January Slump

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

Seems we are past it.....again. Why are our results and mos importantly quality of football suffering through the month of january like it did last year? The old saying goes that titles are won and lost during the spring but in reality three points is three points in january and april.

Is it that we don't have deep enough rotation or something else? Last year we still ended up winning the title and I havent given up but it seems rags this year arent going to make any mistakes.

[dick dastardley]

african nations cup!!! and we aint got a player to fill yayas boots, also i would give kolo another year but not on his present wages if he will sign....

[Foreverinbluedreams]

Eh?

We won 5 and drew 1 in January and didn't concede a goal in them 6 fixtures.

The only blemish was QPR and that can be put down in part to Cesar's excellent saves as well as QPR defending like a week long piss up in the Middle East depended on it.

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

Eh?

We won 5 and drew 1 in January and didn't concede a goal in them 6 fixtures.

The only blemish was QPR and that can be put down in part to Cesar's excellent saves as well as QPR defending like a week long piss up in the Middle East depended on it.

Uh, I sort of meant january/february. Like you know poor games against QPR, Southampton and to some extent Liverpool. But you already knew that didn't you?

[Fidel Castro]

Did we drop more points than in other months? Think this whole season has been a bit up and down throughout tbh.

[Foreverinbluedreams]

I thought we played quite well against QPR. It was the Liverpool and Southampton games where we were shit so thread title should really be February Slump.

[Socrates]

Eh?

We won 5 and drew 1 in January and didn't concede a goal in them 6 fixtures.

The only blemish was QPR and that can be put down in part to Cesar's excellent saves as well as QPR defending like a week long piss up in the Middle East depended on it.

Uh, I sort of meant january/february. Like you know poor games against QPR, Southampton and to some extent Liverpool. But you already knew that didn't you?

"New year blues" might be a better description? Yaya and Kolo going to ANC is part of it for sure but also we have been without Kompany for significant parts of that period both the last 2 years.

[Ted Hughes]

It's colder, wetter, windier & the pitches are sometimes heavier, a time when you have to dig in defensively, slick passing can become difficult & the central areas get congested with players. The best teams traditionally have width, pace, or height etc & other options such as free kick takers etc which get them through or make them even more dangerous. We have a squad full of (mostly defensive/grafting, one paced) central midfield players & centre forwards. We are paying for a one dimensional choice of signings where we have replaced pace, height & width with central players rather than upgrading with similar but better.

Unless we get more inspiration in play & types of signings, the same thing will happen next season.

Looking at the bench yesterday & considering what we have spent, made me want to cry.

[Foreverinbluedreams]

It's colder, wetter, windier & the pitches are sometimes heavier, a time when you have to dig in defensively, slick passing can become difficult & the central areas get congested with players. The best teams traditionally have width, pace, or height etc & other options such as free kick takers etc which get them through or make them even more dangerous. We have a squad full of (mostly defensive/grafting, one paced) central midfield players & centre forwards. We are paying for a one dimensional choice of signings where we have replaced pace, height & width with central players rather than upgrading with similar but better.

Unless we get more inspiration in play & types of signings, the same thing will happen next season.

Looking at the bench yesterday & considering what we have spent, made me want to cry.

How on earth are we second in the league?

[Ted Hughes]

It's colder, wetter, windier & the pitches are sometimes heavier, a time when you have to dig in defensively, slick passing can become difficult & the central areas get congested with players. The best teams traditionally have width, pace, or height etc & other options such as free kick takers etc which get them through or make them even more dangerous. We have a squad full of (mostly defensive/grafting, one paced) central midfield players & centre forwards. We are paying for a one dimensional choice of signings where we have replaced pace, height & width with central players rather than upgrading with similar but better.

Unless we get more inspiration in play & types of signings, the same thing will happen next season.

Looking at the bench yesterday & considering what we have spent, made me want to cry.

How on earth are we second in the league?

Easy; there is only one half decent team in it & it's quite feasible for any top side to win almost every game they play.

The rest of the best sides are all rebuilding. If any of them had found an extra top striker like the rags have done, the top 5 or 6 would all have had a chance of finishing above us. If we don't improve & they are lucky with a few signings, we will struggle for top 4 next season. They all have more attacking variety than us but are weak in a few areas where we are strong. If they solve that & we don't improve, they will go past us.

[zuricity]

I thought we played quite well against QPR. It was the Liverpool and Southampton games where we were shit so thread title should really be February Slump.

Blip rather than a slump . a slump lasts much longer. Aston Villa are in a slump. So too Sunderland. Fulham appear to be coming out of a slump and we are all hoping that the rags up and coming blip turns into a slump of depression proportions , with bells and whistles on it

[Tesl]

It's colder, wetter, windier & the pitches are sometimes heavier, a time when you have to dig in defensively, slick passing can become difficult & the central areas get congested with players. The best teams traditionally have width, pace, or height etc & other options such as free kick takers etc which get them through or make them even more dangerous. We have a squad full of (mostly defensive/grafting, one paced) central midfield players & centre forwards. We are paying for a one dimensional choice of signings where we have replaced pace, height & width with central players rather than upgrading with similar but better.

