OK, let's be realistic

oakiecokie said:
w players but Rodders is the main problem as its near impossible to find anyone like him currently. Pep for whatever reasons has kept faith with some of "old brigade" for too long now so both himself and Txiki are culpable of not strengthening the squad, certainly this season.
Its certainly come back to bite Pep on the arse with using a small squad. We then look at the roles of Soriano and our wonderful Khaldoon. Have they taken their eyes off what could happen and been too over confident ?
And finally the Players. Lets be honest and I
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oakiecokie said:
I don`t think anyone could see this fall from grace so quickly and its been a shock to the system for one and all.
I don`t blame individuals as IMO I believe its been a collective thing from the Powers That Be in the corridors of The Etihad, Coaches and the Players.
Lets just stand back for a while and take stock of how and why this has happened. Obviously the main problem has been injuries and long term ones for quite a few players but Rodders is the main problem as its near impossible to find anyone like him currently. Pep for whatever reasons has kept faith with some of "old brigade" for too long now so both himself and Txiki are culpable of not strengthening the squad, certainly this season.
Its certainly come back to bite Pep on the arse with using a small squad. We then look at the roles of Soriano and our wonderful Khaldoon. Have they taken their eyes off what could happen and been too over confident ?
And finally the Players. Lets be honest and I would say that the majority of Blues were delighted with the return of Gundo at that time. Certainly I was.Players like Walker, KDB,Gundo and Stones, just to name but a few are possibly well past their sell by date, but we shouldn`t forget their loyalty and how they formed this wonderful team.
The drop of Phil Foden is alarming and that to could be said of Bernie plus the drop off can be said of young Lewis after some very promising performances last season. Two or three of our signings have been underwhelming and perhaps we bought in panic mode, who knows.
So finally we have been on a wonderful journey over the past 8 seasons or so and all good things must come to an end eventually. I think the majority of Blues knew this journey wouldn`t continue ... but by the same token I don`t think we thought we would end up falling off a cliff so rapidly.
Who knows what the outcome will be on this season but lets not forget that should we not reach those top 4 positions then we will lose out on attracting the top players.
Fingers crossed.
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I have always envisioned a ‘fall from grace’ like this was possible because it’s commonplace in English football.

Go back through the history books and look at Champions or teams after big efforts to try and be Champions, and what has happened to them.

City alone:
1936-37 Champions… relegated in 1938.
1967-68 Champions… 13th in 1969.
2017-18 Champions with 100pts, 2018-19 Champions with 98pts with an incredibly tough title run-in (and won all domestic trophies)… out of the title race in November and finished on 81pts in 2019-20.
2020-21 we nearly did a treble, 2021-22 Champions with another incredibly tough title run-in, 2022-23 treble winners, 2023-24 four-in-a-row record breakers… and what we’re witnessing this season as a drop-off.

This drop-off should not be a surprise. Even if everyone had been fit, I’d imagine we’d have had a drop-off this season.

In just my lifetime there’s been:
Villa 1980-81 Champions… 11th (granted with a EC win) in 1982.
Arsenal 1989-90 Champions… 9th in 1991, 13th in 1992.
Leeds 1991-92 Champions… 17th in 1993.
Blackburn 1994-95 Champions… 7th in 1996.
Newcastle 1995-96 2nd and 1996-97 2nd… 13th in 1998.
United 1998-99 treble, then 1999-00 Champions, 2000-01 Champions and 2002-03 Champions… took four years to win the league again in 2007 and didn’t challenge for the title at all in the three years between.
United 2012-13 Champions… 7th in 2014.
Liverpool 2013-14 2nd scoring 101 goals… 6th in 2015, 8th in 2016.
Chelsea 2014-15 Champions… 10th in 2016.
Leicester 2015-16 Champions… 12th in 2017.
Chelsea 2016-17 Champions… 5th in 2018.
Liverpool finished 2nd on 97pts and won the CL in 2018-19, won the PL with 99pts in 2019-20… 3rd on just 69pts in 2021.
Liverpool finished 2nd on 92pts and a CL final in 2021–22… finished 5th on 67pts in 2023.

