DesertFox
Well-Known Member
Caaaaaaalm down!
I can't believe some of the doom and gloom on here, yet again, after a defeat. It's as if we have a divine right to win every game...
I actually got to see the game today (on TV - even I'm not stupid enough to fly 5000 miles to visit Stoke!) and I thought we were generally the better side, against a team in the top six. Recently we've beaten Watford and Sheff Utd, also both up there.
From what I saw, there is definite improvement from the nonsense that was being served up a year and a half ago. We've now got a much younger team with a much more positive outlook. I also think that CL is improving in his positive team selections and substitutions.
Some of the comments I've seen on here amaze me. If I'd not seen the game I'd have thought that Rab threw three in... the penalty was harsh (as shown on TV - he got the ball, so technically, no penalty - never mind the dive), the second goal was a good, well placed header from almost the edge of the box (some suggest he should have been "commanding his area" but come on, the keeper should never be out there flapping at whipped in crosses - what are you thinking?) and the third was practically a free header from close range, due to some poor marking in the centre of defense. So what, exactly, did Rab do that was so wrong? Maybe a better keeper would have stopped one of them... maybe not. He's not the best keeper we've ever had, but he's far from being the worst as well. I can think of quite a few worse keepers in the 25 years I've been watching City. And which keeper with international experience are we going to get, for free, on small wages, that will be so much better? Come on - I want names!
I'll stick up for Kisnorbo as well. OK, as some have said, he's "not a footballer" but that's not his job - it's a thankless, undervalued and mostly overlooked task, but there has to be someone in there fighting, breaking things up, tracking back, etc, and I thought he did that fairly well today. Not spectacular - we'll never see anything spectacular from him - but reasonably effective. Again, we've had much better, but when Joey was trying to do that job a year ago, we had a lot worse.
And my word, how he's come on! Joey was great today. Man of the match. I thought Stearman did OK as well - some have said he was awful, but I must have missed that part. An excellent young prospect. Hume impressed me. And I thought Elvis did OK also; lightning pace that frightens defenders and he held it up fairly well at times - but once again, we know what to expect from him now, and what not to expect (like clinical finishing, staying onside). Overall his good points far outweigh his bad points and he's an asset to the squad.
Mind you, Sylla was shite in all honesty. I would have taken him off instead of Elvis, and he ought to be dropped (preferably from a great height). First time I've seen Gerrbrand and it was, by all accounts, his worst performance. But he showed the sort of composure people have been talking about. Perhaps a bit too composed, verging on the horizontal at times? Smith is pure class, but we've got no chance of keeping him. He does need to remember he has team mates sometimes.
On the whole, whilst the result was shite, the performance was not too shabby and I think we're heading in the right direction. For a team that's bottom half of the Championship without a pot to piss in, I think we're pretty close to coming good.
I'm not saying that everything in the garden is rosy, far from it: we don't actually have a garden at the moment, it was repossessed along with Gerry Taggart's XXL shorts and Ian Marshall's mullet, and we're now living in a shared bedsit with some smelly bloke called Keith. A lot of people could do with remembering the situation we are in and have been in for several years.
What I'm trying to say is, whilst highly frustrating, I think CL is doing his job and we are recovering from the shower of shite that MA left us with. It's a slow, dirty job, but it's being done and we'll be thankful in a year's time that CL came here to sort this mess out.
Keep the f.... oh, no, that's the old one, ain't it? :icon_eek:
I can't believe some of the doom and gloom on here, yet again, after a defeat. It's as if we have a divine right to win every game...
I actually got to see the game today (on TV - even I'm not stupid enough to fly 5000 miles to visit Stoke!) and I thought we were generally the better side, against a team in the top six. Recently we've beaten Watford and Sheff Utd, also both up there.
From what I saw, there is definite improvement from the nonsense that was being served up a year and a half ago. We've now got a much younger team with a much more positive outlook. I also think that CL is improving in his positive team selections and substitutions.
Some of the comments I've seen on here amaze me. If I'd not seen the game I'd have thought that Rab threw three in... the penalty was harsh (as shown on TV - he got the ball, so technically, no penalty - never mind the dive), the second goal was a good, well placed header from almost the edge of the box (some suggest he should have been "commanding his area" but come on, the keeper should never be out there flapping at whipped in crosses - what are you thinking?) and the third was practically a free header from close range, due to some poor marking in the centre of defense. So what, exactly, did Rab do that was so wrong? Maybe a better keeper would have stopped one of them... maybe not. He's not the best keeper we've ever had, but he's far from being the worst as well. I can think of quite a few worse keepers in the 25 years I've been watching City. And which keeper with international experience are we going to get, for free, on small wages, that will be so much better? Come on - I want names!
I'll stick up for Kisnorbo as well. OK, as some have said, he's "not a footballer" but that's not his job - it's a thankless, undervalued and mostly overlooked task, but there has to be someone in there fighting, breaking things up, tracking back, etc, and I thought he did that fairly well today. Not spectacular - we'll never see anything spectacular from him - but reasonably effective. Again, we've had much better, but when Joey was trying to do that job a year ago, we had a lot worse.
And my word, how he's come on! Joey was great today. Man of the match. I thought Stearman did OK as well - some have said he was awful, but I must have missed that part. An excellent young prospect. Hume impressed me. And I thought Elvis did OK also; lightning pace that frightens defenders and he held it up fairly well at times - but once again, we know what to expect from him now, and what not to expect (like clinical finishing, staying onside). Overall his good points far outweigh his bad points and he's an asset to the squad.
Mind you, Sylla was shite in all honesty. I would have taken him off instead of Elvis, and he ought to be dropped (preferably from a great height). First time I've seen Gerrbrand and it was, by all accounts, his worst performance. But he showed the sort of composure people have been talking about. Perhaps a bit too composed, verging on the horizontal at times? Smith is pure class, but we've got no chance of keeping him. He does need to remember he has team mates sometimes.
On the whole, whilst the result was shite, the performance was not too shabby and I think we're heading in the right direction. For a team that's bottom half of the Championship without a pot to piss in, I think we're pretty close to coming good.
I'm not saying that everything in the garden is rosy, far from it: we don't actually have a garden at the moment, it was repossessed along with Gerry Taggart's XXL shorts and Ian Marshall's mullet, and we're now living in a shared bedsit with some smelly bloke called Keith. A lot of people could do with remembering the situation we are in and have been in for several years.
What I'm trying to say is, whilst highly frustrating, I think CL is doing his job and we are recovering from the shower of shite that MA left us with. It's a slow, dirty job, but it's being done and we'll be thankful in a year's time that CL came here to sort this mess out.
Keep the f.... oh, no, that's the old one, ain't it? :icon_eek:
exactly mate
