Last 10 games

[Loosey Boy]

13 hours ago, Bar BS3 said:

This is actually quite interesting - in that looking at it over the last 10 games, it generally worrying & concerning, to most people. 

Yet, questioning NP, after a not dissimilar record over the past 20 months in charge (no idea what it actually works out at - but it's certainly not good!) people kick off and tell you it's all part of a longer term plan..! 

Yes I get the spending restrictions & I've been pleased to see a general improvement of performance - but we've got a pretty decent squad (far better than it's going to be next season IMHO) and the only thing we've seen any consistency in, is failing to get the best out of them & failing to show any consistent game plan or shape. 

Despite what some think, because I liked LJ - I want NP to succeed. Obviously, I want any City manager to succeed - but NP's record is very little short of atrocious here - yet many seem to think he's some sort of messiah. 

It's genuinely baffling. 

Give NP just a small slice of the money spent during LJ tenure and we’d be much better off. Give him all of what LJ spent and I genuinely believe that we’d be finishing higher than 8th.

Instead, NP and RG have had to unravel the mess (financial and cultural) left behind by LJ and MA.

Edited November 5, 2022 by Loosey Boy

[Davefevs]

13 hours ago, Bar BS3 said:

Despite what some think, because I liked LJ - I want NP to succeed. Obviously, I want any City manager to succeed - but NP's record is very little short of atrocious here - yet many seem to think he's some sort of messiah. 

It’s not atrocious if you apply some context to it!!!!

[Bris Red]

37 minutes ago, Loosey Boy said:

Give NP just a small slice of the money spent during LJ tenure and we’d be much better off. Give him all of what LJ spent and I genuinely believe that we’d be finishing higher than 8th.

Instead, NP and RG have had to unravel the mess (financial and cultural) left behind by LJ and MA.

It’s a scary thought to imagine what Pearson could have done with the money that was squandered by those 2 idiots.

[Bar BS3]

4 hours ago, Loosey Boy said:

Give NP just a small slice of the money spent during LJ tenure and we’d be much better off. Give him all of what LJ spent and I genuinely believe that we’d be finishing higher than 8th.

Instead, NP and RG have had to unravel the mess (financial and cultural) left behind by LJ and MA.

I get that. I don't know why people keep saying this. 

We all know he's had the job at a difficult time financially. 

Regardless, his record is dreadful, overall & I personally don't think he makes the best of - or gets the best out of what we do have available. 

Are there really many instances where anyone would come away saying we did a number on a team tactically..? 

It seems that when we scrape the odd result, it's down to either good luck, or an exceptional performance in key areas. There seems little plan, or genuine improvement overall - yet I think we've got a far better team/squad now, than we are likely yo have next season. 

 

I said at the end of last season, that it's been dreadful - but let's see what the Summer transfer window brings. 

Give NP a good amount of time to prove there's some progress happening - & suggested that maybe the world Cup break was a good point to assess that progress. 

If we lose these next 2 games, we could go into the world Cup break, bang in a relegation scrap - THAT is not good enough, imo. 

I thought we were showing some real, genuine progress upto the Burnley game. 

Since then it's reverted to what we were seeing for much of last season. 

A little bit better, perhaps, but there's no way in this world that we should be around the relegation zone, with the talent that we have at the present time. None atall & the buck for that has to stop with the manager. 

[Bar BS3]

4 hours ago, Davefevs said:

It’s not atrocious if you apply some context to it!!!!

We've lost half of his games in charge and average 1.1 points per game in his time here. 

That is shite mate. No 2 ways about it..! 

[Bar BS3]

3 hours ago, Bris Red said:

It’s a scary thought to imagine what Pearson could have done with the money that was squandered by those 2 idiots.

Based on what..? Which of NP's signings give you any confidence that he'd have done much better with those funds at his disposal..? 

Yes, obviously I know he's been limited with transfer funds - but the OOC market is massive now & all summer we were told we'd got the players that he wanted. 

Some clubs are going to get the likes of Wells, Massengo, Bentley, Dasilva, Kalas off us for free, in the not too distant future. 

Does his record here give you any confidence that he's going to improve on what we've got here at the moment..? 

