As a football club, do we have the will to win the League?

[andyhinch]

Nah, just here for the restaurants i reckon.

Restaurants you say, thought we only had one ;-)

 

[Chippy_boy]

Kompany is a big miss, for his leadership more than anything else.

That said, and as I think about it, "hunting season" didn't exactly turn out brilliantly, so perhaps not.

 

[The Pink Panther]

Come May we could well be top and I hope we are, dropping points when we should be closing games and/or just twatting some teams pisses me off as much if not more than most, but I try to be a bit pragmatic, it's best for my sanity, I'll judge at the end of the season and may well just go off on one, most on here just call me a clueless c**t and ignore me, so don't worry about hurting my feelings :-)

I'm just sick and tired of underachievement and that we just accept that we're good but not great
It was really tough going through those wilderness years, getting slapped at cup quarter finals stages and thinking we would never see any silverware again
We can't say, "well we've won something now" and accept it. We have everything in place and have to start dominating and become a real force
It's over five years since we got that monkey off our back with the FA Cup win and more than four since we first won the Prem
There are no more excuses

 

[andyhinch]

I'm just sick and tired of underachievement and that we just accept that we're good but not great
It was really tough going through those wilderness years, getting slapped at cup quarter finals stages and thinking we would never see any silverware again
We can't say, "well we've won something now" and accept it. We have everything in place and have to start dominating and become a real force
It's over five years since we got that monkey off our back with the FA Cup win and more than four since we first won the Prem
There are no more excuses

So what do you suggest, change the manager ?

 

[Manchester33]

I think everyone is looking too much into that result. At the end of the day we had played out of our skin for 90 minutes on Tuesday. Every other English team who played in Europe got an extra day to prepare for these fixtures (for some reason it was only us who had to play on the Saturday??) and we looked tired in the second half. Just one of those things, another day we'd have beaten them 5-0.

 

[RACHACE]

December is a pretty big month for us in my opinion.

We play Chelsea, Arsenal & Liverpool in December and I think we'll know so much more about our team after that month.

It was a disappointing draw against a very poor Middlesbrough side but all the title contenders will have at least 2-3 games where they're expected to win and don't so it's a bit early to talk or speculate about our mentality in my opinion.

If we're 3-4 points off top spot going into the new year I'll be happy with that. We'd still be well in the mix and we have a squad that's more than capable of going on an unbeaten run with no champions league to worry about until February.

We're not playing badly so no need to panic but pep has made a couple of bizarre decisions in a few games so he's not exempt from any supporter criticism either. neither are aguero, de bruyne or whoever else is making mistakes.

Too early to make judgements on team mentality or desire though.

 

[The Pink Panther]

So what do you suggest, change the manager ?

I suggest that the players and manger start earning their money by smashing much inferior opposition, not saving themselves for the big occasion
Although most players didn't turn up for those last season

Klopp has inspired a desire and hunger in his players
Perhaps Guardiola should be more ruthless and get rid of players such as Aguero and Silva and bring in players with perhaps a little less talent but bigger bollocks
I'm not being serious with the Aguero and Silva example, but what I'm saying is that every player needs a fucking rocket up their arse following those last three home draws

 

[The Pink Panther]

I think everyone is looking too much into that result. At the end of the day we had played out of our skin for 90 minutes on Tuesday. Every other English team who played in Europe got an extra day to prepare for these fixtures (for some reason it was only us who had to play on the Saturday??) and we looked tired in the second half. Just one of those things, another day we'd have beaten them 5-0.

Spurs played on Wednesday, so had the same time as us to prepare
Rags travelled to Turkey, played an uninspiring game on a Thursday and then played on Sunday, so just over two days to prepare

 

[andyhinch]

I suggest that the players and manger start earning their money by smashing much inferior opposition, not saving themselves for the big occasion
Although most players didn't turn up for those last season

Klopp has inspired a desire and hunger in his players
Perhaps Guardiola should be more ruthless and get rid of players such as Aguero and Silva and bring in players with perhaps a little less talent but bigger bollocks
I'm not being serious with the Aguero and Silva example, but what I'm saying is that every player needs a fucking rocket up their arse following those last three home draws

Would this be the same Klopp that finished 8th in his first season or are you thinking of another one

 

[The Pink Panther]

Would this be the same Klopp that finished 8th in his first season or are you thinking of another one

This is what I'm saying mate. Klopp has inspired a desire. Don't forget he got them to a European final last season
Our much more talented squad is just fucking ambling along

 

[SilverFox2]

I suggest that the players and manger start earning their money by smashing much inferior opposition, not saving themselves for the big occasion
Although most players didn't turn up for those last season

Klopp has inspired a desire and hunger in his players
Perhaps Guardiola should be more ruthless and get rid of players such as Aguero and Silva and bring in players with perhaps a little less talent but bigger bollocks
I'm not being serious with the Aguero and Silva example, but what I'm saying is that every player needs a fucking rocket up their arse following those last three home draws

Strikers certainly need to be reminded of their trade and start playing according to their capabilities.
The team is going through change so I hope this inability to score goals despite countless opportunities is not some sort of rebellion to show that the old methods produce results.

