Who's the greatest ?

Why Merlin is better than Ozil and Hazard. Ozil took a year to settle, played well for 18 months and then noticeably faded. Hazard went missing all of last season. Merlin never has a bad run of form - let alone a bad season - at worst he is 6/10 and that's very rare. Gary Neville calls him the Prem's Messi and certainly the best. Incredible pass completion rate - mostly forward passes through small gaps. Same goal strike rate as Iniesta and 30 goals for Spain in 110 where he has team mates who create chances for him.
 
HarrytheBlue said:
It was a truly horrific injury - burst blood vessels, several ligaments torn and a massively swollen knee. Colin came back (god knows how) with limited movement and played at full back. From what I've read, even with today's medical technology, there would be no guarantee of proper ligament repairs - the damage was so bad. Colin never believed that Martin Buchan deliberately set out to harm him, but Buchan never got in touch with him to see how he was - something that hurt him.

How good was Colin ? Box-to-box - used to run further than any other player in the league, but he had rapid pace as well. Think of the Yaya surge, now think of a smaller version of him making that surge numerous times in every game. Supremely skilled, good in the air and with a shot as powerful as the Peter Lorimers of the league. With a tiny number of exceptions, hardly any players of the 60s and 70s would be suited to today's game - good players yes, but generally not as athletic as they are now despite extensive training. If we could travel in time and relocate Colin to today's Prem, he would be equally as good. Like Martin Peters (the late arriving/ghost into the box midfielder from 66), he was ahead of his time. He would be as vital to the current City team as he was in the 60s and 70s.

I saw him play for a City Legends V ICI over 35s team twenty-odd years ago close up. The King would have been in his late 40s at the time. He was pinging the ball 40, 50 and 60 yards to Peter Barnes with unbelievable consistent accuracy without being able to flex his knee properly. Generally, a shy bloke who shunned the limelight.
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I remember watching a "Superstars" episode that he appeared in. The final event was a 600m race, with the competitors handicapped according to ability, and the former Olympic 400m Hurdles winner, David Hemery, always started about 70m back from the line, and generally won. Colin was on scratch, and at the end of the race, which Colin won, Hemery was still 70m behind! City's sprint coach was a guy called Brian Green, the British 100m champion. It was rumoured that Colin used to beat him regularly.

That's why he was known as Nijinsky - he could have been an Olympic athlete.

He's still my all time hero, although some of the current side are also serious contenders, all of which have been mentioned frequently. He would fit into the current squad (or any squad over the years) in the same way that Yaya does now, but be far more consistent. In terms of skill, Silva has it, and in terms of goal scoring, it can only be Aguerooooooooooooo. Sorry, Franny.
 
I have been mulling this over for a couple of days,so my view is based on being an old git.
King Colin was the dogs bollocks, but as some one has said is that based on young eyes, however the you tude vids do not lie.
Then I'm stuck between Yaya, Merlin and Vinny.
My vote goes with Colin.
 
David Silva for me. In the most successful period in our recent history he is quite simply our most important player. His contribution in terms of assits and chances created and a few goals thrown in too is unquestionable, but much more than that is the fact he controlls games, single handedly. The recent 0 - 0 home game with Stoke reminded me (not that I needed it) just how good he is. He came on as a second half sub and no one could get near him, he ran the game from the moment he came on. The other players on the pitch were merely supporting cast in the David Silva show.

I'm too young to have seen the Bell, Lee, Summerbee era team play but I respect their achievements. Going back further than that Billy Meredith etc... as a kid Kinkladze was my hero and I'll always have a soft spot for him and the excitement he brought to the club during very dark days. Silva though, in a team of star players still stands out for me as the greatest to pull on the blue shirt. Honourable mentions to Kompany, Toure and Aguero of course.
 
Best player ... David Silva. Colin Bell was just before my time so never had the opportunity to see him play.

Favourite player ... Michel Vonk. We had a magical experience together at Junior Blues at Maine Road once which i'll never forget but i'm sure he has tried hard to lol
 
My grandad still says Doherty or Trautman, he's a stubborn bugger. My dad says its a flip between Bell & Silva.. For me it's Vinnie but suppose theres no right or wrong answer.
 
Really hard to make a clear choice on this one. We've not had a striker with over 200 goals or a player who has become a national or international. For me post war it boils down to a choice from 5.
Trautmann, Bell, Aguero, Toure, Silva

I never saw Bert but anyone who knows football says he was fantastic and his storin the immediate post war context and '56 cup final is remarkable. He's probably our international icon.
Sergio at his best top 3/4 in world, Remarkable amount of goals and of course the best ever moment in the history of the top division.
Yaya a colossus and game changer for us. Those 50/60 yard runs shrugging off opponents like swatting flies will always live in the memory. A great combination of skill, power and intelligence. A draw back though is ( not always his fault ) but sometimes off the field crap has not helped him.
David is possibly the best player 30 yards to goal that I've seen- he rarely loses the ball and is just beautiful to watch. I wish he boils convert a few more of the opportunities he gets though.
Colin's record of approx 150 goals in 460 games is just remarkable given no pens or free kicks. Think only Lampard is better certainly not the rag shitbags of Robson or Ginger pig. I was lucky enough to see him 6/7 times before That horrific injury, That injury probably lost us the 76-77 league -his 1 in 3 goals per games would have easily been worth more than an extra point to us. And then what might have happened in the EC with s vouplr if decent draws? Would England have qualified in 76 and 78 with him? The chances would certainly have been improved.
Push coming to shove I'd give it to Colin but it's so close that s piece of Ya Ya, Sergio or David magic could change my mind!!
 
crazyg said:
I remember watching a "Superstars" episode that he appeared in. The final event was a 600m race, with the competitors handicapped according to ability, and the former Olympic 400m Hurdles winner, David Hemery, always started about 70m back from the line, and generally won. Colin was on scratch, and at the end of the race, which Colin won, Hemery was still 70m behind! City's sprint coach was a guy called Brian Green, the British 100m champion. It was rumoured that Colin used to beat him regularly.

That's why he was known as Nijinsky - he could have been an Olympic athlete.

He's still my all time hero, although some of the current side are also serious contenders, all of which have been mentioned frequently. He would fit into the current squad (or any squad over the years) in the same way that Yaya does now, but be far more consistent. In terms of skill, Silva has it, and in terms of goal scoring, it can only be Aguerooooooooooooo. Sorry, Franny.
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Franny was also world class. I also remember superstars and Colin showed that he could genuinely have been an olympic sprinter or middle distance runner.
 
So many players, so many different skill sets.

For overall effect on the team, Yaya.
For athleticism, has to be Nijinsky.
For skill, Silva hands down.
For enigma, Marsh. Most exciting player I saw in my youth.
For defensive abilities, would be a nice battle to watch Watson and Kompany, and Mike Doyle might not like being left out!

For a lickle club, we sure have been graced with watching some outstanding talent!
 
Just look at the YouTube vids of Colin and listen to Geoff Hurst and Jimmy Hill talking about the 'Colin Bell surge'. Watch the little curved two yard ball around Bobby Moore.
 
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