Unless we get more inspiration in play & types of signings, the same thing will happen next season.

Looking at the bench yesterday & considering what we have spent, made me want to cry.

How on earth are we second in the league?

Easy; there is only one half decent team in it & it's quite feasible for any top side to win almost every game they play.

The rest of the best sides are all rebuilding. If any of them had found an extra top striker like the rags have done, the top 5 or 6 would all have had a chance of finishing above us. If we don't improve & they are lucky with a few signings, we will struggle for top 4 next season. They all have more attacking variety than us but are weak in a few areas where we are strong. If they solve that & we don't improve, they will go past us.

Let me prefix this by saying that I've always thought you were one of the better posters on this board and make a lot of good insightful comments, but I found this post of yours pretty bizarre. Okay, we haven't been great this year or as good as last year, but we haven't become a terrible awful side over night. We are still comfortably second best (sigh..) in the league and it would take a disaster on our part to drop out the top 4 next year.

I suppose re-reading your post now I see a lot of "ifs", but realistically speaking we aren't as bad as you are making out.

[Ted Hughes]

It's colder, wetter, windier & the pitches are sometimes heavier, a time when you have to dig in defensively, slick passing can become difficult & the central areas get congested with players. The best teams traditionally have width, pace, or height etc & other options such as free kick takers etc which get them through or make them even more dangerous. We have a squad full of (mostly defensive/grafting, one paced) central midfield players & centre forwards. We are paying for a one dimensional choice of signings where we have replaced pace, height & width with central players rather than upgrading with similar but better.

Unless we get more inspiration in play & types of signings, the same thing will happen next season.

Looking at the bench yesterday & considering what we have spent, made me want to cry.

How on earth are we second in the league?

Easy; there is only one half decent team in it & it's quite feasible for any top side to win almost every game they play.

The rest of the best sides are all rebuilding. If any of them had found an extra top striker like the rags have done, the top 5 or 6 would all have had a chance of finishing above us. If we don't improve & they are lucky with a few signings, we will struggle for top 4 next season. They all have more attacking variety than us but are weak in a few areas where we are strong. If they solve that & we don't improve, they will go past us.

Let me prefix this by saying that I've always thought you were one of the better posters on this board and make a lot of good insightful comments, but I found this post of yours pretty bizarre. Okay, we haven't been great this year or as good as last year, but we haven't become a terrible awful side over night. We are still comfortably second best (sigh..) in the league and it would take a disaster on our part to drop out the top 4 next year.

I suppose re-reading your post now I see a lot of "ifs", but realistically speaking we aren't as bad as you are making out.

We are the 2nd best team in the league. We are as good or bad as a team 12 points behind the current bunch of rags & 5 points ahead of Spurs.

Are the 3rd best team any good ? Were we streets ahead of them last season ? Have they spent so much more money than us ?

If they had Aguero or Tevez or Silva, or Yaya, or Dzeko, would they realistically still be 5 points behind us ?

For me personally, this is one of the most disappointing seasons I've encountered as a City fan, because most of the time in the past, I expected shite or mediocrity & got shite & mediocrity so only on occasion was I shocked or mortified; it was a way of life.

This season i am genuinely shocked, not because we are utterly shite but because we are utterly average. We had a massive advantage over Spurs Arse Chelsea Liverpool etc because our side was already built. Our standards have dropped incredibly.

For ten mins v Villa, we showed what should be our genuine average level & they were absolutely helpless to stop us. It wasn't inspired City, it was just basic pass & move City, which we could & should do as a strting point. If that was our typical level, as it should be, & we still still came 2nd, I wouldn't be arsed (apart from it's to those twats). I didn't think we were certainties for the title; I'm not stupid, I know it's difficult.

We showed ten mins of that standard v Villa, none v Southampton, none v QPR, none v Liverpool.

Many people on here are living off last season & viewing this current team in context of an afterglow of that. If last season we had come 2nd & they looked at this one honestly & how many simple things have got worse instead of better, they would realise why I'm utterly gutted by the whole thing.

[Nutzer]

One thing is certain - we've definitely not progressed this season from last. Whether that's purely because Brian Marwood wouldn't / couldn't sign the players, eg RVP, Hazard, Bobby wanted, I don't know. I do know that the last minute purchases, eg Sinclair, seemed to be a case of "we'd better get some new players" rather than "who will improve the team".
I know we won the title last season but amid all the euphoria, we must remember how close we came to chucking it all away against QPR. For us to be 12 points behind in second place is a lot. If we are to win the title again next year we need to get consistency throughout the whole season and it's Bobby's job to get that consistency out of the players.

[Ted Hughes]

One thing is certain - we've definitely not progressed this season from last. Whether that's purely because Brian Marwood wouldn't / couldn't sign the players, eg RVP, Hazard, Bobby wanted, I don't know. I do know that the last minute purchases, eg Sinclair, seemed to be a case of "we'd better get some new players" rather than "who will improve the team".
I know we won the title last season but amid all the euphoria, we must remember how close we came to chucking it all away against QPR. For us to be 12 points behind in second place is a lot. If we are to win the title again next year we need to get consistency throughout the whole season and it's Bobby's job to get that consistency out of the players.