[Davefevs]

10 minutes ago, Bar BS3 said:

We've lost half of his games in charge and average 1.1 points per game in his time here. 

That is shite mate. No 2 ways about it..! 

Again, no context applied by you.  Hey-ho.  All about opinions.

[Davefevs]

22 minutes ago, Bar BS3 said:

I get that. I don't know why people keep saying this. 

We all know he's had the job at a difficult time financially. 

Regardless, his record is dreadful, overall & I personally don't think he makes the best of - or gets the best out of what we do have available. 

Are there really many instances where anyone would come away saying we did a number on a team tactically..? 

It seems that when we scrape the odd result, it's down to either good luck, or an exceptional performance in key areas. There seems little plan, or genuine improvement overall - yet I think we've got a far better team/squad now, than we are likely yo have next season. 

 

I said at the end of last season, that it's been dreadful - but let's see what the Summer transfer window brings. 

Give NP a good amount of time to prove there's some progress happening - & suggested that maybe the world Cup break was a good point to assess that progress. 

If we lose these next 2 games, we could go into the world Cup break, bang in a relegation scrap - THAT is not good enough, imo. 

I thought we were showing some real, genuine progress upto the Burnley game. 

Since then it's reverted to what we were seeing for much of last season. 

A little bit better, perhaps, but there's no way in this world that we should be around the relegation zone, with the talent that we have at the present time. None atall & the buck for that has to stop with the manager. 

So you do understand the context, but then make no allowance for it.

Its a squad of academy youngsters, a few lower league signings (one for a fee, one for compo) and then a few older freebies on top of the players that were still under contract…which he’s gradually managed to remove several from an extortionate wage bill.

But, as my previous post, fine if that’s your opinion.

[Bar BS3]

5 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

So you do understand the context, but then make no allowance for it.

Its a squad of academy youngsters, a few lower league signings (one for a fee, one for compo) and then a few older freebies on top of the players that were still under contract…which he’s gradually managed to remove several from an extortionate wage bill.

But, as my previous post, fine if that’s your opinion.

You think he's getting the best out of them..? 

[Davefevs]

1 minute ago, Bar BS3 said:

You think he's getting the best out of them..? 

Nope, not in all in cases, but I don’t expect him to get the “best”, I expect him to get acceptable levels out of them, and I think he does that.  I look at Vyner and think he’s getting way better performances out of him, as an example.  I look at Weimann this season and maybe not…but last season he did.

But overall I’m happy with how he’s doing.

[Bar BS3]

10 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Nope, not in all in cases, but I don’t expect him to get the “best”, I expect him to get acceptable levels out of them, and I think he does that.  I look at Vyner and think he’s getting way better performances out of him, as an example.  I look at Weimann this season and maybe not…but last season he did.

But overall I’m happy with how he’s doing.

As you say, different opinions. 

I don't believe that going into the world Cup break in or worryingly close to the relegation zone is acceptable. 

[Guest]

Never mind 10 games, we have now played 20games and managed 23pts out of 60 possible. We have played more games than everyone below us and nearly all of them can overtake us if they win that game in hand.

I hear/read a lot about ah well there are worse teams than us that will go down, who? WBA, Wigan, Rotherham and Coventry were favs to at the start... now?

NP`s time at Leicester seems to have given him a golden ticket and Nige must not be questioned/doubted....ok we are possibly 1 more defeat from a relegation spot...but hey we are too good to go down.

There have been countless given "reasons" why we are where we are prev poor management, refs, bad luck, injuries, no money available etc, etc

This "bed wetter" is worried, very worried seem to be in the minority though, so it seems we will be playing championship football again next season, ok then great.

[Numero Uno]

21 minutes ago, gl2 said:

Never mind 10 games, we have now played 20games and managed 23pts out of 60 possible. We have played more games than everyone below us and nearly all of them can overtake us if they win that game in hand.

I hear/read a lot about ah well there are worse teams than us that will go down, who? WBA, Wigan, Rotherham and Coventry were favs to at the start... now?

NP`s time at Leicester seems to have given him a golden ticket and Nige must not be questioned/doubted....ok we are possibly 1 more defeat from a relegation spot...but hey we are too good to go down.

