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is for us to have a real go at away games, need to score lots of goals against bad teams, and if we can win a few more away games then we could be fighting for the prem, but hey its a start to get into the champs league. lets put bad teams to bed

You mean like beating Bolton away?

You know like you could stop for a moment and be happy with what we got.

Niall Quinns Discopants wrote:You mean like beating Bolton away?

You know like you could stop for a moment and be happy with what we got.

haha...we've just finished joint 2nd, won the FA Cup, have the top goalscorer, best goalkeeper and loads of money, yet people are still starting threads about how we need to improve.

I know this is a new concept for us but we can ENJOY this!!! We are on our way to joining the elite, things are looking rosy. Sit back and smile!

stevefromdonny wrote:is for us to have a real go at away games, need to score lots of goals against bad teams, and if we can win a few more away games then we could be fighting for the prem, but hey its a start to get into the champs league. lets put bad teams to bed

Agreed. Finishing 9 points off the league wa impressive, no doubt about it, but I honestly feel if we'd not been scared of a few teams then we would have challenged to the last and possibly won it.

We have to attack on a more consistant basis but I'#m confident we will with our new winning mentality.

Great season overall and hats off to Bobby, he delivered in spades in the end, despite some hairy moments.

CTID

aaron bond wrote:

Niall Quinns Discopants wrote:You mean like beating Bolton away?

You know like you could stop for a moment and be happy with what we got.

haha...we've just finished joint 2nd, won the FA Cup, have the top goalscorer, best goalkeeper and loads of money, yet people are still starting threads about how we need to improve.

I know this is a new concept for us but we can ENJOY this!!! We are on our way to joining the elite, things are looking rosy. Sit back and smile!

i am enjoying it m8, but im sure everyone wants to get better, and to do this we must improve on away form, i dont want us to stay as we are

Probably the biggest challenge this season was getting the team to get together and play together.For Mancini it was so much about organising the team but ,within that, getting individuals to play as he wanted them to.His management of the idividuals and keeping everything together in the dressing room was always going to be of paramount importance.

There were issues before the season started and he made tough decisions ( Bellamy,Joe Hart v Given.)There have been issues during the season and some difficult situations and with about 8 or 10 games to go it was still in the balance.The season could have gone either way with a semi final ahead and 4th place anything but secure.What was needed most was a great team spirit,individuals within that team that would stand up and be counted and a manager who stood strong and had the team fully behind him.

That's what was needed and we got the near perfect response. 8 wins out of 10 games with the 2 defeats at Liverpool and Everton.The Liverpool game may have been a blessing indisguise as it was a big reminder that anything but 100% wasnt good enough in both performance and selection.At Everton we were bloody good but showed what can happen if you slacken off and lose focus a little.

The other 8 games showed we have come a long way.7 of them were clean sheets!! Wow. 4 one nil victories and 2 of them were at Wembley in real high pressure games.Beating the scum was just a special awesome victory against a team in great form and believing they were invincible. We weren't lucky in those victories.Well maybe Spurs a tad as we were extra nervous but against BBurn,Stoke and the scum we were much the better side and one nil was deserved.

So has Mancini made the right decisions along the way? Certainly looks like it overall.Maybe he will look back at one or two and think he might have done things differently and maybe in the same situation in the future he will do it differently.He knows his players much better now and they know him better and I am sure there has been a growing trust both ways.One little thing which pleased me is that in this last 10 games ,with games every 3 days,Mancini never mentioned we have had games every 3 days

I will always wonder how big that semi final win will be when we look back in 10 years or so.How important was Vinnie with the speech/talking to he gave at half time in that game? It followed the easy hammering of Sunderland (which meant nothing more than 3 points as SLand were so bad) and our abject effort against LPool ( which was nothing like a real reflection on the team) and followed a half where for 25 minutes or so we were rubbish against Utd.

1 nil followed against BBurn, a really great result. 2.1 v WHU great start and then hung on a little although always looked winners. Two one nils in massive games and the job was done.And now we have the icing on the cake with 2 more good wins and third place.