What City are doing this season is completely normal in English football.
 
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M23 Citizen said:
I have always envisioned a ‘fall from grace’ like this was possible because it’s commonplace in English football.

Go back through the history books and look at Champions and what has happened to them.

City alone:
1936-37 Champions… relegated in 1938.
1967-68 Champions… 13th in 1969.
2017-18 Champions with 100pts, 2018-19 Champions with 98pts with an incredibly tough title run-in… out of the title race in November and finished on 81pts in in 2019-20.
2020-21 we nearly did a treble, 2021-22 Champions with another incredibly tough title run-in, 2022-23 treble winners, 2023-24 four-in-a-row record breakers… and what we’re witnessing this season as a drop-off.

This drop-off should not be a surprise. Even if everyone had been fit, I’d imagine we’d have had a drop-off this season.

In just my lifetime there’s been:
Villa 1980-81 Champions… 11th (granted with a EC win) in 1982
Arsenal 1989-90 Champions… 9th, in 1991, 13th in 1993.
Leeds 1991-92 Champions… 17th in 1993
Blackburn 1994-95 Champions… 7th in 1996
Newcastle 1995-96 2nd and 1996-97 2nd… 13th in 1998
United 2012-13 Champions… 7th in 2014
Chelsea 2014-15 Champions… 10th in 2016
Leicester 2015-16 Champions… 12th in 2017
Chelsea 2016-17 Champions… 5th in 2018
Liverpool finished 2nd on 97pts and won the CL in 2018-19, won the PL with 99pts and a CL final in 2019-20… 3rd on just 69pts in 2021
Liverpool finished 2nd on 92pts and a CL final in 2021–22… finished 5th on 67pts in 2023.

What City are doing this season is completely normal in English football.
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Unfortunately we have some fans who have become like those fuckers we hate at OT and Anfield ...a sense of entitlement.
 
oakiecokie said:
Unfortunately we have some fans who have become like those fuckers we hate at OT and Anfield ...a sense of it shouldn`t be happening to us.
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I said on another thread; they were loving it and supporting Pep and the players after 8 great years but want them out after 8 bad weeks.

That’s not support, it’s entitlement.

Just got to roll our sleeves up and plough on with toughness and resolve. Fans, players and manager alike, altogether as one.

Up the Blues!
 
M23 Citizen said:
I have always envisioned a ‘fall from grace’ like this was possible because it’s commonplace in English football.

Go back through the history books and look at Champions and what has happened to them.

City alone:
1936-37 Champions… relegated in 1938.
1967-68 Champions… 13th in 1969.
2017-18 Champions with 100pts, 2018-19 Champions with 98pts with an incredibly tough title run-in… out of the title race in November and finished on 81pts in in 2019-20.
2020-21 we nearly did a treble, 2021-22 Champions with another incredibly tough title run-in, 2022-23 treble winners, 2023-24 four-in-a-row record breakers… and what we’re witnessing this season as a drop-off.

This drop-off should not be a surprise. Even if everyone had been fit, I’d imagine we’d have had a drop-off this season.

In just my lifetime there’s been:
Villa 1980-81 Champions… 11th (granted with a EC win) in 1982
Arsenal 1989-90 Champions… 9th in 1991, 13th in 1992
Leeds 1991-92 Champions… 17th in 1993
Blackburn 1994-95 Champions… 7th in 1996
Newcastle 1995-96 2nd and 1996-97 2nd… 13th in 1998
United 2012-13 Champions… 7th in 2014
Chelsea 2014-15 Champions… 10th in 2016
Leicester 2015-16 Champions… 12th in 2017
Chelsea 2016-17 Champions… 5th in 2018
Liverpool finished 2nd on 97pts and won the CL in 2018-19, won the PL with 99pts and a CL final in 2019-20… 3rd on just 69pts in 2021
Liverpool finished 2nd on 92pts and a CL final in 2021–22… finished 5th on 67pts in 2023.

What City are doing this season is completely normal in English football.
Click to expand...
Some useful context for those of us who only started supporting city in May 2012 ;-)
 
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