The Official Manchester City Thread

[Bredbury Blue]

City's turned up with an

8-a-side team without any forwards today. Thanks for the handicap Pep!

 

Get all of the out-of-form players off - Cancelo, Mendy, Stirling, Jesus and Torres (5 players) - and give us a chance. Old man Fernandinho is showing you the way.

 

Like Cheltenham Fulham WHU ManU and Leeds all over again...bobbins!

 

[jellydog]

Ah well. Not much of a front line with Jesus and the completely awful Sterling. What has happened to Sterling? He's beyond bad these days. I don't think Kepa was troubled once.

 

No shame in losing to an in form Chelsea after expending all that energy in the CL. Who knows but what we could see them again.

[Bredbury Blue]

Best team won and a fair result.

 

Chelsea were decent, had a good game plan and it worked.

 

For 65 minutes, until Foden and Gundogan came on, we were like a bunch of strangers, played as bad as I've seen in 2021 and were so poor. Pep once again made too many changes - 8 was it (4 is enough Pep) - gave games to too many out of form players (I.e. Sterling OR Torres should have played, not both) and we suffered for it. We played too slowly, simple balls were difficult and offered NOTHING up front. Truth is we didn't deserve to score but I don't think we would have if we'd played longer. 

 

What I don't understand is, around 75 minutes City were on  top and playing better so why didn't Pep throw on his last 3 subs, something like Walker, Bernardo and Mahrez for Cancelo Sterling Jesus who were so poor, and go for it? Strange.

 

Pep had us playing uphill again and unlike some of the club's we got away with it, Chelsea were good enough. 

 

From here on in, start the best 11 or suffer the consequences like today.

 

Pep got that wrong today.

 

[mrbojangles]

7 hours ago, Bredbury Blue said:

Best team won and a fair result.

 

Chelsea were decent, had a good game plan and it worked.

 

For 65 minutes, until Foden and Gundogan came on, we were like a bunch of strangers, played as bad as I've seen in 2021 and were so poor. Pep once again made too many changes - 8 was it (4 is enough Pep) - gave games to too many out of form players (I.e. Sterling OR Torres should have played, not both) and we suffered for it. We played too slowly, simple balls were difficult and offered NOTHING up front. Truth is we didn't deserve to score but I don't think we would have if we'd played longer. 

 

What I don't understand is, around 75 minutes City were on  top and playing better so why didn't Pep throw on his last 3 subs, something like Walker, Bernardo and Mahrez for Cancelo Sterling Jesus who were so poor, and go for it? Strange.

 

Pep had us playing uphill again and unlike some of the club's we got away with it, Chelsea were good enough. 

 

From here on in, start the best 11 or suffer the consequences like today.

 

Pep got that wrong today.

 

 

Can't argue with a single word of that.

 

In addition, as soon as I saw Mendy in the starting 11 I feared the worst. He gives far too many balls away and the passes he does make are hard for the receiver to control. Pep was furious after the match when questioned about the team selection and that's cos he knows he got it wrong.

[mrbojangles]

8 hours ago, Bredbury Blue said:

Pep once again made too many changes - 8 was it (4 is enough Pep)

 

I think it was virtually back to the same team that lost against 10 man Leeds and Pep expected a different result !!!

[Bredbury Blue]

4 hours ago, mrbojangles said:

 

I think it was virtually back to the same team that lost against 10 man Leeds and Pep expected a different result !!!

Pep got it wrong twice in a week vs Leeds and Chelsea, with making 8 changes including players coming back (Ake) and players out of form. Playing the same front three of Sterling Jesus Torres who created nothing vs Leeds and then playing the same 3 again was a big mistake.

 

My wife has never seen me so angry at a player's awful performance as Sterling's; he's in a very bad place right now. 

 

When Father Ruben has an rare off day you know things aren't right.

