Are you happy with the squad now....and surplus players...

[ant london]

Thinking about the team that is likely to face Leicester tonight and reading a few news stories got me thinking about the playing staff we have going into the finishing straight this season.

To me, the only "questions" that remain unanswered really is what do we do re Shay? I can fully understand him wanting to go and play elsewhere but I equally fully support our stance of no dice unless and until we have a replacement (whilst also questioning why we don't just jettison Stuart Taylor and Gunnar Nielsen whilst we're at it as they are clearly not of suitable quality if this is our position right now).

Equally I think we need to do something re Adebayor. Mancini clearly does not remotely fancy him for some reason and keeping him for the second half of the season and not using him is just pointless, Balo being injured or not. Adebayor is frankly not going to be happy warming the bench with no chance of action. He wasn't even happy not starting when (ie. under Hughes) he didn't have issues with the manager and was very likely to rotate in at some point. He will not be a positive character to have in the dressing room if continually unhappy and so there is no point keeping him here. Again though we either need to replace him or take a chance on Guidetti/Nimely but to do that we need to give them game time, and more than the odd five mins. I can't see Mancini being prepared to take that risk right now so my money is on a last minute in and out with Adebayor being replaced and also John/Alex going out on loan.

SWP is the other one who looks set for the exit. Sad though it is, we really won't miss him.

I think elsewhere we have easily sufficient quality and strength in depth for the run in. Be interesting to see if we do loan out some more of the kids.....Nimely, Boyata, Guidetti would all benefit.

I'd love to see JG go to Leicester....with Michael Johnson. I think Sven would look after both and it would massively benefit them.

[Bingo Lewis]

Thinking about the team that is likely to face Leicester tonight and reading a few news stories got me thinking about the playing staff we have going into the finishing straight this season.

To me, the only "questions" that remain unanswered really is what do we do re Shay? I can fully understand him wanting to go and play elsewhere but I equally fully support our stance of no dice unless and until we have a replacement (whilst also questioning why we don't just jettison Stuart Taylor and Gunnar Nielsen whilst we're at it as they are clearly not of suitable quality if this is our position right now).

Equally I think we need to do something re Adebayor. Mancini clearly does not remotely fancy him for some reason and keeping him for the second half of the season and not using him is just pointless, Balo being injured or not. Adebayor is frankly not going to be happy warming the bench with no chance of action. He wasn't even happy not starting when (ie. under Hughes) he didn't have issues with the manager and was very likely to rotate in at some point. He will not be a positive character to have in the dressing room if continually unhappy and so there is no point keeping him here. Again though we either need to replace him or take a chance on Guidetti/Nimely but to do that we need to give them game time, and more than the odd five mins. I can't see Mancini being prepared to take that risk right now so my money is on a last minute in and out with Adebayor being replaced and also John/Alex going out on loan.

SWP is the other one who looks set for the exit. Sad though it is, we really won't miss him.

I think elsewhere we have easily sufficient quality and strength in depth for the run in. Be interesting to see if we do loan out some more of the kids.....Nimely, Boyata, Guidetti would all benefit.

I'd love to see JG go to Leicester....with Michael Johnson. I think Sven would look after both and it would massively benefit them.

Didn't Jonno go off the rails under Sven's supervision?

[Douglas Higginbottom]

Ade is a strange one.I can only think he has fallen out with Mancini in a big way which is why he doesnt even make the bench now when he is fully fit.And then Mancini says he might hang on to him depending on Balo's fitness. Weird as he won't play him anyway but for me a good cover striker if he could be motivated to play and put behind him whatever the Manicini issue is.

I would say there are still 3 other issues within the squad. Centre half being on. Vinnie is the business and we have plenty of options to play with him that are decent but are they actually top top quality and can we get better. Quite a few recent games have suggested weakness in there and I am left wondering. Maybe I have it wrong as we have one of the best defensive records in the league.
The other part of the actual defence is full back where we definitely don't have it right at the moment. Mancini has bought in the ones he wanted but as yet they aren't quite playing that well.We have cover in Micah and especially Zaba and for me we just need to give more time to both Boateng and Kolarov to get used to our league and become the quality we need.

Then we have the midfield playmaker.The real midfield player who can control the game and create the chances. Silva is that man but can we get by with just one who can do that job. Again we have plenty of real midfield talent in Yaya,Milner,Barry and AJ if we count him as midfield but none of those can really dominate and find the passes like Silva.Perhaps the best answer is for Silva to stay 100% fit and never to miss a game.

[brite blu sky]

i would have thought it was worth us trying to get a young up and coming to replace Ade, as basically there is nothing lost in that. As for the situation with him, the only thing i can imagine is that Mancini is trying to force Ade to come down a peg and have a re-think. I get the feeling that he doesn't do what Mancini wants him to do on the pitch. But that's all just guessing.

