Isco

[BringBackSwales]

This is just an hangover extension of losing van Persie to the dark side, it really got under a lot of blues skin. If he signs on the dotted line with one of uefas darlings then city should go all out for a top centre back, a real dominant player who would compliment Kompany and nasty. That was where the problem lay last year.

a tad harsh on the team with the best defensive record in the PL

 

[The Man With The Stick]

No, not really.

Anyone in sales knows that you have to find your own unique USP's - unique sales proposition. What is it that differentiates you from your competitors. And you try to move the goalposts so that your potential buyer sees more value in these things than in other things that your competitor has.

Then there's another old saying in sales; "there's only 2 reasons for losing a sale - either you were outsold, or you should not have been bidding in the first place". Harsh, but true.

All of the above is relevant to the Isco saga.

Of course we can't match the history of Real Madrid, but we shouldn't try to. We have a different proposition. How many players - out of the countless hundreds who have played in title winning teams at Real are truly remembered? A handful. Winning is a tradition at Madrid, not an exception. If you want to go to a team, be brilliant and be ignored and forgotten there is no better place to go.

On the other hand, our "project" turning an ugly duckling CIty into a majestic swan City, on a par with Real, Barca, Bayern etc, dominating our domestic league and winning CL trophies too, is a fabulous prospect for the early joiners. To be worshipped by the fans, and by new fans all over the world. And to move to a new city, a new country, England - capital of the civilised world, at age 18. What a prospect. How many 18 year old cannot be sold on the opportunity to see the world, to experience life in other countries? Staying home is for old men.

Silva, Aguero, Navas - they have all seen this opportunity and decided to grab it with both hands.

The fact that we could not persuade Isco means we were outsold, or we should not have been persuing him in the first place. What on earth can Madrid and Zidane have possibly told him that he did not know already??? Nothing. If all they had to do was pick up the phone and he's there's we shouldn't have been chasing him, wasting our time and effort.

I agree to some extent with your 'USP' arguement but to say we shouldn't even try for certain players seems a bit odd... 'if ya dont ask, ya dont get'... yet we have got players at our club that i never thought we'd see here.

 

[flb]

This is just an hangover extension of losing van Persie to the dark side, it really got under a lot of blues skin. If he signs on the dotted line with one of uefas darlings then city should go all out for a top centre back, a real dominant player who would compliment Kompany and nasty. That was where the problem lay last year.

Its a top class striker we need first mate, Tevez looks to be going and we cant rely on Edin!

 

[St Helens Blue (Exiled)]

Still think little is known.

I fail to see how his attitude to Madrid in the past has suddenly changed and he's chosen Zidane over Pellegrini. It goes against all logic so far.

City need to match Real bid and state our ideal line up is him on the left, Silva centre, Navas right with Yaya and Fernandinho behind.

If the deal fails we simply use Silva left, Yaya middle and Navas right. Milner and Fernandinho behind.

Mate I think you are kidding yourself because you have got money on it.
People blaming Txiki etc..pathetic...If Isco wants to go to Madrid then bloody hell you can't really blame him. No issue with how the club have done on this..I am 100% sure we will have a few more world class players in before August 31st.

 

[MCFC-alan88]

No, not really.

Anyone in sales knows that you have to find your own unique USP's - unique sales proposition. What is it that differentiates you from your competitors. And you try to move the goalposts so that your potential buyer sees more value in these things than in other things that your competitor has.

Then there's another old saying in sales; "there's only 2 reasons for losing a sale - either you were outsold, or you should not have been bidding in the first place". Harsh, but true.

All of the above is relevant to the Isco saga.

Of course we can't match the history of Real Madrid, but we shouldn't try to. We have a different proposition. How many players - out of the countless hundreds who have played in title winning teams at Real are truly remembered? A handful. Winning is a tradition at Madrid, not an exception. If you want to go to a team, be brilliant and be ignored and forgotten there is no better place to go.

On the other hand, our "project" turning an ugly duckling CIty into a majestic swan City, on a par with Real, Barca, Bayern etc, dominating our domestic league and winning CL trophies too, is a fabulous prospect for the early joiners. To be worshipped by the fans, and by new fans all over the world. And to move to a new city, a new country, England - capital of the civilised world, at age 18. What a prospect. How many 18 year old cannot be sold on the opportunity to see the world, to experience life in other countries? Staying home is for old men.