 

So just as in the poor performance vs Arsenal in last season's semi-final, we didn't turn up yesterday. After last week's poor performance vs Leeds and ManUs win vs Burnley today suddenly puts pressure back on us in the PL. We were poor for the first 20 mins vs Dortmund then brilliant second half. What does all that tell me:

- first choice 11 is as good as anyone out there,

- playing a team with 8 changes and few first choicers equals creating a problem for ourselves. 

[Sparkles]

Don't usually comment on other clubs performances as I rarely have time to watch them but had an old team mate with us last night and thought being the FA Cup semi we would see a game with a bit of passion and both clubs desperate for a final place especially City with a quadruple a possibility.

 

The City team selection was the first  shock, Pep leaving some of your best performing players on the bench,  I could not get my head around. Who would play Sterling when you have Foden just for starters ? Sterling on current form is lucky to get even a bench place and he didn't disappoint ,over hit passes, shots on goal almost non existent & laughable, totally lost it.

 

The whole game was a total disappointment, very little creativity ,most of the time the ball was going backwards or sideways.

 

Peps post match interview just added to the disappointment, almost as he didn't really care or want to seek answers, no point in being stroppy he created the problem...strange to say the least.

 

If that was the first game of out football you ever watched I doubt you would come back for more. 

 

 

 

[Bredbury Blue]

20 minutes ago, Sparkles said:

Don't usually comment on other clubs performances as I rarely have time to watch them but had an old team mate with us last night and thought being the FA Cup semi we would see a game with a bit of passion and both clubs desperate for a final place especially City with a quadruple a possibility.

 

The City team selection was the first  shock, Pep leaving some of your best performing players on the bench,  I could not get my head around. Who would play Sterling when you have Foden just for starters ? Sterling on current form is lucky to get even a bench place and he didn't disappoint ,over hit passes, shots on goal almost non existent & laughable, totally lost it.

 

The whole game was a total disappointment, very little creativity ,most of the time the ball was going backwards or sideways.

 

Peps post match interview just added to the disappointment, almost as he didn't really care or want to seek answers, no point in being stroppy he created the problem...strange to say the least.

 

If that was the first game of out football you ever watched I doubt you would come back for more. 

 

 

 

 

I would agree with you. A total bore.

 

[Bredbury Blue]

I think this move by City to join the Super League is the first and only time I've been angry with / embarrassed by our owners. 

 

I'd like to think I'm not alone in feeling badly let down, and I hope fans of the other five clubs (Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, ManU and Spurs) feel the same about their owners.

 

There is no doubt that the American owners are at the forefront of this - who can forget their last attempt at a power grab with Project Big Picture which was only last October - but let's not get in to that at the moment, and hope the Super League move fails. 

 

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/12101655/premier-league-liverpool-and-manchester-united-propose-major-changes-to-english-football

[Bredbury Blue]

There is a statement on City's website about the club's inclusion in the Super League, I suspect it's the same statement being used by all the clubs. There are quotes in it from Agnelli, Perez and bloody Joel Glaser (the cheek of it). No quotes, no explanation, from our owners / management WHY we are joining. They need to come out and talk to us - and feel the heat. 

 

Shame on you all!

 

 

 

 

[mrbojangles]

3 hours ago, Bredbury Blue said:

I think this move by City to join the Super League is the first and only time I've been angry with / embarrassed by our owners. 

 

Apparently we were the last to sign up. What were we supposed to do? Its taken our owners a decade to create a team to match the big clubs in Europe. Should we let them all go off earning Super money and put us back into the Swales days? We were pretty much between a rock and a hard place. 

[Bredbury Blue]

49 minutes ago, mrbojangles said:

 

Apparently we were the last to sign up. What were we supposed to do? Its taken our owners a decade to create a team to match the big clubs in Europe. Should we let them all go off earning Super money and put us back into the Swales days? We were pretty much between a rock and a hard place. 

Chelsea then City were the last I read.

 

A huge gamble that I hope backfires on all 6 - I'm very much a pyramid guy, not a top 6 only guy.

