gerblod

Pope's Argentinian - probably supports San Lorenzo. There's a Buddhist, a Copt and other reps of different faiths. Vatican is in Rome - so Roma/Lazio oriented. I suppose the Buddhist is now City's representative on Earth. It would take a miracle to shift BullShit to one of the elite Italian teams and that's the Catholic's speciality.

If he displays the right qualities, then he might not need loadsamoney to galvanise players who've lost their motivation. All the talk about, for example, Faes being a disaster belies the fact that he's not a disaster playing for Belgium. You can pick out individuals sine die, but ultimately, it's a team game. I don't want to bring Clough into the issue, but he's the best example of a manager turning bad boys and players with unrealised potential or drop in form into a cohesive team - by force of personality. Pearson had that and it created what eventually happened in 2015-2016. Cooper couldn't energise the post-Maresca team. But Nistelrooy has got to reveal those qualities. Ruthlessness will be one and sensivity will be another. You treat each player according to his personality and perspective. Money only solves problems if it's used wisely.

Post Cooper, pre Nistelrooy meltdown! What did you all expect - that a rudderless team was going to suddenly come to life during the one game where the reins were handed to a bloke who's not a manager? Nistelrooy will now know the task ahead of him. Let's hope that he displays the necessary strength of character and charisma to bring player egos into line and the tactical nouse to choose the optimum team and make changes when necessary - not when the clock dictates. I'm hopeful - not much, but his reputation seems to indicate a forceful man who is demanding of his players. It's what's needed.

I couldn't work out who "tater peeler" was until I looked back at the list of City managers. As soon as I saw the name Peter Taylor I laughed me head off. I bet he was shit at spud bashing as well.

Overjoyed for a moment and then the reality of who comes next brought me down to earth. I thought appointing him was an uninspiring choice from the off, and results have confirmed it. How good is Puel now looking in comparison to Cooper? Maresca left a team that was confident (although snatching KDH was a shit way of saying ta-ta) and now that confidence needs rebuilding and a semblance of stability bringing back to the squad. I got the feeling he was playing whack-a-mole - picking random players to see if x or y combination worked. Fatawu is a huge loss for us an all. We need someone who's a leader and a steadying influence - who doesn't look at his watch when choosing to sub. Moyes would be an excellent choice. Let's hope the board can make a more imaginative choice this time round. Everyone cross fingers.

We have "quality" in the squad. We had more when we went down - Madders, KDH & Harvey B. in particular. Shit manager then, shit manager now. Mads, Fatawu, Wilf, Buonanotte, Faes, Winks, Vards - all capable of excellent play. Now, hopefully, two years late, Soumare has finally (apparently) adjusted to life at City. Ayew is turning out to be valuable as well. It's not bad players, it's the way they're asked to perform and when they're subbed. The Prem is replete with excellent players, otherwise it wouldn't be the Prem. Trouble is, it's got its fair share of mediocre managers. Defeats logic how poor managers even get into the Prem. Maybe our 'board' are just risk averse, but end up taking bigger risks by their choice of managers. I'm always going to maintain that we won the Cup in spite of Rodgers. If Soumare can keep up his performances then we might have found the key to avoiding relegation - but only if Cooperman allows him the opportunity.

Unfortunately you might be right. Fatawu gets stuck in and he has the energy to get up and down the line. Faes's consistency lets him down, but he still our best central defender. Wilf - I'd put him as a libero front and centre of defence. Then maybe Vestergaard could provide solidity even if he lacks mobility. Buonanotte is a given and Vardy, of course. Who chose Cooper? If it was Rudkin...well, that wouldn't surprise me. Decent club, some decent players but still can't attract a Premier standard manager. Just like Rodgers - incapable of creative selections and timely subs. I was beginning to get cautiously confident, but now I do fear relegation.

I thought he was a mediocre choice, showing the club was hoping his experience was preferable to taking a chance on someone with ambition and nerve. If we stay up it will be in spite of him rather than because of him. I was overjoyed that we signed Fatawu - I thought he and Mavadidi offered real threat on both wings. Then Fatawu finds himself benched. At best Ayew is a sub rather than a starter. For me, as a fresh manager you'd continue as you left off last season (minus those who left) and then adjust as you get to know the players and you assess the first half dozen results. I think Cooper is comfortable up until kick off and then freezes when sixty minutes arrives. We'll either keep on gathering draws and the occasional win or find ourselves slowly sinking - with the 'board' making a last-minute decision to get a survival manager in.

I think we needed one more season of Maresca - to make the transition as smoothly as possible - not unsettling any of our better players who might feel a greater attraction to moving to a 'bigger' club and attracting players to a demonstrably successful club. I dislike Chelsea as a club and I don't want him to succeed there. The fact that they nicked Kanté will always rankle with me, but generally I will always associate them with all the other success at any cost teams...and Abramovitch.

