Best player from our doldrums years (1980 to roughly 2009)

[flook]

Bernabia
Anelka
Kinky
Berkavic
Dunne

Great selection, difficult to rank those 5 but in terms of sheer class, Ali B would be number 1

 

[TShed]

Lake would possibly have topped the lot but fate and injury curtailed that.

Kinkladze was the right player at the wrong time. Hard to make too much of case for him when he was part of possibly our worst era of all time and often went missing.

Anelka was a class forward and had everything for a top class striker. Came to us a few years too early.


Ali bernarbia was a class act but his best season was in the first division and by the time we got promoted he was finished. Touch and vision was unreal.

Leaves swp who carried us for two seasons. Kept us up and was an outstanding talent before Chelsea ruined him.

SWP did as much off as on the pitch
We sold him for 20m bought him back for just a million Stupid Cockney bastards

Saved our City

 

[Bobby the blue]

Danny Tiatto. So much so i named my son after him

You called your son Danny tiatto.

 

[IrishBloodEnglishHeart]

I had forgotten about van Buyten.
He was fantastic. I think it was Hamburg who wanted £5m for it and we didn’t have it at the time.

Mental really, we'd spent the same amount on Jon Macken

 

[IrishBloodEnglishHeart]

Alan Ball's was definitely Buster Phillips

 

[City & Blue Brazil]

Clive Wilson was a joy to watch at a time when we didn't have much else.

 

[Eric Hitchmough]

I remember Keegan saying he'd literally stepped off the plane and was starting him against Birmingham (I think). I remember being at the game not really excited or caring to see this new signing and I was absolutely blown away

Yeah same. I came away from the ground that day feeling genuinely lucky to have witnessed the best debut I’d ever seen.

 

[jamielowndes]

Ali Benarbia just had the game running at whatever pace he felt like when he was here. Incredible player.

I was a big Eyal Berkovic fan back then too.

Elano might be my pick for this. Genuinely hated how Mark Hughes just couldn't figure out what to do with him. If Sven had been able to outlast Shinawatra, that could have been a whole different progression at City.

 

[Spurs quarter 69]

Sean Goater, his humiliation of Gary Neville alone makes him a City legend. His goals in the 2nd half of 98 99 season and throughout the 99 2000 season brought our club back to life. Also shout out to Andy Morrison he brought steel back into the side not seen since the days of Watson and Doyle.

 

[Big Swifty]

Just for the record, it's BENARBIA not Bernabia.

We should at least spell our own players' names right.

I know, I know, grammar police and all that.

 

[mrcakey]

SWP for me. Always a joy to watch. He used his low centre of gravity like a Weeble and made sudden turns that would make the defender look like a mug. I also remember him scoring a goal on the volley where he jumped up to (his) head height to meet the ball. Wish I could remember who it was against. It was at the Platt Lane end.

 

[IrishBloodEnglishHeart]

Just for the record, it's BENARBIA not Bernabia.

We should at least spell our own players' names right.

I know, I know, grammar police and all that.

It's actually - Ali B in da City

 

[Abattoir Blue]

Bernabia
Anelka
Kinky
Berkavic
Dunne

I like that list, but looking at players who could maybe have made it in the post 2010 teams (or other class outfits at the time) I'd probably put Curle above Dunney. And Coton on the list too. Those two were City's players with the 'hghest ceilings' in the early 90s, IMO

 

[Gingers Dad]

Kinky. Truly believe he was on Messi levels. God knows why he wasted his time with us

Good player but the rest of his career kind of proves we overrated him.

 

[pee dubya]

Ali Benarbia

I was about 12 when we signed him and until then had pretty much only known absolute dross for both my teams north and south of the border. He genuinely changed football for me and my understanding of how it can be played, and is pretty much the reason I started to really get into football rather than just follow it in passing.

 

[Gingers Dad]

Trevor Francis.

Class player but he shouldn't really be eligible for this debate. He'd left by the time the doldrum years actually began.

 

[Gingers Dad]

I not saying Tevez was a bad signing by any means but it meant Ireland was no longer required for his bursting runs from midfield. He was the one who was used less after his arrival as we played a different system

Tevez was a huge upgrade on Ireland.

 

[Keepingthefaithsince1976]

No that was Geovanni, Brazilian midfielder.

No Bernarbia had long retired about 4 years earlier at that point.
He left when Keegan was boss.

It was the Brazilian Geovanni who scored that goal. That incidentally was the first derby I went to.

Oh right yeah thanks. Great memory that.

 

[Mifred]

Jimmy Grimble

 

[Gingers Dad]

George Courtney disagrees

The best ever keeper I have seen in a one on one situation, he was simply magnificent, he terrified the opponent because they knew even if they beat him will skill they would be taken out big time.