[Sunderland]

23 hours ago, mrbojangles said:

 

Apparently we were the last to sign up. What were we supposed to do? Its taken our owners a decade to create a team to match the big clubs in Europe. Should we let them all go off earning Super money and put us back into the Swales days? We were pretty much between a rock and a hard place. 

Feel sorry for the fans, but Middle East City should be chucked out the English pyramid along with the other five. Financial meltdown for every other club? Bring it on. New champions will rise from the ashes.

[mrbojangles]

10 minutes ago, Sunderland said:

Feel sorry for the fans, but Middle East City should be chucked out the English pyramid along with the other five. Financial meltdown for every other club? Bring it on. New champions will rise from the ashes.

 

You're in dreamland. They all had the chance today to do as you say above but didn't because they know what the fall out would be. If you seriously think tv companies would carry on pumping huge amounts of money into the PL without the big names in it, then I'm not sure what business school you went to.

 

I saw an article earlier that said players could walk from their contracts and so the SL won't have any players ???????? what planet are these people on.? Do they really think the likes of Pogba etc will give up 200k per week to play for Burnley on 20k. 

[mrbojangles]

BTW. I still think this is a big bargaining tool by these clubs, to come back with some sort of re-negotiated alternative solution. Let's be honest here, UEFA and Co have been milking money out of these clubs brands for years and they are as corrupt as anyone. Maybe a shake up like this was needed

[jellydog]

I am so pleased to see Pep's comments today about this Super League <deleted>. I have more respect for him given his comments than for all of his titles won. 

[Kadilo]

Well done City for giving them the middle finger. Respect. 

[Bredbury Blue]

12 hours ago, Sunderland said:

Feel sorry for the fans, but Middle East City should be chucked out the English pyramid along with the other five. Financial meltdown for every other club? Bring it on. New champions will rise from the ashes.

 

If the other 5 get chucked out then i agree with you, but ONLY if the other 5 get chucked out.

 

The Owners / Senior management at our club and the others have badly let themselves down, the fans, the PL, the EFL, FA, UEFA, FIFA, and England in general.

 

We all know which club's owners were behind this move (one senior man has already fallen on his sword) and which club's owners followed the others; there might be difficult days ahead for the former and less so for the latter.

 

Chelsea and City joined last and left first, and while i can't comment on Chelsea, i feel our Owners and the fans can make good our previously great relationship IF, and only IF, the Owners come clean and fully explain to the fanbase their thoughts, reasoning, etc. for joining and for leaving.

 

Some good will come from all of this. The 'big' clubs who were forcing EUFA to implement changes for their good will have lost some of their power and some of the 'villains' have been outed. UEFA has had a big wake up call and will have to rethink the way they have been acting of the past decade and more, and will have to work for all of the clubs and not serve the few 'big' clubs. The 'big' PL clubs with American owners who have been trying to force revisions to suit themselves in the PL and now in the CL will have lost power and the other PL clubs and the PL / FA will most likely implement law changes to control them. This was a major power battle and the bad guys lost!

 

  

[Bredbury Blue]

11 hours ago, jellydog said:

I am so pleased to see Pep's comments today about this Super League <deleted>. I have more respect for him given his comments than for all of his titles won. 

 

An hour before his press conference, City let it be known that Pep would NOT be answering any questions on the Super League. Pep obviously had other ideas, spoke freely and gave his opinion on what he knew at the time (i.e. he was anti-Super League basically). The club cut short the press conference (to shut him down).

 

After the press conference the club posted the interview on the club website.

The clubs twitter account then posted a comment from Pep from the presser with a comment "The boss speaks out! (heart)'. City fans then began suspecting the club might be reconsidering.

 

Some players gave it the thumbs up (i remember there were 5 of them: Sterling, Laporte, Walker...) on twitter but later removed that (all of those players have since come out on twitter with comments in support of the the SL collapsing). 

 

Well done Pep for being ballsy and saying what you think even though it appeared not to support the Club's owners move. RESPECT!!!

