the big show

[clevblue]

I was rambling on about this on mancityblues and thought I'd put it on here as well, so you can pull it apart if you can be bothered reading it all. haha

Chelsea aren't special, they've just done a bit better than us, the rags are only  two wins behind us and they are DEFINITELY nothing special this season - in fact the whole PL season has surprisingly average and we have been boring far too often. Too much money in the pocket and not enough sporting challenge in the lives of "top" players, which is evident when you see how "average" players in smaller clubs can raise their game and defeat the big lads. NOT the way Messi and co see football is it?

Looking long-term, our only real challenge is and should be Europe. That's where we can rise to a position of power in football, that MUST be what our bosses are looking to long-term, winning the PL a couple of times for a club this size isn't enough, it should be merely seen as a pathway to the big challenge - and it should be an automatic step each year.  That's where the Sheiks will want to sit, football's status in the middle east is nothing compared to the status of the Reals and Barcas. That's what the Sheiks want. It could be a political thing in the back of their minds, and probably is.

IF our bosses want a new manager they will get one, if they don't they won't - press speculation means absolutely nowt, our nerves are shattered but we are not an issue that controls the way the Sheik acts. Just think about his ultimate goal because with or without Ferian and Begiristain, with or without Pelle and Yaya makes no difference to him. There was a time when everybody thought that Mansour would get fed up and move on, that is obviously now not going to happen, we just need to be patient and hang on to his coat-tails. If he can do it he will.

[silvablue]

The big picture is the Sheikh or more probably Abu Dhabi and what we can deliver towards their objectives. I never thought it short term and what we have delivered already must have pleased them immensely and I am not speaking football or trophies.

The standard of the premier league is quite a bit lower than Europe's elite. Mind we should be winning the PL and other trophies with regularity. When bothered we are far superior to any other team in the premier league. The problem seems to be the players as a team/squad do not apply themselves week in week out.

I do not doubt the powers at City will address this effectively and timely. 

[gavin]

No doubting at all that we are at the Sheikh's behest. He who pays the piper calls the tune. It has been overwhelmingly good for City. Having won the title twice the big challenge is the Chumps and I believe it is Pellegrini's performance in that competition just before he got the job that really led to him getting it. Therefore another straightforward failure at the hands of Barca could well be his undoing. We should not expect to get through every time against these teams but to look out of out depth at this stage is not acceptable. We should at least be competitive. Maybe the Sheikh will persevere with him but I doubt it as even in the group stages we looked nothing like the force in Europe that Pellegrini was supposed to make us.

[clevblue]

If you think about our position nowadays, and the need for patience, when you look down the list of headlines on newsnow they seem less pressing, that's all.