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Firstly I do like Pellegrini but its always a bit difficult when you change a manager so I'm not really having a pop at the club but I am becoming a little concerned if we have all our eggs in one (or two) baskets over this Isco, Cavani affair.

It seems we have gone and done what we should have done last year by replacing Adam Johnson with Navas and De Jong with Fernandinho. However that's all we have done so far. We haven't replaced Balotelli and I think there is a determination to see Tevez off the wage bill this summer.

So the way I see it we are some way behind were we should be at the moment. Rags you could say have been delt a blow with Fergihead retiring but they will improve with this Alacanta fella and Chelsea at the min you would have to say are going to be favorites next year.

This is why I think the Isco deal is so important for us. It will give us that bit extra. If he does go Madrid I don't blame him but we sure as hell better have a plan B and C. I reckon we should get ruthless, get all Cavani and Isco money and make a certain tranny an offer he cant refuse.

I get where you're coming from.
Getting Isco will be imperative, and imo it could have a ripple-effect in convincing a prolific striker like Cavani to sign with us (who seems unlikely at present I know).
I get unnerved, perhaps even horrified, when we find ourselves turning to the likes of Tranny, Suarez, Tooney, etc, who, although will do the business on the pitch, aren't really 'City material' - it's like buying a Bentley with a messed-up engine or electrics, or concealed defects from sloppy panelbeating after a near write-off.

If we don't get this Isco kid and we let Tevez go that'll be the final straw for me. I'll be pissing all over the toilet seat at the first home match of the season.

I am sure we do have a Plan B. Im not surprised Isco, as looks likely, is going to Madrid. Barca and Madrid usually get who they want tjanks to their reputation alone. Isco is spanish and has grown up acknowledging that Madrid are the top team in Spain. Hopefully a generation of kids in the UK will view City in the same way one day.
So we dont get Isco and Cavani...time to move on. For some reason I trust the board, I trust Begiristein to do the right thing. I am totally comfortable with what they are doing.

Just for perspective it is June 22nd.Pellegrini doesn't officially start until Monday, and the real silly season isn't official for another 9 days. Sounds a little paranoid to be concerned since we have already added two top class players and only shipped Kolo out so far. The difference here is, who has really signed anyone of merit in the EPL other than us so far?

Further in perspective last year we didn't buy anyone until the end of August, 60 plus days from now. Once the U-20, and the Conferdations Cup are over, and nothing happens for a couple of weeks, then I will worry. I think once Cavani goes wherever he goes (and I am hoping not to us), the pieces will fall in place.

Are any of you really convinced Tevez will go before another player is in place? Do we need a replacement for Balotelli? I would only say if Guidetti is deemed not good enough to be a 4th striker, but I think he is.

Florida Blue wrote:
Are any of you really convinced Tevez will go before another player is in place? Do we need a replacement for Balotelli? I would only say if Guidetti is deemed not good enough to be a 4th striker, but I think he is.

Hasn't he gone disabled again and won't be able to train for three months? JG that is.

Mase wrote:

Florida Blue wrote:
Are any of you really convinced Tevez will go before another player is in place? Do we need a replacement for Balotelli? I would only say if Guidetti is deemed not good enough to be a 4th striker, but I think he is.

Hasn't he gone disabled again and won't be able to train for three months? JG that is.

Last news on him was Sunderland was hot on his trail. Are you thinking of Sinclair?

Florida Blue wrote:
Last news on him was Sunderland was hot on his trail. Are you thinking of Sinclair?

JG is injured again. Busted knee. Won't be able to train properly until August.

The trick is not to let Tevez go unless we have a replacement & imo, not to let him go at all.

If that is the case then we are already much stronger squad than last season, especially if Rodwell can also stay fit.

My worry is Pellegrini attempting to change too much too soon & us struggling to adapt.

mr_nool wrote:
JG is injured again. Busted knee. Won't be able to train properly until August.

I think this is his last season to pull his finger out. He can fucl off to some Scandy league otherwise or the champo or Sunderland. Whatever.

I am excited but worried !

Two quality players (it seems) signed early doors , plenty of room for manouver for potential top quality signings in july . Downside ...... can Pellegrini hit the Premier Leage road running ? he is going to have too without doubt !

Being out-marqueed should not be a problem given a manager-coach who draws the most from what he is given, which is surely where we are now with Pellegrini? We have already seen Roberto Mancini squander our position as England's best club team because he didn't get precisely who he wanted in the 2012 summer transfer window, while much less capable sides blossomed in Europe and in their domestic leagues. How many of Mancini's future employers will buy his line about not being experienced enough while they are bypassed by lesser sides with more adroit coaches? Pellegrini has a track record of being better than that.

We already have two excellent new signings. Let's not start throwing our hands in the air because we can't (maybe) get every toy on our grandiose wish list,

Worried? Really?

The days when selling Sweep to cover our debts was a worrying time. Signing a guy like David Sommeil to stiffen our defence was a worrying time.

