Not Fit To Wear The Shirt ?
Well what can you say about yesterday?
It was obvious during and after the game that passions were running high. The 7000 or so City faithful who had made the relatively short trip up to Blackburn clearly didn't like what they were seeing; neither did the rest of us watching it from behind our sofas such was its scary qualities.
It was always going to be a tough game on paper; Rovers had swept us aside with relative ease twice already this season, so I wasn't really that hopeful that we'd get a result - on recent performances why should we ?
Having said that, to go a whole game in an FA Cup Quarter Final without managing a single shot on target is indefensible. If the motivation of reaching a Cup final isn't enough to shake the team out of their malaise, I don't know what is. The chance of playing at the first new Wembley final should have been an added incentive, but our performance didn't reflect this at all.
The players and management came in for a lot of abuse from the fans with accusations of not being worthy of the shirt they wear, with what at times seems complete contempt from some individuals.
Whereas I've lost confidence in Pearce as a manager and I can understand the fan disappointment, I didn't like to see the personal abuse hurled at Pearce in particular, as it's the players and the Board who bear the bulk of the responsibility.
His failings and mistakes as a manager are clear to see, but the bloke is trying his best and must be just as frustrated as the rest of us, although it doesn't help when he doesn't seem to learn any lessons from his bad signings, duff formations and naive tactics. However, he doesn't deserve the personal abuse that we saw yesterday. He does however need to take responsibility though, as do the non-performing players and do what's right for the club.
Sadly for Psycho, his days at Eastlands are now numbered, with the fatal vote of confidence from the Board surely just around the corner. It is they, the Board, who need to take the responsibility and take decisive action now. Pearce is too proud a man to walk away, so the Board need to do what they are there for and take the tough decisions; trouble is, most of us have less confidence in the Board than we do with the management staff.
Pearce is now odds-on favourite to be the next premiership manager casualty and just an 8/1 shot to be gone by the weekend and it's not a foregone conclusion that City will be caught by Charlton before the end of the season.
There's no doubt City are in deep trouble and anything but complete a shake-up right through the club will be a complete waste of time. Let's hope the much speculated takeover happens sooner rather than later, but who in their right mind would want to buy the club at the moment?
14 comments:
The whole lot of them are bloody useless! It's a bad time to be a City fan !
due to other commitments I could not get to the match,as we usually travel to all away matches,I'm glad I didn't make it because we would have been ashamed to be sat with the so called CITY fans they are a disgrace and should not be allowed to call themselves fans.To turn on the team in that way was a disgrace,the only person they should have turned on was pearce,he is the one who picked the two strikers,Corradi and Samaras who can't find the net.the man wouldn't know a tactic if it bit him on the ass,we have young players who would have given everything to have been picked yesterday,instead he picked two useless players who shouldn't even be on a pitch,Joey Barton had every right to be upset and I believe because of this abuse we could lose one of our best players in the summer,I hope these non fans are happy with themselves and now hold their heads in shame,please don't bother turning up to another match the team doesn't need support like yours.
dear anonymous, i don't agree the fans are "a disgrace". they're just fed up, because when push comes to shove, when it's time to separate the men from the boys, when it's time to stand up and be counted, the team (not just this one, but all the sides for you-know-how-many years) let us down every time. it's 26 years since we've reached a semi-final of a major cup competition. for the second successive season we have a chance of breaking that run against average opponents and for the second successive season the players don't show up. is it any surprise the fans vent their frustrationsare frustrated? yeah, we have no divine right to win anything, but the thing is that we never even come close to winning anything. yet the likes of middlesbrough, bolton, newcastle, villa, spurs, southampton, sunderland, leeds, wigan and just about any one of 30 clubs you wish to mention, get to the final or at least give their fans a bit of hope by reaching the last four. we never have this. if mother theresa had been a blue (and had got a ticket for the game) then i'd be surprised if she wasn't joining in with the chanting. "non fans"? far from it mate. just people who care so much about the club that they finally reached the end of their tether. again. the same ones who were there in 98/99, when, yes, things were a lot worse - but why should we be delighted that we're not quite as bad as we were during the lowest point in the club's history?
given everything, i doubt whether there's a club in football that has as many patient fans as City.
mike fryer
10 (starter) reasons why City and Pearce have lost the plot
1. The Board systematically asset-stripping the club of its best players since 2005.
2. The perception that Wardle and Makin are keeping us afloat with their loans, and that we should be grateful. Boll*cks. Put up or go away. They sanctioned KK's £55m spree and got us into this mess.
3. Beanie the horse
4. £20 for a citycard when there is zero demand.
