The Two Extremes Of Sven's Problem

There's no doubt that the Sven effect has transformed City into a confident and professional outfit this season.

The football is unrecognisable from the dire spectacle City fans had the misfortune to watch in the last 3 or 4 seasons and thank goodness for that. City are riding high in 3rd place and playing some stuff, although I have to say the awful performance against Sunderland on Monday night took me right back to the darkest Pearce and KK days - I suspect that was just a blip on an otherwise wonderful season so far.

As I've said, the performances are a vast improvement, but they can and must still get better and more consistent if we're serious about challenging for Europe.

Sven's forays into the transfer market have been very successful on the whole, but there are two areas that still need to be sorted out, namely the 'keepers jersey and the forward line. The top and the bottom of the team, if you like, have been problematic since Sven took over and even now, they look far from being resolved. The bit in the middle, i.e the back four and the midfield are solid enough, but don't be surprised to see some additional strengthening in January.

Now that Kaspar is away on loan, it's a straight fight between Hart and Isaksson with Hart just edging it at the moment for the green jersey. Joe has done very well for a young lad, but he does obviously lack experience which has shown a few times this season. He will develop into a top, probably future England 'keeper, but it's a big ask for him to play at this level every week at his age.

As for Isaksson, despite him being here for 18 months, we still haven't seen enough of him to make up our minds. It's obviously an uneasy relationship between him and the club as neither Pearce or Eriksson have shown total faith in him - why, I really don't know.

Up front, we are clearly lacking a 20 goal per season striker. Bianchi may be that person, but like Isaksson, we just don't know. Mpenza has toiled hard on his own up front, but he's clearly not cut out to be a lone striker, something that showed against Sunderland, when he didn't win a ball all night. Enough's already been said about Samaras and the best think for him and City would be an early exit elsewhere to rebuild his career. Of the three, I'd probably only keep Bianchi and persevere with him.

Where does that leave us then? Well, with money to spend we need a top international 'keeper and two proven strikers at this level. With the transfer window looming Sven will be linked with every player under the sun and if true to form will buy none of them and pull off a surprise or two when he does eventually dip into the market.

Let's hope he and the backroom team have been hitting YouTube a lot over the last few weeks and have spotted some more talent ;-)

Good luck to the team and the travelling support today - Fratton Park is an awful place to go to at the best of times; I think I'd settle for a draw if I could.

Please Not Lehmann !

A load of speculation today that Sven will be in for aging Arsenal 'keeper Jens Lehmann (now 37) to bring in a bit more experience and increase competition for the No1 jersey.

I really hope this is just a case of wild speculation, as I for one would not like to see him at Eastlands.

I think Sven needs to be very careful with his next wave of signings as so far he's been very fortunate to have assembled a group of players that (a) seem to gel very well together and (b) have a good relationship with the crowd. This has been a significant contributory factor to City's best ever start for over 30 years.

I don't think Lehmann fits either of the above criteria and over the past few season's he has by far been the 'keeper who has irritated and angered the City fans the most with his "gamesmanship" and unsavoury antics, particularly at corners and set pieces around his area - you all know what I mean.

I would think it unlikely that many City fans would welcome his arrival and warm to the man. I can't see that it would do wonders for team spirit in the changing room either.

The 'keepers position at the moment does need to be resolved, but I hope not like this. Both Schmeichel and Hart have done ok so far, but they are still young kids and far from the finished article, but both have enormous potential.

I also increasingly get the feeling that Isaksson seems to be developing into a square peg in a round hole at City, as since his arrival under Pearce, he's had a string of unfortunate injuries and when he has been fit, I've never really felt that the management have shown total confidence in him. We'll just have to wait and see on that one, but what the guy needs for sure is a decent run of games and to stay healthy.

Personally, I'd stick with what we've got for now and have another look at things at the end of the season.

Sven's "Buy British" Strategy Going Well

News this evening that City have made their 3rd summer signing.

Once again, not a name that City had been previously linked with, but instead have swooped for 27-year old Brazilian forward, Geovanni on a free transfer and he joins on just a 1 year deal.

The former Benfica and Barcelona striker is perhaps best known for scoring one of the goals that knocked United out of the Champions League a couple of season's ago - excellent credentials for a City signing.

Having already signed Italian Rolando Bianchi and Swiss Gelson Fernandes, Sven's plan for buying British players seems to progressing nicely.