 

  

Everyone who was willing to stick their head out of the trench and speak against the SL deserves our respect when there could have been serious personal repercussions for them: Pep, Henderson, Milner, Neville, Carragher to mention just a few.  RESPECT!!!

 

 

 

[Bredbury Blue]

Guess the planned protest is off now

 

 

[Bredbury Blue]

"It's a funny old game Saint".

 

Timeline

 

[Bredbury Blue]

 

From The Athletic:

 

On Tuesday, however, the players made their displeasure known during a Zoom call with Soriano, who also spoke to chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak following Guardiola’s press conference.

 

Fernandinho is said to have been the most vocal critic, while Kyle Walker, Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne also voiced opinions. A source close to the squad says the players were united in their opposition. Some had been angered by the silence following Sunday night’s statement and a potential strike had been mooted ahead of the call.

 

The players’ concerns related to participation in the Champions League, which is a popular competition among the team, and, crucially, their stance they would not accept anything that led to them being banned from playing for their national teams.

 

They were reassured that international football would not be an issue but the displeasure of the squad is believed to have played a big part in City’s decision to pull out of the Super League later on Tuesday evening.

 

The players, though, were not told of the club’s decision during the meeting and, again, only found out via reports in the media later on.

 

[Bredbury Blue]

City's Owners Statement on why City withdrew from SL

 

 

[Bredbury Blue]

Martin Samuels talking sense as usual 

 

 

Once one fell, the pack collapsed, we knew that would happen. A keen observer of this debacle from inside football’s highest echelons said he could predict the order of the fall. Manchester City first, Chelsea second, Tottenham third, then the three clubs owned by American venture capitalists, in unison. He was one out. Tottenham waited and withdrew with the red clubs. What choice did they have? How can Tottenham, last title in 1961, be the lone English members of a Super League?

City and Chelsea were always the key. They were the odd men out. Their owners did not have the same motivations as the Glazers, the Kroenkes and the Fenway Sports Group. Roman Abramovich was always different. And that made Chelsea different, too. He was in it for something more than money. He was in it for the glory, and the status.

And for soft political power and influence, obviously. We’re not fools. But nobody burns through that many managers and regimes and strategies and players without actually revelling in the moment when a trophy is lifted into the air and the cannons of glittering confetti pop. So, by early yesterday, he knew he had made a mistake. A very big, very expensive mistake.

The same with Sheikh Mansour at Manchester City. He doesn’t need to maximise revenues at the expense of reputation. That wasn’t why he bought a football club. The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority has assets in the region of £594billion. Khaldoon al-Mubarak, Manchester City’s chairman, has never run his club with the same principles and motives that guide the now departed chief executive officer at Manchester United.  

There is an old joke about how to make a small fortune out of football. You start with a big fortune. Except Abramovich and His Royal Highness have fortunes so great, football doesn’t make a dent. As their name suggests the Fenway Sports Group make money from sport; Manchester City and Chelsea’s owners put their money in. They would be considerably wealthier had they not bought football clubs. That isn’t true of the Glazers.

So here’s another joke. It’s a Two Ronnies sketch. There are two tramps resting by the side of the road. ‘If I had as much money as Rockefeller,’ said one, ‘I'd have more money than Rockefeller.’ The other tramp thought about this for a while. ‘How's that, then?’ he asked. ‘I'd do a bit of window cleaning on the side.’

And that’s what Chelsea and Manchester City are to Abramovich and Mansour. They are the window cleaning on the side. Sports washing, soft power, ego, place whatever motivations you will on the owners of these clubs, but they are not involved in English football for the same reasons as the venture capitalists across the Atlantic. 

This was always the end game for Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United: the red clubs. Left to their own devices, the blue corner would never have come up with an idea as crass as The Super League. They didn’t need it. All The Super League delivers is revenue, and they’ve got that. 

Once the public reaction in this country stripped the competition of all its prestige and glory, once it devalued the brand, made pariahs of the owners, tainted all commercial partners, alienated the supporters, it became worthless to them, actively harmful in many ways. 

