Lescott [Merged]

[Salford_Blue]

I totally admire and support the signings Hughes has made, with the exception of Tal Ben Haim.

Are there any other signings that we disagree with?

I know he isn't everybody's key player, but the signing of Vincent Kompany was just genius.

I had never heard of him before either.

For me, the best player we have.

 

[dave_blue12]

TA you are kidding yourself that Moyes wouldn't spend big because you are where you are.

Hughes didn't spend big at Blackburn and arguably operated much like Moyes. But he is now in a different situation with different pressures. Moyes, I would wager, would be no different. Whoever heard of a Manager resigning because the owners of his club gave him too large a Transfer Budget !

Cling on to your beliefs if it helps but I truly believe you are kidding yourself

Tansfer budget doesn't come in to it. If a chairman medled in moyes' team and transfer affairs, or told him how to do his job he'd walk.

Then he would have to walk ! Your current owners are grateful to Moyes because he has your club overperforming vis a vis budgets. Multi Billionaire owners tend to look at things differently.

So in actual fact your 'whole humble club' stance is based around what you think David Moyes would want. Your stance is frankly laughable but don't worry it's highly unlikely to be tested.

 

[Bellamy's Caddy]

i think its been a reaction to the way a section of the City fans have acted since they got the cash. I think we always saw City as a good old fashioned down to earth club with passionate and "proper" fans.

However since the cash rolled in they've behaved somewhat like a London club crossed with Newcastle United.

Like i said its a section and as i've been on this forum since the Lescott saga kicked off i'm able to see its a minority rather then a majority

I don't agree at all. Since day one Everton fans have been the most vocal in crying about it, before any City fan had the chance to become arrogant. In my opinion the arrogance stance has only devloped as a defense mechanism towards the hissy fitters.

I think you're right about the defence mechanism. Since the takeover our message boards, mainly 606 (that I read) and Bluemoon, to some extent have been infiltrated on mass by rival fans, sure some of them come with good intentions but all too often these debates descend into petty arguments and bragging on a par with 'my Dad's/Club's bigger than your Dad/Club' (some City fans being guilty of it as well) Before this turns into a rant I must point out that there are some great poster's on this forum from other clubs, we have banter about both teams, and it's good to get alternative views. I'm not going to name check anyone, they know who they are!

On 606 in January loads of rival fans (mainly Villa supporters) decided it'd be really funny to post mock article's on the City page claiming City were going to buy Ashley Young, it was sarcastic and sniping and arrogance on their part, City were not seen as a threat and the idea of us signing one of their star players was apparently laughable to the Villa faithful. How did City fans respond to this uninvited intrusion of our own message board? By bravado along the lines of 'If we wanted him we could buy him, but we've got Robinho so we're ok thanks.' The end of the season came and the unthinkable happened, Villa's midfield mystero and on-off captain Gareth Barry left Villa and signed for Liverpool for Champions League football.....oh wait, no, he didn't. He joined City, largely unthinkable for Villa fans. Where's Barry's ambition? Was the cry, failing to notice the players we were being linked with at the time of his arrival such as Tevez (who we signed) and Alonso (we continue to be linked with) whilst they were being linked with Crouch and Bramble, I have gone slightly off track here, but the point I'm trying to make is that the interst in City since the takeover is huge, not just from the media, but from rival fans. Not all of the attention is polite or particularly pleasant, the example used of the Villa fans/Ashley Young scenario highlights some of the bitterness we have had to put up with since our new found wealth. How do you respond, ignore it? Well it's not gone away, new fans from different clubs join our message boards daily, Instead we give them an informed account of what our club is trying to build, that being a team capable of challenging for major honours sooner, rather than later. If they have to pay huge amounts of money to do that, they will. If they have to suffer some rejection (Kaka) or disappointment (Eto'o) along the way they will.

City's plans to shake up the top 4 of English football and beyond may take a few seasons, maybe more, but no one at the club is messing around anymore, if they were we'd be the first to say so. We were there against Liverpool when Alan Ball told the team a draw would keep us up, we got relegated. We were also there when Steve Coppell resigned after 33 days, one of the many managers on and off our little merry-go-round, and we were there in the 89th minute at Wembley v Gillingham when we looked doomed to another season in the old 2nd Division. We know what it's like to be the butt of every football fan in the country's jokes, we took that in good spirit then and stuck with the mighty blues, hoping one day things would be different. 10 years, 3 promotions and 1 relegation later and they are.

Since the takeover City are not so much the butt of people's jokes but instead, victims of jealousy and bitterness. Were those Villa fans who came on our forums back in January not arrogant in thinking it was laughable City could steal one of their star players away? Come May/June when we did sign one of their star players (granted not the one they had in mind) were City fans not entitled to give them a gentle reminder of their previous statements? Of course we were, one of the best bits of being a football fan is the banter with other fans. But every football fan thinks they're club is better than it is, and hopes 'this is our season' it's human nature, every football fan will defend their team in the face of criticism, it's the way it goes.

