london_Cider_red

Agree with this, we signed the lad on a free, if he was in league one or two would fit the mould of what we look for to sign. Might not be game ready just yet but no need to slate the lad. Has a solid 10 to even 15 years, no need for decisive action on him now

in opinion (only opinion not fact) to my memory, at the start of the season, we were scoring goals for fun but leaking them almost as much.. our back line and keeper has changed compared to that run (inevitably our tactics with this to) and our defensive game has improved. we’ve changed from a 5 at the back to a four but our CB’s and our keeper have changed. CB’s might not be by choice tbf due to injuries (I’d much rather have Atkinson at lcb than pring) but who would’ve thought at the start of season we would be happy to see vyner and max starting over kalas and Bentley. My point being we may not be world beaters but the current set up has more than shown they are up to the challenge and have fight about them.. and more importantly they can get results. It’s not perfect but we are moving forward and I think max is a part of that. In a short answer to a long ramble max has been an important part of the team this year (or rather second half of the season) and at current fully deserving of his chance, mistakes happen and goalkeepers are highlighted more so due to the normally fatal nature of them but since he’s come in I wouldn’t put him out of place in the championship far less say it’s a problem position for us.

I admit he does more than I gave him credit for but are you really trying to compare Pearson to Fergie ?

Some very fair comments and also a fair bit I didn’t know about, definitely missed the press conference. Thanks for reading and replying ?

I was going to touch on the new CEO being a potential secret weapon in the loan market with his connections in the prem. Decided against it as it would have mainly been speculation on my part. Thanks for the comments though! I'm hoping Pearson makes me look silly by the end of the season but just can't see how.

First time posting a city piece, normally just do it as a hobby and delete it. Thanks so much if you read and hope you guys enjoy it or it at least starts a good debate! Feedback is welcome No wins in five or unbeaten in three? The reign of Pearson shows there is spin to everything. His hands have been tied financially, he knew this going in. The squad to work with was known and has been changed over three windows. With two years under his belt has Pearson given city any reason to believe better times are ahead? It looks increasingly likely the upcoming second anniversary celebrations for Nigel will be in the shadows of the black cloud above his head. His tenure of City has been rocky from the get go. Fans generally afforded him the first six months due to inheriting an expensive and dreadfully underperforming squad. Happy with staying up the previous go round, minds focused nervously forward and a feel of optimism began to grow for the 21/22 season. Now midway through the 22/23 season, one and a half years into Pearson’s 5 year plan, city are sitting in the same position,19th, as after Pearson’s first six months in charge. With a relegation fight looming it is hard to find many areas of improvement since he first took the helm. A case can be made for the football being better, it would have been a challenge to get worse. The few bright sparks over Pearson’s tenure are no doubt the emergence of youth breaking down the first team door. Conway, Semenyo and ‘star boy’ Scott have given City fans joy the past two years and earned Pearson commendation for showing faith in them. An argument can be made that he didn’t have much choice in the matter however, they have repaid the trust tenfold. A second area of improvement, a mixture of on and off field effects, is the shedding of the wage bill and along with it players considered dead wood. How much praise can be heaped on Pearson for this is debatable, it was well-known before Pearson took charge the wage bill was too high and players would need to leave or sign drastically reduced wages. An argument can be made the financial side has largely been down to the level headed stewardship of Gould (congratulations are in order sir) with Pearson left to determine and inform the board of who he does and does not want in the squad. The previous point leads us to another question, Persons roll within the club. He has made it very clear he is not a coach, stating multiple times that he does not get to involved with the training side, as shown by the near army of coaching staff he has brought on board. So what does he do? Pearson is open about not being involved in coaching and being as limited as possible in transfers and negotiations. His track record of being more than willing to throw players under the bus and making fallings out obvious to even the most oblivious suggests he is not a fan of man management either, often forcing him to play players out of position. This leads us to believe tactically (you would hope this would be true at least), he has final say however, in loosing situations the lack of a credible plan B has often frustrated fans. Long balls upfront are often the preferred method of attack, despite not having a target man or even a striker over 6 foot on the pitch. Formation changes tend to happen as much as a unicorn sighting, one such sighting in the last game against Swansea worked beautifully and many are hoping to see this more often… time will tell. Ultimately city’s tactics seem very ridged and predictable, two things you can get away with if you are winning games but to sit 19th doesn’t cover them in glory… sorry Nige. Bringing in 9 players so far Persons transfer activity has caused debate. Some say he has done the best with what he has and others question the money spent on wages. Bringing in Simpson and now Klose and Martins contract extensions, to sit and watch the matches from home surely isn’t the best use of strapped funds. Of all of his business only James and Atkinson play regular first team football, with Naismith regularly injured and tanner on the fringes of the first team. Injuries and player fallings out has further caused debate about lack of willingness to dip into the loan market. It is generally accepted city are unlikely to be able to afford anyone better than we have, but with mounting injuries, likely January exits and players being used as speed bumps for Pearson’s bus, loans would seem like a logical solution to a temporary problem. Taking the impeccable job Tinnion has done for city, working with the equivalent of pennies in football terms, imagine what he could find in premiership academies. Alas it seems this will not come to fruition as the word of Pearson is still firmly in the no loans box. This ideology made sense at the start of the season with a fully fit squad and nearly every place in the team being fought for but the decision to stick with it in the current situation screams of stubbornness more than sense. It seems a point aggravating city fans the most, this is definitely mine, is the lack of accountability shown. Pre and Post-match press conferences have become almost predictable. Players not performing? I’m not in charge of training them. Players not on the pitch or even in the team? They need to work harder. Players playing out of position? I have to work with what I’ve got. Lack of fight shown on the pitch and players looking defeated? The mentality hasn’t changed since I got here. Poor performances and falling down the table? We are where we are. All said with a wry chuckle and almost half a smile on his face, nothing, it seems, is ever down to Pearson. This brings us to the question if none of this is down to Pearson what is he actually doing? All in all there is little evidence of the improvement needed, less belief every game of city being a promotion contender or even just a solid mid table team in the near future. In fact with the recent run of form many fans have both eyes firmly fixed over their shoulders, preparing for an ugly fight to the end of the season.

