Manchester City Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours

Mr Alan

not at all. i don't mind if he doesn't sign for us. i think you'll find that the news will, in the main, be met with relief from Liverpool fans. me, personally i think he could have been a valuable to us as a squad player, but ah well.

I simply said he'll go down in peoples estimations as he always said the only reason he even considered moving from Villa was for CL football. To then move to a club considerably behind Villa in the race to break into the top 4 is poor form from him & i expected better. Although perhaps he is just listening to what City have to say, but i doubt it.

bigstar

Xavi6 wrote: »

I would probably be less critical had we qualified for Europe next year, but we didn't. Our domestic cup performances were a disgrace and our league position poor to say the least. If you take the Uefa Cup run out of the equation then it really is difficult to take too many positive things from the season. Put it this way, if we see a similar pattern developing next year then we'll have wasted two years. I'm just worried that could become a reality.

tbh if we hadnt gone on the euro run i think we would have finished higher up the table, we were playing since july and we had over 50 games this season.

the second half of the season was also a bit better and if you take it that hughes struggled for the first half and got a better grip on things as the season went on it looks good for next season.

i take your point about having similar next season and that would definitely be a failure but it was only hughes first season. i think he'll do a better job next season, well have a better squad and not being in europe will give us a better edge over the other top 6 teams. plus i think if we get in a manager like mourihno/hiddink etc its always going to be short term where as if hughes gets something going it could be 10/20 years and hopefully buckets of success.

Kinetic^

Aye, said he was looking for CL football last summer when the move to liverpool was on. Just hope we get a good price for him.

bigstar

Mr Alan wrote: »

not at all. i don't mind if he doesn't sign for us. i think you'll find that the news will, in the main, be met with relief from Liverpool fans. me, personally i think he could have been a valuable to us as a squad player, but ah well.

I simply said he'll go down in peoples estimations as he always said the only reason he even considered moving from Villa was for CL football. To then move to a club considerably behind Villa in the race to break into the top 4 is poor form from him & i expected better. Although perhaps he is just listening to what City have to say, but i doubt it.

yeah i dont get the attraction to us if he wants CL football but hes a good player who id be well happy to have. but i think we might be better than villa next year. gonna be an interesting summer.

Esse85

The attraction is money.

invincibleirish

bigstar wrote: »

yeah i dont get the attraction to us if he wants CL football

Yes it is a strange one, what could it be that attracts him?



Its a surprise City are in for GB simply because in De Jong-Ireland-Kompany there are 3 CMs who i'd rather have ahead of GB. Handy squad player for City methinks.

JPA

Kompany will most likely be playing CB from now on.
I don't think they have anyone like GB really.

bigstar

Esse85 wrote: »

The attraction is money.

invincibleirish wrote: »

Yes it is a strange one, what could it be that attracts him?

i said IF he wants CL football, because no matter what he gets paid he aint playing in no CL with us. seriously stop reading the tabloids, they limit the ability the see things in context.

Xavi6

A team of -

---

Given

---

Zabaleta

---

Kompany

---

Onouha

---

Bridge

---

De Jong

---

---

Ireland

---

Barry

---

SWP

---

Robinho

---

XXXXXX

---

is pretty damn exciting.

bigstar

Xavi6 wrote: »

A team of -

---

Given

---

Zabaleta

---

Kompany

---

Onouha

---

Bridge

---

De Jong

---

---

Ireland

---

Barry

---

SWP

---

Robinho

---

XXXXXX

---

is pretty damn exciting.

if boj turns out to be as good as he looks that would be a fairly good team.
its the squad that makes the difference these days though, if we get some decent quality squad players we could be a serious force next year. (hopefully)

edit: tbh though id expect some good first team signings too, defenders and strikers especially.

highgiant1985

Xavi6 wrote: »

A team of -

---

Given

---

Zabaleta

---

Kompany

---

Onouha

---

Bridge

---

De Jong

---

---

Ireland

---

Barry

---

SWP

---

Robinho

---

Tevez

---

is pretty damn exciting.

I filled in your blank

bigstar

highgiant1985 wrote: »

I filled in your blank

hmmm interesting. now that i would like.

Xavi6

bigstar wrote: »

hmmm interesting. now that i would like.

I'd love Tevez, but I don't see him as a 'line leader'. He'd be great in the Robinho role but he's not the Torres type player we need to fill the position.

bigstar

Xavi6 wrote: »

I'd love Tevez, but I don't see him as a 'line leader'. He'd be great in the Robinho role but he's not the Torres type player we need to fill the position.

yeah i know what you mean. he works really hard though and does score a fair few. those torres type strikers are rare enough, especially with the type of quality were looking for. cant think of many myself.

i see hughes is saying he plans to get his business done fast, hopefully he finds a player similar to himself.

