Who's the greatest ?

Don't be taking the piss now. I'll see your Nicky Summerbee and raise you Roberto Soldado.
I will see your Soldado and raise you Bradbury!

We could do this all night man. We've had so much wank players!

My fav ever City player would be Kinkladze. Not sure how well he'd do in your team now if he was in his pomp
 
I will see your Soldado and raise you Bradbury!

We could do this all night man. We've had so much wank players!

My fav ever City player would be Kinkladze. Not sure how well he'd do in your team now if he was in his pomp
Said it many times kinkladze was absolute quality, but the fact he had 10 shite team-mates around him magnified his class in my eyes, brilliant player yes but world class player no, silva, yaya,vinny,sergio,all have been or still are world class, a level above kinky
 
Kinkladze, sadly never had the chance to shine in a progressive City team, if he had I reckon he'd be up there with Silva and Toure, perhaps beyond but it's all conjecture, an age old case as unfortunately happens in life and sport, right player wrong time.
 
Moo
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.

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.

I saw the ICI game as well, we said a good few times whilst watching that match how good he still was. Great player
 
Colin Bell could play today wearing a Crombie coat.

Made for today's game & pitches. He'd be worth a world record value.

YAYA in his pomp is closest,which says so much about both players,but Colin's not called The King for nothing.
 
My utterly biased dad would agree with this.

As would the near 90 year-old we sometimes see in the lift on the way up to Level Three.

For me, it has to be Yaya, just ahead of Merlin, but as they have different attributes, even then, it's not easy to compare them.

And as Mrs Vienna often says, it's virtually impossible to compare players from different eras, as there are so many differences between what the current-day player has at his disposal, compared to their forebears. Better pitches, lighter shirts, lighter balls, better training facilities and dietary science, etc.
 
Vincent Kompany, Yaya Toure, Dave Silva, Kun Aguero...
All the best ever in their own way.

I can't split them.

Kinkladze can have a mention too but wasn’t quite up to the 4 above.

Bell was before my time but I think footballers from them days can't be compared to footballers of today.
They weren't proper athletes like they are today.

Do you really believe that last paragraph?

If you do, then you haven't heard how Malcolm Allison had the squad running miles around Wythenshaw Park to improve their fitness, doing ballet to improve their flexibility, eating pasta to improve their diet and other revolutionary ideas that had never been used before.

Weren't proper athletes, my arse!
 
Do you really believe that last paragraph?

If you do, then you haven't heard how Malcolm Allison had the squad running miles around Wythenshaw Park to improve their fitness, doing ballet to improve their flexibility, eating pasta to improve their diet and other revolutionary ideas that had never been used before.

Weren't proper athletes, my arse!

Your arse then.

Embarrassing yourself if you think they were on a par with today's footballers.
 
Your arse then.

Embarrassing yourself if you think they were on a par with today's footballers.

You may have a point in general terms, but Colin Bell was a case apart. It's well documented that he was an incredible natural athlete with a ridiculously low heart beat and a huge lung capacity. He could have played in the current City team without any difficulty or adjustment training at all
 
An old school scouser(60yr old red) reckons Colin was the best Midfielder this country has ever produced. I just happened to mention Stevie Starfish as being a tremendous player and he shut me right down and said the King was simply the best ever,with nobody close or in his league,inc recent players.
 
For me, no doubt, it is Carlos Tevez! Say what you want about his ignominious end to his City career but the bloke was a world class footballer during his years here.

He had such a will to win and could carry the rest of the team on his back to earn 3 points when everyone else was having a mediocre game! Frankly, I think we really missed having him in the team for a season or two after he left. He was difference maker for us.

Good call. Hell of a player and without doubt, one of our greatest. Like Yaya, judge him as a footballer and it's hard to disagree
 
Your arse then.

Embarrassing yourself if you think they were on a par with today's footballers.

And you're embarrassing yourself if you think they weren't.

The players that were in the Mercer/Allison squad were there because Sir Joe and Big Mal saw something in them that others didn't. They wouldn't have won the FA Cup, the league, ECWC and League Cup in three seasons if they didn't.

Your initial claim was that they weren't proper athletes like today's players, but that's simply not true and with present-day training methods, nutrition science, etc, most of them would be in this current squad.
 
Last edited:
Do you really believe that last paragraph?

If you do, then you haven't heard how Malcolm Allison had the squad running miles around Wythenshaw Park to improve their fitness, doing ballet to improve their flexibility, eating pasta to improve their diet and other revolutionary ideas that had never been used before.

Weren't proper athletes, my arse!
I can vouch for some of this. I used to watch them running around Wythenshawe Park when I was a kid. Corrigan and Lee invariably near the back.

A mate of mine was a junior at City and when injured, he was building up his strength in the gym. He said Bell was always there taking extra training, building up his already peak fitness. Coaches used to identify Bell as the role model in terms of attitude, professionalism, performance and fitness.

Bell was a supreme athlete. An effortless player. The best I had seen until recent years. He could easily fit well into our current team, and the current England team. Actually, there hasn't been an England team I can remember that he wouldn't have played in. He was better than peak Gerrard, Lampard and Scholes.

He could hold his own in the best Barcelona team also in my view.

Paul Lake had similar attributes and natural ability. He was likened to Bell, but sadly it wasn't to be for Lakey.

Of today's players, Yaya and Silva push him close, but I would still choose Colin Bell as the best I have seen in a City shirt.
 
In my lifetime (I am 27 today), it would have to be David Silva, closely followed by Yaya Toure.

Last week, I was trying to discern who would be in my best City XI since our takeover. The only problematic positions were centre back and central midfield/right midfield/wing. I opted for Demichelis and De Bruyne, but it was tough to leave out the likes of Lescott, Nasri and Barry.
 
Since the takeover it's Yaya for me, due to his influence in big, big games. Aguero and Tevez are both right up there as well, as is Kompany.

For pure enjoyment as a Blue, I'd have to bung Benarbia in there - for the short time he was with us I found him mesmerising to watch.
 
Colin Bell still the greatest for me. A supreme athlete, I think he could play in the modern team without breaking sweat. (Few others from that era could.)

OTOH, many of today's players wouldn't have lasted five minutes in the 60s, when the best players got kicked all over the pitch by the likes of Norman Hunter on pretty much a weekly basis. You can't really compare the two eras.
 
Like a few on here just missed seeing Colin in his prime 67/75 as i only started going in 76 so for that reason would have to plump for Spanish Dave. Watching him caress the ball is a thing of beauty and how in the ultra intense hectic pace of the premier league he still plays like he has all the time in the world .Genius is a word that fits David Silva to a tee
 

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top