The CB issue seems to have cropped up since Wolves, so i'm happy to see it as a blip and see what happens. The FBs as Doug says need time and we have good competition in those positions.

Back up to Silva is imo the trickiest of the lot, i mean anyone who is going to get near what he can do and does for the team is going to be a bit of a superstar for their current team anyway.. so then it is a bit difficult to imagine someone so good that is going to want to come as back up. My own thinking on this is that back up for Silva is just changing the way we play, dropping Tevez deeper to do half of what Silva does and pushing someone higher up like Yaya or even Barry to do the rest and bring Zabba in to do Barry's job deeper. Just an idea.

Feel for Shay, but he is there as back-up when we need him, which while not so good for Shay is really important for the team. It will have to be sorted out in the summer though i rekon.

Outside that we could look to replace SWP with someone that gives us a different dimension again. Pace down the left wing for instance.. someone happy to be a sub who would give defences real problems on the left when brought in. Not sure what his pace is like but Albrighton might be worth looking at.

[pepsi_dave]

I honestly dont think the Silva issue is as big a problem as some may realise. In his absence and assuming their fitness, we can play M.Johnson there - although I don't think he'll feature for the first team this season. We also have Gai Assulin who, by all accounts, could have the quality to deputise - Again he is just coming back from injury and possibly wont feature for the first team this season either! But another point regarding this position, we now have Dzeko which means our reliance for a striker doesnt fall on Tevez, I know he's not the complete midfielder, but he can do a job in silva's role, and I think he'll do a good job in Silva's absence.

My only concerns are, as the OP stated, a good quality deputy for Hart as Given will not be here much longer... And my other concern is Boateng, I just cant see him coming good at RB, his best position may well be CB, but he just doesnt have the quality and IMO the drive to be a full back. Kolarov on the other hand I think will come good, he has all the attributes, I just dont think he's got used to the Premier League yet. Time will tell, but even with a few recent shaky defensive perforamces we still have the best record in the league... it may just be a blip in form from the defense as a unit, probably not helped by frequent changes to personnell. The cover we have for all defensive positions quells my concern for Boateng somewhat with Richards and Zabba equally capable of deputising there even though I think they should both be ahead JB.

All in all, I am happy with the squad as it is, our forwards/attacking players when all are fit should form one of the most potent attacking units in Europe, that REALLY excites me!

[Ted Hughes]

I too would like to see a young player replace Ade & a replacement for SWP. I'd love to get Albrighton but can't see Villa letting him go. Any wide player who actually produces the kind of end product wide players are supposed to produce would be an enormous improvement & give the team a new dimension imo though. Our wide players are good players but so far have been mostly useless at conventional wingplay. That young lad at Blackpool is one to keep an eye on. Raw talent. Could be a flash in the pan but perhaps not.

I'm still presuming Ade is lined up to leave or he would have been playing, so I would be happy short term to get in a veteran striker for the season, if we could find the right bloke, just to protect against injury. If Guidetti or Nimeley are considered good enough you would expect them to be playing tonight. Chances are it will be Jo again though, so that would suggest Bob doesn't trust them. That leaves us with 4 possible central strikers for 3 competitions, one has a knee injury & one is Jo. Not reliable enough imo.

I also agree we have no real backup for Silva & that so far the new fullbacks haven't cut it. I believe the new fullbacks will get better but if 2 exceptional players came to notice for those positions I would sign them immediately & bugger the consequences for those 2.

Don't know what to do about Silva's backup.

Finally the CB position; Lescott & Kolo aren't the future so we need to find someone sooner or later. Not sure that's urgent though.

If Shay goes we need a 2nd keeper of course.

Bob mentioned 2 or 3 players next season. Be interesting to see who that is. Luiz name constantly keeps coming up, but I've not seen anything in his play to suggest he could walk into a PL team. Talented footballer yes but finished article as a PL CB? Perhaps use him as a fullback?

[Ted Hughes]

Oh by the way, I'd sign Eden Hazard. Don't know what I'd do with him but I'd sign him just in case.

[brite blu sky]

I wouldn't try to convince anyone about Boateng, because tbh we dont know and can only go off what we see. But i would recall the Evra example, the rags were ripping the shit out of him for ages and quite rightly basically, and he took a whole season of being lost to find his feet. As i say we have no idea if Boateng will come good, but tbh it looks to me that there are similarities.. he has lost the confidence almost completely to take anyone on going forward, whereas that was a good part of his game. That to me smacks of loss of confidence due to trying to get to grips with the english game.. basically he has been knocked back and is wobbling as he tries to get a grip of it, and in that state you think too much and make mistakes.

