UK football, season 2008/09, forecasts

And so it begins.

Wayne Bridge signs for City :slight_smile:

Now then let me see…who else shall we buy?

Robert Earnshaw? :wink:

C’mon Posh!

Ah, that’s the way to make yourself a football powerhouse. Buy players the powerhouses don’t want. :rolleyes:

Craig Bellamy and Joleon Lescott next on the shopping list, rumours say. Can’t say either would be the first name on my lips if I had infinite money.

At least the distraction of the cup is out of the way now though, eh?

What a fucking disgraceful performance.

Losing at home to Forest, my flabber is gasted

We must now concentrate on winning the UEFA cup and , and, and…

Indeed, he should’ve bought someone a powerhouse wanted. Like Andrea Dossena, the worst left back in the league.

Bridge is a very good player, probably one of the top 5 left backs in the league, nothing wrong with going for him.

0-3 though, hawhaw. Hughes just isn’t up to it I’m afraid.

Craig Bellamy will never hurt you to have, I don’t think. I’ve always found him an impressive terrier. Always first to the ball, tremendous pace still, and irritating as all hell to the opponents. :smiley:
Buying the castoffs of teams that you are trying to catch ain’t gonna catch those teams. That’s a given. :wink:

Why is it Hughes’s fault? He can only pick the players available; he can’t force them to play to their maximum capability. This looks far more like player under-performance than a team selection problem.

Absolutely.

I’m no fan of Hughes but he usually manages to build pretty effective teams if not very exciting ones. He’s having to use players that were at the club already and probably not ones he’d have chosen himself.

I think Man. City and Hughes deserve one another.

Managers in England have two jobs. First, buying the right players. Second, getting the most out of those players. Obviously, Hughes didn’t have much say in the first part, the players are mostly Erikssons, plus Robinho. The second part he has control over, and is failing miserably at. Other than Robinho, Ireland and SWP (maybe I’m forgetting someone, no matter), City have been awful. The fact that at times they’ve been brilliant simply condemns him more, because the players have shown they don’t suck, their manager just can’t get the best out of them.

Or in short, player under-performance is the manager’s problem.

What you are all failing to take into account is the fact that this is Manchester City we’re talking about.

A team well known for being erratic (and that’s putting it mildly).

The only team to have won the league one season and to be relegated the next. Relegated despite scoring more goals than any other team

One week they play like a world cup winning side, the next they play as if a football is something they’ve never seen before in their lives.

If I wasn’t firmly convinced that the good days are just around the corner I’d seriously consider shifting my allegiance to Accrington Stanley or Inverness Caledonian Thistle or Abergavenny Athletic or that powerhouse of international football, the mighty Annan Athletic.

As an aside: Notice that Rochdale won 3-1 which puts them in the play-off places with a game in hand.

“Up the Dale”

Go on Chowder, you beaut! Fortitude is a Blue’s strongest trait, next to their sense of humour. :slight_smile:

Now, fingers crossed, let’s hope The Red Devils can avoid falling at the same hurdle. Southampton have been a bit of a bogey side to us, and anything can happen in the FA cup.

You forgot resignation and sheer bloody mindedness.

Red Devils?

Are Salford Rugby team playing today?

You know which ones! :stuck_out_tongue:

I know which ones alright.

I refuse to type the name of such a misbegotten shower of shite.

Innit?

Merseyside derby in the fourth round of the FA Cup. Should be interesting.

City would have had Derby, who barely squeaked past Forest Green yesterday. I suppose the really good news for City is: they don’t end up going out to Derby instead. :smiley:

What a shame. Man U could have softened them up a little on Wednesday, to make it easier for them. :smiley:

I’d want them to concentrate on staying up rather than the UEFA.

I was about to say that Cloughie must have been drunk in heaven this weekend. But given that it is Cloughie, he would have to be drunk all the time for it to be anything like heaven anyway.

And take that you Gillingham bastards. Looks like we got a reasonably easy 4th round draw too, though it won’t stop us from choking.

Ha. :smiley:

I don’t think there’s any danger of City being relegated.

But you never know, this is City:D

Innit?