Swansea (a) Post Match Thread

[blueinsa]

Jeez chill. Relegated! Ceo hated by all! Things are not that bad man.

Re otamendi, good player, he is one to keep. I have been impressed with him despit ed the bias press highlighting every city defensive mistake.

Billy had his tongue firmly planted in his cheek when he posted that.

 

[prof-taf]

you know we are a very lucky fan base, our terrible manager has gone. to be replacing one of the worst with one of, if not the best is fantastic.

can't wait for next season already. I just have to save up :)

ps. hotel in Cardiff already booked.

I hope you get a refund on your booking, no chance we will be in final.

 

[BLUEMATT23]

The match was abysmal, if anything it summed up our whole season. I find it astonishing that still since the takeover whenever we have a "crunch" match, last game of the season/final etc we can never have an easy game and somehow we always always make hard work of it. Swansea made several changes and had nothing to play for yet our midfield was overrun and we could have easily lost the game.
A big clear out is needed and Navas would be my first casualty, he is shocking.

 

[BlueAnorak]

Pep would be trolling half the posters on Bluemoon if he kept Fernando ;)

Agree though he's been very very good in recent weeks and does look bothered (although IMO he went missing at the Bernabau).

Nah. As I have said repeatedly this season he has defended well for us this season and has done enough to stay and be in the mix as a rotating player against the lesser lights. Attacking wise though he's poor and doesn't give us much. He doesn't pass forwards and doesn't move the ball forward into space when the opposition offer it. If he can improve that he may be given an opportunity by Pep.

 

[Exeter Blue I am here]

Staggering given your stance on Pellegrini and insistence he has the beat squad in the league.

Surely Pep also inherits that best squad in the league so why the softening of your position and sudden dumbing down of expectation?

Unless of course your stance on Pellegrini has had nothing to do with the odd draw or defeat?

Spot on

 

[M18CTID]

then we are fucked. pep or no pep.

I'm just hoping Pep's first 2 league games with us don't mirror his first two league games as manager of Barcelona, otherwise this place will go into meltdown!

 

[Hungarian blue]

I'm just hoping Pep's first 2 league games with us don't mirror his first two league games as manager of Barcelona, otherwise this place will go into meltdown!

I'm actually sure we will have a period like this initially (then go on a roll and who knows, maybe win the league as we did with even Pellegrini in charge). And yes, the only thing that makes this thought a bit funny is the vision of a proper meltdown here. :)

 

[Danamy]

As I've said repeatedly in Pellegrini's formative weeks you didn't need to be a soothsayer or have a crystal ball to be able to see where it would all end up unless Pellegrini changed his tactics. All that was needed was a rudimentary knowledge of football to be able to connect the dots which drew a very clear picture. I saw it, @Shaelumstash saw it as did many others fans and pundits. What was more crucial was that other managers saw it too, but were too weary to act on it early on because the Mancini fear factor was still there. It may have taken a season before they all acted on it en masse but act they did and from thereon in our decline began.

You say a thread had to be pulled because of a prolonged bout of 'boasting', but was it boasting or people being unable to handle the inconvenient truth that many observant City fans were mercilessly hounded on here as footballing know nowts, hankerers or as being 'One of Bob's bellends' just because they had the temerity to disagree with a certain faction as to where we were headed? We all know that unconditional support for Pellegrini was more about the insane hatred some had for Mancini which just made any criticism of Manuel turn into a MP v RM war, but it was a war happily perpetrated by those who saw the 'wallopings' you highlight as vindication to get rid of Mancini where we all now know the club needed Mancini gone and a 'caretaker' in whilst we pursued Pep.

On a serious level now, many posters left the board and some never returned because of the treatment they had to endure because their views differed to yours and certain others, so where was the thread pulling then? I'll leave that point there as many of us by now will know what comes next.

Yes, we were walloping many teams for a period, but Pellegrini still had to change his suicide tactics for the final 5-6 games to get us over the line and even then it took Liverpool to shoot themselves in the foot to give us a clear run toward the title. But like I've said the problems that have characterised his tenure were there for everyone to see as far back as then even in the matches where we 'walloped' the opposition.

