...Perhaps Its Time :'(

Cant Believe im going to say this but perhaps its time for the likes of Elliott and the rest..to go

the way ive seen our time in the championship

First season: Punched way above our weight, and got to where we were by spirit and the confidence of being promoted

Second Season: spirit down due to play off defeat, we would give away the lead and draw far to many games, mediocre finish

Third Season: Terrible, saw the end of an era for Gary J after 0-6 and 2-5 defeats at home to Cardiff and doncaster, millen saved a hopeless season and managed to get us 10th

Forth Season: possible the worst, the appointment of cop out and we all know how that ended, and to follow a dire rest of the season under millen

This Season: Millen loosing the plot, players not giving 100%, crowds dropping, couldn't win at home...then Derek arrived shaped thins up a bit, but now were back to square 1

so for the last 4 seasons we've done nothing... new players have arrived then they have left and were pretty much a average championship team!

so perhaps a change in faces is needed, we seem to have a manager who knows what hes doing but he hasn't got the team for it

players out of contract this season


David James
Jamie McAllister
Liam Fontaine
Louis Carey
Marvin Elliot
Jamal Campbell-Ryce
Kalifa Cisse
Lee Johnson
Nicky Maynard

5 first teamers there and a couple of subs, i say chuck them all out and replace them
there's probably a good 80-100k a week of wages there, and with that amount of money free we could really get in some decent replacements

So a new team is needed in 2012/2013 season, i pretty confident we will still be in the championship

*********Loach

Skuse O'Brian Wilson McGivern

Adomah Kilkenny Stevenson Pearson

*****Pitman Rhodes/Cox/Hume

 

Too much sherry shiny???

In all honesty we haven't had a team that can hold it's own in the Championship for 4 seasons now, and if you look at individual players the reading doesn't get any better. We consistently put out a team that lacks just about everything required to compete and when we decide to rectify the situation our previous leaders have messed up badly.

Derek has a major task on his hands to rectify this mess but I believe with his obvious football acumen he will succed. Time for the wasters and underperformers to hit the road and perhaps shiny has the list already for DM to read (even Elliott?). Difficult times may be ahead for City and our transactions during the transfer window have now been upgraded to critical.

Good luck Derek.

 

I have thought for a while now that we have had the best out of Marv.........is it the "comfort zone" thing or just that he has lost the pace and grit he used to have? I don't know.
He looked average at best yesterday, as did most of the team.
My take on yesterday
James.....steady as usual.
Skuse.....great 1st half, nightmare 2nd and gave the ball away needlessly too often.
McGivern.....city's best player
Nyan-in-a-tangle....average
Wilson....solid committed and a decent game...one for the future without a doubt.
Cisse,Elliot,Albert.....average at best
Pearson....not average at best!
Killkenny...why did he go off? Injured? (he did get a knock and treatment)...was bossing the game
Maynard...huffed and puffed but will never score with the lack of service he got.
Stead and Pitters....looked like they may have done something if they had longer in the game. Perhaps.

We looked good in spells as usual....passed the ball about nicely from defence to midfield with a lot of possession in the first half, but thats where it ended.
Time and time again the ball would end up back at the defenders after lots of nice football, then the killer pass to NM or AA would go woefully astray. We are very one dimensional...Albert or Maynard...with little or no midfield flair and we could still be playing now without scoring!
Two mids, a central defender and sort out the strikers Derek and we will be ok, otherwise its gonna be a long hard slog and a lot of bum clenching!

Happy new year!

 

I'm prepared for a long hard slog and agree that some have to go. Don't really think that Marv has been at his best since the injury. and definitely need skill in midfield. However still have a good feeling about DM. Just staying in this division will be a plus for me. They always say that looking at someone more unfortunate than yourself tends to bring back down to Earth and I do know a few Gas fans so that always gives me a lift.