5. A complete lack of tactical understanding. Pearce and Wigley have not got a clue. It's been obvious to everyone for the last 2 years that we have had no attacking left side, no pace right midfield, no creativity in central midfield, 2nd rate strikers (though I think Samaras will one day realise his potential). We want Sturridge, at least for a few games to see what he is made of.
6. No more Mr Nice Guy, Stu. We want nasty, mean and dirty and the same spirit you displayed as a player. Too many pussycats in the side. No ambition whatsoever. Blackburn away, FA Cup qtr final, not one shot on goal.
7. Chronic injury problems. The players are over-conditioned and training is over-physical. we hardly play any games compared to other permiership clubs. It shouldn't be like this.
8. Nicky weaver ahead of Andreas in goal. Nicky is a great shot stopper, but he has no command of his area. He makes me nervous watching him. Sorry Nicky, I like you, but you are a Championship keeper.
9. Too many Monday night games and 5.15 kick-offs, live on Sky. Never mind the fans, we're Man City
10. Lying about the stadium move. We were assured that the move wouldn't cost the club. Now we have an additional min £25m debt - the difference between manageable and unmanageable, no equity, no atmosphere, no singing, £5 car parking,'do you want fries with that...'.
St Petersburg Blue (now back in Blighty)
Wow! Tensions and frustrations are running high, but isn't that just City for you. I'm often accused of over-simplifying things, but basically we've got a manager who really is a decent bloke doing his best but completely out of his depth, trying to manage and motivate a bunch of largely mediocre players who are millionaires and don't really care, with a Board who give the impression of not caring but probably deep-down do, but are too frightened to show it. We have all the ingrediends of a club just about to go into free-fall.
What more can be said....I'm a great Pearce fan but admit I am totally frustrated by his naive team selections. The one chance to experiment outside of a Premiership match was totally wasted. Mpenza, Sturridge and Miller should have started and shown exactly what they are made of, at least it would have given us some pace up front which is woefully lacking with Corradi and Samaras.
One of the biggest problems is the lack of a quality attacking midfielder to play alongside Barton. We have four on the books one is Abdoun 0 appearances, Miller 3 appearances, Beasley 5 appearances, Sinclair 14 appearances no wonder we can't score goals there is nobody in there to provide them.
Will he dare to eperiment against Chelski... I don't think so ...
St Petersburg Blue - Spot on, but you forgot No 11 - We're sh1te !!
Bluesology - at least now the anger and disappointment has surfaced. Perhaps we might get a reaction from the players. I have to say that yesterday is the most angry i have been for a very long time. Notwithstanding this, we all need to get behind the team on Wednesday. Get sturridge, Abdoun, Trabelsi, Mpenza in from the start. We have nothing to lose, and those four have a lot to prove .... Come on CITY!
forgot to mention my new city blog.. is under construction... sorry for plugging here.. thanks
No worries .... nice to see other City fan blogs
I think the problem is down to the tactics as much as the players:
Even when Beasley came on, Ball seemingly wasn't allowed to go up the pitch and support him.
The tactics are geared around being defensively solid - that means not leaving your position to overlap or run past the strikers (and give Ireland someone to pass to).
Unfortunately, because of these tactics, there is a lot of pressure on the defence - if we concede a goal there is no way we're going to win a game at the moment, so every mistake is scrutinised defensively, and players can't push forwards (in the way we need them to). A more attacking philosophy is required, and that is what Pearce seems unable to bring us.
Whilst I agree with a most of the 10 points from St Petersburg Blue I can't agree with point 10. I can recall being at a City AGM when David Bernstein said that the reason we were taking out the loan with Bear Stearns(I think they were called) was because we needed about £20M to fit out the stadium once it was turned over to us. He also made great play of it being imperative that this loan money would be used well. I can't be the only one there that thought from how he said it that it seemed to be directed at KK. As we know he and Chris Bird were booted out and KK indulged which seems to be the source of our money troubles.
i think the frustration had to come out somewhere, as fans we are completley cut off from airing our vues to club and manager, they disregard any contact from fans, we've had enough of rubbish, clueless, negative football and it was bound to erupt, 7 thou fans made the effort dressed in blue, to watch a team, who had a chance to do themselves proud, as they had talked about the press for weeks, but they let the club down and the fans not even managing a shot on target. they are not 'non' fans they went to the game you didnt...barton is hardley the one to take a moral stance, he stamped on people through the match, continues to dominate the taking of set-pieces and was very poor that game, 1 out 5 passes were completed, from a prof footballer who conisders himself 'england' class that is very poor
Let's hope the MCFC Supporters Trust gets it act together soon, although somehow I think the Club will do their best to ignore them as well
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