For those who booed when Elano was replaced

[AntonDonJuan]

I was pissed off when i saw Gelson Fernandes coming on.

If we need 3 defensive midfielders on the pitch, at home, to bottom of the league who are fucking shite, to see out a match we are winning then there is something seriously wrong

There was something seriously wrong...after 4 games in 11 days (one two days ago) our players were leggy, tired and under pressure.

OK, i agree with that, it's a good point and we have a shite squad. But we should have wrapped the game up long before we needed to see the game out with 3 defensive midfielders. They are bottom of the league for a reason

 

[Bluemoon115]

I was pissed off when i saw Gelson Fernandes coming on.

If we need 3 defensive midfielders on the pitch, at home, to bottom of the league who are fucking shite, to see out a match we are winning then there is something seriously wrong

There was something seriously wrong...after 4 games in 11 days (one two days ago) our players were leggy, tired and under pressure.

And having two youngsters every mistake beeing jeered by the eejit fans.

 

[Bluemoon115]

I was pissed off when i saw Gelson Fernandes coming on.

If we need 3 defensive midfielders on the pitch, at home, to bottom of the league who are fucking shite, to see out a match we are winning then there is something seriously wrong

There was something seriously wrong...after 4 games in 11 days (one two days ago) our players were leggy, tired and under pressure.

OK, i agree with that, it's a good point and we have a shite squad. But we should have wrapped the game up long before we needed to see the game out with 3 defensive midfielders. They are bottom of the league for a reason

And that reason is that they cannot take their chances. Seriously, next time they play when City arn't, watch them, it's the same story, they create chance after chance but it's like they have a team full of Vassell's when it comes to shooting.

 

[The Pink Panther]

I was pissed off when i saw Gelson Fernandes coming on.

If we need 3 defensive midfielders on the pitch, at home, to bottom of the league who are fucking shite, to see out a match we are winning then there is something seriously wrong

Which leads onto another point.
We're constantly starting a game with two defensive midfielders and yet since the turn of the year in twenty matches we've kept a clean sheet on only four occasions. Obviously something aint working.

 

[Weston Blue]

So its seems to me that everyone was happy that Elano came off, it was just who replaced him. Correct?

I think it is also worth remembering that SGE took Elano off in most games. Is he a 75 minute, rather than 90 minute, player?

I have been schizophrenic re Elano. I loved him at the start of last season. He frutsrtaed me from about December 07-December 08, but credit where credit is due, has started to perfomr more recently. I therefore have moved and feel he desrves a starting place. Question - who to leave out when SWP is fit and Petrov gets more match fitness?

 

[johnmc]

I know we were under the cosh, and we needed shoring up, but the fact we were under the cosh in the first place is what annoys me, we should have had the game wrapped up before we needed shoring up.

It looks as if the players are fighting for Hughes a bit more now, maybe they know he is staying so they might aswell knuckle down, i don't know, but we see the same spirited performances until the end of the season then i might be OK with keeping him for another season. But it will take a lot of persuading between now and the end of the season.

So why were you annoyed when you saw Gelson coming on then. If you were annoyed that we were under the cosh in the first place than surely you wanted a change one way or the other. It was the players on the pitch who were under the cosh not the ones on the bench. We are patched up at the minute and players look tired. Bridge, De Jong, Kompany, Zab and Petrov are all not fit for me, Elano rarely lasts 90 minutes, Ireland could probably do with a rest as well.

All thing considered i'd say a pretty good 3 points. Could be easy for some players to think the season is over after thursday in that Europa qualification is unlikely and relegation not a possibility. Maybe Hughes did well to get them motivated.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

[. But we should have wrapped the game up long before we needed to see the game out with 3 defensive midfielders.

In terms of squad ability, you would expect us to have won the game earlier.

But we didn't, we hadn't, and the manager made a decision which worked.

