Gordyola
Well-Known Member
There is plenty of evidence that City pontificate far too much. pussy foot around and you can't deny thatOk, very well, first of all, what's with the 'We are City' in the thread title? This makes no sense in its current form.
Secondly, do we know Rice was attainable? Do you know he wanted to leave London to come to City? If you have any information which would show that Rice's heart was set on Arsenal any less than Bellingham's was on Real then let's have it. It's clear to me that City didn't want to enter into a bidding war with Arsenal and have David Sullivan as the puppet master.
Thirdly, so you're quite happy for the human trafficking of Kalvin Phillips to West Ham - a club he evidently did not want to join for a deal significantly less than he's on at City? How could we force him to go for less money when he's got four years left on his deal at City? Are you proposing that we undo all of the hard work of the last 10 years by just lobbing millions of pounds at Phillips to get him off the books? Thus in reality making the Rice deal somewhere around £140m? What message would that send to players, agents and other clubs? That Ferran Soriano is really Peter Ridsdale or Ed Woodward?
Fourthly, what evidence is there to suggest that we operate in a way so as to not upset others? We made Jack Grealish the first £100m player that this country has ever seen, taking him from his boyhood club where he'd earned hero status. Do you think that was popular? How about trying to buy Harry Kane in the same summer, another club legend and the best striker this country has seen for many a year?
I'm as disappointed as anyone that we're performing as we are, and I am underwhelmed by our signings up to this point. That said, I think it's wrong to accuse anyone at the club of not acting in its best interests. Our strategy in the market whilst Pep has been here has been an overwhelming success with only a few notable exceptions. Experience has taught us that not every signing works out immediately but some go on to be excellent. We need to be patient, accept that it might not be our year after three blockbuster campaigns, and not be so entitled as to think we can 'put people back in their box'. This is a tough league and nobody has a divine right to win it. That's what makes our achievements so impressive and our board/management so trustworthy.
The " We are City" = Champions of Europe of England x 3, FAC winners, the most successful club in England for the last decade it's time to show a bit of arrogance instead of worrying what others think
Khaldoon promised we would in his end of season address.
The club management didn't deliver for the team management regardless of "if players become good" We lost three significant squad member, senior established internationals including the club captain, who himself has said the club left it too late even though the manager want him to stay Pep's words. We need significant signings ready made replacements we didn't get one. Still no back up for Rodri and evidence is in the results as to how much we needed one.
Of course we don't know ultimately if Rice would have travelled to the frozen north to ply his trade but, we made it far too easy for Arsenal, a club we have helped rebuild and become a rival. Thats what i mean "putting them back in their box" Telling West Ham that we were prepared to pay what it took, more than any other, would have either got our man or forced Arsenal to pay a hell of a lot more, than they wanted and depleted their kitty. It would also have sent a message to Rice how much we wanted him, that he would have been a regular starter instead we made one bid then dropped out.
What message you say would it send to others if we had paid £140M for Rice? Well, what message did it send when we paid £100m for Jack? What message do you suggest we are sending when we end up with the players we got this season? Its not the one that Khaldoon was sending Its not about entitlement it's about winning off the field as much as on it Frankly its because Pep is such a genius that we have got away with the off field dealings and that "he always finds away" Maybe this time he wont?
Jack had a release clause yet, we still tried to force Villa to accept less
Kane how long did we spend messing around with that? In the end kane himself got sick of the uncertainty and ruled himself out. Levy had a price, he was never going to accept less especially from City If he is " the best striker this country has seen for many a year" then surely he is worth more than the £70m which is what it appears was as high as we got too? Bayern paid £82 with add on to £100m and he's another year older.