Do we have the winning mentality now? Well I don't go for the OTT stuff but I think we are on the way for sure. No doubt at all imo that Vinnie and Nigel have been colossal but not far behind have been Joe Hart, Silva and Carlos.I would have had Carlos at the top with VK and NDJ but he had a weaker spell whch I dont think the other 2 have. Zaba is a warrior,Lescott has been awesome for months now,Micah has looked the best in England at right back.

So much positive and we still have good back up and the great potential of Dzeko and Mario plus AJ and the prospect of getting more world class talent for next year.

I just want to see the belief there from the start of next season and for us to show we are major contenders for every trophy we go for.Mancini to stay and ideally Carlos to stay but if he doesnt I am sure we will replace him with class.

Gutted now I havent been able to get tickets for Monday at Eastlands.

Agree to an extent. Definitely need to start attacking teams like United, Arsenal Liverpool, Chelsea away etc. And please G-d never ever play for a draw again like we have done on more than one occasion.

he has delivered though so fair play to him. But at the very least we have to target a sustained title challenge next season.

I have been pleased with the team spirit.When Toure scored in the semi and final each player was happy for him.You could see how much it meant to the group. Also when Dzeko(this was the same at Blackburn) scored you could see the lads wanted him to score.CLASS

This finish to the season will give the team TONS of self confidence IMO. We will look a complete different team next season in tough spots as now we know we can do it.

The team is now looking like a real unit, a real team and not a bunch of players thrown together. The formation and tactics are finally looking like they are working. Exiting times ahead!

I demanded that Bob showed us a team in the last part of the season, that looked like the base for an outfit that was ready to at least challenge for the title next season. I was absolutely pig sick at the Liverpool performance & felt like tearing up my season ticket, but in most of the other games we've shown a variety of different qualities which cover most of the things I've been asking for.

I really think Bob has proved himself in these last few weeks, moreso than at any time during the season. He & his team have both shown that they're getting to grips with what's required. There are several areas which we can & will improve but to me, the key to us winning the top honours will be in finding a way to win games when we go behind. If we learn to do that, we may finish next season as champions. Over to you Bob..

Ted Hughes wrote:I demanded that Bob showed us a team in the last part of the season, that looked like the base for an outfit that was ready to at least challenge for the title next season. I was absolutely pig sick at the Liverpool performance & felt like tearing up my season ticket, but in most of the other games we've shown a variety of different qualities which cover most of the things I've been asking for.

I really think Bob has proved himself in these last few weeks, moreso than at any time during the season. He & his team have both shown that they're getting to grips with what's required. There are several areas which we can & will improve but to me, the key to us winning the top honours will be in finding a way to win games when we go behind. If we learn to do that, we may finish next season as champions. Over to you Bob..

As i said then, the win with Scum clicked something in City, taking them to the next level. Beside the game with Everton, where is.. Everton, and we all know what that means, is like all the bad this are happening in those games, City look like a next level team.
City now is a team that can attack with real chances the title next year, for the first time in decades and Bob knows that
Is HUGE for the morale of the team to win the Community Shield, because it will be another trophy and will take the team to a whole new level, even though the shield is not a great cup, but for a team that (hopefully) will became a huge name is football again, that cup is esential to have.

fantastic end to a fantastic season. suffering through shit games like BBurn at home, i really wondered if this team had the bottle to accomplish much of anything. no question, RM is the MAN!

still, i worry that we've yet to come from behind to win a big game. we shrink when the other team scores first. that's one area i really hope to see us improve next year.

Ted Hughes wrote:I demanded that Bob showed us a team in the last part of the season, that looked like the base for an outfit that was ready to at least challenge for the title next season. I was absolutely pig sick at the Liverpool performance & felt like tearing up my season ticket, but in most of the other games we've shown a variety of different qualities which cover most of the things I've been asking for.

I really think Bob has proved himself in these last few weeks, moreso than at any time during the season. He & his team have both shown that they're getting to grips with what's required. There are several areas which we can & will improve but to me, the key to us winning the top honours will be in finding a way to win games when we go behind. If we learn to do that, we may finish next season as champions. Over to you Bob..

