accessory

And yet, we went back to Villa Park the following month, with a cup final on the line...and choked. Something we did far too often in big games under Rodgers. Even the FA Cup win owed a hell of a lot to good fortune in the final (Tielemans worldy, Schmeichel masterclass, VAR calls etc). A really clued-up ownership would have moved Rodgers on that summer. He'd reached his limit at City and we should have looked for someone to take us to Champions League level. Instead, we let him sign Soumaré, Daka, Bertrand and Vestergaard - none of whom have exactly enhanced our club. And so the decline began..😟

The fact he's STILL on our payroll, despite all the dross produced in the last six months, suggests he's actually been shown too much respect. But the egos of Aiyawatt and Rudkin stop them from admitting they messed up badly with his appointment.

The club has been a financial black hole for some time. It will remain so for every season we are outside the Premier League. As owner, Aiyawatt has been content to foot the bill for these heavy losses, apparently without any kind of serious scrutiny as to how and why they arose. Maybe a sizeable points deduction, sufficient to scupper any promotion bid, will prompt him to take a closer look at financial affairs. He cannot and won't be in a position to pump money into City forever.

Leicester City were under American ownership from 2007 to 2010. It wasn't a particularly glorious chapter in our history. Ask Manyoo, Arsenal or Chelsea fans how they feel about their clubs' owners and whether they put fans' interests first. Remember, too, that these were the clubs (along with Liverpool) pushing for a megabucks, closed-shop European Super League. American "investors" have no great "love for British sport". Their prime motivation is the rate of financial return perceived to be on offer. For every Ryan Reynolds (who's actually Canadian), there's a Malcolm Glazer or Ellis Short.

No Alan Young in this thread?? Anyone around in 1980 would be amazed by this.. 😯

If his family think Leicester's "too far north", they're hardly likely to look too much at Sunderland. Not that the black cats are likely to put a bid in. They've been rinsed themselves far too often by players of his ilk. Jack Rodwell springs readily to mind.

Souttar won't be fit until the new year. If/when he recovers, he should be a contender for a place in the team at Championship level.

Mr J Clarkson and a Lord Sugar (among many others) would like a word.. BBC presenters - past and present - have long been allowed to vent their spleen on all manner of subjects, as long as their views coincide with those of management and/or the government of the day.

Bellingham needs an op but Madrid have delayed it until after the Club World Cup. Don't think they'd want to see him risked against a pub team or in a friendly..

To be fair, a lot of those were as much due to Sideshow Bob as to Justin.

The Man United that beat us FOUR times during the season with an aggregate score of 13-3? We deserve to be relegated for that stat alone. By the way, Manyoo picked up just 26 points from 32 games vs teams who weren't relegated. They could be in serious trouble next season. 🤞🤞🤞

Way too early to make calls like these. We should know from the last two summers the difference decent (or otherwise) recruitment can make to a season. In our case, even if we find a manager and a quality spine (keeper, centre-back, No. 10 and striker) from somewhere, we still have the threat of a heavy points deduction from a vindictive EFL to deal with.

A title won by King Power's manager and players largely signed with King Power's money. Did you really not expect them to claim their share of the glory? 🙄

Probably so, but his game had started to drop off. Look at the number of soft goals KS let in from set pieces in his last season with us. Given he'd had the same coaches for ten years, and Danny Ward was his main "competition", perhaps it's no surprise he lost focus. In addition he was one of the highest earners at City, at a time when the club was making heavy losses (which have still not been fully explained) and PSR was starting to become an issue. So when the chance came to move him on, Rudkin and Rodgers took it.

35000 (!) Crystal Palace fans would like a word. They made more noise at Wembley - in both the final and semi - than any group of fans have done since the stadium reopened in 2007.

Sunderland's recent history means their fanbase is prepared to give players more time, and allow for a season or two (maybe three?) of failure. Not sure that's the case here..

If fans respond in the numbers we hope, and give the answers we anticipate, then the Trust will have a lot of ammunition to use in both the local and national media. Not sure whether the club's current hierarchy would be able to cope with that. Scrutiny isn't something they're used to, either in Thailand or the UK..

We took Édouard off their hands and helped fund their signing of Nketiah. Maybe Rudkin will claim some credit for their cup win.. 😄

Sunderland have been running on fumes for the last few weeks. Le Bris has run a small, inexperienced squad into the ground and seen the consequences. Not sure that's a model for City to follow in the Championship next season..

Doesn't affect them. TNT have the rights to all the European games.

"TeAmS oUtSiDe ThE bIG SiX cAn'T wIn TrOpHiEs" "MoDeRn FoOtBaLl Is RuBbIsH" Trust we'll see no more of such guff on these boards in future.. But Ben Chilwell will be so pleased to gain an FA Cup winners' medal after all..🤢

A cheating ex-tree. What's not to like? 🙄

The "quality" that saw them turned over by Oxford, Plymouth and Millwall (among others) towards the end of the regular season? Both sides have looked shattered in recent weeks. The outcome at Wembley will depend on whichever one turns up on the day.

Didn't think this was the place to see such touching faith in Jon Rudkin, but there we are.. 😯 Some of us recall a time, long before Seagrave, when the academy was regularly competing for honours (something that hasn't happened at City for a while) and also seeing a stream of players - including Andy King, Joe Mattock and this forum's very own Ashley Chambers - fast-tracked into the first team in exactly the same way as is being demanded now. Unfortunately chronic mismanagement by the club hierarchy at the time ensured that this coincided with our descent into League 1. Do we really want to see history repeat itself? It's argued that Seagrave is showing signs of becoming the English equivalent of La Masia. But the hard evidence to back up such extravagant claims is to date pretty scant. The incoming manager, whoever he may be, must consider whether the likes of Monga, Alves and others are yet capable of dealing with the challenges presented by cold, wet midweek nights at Stoke, Hull, Millwall and all the other lower-league dumps that lie in wait for us next season. Given the ongoing financial pressures on the club, which will only worsen outside the top flight, it's incredibly naïve to suggest that youth development should take priority over results.

Think Gianfranco Zola (among many others) had rather more to do with Deeney's development at Watford.. Meanwhile,Trippier came through Man City's academy before being snapped up by Spurs, so is likely to have learned far more at those clubs than at Burnley.