There have been countless given "reasons" why we are where we are prev poor management, refs, bad luck, injuries, no money available etc, etc

This "bed wetter" is worried, very worried seem to be in the minority though, so it seems we will be playing championship football again next season, ok then great.

The fact that these teams are below us suggests some of them won’t win that game in hand. In fact teams may be playing each other as their game in hand.

[Bar BS3]

22 minutes ago, gl2 said:

Never mind 10 games, we have now played 20games and managed 23pts out of 60 possible. We have played more games than everyone below us and nearly all of them can overtake us if they win that game in hand.

I hear/read a lot about ah well there are worse teams than us that will go down, who? WBA, Wigan, Rotherham and Coventry were favs to at the start... now?

NP`s time at Leicester seems to have given him a golden ticket and Nige must not be questioned/doubted....ok we are possibly 1 more defeat from a relegation spot...but hey we are too good to go down.

There have been countless given "reasons" why we are where we are prev poor management, refs, bad luck, injuries, no money available etc, etc

This "bed wetter" is worried, very worried seem to be in the minority though, so it seems we will be playing championship football again next season, ok then great.

I really hope people point back at us at the end of the season & can say "see you were both bed wetters & should have had more faith in NP" I really, really do! 

Do I think we will have to hold our hands up & say "yes, sorry, we panicked way too early - looks a bit stupid now"...? - not at the moment, no. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Numero Uno said:

The fact that these teams are below us suggests some of them won’t win that game in hand. In fact teams may be playing each other as their game in hand.

ok forget the game in hand, (which does put us in a false position as "some of them will win and pass us); WE ARE 3PTS from the relegation spots and no-one seems to bothered because its too early bla, bla, ,injuries,refs, fine lines etc,etc

this is not a great situation "Nige" after nearly 2yrs in charge; dont blame you though I look to the one who employed/chose those that went before you.......oh wait a minute who asked you here?

Just now, gl2 said:

 

 

Edited November 5, 2022 by gl2

[TheReds]

2 hours ago, gl2 said:

Never mind 10 games, we have now played 20games and managed 23pts out of 60 possible. We have played more games than everyone below us and nearly all of them can overtake us if they win that game in hand.

I hear/read a lot about ah well there are worse teams than us that will go down, who? WBA, Wigan, Rotherham and Coventry were favs to at the start... now?

NP`s time at Leicester seems to have given him a golden ticket and Nige must not be questioned/doubted....ok we are possibly 1 more defeat from a relegation spot...but hey we are too good to go down.

There have been countless given "reasons" why we are where we are prev poor management, refs, bad luck, injuries, no money available etc, etc

This "bed wetter" is worried, very worried seem to be in the minority though, so it seems we will be playing championship football again next season, ok then great.

There were 3 teams shorter prices than us to go down at the start of the season. Rotherham, Birmingham and Reading, unsure why you would think one of the favs for promotion (WBA) would be relegation favs.

All ifs and buts, but if we would have beat Sheff United the other night when we really should have, and we would be sat in the top half, would you be so worried and negative?

Anyone can question NP, anyone can back him. There are some very valid "countless" reasons as well.

How much money has NP taken off the wage bill in your opinion with all the players he HAD to get rid of and how much money has he spent in transfers? How many youngsters has he given game time to and brought through?

How much money did LJ get given to spend on "clubs in the bag", and how do you think that has affected what NP could have done over the last 2 years if he had the same sort of freedom, rather than the complete opposite. Maybe if he was shopping for players at the higher end with more money to spend, rather than trying to find and improve cheaper lower league players or youngsters coming through the ranks here?

We may well be in trouble and could possibly go down as nothing is a certainty. But I think the positivity is at least at times we look a huge threat, we have shown we can compete against teams nearer the top, and at times we have played some fantastic stuff creating plenty of chances and scoring goals. Nobody will disagree that we concede soft goals and we are massively inconsistent, but there are plenty of positive signs there that we can be very good on our day. We need more consistency and Naismith is a huge miss currently, even though he has been at fault for a few goals. I do think this season we will be fine, if we get past FFP and sell Scott/Semenyo for crazy money and NP gets given a fair chunk of that I really think the future is looking good. 