Did he learn from his 2013 - 2014 experience? No! Come August 2014 it was back to 442 and his Kamikaze tactics, only this time the penny had dropped with the majority of Premier League managers and they all began to act on it. On the day of the 2nd leg CL tie against Real I was aghast when he came out and said 'People always talk about tactics, but big matches are rarely won by tactics they are won by special players'. Really? That statement explained a lot about Manuel.

Just because you didn't spot all this early on doesn't mean it wasn't happening as you like others were too blinded by the 'wallopings' to see. The great thing about modern history is that most of it has been captured for eternity on video so its very easy to go back and revisit events. If you ever get a chance look again at Pellegrini's first season and I assure you that in hindsight you will clearly see what I and others were saying as far back as then. Don't just take my word for it, look and see for yourself and you will realise a crystal ball or having the powers of a soothsayer weren't needed.

We're all City fans and I hated being sat there watching what was happening to us, but at no point did Manuel lose my support. My faith in his ability yes, but not my support.

As for our differing opinions on our squad I accept your assertions that our 2012 - 2013 albeit I disagree with it which is why I took the time to list the squads so everyone can contrast and compare both. I still maintain the respective managers were the biggest difference and the squad we have now is stronger, but I'll refrain from ending with any Billy Big Bollocks 'If you don't agree with me, you need help' comments. That's two you've had for free.

I can't believe you're still beating that drum, just let go, he's gone, get over it.

Pour yourself a drink, relax and enjoy......if it makes you feel better you were right all along, i can tell you're the type that needs a cuddle every now and again.

I did find the bit where you tagged your partner in the post a bit embarrassing though

Enjoy the summer ;-)

 

[Blue Whale]

The man is 28 though and he dives in and makes as many daft decisions as Mangala does. I'm not defending Mangala as he is a lost cause also but you would of hoped for a man of 28 he wouldn't make anywhere near the mistakes he does.

I agree. His trademark lunge tackle is successful in about one in ten attempts. The way I see it is that demichelis had had a great career before us but was awful when he first came. He came good (before his legs went) and showed why he had been a top defender. I'm hoping Tarka does the same. Though, yeah, judging on this year alone you wouldn't have thought it possible he could come good.

 

[TBooksbluearmy]

The Swansea game was 1 of our worst performances since Manuel took over the club. Swansea were there for the taking and we should have put this game to bed by half time. Instead we were all praying that Swansea didn't sneak a 2 goal, because I couldn't see us scoring a 2nd goal.

 

[Tom_mcfc]

The Swansea game was 1 of our worst performances since Manuel took over the club. Swansea were there for the taking and we should have put this game to bed by half time. Instead we were all praying that Swansea didn't sneak a 2 goal, because I couldn't see us scoring a 2nd goal.

Was this your first game you watched under Pellers era too? I can think of probably 5 games just this season, probably just this year that's been an awful lot worse

 

[bluwes]

Just watching it back now. We really get no favours from the ref. No major decisions, just little things that break up play and stop us moving forward. Every 50/50 challenge was given as a foul to Swansea. Been happening all season.

 

[blueplan]

Just watching it back now. We really get no favours from the ref. No major decisions, just little things that break up play and stop us moving forward. Every 50/50 challenge was given as a foul to Swansea. Been happening all season.

Every seasons for the last while especially the scums 20th title season where for 18 months they did not have a red card ..while we were penalized and carded for every imaginables ..

 

[blueinsa]

Just watching it back now. We really get no favours from the ref. No major decisions, just little things that break up play and stop us moving forward. Every 50/50 challenge was given as a foul to Swansea. Been happening all season.

We where dog shit Sunday but you raise a valid point and its something we get nearly every week.

Any touch on a player from us seems to bring a whistle whilst they get away with lets say much more physicality.

The booking of Kelechi was an absolute joke from Dean.