His grandfather is Frank Gray and - which makes his great-uncle Eddie Gray. His dad is Andy Gray (not that Andy Gray) who started at Leeds. Eddie and Frank were part of Don Revie's exceptional Leeds side of the 1970s.

The Peter Principle. You reach the your highest level of competence within an organisation and then some bright spark promotes you - thinking you'll be ok one level higher. Boris the Johnson managed to jump several levels of incompetence before he was rumbled. Liz Truss must have been fast-tracked way beyond any plausible promotion! I knew a guy who got a job on the basis of a good interview. It took a little too much time for his interviewers to realise the booboo they'd made - he'd worked his probation period through by then. Maybe City should have started the policy of a probationary period for a number of their signings over the last ten years 😕😆🤭🙄.

In a northerly direction, mefears.

I don't believe the lovely Grace would do a bikini shoot for any reason. She's not that kind of woman.

For me his problem was that his strong accent created difficulties with communication in English. For that reason he wouldn't be ideal in any capacity in an English speaking country. But hating him would have been the last emotion he caused me to feel. Disappointment and frustration sure but hatred is a bit extreme. I disliked Rodgers eventually - for the same reasons I dislike Rudkin and Whelan - they failed to perform well at their designated tasks and had/have been well paid for underperforming.

An erudite argument indeed, but rather specious. Depreciation applies to cars and office equipment more than athletes and you appear to be applying a sell-by date to him as if he were a time-limited asset rather than a professional footballer still in possession of the ability to score and assist in the scoring of goals.

That's a 'fact' is it? It's your opinion - nothing more than that. He may be slower and he might have lost some of his timing, but he's still capable of being a thorn in the side of a number of Premier defences. I'll never understand the alacrity with which certain 'fans' are willing to write him off. Who has been a better striker than he has been this season - Daka, Cannon, Iheanacho?

I've done my best to ignore his existence. He's been an embarrassment to the club - as a drain on the wage bill and as a lazy bugger on the pitch. When players who do put a shift in see this slug doing nothing, then there's going to be ill-feeling in the squad. Next season we'll need lads who are committed to City - even a free transfer would be advantageous.

Exactly this. Survival in the next two seasons made surer by astute reinforcement of key positions. Money will be tight, but I foresee Maresca becoming a more capable manager, probably able to utilise the squad to face Premier challenges more competitively. I don't want to see us scrambling to avoid the drop - that just puts us in an exhausting position. So survival plus is the first priority. The first few weeks are going to be critical in this. I trust the planning has started already and encompasses every facet of the KP concern. All the hawks and vultures will be watching for City getting various sanctions from the powers that be. The squad needs to be insulated from that faff. If we can keep most or all of the current squad then that's a good basis for '25-'26 - despite all the critics on here who would like to see certain players go.

Television works on the basis of advertising returns. Leicester has a huge catchment area compared to Ipswich. They'd have got more 'bums on seats' showing our game. But maybe they really went for football relevance.

To get back up as Champions has been a huge feat, considering the shambles Rodgers snuck away from. A manager new to management, a hugely changed side and the expectation we might be floundering in mid-table by October. All that has been avoided. Remember that a good manager creates good teams - not good players. Cloughie could turn a wayward player into an accomplished one and Fergie could keep a player performing. Maresca has yet one more task to perform - to consolidate our position in the Prem. We'll see if he's capable of that. Since Vichai's death, though, there has been floundering at board 'level'. I don't doubt Top's love for the team and club, but Rudkin and Whelan needed a stronger figure at the helm. They need to go. The club finances have been allowed to 'wander' until we've become vulnerable to sanctions. As to today the miserable ***** have been given their weekly reasons to complain. City were the better side but the chances went begging. Take off our most potent player in a gesture to sentiment, which most of us wanted, and the whingers get what they want. But the goals were opportunistic in the extreme and scored by an exceptionally fast and confident bloke, as we were pressing for our own score. Maresca gave players a run out to participate in the final game of a great season. We got stung for it. The moaners need to have a stage to express their frustrations. They'll gather where one exists to allow them to vent.

Two Cup Finals in 1961 and 1963. One lost because we played with a badly injured Len Chalmers against the best Spurs side in history and one lost to an underdog United team. I think Vichai fundamentally changed the perception of City.

Less yabber Sky. I'm getting impatient.

And yer punctuation.

Two effective wingers. Vardy still proving all his many critics wrong. KDH continuing to develop into a skilled and creative attacking midfielder. Seeing Ricky getting back to his best. Getting shut of Rodgers. Vesty off the scrapheap. Hamza becoming more of an asset. Wilf playing in a new rôle and getting goals. The joy of win after win - until the blip. Getting promotion - with reservations about the money-dominated nature of the Prem. Seeing more matches on NOW. That's all, folks

All being well the title will be in the bag on Monday - Leicestershire expects and all that. That'll give us another title, if not as glorious as our others, which is most second tier titles - the yo-yo Cup. Eight times. This will outdo Man City - who don't look like being relegated for the next thirty seasons. Let's hope we don't soon get the opportunity to make it nine.