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Nearly that time when we can argue about who would win - the reserves or the first team
(and which is which)?


--------------------------------------------Given or Hart-------------------------------------------------

Zab or Boateng------Toure or Richards--------Kompany or Lescott-----------Bridge or Koloraov

-------------------------------------------Barry or De Jong----------------------------------------------

------------SWP or AJ--------------------Yaya or Jonno------------------Silva or Ireland------------

---------------------Ade or Dzeko---------------------------Tevez or Torres--------------------------

johnny crossan wrote:Nearly that time when we can argue about who would win - the reserves or the first team
(and which is which)?


--------------------------------------------Given or Hart-------------------------------------------------

Zab or Boateng------Toure or Richards--------Kompany or Lescott-----------Bridge or Koloraov

-------------------------------------------Barry or De Jong----------------------------------------------

------------SWP or AJ--------------------Yaya or Jonno------------------Silva or Ireland------------

---------------------Ade or Dzeko---------------------------Tevez or Torres--------------------------

Jumping the gun on a few of those mate :p plus missed our newest signing.

Vhero wrote:

johnny crossan wrote:Nearly that time when we can argue about who would win - the reserves or the first team
(and which is which)?


--------------------------------------------Given or Hart-------------------------------------------------

Zab or Boateng------Toure or Richards--------Kompany or Lescott-----------Bridge or Koloraov

-------------------------------------------Barry or De Jong----------------------------------------------

------------SWP or AJ--------------------Yaya or Jonno------------------Silva or Ireland------------

---------------------Ade or Dzeko---------------------------Tevez or Torres--------------------------

Jumping the gun on a few of those mate :p plus missed our newest signing.

the Colombian goalie?

Jinxed.

Vhero wrote:

johnny crossan wrote:Nearly that time when we can argue about who would win - the reserves or the first team
(and which is which)?


--------------------------------------------Given or Hart-------------------------------------------------

Zab or Boateng------Toure or Richards--------Kompany or Lescott-----------Bridge or Koloraov

-------------------------------------------Barry or De Jong----------------------------------------------

------------SWP or AJ--------------------Yaya or Jonno------------------Silva or Ireland------------

---------------------Ade or Dzeko---------------------------Tevez or Torres--------------------------

Jumping the gun on a few of those mate :p plus missed our newest signing.

definately jumping the gun.. but the basic point is a good one by crossan. If the signings happen this is the situation that we will be faced with.. gonna be a lot more fun on the Team for Saturday threads..

I'd back the side with Bellamy in it.

Ted Hughes wrote:I'd back the side with Bellamy in it.

I agree....I honestly can't see him going anywhere

I think the leavers will be:

Robinho
Bojinov
Jo
Benjani
Caicedo
Taylor
Onuoha
Richards
Garrido
SWP

maybe Ireland but I really hope not.

I also think we'd be lucky to get much over 35million for the lot of them....40 at an absolute push

ant london wrote:

Ted Hughes wrote:I'd back the side with Bellamy in it.

I agree....I honestly can't see him going anywhere

I think the leavers will be:

Robinho
Bojinov
Jo
Benjani
Caicedo
Taylor
Onuoha
Richards
Garrido
SWP

maybe Ireland but I really hope not.

I also think we'd be lucky to get much over 35million for the lot of them....40 at an absolute push

Don't know what to think re Ireland & never really been sure what Mancini makes of Richards whether he thinks he's a write off or just a young player who can continue be brought through. I'd keep them if they want to stay. I recon Ned already knows he's gone though.

SWP's future may depend on whether we sign Milner or not. Similarly Robinho will have to be part of a swap deal or a big fee I would have thought, especially if all the X Factor/Big Brother people keep voting him MOTM for doing mostly fuck all.

Personally I'd keep Ireland, Richards, Nedum and Shaun in an ideal world but in the case of Nedum I think he knows Mancini doesn't rate him and has set his stall out to be off. Shaun, well I don't know whether to believe any of the contract demand nonsense (and am inclined not to believe any of it) but fact is that he will not be a starter next season....far from it on last season's form.