 

[Exeter Blue I am here]

As I've said repeatedly in Pellegrini's formative weeks you didn't need to be a soothsayer or have a crystal ball to be able to see where it would all end up unless Pellegrini changed his tactics. All that was needed was a rudimentary knowledge of football to be able to connect the dots which drew a very clear picture. I saw it, @Shaelumstash saw it as did many others fans and pundits. What was more crucial was that other managers saw it too, but were too weary to act on it early on because the Mancini fear factor was still there. It may have taken a season before they all acted on it en masse but act they did and from thereon in our decline began.

You say a thread had to be pulled because of a prolonged bout of 'boasting', but was it boasting or people being unable to handle the inconvenient truth that many observant City fans were mercilessly hounded on here as footballing know nowts, hankerers or as being 'One of Bob's bellends' just because they had the temerity to disagree with a certain faction as to where we were headed? We all know that unconditional support for Pellegrini was more about the insane hatred some had for Mancini which just made any criticism of Manuel turn into a MP v RM war, but it was a war happily perpetrated by those who saw the 'wallopings' you highlight as vindication to get rid of Mancini where we all now know the club needed Mancini gone and a 'caretaker' in whilst we pursued Pep.

On a serious level now, many posters left the board and some never returned because of the treatment they had to endure because their views differed to yours and certain others, so where was the thread pulling then? I'll leave that point there as many of us by now will know what comes next.

Yes, we were walloping many teams for a period, but Pellegrini still had to change his suicide tactics for the final 5-6 games to get us over the line and even then it took Liverpool to shoot themselves in the foot to give us a clear run toward the title. But like I've said the problems that have characterised his tenure were there for everyone to see as far back as then even in the matches where we 'walloped' the opposition.

Did he learn from his 2013 - 2014 experience? No! Come August 2014 it was back to 442 and his Kamikaze tactics, only this time the penny had dropped with the majority of Premier League managers and they all began to act on it. On the day of the 2nd leg CL tie against Real I was aghast when he came out and said 'People always talk about tactics, but big matches are rarely won by tactics they are won by special players'. Really? That statement explained a lot about Manuel.

Just because you didn't spot all this early on doesn't mean it wasn't happening as you like others were too blinded by the 'wallopings' to see. The great thing about modern history is that most of it has been captured for eternity on video so its very easy to go back and revisit events. If you ever get a chance look again at Pellegrini's first season and I assure you that in hindsight you will clearly see what I and others were saying as far back as then. Don't just take my word for it, look and see for yourself and you will realise a crystal ball or having the powers of a soothsayer weren't needed.

We're all City fans and I hated being sat there watching what was happening to us, but at no point did Manuel lose my support. My faith in his ability yes, but not my support.

As for our differing opinions on our squad I accept your assertions that our 2012 - 2013 albeit I disagree with it which is why I took the time to list the squads so everyone can contrast and compare both. I still maintain the respective managers were the biggest difference and the squad we have now is stronger, but I'll refrain from ending with any Billy Big Bollocks 'If you don't agree with me, you need help' comments. That's two you've had for free.

1. I've already explained that we could ALL see what the weaknesses were with Pellegrini from the word go, but whilst we were busy winning the league and scoring a zillion goals in the process, it was perfectly reasonable to back him as the prowess going forward was more than compensating for any defensive shortcomings (QED), and the question of his adaptability wasn't an issue as it wasn't being tested at that stage. If you can claim that you foresaw in advance that he wouldn't adapt when those questions were eventually asked, then clearly you are a visionary beyond compare and I wish you were employed by the board. If however you were just wetting your finger, sticking it in the air and saying "hey, x or y might be an issue further down the line", safe in the knowledge that it either would (in which case you could spend the next 18 months, making post after post after post, all of which included some reference - oblique or otherwise - to your having been right all along) or wouldn't, then you are no more a visionary than a straw chewing yokel informing me he can tell from the big black clouds that it might rain. The continued selection of Ya Ya Toure in a midfield two a problem? No shit Sherlock! The notion that other managers spotted Pellegrini's weaknesses from the start, but were "too weary to act on it" has to be a wind up on your part, surely?! What they did was learn from their beatings and come back with a plan to combat us the following season.