The desire of the City fans for the team to do well, may be conveyed as arrogance but at the end of the day, we are in an incredible position to really achieve something, and surely excitement would be a more appropriate label. For the first time in years City fans are genuinely excited that our club may be on the cusp of something really special. Of course we're getting carried away and enthralled by the signings, potential signings and the idea that we may soon challenge for silverware! Who wouldn't be excited?

There's an enormous level of criticism being aimed at City and our fans at the moment, such as 'City are ruining football' 'you've got billions but still won't finish in the top 6' etc, well we're entitled to have our say, we may not get much sympathy in the tabloids but these are our forums, this is our club and if we want to enjoy these exciting times and revel in the possibilities we will do! If rival fans don't like it and our enthusiasm and excitemnt have got a bit much for you, well sorry to be blunt, but you know where the 'sign out' button is. Here's an idea, try forums for your own team instead. I'm not saying we don't welcome other opinions on this board, the point I'm making is some of these posters come on and the way they behave you'd have thought we were on their forums going out of our way to belittle them, this is not the case. We've achieved nothing as of yet, and would be foolish to think anything is guaranteed, but on our own forums, amongst our own fans we're entitled to be omptimisitic we've got some good reasons to be!

This post/rant isn't aimed at any poster's/teams in particular and I used the Villa/Young scenario as it was the most prominent example I could think of, although as fate would have it I did notice today that City are being linked with Ashley Young in some of the tabloids, I can't see it happening for several reasons but I wonder how funny those Villa fans are finding that idea now..... It's a funny old game isn't it.

 

[elanos thumb]

Hey ToffeeAndy?

 

[ono]

so in other words we shoudnt spend the money.....just like everton wouldnt if they were in our position!! and you as a fan would be happy with your club being the richest in the world but not buying any quality players because that would be "flash".
ABSOLUTE BOLLOCKS,

YOUR MISSING THE POINT (thought i'd write in capitals seeing as you did). We'd buy young talented players (Moutinho would be a good example). Players that are massively talented, young and hungry for success. We would spend money obviously, i didnt say we wouldn't, but there's a different path you can take other then identifying the 11 best players in the world and trying to buy them all.

You see i don't think we are doing that or even attempting to. That's what Real Madrid seems to be trying to do.

I'm pretty certain we went in for Kaka on the recommendation of Robinho and Elano. I don't mean they said 'yeah he's great, buy him' i mean Robinho will have obviously spoken to Kaka at some point and sounded him out. Kaka will have shown some interest so we persued it. Same thing with what's happening with John Terry now.

Each possible available player has unique circumstances surrounding them and the ones that have circumstances that allow us to be in with half a chance of signing, we will go for. Any club does that regardless of wealth. For example, Stoke and Hull showed an interest in signing Michael Owen.

We did it with Robinho (burnt his bridges with Real) and with Milan (need money and Kaka has very good relations with a few City players.

So next we've gone for Adebayor, Tevez, Barry and Santa Cruz. All good premiership players. Adebayor wouldn't have lasted at Arsenal much longer, Tevez wasn't going to get what he wanted at United, Barry wanted to move to a champions league club or at least a club with big ambition (not saying Villa don't, but they on't have the resources we have now) and Santa Cruz wanted the hell out of Blackburn. Add them players to the January signings of Bellamy, Given and Bridge and it shows to me we are building a team of top quality premiership players who would be borderline regulars at top 4 clubs. Not 11 world stars if you ask me.

It's a no-win situation because the minute we sign a solid player the media and like minded opposition fans start with the 'all that money and they ended up with Bellamy/Barry/Bridge) tripe but then if we dare go for a player like Terry or Kaka the story changes to 'who do they think they are?'

Obviously the media are doing a great job at adding to the hate but half of the time what they are printing is complete tosh anyway. take the 35m on watches story for example. Complete nonsense which the club are taking legal action. The story about us going for Messi in The Sun not so long ago - complete back page story. Again was all bullshit and we reacted to it. Few days later The Sun printed an apology but the damage is already done. People have already started with the 'Messi, who do they think they are' bollocks again.

What would other people be happy with us doing? Add a few Football Manager/Fifa gems (yes that was a Moutinho dig :p) to a team that for the last 6 months of the previous season, was showing relegation form or in other words. We know that wouldn't work in the long run. Hell we tried it the year before with Elano, Corluka, Petrov, Bianchi etc...

I'm pretty sure Moyes would do the same as Hughes. Adding Moutinho and other 'good but untested' players to a good team doesn't improve you much more. Certainly not enough to break the top 4 on a continuous basis and i'm sure Moyes would know this. Deep down i'm sure you also know this.

 

[DontLookBackInAnger]

I totally admire and support the signings Hughes has made, with the exception of Tal Ben Haim.

Are there any other signings that we disagree with?

I know he isn't everybody's key player, but the signing of Vincent Kompany was just genius.

I had never heard of him before either.

For me, the best player we have.

Like any manager, he has had his hits and misses, as you point out TBH would be one(although many people feel that wasn't his). Kompany the other way has been great, I think Bridge has been disappointing as has DeJong and Bellamy did what a lot of people thought he would play half a dozen games and then get injured(although he did play quite well in many of those games).