 

...come off it Shiny after copout went KEEF DID A GOOD JOB and we finished up the table..we should have built on this we didnt/he didnt/ the players didnt

we have survived, and are PRETTY MUCH A BELOW average side

Yesterday I think he showed he isnt up to the mark..............yet, no way should he HAVE played NM

 

he should have played maynard he maybe off but we are still paying his wages and he's our best striker so ofc he's gonna play and the manager job is to get a team ready to be able to win and despite the loss the fact we got so many shots off showed that with some slightly more quality attacking players we shall start winning again

 

John are you a relative or are you Millen?

You have always defended him and since DM come in harp on about it wasn't Millens fault?

1 Millen has been here for years would have had a lot of input with the players who came in.
2 Yes kept us up last year, but it was the most drab football I have seen in years.
3 would never take responsibility for actions, always invited the team round to watch a DVD, (probably he put Man U on and that is why he could not see no wrong)
4 Always playing players out of position.
5 Subs did not make sense.
Del has taken on a team that none of the players are his apart from Pearson, which might of only be brought in because he don't trust the rest and was the best on offer at the time. Or he sees something for the future.
I think that come January we could see a lot of changes and yes it might take time for the team to gel. If we can't get it right we might go down. But believe it or not I think that we have a manager that I believe will get it right it could be a situation of one step back 2 steps forward.
And also, before you say I am only defending the manager I wanted, I wanted Dave Jones, but I have seen something in DM I like, love the way he says it is HIS problem when things don't go right. And I am glad to admit that I wanted the wrong man.

 

I'd keep Fontaine but the rest can go as far as I'm concerned plus Nyatanga who is frankly awful. Also hearing that Fontaine is likely to be out until Feb with a knee injury which is really really bad news at this time of the season.

 

but may i add this will keep teams from nabbing him, if we can get him to sign great, but if we cant im sure wilson and another cb will do a good job

 

It doesn't take much to turn a classy side into a dreadful one, and even less to do it the other way around.
2 or 3 new players (the right 2 or 3) could suddenly reignite what was the division's form team a month ago.
I do think the Maynard factor has been instrumental in creating this low point, and the sooner he is gone the better.

 

No, Keef DIDN'T do a good job, originally it was the fact that Cop Out had already beeen appointed and the players were playing to impress him, not Keef - oh, and then later, it was to keep their NPC status...

As for playing Maynard, we need to survive BY ANY MEANS which means using our best players. NM is still under a City contract at the moment so that means he is available and listening to the radio, he had our 2 best changes which were well defended by Coventry...

Only in football do we have this stupidity in attitude about "playing for the shirt" - how many more times, its a ****ing job and as DM said, as long as Nicky remains professional, he will continue to play OUR BEST STRIKER and rightly so as we are in the **** right now...

 

John are you a relative or are you Millen? no

You have always defended him and since DM come in harp on about it wasn't Millens fault? Its funny, DM does exactly the same substitution as Keef did no one batted an eyelid, i am not defending KEEF HE HAD HIS GO AT THE WHEEL and screwed it

1 Millen has been here for years would have had a lot of input with the players who came in...???
2 Yes kept us up last year, but it was the most drab football I have seen in years.

3 would never take responsibility for actions, always invited the team round to watch a DVD, (probably he put Man U on and that is why he could not see no wrong)
4 Always playing players out of position. and DM HASNT?
5 Subs did not make sense.DEPENDS ON HOW YOU SEE THE GAME

Del has taken on a team that none of the players are hisQUITE USUAL FOR ANY MANAGER apart from Pearson, which might of only be brought in because he don't trust the rest and was the best on offer at the time. Or he sees something for the future.
I think that come January we could see a lot of changes and yes it might take time for the team to gel. If we can't get it right we might go down. But believe it or not I think that we have a manager that I believe will get it right it could be a situation of one step back 2 steps forward.
And also, before you say I am only defending the manager I wanted, I wanted Dave Jones, but I have seen something in DM I like, love the way he says it is HIS problem when things don't go right. And I am glad to admit that I wanted the wrong man. I wanted DM, STILL DO but I think THE JUMP TO THE NPC is a bit of a wake up call, he has sorted the defence thats for sure, the midfield and the front will come

 

