Weekend Prem Thread (includes free Monday)

Xavi6

Lol Dunne another OG.

And people wonder why he has to go

LuckyLloyd

Fair play to Bolton. They've worked hard, done the simple things well and been direct and aggressive going forward. Huge result for them.

BUT

they look an incredibly limited side. City have some good players but don't seem to lack any sort of cohesion and toughness. Also, while Hamman is one of fav players of all time - he looked well off the pace when he came on.

Xavi6

I don't know why I bother sometimes.

Night lads

LuckyLloyd

Xavi6 wrote: »

From a City fan -
So true.

PHB wrote: »

I don't understand what City fans want. There is no instant success, nobody ever has gotten that, even Chelsea.

Yeah, wtf? This is always going to be a really tough period for City. The current squad lacks job security - they will be looking over the shoulder and wondering what happens in the next two transfer windows and whether they will still be playing / still be living in Manchester. That is on top of the problems that would already be there after some significant squad turnover during the last window. And to round it all off - expectations have now been ratcheted up to a level that is beyond the current playing staff anyway.

It will take a couple of years to get those funds in play and fully overhaul the squad so that it is good enough to compete with the top four. Then maybe another year or so to actually win stuff. Between now and then it may become clear that Hughes is not the man for the job - remember that Ranieri was moved aside at Chelsea.

But to be complaining already and talking about how it has all been ****ed up is lol.

Savman

Oh dear.


Champion's league? yer havin' a laff!
Champion's league? yer havin' a laff!

mike65

Anyone fancy lumping on Newcastle? The way results have gone this week they must be in with a shout.

Mike

Charlie

mike65 wrote: »

Anyone fancy lumping on Newcastle? The way results have gone this week they must be in with a shout.

Mike

Sssshhhhh! Don't jinx it.

With JFK's recent behavior, I wouldn't expect much of a performance from the players tomorrow tbh.

Xavi6

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Yeah, wtf? This is always going to be a really tough period for City. The current squad lacks job security - they will be looking over the shoulder and wondering what happens in the next two transfer windows and whether they will still be playing / still be living in Manchester. That is on top of the problems that would already be there after some significant squad turnover during the last window. And to round it all off - expectations have now been ratcheted up to a level that is beyond the current playing staff anyway.

It will take a couple of years to get those funds in play and fully overhaul the squad so that it is good enough to compete with the top four. Then maybe another year or so to actually win stuff. Between now and then it may become clear that Hughes is not the man for the job - remember that Ranieri was moved aside at Chelsea.

But to be complaining already and talking about how it has all been ****ed up is lol.

The thing is though no one is expecting us to be challenging for a title or anything close in the near future.

What is expected though is for a team managed by a supposed supreme motivator to go out and show a bit of fight against a quite frankly woeful lower half of the table side. The team showed no will to win, couldn't pass the ball more than 5 yards (if even) and were basically bullied off the park.

Hughes came in with a reputation and so far we have seen zero evidence of it. I'm not blaming him fully as the players have been a bunch of fairies but the buck stops with him at the end of the day.

His substitutions have been somewhat baffling. Elano left to rot on the bench against Newcastle while we're a goal down and playing with not one but two holding midfielders. Wtf? Last night we had Evans, who was our only attacking threat, hauled off. Why wasn't Sturridge put up there with him? Bolton were loving having only a single striker to play against. And Micah at left back? Gimme a break. Every time he got the ball he to turn inside because he's got no left foot.

These are the little fundamentals that are not being sorted and that's why we are pissed off. Hardly unreasonable.

LuckyLloyd

Xavi6 wrote: »

The thing is though no one is expecting us to be challenging for a title or anything close in the near future.

What is expected though is for a team managed by a supposed supreme motivator to go out and show a bit of fight against a quite frankly woeful lower half of the table side. The team showed no will to win, couldn't pass the ball more than 5 yards (if even) and were basically bullied off the park.

Hughes came in with a reputation and so far we have seen zero evidence of it. I'm not blaming him fully as the players have been a bunch of fairies but the buck stops with him at the end of the day.

His substitutions have been somewhat baffling. Elano left to rot on the bench against Newcastle while we're a goal down and playing with not one but two holding midfielders. Wtf? Last night we had Evans, who was our only attacking threat, hauled off. Why wasn't Sturridge put up there with him? Bolton were loving having only a single striker to play against. And Micah at left back? Gimme a break. Every time he got the ball he to turn inside because he's got no left foot.

These are the little fundamentals that are not being sorted and that's why we are pissed off. Hardly unreasonable.

Well, as I said - he may have to go. This job and squad is strikingly different to the previous posts he held and players he managed (and impressed with).

Xavi6

Don't worry, the 'Hughes Out' campaign has been up and running for weeks now.

Charlie

Whether right or wrong, I can't see Hughes there this time next year. The new owners have been setting their stall out since arrival to bring in 'superstar' players. I think its fair to assume that they will want a 'superstar' manager to go along with this package. Ironically, City had one before Hughes' arrival.

DenMan

I fancy Newcastle getting something against Villa tomorrow night. Not saying that just as an Arsenal fan, but they have really upped their game the last few weeks and will get something tomorrow. Dare I say it, even a win.

invincibleirish

Nervous about Villa away at Newcastle tonight, it has been the weekend of the underdog in the PL and Joe Kinnear certainly fancies his chances. Villa have Petrov & Sidwell out and there's talk of rotation what with a UEFA Cup game on Thursday.

I think the pace and power of Carew, Gabby & Ash will be too much for the Newcastle defence but expect the homeside to score as well but for Aston Villa to prevail, i'll go for a 1-2.

Up the Villa!.

LuckyLloyd

Good performance and result for Newcastle tonight. Played like a team; passed it well; and were forceful going forward. Martins played as well as I have seen him play.

Can they push on?

DenMan

Should have put a bet on, as I did have a good feeling about Newcastle. Great win tonight, off the foot of the table and completely out of the bottom three.

Next 6 games:

Fulham (a)
Wigan (h)
Chelsea (a)
Middlesbrough (a)
Stoke (h)
Portsmouth (a)

Realistically they can do very well and come out with possibly 10-12 points.

mike65

Well done the bottom three (as was)!

JKF to be a freeman of Newcastle with free Ale for the rest of his life by January
















Sacked by may.

Mike

Charlie

Great result tonight, but the performance was meh. In all honesty Villa should have gone 1 up with Gabbie, and if that had been the case, its hard to know how the game would have panned out. However, we held in, and in the second half, were the better of the teams.

I was really impressed with the defence tonight, kept it clean, and very tidy. Colo had a great game. Hats off to Shola, he made a mug of Laursen tonight. However, again, I felt that we were too deep for large parts of the night. Often when we broke with the ball, there would be no one in support, or no one to whip it in to, and Duff/Jonas would have to slow things down or pass it backwards.

I thought Steve Bennet had a howler of a match. Didn't let the game flow at all, and got a lot of calls wrong. Really came across aloof as well when dealing with some of the incidents. I LOL'd good and proper when Barton left him hanging for a handshake.

Can I just say, I thought Setanta and Graham Poll were a disgrace tonight. Clearly trying to brew a storm in a teacup with Barton, and taking all the gloss off the win. Barely said a word about the actual game the bunch of swines. And Graham Poll again comes across as an arrogant up himself ****. And they wonder why people find it hard to respect refs.