Expect fellow Brits, Ibrahimovic, Martin Petrov, Lucho Gonzalez, Roque Santa Cruz, John Arne Riise, Ludovic Guily, Thiago Motta and Yakubu to follow to follow suite and sign for City shortly ;-)

Not Impressed By Transfer Targets

Now that the euphoria of Sven's appointment has subsided a bit, the attention is switching to the new signings.

I know that a much of the transfer speculation is generated by groundless media gossip and hype from desperate player agents, but I have to say that I'm a bit worried about a lot of the players we've been linked with so far.

Firstly, and I hope Sven and his team are reading this, please don't sign any United rejects - stories about the imminent signings of Richardson, Alan Smith, Veron, Beckham and Christ help us, even Phil Neville certainly sent my alarm bells ringing.

Sven's first priority has got to be on survival and make sure we don't end up in a relegation scrap again. Therefore, he has got to be very smart with his signings and minimise risks where possible.

What we need first and foremost is a core of quality players with a proven track record in the Premiership. What we don't want is to gamble everything on a load of big money continental unknowns that may or may not work out. City's recent history is littered with failed foreign signings and we can't afford to make that mistake again.

I've read with some concern the likes of Christian Wilhelmsson, Roque Santa Cruz, Steven Pienaar, Rolando Bianchi & Johan Elmander - one of these unknowns maybe, but not all of them! Hopefully, most of these names are just "spoilers" whilst City turn their real attentions elsewhere. I read with amusement that Bernard Mendy has been linked yet again - that's the 4th consecutive year I've seen that one !

Close to home, names including Dudek, Harewood, Ljundberg & Paul Konchesky seem to be cropping up a lot, but these are not the sort of signings many Blues will be expecting - we can do a lot better. Besides, we don't really need another 'keeper, we're already well covered with Hart, Schmeichel and Mentel.

Yakubu though seems a much better bet, although the reported £12m is taking things to the point of being ripped off, and that is something that Sven will have to weigh up carefully; £50m wont go far at that rate.

Hopefully, it's going to be a busy few weeks for City and if you guys have any decent suggestions, stick them on this post - you never know, Sven must just be "googling" for inspiration.

City To Take Hit On Striker ?

Mounting speculation that City are considering cutting their losses on mis-firing striker Georgious Samaras and are prepared to let him go in the summer sales for around £2m.

Big Sam has certainly not enjoyed the best of times at Eastlands since he arrived from Heerenveen about 18 months ago with just 8 goals in 50 premiership appearances.

I've been critical of Samaras in the past, but I think it would be a mistake to let him go for relative peanuts; even if we get Shinawatra's money, City cannot really afford to take such a big hit on a player that we paid £6m for and who still at just 22, has much unfulfilled potential

In Samaras' defence, Psycho played him way out of position for the most part; most people could see he was not a left winger, except for the previous manager it seems. Playing him in unfamiliar roles dented his confidence badly and he went quickly into a downward spiral.

I would say that with the new manager coming in, it would be worth keeping Samaras for a while longer, as he can hardly play much worse than he did last season and perhaps Sven will be able to rejuvenate his career.

If Samaras doesn't rise to the new challenge, then by all means show him the door in the January window. Alternatively, perhaps loaning him out to a club that's going to give him regular football could be an option.

In any event, until City appoint the new manager and signings have been made, the situation is pretty academic; he won't go unless replacements have been signed up.

Torres Snub Highlights Problem For Sven

So we've tried to hijack the Fernando Torres transfer to Liverpool with an audacious £27m bid for the the Athletical Madrid hot-shot? Perhaps I'll wake up and find this has all been a dream.

Seeing £27m bid and City in the same sentence somehow looks uncomfortable and just not right given the lower reaches of the transfer market we're used to operating in.

I'm not sure how serious this alleged "bid" actually was though. It looks more like a PR stunt aimed at raising City's profile in the European transfer market in order to make a bold announcement that we're up amongst the big boys now.

On a more serious note now, the fact that Torres dismissed City's advances instantly without even bothering to talk to us is a timely reminder of the problems Sven may yet face trying to attract "galacticos" to Eastlands.

Sure it sounds like he'll have some financial muscle behind him. However, if and when he takes over the hot-seat, having money is one thing, the Club having enough credibility to convince top european players to come to City is probably something that's not going to happen overnight with players and agents too adopting a watching brief to see who signs first, before they are prepared to commit.