Thats my view and for me he is showing all the symptoms you would expect. There is only one remedy, trust him to pull through and get on top of his game, he may or may not make it but we should give him the opportunity to try because the potential reward is gaining something like the rags did with Evra.

[Green & Blue]

I think we are holding on to Adebayor etc until the summer for financial reasons as it will help us balance out with the new uefa rulings.

[Ted Hughes]

I wouldn't try to convince anyone about Boateng, because tbh we dont know and can only go off what we see. But i would recall the Evra example, the rags were ripping the shit out of him for ages and quite rightly basically, and he took a whole season of being lost to find his feet. As i say we have no idea if Boateng will come good, but tbh it looks to me that there are similarities.. he has lost the confidence almost completely to take anyone on going forward, whereas that was a good part of his game. That to me smacks of loss of confidence due to trying to get to grips with the english game.. basically he has been knocked back and is wobbling as he tries to get a grip of it, and in that state you think too much and make mistakes.

Thats my view and for me he is showing all the symptoms you would expect. There is only one remedy, trust him to pull through and get on top of his game, he may or may not make it but we should give him the opportunity to try because the potential reward is gaining something like the rags did with Evra.

Boateng was doing ok at Leicester going forward (he's a bloody good footballer, perhaps even excellent) until his defending came under pressure, then he was back to miskicking everything & being generally shite. There is a lot of potential improvement to come but that should be his problem rather than City's. We get the best players in for each position & then others can challenge them. If they're good enough, they stay.

[Douglas Higginbottom]

The Silva situation is a tricky on eas I agree anyone good enough to fill Silva's boots will be top dog somewhere and won't move to us to be 2nd fiddle. I wouldn't put any money on MJ much as I would love that but Assulin might fit the bill ,who knows as we havent seen him play even a reserve game yet.

[ant london]

the only thing i can imagine is that Mancini is trying to force Ade to come down a peg and have a re-think. I get the feeling that he doesn't do what Mancini wants him to do on the pitch. But that's all just guessing.

to be honest mate, that theory makes more sense than any other.

lack of discipline (tactically) or unwillingness to take (and heed) direction in that respect seems like the most (/only) feasible excuse for Mancini to not give him a sniff of action whilst at the same time refusing to offload him

it's a rum do

[Tru_Blu]

TOP SHELF
tevez
Kompany
Hart
Ballotelli
Dzecko
De jong
Yaya T
Silva
Ade
Toure
GIven

GOOD PLAYER
Zab
Micah
Boateng
Kolarov
Barry
A Johnson
Milner
Boyata
MJ

TIME TO GO
JO
SWP
Lescott
Vieira




This is the way i see things. I would like some of out good players to turn into top shelf players. Players closets to this mark are Kolarov, A Johnson, Barry and Boyata. Micah, Milner, Zab, Boateng, MJ will have to really pull their socks up and work on their weaknesses if they want to be more than squad players. Reality is i believe Barry and Milner are they same type of player and we should get rid of one and replace with a Silva understudy. If we could combine Boateng and Micah i think we would have the perfect right back, they have a year to work it out or time to replace with a Top shelf(probably going to happen anyway). Replace the TTG with some good players near the mark of top shelf and we are there.

[Beeks]

TIME TO GO
JO
SWP
Lescott
Vieira

Strongly disagree on Lescott...I think he is a very good player...he's just made a couple of daft decisions...before the wolves game he had played pretty solidly...he just needs a run of games which is hard when our first choice back 4 are all fit

[Ted Hughes]

TIME TO GO
JO
SWP
Lescott
Vieira

Strongly disagree on Lescott...I think he is a very good player...he's just made a couple of daft decisions...before the wolves game he had played pretty solidly...he just needs a run of games which is hard when our first choice back 4 are all fit

What I don't understand is, both this season & last season, Kolo Toure has made more fuck ups than Lescott, quite a lot more, yet they seem to go completely unnoticed, whereas every single mistake Lescott makes is seen a reason to dump him. Saturday was a perfect example; Lescott gives away a daft pen & gets slaughtered, Kolo Toure flicks a pathetic amateurish clearence straight against Vinny when he should have been leathering it out for a throw in or corner & nobody says a dicky bird. It was a pathetic dreadful effort but I've not heard one word of criticism; just Lescott getting hung as usual.

[Mikhail Chigorin]

I think we are holding on to Adebayor etc until the summer for financial reasons as it will help us balance out with the new uefa rulings.

