1. The victory over Crystal Palace wasnât thrilling or stellar, but it was pretty assured. Palace arrived in good form but were comfortably outplayed all over the pitch. The first half was a little bit erratic, with Colinâs Palace successfully stifling City, but in the second half the pace was upped and Palace were eventually well beaten. Played, City. 2. Correlation does not imply causation, but Cityâs first League win and first clean sheet in a while all arrived on the same day that James Chester was restored to the side and 3-5-2 was resurrected. It could be a coincidence, but it didnât really feel like one. Steve Bruce has more than earned the right to change the formation and personnel if he sees fit, but one thing the manager has already done well is correct himself if it isnât really working. A Chester-less 4-4-2 wasnât really going badly awry and we were close to pulling off a few results under it, worth remembering for the future, but an enChestered 3-5-2 just felt better. 3. So, impressive City, even if we know thereâs more to come from the side than we saw on Saturday. But what of Palace? City are a better side and had home advantage, but any side at this level will still regard Hull City away as a winnable fixture. That Palace came seemingly lacking that ambition was very odd. In the first half they ceded possession right up to the halfway line, which made them extremely difficult to break down, but also put them on the back foot to an extent that wasnât recoverable when they fell behind. Poor stuff from them. But Cityâs success last season came on the back of putting lesser and equal sides away at home. Encouraging to see that happen once again. 4. We needed it a bit too. A defeat would have left City on 6 points from 7 games, which youâd imagine could have quickly become 6 from 9 with trips to Arsenal and Liverpool approaching. Thatâs relegation form. 5. City kicked towards the North Stand in the second half against Palace â and with the more partisan supporters now in that area, doesnât it make sense to do that all the time from now on? Itâd have the added bonus of sending visiting teams away from the own fans in the second half too. Win-winâ¦right? 6. Andy Robertsonâ¦um, thereâs no clause in his contract saying we have to sell him if anyone bids a certain amount, is there? 7. Which is more irksome? The continued haranguing of Fraizer Campbell or the lack of acknowledgement for Damien Delaney, a genuine City hero of the 21st century, whenever either come back to the Circle? Both were prevalent yesterday. Mind you, Campbell did behave like an arse during the game and deserved barracking just for that, not for his past temerity to join other clubs instead of City. Itâs daft because heâs a hell of a player, but on Saturday he expended his energy on fouling and whining instead. 8. We wonât waste much of our time or your time on Assem Allamâs Football Focus drivel. Weâve heard this ludicrous untruth-strewn nonsense before, it changes nothing and will not give him a prayer of persuading the FA to change their mind. That they only gave him a minute (from an hour long interview) and then Mark Lawrenson speedily and elegantly knifed his preposterous idea rather said it all. Grandpa Simpson yelling at clouds increasingly springs to mind when we see Mr Allamâs public appearances. 9. Burnley are preparing to charge City fans £37 next month. Footballâs autocannibalism nears completion. 10. Meanwhile, a hearty gate for City v Palace. £16 is a good price, one that the club can be proud of offering its fans, and after complaining about £50 against Man C and the subsequent empty seats, it is was pleasing to see immediate proof that pricing football properly will attract support even if the opposition is not of global reknown. http://www.ambernectar.org/blog/2014/10/things-we-think-we-think-156/
That's about right. I do agree on the Delaney thing though - I've always wondered why there has never been much recognition. I always liked the man, and to see him playing in the Prem is good to see.
He was interviewed on RH ahead of the game and said he'd always had a good reception when he returned.
Unfortunately a large section of our support is probably completely unaware that Delaney ever played for us.
If he's anything like the Crystal Palace fans he'll be bemused he's starting ahead of Gayle. Where we stood it seemed he got a great reception, when his name was announced, from all around the ground.
Normally when a player signs for us and looks crap for a while, that's it - he's very unlikely to turn from a caterpillar into a butterfly (and I'll be too stubborn to accept it in some cases). Delaney is the exception that proves the rule. He's gone from someone who looked clumsy in Div 4 to being a solid Premier League defender, and if you'd told me that would happen after his first 20-30 appearances, i'd have thought you were nuts. Fair play to Peter Taylor - he was right about him.
John Walters? I know he had a difficult time personally while with us but that notwithstanding nobody ever thought he'd be a top flight player.
Walters was one of my favourite players - I thought everything he did right up until it came to putting the thing in the net was superb. I used to go along to games willing him to bag a couple of goals so the floodgates might open. Andy Saville became a much better player than I ever thought he'd be. I think I'd been spoilt by Edwards, Whitehurst, Mutrie etc and didn't appreciate that while Sav wasn't as good as them, he was still half-decent.
Delaney got a good reception so not sure what that's about (lack of acknowledgement) and the haranguing of Campbell was more than justified and in fact was great fun and very satisfying too! Goes to show it's about opinions. Chester in the team makes us look like a proper side, without him we are lacking cohesion
Delaney is an absolute **** imo.... I heard the abuse he gave a ball boy against cheltenham in the 3-3 draw
I remember Mussie giving a ballboy loads of abuse because he was too quick giving the ball back as we were trying to defend a 1 - nil lead.
Maybe there's the reason. He was the ultimate utility player when he was here. Played in about 9 or 10 positions didn't he?
Delaney got a good reception from everyone around where I sit and it sounded like pretty much everywhere else also, so not quite sure what some of you are talking about really. A player that wasn't everybody's cup of tea but always gave his all. Full credit to him because i for one never thought he could become a decent premier league player as long as he had a hole in his arse, so fair play.
I didn't bother watching it, but he must be crushed if he only got a minute lol. As for the last game a win (and clean sheet) should breed confidence, so they should just build on that. Harper though he wasn't troubled much seemed assured enough. I still think Livermore needs to improve.