Ireland and Micah both have the same challenge, they need to win a starting spot and perform well enough to keep the shirt (same applies to anyone but I'd imagine that new arrivals would have to do less in training than these to to keep hold of a starting berth). They have to show themselves to be not only as talented but equally capable of producing top displays as anyone who arrives. It's up to them whether they fancy that fight

What I do know is that I'd rather sell any of the above than have them poisoning the atmosphere at the club and/or leaving City bitter that they "wasted" a year (or more) of their career on the fringes of the action

ant london wrote:Personally I'd keep Ireland, Richards, Nedum and Shaun in an ideal world but in the case of Nedum I think he knows Mancini doesn't rate him and has set his stall out to be off. Shaun, well I don't know whether to believe any of the contract demand nonsense (and am inclined not to believe any of it) but fact is that he will not be a starter next season....far from it on last season's form.

Ireland and Micah both have the same challenge, they need to win a starting spot and perform well enough to keep the shirt (same applies to anyone but I'd imagine that new arrivals would have to do less in training than these to to keep hold of a starting berth). They have to show themselves to be not only as talented but equally capable of producing top displays as anyone who arrives. It's up to them whether they fancy that fight

What I do know is that I'd rather sell any of the above than have them poisoning the atmosphere at the club and/or leaving City bitter that they "wasted" a year (or more) of their career on the fringes of the action

i agree with you Antonio. Ideally, i'd want to keep all four of them as well. Any of them off the bench are potentially high-impact, or as reasonably good cover.

Curiously, why doesn't Roberto rate Ned? it's a quizzical thing for me. Seems you'd want an intelligent player like Ned in the side who is pretty versatile and in a pinch could literally play anywhere along the back line and not embarrass you. Richards i'd keep as well because i don't think we really even know his best spot yet. He needs about 2 more years to see what he'll finally become. Could be a huge letdown, but...we've come this far with him, why move him now?

I guess tho, to counterbalance what i just wrote, would a club like Barcelona, Real Madrid or Inter Milan have any of those 4 on their roster? unlikely i'd say, so maybe Mancini is just cutting to the chase...if he truly doesn't rate any of them.

cheers

The Nedum thing is one of the most confusing situations I have ever seen at City to be honest. I would absolutely think that Mancini would want to keep Nedum, young, English, talented, intelligent (and capable of absorbing top coaching I would imagine), a local and City lad and also I'd have thought a great influence to have in the dressing room AND a fantastic role model to point toward for youngsters in the academy/on the verge of making it to Carrington.

The only thing that makes it make any sense to me is that...Mancini dropping him after he'd played a couple of really fantastic games (where everyone acknowledged he'd been great and he himself must have known his performances to have been at the upper end of his capabilities) he just decided "this fella doesn't fancy me" and, being an intelligent guy, has mentally decided to cut his losses and drop down a "level" to another team and develop his career from there where he will really have a chance to show what he can do.

In my view Mancini made a significant mistake dropping him when he did and if that does indeed prove to be the trigger for him leaving then I think it is something that we (and indeed maybe Mancini himself) will come to regret....and not just because The Chief is well liked on a personal level

It's an ancient debate now but nonetheless real for that - we need to keep at least a few of our club-trained players if we don't want a restricted European senior squad. Of the five who qualify I would say that any except Michael Johnson could move on this summer. This would have an impact on the Premiership squad too, at least eight Association trained players required for that and remember Given isn't.

here's our current association/club trained complement - no senior reserves now either

---------------------------------------Hart-----------------------------------------------
Nedum----------------Micah-----------------------Lescott----------------------Bridge
SWP---------------Johnno------------------------Barry--------------------------AJ
--------------------------------Bellamy---------Ireland-------------------------------


if we lose more than a couple of club trained and If we don't recruit Milner and lose Bellamy as well we're in trouble

johnny crossan wrote:It's an ancient debate now but nonetheless real for that - we need to keep at least a few of our club-trained players if we don't want a restricted European senior squad. Of the five who qualify I would say that any except Michael Johnson could move on this summer. This would have an impact on the Premiership squad too, at least eight Association trained players required for that and remember Given isn't.

here's our current association/club trained complement - no senior reserves now either

---------------------------------------Hart-----------------------------------------------
Nedum----------------Micah-----------------------Lescott----------------------Bridge
SWP---------------Johnno------------------------Barry--------------------------AJ
--------------------------------Bellamy---------Ireland-------------------------------


if we lose more than a couple of club trained and If we don't recruit Milner and lose Bellamy as well we're in trouble