I agree with this line of thought but, in addition to everything else, there are a number of questions surrounding Ade, which need to be resolved :-

(i) Who, realistically would want him i.e. which team/style of play would he fit into ??
(ii) Who, realistically could afford him ??
(iii) Would we be prepared to sell him to a direct 'competitor' in order to get the maximum cash for him ??
(iv) If we sell him, would we get the entire cash balance up front, or would it be by staged payments (thinking of the FFP regs here)
(v) Is it because he can't get on with Mancini, or is there some left-over effect from his African Nations Cup trauma i.e. is his head ever going to be right ??
(vi) Are there better options abroad for an exchange deal, rather than a cash sale ??
(vii) Is he as good as we seem to think he is, based upon one or two fine performances, or does he just flatter to deceive which, in a way, brings us back to point (i)
(viii) Could he still do a job for us ??

On the basis of the above, I could see Bobby Manc pondering long and hard as to which way to go for the best and it may well be the summer before a final decision is made.

[Beeks]

TIME TO GO
JO
SWP
Lescott
Vieira

Strongly disagree on Lescott...I think he is a very good player...he's just made a couple of daft decisions...before the wolves game he had played pretty solidly...he just needs a run of games which is hard when our first choice back 4 are all fit

What I don't understand is, both this season & last season, Kolo Toure has made more fuck ups than Lescott, quite a lot more, yet they seem to go completely unnoticed, whereas every single mistake Lescott makes is seen a reason to dump him. Saturday was a perfect example; Lescott gives away a daft pen & gets slaughtered, Kolo Toure flicks a pathetic amateurish clearence straight against Vinny when he should have been leathering it out for a throw in or corner & nobody says a dicky bird. It was a pathetic dreadful effort but I've not heard one word of criticism; just Lescott getting hung as usual.

He's a great footballer and will only get better...I think he is still very much settling in...he's young...quick...seems to have a footballing brain...i'm sick of our fans not giving players a chance...I think Lescotts price tag is like a lead weight around his neck poor lad...he will come good...hopefully he won't be discarded before that happens

[ronk]

The Silva situation is a tricky on eas I agree anyone good enough to fill Silva's boots will be top dog somewhere and won't move to us to be 2nd fiddle. I wouldn't put any money on MJ much as I would love that but Assulin might fit the bill ,who knows as we havent seen him play even a reserve game yet.

Not fully sure myself what to do there. My thoughts would generally consist of either learning to play without his role or playing a system where someeone else like Milner or Tevez could do something similar.

The other idea, one I'd favour in some ways would be to look (in the long term, at least) at the possibility of a similar player who could play WITH Silva. Arsenal can do it with guys like Fabregas, Nasri, Wilshire, Arshavin etc. all able to play that role. Barcelona certainly are managing fine, Modric plays for Spurs. We don't actually have to sign a player as backup, if you don't want to, we can sign a partner, at least one for some of the time. It works in the right system because good passer-receivers tend to link well with good passer-receivers (as opposed to primary passers like Gerrard or Beckham).

Now is probably not the right time to go out and make such a signing. We're still trying to settle the team. I'd say that our strategy for the next while should be to pare down the squad in a manageable way, limiting signings except as weaknesses develop and when exceptional players become available.

[Tru_Blu]

TIME TO GO
JO
SWP
Lescott
Vieira

Strongly disagree on Lescott...I think he is a very good player...he's just made a couple of daft decisions...before the wolves game he had played pretty solidly...he just needs a run of games which is hard when our first choice back 4 are all fit

What I don't understand is, both this season & last season, Kolo Toure has made more fuck ups than Lescott, quite a lot more, yet they seem to go completely unnoticed, whereas every single mistake Lescott makes is seen a reason to dump him. Saturday was a perfect example; Lescott gives away a daft pen & gets slaughtered, Kolo Toure flicks a pathetic amateurish clearence straight against Vinny when he should have been leathering it out for a throw in or corner & nobody says a dicky bird. It was a pathetic dreadful effort but I've not heard one word of criticism; just Lescott getting hung as usual.

He's a great footballer and will only get better...I think he is still very much settling in...he's young...quick...seems to have a footballing brain...i'm sick of our fans not giving players a chance...I think Lescotts price tag is like a lead weight around his neck poor lad...he will come good...hopefully he won't be discarded before that happens

The problem with Lescott is he will only be a squad player, and he just doesn't have the confidence unless he is playing week in and out. which is the difference between him and Toure. Yes Toure is on his way out, next two years maybe, but i doubt Mancini really sees Lescott as the replacement. To me he just doesn't have a good touch, which is what is needed for the type of possession football Mancini is wanting.

[dazby]

I'd like us to add Kranjcar to the squad as back up to Silva. Every other position for next season is covered with players who are currently on loan.

Shay can have his pay doubled to stay please.