Manchester City want to be loved. Seriously, they do. They were forced to choose between UEFA and Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain on one side and the elites of England, Spain and Italy on the other. Convinced that all parties hated them and fearful of being left behind again, they went with the promise of more money. It was a mistake. 

They know that now, because it did not take into account the one group of people who did not hate them. Their fans. And having angered their only friends on earth, City knew this was a giant misstep.

Chelsea, too. This wasn’t a decision sparked by a protest that began outside Stamford Bridge late yesterday afternoon. Reneging on this contract will cost millions. It is not the type of call that is taken by a club executive peering nervously out of a window and wondering how he’ll get his Mercedes out of the car park. 

The decision was made, by Abramovich, before the demonstration began. But the voice of the fans mattered. The mighty roar that has been heard since Sunday when the news of The Super League first leaked was a vital factor. Yesterday was match day, and all week Chelsea have been building up to the fixture with Brighton on their social media sites. The posts beneath these harmless entries have told a tale of extreme vilification. 

Nobody at Chelsea could be in any doubt that this association with a move synonymous with sheer ingordigiousness – ‘extreme greed, an insatiable desire for wealth at any cost’ – has created a wholly toxic environment. The club even feared that its work in the vanguard of the fight against anti-Semitism would be harmed. No doubt City believed the same of the good deeds done regenerating areas of east Manchester. 

The boycotts worked up there. Memberships were returned and even the tiny allocation for Sunday’s Carabao Cup final went largely unsold. City have not got the same global fanbase as their fellow travellers. They need the home support, they need a good reputation on which to build. Glocalisation, it is called. Going global, while staying local. 

For all the ambitions and vision of the City Football Group – now being widely mimicked by rivals – City are not set up to live off subscriptions across continents. They need that homely image, they need to be the alternate to Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal. Everything was wrong about this breakaway for them. Belatedly, City acknowledged it. They were the first to notify their erstwhile allies of their change of heart, formally.

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/article-9493203/MARTIN-SAMUEL-battle-isnt-won-end-sordid-beginning.html

 

[Bredbury Blue]

So, back to football after the Super League distraction.

 

After our recent <deleted> poor performances against Leeds and Chelsea (ok, we didn't play the first select XI), and with ManU going well, it really feels like squeaky bum time for the first time since we got ahead at the top of the table. 

[mrbojangles]

Referee has ruined this. That was not serious foul play deserving a red. Absolute tosh

[jellydog]

Not able to see this one but that about clinches it I reckon.

[Bredbury Blue]

18 minutes ago, jellydog said:

Not able to see this one but that about clinches it I reckon.

 

Seriously, you missed a cracker. 

 

fullmatchesandshows.com

 

[champers]

12 hours ago, Bredbury Blue said:

Martin Samuels talking sense as usual 

 

 

Once one fell, the pack collapsed, we knew that would happen. A keen observer of this debacle from inside football’s highest echelons said he could predict the order of the fall. Manchester City first, Chelsea second, Tottenham third, then the three clubs owned by American venture capitalists, in unison. He was one out. Tottenham waited and withdrew with the red clubs. What choice did they have? How can Tottenham, last title in 1961, be the lone English members of a Super League?

City and Chelsea were always the key. They were the odd men out. Their owners did not have the same motivations as the Glazers, the Kroenkes and the Fenway Sports Group. Roman Abramovich was always different. And that made Chelsea different, too. He was in it for something more than money. He was in it for the glory, and the status.

And for soft political power and influence, obviously. We’re not fools. But nobody burns through that many managers and regimes and strategies and players without actually revelling in the moment when a trophy is lifted into the air and the cannons of glittering confetti pop. So, by early yesterday, he knew he had made a mistake. A very big, very expensive mistake.

The same with Sheikh Mansour at Manchester City. He doesn’t need to maximise revenues at the expense of reputation. That wasn’t why he bought a football club. The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority has assets in the region of £594billion. Khaldoon al-Mubarak, Manchester City’s chairman, has never run his club with the same principles and motives that guide the now departed chief executive officer at Manchester United.  