Reports this morning that Yakubu is now a target is probably much more realistic. A fee in the region of £9m is being talked about which seems better value than £27m gamble for someone with no Premiership experience and who could well flop as spectacularly as Morientes did. No point blowing over half the transfer war chest on one player.

Nothing much is going to happen until Shinawatra has acquired the magical 75% of club shares, which could take up to another week. Until then, expect us to be linked to every man and his dog.

Heady days for City fans at the moment, long may it continue !

Sven's Shrinking Transfer Window

After a few weeks of relative inactivity, the transfer window seems to be getting into gear at last with news this morning that Darren Bent has signed for Spurs for what to me seems like an over-priced £16.5m.

Back home at Eastlands, we're still caught up in this frustratingly slow take-over that has put a halt to any signings until it has been concluded. Please, if any shareholders are reading this article, sell your shares today !

What I can't quite get my head round is why Frank's current 70% holding is not enough for Sven to sign on the dotted line and why everything is on hold until another 5% of shares are acquired? I'm sure somebody will explain it strikes me as just a bit of a technicality rather than a showstopper.

Anyways, what this means is that City run the risk of missing out on a crop of decent, available players which must be a worry for Sven if he sees most of his targets snapped up by other clubs who are able to open the cheque book and move quickly.

The additional Sky money will certainly distort the transfer market even more this year, but nevertheless there are still potential bargains to be had if deals can be sorted quickly.

For example, Villa's highly rated young midfielder Steven Davis is available for around £4m, Phil Jagielka is apparently on the verge of joining Everton for around the same fee, Reo-Coker is hovering around the £7-8m mark and David Nugent has still not been snapped up by anyone yet. Kevin Nolan also looks like he could be leaving Bolton and a short move down the road to Eastlands could surely be on the cards.

Bent's arrival at White Hart Lane is likely to signal the departure of Jermaine Defoe who would be a great acquisition for City for the right price.

Another Spurs striker continues to be linked to us, but now that City apparently have a large transfer kitty to give to Sven, hopefully we will not be buying Mido and all the baggage that comes with him - we've had enough of that with Barton.

Whilst on the subject of strikers we don't want to see at City, please not Marlon Harewood - he's just not good enough and his arrival would seriously shorten any honeymoon period Sven is likely to enjoy as City boss. Similarly, no Michael Owen - too expensive, too prone to injury and too high risk; you'd be lucky to get 10-15 games out of him per season - let the Rags have him !

Windows Block City's New Vista

There's been a lot of spleen-venting in the aftermath of yet another transfer window farce, but was it really such a surprise City were not able to attract some much needed quality?

Judging by the volume of mania and depression on the MEN website, it seems to me that some supporters' expectations of City splashing the cash on top quality players in the positions we really need were way off target - just like our current strikers. The reality is that City are never going to set the transfer market alight and for the really top-class players we are simply not a club of choice; it's just the way things are.

Even so, January was nevertheless a particularly underwhelming month. We're in dire need of a proven goal-scorer and creative midfielder and we end up with a defender and a winger. I had a feeling the Mido deal would fall through and I can't say I'm that upset for the reasons I outlined in a previous article. Shame about Collins John though as he's always impressed whenever he played against us.

So where does that leave us? Well pretty much in the same situation at the end of every transfer window; massive fan disenchantment and a squad of players that's poorly equipped to compete properly in the top flight. None of this came as a particular surprise to me - it's exactly as expected, so I'm not quite as depressed as the seeming majority.

Once again, and it's no bad thing, we'll have to rely on the academy to produce the goods for City's future; they've done it before and they'll have to do it again. However, before everyone jumps on the Sturridge bandwagon, he's still a kid and a long way from the finished article. Yes I know he scores a load of goals in the reserves, but his introduction to the 1st team needs to be properly managed, although I don't think it'll be long before we see him on the bench. Personally, I think Etuhu should get the nod over Sturridge at the moment, as he just looks a more rounded striker, although young Daniel is certainly destined for super-stardom.... but not quite yet.

In the meantime, Pearce has no option but to persevere with Corradi and Samaras and just hope they can find some form and confidence.... and a few goals would also be very handy. Pearce will need to prove that his (part-time) coaching and management skills are capable of turning a toothless frontline into a fearsome strikeforce - no I don't believe it either!