Silva, Aguero, Navas - they have all seen this opportunity and decided to grab it with both hands.

The fact that we could not persuade Isco means we were outsold, or we should not have been persuing him in the first place. What on earth can Madrid and Zidane have possibly told him that he did not know already??? Nothing. If all they had to do was pick up the phone and he's there's we shouldn't have been chasing him, wasting our time and effort.

I agree to some extent with your 'USP' arguement

but to say we shouldn't even try for certain players seems a bit odd

... 'if ya dont ask, ya dont get'... yet we have got players at our club that i never thought we'd see here.

Except, he's not really saying that is he?

 

[supercity88]

We are a bit spoiled at times aren't we! I am just seeing some of the lineups people are posting and saying we can still manage without Isco. Even those lineups leave some quality players on the bench. With or without him we will be fine. He is a player that could be one of the world's best but right now he is just another very good player with a lot of talent. We have players like that already. We can manage without him. Signing him would be a brilliant statement and would put us in a very strong position though.

It is a strange transfer, it seems we were keen for a while and the Pellegrini factor could help us secure his signature. But then Real came to the table in their traditional way and threw their weight around. And they can do that. They have often used to media to force a players hand and they often conduct transfer business in a slightly underhand manner. But it still is surprising just how long this one has apparently been in the bag for them without official statements. Whether its because they are waiting to announce a manager first I dont know.

I am trying as hard as I can to remain unbiased, it looks as though we have missed out. But it is still hard not to cling to the facts that Isco has a connection with Pellegrini and that we are a great club for him to join based on our ambition to become an elite side. His less than flattering comments about Madrid also would indicate he may want to go elsewhere but we will soon find out.

It is not difficult to see him being attracted to Madrid, many of the u21s have probably told him to go there and whilst we have Pellegrini, Madrid have many players they can use as examples of why to join them.

We will see what happens. I believe today is the day!

 

[JoeMercer'sWay]

There are a bunch of immature, clueless, aggressive, mard arse, disrespectful and stupid posters in this thread who quite evidently haven't got a scooby about what they're talking about.

These posters just sulk and woman because they don't get what they want. They moan because they have lost sight of who we are and where we came from. They think just because our owner is rich, and because we have won a single league title and FA Cup that we have the right to buy who we want, that everyone should just want to come here and other clubs should bow down and sell us who we want to buy. These fans are being rags.

Txiki and Ferran are consummate professionals, and they are excellent at what they do. This does not make them messiahs. There is one quite colossal difference between their roles at Barca and City and that is that they now have to work at a club with a far smaller global reputation and less appeal than what they had behind them at Barca. They've been here less than a year and they are already making huge strides of progress, but if you honestly expect them to be able to persuade every great talent to come here then you are foolish at this stage, because they have far less to sell to these players than the likes of Real Madrid. Zidane can pick up a phone and sell 70 years of illustrious Madrid history, all the Champions Leagues, La Ligas and world class players that have been there (Himself, Figo, Beckham, the Ronaldos, Casillas, Di Stefano, Puskas, Raul etc. etc. etc.).

He can sell Madrid as the greatest club in the world, in the capital of the lad's home country and the dream club of at least 50% of every Spanish youngster. Txiki and Ferran have a club that at best has a tiny amount of that kind of history in comparison. We are a great club and we've had some success but when you're trying to sell this to foreign players it is nothing sadly in comparison to Real Madrid, very few clubs can stand up to that stature.

We tried our best and he was interested, but it seems at this stage and it's a perfectly fair conclusion that Madrid have more to offer him, at least on the surface, and it seems Zidane has done a superb job of selling him their club. That's not to say Txiki didn't either, because for Isco to even admit interest is enough to say we did a good selling job, the fact is at the moment Txiki has nowhere near as much behind him to sell at City as Zidane has at Madrid, and Txiki isn't the only person great at his job. This is Zidane you're talking about, a legendary attacking midfielder one that Isco can only dream of emulating, a legend. All the hard work that Txiki and Ferran have already done reshaping the club on and off the pitch is designed to put us on a par within 5 years within Real Madrid in everything except long term trophy cabinet, but that is something that will pale into insignificance once we can demonstrate we can compete at their level.