A team playing at 50% but being bailed out by soon to be 30 year old Van Persie wouldn't have been progress imo. Successful for a season perhaps but we would then have had FIVE CENTRAL strikers. Plus Guidetti. If that is a reasonable way to spend a club's transfer budget, I am the Pope.

[Blue Since 76]

We are the 2nd best team in the league. We are as good or bad as a team 12 points behind the current bunch of rags & 5 points ahead of Spurs.

Are the 3rd best team any good ? Were we streets ahead of them last season ? Have they spent so much more money than us ?

If they had Aguero or Tevez or Silva, or Yaya, or Dzeko, would they realistically still be 5 points behind us ?

For me personally, this is one of the most disappointing seasons I've encountered as a City fan, because most of the time in the past, I expected shite or mediocrity & got shite & mediocrity so only on occasion was I shocked or mortified; it was a way of life.

This season i am genuinely shocked, not because we are utterly shite but because we are utterly average. We had a massive advantage over Spurs Arse Chelsea Liverpool etc because our side was already built. Our standards have dropped incredibly.

For ten mins v Villa, we showed what should be our genuine average level & they were absolutely helpless to stop us. It wasn't inspired City, it was just basic pass & move City, which we could & should do as a strting point. If that was our typical level, as it should be, & we still still came 2nd, I wouldn't be arsed (apart from it's to those twats). I didn't think we were certainties for the title; I'm not stupid, I know it's difficult.

We showed ten mins of that standard v Villa, none v Southampton, none v QPR, none v Liverpool.

Many people on here are living off last season & viewing this current team in context of an afterglow of that. If last season we had come 2nd & they looked at this one honestly & how many simple things have got worse instead of better, they would realise why I'm utterly gutted by the whole thing.

Ted, in general I agree with you and also agree that this has been one of the worst seasons as a fan - it's always the hope that kills and after last season, I had high hopes for this. Quarter finals of the FA cup and 2nd should be a good season, but it currently all feels a bit flat. Probably wouldn't feel as bad if it were Chelsea above us. Zabaleta is the only player I think has improved from last season and in the team of the year is the only one I think could get in it. That says a lot from last season.

However, IF, and it's a very big if, IF we win the last 10 games, we'd finish on 89 points, which is the same as last season. If we did that, the best the rags could manage is 98. If they manage that, hell, if they manage more than 89 points, well done to them, they deserve it as that would be enough to win it in every year the PL has existed (20 teams).

Let's get the 89 points and make sure we improve for next season.

[City64]

Eh ? wtf ?

Howabout the rest of the premier league teams actually show some bollocks and take the rags on and actually try to beat the cunts instead of lying down and dying ?????

That simple fact fact would make for a far better premier league instead of the shite one we have this season. City will be in far better shape next season to win the title than we have been this make no mistake ! A lot of the other premier league clubs really need to get their act together because the standard this year has been shite to be brutally honest !!!

[Ted Hughes]

Eh ? wtf ?

Howabout the rest of the premier league teams actually show some bollocks and take the rags on and actually try to beat the cunts instead of lying down and dying ?????

That simple fact fact would make for a far better premier league instead of the shite one we have this season. City will be in far better shape next season to win the title than we have been this make no mistake ! A lot of the other premier league clubs really need to get their act together because the standard this year has been shite to be brutally honest !!!

It has been terribly shite, which is why I'm so gutted about our showing. I don't think the rags potential record breaking total is something amazing, I think it's something we, & Chelsea, should have been close to. Hardly any team has played well v Utd but hardly any team has played well v us either, it is us who have dropped to their level. They are all fighting in their own little leagues against each other & the rags just turn up & pick them off, like we should have done. Instead, we perform like a mid table team & struggle as such. Only the sheer will to win & individual quality has got us into the top 4. It could have been much worse.

[zuricity]

Eh ? wtf ?

Howabout the rest of the premier league teams actually show some bollocks and take the rags on and actually try to beat the cunts instead of lying down and dying ?????

That simple fact fact would make for a far better premier league instead of the shite one we have this season. City will be in far better shape next season to win the title than we have been this make no mistake ! A lot of the other premier league clubs really need to get their act together because the standard this year has been shite to be brutally honest !!!

Well said and in two brief paragraphs, i agree with you.

[Blue Since 76]

[QUOTE="City64")

Howabout the rest of the premier league teams actually show some bollocks and take the rags on and actually try to beat the cunts instead of lying down and dying ?????

[/QUOTE]

Like Stoke did at home against us, you mean? Our problem has been the draws and that's been caused by generally moving the ball too slowly combined with a lot of players not at their very best.

The rags style of play (more width and pace) means they get away with it more as it's still difficult to defend against even when they're not playing well. Plus RVP carried them up to Xmas. Our intricate passing and attempts to get through the middle are easier to defend against unless we're really at it.

I wasn't a huge fan of AJ but would have been happy to see him stay for what he could do in the last 15 minutes of a game from the bench. If we'd had him instead of a player we never play, I suspect we could have won a few of the drawn games and the gap might only be a handful of points with a derby still to come. We have to get this summer right.