Too early to say mate, I think you've got a good squad though, so I think you'll improve on last seasons showing. Whether you'll have enough to make the top 4 I don't know, but you'll definitely be closer to it than in the previous few seasons imo. City, United & Chelsea are shoo in's for me, so that only leaves 1 place up for grabs. Spurs have signed some great players, but can they turn them into a team? Despite Ozil, Arsenal are still short in a couple of key areas - notably up front, so they're vulnerable imo. I think we did some good business on the last day, but (at the risk of sounding like a kopite) I think this is a season of 'transition' for us, maybe a cup is our best bet this season & I can see us falling back in the league.
I can't remember which thread it was, but I did say that you did a good bit of business at the death. It didn't half piss my reporter mate off. He couldn't go out on the piss on Saturday night 'cos he was covering the match on Sunday and he was working until after Midnight on Monday/Tuesday 'cos you sold Fellaini and made your signings so late
no you are clueless... cheap insults mean i win. a wee bit of banter and you jump instantly to the insults and city fanboys boards??
Clueless wasn't an insult mate, given your comments - it was merely a statement of fact. It wasn't 'banter' either, it was a ridiculous comment about a good footballer, which was rightly treated with derision & I posted the City fans opinion on him, to show what they think about the player given that they watched him every week for 5 years........& I reckon I'll take their view on him over yours
I see your point, but then that 'big four' no longer exists - Arsenal and Liverpool both haven't made meaningful progress in the CL since 2009. It's more accurate to say there is a new big four but it is only dominant in the PL, rather than to argue that the old big four are still relevant as English clubs are no long performing well in Europe. Imo your argument is akin to saying that Arsenal and Liverpool never really broke into the 'big four' as they never made a meaningful league challenge from 04-09. Regardless of their lack of impact on the outcome of the league title, they were undisputedly two of England's top four clubs, just as City have been one of the big four clubs even if they haven't had an impact on the outcome of the CL.
Barry seems destined to be the Carrick or Lucas of City. Massively underrated by fans of other clubs, who fail to see the important role they played in their own team's fortunes. That said, none of those three have covered themselves in glory in Europe in recent years, so perhaps mito does have a point in that regard.
I don't know if you've read back to get the gist of what I was saying. While Liverpool haven't been involved in the CL for a few years, we are still one of only 4 English teams that have dominated - you can't just wipe that out because of very recent lack of involvement, 2009 is only four years ago not ancient history as some would like to believe. You're right the 'big four' in terms of PL is no longer meaningful. I could argue that the four most talked about clubs are still the same 'old' big four. For all our lack of success, the column inches hasn't decreased in fact it's probably expanding. Just look how much coverage Everton [as one example] got over appointing a new manager -not much at all, compared to the coverage when we were after a new manager. Considering we are now supposedly on a par with Everton, the fascination with us and lack of with Everton would refute that claim. So somebody, somewhere or a lot of somebodies, somewhere still treat us as a big four team regardless of what words some come out with. If we had slipped down so far then surely the interest would decrease. Spurs are now generating much more interest [even before the Bale saga] - despite a distinct lack of success. I don't understand your point 'Imo your argument is akin to saying that Arsenal and Liverpool never really broke into the 'big four' as they never made a meaningful league challenge from 04-09.' - it doesn't make sense. One further point, City have no CL pedigree whatsoever - which is the only subject I have been addressing in my comments. The big four arguments will rumble on....
