1) How did you think the 14/15 season went for you compared to your expectations at the start of the campaign? Where did it go right and/or wrong?.
My expectations were that we would challenge for the title, but probably finish in 2nd place behind Chelsea, so pretty close to how the season panned out. I thought we'd push them a lot closer than we did though, so overall I was a little disappointed with our performance. It went wrong defensively for me, we were inconsistent, and key defensive players, such as Kompany and Zabaleta, didn't have their best seasons.
2) What are you hopes/expectations for 15/16 and where do you think you will finish in the league? .
My hopes and expectations are pretty much the same as 12 months ago, I expect a title challenge, I hope for a title victory. At this stage I think we'll finish 2nd, to Chelsea again, however there's still a month left to strengthen the squad and, if the right players are added, those expectations could well be revised.
3) Do you have full trust in your manager? To play devil's advocate, what would have to go wrong for him to be sacked?.
I wouldn't say I have full trust in Pellegrini, his quiet man persona is a welcome change to Mancini's constant confrontational approach, but I feel at times he's too passive. Also his football can be a bit laboured at times, hopefully something the addition of pace to our attack will address. For Pellegrini to be sacked he'd need to fail in the Champion's League, or see us struggling to make the top 4 come the new year. Realistically he's only got 12 months left on his contract, and I don't think many see him being offered a new one. It's hardly a secret that we covet Guardiola and I think there's a more than decent chance he'll be our manager for next season.
4) It's been an oddly quiet transfer window this summer, but of the business you have done so far, are you happy with the ins and outs?.
Happy with the ins (assuming there are more to come as well), not so much the outs (or lack of outs at this stage). Sterling is a quality signing, expensive, but quality. He brings what we were missing, pace, directness, width, and he's homegrown. Delph was a no brainer once the steal price of £8m became known. Lampard was always leaving, and I'm not too bothered by that. I'd have kept Milner, and the club tried, but a promise of playing virtually every game, and in central midfield, was something we couldn't offer him. I'd like to see more exits, Jovetic looks out the door, and hopefully Dzeko will follow. I'd also like to see Sagna and probably Kolarov exit too, but neither of those seem likely at this stage.
5) Obviously there is still some time to go, so which player/s would you like to sign, sell and/or which positions strengthened?.
As mentioned above, looks like we'll sell Jovetic and Dzeko, and I'd like to see us sell Sagna and Kolarov. Navas and Nasri I'm not too concerned with keeping either, so if we received decent offers for either I'd consider selling. Regarding incoming, Kevin De Bruyne is looking like the most likely new addition, with Paul Pogba a more difficult one to assess in terms of chances of arrival. If Sagna and/or Kolarov go then we'd need to replace them, we've heard rumours of links to 2 Brazilian fullbacks in Fabinho and Alex Sandro.
6) Speaking of transfers, what was your take on the Raheem Sterling transfer and the way he & his agent forced through the move?.
I'm more than happy to have Sterling at City, as previously mentioned he brings a lot of attributes to the squad we were missing previously. The prospects of him linking up with Aguero and Silva are very tantalising. His behaviour wasn't the best, nor that of his agent, and clearly it would have been preferable to all if this could have been done without the media attention, however I believe it was blown out of all proportion. Di Maria is doing something very similar to United as we speak, trying to engineer a move to PSG, simply not showing up for pre-season, his manager has no clue where he is, yet there's very little fuss being made about it in the press. Sterling's agent stoked up the media to a degree, but leaks from Liverpool FC, and a seemingly daily interview with one ex-Liverpool player after another, all more than happy to trash Sterling to whoever would listen, was equally to blame, and equally distasteful. Liverpool FC, and it's orchestration of the media around this, have a lot to answer for, as they helped fuel the flames that lead to Sterling being racially abused, and his daughter threatened with rape. I doubt they care though.
7) What do you make of Liverpool's signings? (Joe Gomez, Adam Bogdan, Danny Ings, James Milner, Nathaniel Clyne, Roberto Firmino and Christian Benteke)..
Ok, but nothing special, and I'm not sure it's enough to break the top 4. Clyne is a good, young English fullback, and reasonably priced. He's better going forward than defending though, and I think Liverpool may have needed someone a bit more "solid". Ings was as much a no brainer as Delph was for us, English, on a free (well, compensation to Burnley, but comparatively cheap) and potential to improve. He's not there yet though. Milner is a good player, he'll give you everything, every game, but there's a reason we wouldn't give him regular starts in central midfield, and it's because his distribution, and ability to control the game from there isn't of a high enough calibre. If he becomes more willing to play in wider positions then he'll be a really good addition, however he left City because he wanted to play centrally so that's not going to be an easy sell. Unsurprisingly I know nothing about teenage Charlton defenders so can't really comment on Gomez! Bogdan is an irrelevant signing as he'll be watching games not playing in them. Firmino, as a Sterling replacement, needs to hit the ground running, I don't know a huge amount about him, he could prove a good player, or he may flop. For the money spent I'd be worried he isn't more of a certainty. Benteke is a proven Premier League striker, so you can't argue with him on that score. My concerns here are does he really suit Liverpool's style of play? Villa got the best out of him as a target man, delivering crosses and allowing him to dominate defenders with his physical presence. That's not how Rodgers has Liverpool playing, if you try and get Benteke to play a more passing game, with the ball at his feet more, will he perform? I have my doubts.
8) Where do you think LFC will finish in the league?.
5th. The top 4, for me, have got better squads than Liverpool. A title challenge is out of the question, the best they can possibly hope for is to sneak 4th, if United don't gel. I see Liverpool as "the best of the rest" at this stage, Spurs will likely finish 6th, but Liverpool will be able to keep them at bay. I actually believe the top 4 will have a decent sized cushion on the rest of the league this year, Liverpool needed to add top quality players, players who could play for most teams out there. They haven't, they've added 2nd tier talent, at best. That isn't enough to break the top 4.
9) Do you want Balotelli?.
Absolutely not! He's always been inconsistent, but at Liverpool he's become totally ineffectual. If Fiorentina are baulking at paying £10m for him it shows how low his stock has dropped. He was always good for a laugh, entertaining as hell, but nowhere near good enough for us on the pitch at this stage.
