James Milner

[Bill]

We need to make a petition to give this lad more gametime

we don't need one, if he plays like that pellers will sort it.
that said he's competing for a place in a side full of top top players, some would class, he has to be realistic as must they. he would play every week for villa, everton etc, Liverpool even, but he'll neither earn as much or win as much. if anything.

 

[jimmygrimblesboots]

is it because milner is english , the reason he doesnt get games ? perhaps he should change his name to milnerinho , he would have to do something about that yorkshire accent though

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

Call it what you want, it's blackmail in my book because he has leveraged the position in the knowledge City don't want to lose him for nothing.

How can someone operating within and complying with a contract be said to be blackmailing in any way whatsoever?

He's perfectly entitled to do what he thinks is best for him. Clubs are well aware of Bosman and its implications when players' contracts are formed. It's all part and parcel of the way football operates and as such Milner is perfectly justified in using it to his advantage, just as clubs use the existence of transfer fees to theirs.

 

[nellyonthewing]

Milner has been sitting behind the passenger that is Nasri for far too long. Any time he has been given a crack in our starting 11 against decent opposition he has performed. No doubt he has been watching Nasri for the past few years and thinking that he could do much better given the chance.

I said it all last season, we look a far more balanced side when Milner is in the team. He adds solidity to our midfield duo, and we don't get over run when he plays. Slip Nasri back into the side and the balance is immediately lost as he adds nothing defensively (and very little offensively) to the team. People can throw up meters covered stats all they want, but is he actually making any meaning defensive contribution when running these meters? Nasri has to be left out of all future big games.

Nasri is great when all the rest of the team is functioning optimally. That allows his strengths of possession to aid the team. If we are below par or ,under the cosh he vanishes -that's when Jimmy's work ethic raises the bar. His last few games are like Borussia Dortmund's all action style.

 

[hgblue]

It's funny. Basically this is what it boils down to for a lot of people on here. He's English ergo we forgive his shitness. Whereas the opposite is true of the foreign lads. One bad game and they're shit/lazy/mercenary/don't give a fuck etc.

He tracks back you see. And the foreigners don't! :)

He's a much better player than he gets credit for imo. Watch the Chelsea game again and forget his tracking back. Watch his passing, his movement, and his creativity.

Depends on who's talking about him. If you were to listen to some idiotic England supporters then he's the worst kind of mr average. If you were to listen to some idiotic City supporters then he's better than Nasri and is in our best XI regardless of the opposition. Neither position IMO is true.

The Chelsea performance isn't the normal Milner performance, if it were he'd be one of our best players, one of the best players in the premier league, and two managers wouldn't have sidelined him for Nasri on a regular basis.

Don't get me wrong, I thought he was immense against Chelsea and I also said that it'll be very difficult for Nasri to get his place back if Milner continues to perform like that. However, and this is just the way I see it, Milner tends to be good in the big games, but awful in games like Stoke/Hull/Sunderland.

I like Milner and Nasri. In fact, with the arrival of Mangala and Fernando, our squad is now fucking immense. The manager needs to try to keep everyone happy if he can, by giving them all as much game time as he can. From Milner's perspective, does he want to rotate with world class players and be part of a world class squad where he's in with the chance of winning major trophies, or does he want to play every game for Everton and win fuck all?

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

If he starts again on Saturday, that's five on the bounce?

He's set himself a very high benchmark at present, and one a few of us thought he was capable of. I stated at the time of his signing he was our Frank Lampard, arriving as the PFA Young Player of the Year.

It's great to see.

Nasri does not strike me as the type of person who will take it well, so he needs to respond when he again gets his chance.

 

[allan harper]

If he starts again on Saturday, that's five on the bounce?

He's set himself a very high benchmark at present, and one a few of us thought he was capable of. I stated at the time of his signing he was our Frank Lampard, arriving as the PFA Young Player of the Year.

It's great to see.

Nasri does not strike me as the type of person who will take it well, so he needs to respond when he again gets his chance.

Nasri will respond, dunno which game or what season but he will respond eventually.

 

[baildon blue]

Good player are Jimmy .
Even when the chips are down he try's
We bought 2 gems off Villa in Barry and Milner .
It's no wonder Martin O'Neill left .

 

[City1974]

If he starts again on Saturday, that's five on the bounce?

He's set himself a very high benchmark at present, and one a few of us thought he was capable of. I stated at the time of his signing he was our Frank Lampard, arriving as the PFA Young Player of the Year.

It's great to see.

Nasri does not strike me as the type of person who will take it well, so he needs to respond when he again gets his chance.

Milner will start v Hull on Saturday I think (especially after coming off for the last 20 mins last night). Think Nasri is still unfit for Hull and it is Nasri he is in the main competing with for a place in the 11.

Interesting to see if he then gets picked v Roma, as Fernando may be fit for that and if Fernando starts will Fernandinho also play and maybe Milner left out with 2 strikers used (Aguero and Dzeko) , or will 1 forward only (Aguero) be used v Roma and we have 5 in midfield (Fernando Fernandinho, Toure and Milner with Silva slightly ahead) ?

 

[BillyShears]

From Milner's perspective, does he want to rotate with world class players and be part of a world class squad where he's in with the chance of winning major trophies, or does he want to play every game for Everton and win fuck all?

Exactly. Which is why this impasse bothers me so much. Milner's not a foreign player who you could understand wants to move back to Spain or Italy. He seems to be playing this out as if he's got options to go and play more at another CL club. He doesn't. At Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, he'll be a squad player just as he is here. So i'm genuinely baffled as to what he wants. He didn't play an inconsequential amount of games last season. He played across all competitions. And he has a manager who will pick players on performance not reputation.