[Guest]

8 hours ago, TheReds said:

There were 3 teams shorter prices than us to go down at the start of the season. Rotherham, Birmingham and Reading, unsure why you would think one of the favs for promotion (WBA) would be relegation favs.

All ifs and buts, but if we would have beat Sheff United the other night when we really should have, and we would be sat in the top half, would you be so worried and negative?

Anyone can question NP, anyone can back him. There are some very valid "countless" reasons as well.

How much money has NP taken off the wage bill in your opinion with all the players he HAD to get rid of and how much money has he spent in transfers? How many youngsters has he given game time to and brought through?

How much money did LJ get given to spend on "clubs in the bag", and how do you think that has affected what NP could have done over the last 2 years if he had the same sort of freedom, rather than the complete opposite. Maybe if he was shopping for players at the higher end with more money to spend, rather than trying to find and improve cheaper lower league players or youngsters coming through the ranks here?

We may well be in trouble and could possibly go down as nothing is a certainty. But I think the positivity is at least at times we look a huge threat, we have shown we can compete against teams nearer the top, and at times we have played some fantastic stuff creating plenty of chances and scoring goals. Nobody will disagree that we concede soft goals and we are massively inconsistent, but there are plenty of positive signs there that we can be very good on our day. We need more consistency and Naismith is a huge miss currently, even though he has been at fault for a few goals. I do think this season we will be fine, if we get past FFP and sell Scott/Semenyo for crazy money and NP gets given a fair chunk of that I really think the future is looking good. 

Only mentioned WBA as they are currently in a relegation place, its not NP that took players off the wage bill and brought in many of the youngsters that were already here. Any manager brought in would of had to work under the same restraints. Prev poor managers employed/picked by SL got us to where we are today and as said NP is the latest but working under a tighter remit than previous ones.

If, ifs and buts were points in your world we would be top of the league, fact is we are 3pts from the drop zone having played a game more than the teams below us; yes we have played "some fantastic stuff" but have also produced non league standard errors. If we dont convert that fantastic stuff into points pretty quick we could well be playing in the div below next season.

Notice you have left one of our prev great hopes Massengo off your short "crazy money" list another fallen by the wayside and cannot now even get on the bench. Vyner; hero to zero in just one game kinda sums us up at the moment, when we are good we a very good when we are bad we are rubbish. Need to convert good or bad into points very soon....thats all.

Look around us in the league who do you think will be the 3 to go this season cant see any of the favs you mentioned going down atm. Hull/Wigan battled hard for a point yesterday as we did, Coventry beat our next opponents Watford away?

Edited November 6, 2022 by gl2

[TheReds]

11 minutes ago, gl2 said:

Only mentioned WBA as they are currently in a relegation place, its not NP that took players off the wage bill and brought in many of the youngsters that were already here. Any manager brought in would of had to work under the same restraints. Prev poor managers employed/picked by SL got us to where we are today and as said NP is the latest but working under a tighter remit than previous ones.

If, ifs and buts were points in your world we would be top of the league, fact is we are 3pts from the drop zone having played a game more than the teams below us; yes we have played "some fantastic stuff" but have also produced non league standard errors. If we dont convert that fantastic stuff into points pretty quick we could well be playing in the div below next season.

Notice you have left one of our prev great hopes Massengo off your short "crazy money" list another fallen by the wayside and cannot now even get on the bench. Vyner; hero to zero in just one game kinda sums us up at the moment, when we are good we a very good when we are bad we are rubbish. Need to convert good or bad into points very soon....thats all.

Look around us in the league who do you think will be the 3 to go this season cant see any of the favs you mentioned going down atm.

You mentioned favs for relegation at the start, 2 from your 3 were not favs from the start, so I am unsure why you have mentioned them in the first place. 

It's not NP that took players off the wage bill? Please explain.

You mention SL has got it here with previous manager choices, and NP has to work under a tighter remit, yet you are saying that it is Pearsons fault where we are. You know what he inherited, yet are simply looking at the table and you seem to be looking at it per game/result.

