Unambitious, Magnanimous, Docile, Lemming-Like Fans

[bowdonblue]

Point taken.

However they are just abusing someone who attacked a large proportion, if not a majority of City fans without good reason.

I am not attacking anyone actually. It's and opinion. What I am doing is venting my frustration at the eternal optimists that support this manager, and can see no wrong in what he is doing. It fucking frustrates me and I am seriously worried about our beloved club. I feel like slapping some of the happy clappers on here with a big wet fish in the hope that they will wake up and smell the coffee. But people are entitled to their opinions and I certainly respect that. I just hope that, heaven forbid, if we were to find ourselves in even more serious shite in the coming months, that they have the courage to hold their hands up and acknowledge that this should have been nipped in the bud far quicker.

I respect people that stand by someone...I stood by him at first, but going backwards is unacceptable considering the money that has been spent.

I think it's bad Karma to have vicious excahnges between true Blues, so everyone calm down. It wouldn't be like this if we were all sat facing each other in the pub.

Having said that ManCityFC, you have based your strong view on certain things, some of which are wrong. Firstly, since ADOG took control MH has really only bought one player (Bridge) who is yet to play a game, and the player that he presumably sanctioned (Robinho) has been great. Secondly, our performances in the second half of last season were much worse than the first half of this season IMO. Do you accpet these points?

For what it's worth, I'm not saying Hughes is the man, but I do think that we need to give him a season before we judge him. I don't think we'll go down, but whilst it remains a possibility I think bringing in a new manager at this stage would be a big gamble and coud backfire spectacularly.

You are of course fully entitled to your opinion, BUT don't forget that others are too - so starting a thread that despairs of people who don't agree with you was always going to stir up some strong responses. Which it appears you knew to be fair.

 

[mammutly]

It s of course a matter of record that the now maligned Stuart Pearce rescued us from relegation and took us within a whisker of Uefa qualification. Key players were then sold and he was given virtually no money to spend. He did a decent job in the circumstances.
The era of Thaksin Shinawatra brought with it a lot of ultimately empty promises and in the end his tenure took the club closer to financial disaster than ever before.
With the coming of ADUG, the financial worries and instability have gone, and with them the justified excuses that Pearce and then Sven could point to in order to excuse the lack of sustained progress on the pitch.

I could understand if MH had not taken the club forward. A long period of consolidation, settling in, or whatever would have been acceptable. But the fact is we have gone backwards. Much is made of our goal difference, but if two teams performed against any other premiership sides the way Hull and Portsmouth did aginst us, the goal tally would be similarly flattering. Against most opposition we have been unconvincing at best and awful at worst. MH has had a full preseason and more than half of this season proper to sort out problems at the club, yet where's the progress? Where is there any indication that we are even starting to move in the right direction?

As far as is known, the players are more divided than ever, morale is continuing to sink and we are seriously pursuing second rate transfer targets. That is what is happening in the here and now and that is why we are not safe from relegation.

There is much upbeat talk of 5 or 10 year plans, sound buisness footings and off the field progress. The fact that MH went straight into congress with Gary Cook after the Forest debacle really says it all for me. MCFC may now be steeped in stellar standard business practices that are the envy of the known world. But football is not played in a boardroom. And if ever there was a club manager who appears to have lost focus and 'taken his eye off the ball it's Mark Hughes.

 

[sweep]

In recent history, our most unstable period in the top flight was under the stewardship of Stuart Pearce, John Wardle, and Ali Mackintoss...we were drowning in debt, selling off the family silver to stop ourselves going into administration, whilst on the field Pearce was trying to bore the opposition into submission. Crowds were dropping weekly (I still don't think they've fully recovered), and we seemed destined for the scrap heap as a football club...

All the while we were being lied to about the reality of the situation these people had managed our beloved club into...

Why, you ask, am I even mentioning this...

Well, I remember bluemoon back then. It was very similar to the bluemoon of today, save from one very stark difference...the vast majority wanted to give Pearce and Wardle time, credit, blah blah blah...

I find some small irony in the fact that many of the same names, are today foaming at the mouth to remove Mark Hughes because he is "dragging us down"...

Ah well, my take on Hughes is that I'm ambivalent. I don't think his squad is great, so am not surprised by some of the poor results. I have been shocked by others. On the whole he needs time to get things right. I've said it elsewhere, but it's simple for me, you either give him another 18 months, or you sack him now. Making him a "dead man walking" will be the most destructive thing we can do for the squad, results, and the team morale...

I don't remember many (any) posters 'wanting to give Wardle time', more a case of he'd dragged us back from the brink and taken us as far as his finances would allow, we were stuck with him until somebosy richer came along.

As for Pearce, with the state of the club's finances at the time we were hardly fending off a queue of top quality replacements desperate to take his job were we? In the circumstances he did what was required of him, he kept us up.

A bit daft trying to compare that time with now.