Xavi6

I think Villa would be ideal, especially considering Valencia's current financial situation.

As an outside shot, I wouldn't mind Quagliarella from Udinese. He's excellent.

Mr Alan

Xavi6 wrote: »

As an outside shot, I wouldn't mind Quagliarella from Udinese. He's excellent.

signed for Napoli yesterday afaik.

Xavi6

Mr Alan wrote: »

signed for Napoli yesterday afaik.

So he did. 5 year deal with his hometown club.

That's the end of that idea.

Frisbee

Probably wouldn't be what you need as a line leader but Zarate from Al Sadd would be a good buy.

His loan deal with Lazio is up now afaik and moving to City would certainly get him game time and a better chance of breaking into the Argentinian team.

bigstar

i just cant see us getting someone like villa tbh. he could walk into any team. is sturridge definitely going i read in the villa thread he might be used in the barry deal. gob****e if he goes, he wont do better anywhere else atm.

bigstar

jaysus we didnt mess about with signing barry, done and dusted in a day. roll on more signings all summer long.

whos going to take the penos now if elano stays, tough decisions ahead for hughes. :pac:

PHB

Good transfer moves from Hughes, something he always did well at at Blackburn. Lets see if he can push on with these signings.

wynters

Greetings. Villa fan here...

Congrats on signing Barry. Sorry to see him go, but wouldn't begrudge him the move at all. Good lad, and a consistent player for 10 years+. I'd actually be delighted to see him go on to become your captain and maybe lift a few trophies! (Not at Villa's expense mind'!!! )

Anyways, well done to all at City for sorting it out in one day and not prckin us around like those scousers did last year. Not pleased to be losing such a good player, but if he was to join anyone else, I think most Villa fans are happy he joined ye and not Liverpool.

Good luck for next season!

eirebhoy

Barry's exactly what City were missing this season. An all round, box to box central midfielder.

PHB

I don't think thats all City were missing to be honest, but Barry's a start. He will allow the other players to play better aswell I'd say.

joe123

eirebhoy wrote: »

Barry's exactly what City were missing this season. An all round, box to box central midfielder.

Stephen Ireland??? Excellent tackler/workrate/attacker this season.

busted flush

bigstar wrote: »

jaysus we didnt mess about with signing barry, done and dusted in a day. roll on more signings all summer long.

Hughes doing his business in a very methodical way, and not letting anyone get in his way, frightening times for all(bar city).
ps; stay the fukc away from lescott.

Sizzler

Lescott, hardly a wow signing, come on. If City do buy him they will get shafted on the price because he's English and has EPL experience. Better buys from around Europe if Hughes was bothered looking I am sure for CB position.

Barry, good signing for the money but WTF, he said this time last year he only wanted to leave Villa for CL football and now hes gone to City ffs. Don't be surprised if Villa have a better season than City next year just to pi$$ him off!

yahoo_moe

Sizzler wrote: »

Lescott, hardly a wow signing, come on. If City do buy him they will get shafted on the price because he's English and has EPL experience.

Yeah, but on the plus side an English player won't get the same amount of 'moving for the money' stick from the press that Robinho got (rightly or wrongly).

Graham Taylor said that he reckons Barry moved to get regular football in a World Cup year... right, unlike Villa. But like I said, he won't cop the same stick for picking up £100k a week that Robinho has, which can only help him settle quickly. Plus I think it's vital for City to build in stages and buy solid players before or alongside the Robinho-type flair players.

Xavi6

Sturridge signing for Chelsea apparently. No idea what he's playing at by going there.

Tom65

Xavi6 wrote: »

Sturridge signing for Chelsea apparently. No idea what he's playing at by going there.

It'll look good on his CV


Man City seem to be making good signings. They're not going for the "wow, look at us with our money" signings, but they're making sensible ones (Barry, and assuming rumours about their interest in Lescott and Tevez is true). Summer must be a fun time for City fans

astrofool

Tom65 wrote: »

Summer must be a fun time for City fans

They have to have something to make up for such a dismal season.

bigstar

tevez could be next, that would be class, especially getting him from united.

i cant understand what sturridge is up to, it makes no sense football or money wise to leave now. could be a great player but the way hes acting were better off without him.

