maybe casting uncertainty? But more concretely, the very real possibility that we will be hit with a transfer ban in one, two or three years and we should be prepared for the event that happens. Are we able to act in anticipation or does that go against the process too?

 

[wolviedinho]

Let’s be honest, Pep isn’t staying beyond his current contract.
Again, what I just said in another post, the squad tweak that won us the treble wasn’t the months long process of picking targets carefully, it was “fuck, we need another CB” and signing Akanji at the last minute that actually did it. Maybe I am more skeptical than the majority here about how efficient our process is. It’s a hard point to make because you say, “look at what we won!” But I do believe in certain moments we could have replaced certain players earlier and not waited as long as we did to fill in certain positions. And I understand Pep likes to work with a smaller squad, but with just an extra little more bodies (as other clubs), which the club could have pushed, we could have had more than one Champions League by now, more domestic cups, maybe avoided losing the league in 19/20, or at least made it harder for them. I am not talking about things that compromise the project, but small decisions that are ultimately influential.
I look at how we handled certain failed transfers in the recent period and wonder, were we actually arrogant in how we handled these? Did we assume the other parts involved would fold to our interests?

When you mention the charges, for me that’s actually something else that I keep thinking about. Firstly, how much of a role are they playing in us landing targets and maybe casting uncertainty? But more concretely, the very real possibility that we will be hit with a transfer ban in one, two or three years and we should be prepared for the event that happens. Are we able to act in anticipation or does that go against the process too?

The club won’t accept a transfer ban. All hell would break loose legally if that is the premier leagues approach as it would suggest guilt on the clubs part. No evidence we have broken any rules. The reason I suggest it may be an issue is only due to the uncertainty it brings. Players don’t care.

Planning for the future is fundamental. The timing of sales and the buying of players probably more so. We work with a small squad, an extra body here or there won’t happen. Mistake’s do happen, that’s life.

On Pep, know one knows what he is thinking. I would imagine it would be hard to walk away from the club he has been instrumental in building.

No transfer plan is bulletproof. As I said earlier, mistakes will be made but overall the club has got more right than wrong.

 

[BrazilianGus]

The club won’t accept a transfer ban. All hell would break loose legally if that is the premier leagues approach as it suggests guilt. No evidence we have broken any rules. The reason I suggest it may be an issue is only due to the uncertainty it brings. Players don’t care.

Planning for the future is fundamental. The timing of sales and the buying of players probably more so. We work with a small squad, an extra body here won’t happen. Mistake do happen, that life.

On Pep, know one knows what he is thinking. I would image it would be hard to walk away from the club he has been instrumental in building.

No transfer plan is bulletproof. As I said earlier, mistakes will be made but overall the club has got more right than wrong.

There will be a process with the charges. We don’t know what will happen. It’s certainly not a given that we will walk away without any punishment. In the event we do receive a transfer ban, what exactly could we do against it as you say we wouldn’t accept it? It may come as a compromise with acquittal to most charges anyway. Chelsea had a transfer ban very recently.

 

[Ste68]

So basically you wouldn’t sell him because you’re afraid of who the replacement would be?

We seriously need to inject new life and hunger into the squad if we are to have the energy to go again this next season with the Euros happening at the end of it. I understand this isn’t the popular opinion to have here, as you get accused of wanting “new shiny toys” or whatever the ridiculous expression is.

No that's not what I am saying. I am fully supportive of freshening up the squad and strengthening whilst we are stronger than other sides and also whilst we still have at least 2 years of Pep. Would go as far as saying that's essential. Just not convinced Mahrez is the one to make way just because we get offered £30m.

My point is that £30m is not a large enough sum to trigger a change in our plans unless it was always to replace him.

 

[Dribble]

Let’s be honest, Pep isn’t staying beyond his current contract.

Who told you that mate?

 

[blue b4 the moon]

I met him in Alderly one day a few years ago - arrogant man who had BO, happy to see him go

Who was that Gus, Pep, Riyad, baconface etc?

 

[Constantine]

Quiet today. Looks like yesterday's Sam Lee's bullshit was just that, bullshit.

 

[GX Blue]

I met him in Alderly one day a few years ago - arrogant man who had BO, happy to see him go

Haha superb.

 

[Sky Blue]

Who was that Gus, Pep, Riyad, baconface etc?

AlfieL