Yeah I agree with this definitely mate

I’m not saying get rid of him I’m just saying I wouldn’t guarantee him a space in the starting line up right now. In the England side I just haven’t seen that much from Kane tbh, I’m not doubting his ability at all he’s the best striker England has still, but short of penalties I don’t really see what he’s been adding to the national team since the euros, maybe it’s the system or players not being used to him but Kane in England isn’t close to Kane at Spurs.

Going into this World Cup I’m willing to say Bellingham and Rice are the only must start players, to me every other position is up for grabs… saying that we don’t even know what system we’re going to be playing with…

Goals where unlucky but 2nd half we invited the pressure to make them happen, I’d like to see us stand up better to pressure both mentally and physically. Not all doom and gloom I think if it wasn’t for poor officiating and a freak goal we probably would have gone away with 3 points and the outlook would have been much better however, Hull aren't going to set this division alight and much better performances will be needed against stronger opposition. All three new signings looked good couldn’t really fault them. Our centre midfield worries me as we have our two, supposedly, most experienced and influential cm’s playing a full 90 but didn’t seem to have much impact IMO. Think we’ll be okay this season… need a little better luck and a bit more more stones to push on when we go in front though.

Really enjoyed both podcasts with some interesting opinions, I had a thought when you guys where going over the possibility of interest in Weimann. If he does end up leaving this could give us a solution to getting the best out of Scott but potentially give us a headache next summer. I'm sure Scott would love to play behind the strikers but this time next year could be a challenge with no Wiemann. If Semenyo (congrats on the call up for Gahna) and Scott kick on as we’d expect I doubt we’d keep both in the summer... we’d be lucky to keep one in my opinion. This leaves us with the ageing Martin and Wells, correct me if I’m wrong but I believe both their contacts will be up that summer? And our younger players Conway, Bell, Edwards etc. To me this would leave us with two questions to answer: 1. Will we be in a financial position to be able to buy, and pay, 1/2 strikers that can push us up the table? 2. Would 1/2 of our young players be ready to step into regular championship football? This is all hypothetical at the moment and a season is a long time but if we want to be pushing on, the club should be thinking 2/3 summers in advance in my opinion. Time will tell I suppose but I’d be interested if anyone has any thoughts or notes on this?

In all fairness the podcast has said multiple times that Martin is a good player who’s not being used in his best roll. I don’t think ‘getting rid of him’ has ever been mentioned… correct me if I’m wrong but it’s more about giving the poor bloke a rest from being the battering ram of the team every week. This wouldn’t be the worst idea surly? If we play Martin against tougher defences to hold up the ball a bit more and use our quicker players against slower/ less agile defences. I think Martin is a very good player and is mentally and technically astute but he would be better if he could have a rest every now and then. I think he was only rested one game this season and came back the next with a MOTM performance? I’d happily keep Martin until he decides to retire if he continues like he has this season I just think a rest every now and then would do him and the team good

The way it looks at the moment we might have no choice but to at least shuffle the defence. Cundy and Klose out of contract and as far as I’ve heard no talks taking place or planned? Baker as much as I enjoy his performances when he plays we just can’t rely on him playing more than half a season, I doubt Pearson would be looking at him as a reliable part of his plans. Moore and Vyner look to be on their way out by any means necessary. This leaves us with Kalas (I personally doubt anyone will pay a fee we’d accept as well as the wages Kalas is getting so I assume he’s here next season), Idehen and Atkinson as far as I’m aware? As back ups we have possibly Towler but he will need to show vast improvement from his last run out and Pring out of position (if he hasn't fallen out of favour with Pearson that is) and maybe Baker. If we’re sticking with our normal set up I’d say that would leave us looking for at least 1 starting CB with Atkinson and Idehen alternating to get some more experience In them at this level the best option. If this is the case and depending on what we can afforded and who we can persuade I’d be looking for another Baker type personally I think we generally lack a bit of grit/ aggression at times and maybe putting this in the mix on a persistent basis would help with our seeming late stage nerves? There’s lots of assumptions here but I hope the logic behind them makes sense, if any of this is wrong feel free to correct me!

Slightly disappointed in the line up today, was hoping for an appearance from Zack Bell at rwb, allows us to have a look at Scott in the middle again and try something new with little risk. It could potentially save the club time and money in the market looking for a starting/ back up at rwb and worst case we realise he’s not quite ready like we did with Towler (accept we weren’t safe at that point). Even putting him or anyone else on the bench instead of king who looks like he won’t be here next season? I can understand wanting momentum for next season especially with such a short off period this year but surely we need to take advantage of these games to test something different for next season, unless the plan is to carry on like we have this season…