If you cannot see the difference between now and when Holden left (some of the worst football I have ever seen consistently), and the make up of the club then I am unsure where this conversation is going. Of course there are ifs and buts, you keep mentioning the fact we are 3 points off relegation, would you be moaning if we were top half with just 3 points more - that we have thoroughly deserved? How many games have we had poor decisions go our way where we have gained points from, just name a few. There are multiple games this season that decisions have gone against us, so the bigger picture has to be seen. 

Why would I add Massengo on my crazy money list, when he won't go for crazy money? I am guessing he cannot get in the side because he doesn't want to be here and sign a new contract, therefore why play a player who wants out? It is also a short list as we do not have any other players that will go for crazy money - which isn't really backing up your argument of we should be doing a lot better.

Why can't you see Rotherham going down seeing as they have 1 less point than us in the last 10 games? Hull are in a right mess, Wigan struggling, Huddersfield could already be gone, Reading could easily slide down the table, in fact the League is so tight I wouldn't be surprised whoever went down really. I never said any of the favs I mentioned would go down, it's a long season of 46 games, you mentioned favs and I was simply pointing out you were wrong as they weren't the favs at the start. 

I don't think we will go down as there are enough signs that we can be very good on our day, we are just inconsistent and need to sort out the poor goals we are conceding.

We still could go down though, but half the League is probably in that bracket though.

[Fuber]

18 hours ago, Bar BS3 said:

Based on what..? Which of NP's signings give you any confidence that he'd have done much better with those funds at his disposal..? 

Yes, obviously I know he's been limited with transfer funds - but the OOC market is massive now & all summer we were told we'd got the players that he wanted. 

Some clubs are going to get the likes of Wells, Massengo, Bentley, Dasilva, Kalas off us for free, in the not too distant future. 

Does his record here give you any confidence that he's going to improve on what we've got here at the moment..? 

- Atkinson. The only player signd for fee in his tenure, bought for the same figure as O'Dowda, Engvall, and humorous other examples of failed LJ/MA signings.

- We're cutting wages still. Ergo we can't beat out teams with lesser overheads. Other teams did this process years ago, such as QPR.

- Good riddance to all of them. None of whom are (ultimately) value for money and on bloated wages, or, in HNMs case, doesn't want to be here. As proven by O'Leary, Vyner, Conway, and Pring, there's much better value out there. I.e. If you believe available sources, Bents is on 3x what Max is.

The only one of them I'd keep, on greatly reduced terms, is Wells. I cant say I'd be sad to see the rest leave whatsoever. I'd try getting rid of Kalas and Bents for free in Jan, if it meant we could get a couple of loans in on lesser wages.

[NcnsBcfc]

12 hours ago, gl2 said:

ok forget the game in hand, (which does put us in a false position as "some of them will win and pass us); WE ARE 3PTS from the relegation spots and no-one seems to bothered because its too early bla, bla, ,injuries,refs, fine lines etc,etc

this is not a great situation "Nige" after nearly 2yrs in charge; dont blame you though I look to the one who employed/chose those that went before you.......oh wait a minute who asked you here?

 

Whilst I get that we are only 3 points off relegation, there are only 4 points covering 11 teams (13th down to 23rd). We are not alone in being in this position.

It's a crazy league this season. Who would have expected West Brom, Middlesborough, Hull (after the money they spent), Huddersfield (after last season) all to be below us. It's going to be a rollercoaster of a season for a lot of teams. 2 Wins, and you're looking at the playoffs, 3 losses; and you're hovering next to the relegation spots.

Am I happy, not really. After our start to the season, I hoped for more consistency in the team, and less of this win 1, lose 2 situations. However, with the injuries, retirements, and illnesses that have decimated our defensive ranks; to only have conceded 3 goals in the last 3 games is an achievement in my eyes. Unfortunately, that's coincided with us only scoring 9 in the last 11.

Setting aside yesterday's alamoesque  performance at Boro. The home games against Swansea, and Sheff Utd could easily have given us another 5 points. Which would have put us 2 points off the playoffs.