Not too easy to tear it up these days. I mean you'd at least need pair of scissors.

I want to see less bullshit myths about City

myth: we have a suspect defence
truth: joint tightest defence in the PL (with Chelsea), only 33 goals conceded all season

myth: we are only good at Eastlands
truth: joint highest number of away wins (with Arsenal), 8 wins, joint highest number of away draws (7 with Chelsea) and joint number of lowest away defeats (4 with United). Our away form is what got us 3rd.

myth: we play dour, negative grinding football
truth: we often play devastatingly quick counterattacking football interspersed with sublime one touch footballing joy.....we will only get better too.

fuck them all.....that was a magic season on the whole

more boobies.

stevefromdonny wrote:is for us to have a real go at away games, need to score lots of goals against bad teams, and if we can win a few more away games then we could be fighting for the prem, but hey its a start to get into the champs league. lets put bad teams to bed

I think we will.
There were a number of factors that contributed, far more than Bobby's innate Italian conservatism. to our tentative approach against the better teams.
For example he was always mindful of the way the Scum had stolen victories from us in the last minute.
There was also the fact that quite apart from having so many new players, some of them, especially Ya Ya, but also our support strikers like Dzeko and SuperMario, have had to adapt to new and unfamiliar roles.

Ya Ya has shown enough signs in the past month that it looks that he's finally getting a hang of his role, and on a more consistent basis.
Whereas SuperMario showed enough in the Cup Final to make me lick my lips in anticipation of what he'll do next season.

1. Improved home form - dropping points as we did against Blackburn, Fulham and the Scum and losing in the way we did to Arsenal and Everton are to be avoided in the new season.

2. More goals of the type that Yaya scored away to Fulham (20 odd passes in the build up) and more accurate shooting from outside the box (PabZab's goal also against Fulham away and Big Nige's very first spring to mind). Kolarov to de-calibrate his shooting sights and stop putting them high over the crossbar.

3. Better delivery of the final ball into the box and better delivery at set pieces, corners and free kicks on the edge of the box.

4. To have the best defensive record in the League and Joe Hart to win the Golden Gloves Award for the second year running.

5. To have at least 66% possession in every game and control every game throughout.

6. Do the double over the Scum.

Surely that's not too much to ask for ??

As it has progressed this season and the team have shown what they can do and are starting to look like an outfit all the time rather than in just spells. So for me looking to build on that and be less inclined to make mistakes and be more savvy in games, ie rhythm.. when to pick it up and when to alter play. Finishing better and mixing up play with crosses and direct football plus better attempts at corners. If we bring in new players, then do it quick and ease them in not to upset the base we have.
In term of achievements.. priority 1 is the league for me, cement the top 4 finish and go all out for the title. 2nd try and defend the FA Cup, 3rd go for the League Cup too. Lastly CL.. just take the experience and nothing more.

In short look to build solidly and improve what we are weakest at, without letting what we are very good at slip.

Mikhail Chigorin wrote:1. Improved home form - dropping points as we did against Blackburn, Fulham and the Scum and losing in the way we did to Arsenal and Everton are to be avoided in the new season.

2. More goals of the type that Yaya scored away to Fulham (20 odd passes in the build up) and more accurate shooting from outside the box (PabZab's goal also against Fulham away and Big Nige's very first spring to mind). Kolarov to de-calibrate his shooting sights and stop putting them high over the crossbar.

3. Better delivery of the final ball into the box and better delivery at set pieces, corners and free kicks on the edge of the box.

4. To have the best defensive record in the League and Joe Hart to win the Golden Gloves Award for the second year running.

5. To have at least 66% possession in every game and control every game throughout.

6. Do the double over the Scum.

Surely that's not too much to ask for ??

No

I'm happy.

The team will have a full pre-season together and after much tinkering Bob seems to have decided what his best back 4 is.

Most of the games we dropped points in (especially at home to the likes of Blackburn, Brum, Fulham) I doubt we'd drop points to if we played em now.

Let's just keep progressing.

Great days ahead.