So to these frankly imbeciles blabbering on about how we've failed and moaning your arses off why not shut the fuck up, grow up, engage your brain and understand where we are at, what we're trying to do and where we are compared to the elite clubs in Europe. We're not there yet, and it's nothing to be ashamed about and it's certainly not a failure.

Bang on post... Nice mate

No, not really.

Anyone in sales knows that you have to find your own unique USP's - unique sales proposition. What is it that differentiates you from your competitors. And you try to move the goalposts so that your potential buyer sees more value in these things than in other things that your competitor has.

Then there's another old saying in sales; "there's only 2 reasons for losing a sale - either you were outsold, or you should not have been bidding in the first place". Harsh, but true.

All of the above is relevant to the Isco saga.

Of course we can't match the history of Real Madrid, but we shouldn't try to. We have a different proposition. How many players - out of the countless hundreds who have played in title winning teams at Real are truly remembered? A handful. Winning is a tradition at Madrid, not an exception. If you want to go to a team, be brilliant and be ignored and forgotten there is no better place to go.

On the other hand, our "project" turning an ugly duckling CIty into a majestic swan City, on a par with Real, Barca, Bayern etc, dominating our domestic league and winning CL trophies too, is a fabulous prospect for the early joiners. To be worshipped by the fans, and by new fans all over the world. And to move to a new city, a new country, England - capital of the civilised world, at age 18. What a prospect. How many 18 year old cannot be sold on the opportunity to see the world, to experience life in other countries? Staying home is for old men.

Silva, Aguero, Navas - they have all seen this opportunity and decided to grab it with both hands.

The fact that we could not persuade Isco means we were outsold, or we should not have been persuing him in the first place. What on earth can Madrid and Zidane have possibly told him that he did not know already??? Nothing. If all they had to do was pick up the phone and he's there's we shouldn't have been chasing him, wasting our time and effort.

I don't think that analogy really works, we do have USP's and Ferran and Txiki are fully integrated into how the club is being run and the direction of the club and what we can offer. The market for footballers, for people as tradeable commodities is a lot different to selling inanimate objects. You have to analyse the person's feelings and thought patterns and judge whether it's going to work. It seemed encouraging until Madrid came in, and they have seemingly secured the deal with a great deal of effort by playing on the natural advantage(which does matter when dealing with humans) of their global appeal and their location relative to the player. We can counter that with guaranteed first team football and big status here but only if Madrid don't make the huge effort to persuade him they will match that, and ultimately if he succeeds at Madrid he will become a bigger star especially at home than he ever will do here, that's the way it goes. Therefore our meaningful sales advantage has gone, and the only reason we've been "outsold" is because of the history of the two clubs. You can then point to your second reason, but there was no indication before Madrid came in that this wasn't a viable deal, and when you've gone to the trouble of establishing contact and trying to do the deal you don't give up because a bigger competitor comes in late on.

It's not just a simple sales pitch when it comes to real people and involves issues such as relocation and new climates. When the product's are very similar it's a natural reaction to err on the side of caution.

 

[Chezzy blue]

Midfield as it stands

Milner, Sinclair, Nasri, Silva, Yaya, Fernandinho, Garcia, Rodwell, Barry, Navas,
Razak.
Tell me why we need another midfielder please?. We just seem to be
stockpiling players in that area.

 

[YaYa's Left Peg]

There are a bunch of immature, clueless, aggressive, mard arse, disrespectful and stupid posters in this thread who quite evidently haven't got a scooby about what they're talking about.

These posters just sulk and woman because they don't get what they want. They moan because they have lost sight of who we are and where we came from. They think just because our owner is rich, and because we have won a single league title and FA Cup that we have the right to buy who we want, that everyone should just want to come here and other clubs should bow down and sell us who we want to buy. These fans are being rags.