It's really small margins in the Championship of course of our 9 losses, only 2 (Birmingham, and Reading) have been by more than 1 goal. In a number of those games, we had chances to win them, but individual mistakes by players have cost us. For me this is indicative of the squad as a whole at the moment. We need experienced heads on the pitch at this level in all positions, but due to a multitude of reasons (whether financial, or injuries) we have a collection of teams primarily (70%) made up of academy players.

On the FBC podcast, I spoke of the fact that that club had got itself into a massive hole, that in essence was only going to be rectified by sales of key players, or holding out for the Summer of 2023 mass exodus of players that a) we can no longer really afford, and b) have been underperforming/inconsistent in the context of their wages. These players have had a huge influence on our ability to reshape the squad, and get on top of the FFP considerations. The summer of 2019 continues to haunt us 3 years later. We've chosen not to sell our key players at the present (I still don't believe there was ever a decent offer for HNM). That might change in Jan of course. But we will move on, adjust; and hopefully stay in a division that looking at the possible sides coming down from the Prem; and the sides coming up from L1 will only get tougher next season.

One area of contention for me has been our reluctance to use the loan market though. Adding to the chaos of playing 10 players in the RB/RWB position last season. We are still weak in those areas for me. I think Sykes & JD have contributed about 2 assists between them in the 20 games; allied to defensively also not being great (an understatement there perhaps). Hopefully as a parting gift RG will convince NP to utilise this area, as I feel slogging the same players in certain key areas in the hope that they will suddenly improve is a somewhat unrealistic prospect.

I still think we are in the mix to finish mid table when everything is aligned. If we were in Huddersfield's position, I may be more worried. Yesterday was a good example of a game that we didn't play well in of course but managed to get a draw out of it. Countless examples over the last 18 months of that not happening, when it needed to, so happy for small mercies there.

Still 26 games to go, let's not panic yet, on some kneejerk change the manager mantra. From my perspective, it would be a high-risk strategy, with huge potential risks. A parallel for me would be the Ward/Lennartson decision in 1999/00, and we all remember how that panned out. Let's see where we are in mid Jan. Hopefully by then we will be back at full strength, and if we are in the relegation zone, a new manager (if needed) would have a couple of weeks to organise/get loans in potentially to have a potential positive change.

Well it's never dull being a City fan is it? Apart from perhaps the Pulis era .

 

 

 

 

[GrahamC]

@NcnsBcfc Not going to quote your whole post mate, but lots of very good points.

Despite most of my posts I have watched City long enough to be a bit of a pessimist really so am tracking those sides on a downward trajectory who we can finish above.

Even in a league as unpredictable as this, there are a few.

I also think the WC break will do us some good, if Kalas & Naismith are available after it & Atkinson fully recovered (Tanner’s ban over as well) we suddenly have far more defensive options.

Good for us that Weimann is back scoring, too.

Then we come on to January which probably depends on whether Semenyo or Scott go.

I am certainly not pressing the panic button yet & am slightly bemused why a battling point at Boro has provoked the reaction on here it has, Reading & Birmingham away I understood it, but not yesterday.

Edited November 6, 2022 by GrahamC

[Sheltons Army]

35 minutes ago, NcnsBcfc said:

Whilst I get that we are only 3 points off relegation, there are only 4 points covering 11 teams (13th down to 23rd). We are not alone in being in this position.

It's a crazy league this season. Who would have expected West Brom, Middlesborough, Hull (after the money they spent), Huddersfield (after last season) all to be below us. It's going to be a rollercoaster of a season for a lot of teams. 2 Wins, and you're looking at the playoffs, 3 losses; and you're hovering next to the relegation spots.

Am I happy, not really. After our start to the season, I hoped for more consistency in the team, and less of this win 1, lose 2 situations. However, with the injuries, retirements, and illnesses that have decimated our defensive ranks; to only have conceded 3 goals in the last 3 games is an achievement in my eyes. Unfortunately, that's coincided with us only scoring 9 in the last 11.

Setting aside yesterday's alamoesque  performance at Boro. The home games against Swansea, and Sheff Utd could easily have given us another 5 points. Which would have put us 2 points off the playoffs.

