Sven as our manager.

[fuzz barricade]

like others have said he got a new batch of players to play exciting football very quickly.

made watching city enjoyable again after the pearce era.

although when teams sussed us out there wasn't much more he had up his sleeve.

decent manager though, rather have him than hughes.

yeah agreed. when it was announced that hughes was to take over with no money to spend and the situation we found ourselves in i wasn't too dissapointed quite happy because if there was anyone who could sign decent players with little money and put a decent squad together it was hughes who had proven it at blackburn. however about 2 weeks into september after the takeover all i could think is that we missed the trick by not keeping sven and that he was now the MUCH better option in the situation we then found ourselves in midway through september.

 

[Anonymous]

like others have said he got a new batch of players to play exciting football very quickly.

made watching city enjoyable again after the pearce era.

although when teams sussed us out there wasn't much more he had up his sleeve.

decent manager though, rather have him than hughes.

yeah agreed. when it was announced that hughes was to take over with no money to spend and the situation we found ourselves in i wasn't too dissapointed quite happy because if there was anyone who could sign decent players with little money and put a decent squad together it was hughes who had proven it at blackburn. however about 2 weeks into september after the takeover all i could think is that we missed the trick by not keeping sven and that he was now the MUCH better option in the situation we then found ourselves in midway through september.

yeah exactly, i would rather of had hughes with no money and sven with the money.

but bobby manc just takes the biscuit, so its all good now :)

 

[Berkovic_blue]

Tell your mate that Sven was an excellent manager, who took 7 or 8 new players and got them playing some great football from the off. The players loved him and we did too. The problem was that, as with England, there was no Plan B if games weren't going to plan and the training regime was possibly a bit lax.

Things fell to pieces around Xmas as his relationship with the owner broke dwon completely and the players knew this. I think if that hadn't happened and he'd remained our manager then we could have won the league last season.

Pretty much sums up my thoughts on it. If he'd remained in post until ADUG took over then City would be further along with their progress without suffering from the disruption of further managerial changes.

Personally I would love to have seen what Sven could have done with that money combined with his reputation in terms of signing players.

 

[brazilians hurt]

Gambled the lot on Bianchi to get him the goals it did'nt pay off and Shinawatra was livid that Sven had spunked the lot on a player he wouldn't even pick.
Going to keep an eye on Leicester this season would be happy for Sven and their fans if he got them in premiership - they've got fan abse and stadium to make a fist of it anyway.
Hope Johnson gets to start regularly and does well for them.

 

[Citizen Green]

like others have said he got a new batch of players to play exciting football very quickly.

made watching city enjoyable again after the pearce era.

although when teams sussed us out there wasn't much more he had up his sleeve.

decent manager though, rather have him than hughes.

yeah agreed. when it was announced that hughes was to take over with no money to spend and the situation we found ourselves in i wasn't too dissapointed quite happy because if there was anyone who could sign decent players with little money and put a decent squad together it was hughes who had proven it at blackburn. however about 2 weeks into september after the takeover all i could think is that we missed the trick by not keeping sven and that he was now the MUCH better option in the situation we then found ourselves in midway through september.

Exactly, he'd been in a similar situation at Lazio when he had been backed with big money and he delivered a brilliant side.

 

[Berkovic_blue]

I agree about Plan B but I think you underestimate the amount of upheaval there was going on behind the scenes in the second half of the season.

agree again with this. i think lloydie you are a bit of an idiot if you think he got lucky for 6 months and got city into the top 4 by xmas and were we not top at one point? never had a plan b but with more players that would have came about we would have done. we had a really really small squad that season particularly in defence. remember our best attacking player playing right back? he was given stuart pearces team and after the team finished right next to the relegation places the season before i think he did quite well.

Technically it only went well for 4 months and that includes the fact we couldnt win away from home during that time. After that we struggled to win at home and were dog shit. If Sven was a good manager then so Was Phil Brown as he managed a good 4 months then after xmas made it impossible for his team to win

Thats over the top i know but Sven does get a little bit too much credit from City fans

His away record was better than Hughes who follwed immediately after him and had a f***load more money to spend. Another one of the Sven myths that won't seem to die.