I like that, almost completely English with the exception of Bellamy(Wales not really a country) and Ireland(Ireland not really a country either).

johnny crossan wrote:It's an ancient debate now but nonetheless real for that - we need to keep at least a few of our club-trained players if we don't want a restricted European senior squad. Of the five who qualify I would say that any except Michael Johnson could move on this summer. This would have an impact on the Premiership squad too, at least eight Association trained players required for that and remember Given isn't.

here's our current association/club trained complement - no senior reserves now either

---------------------------------------Hart-----------------------------------------------
Nedum----------------Micah-----------------------Lescott----------------------Bridge
SWP---------------Johnno------------------------Barry--------------------------AJ
--------------------------------Bellamy---------Ireland-------------------------------


if we lose more than a couple of club trained and If we don't recruit Milner and lose Bellamy as well we're in trouble

Can use unlimited young players so Boyata, Ibrahim, Guidetti etc can fill gaps if we're stuck.

ant london wrote:The Nedum thing is one of the most confusing situations I have ever seen at City to be honest. I would absolutely think that Mancini would want to keep Nedum, young, English, talented, intelligent (and capable of absorbing top coaching I would imagine), a local and City lad and also I'd have thought a great influence to have in the dressing room AND a fantastic role model to point toward for youngsters in the academy/on the verge of making it to Carrington.

The only thing that makes it make any sense to me is that...Mancini dropping him after he'd played a couple of really fantastic games (where everyone acknowledged he'd been great and he himself must have known his performances to have been at the upper end of his capabilities) he just decided "this fella doesn't fancy me" and, being an intelligent guy, has mentally decided to cut his losses and drop down a "level" to another team and develop his career from there where he will really have a chance to show what he can do.

In my view Mancini made a significant mistake dropping him when he did and if that does indeed prove to be the trigger for him leaving then I think it is something that we (and indeed maybe Mancini himself) will come to regret....and not just because The Chief is well liked on a personal level

It may be Ned's lack of footballing prowess that has decided Mancini against him. I'm pretty sure (in my own mind!) that was one of the main reasons Hughes got rid of Dunne; if they can't kick a ball reliably at this stage, their not going to learn it. If you're trying to get a side to pass the ball out from the back but it actually makes the players fuck up defensively because they're so nervous about being asked to do it, you have to either get rid of said players or play like Villa (which you end up doing anyway as they shit themselves & hoof it under pressure).

If I'm right about that, it puts a big question mark against Micah too but I suppose you can keep 1 such player in the squad for now.

Given was actually training at rovers when he was 18.

the rule is you have have trained at an english club for 3 years before your 21st birthday to qualify.

So depending on his birthday and the time of the transfer, then he could very well count as a "home grown" player, not by the club, but by the FA

kinkylola wrote:Given was actually training at rovers when he was 18.

the rule is you have have trained at an english club for 3 years before your 21st birthday to qualify.

So depending on his birthday and the time of the transfer, then he could very well count as a "home grown" player, not by the club, but by the FA

I'm afraid he's not home grown (English & Welsh FA association trained) by just a couple of months - transferred to Blackburn from Celtic in summer 1994 b.26/4/76

well there is one more added for the OP's battle.. what was it Silva or Ireland..

starting to get juicy this

Update: here's a predicted 25 man Premier/Europa League Squad with my pick in bold

--------------------------------------------Given or Hart-------------------------------------------------

Zab or Boateng------Toure or Kompany--------Richards or Lescott-----------Bridge or Luiz?

-------------------------------------------Barry or De Jong----------------------------------------------

-----------------------Milner? or AJ--------------------Yaya or Jonno--------------------------

----------------------------------------------Silva or Ireland------------------------------------------

--------------------Bellamy or Tevez---------------------------Ade or Torres?--------------------------


with SWP, Vieira & Gonzales waiting on the bench.

This includes 4 club trained out of the 11 association trained players and Weiss, Boyata, Cunningham, Nimely etc are all available to both squads via the B lists.

RSC, Jo, Caicedo, Logan, Etuhu, and very sadly, Robinho, & Ned to move on (some on loan no doubt).