You would expect him to come out on top, Hes only been in charge for 11 games....AND HAS AVERAGED 1.36PTS A GAME, THIS WOULD TAKE US TO ABOUT THE SAME POSITION AS WE HAVE FINISHED THE PAST 3 SEASONS

 

I think you are right, Nm certainly aint doing much at the mo...and if we dont score its easy for the opposition to pop the winner in

 

if we are being honest we were very lucky first seasn to get to the playoff final. no one woyld have given either us or teams like hull any change of finishing top half but a lot of teams under performed and we did have a team that kept playing for 90 minutes and beyond which is why you would lose count how many times we would be 1-0 down and come back to score a late goal and win 2-1. we didn't have great players but we had a great team mentality which made up for it. football wasnt attractive but it got us the wins. The main difference between now and then is the team had belief that which ever team they played they knew that even though we would be classed as the under dogs we could walk away with 3 points, something the current squad need to start believing in.
for DM to play the football he wants he needs to make big chances. two players mention, elliott - out of contract end of the season and i wouldn't be surprised if he is holding a slight grudge again DM for taking the captain arm band off of him and have to question why with 6 months to go he has still not signed a new contract?. he does scores goals but should score a lot more given the number of chances he gets.
As for fontaine he would only leave if he could pass a medical which as the southampton deal showed it might not happen if the club wanted to cash in.

I expect we will see two players come in plus any to replace any first team players leaving but we will have to wait to the summer for the bigger changes. Just got to hope they can keep Albert.

 

Here some more stats. since 2000 these are the people who have maned the club

DM (current)
Keith Millen 2010-2011
Steve Coppell 2010
Keith Millen 2010
Gary Johnson 05-10
Keith Millen 2005
Brian Tinnion 04-05
Danny Wilson 00-04
Leroy Rosenior 2000
Tony Fawthrop 2000
David Burnside 2000
Tony Pulis 99-00

amazing how many times millen was put in charge during his time at the club. hopefully with the support DM will be at the club for a long time

 

We are not shipping a lot of goals at the moment - less than one a game - which is a good start. If you don't concede, the worst you can get is a draw. We are having problems scoring, but then that is the same for many clubs. I am a City fan through and through, but you have to take a look at the size of clubs who are in our league. Only 3 teams had a lower home gate than us 2 Saturdays ago. We are definitely lower half of the division in size, and only our wonderful ex-Chairman has kept our boat afloat in the last 5 years.

Of course I want success, but do we absolutely deserve it...not yet, in my opinion. Now lets hang onto Derek, who I have personally met and found to be a very genuine, and committed football man, and see where we are in 2 seasons time. Our much vaunted Academy doesn't seem to produce lots of great new players, but the odd one here and there are decent enough.

And finally on the subject of this thread - Take the Money !! Always. We were saying no to Christian Ribs going 2 years ago to Everton - now we would be happy to get 1/5th of what they were allegedly offering. Amankwaah was another with a 2 million price tag at one point. But that never happened. Sell players at a profit and buy again. That is what i think.

 

GG - agree on most of your points, but not on being a selling club.
Taking you back to 1976, when Arsenal offered mega money (well, for then) for Merrick and Ritchie, we all waded in with season ticket sales and kept them at the club. This gave us another 4 years at the top, thanks to Ritchie's goals.
There are occasions when selling is a good move (usually when there are aspects to the player that are not obvious outside the training ground), but generally the team that can hang on to its outstanding players is the team that has a run of success. This of course also depends on whether the club is churning out talented player (which we are not). Also a balancing act between the need to keep, the need to sell, and the amount of money needed for a rebuild..

 

This first season for us back in the CCC was a turning point for the league It is getting more and more a top quarter of good well balanced sides whose quality gets better by the year, a middle half of average sides, and the bottom quarter of below average sides. I know we finished in mid division past few seasons but we had a flourish toward the end and grabbed a load of points to get us out of the relegation zone when other teams were easeing off because they couldnt go up or down.............already the relegation scrap is between 4 teams, I think FLOREST will fare better than us...so we need to drag a couple of others down.and quick