I absolutely do not get making your manager a lame duck. It makes no sense to me whatsoever. City are very much in the title hunt this year--four of them, to be precise. So management helps out by cutting the ground out from under its manager’s feet? Madness. It’s a good point. Surely growing your own is the more cost effective strategy, especially for strikers. Kane had a chance to swim at his own pace from the shallow end out into the ocean. Any big striker buy gets thrown in at the deep end.
Spot on analysis. I'd also think loaning Bentaleb out could be a good idea although that would leave us desperately short in the 'players who are average to good at defending' department. I feel that Dembele is a more capable back-up for Dier than Nabs, but with Jan out for a while and Fazio gone we also need to rely on Dier to cover at CB, which is what he did against Colchester. That said, it would be a massive risk sending Nabs out because if Toby or Kevin pick up an injury, we suddenly don't have anyone defensively minded in the middle of the park. Anyway, I'm off for a cry in the kitchen.
It gives Pellegrini the chance to secure his next job now. There are a couple of big jobs available on the summer and now he can openly pursue them. Will be interesting to see what happens if Man City come up against Bayern Munich in the CL though.
Several reports saying that we're done now. Based on previous experience, part of me thinks this is true. But part of me wonders why the dembele deal is off? If we're not after anyone, why did the dembele deal fall through? - sign him, and loan him back, as they requested. But the fact that we have pulled out shows that we really want a striker RIGHT NOW, Doesn't it? Everyone in football thinks we need a striker, but there's no sign of anything, yet Leicester are in advanced talks for Remy and Stoke are on the verge of signing one for £18m!
I trust Levy and Pochettino to make the right calls on who we sign more than most other Chairman/Manager combinations. We should only sign a team player who can improve our squad and who can be obtained for a reasonable price. Its quite possible such a striker doesn't exist. It certainly isn't Remy
I'm coming round to the idea that we're not bringing anyone in now. It's a risk that I hope pays off because if we can keep the key players fit then we'll be fine although it's not an ideal route to go down in my eyes. That said if Kane does indeed get injured for a spell, there is quality and goals in the likes of Chadli and Son (plus N'jie who'll be back in a month or so) to hopefully do a decent job and cover. I wouldn't be against giving Shayon Harrison a go either, think he's a very talented lad and if our intentions were to bring Moussa Dembele in as a squad player straight away then I see no reason why Poch can't give Harrison a go, our youth policy and players haven't exactly done bad so far...
We have decided that Chadli and Son can provide cover for Kane. We are not making signings so turn of sky and watch Corrie instead...more miserable moaning mancs will bring a smile back in your hearts!
I'm probably gonna get people's hopes up only to be shattered at 11pm but here goes... Most of the older posters on this site may remember I've had the odd tip off over the years, I was told about AVB taking charge about 24 hours before the media got a sniff and done a thread on it at the time, was told about a new deal for Bale which was announced about a week later on the OS and was also told that Ade had joined permanently about 48 hours before it was announced, a text forwarded to me from my mates' mate (no idea what the guy does or how he gets info for the record - unless he's just a lucky guesser!) has said that a bid has gone in for Saido, no idea if that's just gone in or if it went in earlier on today and is being mulled over/ rejected/ accepted by WBA but he reckons the club is quietly confident, especially as they hope Pritch's loan may have sweetened negotiations and got Levy back in Peace's good books. For what it's worth I'm taking this all with a huge pinch of salt as my gut instinct says no one is coming in now but thought I'd share it anyway. Spurcat maybe you could shoot this down or confirm it mate?
Hate to be a miserable git but I really think signing him will be a terrible mistake so I hope your mate is wrong
I trust the latter more than the former, who frankly has no better than a 50/50 record when it comes to success stories on the pitch and in the dug out. I'd also be more inclined to agree with your point if this was a new development and approach that began after Poch's arrival. But it didn't. It's a dogmatic stubbornness, naivety, call it what you will that has hindered our progress more or less every year since Martin Jol took the club up to a level it hadn't yet reached in PL history. Saying it's quite possible such a striker doesn't exist is a fair point, but one that is almost totally undermined by the fact that we deemed Moussa Dembele a good enough prospect to table a bid, have that bid accepted, agree personal terms with the lad and see him through his medical. So, clearly, suitable targets were identified and approached. The sticking point was - as per f***ing usual - our almost pathological stupidity in assuming that come the last 48 hours of the window, the footballing world will down tools and see to it that Tottenham Hotspur FC will get their man in on time. We knew that Fulham are in dire financial straits and can only bring players in on loan. We knew how crucial Dembele is to their chances of survival, yet we leave them precisely one weekend to bring in a replacement - on loan - and expect them to blithely agree to commit footballing suicide by sending their second best player to us in the middle of a relegation battle. I'm sorry to sound so agressive PS and I'm absolutely not having a dig at you personally mate you and I have had our differences over what constitutes an 'improvement to the squad', and I respect your opinion. But surely, surely this just smells of the usual Levy bullsh*t that we go through every single transfer window, regardless of who the manager is? I'll tell you what, if we finish in the top 4 this year I still won't be happy as I genuinely think that with depth up front we could challenge for the title. Arsenal have failed to strengthen, Leicester are a glorified pub team and City are now managed by a lame duck. We will never get a better shot at it this side of the new stadium. This isn't about trust. This is about a dogmatic chairman taking complete advantage of a dogmatic manager.
I just can't see it happening. Peace would look like a bit of a pillock, unless it was a truly massive bid. I'd have thought that there was more chance of the Dembele deal being back on, especially as they've confirmed the Zakaria Labyad move. As I've consistently demonstrated on here though, I've no idea about our transfers!
I knew that. Honest. He's still an attacking option and might increase their willingness to let Dembele move on. It's a gamble either way, as they could still go down and be even more skint, if they don't sell him now.
I almost feel sorry for all of the journalists trying to hype the January deadline day over the past couple of seasons. They must know that nothing particularly interesting is going to happen for the vast majority of the day, at least. It's like trying to get people worked up for West Brom v Aston Villa.
Sos- I hope you're right mate. You're certainly not one to spread bullshit, so I certainly appreciate the info. And to be honest, that bid makes sense, as I have said in previous posts re dembele's failed move. CK - completely agree with your comments above. Spot on. It's the whole "we tried" scenario again. - did we?