Savman

Xavi6 wrote: »

Sturridge signing for Chelsea apparently. No idea what he's playing at by going there.

He'll rot and MON will get him for peanuts next year, 'tis a certainty :pac:

Smegball

Sturridge would be a idiot to join Chelsea tbh, was apparently offered a good contract by City, money grabbing idiot tbh and his promising career will just stall. Unfortunate really.

L'prof

Xavi6 wrote: »

Sturridge signing for Chelsea apparently. No idea what he's playing at by going there.

bigstar wrote: »

ti cant understand what sturridge is up to, it makes no sense football or money wise to leave now. could be a great player but the way hes acting were better off without him.

Smegball wrote: »

Sturridge would be a idiot to join Chelsea tbh, was apparently offered a good contract by City, money grabbing idiot tbh and his promising career will just stall. Unfortunate really.

I don't see the point in him moving to Chelsea, that's for sure, but would he really be much better off at City? I don't think he would to be honest. Not with the current bankroll behind the team, which will bring an instant hunger for success, which probably means bringing in established players ahead of the likes of Sturridge & Johnson pushing them aside, leaving them no more needed than they would be at Chelsea (Sturridge, that is).

EDIT: He got 638 league minutes this season (7.09/38 games, 18.65%). Is that likely to improve with City bringing in new faces?

That's just my take on it, any opinions?

Xavi6

jasonorr wrote: »

I don't see the point in him moving to Chelsea, that's for sure, but would he really be much better off at City? I don't think he would to be honest. Not with the current bankroll behind the team, which will bring an instant hunger for success, which probably means bringing in established players ahead of the likes of Sturridge & Johnson pushing them aside, leaving them no more needed than they would be at Chelsea (Sturridge, that is).

EDIT: He got 638 league minutes this season (7.09/38 games, 18.65%). Is that likely to improve with City bringing in new faces?

That's just my take on it, any opinions?

Well he was injured for a number of months just after he started to get a run in the team so that explains the lack of game time.

L'prof

Xavi6 wrote: »

Well he was injured for a number of months just after he started to get a run in the team so that explains the lack of game time.

OK, fair enough. Didn't realise that to be honest. When fit, how much did he play though?

Xavi6

jasonorr wrote: »

OK, fair enough. Didn't realise that to be honest. When fit, how much did he play though?

Well we only play one up top but when fit he was our second choice behind Caicedo before Bojinov came back. Indeed, he played a starring role on the left hand side when he beat Schalke 2-0 over there.

He also changed the game when coming on against Blackburn. Had he stayed fit he would have featured a lot towards the end of the season.

L'prof

Xavi6 wrote: »

Well we only play one up top but when fit he was our second choice behind Caicedo before Bojinov came back. Indeed, he played a starring role on the left hand side when he beat Schalke 2-0 over there.

He also changed the game when coming on against Blackburn. Had he stayed fit he would have featured a lot towards the end of the season.

Fair enough, but you see my argument about staying with City or going to Chelsea? There's not to much difference with regards how much playing time he'll get as it looks very likely that ye'll be bringing in attacking players, which will push him further down the pecking order.

JPA

Talksport are the radio version of the Sun, full of sh1t.
I wouldn't believe he has signed just yet.

whatawaster

I can see why he would want to join chelsea. They are a better side, and are likely to remain so for a few years at least. Plus he might get just as frozen out at City as he might at Chelsea.
I think he'd have been better off joining Villa or Blackburn or someone like that.
Chelsea might also be thinking of the CL quotas with this buy.

bigstar

whatawaster wrote: »

I can see why he would want to join chelsea. They are a better side, and are likely to remain so for a few years at least. Plus he might get just as frozen out at City as he might at Chelsea.
I think he'd have been better off joining Villa or Blackburn or someone like that.
Chelsea might also be thinking of the CL quotas with this buy.

i dont think he would be frozen out. i mean he played a good few games when fit last season and hes still only 19. i dont think hed get that at any top 4 club and moving anywhere else is not a good football move. next season if hes fit hed get chances again and knowing how good he can be, he could find himself starting more games. if goes to chelsea hell never be heard from again. i dont think any young player that went to chelsea got themselves into the first team.

tbh the whole "were going to buy a team of superstars" is rubbish. apart from robihno, weve bought none, to me the kaka thing was just publicity. all the players weve bought have been pragmatic buys. we do actually give youth a chance, look at ireland and onuoha, if sturridge is good enough (which he seems to be) he will play. moving to villa or everton might be a good move but he wont get the money were offering which is why he might leave, so again it makes no sense. silly boy if he goes.