 

[foreverblue]

It s of course a matter of record that the now maligned Stuart Pearce rescued us from relegation and took us within a whisker of Uefa qualification. Key players were then sold and he was given virtually no money to spend. He did a decent job in the circumstances.
The era of Thaksin Shinawatra brought with it a lot of ultimately empty promises and in the end his tenure took the club closer to financial disaster than ever before.
With the coming of ADUG, the financial worries and instability have gone, and with them the justified excuses that Pearce and then Sven could point to in order to excuse the lack of sustained progress on the pitch.

I could understand if MH had not taken the club forward. A long period of consolidation, settling in, or whatever would have been acceptable. But the fact is we have gone backwards. Much is made of our goal difference, but if two teams performed against any other premiership sides the way Hull and Portsmouth did aginst us, the goal tally would be similarly flattering. Against most opposition we have been unconvincing at best and awful at worst. MH has had a full preseason and more than half of this season proper to sort out problems at the club, yet where's the progress? Where is there any indication that we are even starting to move in the right direction?

As far as is known, the players are more divided than ever, morale is continuing to sink and we are seriously pursuing second rate transfer targets. That is what is happening in the here and now and that is why we are not safe from relegation.

There is much upbeat talk of 5 or 10 year plans, sound buisness footings and off the field progress. The fact that MH went straight into congress with Gary Cook after the Forest debacle really says it all for me. MCFC may now be steeped in stellar standard business practices that are the envy of the known world. But football is not played in a boardroom. And if ever there was a club manager who appears to have lost focus and 'taken his eye off the ball it's Mark Hughes.

What absolute rubbish! In the away games against Bolton and Middlesborough we where on top for long periods and had chances to go ahead that we missed. A dubious offside goal and penalty put us behind in those games and when we where chasing an equaliser at the end they both scored late goals on the counter. Against Liverpool and Spuds at home we where in control until having a man sent off and even then defensive errors cost us the points.

 

[mammutly]

It s of course a matter of record that the now maligned Stuart Pearce rescued us from relegation and took us within a whisker of Uefa qualification. Key players were then sold and he was given virtually no money to spend. He did a decent job in the circumstances.
The era of Thaksin Shinawatra brought with it a lot of ultimately empty promises and in the end his tenure took the club closer to financial disaster than ever before.
With the coming of ADUG, the financial worries and instability have gone, and with them the justified excuses that Pearce and then Sven could point to in order to excuse the lack of sustained progress on the pitch.

I could understand if MH had not taken the club forward. A long period of consolidation, settling in, or whatever would have been acceptable. But the fact is we have gone backwards. Much is made of our goal difference, but if two teams performed against any other premiership sides the way Hull and Portsmouth did aginst us, the goal tally would be similarly flattering. Against most opposition we have been unconvincing at best and awful at worst. MH has had a full preseason and more than half of this season proper to sort out problems at the club, yet where's the progress? Where is there any indication that we are even starting to move in the right direction?

As far as is known, the players are more divided than ever, morale is continuing to sink and we are seriously pursuing second rate transfer targets. That is what is happening in the here and now and that is why we are not safe from relegation.

There is much upbeat talk of 5 or 10 year plans, sound buisness footings and off the field progress. The fact that MH went straight into congress with Gary Cook after the Forest debacle really says it all for me. MCFC may now be steeped in stellar standard business practices that are the envy of the known world. But football is not played in a boardroom. And if ever there was a club manager who appears to have lost focus and 'taken his eye off the ball it's Mark Hughes.

What absolute rubbish! In the away games against Bolton and Middlesborough we where on top for long periods and had chances to go ahead that we missed. A dubious offside goal and penalty put us behind in those games and when we where chasing an equaliser at the end they both scored late goals on the counter. Against Liverpool and Spuds at home we where in control until having a man sent off and even then defensive errors cost us the points.

Sorry. We've just been unlucky. Not.
Taking chances and not conceeding soft goals are two of the absolute key differences between good and bad sides.

 

[foreverblue]

What absolute rubbish! In the away games against Bolton and Middlesborough we where on top for long periods and had chances to go ahead that we missed. A dubious offside goal and penalty put us behind in those games and when we where chasing an equaliser at the end they both scored late goals on the counter. Against Liverpool and Spuds at home we where in control until having a man sent off and even then defensive errors cost us the points.

Sorry. We've just been unlucky. Not.
Taking chances and not conceeding soft goals are two of the absolute key differences between good and bad sides.

No bad finishing and bad defending isn't unlucky. Likewise beating Portsmouth 6-0 and Hull 5-1 isn't being lucky. My point is you are quite willing to highlight anything that the team does wrong, but then say good performances where down to the opposition playing badly. I could argue if it weren't for individual errors our points tally and goal difference would be greater.

 

[citoeast]

What absolute rubbish! In the away games against Bolton and Middlesborough we where on top for long periods and had chances to go ahead that we missed. A dubious offside goal and penalty put us behind in those games and when we where chasing an equaliser at the end they both scored late goals on the counter. Against Liverpool and Spuds at home we where in control until having a man sent off and even then defensive errors cost us the points.