There is an old joke about how to make a small fortune out of football. You start with a big fortune. Except Abramovich and His Royal Highness have fortunes so great, football doesn’t make a dent. As their name suggests the Fenway Sports Group make money from sport; Manchester City and Chelsea’s owners put their money in. They would be considerably wealthier had they not bought football clubs. That isn’t true of the Glazers.

So here’s another joke. It’s a Two Ronnies sketch. There are two tramps resting by the side of the road. ‘If I had as much money as Rockefeller,’ said one, ‘I'd have more money than Rockefeller.’ The other tramp thought about this for a while. ‘How's that, then?’ he asked. ‘I'd do a bit of window cleaning on the side.’

And that’s what Chelsea and Manchester City are to Abramovich and Mansour. They are the window cleaning on the side. Sports washing, soft power, ego, place whatever motivations you will on the owners of these clubs, but they are not involved in English football for the same reasons as the venture capitalists across the Atlantic. 

This was always the end game for Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United: the red clubs. Left to their own devices, the blue corner would never have come up with an idea as crass as The Super League. They didn’t need it. All The Super League delivers is revenue, and they’ve got that. 

Once the public reaction in this country stripped the competition of all its prestige and glory, once it devalued the brand, made pariahs of the owners, tainted all commercial partners, alienated the supporters, it became worthless to them, actively harmful in many ways. 

Manchester City want to be loved. Seriously, they do. They were forced to choose between UEFA and Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain on one side and the elites of England, Spain and Italy on the other. Convinced that all parties hated them and fearful of being left behind again, they went with the promise of more money. It was a mistake. 

They know that now, because it did not take into account the one group of people who did not hate them. Their fans. And having angered their only friends on earth, City knew this was a giant misstep.

Chelsea, too. This wasn’t a decision sparked by a protest that began outside Stamford Bridge late yesterday afternoon. Reneging on this contract will cost millions. It is not the type of call that is taken by a club executive peering nervously out of a window and wondering how he’ll get his Mercedes out of the car park. 

The decision was made, by Abramovich, before the demonstration began. But the voice of the fans mattered. The mighty roar that has been heard since Sunday when the news of The Super League first leaked was a vital factor. Yesterday was match day, and all week Chelsea have been building up to the fixture with Brighton on their social media sites. The posts beneath these harmless entries have told a tale of extreme vilification. 

Nobody at Chelsea could be in any doubt that this association with a move synonymous with sheer ingordigiousness – ‘extreme greed, an insatiable desire for wealth at any cost’ – has created a wholly toxic environment. The club even feared that its work in the vanguard of the fight against anti-Semitism would be harmed. No doubt City believed the same of the good deeds done regenerating areas of east Manchester. 

The boycotts worked up there. Memberships were returned and even the tiny allocation for Sunday’s Carabao Cup final went largely unsold. City have not got the same global fanbase as their fellow travellers. They need the home support, they need a good reputation on which to build. Glocalisation, it is called. Going global, while staying local. 

For all the ambitions and vision of the City Football Group – now being widely mimicked by rivals – City are not set up to live off subscriptions across continents. They need that homely image, they need to be the alternate to Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal. Everything was wrong about this breakaway for them. Belatedly, City acknowledged it. They were the first to notify their erstwhile allies of their change of heart, formally.

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/article-9493203/MARTIN-SAMUEL-battle-isnt-won-end-sordid-beginning.html

 

Or maybe they both got cold feet after being threatened with expulsion from the Champions League.

[mrbojangles]

4 hours ago, champers said:

Or maybe they both got cold feet after being threatened with expulsion from the Champions League.

 

Seeing as it was intended to be a direct kick in the teeth to UEFA, I'm sure they already anticipated that move. What I dont think they anticipated was the outrage from fans, the PL and players being threatened with expulsion from nation teams. Lesson learned is to never threaten a corrupt closed shop by trying to open another one