Xavi6

More good news! The quitessential headless chicken is off -

http://www.setanta.com//uk/Articles/Football/2009/06/04/Exclusive-Fernandes-agent-on-future/gnid-55766/

Exclusive: Unhappy Fernandes set for City exit

Gelson Fernandes is in talks with ‘half a dozen’ clubs after becoming unhappy at Manchester City, his agent has told setanta.com.

The 22-year-old Switzerland midfielder has been unable to establish himself in the side since moving to Eastlands in 2007, and agent Marcel Schmid has revealed he is unhappy that the club bought a series of high-price players for his position.

Genoa are reported to be among those interested and, while Schmid was unwilling to name any of the interested parties directly, he says he is in discussions with clubs from around the continent.

“I can really assure you that he is quite unhappy about his situation,” he told setanta.com.

“We believe that City have spent an awful lot of money on players who are very similar to him and that they will play them because they cost a lot of money – not because they are better.

“We hope he will go. We will do everything we can to make sure he is not staying.

“He wants to be playing not for 10 or 12 minutes every time. He wants to play for 90 minutes because that’s the type of player he is.

“He is the motor of the team – not a 10-minute player.”

Asked if there were offers for Fernandes, Schmid said: “The word ‘offer’ is crucial.

“What we have is a lot of talk with several clubs in several countries.

“I don’t really want to go into the names of the clubs. There are half a dozen at least in various countries talking to us now, but it is not at a stage where we can say there is an offer.

“Clubs are trying to find out behind the scenes whether Gelson will be available or not.

“First of all, they have to find out if they can afford him. Secondly, we have to see from a sporting point of view whether he is prepared to go there.”

1 down.....

bigstar

the new kit is by umbro. havent been too impressed with the le coq ones, hopefully these are decent. sounds very retro anyway, the away one is white with a black and red strip, hmmm where did they get that idea. sounds like an new crest could be coming too. could it be return to the old one, we can only hope.

KittyeeTrix

bigstar wrote: »

the new kit is by umbro. havent been too impressed with the le coq ones, hopefully these are decent. sounds very retro anyway, the away one is white with a black and red strip, hmmm where did they get that idea. sounds like an new crest could be coming too. could it be return to the old one, we can only hope.

Only a relative newbie City supporter (last 4 years). Have to say I love our City crest, it's the best in the league.......but i' don't know the old one you speak of. Any chance you could post a link to get a look at it?

I loved the sky blue ones with the white stripes down them:)


http://footballkitsblog.com/files/2007/11/manchester-city-home-07-08.jpg

ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE HUGE CREST

One of the nicest jerseys for us girlie fans
The stripes are very flattering (sorry for the girlie moment there lads)

bigstar

fluffyorganic1 wrote: »

Only a relative newbie City supporter (last 4 years). Have to say I love our City crest, it's the best in the league.......but i' don't know the old one you speak of. Any chance you could post a link to get a look at it?

I loved the sky blue ones with the white stripes down them:)


http://footballkitsblog.com/files/2007/11/manchester-city-home-07-08.jpg

ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE HUGE CREST

One of the nicest jerseys for us girlie fans
The stripes are very flattering (sorry for the girlie moment there lads)

heres the old crest.


i dont know what the stars, eagle or latin is for on the current crest tbh, thats why i never took to it. i never liked that jersey either, not a fan of the strips. we always wore simple sky blue with white trim. that didnt stop me from buying it though :pac:

i like the old style jersey, thats probably because im an old traditionalist fart.

KittyeeTrix

bigstar wrote: »

heres the old crest.


i dont know what the stars, eagle or latin is for on the current crest tbh, thats why i never took to it. i never liked that jersey either, not a fan of the strips. we always wore simple sky blue with white trim. that didnt stop me from buying it though :pac:

i like the old style jersey, thats probably because im an old traditionalist fart.

Have to say I much prefer the crest we have now

{IMG}http:/tbn1.google.com/images?q=tbn:yolJv7fl_3_FM:http:/www.liverpoolfc.tv/tick{/IMG}

Xavi6

Lads, I alreay posted the new shirts in the thread on new kits. I'm on my phone so can't link to that thread but do a search and they are there. They're growing on me a lot. The white one in particular is class.

Xavi6

And here they are -

bigstar

i like the home one, the away one is like the old '76 away shirt, i like that one too, the third one im not a fan of. never liked black that much. i read something about the crest though.

actually just read it again, its being "remastered", probably just means its stitiched differently or something