The dog days are over. There is nothing to worry about what so ever when it comes to recruiting players. Isco may very well be a fine player but he is not the be all and end all. If we miss out we simply try and get someone else, or, here's a novel idea. Let's promote Suarez from the academy.

dazby wrote:Worried? Really?

The days when selling Sweep to cover our debts was a worrying time. Signing a guy like David Sommeil to stiffen our defence was a worrying time.

The dog days are over. There is nothing to worry about what so ever when it comes to recruiting players. Isco may very well be a fine player but he is not the be all and end all. If we miss out we simply try and get someone else, or, here's a novel idea. Let's promote Suarez from the academy.

Thats very holistic of you Dazby and you may be right. I'm just thinking out loud. Since this post I have also considered that maybe Pellegrini can get an extra 10-15% out of the current squad on an attacking basis but really cant see us being as good defensively. God I hate pre season!

I wish people would stop going on about "look where we've come from" or "we had (insert shit player here) six years ago"

That's in the past. Since them we've spent hundreds and hundreds of millions. We have a right to expect more!

I am a bit worried myself, same time last year we were in 7th, now we're in 10th.

Count OUT!

Lee_R wrote:

dazby wrote:Worried? Really?

The days when selling Sweep to cover our debts was a worrying time. Signing a guy like David Sommeil to stiffen our defence was a worrying time.

The dog days are over. There is nothing to worry about what so ever when it comes to recruiting players. Isco may very well be a fine player but he is not the be all and end all. If we miss out we simply try and get someone else, or, here's a novel idea. Let's promote Suarez from the academy.

Thats very holistic of you Dazby and you may be right. I'm just thinking out loud. Since this post I have also considered that maybe Pellegrini can get an extra 10-15% out of the current squad on an attacking basis but really cant see us being as good defensively. God I hate pre season!

This is where my main concern comes from.

I differ from most people in that I think we were absolute shite defensively last season & just got away with it because most of the teams we played were average to poor & had even worse defences than us. Most anyone who turned in a half decent attacking performance against us ran straight through us, from Southampton & Everton to Real & Dortmund.

I watched Malaga v Dortmund & imo they were all over the shop at the back, even worse than us. If we fill the side with attacking players, the loss of Barry to cover allthe mistakes & of course Mancini, to organise the team to defend, well I'll be interested to see how the Count measures up in that area, as Bob was one of the best at that & yet we were still below par. I doubt the Count is a match for Bob in that aspect, but I'll be happy to be wrong about that.

On the plus side, I fancy the Count will be a class above Bob in the attacking area & if sides are starved of possession & shitting themselves about conceding goals, they don't tend to attack with much conviction.

I remember when we got Daniel Van Buyten on loan and him and dunne were just amazing together, he made us so tight st the back yet city had the option to sign him for 2m and the club backed of because they said they just could not pay that, now were not talking about taking a risk on a player, we knew what this kid was about and we still couldn't pay that then. Imagine the profit we could of made of him on how good he became

I am with Lee on this one.

The problem is that we are constantly missing our targets in the past two years. Remember when we got Nasri and Sergio? At this moment, we would have missed those targets and no one knows why.

Of course, we have that FFP rule, however, City changed a lot in the past years and we started having big incomes. I mean, i saw a lot of people in Romania who are wearing City"s shirt and 6-7 years ago, they were convinced City is in fact United. The thing is that we grown, but we seem to lose our targets very often. If we like it or not, we need t-shirt selling players. For us to move to the next level, we need to improve, but we can"t to that at the moment.

We missed Hazard, De Rossi, Falcao and Cavani and maybe now Isco. We refused to pay big cash for them, but instead we did that for Fernandinho (unproven player yet) and Garcia, who was a flop so far.

Ted Hughes wrote:
This is where my main concern comes from.

I differ from most people in that I think we were absolute shite defensively last season & just got away with it because most of the teams we played were average to poor & had even worse defences than us. Most anyone who turned in a half decent attacking performance against us ran straight through us, from Southampton & Everton to Real & Dortmund.

I watched Malaga v Dortmund & imo they were all over the shop at the back, even worse than us. If we fill the side with attacking players, the loss of Barry to cover allthe mistakes & of course Mancini, to organise the team to defend, well I'll be interested to see how the Count measures up in that area, as Bob was one of the best at that & yet we were still below par. I doubt the Count is a match for Bob in that aspect, but I'll be happy to be wrong about that.

On the plus side, I fancy the Count will be a class above Bob in the attacking area & if sides are starved of possession & shitting themselves about conceding goals, they don't tend to attack with much conviction.

I watched Malaga play Barca (without Messi) at the Nou Camp in the final La Liga game a few weeks ago, and they were torn apart. Isco was pretty anonymous, and Santa Cruz had an awful game. Well, I say game, he was replaced at HT and Malaga instantly looked a bette side.