It's really small margins in the Championship of course of our 9 losses, only 2 (Birmingham, and Reading) have been by more than 1 goal. In a number of those games, we had chances to win them, but individual mistakes by players have cost us. For me this is indicative of the squad as a whole at the moment. We need experienced heads on the pitch at this level in all positions, but due to a multitude of reasons (whether financial, or injuries) we have a collection of teams primarily (70%) made up of academy players.

On the FBC podcast, I spoke of the fact that that club had got itself into a massive hole, that in essence was only going to be rectified by sales of key players, or holding out for the Summer of 2023 mass exodus of players that a) we can no longer really afford, and b) have been underperforming/inconsistent in the context of their wages. These players have had a huge influence on our ability to reshape the squad, and get on top of the FFP considerations. The summer of 2019 continues to haunt us 3 years later. We've chosen not to sell our key players at the present (I still don't believe there was ever a decent offer for HNM). That might change in Jan of course. But we will move on, adjust; and hopefully stay in a division that looking at the possible sides coming down from the Prem; and the sides coming up from L1 will only get tougher next season.

One area of contention for me has been our reluctance to use the loan market though. Adding to the chaos of playing 10 players in the RB/RWB position last season. We are still weak in those areas for me. I think Sykes & JD have contributed about 2 assists between them in the 20 games; allied to defensively also not being great (an understatement there perhaps). Hopefully as a parting gift RG will convince NP to utilise this area, as I feel slogging the same players in certain key areas in the hope that they will suddenly improve is a somewhat unrealistic prospect.

I still think we are in the mix to finish mid table when everything is aligned. If we were in Huddersfield's position, I may be more worried. Yesterday was a good example of a game that we didn't play well in of course but managed to get a draw out of it. Countless examples over the last 18 months of that not happening, when it needed to, so happy for small mercies there.

Still 26 games to go, let's not panic yet, on some kneejerk change the manager mantra. From my perspective, it would be a high-risk strategy, with huge potential risks. A parallel for me would be the Ward/Lennartson decision in 1999/00, and we all remember how that panned out. Let's see where we are in mid Jan. Hopefully by then we will be back at full strength, and if we are in the relegation zone, a new manager (if needed) would have a couple of weeks to organise/get loans in potentially to have a potential positive change.

Well it's never dull being a City fan is it? Apart from perhaps the Pulis era .

 

 

 

 

All excellent points / thoughts IMHO

[Bodiesaffer]

21 hours ago, Bar BS3 said:

Based on what..? Which of NP's signings give you any confidence that he'd have done much better with those funds at his disposal..? 

Yes, obviously I know he's been limited with transfer funds - but the OOC market is massive now & all summer we were told we'd got the players that he wanted. 

Some clubs are going to get the likes of Wells, Massengo, Bentley, Dasilva, Kalas off us for free, in the not too distant future. 

Does his record here give you any confidence that he's going to improve on what we've got here at the moment..? 

Nailsmith, Tanner, James, Atkinson. 

[Davefevs]

21 hours ago, Bar BS3 said:

Which of NP's signings give you any confidence that he'd have done much better with those funds at his disposal..? 

Flip that on its head…I think he realises what is value for money, that’s why he’s tried to get rid of the high earning / No minutes brigade.  I’d trust him with money, because it’s evident he will spend it like it is his own.

20 minutes ago, Bodiesaffer said:

Nailsmith, Tanner, James, Atkinson. 

Exactly.

 

[firstdivision]

1 hour ago, GrahamC said:

@NcnsBcfc Not going to quote your whole post mate, but lots of very good points.

Despite most of my posts I have watched City long enough to be a bit of a pessimist really so am tracking those sides on a downward trajectory who we can finish above.

Even in a league as unpredictable as this, there are a few.

I also think the WC break will do us some good, if Kalas & Naismith are available after it & Atkinson fully recovered (Tanner’s ban over as well) we suddenly have far more defensive options.

Good for us that Weimann is back scoring, too.

Then we come on to January which probably depends on whether Semenyo or Scott go.

I am certainly not pressing the panic button yet & am slightly bemused why a battling point at Boro has provoked the reaction on here it has, Reading & Birmingham away I understood it, but not yesterday.

