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#261334 Barclays Premier League 2014/15
bluemoon.
In fairness, they were the better team for 60-odd minutes. Looking forward to seeing replays of a few decisions though, the ref (and one of the assistants) seemed pretty poor today.
#260014 Barclays Premier League 2014/15
bluemoon.
How often do you actually watch him?
#259865 Barclays Premier League 2014/15
bluemoon.
#259826 Barclays Premier League 2014/15
bluemoon.
He hasn't been as good since Christmas but regardless, he was absolutely brilliant before and he's still joint top scorer.
#259822 Barclays Premier League 2014/15
bluemoon.
Aye, the joint top scorer in the league has been shit.
I've missed your bullshit, KM.
#259821 Transfer Rumours 2014/15
bluemoon.
#259416 Transfer Rumours 2014/15
bluemoon.
He's said he's not going to be taking any time off.
#259401 Barclays Premier League 2014/15
bluemoon.
Yeah, that was basically my point. He's alright in small doses but he just gets annoying after a while.
#259300 Barclays Premier League 2014/15
bluemoon.
He does grate a bit, doesn't he?
He's generally got a point, he's just so evangelical about it all that it gets pretty annoying.
#259159 Barclays Premier League 2014/15
bluemoon.
We pulled out of the Hazard deal over the agent fees apparently.
I know what you mean though. It's been a trend over the last few years. Hard to say for certain what the reason is but it coincides with the change at the executive level from Garry Cook/Brian Marwood to Ferran Soriano/Txiki Begiristain and also with the onset of FFP. In truth though, even before that despite all the money being splashed around we didn't make that many truly big signings. We tried with Kaka and succeeded with Robinho but other than the summers of 2010 and 2011 - Touré, Silva and Aguero - we've not really made that many really big signings since the takeover.
As for paying big on their own targets, some of that is just bad business, but in fairness City generally have to pay over the odds anyway. We're the oil-money club, cash rich and stupid with it. Rightly or wrongly, every club expects us to pay big bucks for their player and that's only amplified when you're dealing with clubs like Porto.
#259121 Barclays Premier League 2014/15
bluemoon.
#259105 Barclays Premier League 2014/15
bluemoon.
I think Navas was set-up by Txiki and Pellegrini just gave his blessing to it. Don't know for certain though.
Mostly agree on Jovetic and Sagna. I don't agree on Fernando though. Whether he fits our intended style of play is up for debate but before he got injured he looked absolutely perfect for the Premier League, he was physical, hard-working and seemed to love a tackle. In my opinion, he's been one of those most impacted by all the shite this season. He's come to a new country and a new club, been asked to play out of position in a very open midfield - I think we can agree he's more defensive midfielder than central midfielder, right? - and to do most of the dirty work and running whilst he's at it. At the same time as he's trying to get the hang of all this, our form as a whole has got worse and worse, it's not a surprise he looks crap at this point. It's hardly a fair reflection on his ability as a player.
I agree about Yaya. For me, most of our problems come back to central midfield. Whether it's a lack of effort on his part or just time catching up with him, we need to replace him and rebuild the midfield. It's hideously unbalanced.
#259083 Barclays Premier League 2014/15
bluemoon.
Demichelis was definitely a Pellegrini signing but I'm not convinced Navas and Negredo were (for a start Navas signed before Pellegrini even officially joined).
I don't think he's got everything right and with hindsight the signings this season clearly weren't great, the Mangala fee is looking like a bad joke, but even those signings seem fairly logical. We needed a new centre-back and defensive midfielder (we did lose Lescott and García after all) so buying one of the most highly-rated young centre-backs in Europe and a defensive midfielder with CL experience isn't exactly the most ridiculous thing to do. The only thing that really stands out as a serious error in judgement from Begiristain there, is using such a large portion of the budget on a player who could realistically be expected to take a season to settle. That was naive at best.
Frankly given how many of our players have played below par this season, it seems pretty clear to me that there are underlying issues - not least the exceptionally open system we play and the general lack of attention to detail - that are effecting the form of established players and this is probably going to extend to the new signings as well.
Who's the other shite he's signed?
#259080 Barclays Premier League 2014/15
bluemoon.
He's not had the biggest budget in the world though has he? He's had two summer transfer windows, one was largely successful (Navas, Negredo, Fernandinho, Jovetic and Demichelis) the other was worse but with the caveat that there was a spending cap imposed.
He's done pretty well with the outgoings too. ~£20m for Negredo, £10m for Jack Rodwell, a fee for Tevez even after all of his bullshit.
#259069 Barclays Premier League 2014/15
bluemoon.
I agree with the point about average players but it's pretty odd to judge the worth/success of all the transfers based on how they're playing at the moment.
As an aside, Joe Hart isn't even close to being world-class. He's been better this season than last but that's really not saying much.
I don't think there's a problem with those players being at City, the problem is that so many of them are first choice. Navas is a good player but he should be a squad player, somebody to make an impact off the bench or be used in rotation in a specific role. He isn't good enough to be first-choice for a club that wants to be winning the League and Champions League, the same goes for Fernando and Clichy too. What's more damning is the fact that players like Kolarov (2010) and Dzeko (2011) are still at the club despite their (not insignificant) weaknesses being found out long ago. At least Navas and Fernando have only been at the club for a year or two.
Bit harsh to lump in Kompany with Yaya too. He's playing shite but at least he actually seems to care.
To be fair, Zaba's been run into the ground over the last few years. It was always going to catch up with him at some point, it's just unfortunate that it's happened when the rest of the team is playing at it's lowest level for years. It's left him massively exposed at a time when he needs more protection.
Disagree about Txiki. He's not been a resounding success but neither has he been a complete failure either. Some good signings, some mediocre signings and a few bad ones. He needs to do better this time around but he's not done that badly.
#258894 Barclays Premier League 2014/15
bluemoon.
And in amazing style too.
#258881 Barclays Premier League 2014/15
bluemoon.
#258876 Barclays Premier League 2014/15
bluemoon.
He's been alright with Demichelis.
#258819 Barclays Premier League 2014/15
bluemoon.
#258679 2015/2016 Kit Thread
bluemoon.
HOLD NOTHING BACK.
#258622 2015/2016 Kit Thread
bluemoon.
Standard shit advertising mind.
#258555 Barclays Premier League 2014/15
bluemoon.
Somebody's got to stand up for him, it's not like he's comfortable doing it himself.
That's closer to the truth.
#258551 Barclays Premier League 2014/15
bluemoon.
#257980 Barclays Premier League 2014/15
bluemoon.
#257978 Barclays Premier League 2014/15
bluemoon.
#257965 Barclays Premier League 2014/15
bluemoon.
#254523 Europa League 2014/2015
bluemoon.
What would say had more of an effect on them, being taken apart by Bayern or being humiliated by City?
#254522 Champions League 2014/15
bluemoon.
What those two said basically. Money isn't a guarantee of success in any competition let alone one like the Champions League where the margins are as fine as they are. Their record isn't exceptional but it's not that bad either.
#254401 Champions League 2014/15
bluemoon.
You don't half talk some shite.
#254343 Champions League 2014/15
bluemoon.
Nah, he's just not playing that well at the moment and Sagna's looked alright in the Champions League so far.