Well, I guess this is as good a place as any to declare my delight at City making it back to the FA Cup final!
AMAZING Semi. Just got back from the UK, lower level in Wembley. Best sporting experience of my life.
Don't post here much now as the board is pretty much dead... but just thought I'd say thank you Roberto Mancini for giving me some of the best days of my life and good luck. I actually think this is the right time for him to go. His disciplinarian style seems to have finally rubbed off the wrong way on too many players, hence the lack of motivation/energy in so many games. The FA Cup Final was pretty much the icing on the cake when all the problems this season merged together on the big stage. The English media preaches stability is the only way but when I look around Europe at clubs like Bayern and Juve, they have constantly changed managers. To me stability comes from a strong infrastructure and sometimes change is needed.
Agreed, Mancini had a good run but the players don't seem to be playing for him anymore so although it may be cruel, this may be the best time to move on to a different manager who can create better harmony in the dressing room...
I guess I'll withhold judgement until I see who is hired in his place. If the sequence of events suggests that strong candidates have already been identified, that will be good. Stability can be overrated, but a revolving door approach is not the alternative I want to see.
I don't really know alot about him, but he thrived in Malaga with a nouveau riche ownership group a heck of a lot crazier (and less reputable apparently) than Sheik Mansour and co, so on the face of it he seems like a good choice as long as he isn't a carbon copy of Mancini's style of interacting with players.
Good to have MFCF back stateside, last time they visited a lot of the players took the time to go into the city community projects, if you want to meet some players maybe you can try to find out if they have events with the local schools and show up there.
First match: VS Newcastle, COME ON CITY!!! Rest of fixtures: http://www.mcfc.co.uk/fixtures?showall=1
From 10-20 July, U-17, U-19, U-21 selections of Manchester City are on preparations in Croatian city of Novigrad: http://www.mcfc.com/News/EDS-news/2013/City-EDS-in-Croatia-Day-One https://www.facebook.com/lagunanovigrad1?directed_target_id=0 https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...3473775232.472884.407750305231&type=1&theater Programme: Saturday 13.07. matches at 17:00 and 19:00 on Laguna Novigrad football courts (behind Sirena campsite) Tuesday 16.07. first friendly match * 10:30 U-17 Manchester City vs Cibalia on Laguna Novigrad football courts * 17:00 U-19 Manchester City vs Rijeka on Laguna Novigrad football courts * 19:00 U-21 Manchester City vs Osijek on Football court Lacco Novigrad Wednesday 17.07. from 10:00 OPEN DAY, Laguna Novigrad football courts - Watch the training and meet the players! City of Novigrad: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novigrad,_Istria_County Photos: http://www.google.hr/search?q=NOVIG...Xf4QTW24DABg&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=645
Hey guys, sorry if its in the wrong thread, was wondering what you guys are predicting your 1st team to be. I wanted to pick Navas, Fernandinho, Negredo and Jovetic for my fantasy league team. What are the chances they start this weekend and feature as 1st team players going forward? Also does Nasri have 1st team chance or still on the bench?
Crisis, Kompany will be out at least 3 weeks. I know we have Richards, Lescot and Nastasic recovering; I have no faith in Garcia. My top three to bring to beef up our CB. No Pepe, no Demichealis Raphael Varane Kyriakous Papdopoulous Kurt Zoume Anyone else????
Varane won't come to City and you can't replace a quality, experienced footballer like Kompany with Zouma. I would go for Pepe if I were you.
City on top against United. It's been superb from them since the game started. Aguero's goal was just outstanding while City added enough pressure on United to give them a proper advantage.
City win in the end 4-1 against United. A great game for them, they played very well defensively. Kompany, Yaya Toure and Kolarov contributed. While Aguero was their man in attack.
Purring over City's 3 - 1 win at West Ham yesterday. At last, things clicked in an away match this season. Loved Negredo's 'leave-alone' that put Sergio in for the first goal. We simply outclassed West Ham in every department. Fourth in the table is fine, while the players Pelligrini has brought to the club bed in and the 'whole' finds its feet. This Premiership season is already shaping up as being a lot more competitive than for a long time. Liverpool have improved under Rogers, Arsenal are resurgent, Chelsea look solid and efficient, though unspectacular and Everton and Spurs will make a serious challenge for Champions League places. The Rags could still be in the mix come April, though nobody will care if they continue to stutter. Well, I won't, that's for sure. A BBC poll on MOTD last night suggested 70% reckon United won't make a top four finish. Oh dear. How sad that would be. On yesterday's evidence, City now appear to have a happy, contented squad with enough quality in all departments to make a serious challenge for the title. The early season brainfarts at Cardiff, Hull and Villa should be out of our system now and we have to work for a period of consistently steady results while doing as much as we need to, in order to achieve a top two group finish in the CL. Tricky, but I reckon Pelligrini is organised and tactically shrewd enough to utilise his resources wisely and get the best out of them. There's a long way to go in this season, but at this stage I see enough reason for quiet optimism.