Did it bother anyone that we started with NO...

[steviemc]

Since when was any football club obliged to field an all English team? Football has moved on from when Jimmy Hill was on Match of The Day. Dig out your football sticker books between 1970 and 1999 and have a check. There were Welsh, Scots and all sorts of Irish players turning out for City.

Oh yes, and apart from 1976, we won fuck all.

^ This. You have to accept it and enjoy. It's not likely to change much within our lifetime.

 

[Mr. Aguia]

Only because it gives the media another stick to beat us with.


But if it meant we won the title, I would be happy to see 11 oompa-loompas run out for us!

You're getting confused; that was the Ball/Clarke era!!

Can anyone tell me a english outfield player that would have got in our team yesterday?

Jones, Cleverley, Smalling, Rooney, Ferdinand?

Who would Jones play for? He's the most overrated player in the PL. He's so great he can't even get games despite Ferdinand and Vidic always being injured. Can't dislodge Evans despite his utter mediocrity.

Cleverly would start over who? Yaya? dinho? Come on. Cleverly is mediocre at best.

Smalling not unlike Jones. A CH who can't get games at Ch despite the club being desperate for CH's.

 

[hallstreetblue]

You can't blame City for it, but yes it bothers me. I blame the changing of the 3 foreigner rule in the mid 90's. If they'd have stuck with that, our country would have been forced to nurture english talent. There is of course the home grown player rule, but this does nothing to help the national team, as home grown players can be from anywhere as long as they're trained locally and so on and so on. Inter Milan have very few Italians in their side. In fact, when they won the CL in 2010, there wasn't one. Yes it bothers me, but not blamin our club for it. We have people at the F.A. That are passionate about this and now, with a change at the top and listening to Greg Dyke's views, it'us a breath of fresh air.

If they had that rule, we'd prob be a mid table side even with all this money . Who would you drop out of aguero, Zab, yaya, silva, Kompany ect ?. If they had that silly rule, the football would be nowhere near the standard it is now . You can't say the national side would be world beaters because it practically never has been apart from One occasion with a home advantage . We have no given right to be world beaters and people need to get that in their heads .

I don't get why we'd only be mid table!? It'd make us all pretty equal; difference being, we'd have the money to spend on the best of british. Our academies would be full of british talent and the players in the lower leagues would be getting a fair crack at the whip. Just like it used to be, they'd be given hope of being snapped up by the top clubs. That's how it was back then, up until the european ban in 85, english clubs ruled europe. There was nowt wrong with our football then. Back in 1999 yoonited (and I hate them as much as you do) beat a Munich side to win the CL. How many english lads.....no, how many local lads were in that side? We can't have all that at the moment though, coz, since the late 90's and 00's, our clubs have been bringin in too many foreingners and packing our academies full of foreign kids. The F.A. and the Premier League have stood back and watched it happen. Watched the lower league clubs suffer, watched our young english talent go to waste. You're not telling me our youth went shit over night! I'm saying this, because I'm passionate about our national sport and the way it's all gone tits up. Some of the comments on here, saying that they don't give a shit about english players or england; well I just hope they're all said tongue in cheek. Maybe some of these people have kids that play football. God fookin help em I say.

 

[Blue Shield]

I'm more attached to most city players regardless of their nationality, than
Most of the England team so I couldn't care less

 

[berniethebusman]

If international football wasn't such a joke maybe more people would take an interest.
Who wants there season disrupted so our club players can go risk injury against the likes of San Marino? Or playing some meaningless friendly?
Far too many needless international games now & all in the name of profit. No different than club level in that respect but most fans don't share the same affinity
with their national team It's a once every two year kind of deal.
English players are considerably behind other nation players at the moment but that's not to say that's always gonna be the case so to all you parents out there chin up you never know! But just incase your son(s) don't make the grade probably best to give them an academic education as well as a footballing one.

 

[Bluesiam]

City's results are of course the top priority. But if we are being completely honest, I think we would all like to see home grown players in the team, IF they can play at the same level. It was a little sad to see our bench full of England's 'finest' if you ask me.

One thing we CAN say is that I doubt anyone is doing more to lay the foundations for a first class Academy system so that young players are given their chance to develop into great players. Then it's up to the Manager and coaching staff to see they are given their chance to break into the team. If great English players still can't be found, I don't know what else we can do!