 

[THEBLUEDONKEY]

dont know what the fuss is about, we got the win job done, players looked bolloxed and rightly so, plus we should take into account that WBA were fighting to stay in the prem hence there elevated performance, we made a few mistakes but we fought through won the game .. af for a mediocre season, its not finished were still in with a shout albeit a small one of getting seventh and we made it to the quater finals of the uefa cup something i have never seen in my 26 years as a blue and for all intents and purposes we we have been without some of last seasons key players petrov, johnson through injury and pies allegedly and also our two rocks from last season at the back in dunney monster and richards have been awol, we have the funds to push on next season and the season after . feels good to be blue looking at the biggetr picture ...


CTID

 

[Bigga]

Hindsight is a wonderful thing people, as much as us scoring a goal against Hamburg would have put us back into the tie if they scored we would have been out of the tie no matter what. Its easy enough to sit here now knowing they didn't score again and say we should have attacked more but if he had gone 3 at the back with 10 minutes to go and they scored we'd have another lot saying we should have defended more. Basically, Richard Dunne's idiocy fucked us over as per usual.

What are you talking about re: Hamburg??

At the end of day, from the position we were in, we were out. Right? So, when you're in that position you throw it all in to get the win, because otherwise we're... Out??

But we weren't out, we could have got another goal while not conceding.

But that's not how football is played when you have time running out out and need to win!! You throw caution to the wind and hope for the best! Of course, it's needed at the right time and there seemed to be no right time, in that match1

 

[AntonDonJuan]

I know we were under the cosh, and we needed shoring up, but the fact we were under the cosh in the first place is what annoys me, we should have had the game wrapped up before we needed shoring up.

It looks as if the players are fighting for Hughes a bit more now, maybe they know he is staying so they might aswell knuckle down, i don't know, but we see the same spirited performances until the end of the season then i might be OK with keeping him for another season. But it will take a lot of persuading between now and the end of the season.

So why were you annoyed when you saw Gelson coming on then. If you were annoyed that we were under the cosh in the first place than surely you wanted a change one way or the other. It was the players on the pitch who were under the cosh not the ones on the bench. We are patched up at the minute and players look tired. Bridge, De Jong, Kompany, Zab and Petrov are all not fit for me, Elano rarely lasts 90 minutes, Ireland could probably do with a rest as well.

All thing considered i'd say a pretty good 3 points. Could be easy for some players to think the season is over after thursday in that Europa qualification is unlikely and relegation not a possibility. Maybe Hughes did well to get them motivated.

Right fair enough, you win, he made the right decision because we saw out the game. But i was frustrated that we had to resort to those tactics against bottom of the league, we should have wrapepd the game up.

The players look dead on their feet, we have such a small squad and with a quality bench behind us next season, i can see us doing really well

 

[Weston Blue]

THEBLUEDONKEY

dont know what the fuss is about, we got the win job done, players looked bolloxed and rightly so, plus we should take into account that WBA were fighting to stay in the prem hence there elevated performance, we made a few mistakes but we fought through won the game .. af for a mediocre season, its not finished were still in with a shout albeit a small one of getting seventh and we made it to the quater finals of the uefa cup something i have never seen in my 26 years as a blue and for all intents and purposes we we have been without some of last seasons key players petrov, johnson through injury and pies allegedly and also our two rocks from last season at the back in dunney monster and richards have been awol, we have the funds to push on next season and the season after . feels good to be blue looking at the biggetr picture ...

I am with you mate.

 

[AntonDonJuan]

I was pissed off when i saw Gelson Fernandes coming on.

If we need 3 defensive midfielders on the pitch, at home, to bottom of the league who are fucking shite, to see out a match we are winning then there is something seriously wrong

Which leads onto another point.
We're constantly starting a game with two defensive midfielders and yet since the turn of the year in twenty matches we've kept a clean sheet on only four occasions. Obviously something aint working.

These tactics are what annoy me with Hughes. At home, i don;t see the need for 2 defensive midfielders. Away from home yes, but not at home.

