fathellensbellend
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 30 Jul 2005
- Messages
- 4,938
The fact Pearce is the worst manager City have had in my lifetime says a lot about how good we've actually been since I started following us (in 1999), to be honest. Things definitely weren't good under Pearce, and going to home games felt like torture sometimes, but in retrospect (this viewpoint is definitely helped by us having a big period of success for years after) I don't think things were as bad under him as they felt in the moment.
The fact that our worst season under Pearce saw us finish fairly comfortably in 14th despite having to rely on a bunch of journeymen and academy lads is probably enough for Pearce to argue that he did alright with City in tough circumstances. Think I've commented on this before, but the first six months of his tenure were actually really promising - we finished 8th in 04/05 and we were hovering between 7th-10th by Christmas 2005.
We had a solid mid-table team that was a bit inconsistent but could turn up against the big boys and, with better discipline, definitely should have made the FA Cup final in 2006. James, Richards Dunne Distin Jordan, Sinclair Reyna Barton Musampa, Cole Vassell (with Sun Jihai, Sommeil, Onuoha, Sibierski, Riera, and Fowler to rotate) was a good 4-4-2 team. Having to deal with Wright-Phillips' departure wasn't easy but we made a good go of it.
It was Andy Cole's injury and subsequent tantrum that derailed things in the end imo. Because that was when Pearce had to use his scouts. He had to get a bargain from the continent who could make the same impact on the club that Cole had done, but he failed in that task and was left with us needing to flog Fowler, James, Sommeil, Cole, Sibierski, Reyna, plus Musampa and Riera, to make ends meet. He was dealt a shit hand but didn't do enough to improve it.
In 12 months our most-used XI went from being that one I just mentioned to Weaver, Richards Dunne Distin Onuoha, Vassell Ireland Barton Beasley, Samaras Corradi. We had a solid back four but fuck all in terms of creativity going forward, basically no experience in attacking positions, and a squad full of players who knew they were gonna be on the way out pronto. Mpenza doesn't get the credit he deserves from our fans for saving us that season.
admire your optimism, has someone who did every game home and away under him i can hand on heart say he was abysmal