Txiki and Ferran are consummate professionals, and they are excellent at what they do. This does not make them messiahs. There is one quite colossal difference between their roles at Barca and City and that is that they now have to work at a club with a far smaller global reputation and less appeal than what they had behind them at Barca. They've been here less than a year and they are already making huge strides of progress, but if you honestly expect them to be able to persuade every great talent to come here then you are foolish at this stage, because they have far less to sell to these players than the likes of Real Madrid. Zidane can pick up a phone and sell 70 years of illustrious Madrid history, all the Champions Leagues, La Ligas and world class players that have been there (Himself, Figo, Beckham, the Ronaldos, Casillas, Di Stefano, Puskas, Raul etc. etc. etc.).

He can sell Madrid as the greatest club in the world, in the capital of the lad's home country and the dream club of at least 50% of every Spanish youngster. Txiki and Ferran have a club that at best has a tiny amount of that kind of history in comparison. We are a great club and we've had some success but when you're trying to sell this to foreign players it is nothing sadly in comparison to Real Madrid, very few clubs can stand up to that stature.

We tried our best and he was interested, but it seems at this stage and it's a perfectly fair conclusion that Madrid have more to offer him, at least on the surface, and it seems Zidane has done a superb job of selling him their club. That's not to say Txiki didn't either, because for Isco to even admit interest is enough to say we did a good selling job, the fact is at the moment Txiki has nowhere near as much behind him to sell at City as Zidane has at Madrid, and Txiki isn't the only person great at his job. This is Zidane you're talking about, a legendary attacking midfielder one that Isco can only dream of emulating, a legend. All the hard work that Txiki and Ferran have already done reshaping the club on and off the pitch is designed to put us on a par within 5 years within Real Madrid in everything except long term trophy cabinet, but that is something that will pale into insignificance once we can demonstrate we can compete at their level.

So to these frankly imbeciles blabbering on about how we've failed and moaning your arses off why not shut the fuck up, grow up, engage your brain and understand where we are at, what we're trying to do and where we are compared to the elite clubs in Europe. We're not there yet, and it's nothing to be ashamed about and it's certainly not a failure.

Bang on post... Nice mate

No, not really.

Anyone in sales knows that you have to find your own unique USP's - unique sales proposition. What is it that differentiates you from your competitors. And you try to move the goalposts so that your potential buyer sees more value in these things than in other things that your competitor has.

Then there's another old saying in sales; "there's only 2 reasons for losing a sale - either you were outsold, or you should not have been bidding in the first place". Harsh, but true.

All of the above is relevant to the Isco saga.

Of course we can't match the history of Real Madrid, but we shouldn't try to. We have a different proposition. How many players - out of the countless hundreds who have played in title winning teams at Real are truly remembered? A handful. Winning is a tradition at Madrid, not an exception. If you want to go to a team, be brilliant and be ignored and forgotten there is no better place to go.

On the other hand, our "project" turning an ugly duckling CIty into a majestic swan City, on a par with Real, Barca, Bayern etc, dominating our domestic league and winning CL trophies too, is a fabulous prospect for the early joiners. To be worshipped by the fans, and by new fans all over the world. And to move to a new city, a new country, England - capital of the civilised world, at age 18. What a prospect. How many 18 year old cannot be sold on the opportunity to see the world, to experience life in other countries? Staying home is for old men.

Silva, Aguero, Navas - they have all seen this opportunity and decided to grab it with both hands.

The fact that we could not persuade Isco means we were outsold, or we should not have been persuing him in the first place. What on earth can Madrid and Zidane have possibly told him that he did not know already??? Nothing. If all they had to do was pick up the phone and he's there's we shouldn't have been chasing him, wasting our time and effort.

Now that's what you call a post -logical, non-emotional and bang on the money. I am constantly dismayed that people (including some of our own fans) still don't get it yet - we have a fantastically compelling story to tell.

 

[jonmcity]

This is just an hangover extension of losing van Persie to the dark side, it really got under a lot of blues skin. If he signs on the dotted line with one of uefas darlings then city should go all out for a top centre back, a real dominant player who would compliment Kompany and nasty. That was where the problem lay last year.

Its a top class striker we need first mate, Tevez looks to be going and we cant rely on Edin!

This for me, but who? not that many world class about, that have not been linked or sold to other clubs.