But then the other side of the argument is that we have the 2nd best home record behind the rags, so it must work

 

[maxflicity]

This is MEN from Hughes.

“Elano is sat in the dressing room with ice packs all over him,” reported the manager after the 4-2 win. “He was taken off because he was struggling with injury and it was in no way a reflection of his performance. He has played well in the last two games and we know he is a gifted performer.”

I think the crowd reaction was about Gelson coming on rather than Elano coming off.....lets be fair the lad is a bit of a headless chicken.

 

[mancitytmd]

And this from the Times

With his team leading 3-2 and 15 minutes remaining, Hughes was heckled by large swaths of the City of Manchester Stadium for bringing off Elano, despite the Brazilian being visibly shattered and the manager wanting to bolster the midfield by introducing the more defensive-minded Gelson Fernandes.

It was a puzzling reaction in the extreme, with the City fans seemingly forgetful that Elano, like the rest of his team-mates, had expended enormous amounts of energy during the 2-1 victory at home to Hamburg in the Uefa Cup only three days earlier and that the midfield player had spent the ten minutes before being substituted yesterday motioning to the dugout to be taken off.

The boos were for replacing Elano with Fernandes who is absolutley garbage

 

[Weston Blue]

Surely the issue that City has is that we are always "going for it" trying to play the "killer ball" with people like Elano, Robbie, SWP and Ireland on the pitch. This is great to see, but IMO it means we lose a lot of possession. Hence the need for two DMs. I have no problem with playing two of these if it balances the team. I this Kompany is the dogs do-dhas, still to be convinced by De Jong, but have faith.

 

[PaulC1979]

Fernandes ain't the best, so yeah, lets boo him, destroy any confidence he may have and he'll be even worst. Same with Sturridge and our other young players. Infact lets just close the academy, what's the point in it when if you're not playing brilliant after a handful of matches you must be shite.

 

[Dancini]

Hindsight is a wonderful thing people, as much as us scoring a goal against Hamburg would have put us back into the tie if they scored we would have been out of the tie no matter what. Its easy enough to sit here now knowing they didn't score again and say we should have attacked more but if he had gone 3 at the back with 10 minutes to go and they scored we'd have another lot saying we should have defended more. Basically, Richard Dunne's idiocy fucked us over as per usual.

What are you talking about re: Hamburg??

At the end of day, from the position we were in, we were out. Right? So, when you're in that position you throw it all in to get the win, because otherwise we're... Out??

But we weren't out, we could have got another goal while not conceding.

But that's not how football is played when you have time running out out and need to win!! You throw caution to the wind and hope for the best! Of course, it's needed at the right time and there seemed to be no right time, in that match1

I agree but if Dunne hadn't have been sent off we could have had an extra striker at all times but as it was Hughes had to balance attack and defence while having 10 men and injured players (Elano, Zab).

 

[coleridge]

Predictably, the booing apologists are out in force now, peddling their malevolent nonsense. Forget the booing stand, why don't you just go somewhere else. One can only imagine how bizarre ADUG find it all but maybe you are trying to drive them away as well.

 

[mancitytmd]

Fernandes ain't the best, so yeah, lets boo him, destroy any confidence he may have and he'll be even worst. Same with Sturridge and our other young players. Infact lets just close the academy, what's the point in it when if you're not playing brilliant after a handful of matches you must be shite.

BEHAVE - Even you must be able to see he is useless

Sturridge is totally different - You can see he has class (When he wants to use it)

And don't forget that Fernandes is not a product of our acamedy

 

[Bigga]

I agree but if Dunne hadn't have been sent off we could have had an extra striker at all times but as it was Hughes had to balance attack and defence while having 10 men and injured players (Elano, Zab).

And i think this is where my problem comes in. Hughes could have made a TOUGH decision and taken out Dunne, leaving us with two more options to alter the game in our favour. Moving Kompany backwards would've freed up the options.

It's called taking the risk to progress. Maybe you understand Hughes' thinking, cos I don't.