 

[kass_best]

@ PB I bow to your greater knowledge of the behind the scenes stuff but a better manager would surely shield his players from that. I actually liked him as a bloke though and thought he was good for our image considering who we had as an owner.

According to Hans Backe (our assistent at the time, now New York Red Bulls headcoach) Thaksin wanted to decide who was playing and not. Also, do you remember the 3 thai players he tried to buy? Pure shit.

He even went into the dressing room yelling at the players and such things... How do you protect your players from that? Boss, get the f out...

Thaksin is a mad man.

Sven did great, yes we werent good in the spring but before the league started, we werent even close to be a PL team. 14-16 players? 3 goalkeepers, 6 strikers or something? Before Sven signed I was sure we would be relegated. A shame we sacked him because i think he would have done a better job than Hughes. But hey, the team we have today, why complain and look back... Sorry :P

 

[Citizen Green]

agree again with this. i think lloydie you are a bit of an idiot if you think he got lucky for 6 months and got city into the top 4 by xmas and were we not top at one point? never had a plan b but with more players that would have came about we would have done. we had a really really small squad that season particularly in defence. remember our best attacking player playing right back? he was given stuart pearces team and after the team finished right next to the relegation places the season before i think he did quite well.

Technically it only went well for 4 months and that includes the fact we couldnt win away from home during that time. After that we struggled to win at home and were dog shit. If Sven was a good manager then so Was Phil Brown as he managed a good 4 months then after xmas made it impossible for his team to win

Thats over the top i know but Sven does get a little bit too much credit from City fans

His away record was better than Hughes who follwed immediately after him and had a f***load more money to spend. Another one of the Sven myths that won't seem to die.

4 wins and 6 draws out of 19 games isn't to bad for a team which was quickly assembled and had no new faces (of any quality) added in the January window.

 

[BoyBlue_1985]

agree again with this. i think lloydie you are a bit of an idiot if you think he got lucky for 6 months and got city into the top 4 by xmas and were we not top at one point? never had a plan b but with more players that would have came about we would have done. we had a really really small squad that season particularly in defence. remember our best attacking player playing right back? he was given stuart pearces team and after the team finished right next to the relegation places the season before i think he did quite well.

Technically it only went well for 4 months and that includes the fact we couldnt win away from home during that time. After that we struggled to win at home and were dog shit. If Sven was a good manager then so Was Phil Brown as he managed a good 4 months then after xmas made it impossible for his team to win

Thats over the top i know but Sven does get a little bit too much credit from City fans

His away record was better than Hughes who follwed immediately after him and had a f***load more money to spend. Another one of the Sven myths that won't seem to die.

Um i never compared Sven to anyone, i said HIS away record was poor, yes Hughes record was poor as well but that makes no odds to my argument other than something we already knew which is Sven is a better manager than Hughes. Are away record was shit and thats it really we won 4 games away from home. We won 15 games in total and 10 of them were before xmas. If you want a Sven myth, how about the Myth he got us into Europe

 

[brooklandsblue2.0]

Tell your mate that Sven was an excellent manager, who took 7 or 8 new players and got them playing some great football from the off. The players loved him and we did too. The problem was that, as with England, there was no Plan B if games weren't going to plan and the training regime was possibly a bit lax.

Things fell to pieces around Xmas as his relationship with the owner broke dwon completely and the players knew this. I think if that hadn't happened and he'd remained our manager then we could have won the league last season.

Think you have a touch of the 'Dave Wallaces' here.... "and so did we" .......I certainly didn't. The players love Sven at every club he's at because he indulges them, under works them and lets them do what the f*** they wanted......I don't think Mancini would have allowed M. Johnson the free reign he was given by Sven at the time. Also look at players like Elano and Petrov who did not think it was there job to work for the team after Sven left.

Basically Sven is a chancer in the Kevin Keegan mold. (although slightly more tactically aware)He'll spend a lot of money, on good players who will openly love him, he'll let them get away with murder and this formula can work providing the financial backing keeps coming, when it stops and the playing field is evened you're left with a dull, uninspiring average manager.