 

[GaudinoMotors]

Just not good enough; I mean he's had a full 4 months now!
Top four this year will do for me - lots of experimenting, assessing players and attitudes, a summer transfer window...and then we'll be a different animal.
The good start and the Barca performance are incremental signs of improvement - not the finished article.
Some of the posters on here would be barging into the Sistine Chapel after one day of painting and complaining about the fingernail on a cherub.

 

[andyhinch]

This is what I'm saying mate. Klopp has inspired a desire. Don't forget he got them to a European final last season
Our much more talented squad is just fucking ambling along

And what I'm saying is things that are worth keeping take time to build, the malaise that had seeped into our squad was there for all to see last season, unfortunately football isn't played on paper, there is no quick fix magic wand to wave, I hope we build well on sold foundations that's here for decades and not just a big sandcastle that's washed away with the first high tide

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

I'm just sick and tired of underachievement and that we just accept that we're good but not great
It was really tough going through those wilderness years, getting slapped at cup quarter finals stages and thinking we would never see any silverware again
We can't say, "well we've won something now" and accept it. We have everything in place and have to start dominating and become a real force
It's over five years since we got that monkey off our back with the FA Cup win and more than four since we first won the Prem
There are no more excuses

I absolutely agree with you and hate it when people say *Well look where we were 10 years ago". It's irrelevant because we aren't owned by John Wardle, we're not managed by Stuart Pearce and we're not relying on Samaras for goals.

But I do think we took our eye off the ball under MP and it may take this season before Pep sorts out the wheat from the chaff and gets us playing with mentality we expect.

 

[The Pink Panther]

Just not good enough; I mean he's had a full 4 months now!
Top four this year will do this year for me - lots of experimenting, assessing players and attitudes, a summer transfer window...and then we'll be a different animal.
The good start and the Barca performance are incremental signs of improvement - not the finished article.
Some of the posters on here would be barging into the Sistine Chapel after one day of painting and complaining about the fingernail on a cherub.

You're another who will accept huge underachievement

 

[GortonBlue62]

As an older supporter of City than most on this forum I still find it a little strange to be so close to the top of the league. I am not used to City being up there with the best so I always build in my City Factor to every game irrespective of the opposition.
Perhaps I prefer it this way and feel more comfortable about results than most. For instance I still look at how many points we have so that I can say to myself that we probably won´t go down this year but aspiring to win the PL is fraught with too many potential disappointments for me so I keep things in perspective.

It does not stop me from criticising what I perceive to be wrong with the way City play but I resent any other team supporter having an opinion against my team. Strange really but in a way expecting the worst to happen has been my way of coping with the many downs as well as ups that supporting City brings.

Your attitude is worse than the teams and your grasp on reality seems tenuous.
We've spent a fortune, we have the best team and squad of players in England and apparently the best manager in the world.
Our owners, not unreasonably, expect us to win the league.
Why wouldn't we win the league?
If we don't win the league it should be classed as a failure.

 

[Dave S]

We once again took a win for granted. To leave out the players he did would have inspired boro that they had a chance. Are you telling me it's right that we play clichy AND kolorov in the same side in the prem? The to compound that team subs he made were unbelievable. Sorry mate pep has a lot to learn.

Not as much as you though!

 

[cheddar404]

You're another who will accept huge underachievement

What would you class as huge underachievement? Anything less than winning the league? There are some very strong sides in contention including Chelsea and Liverpool that have no European commitments, Arsenal and Spurs look strong too, while we are revolutionising the way we play. Unfortunately, we are going to drop points while we adapt. I see fans that expect instant success more of a problem than ones who are prepared to offer Pep more time to bed in his style and philosophy to be honest.

 

[GaudinoMotors]

You're another who will accept huge underachievement

It's not underachievement if you're preparing to succeed. Restructuring.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

You will get your answer in May, when we win the league.

We keep battering teams and not scoring as many as we should. That will change. This run of poor league results will be looked back on like that weird little run at the start of Pellegrini's contract when we kept losing unluckily away from home.