Sorry. We've just been unlucky. Not.
Taking chances and not conceeding soft goals are two of the absolute key differences between good and bad sides.

I am not wanting to knock Hughes, but wake up, some of our performances have been appalling, admittedly some outstanding. To my mind there are rotten apples among the players, its Hughes job to sort that out, he has'nt. He should not need to buy a new team to sort it out, Manage the situation, stop running up to the boardroom and making excuses and slagging off the players in public. No wonder they will not play for you. SORT IT.

 

[Soulboy]

Bowdon Blue...

I really do have to pick you up on a couple of comments there matey bobs...

"Having said that ManCityFC, you have based your strong view on certain things, some of which are wrong."

There's your first problem... you then go on to do far worse!

"Firstly, MH has really only bought one player (Bridge) who is yet to play a game, and the player that he presumably sanctioned (Robinho) has been great. "

Were you on your holidays between June to August? And it was on a desert island? And you had no communication with anyone throughout that period? And since coming back you've not actually seen City play?

Hughes was the manager while SEVEN players were signed in the summer at the cool cost of £80m. Not spotted SWP out there on the wing? Don't you remember he wasn't there last season...

"Secondly, our performances in the second half of last season were much worse than the first half of this season IMO. "

And your point being? So a shite 2nd half to last season with SGE in charge provides support for the retention of Hughes 'cos he's had a shite 1st. half of the season!!!

SGE got sacked last season it was so shite. So if you're comparing like for like are you suggesting Hughes also gets sacked? Or do you think he should have preferential treatment to our previous manager?

"For what it's worth, I'm not saying Hughes is the man,"

Not exactly a ringing endorsement of the manager is it?

But like you say, let's leave it till the end of the season and see where we are. Better we just sit on the fence hoping it all gets sorted rather than be proactive. As Spurs head off for their 2nd Cup Final in the past 12 months, having had 3 managers, I can see where the argument for stability comes from.

 

[Anonymous]

My point regarding the Pearce/Wardle era was simply that there was for less discontent on this board than there is now, and we were in a much more precarious position. I find that ironic. The newbies who have joined up in the last 12 months or so aren't really in a position to comment on that.

Also, as much maligned as Dr Shinawatra was, he was here for 1 year, stabilized our club by finding the money to sign some players at a time when our squad was threadbare, and seriously in danger of being relegated the following season. Lest we forget that we had lost two our "best" players in Barton and Distin that summer. He also had the decency to sell up to the people who have made us the "richest club in the world".

To suggest that Mark Hughes is taking us backwards is also rather unfair and a little disingenuous. Progress simply cannot be measure over half a season. Then again, it's the same people who judged Sven based on his results until Christmas rather than over the entire season, who seem to now be judging Hughes in the same way.

Again, I'm not on here saying Hughes is the saviour and will take us to the promised land. But we need to give him at least until the end of this season, if not until the end of next season before we can judge him. It may well be that our owners, like many of our supporters, believe that being the "richest club in the world" means success must be much more instant...we shall wait and see...

 

[ManCityFC]

I thought that was shite,if you look at the second half of last season that slide has continued.This fella doesnt know football if he is accusing us of playing long ball stuff,wasnt he around when Quinny was here?and if he was then he should know the managerial revolving door doesnt work,even with money.He mentions going down,well no one respectable pundit in the game would think we are going down, yet here we have a supposedly supporter bleating on about it,i suspect he's hardly ever watched us because relegation and long ball are a million miles away from the performances i see. Get back to reading the Sun headlines you muppet !

That's the biggest crock of crap I have ever heard in my life. You're trying to tell me that we don't play the long ball. What a load of shite mate, sorry but it is. Go to a game once in a while, and watch it. It all starts off in the correct vein, then it always ends up being a hoofing contest when they can't walk it into the net.

I agree that changing managers is fruitless, but sorry, if we were sticking with Sven, fine, he got the best out of the players we have and his managerial record is without question. What he didn't do is play silly-arse by playing players all over the fucking place, except where they should be played. he didn't bring Hamman on when we were 2-0 down and he didn't have to buy his way out of trouble, by replacing the bulk of the team, because they don't like. MH came to this club in the knowledge that we wouldn't have any money, and if the Arabs hadn't of stepped in, we would now be fucked and having to pay him off. Also, the mid to late end of last season was pretty poor, but I doubt it was helped by a 2 week break after doing the double over the rags, as that seemed to push a few of the players into a 4 month lap of fucking honour. Also, the manager knowing he was going to get the fucking bullet, even though he had done exactly what had been asked of him won't have helped, along with the unrest caused by our Chairman's revelation that he was skint and may be doing Thai porridge.

Also, read the whole fucking thread before you spout this shite mate, because this has all been covered. And for the record, I couldn't give a flying fuck what the Sky pundit panel think about our chances of being relegated, because I recall people saying, "City are too big a club to go down" before....and what happened, we did it fucking twice!? Oh, and I have never bought the Sun in my life that I can remember. Credit me with a little more intelligence, I am not a rag who likes to read about how good we are, am I?