 

[ToffeeAndy]

I agree with a lot of what you're saying TA, however if you look at Hughes when he was at Blackburn, he was much the same as Moyes is now at Everton. Looking around for bargains that he knew he could mould into a team with an enviable work ethic, which could take on the big boys and win despite having far less 'traditionally skillful' players on the teamsheet.

Hughes has, however, seen the options that are available to him now he is able to pay whatever transfer fee he wants - without inhibition - and is looking at more established players, who he still feels he can mould into a team. Part of the reason for this is that City have one of the best youth academies in the country, which provides a conveyor belt of talent for Hughes to pick from without the necessity for poaching young players from other teams - the plan now seems to be the Wenger approach of buying these players when they're in their teens and putting them through the youth set-up ourselves. These transfers aren't very well publicised because they are, by essence, low-profile. This leaves Hughes to buy ready-made players for the first team, who can hit the ground running without any problems. I don't see that Moyes would do that differently in the same circumstances, and I think its a bit naive to think otherwise.

A final point - these Middle Eastern owners that buy Premier League teams want to make a splash to announce their investment, and for it to register and have an impact back home. The club is, after all, their property once they've paid the money for it. If Moyes was out playing golf at lunchtime on the last day of the transfer window, and he received a call from the club saying 'We've sorted a deal for Robinho, you know - that shit hot Brazil international from Real Madrid, as a way of announcing our arrival and as a present to the club and fans, OK?', are you honestly telling me you think Moyes would say 'Fook Off - I can't believe you've done this you bunch of Coonts', and walk? I can't see it myself, but maybe I'm wrong!

I think Moyes would sit down with the owners and tell them exactly how he wanted things to go, and if it wasn't how he wanted it he'd walk. I doubt the scenario with Robinho you mentioned would arise as a result.

Anyway I think we'll never agree and no-one could ever say for definate unless it happened. I guess we'll agree to disagree as this would just go one forever if not anyway.

I'm pleased that most fans seem to think that this is the only major thing they disagree with that I typed in that post so thats good enough for me :)

 

[stony]

I think Moyes would sit down with the owners and tell them exactly how he wanted things to go, and if it wasn't how he wanted it he'd walk.

And spend the rest of his career listening to people say he couldn't hack it when the pressure came. He can't manage the big players. He's no good with money......etc.

Don't kid yourself mate, if Moyes had unlimited funds, he would use them.

 

[Dubai Blue]

no-one could ever say for definate unless it happened.

Well, you did about 2 pages ago. In fact you seemed utterly convinced of what your humble club would do in our situation.

 

[Nicholas van Whatsisface]

I agree with a lot of what you're saying TA, however if you look at Hughes when he was at Blackburn, he was much the same as Moyes is now at Everton. Looking around for bargains that he knew he could mould into a team with an enviable work ethic, which could take on the big boys and win despite having far less 'traditionally skillful' players on the teamsheet.

Hughes has, however, seen the options that are available to him now he is able to pay whatever transfer fee he wants - without inhibition - and is looking at more established players, who he still feels he can mould into a team. Part of the reason for this is that City have one of the best youth academies in the country, which provides a conveyor belt of talent for Hughes to pick from without the necessity for poaching young players from other teams - the plan now seems to be the Wenger approach of buying these players when they're in their teens and putting them through the youth set-up ourselves. These transfers aren't very well publicised because they are, by essence, low-profile. This leaves Hughes to buy ready-made players for the first team, who can hit the ground running without any problems. I don't see that Moyes would do that differently in the same circumstances, and I think its a bit naive to think otherwise.

A final point - these Middle Eastern owners that buy Premier League teams want to make a splash to announce their investment, and for it to register and have an impact back home. The club is, after all, their property once they've paid the money for it. If Moyes was out playing golf at lunchtime on the last day of the transfer window, and he received a call from the club saying 'We've sorted a deal for Robinho, you know - that shit hot Brazil international from Real Madrid, as a way of announcing our arrival and as a present to the club and fans, OK?', are you honestly telling me you think Moyes would say 'Fook Off - I can't believe you've done this you bunch of Coonts', and walk? I can't see it myself, but maybe I'm wrong!

I think Moyes would sit down with the owners and tell them exactly how he wanted things to go, and if it wasn't how he wanted it he'd walk. I doubt the scenario with Robinho you mentioned would arise as a result.

Anyway I think we'll never agree and no-one could ever say for definate unless it happened. I guess we'll agree to disagree as this would just go one forever if not anyway.

I'm pleased that most fans seem to think that this is the only major thing they disagree with that I typed in that post so thats good enough for me :)

Fair enough mate - agree to disagree and all that!

One point though - you say Moyes would sit down with the owners and tell them exactly what he wanted, so the Robinho thing wouldn't arise. Our owners took over the club on the morning of September the 1st (the last day of the transfer window) - the deal for their 'make a splash', statement signing of Robinho was being sorted by the afternoon, and was concluded by the evening - doesn't leave a lot of 'sitting down' time does it? Which means Moyes would, by your reckoning, have to live by his principles and walk before the new owners has even got their feet under the table. As I said before - highly unlikely!