2. I don't know why you're inviting me to go back and look at videos of Pellegrini's early days at the club. I was fully aware of his shortcomings at the time. I've already referenced Cardiff for you, and the world and his wife knew that Ya Ya in a midfield 2 was an issue. The perfectly reasonable argument, given that we were busy winning the league at the time with a record number of goals, was that the additional emphasis on attack would compensate for the loss of defensive solidity. Not my preferred option as I am of a nervous disposition (if the ball so much as goes near Mangala I shit my pants), but hard to argue against when you're campiones. Once he started failing the tests others were setting him though on a repeat basis and it was clear that he wasn't going to change tack, he should have been sacked IMO. For me that was around 16 months ago after the Liverpool/Burnley/Barca triple embarrassment.

3. I see elsewhere you've posted the 2013 squad for comparison with the 2016 one to support your argument that the latter is the stronger. I presume you have done this as it allows you to factor Rodwell, Sinclair, Maicon and all the other duffers we bought that summer into the equation. However, the squad everyone else has clearly been referring to is the 2011/2012 version that won the title.
Gaz Baz vs Fernando
Lescott vs Mangala
Tevez vs Iheanacho
Dzeko vs Bony
2012 Zab vs 2016 Zab
2012 Ya Ya vs 2016 Ya Ya
2012 Silva vs 2016 Silva
I think we'll let the public decide, eh? Oh, and I did chuckle at the self defeating argument that we should cut the greatest manager in the world plenty of slack next season. Doesn't need it does he, if he's got the greatest squad?!!!

4. Who are these people that left the board? You wear your victimhood like a Scouser. For the avoidance of doubt, lest the "friends of the mods" card be wheeled out, the only one I have ever met is Bill (ex-De Niro), and that was the grand total of twice, in Barcelona and Seville. I am of the opinion generally speaking that they all do a pretty good job and are responsible with it (probably why Ric picks them over more argumentative cusses like, erm, me and you). Either way, if threads are getting closed down and you are being cited by the mods as the source, then you might want to reflect on the tone you have adopted therein rather than feeling hard done to. Anyway, that notwithstanding, I don't know if the posters who levelled abuse at you at the time were banned or were responsible for having threads pulled, as I am a) not one of those posters (ie no-one has ever admonished me for anything on here), and b) not a mod. Did you report them? What was the mods response?

5. Re. your final 7 words. Awfully kind of you to be so, erm, benevolent, but please feel free to let me have it!

 

[Marvin]

Pellegrini did at the end change tactics with some success. Kelechi came in and we played 2 up front with Fernando and Fernandinho

We dominated most games from that point. Only snatching at chances prevented us from racking up big wins v Arsenal and Swansea.

 

[bobmcfc]

Just watching it back now. We really get no favours from the ref. No major decisions, just little things that break up play and stop us moving forward. Every 50/50 challenge was given as a foul to Swansea. Been happening all season.

No favours ? Did you miss the moment the Lino disallowed our goal only for the Ref to overrule him, and then he disallowed a goal for Swansea

 

[East Level 2]

No favours ? Did you miss the moment the Lino disallowed our goal only for the Ref to overrule him, and then he disallowed a goal for Swansea

How the f were those favours?
There was no offside in Nacho's goal; just the linesman's guide dog getting confused, and the push leading up to their disallowed goal could be seen from space - and certainly from row L.

 

[bobmcfc]

How the f were those favours?
There was no offside in Nacho's goal; just the linesman's guide dog getting confused, and the push leading up to their disallowed goal could be seen from space - and certainly from row 12.

How often do you see a ref overrule a linesman ? We were saved IMO as we could have been screwed over quite easily as we so often do

 

[Centurions]

How the f were those favours?
There was no offside in Nacho's goal; just the linesman's guide dog getting confused, and the push leading up to their disallowed goal could be seen from space - and certainly from row L.

They're not favours though, it's called doing your job.