Three reasons, Graham: the tactics, the performance and the emotional nature of football (fans care and sometimes overact - I thought it was a very ordinary performance - and we're getting more of them. And when we play well, we've still not been winning. Good recipe for a relegation battle.)

[Sheltons Army]

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

Flip that on its head…I think he realises what is value for money, that’s why he’s tried to get rid of the high earning / No minutes brigade.  I’d trust him with money, because it’s evident he will spend it like it is his own.

Exactly.

 

‘ I’m not into collecting players’  

 

One of his many attitudes and philosophies , that , personally I like ....a lot

[TheReds]

1 minute ago, Davefevs said:

Flip that on its head…I think he realises what is value for money, that’s why he’s tried to get rid of the high earning / No minutes brigade.  I’d trust him with money, because it’s evident he will spend it like it is his own.

Exactly.

 

I hope you aren't saying LJ/MA were a bit loose on the spending front - whatever would give you that idea. 

[Bar BS3]

1 hour ago, Bodiesaffer said:

Nailsmith, Tanner, James, Atkinson. 

Naismith - I like him, but he's cost us & the majority wanted him dropped. 

Tanner - I like what I've seen, but he's not played much. 

James - good player, not spectacular - final payday before retirement for him. 

Atkinson - has looked much better this season. 

I'm not sure much any of them have improved us. 

[Davefevs]

12 minutes ago, Bar BS3 said:

Naismith - I like him, but he's cost us & the majority wanted him dropped. 

Tanner - I like what I've seen, but he's not played much. 

James - good player, not spectacular - final payday before retirement for him. 

Atkinson - has looked much better this season. 

I'm not sure much any of them have improved us. 

Rubbish that the majority wanted Naismith dropped.  If there was a clamour from some fans for anything it was to see him in midfield not left out altogether!  He’s improved the way we play.  Coventry (the game he got injured) was the first game we didn’t score in.

If you take someone like Atkinson (even at £1.6m) and listen to Pearson, his expectation levels for last season were much lower.  He expected him to learn from Baker and alongside him too.  He had Covid, and it took him a while to get back to form.  So hardly a surprise he’s better this season, furthering the argument he was bought with a longer term in mind than season one.

James, so what if it’s his last payday before retirement.  He still cuts it as this level on the pitch and is helping the others to learn too.

Tanner (£300k) and Atkinson are the only players we’ve paid fees for (bit of compo for Wilson).

We are shopping in the bargain basement.

[TheReds]

38 minutes ago, Bar BS3 said:

Naismith - I like him, but he's cost us & the majority wanted him dropped. 

Tanner - I like what I've seen, but he's not played much. 

James - good player, not spectacular - final payday before retirement for him. 

Atkinson - has looked much better this season. 

I'm not sure much any of them have improved us. 

You do seem to like to pick and choose who and what you respond to. There are multiple valid points on here that you just don't seem to want to address them?

When you say "the majority" how or where are you getting this information from??

Anyone can see how we changed the way we play with him in the side, has he cost us goals, without a doubt, have we gained (and more importantly) will we gain more points when he is playing in the future longterm - without a doubt in my opinion. There is a trade off with players like him who will take risks, but when the risks pay off we are on the front foot, it's risk v reward. Or would you prefer the keeper to just lump it up top and hope?

Atkinson as well comes out with the ball at times is very decent, and has had some blinding performances along with scoring a few important goals. A brilliant purchase imo.

James - overall a good player, he doesn't play like it's his last payday so I have no problem with that, should we never sign anyone around his age? Was he brought in to play 40+ League games per season, or was it partly his attitude to help others and to instil the right mentality in others?

Tanner looks decent and when he is back he looks like a great buy for 300k. We simply don't have millions to spend to "improve us" instantly, and that is down to letting the likes of MA and LJ go absolutely mental with a near blank chequebook costing us massively. Do tell us how many players they bought and how much they spent on fees and wages just for some clarification

I really wonder where the club would be now if NP didn't come in, a man who has previous form at Leicester for changing the whole club around from top to bottom. We are in a massive transition period, it's not like a new manager came in with money to burn.

Let's say NP has enough or we sack him tomorrow, who would you have come in?