This week
News
is that City are now interested in trialling safe standing, about time. Issue
raised on numerous occasions on Points of Blue with little response.
The
week has been overshadowed by the proposed Mario fine which has now been
settled without a tribunal, thankfully. Is it time to get off his back and wait
for the performances to roll?
Anyway,
tomorrow it’s Reading, here’s the It’s A Fix extract :
18) SATURDAY DECEMBER 22ND : READING
(HOME) KO 3PM
First , season back in the Prem for the Royals after
promotion in top spot last season. Recent connection Matt Mills. 17th league
meeting
Last
meetings : We last met in the FA Cup 6th round in
2011 after they’d (thankfully) knocked out Everton at Goodison in the 5th.
Before that game we’d heard we’d drawn the rags in the semi-final so it was a
big incentive to win. Micah clinched it (74) Crowd was 39,133 (2929 Royals)
Prior to that there were meetings in The Prem in
06/07 0-2 , 0-1A; 07/08 2-1H, 0-2A.
This
season so far, they’re in 20th place with 9 points from 17
games with 0 wins 2 draws and 5 losses away from home.
In
the Capital One Cup they went out to Arsenal 5-4 aet in the 4th
round, after going 4-0 up and failing to heed the warning that you fight like
f*ck to prevent the FIRST goal going in. In the 3rd rd they won 3-2
at QPR
In
the FA Cup they’ve drawn Crawley Town away in the 3rd
rd.
Form
at home to Reading : This will be our 9th home meeting, 5 in
the old second, one in the old third, and 2 in the Prem 06/07 lost 0-2, 07/08
won 1-0.
For
City it’s : WLLDWWWW
Comment:
They’re finding it a real struggle in the Prem and
Brian McDermott’s job looks on the line. Defensively they’re fragile but they
do pack a punch up front. Only a win will do.
WWTWTWShite
: Averaged 3,459 in 82/83 and this season it’s 24,097.
Dave
Garbage! Barry's goal was lucky to stand as he was riding on the defender's back. Back to the usual tip tap football around the half way line and definitely three points stolen.......but as I have pointed out many times before, one of the tricks that united have used to grind teams into the dust over the years is this ability to win games in injury time after playing badly.
ReplyDeleteWtf a City fan claiming Gareth Barry's goal was not a goal?, you ain't no City fan imo Tony. Riding the (Nicky shorey) defenders back lmao, who were you watching and supporting Tony, Reading?. Reading pushed, shoved and man handles City for 90 odd minutes and Reading thankfully got what they deserved for parking the bus.
DeleteSeriously are you a City fan?
Fully support Safe Standing!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteCityBlue I seriously take offence with anyone questioning whether I am a City fan just for the comments I made. It's the fact that I can admit to being lucky and fortunate that the goal was allowed which confirms me as a City fan. Sorry have I missed something here, since we became richer than united have we also got to arrogantly accept every win and never complain about the performance. Yes, Reading were dirty today especially the tackle on Tevez after just three minutes, that should have been a sending off. Toure should also have had a penalty. They did park the bus, but what did you expect a team that's lost the last six games to do. You surely can't dispute that we were lucky that Barry's goal stood, but hey - who cares? If you read my post properly you would have also seen that I said that united have been putting in that kind of performance for years and scoring last minute goals. Quite honestly if we win every game from now to the end of the season like that and win the league, I won't care. But we really ought to be producing better than that
ReplyDeleteQuote: "Garbage! Barry's goal was lucky to stand as he was riding on the defender's back."
DeleteMaybe you need to think before you type then because that there sentence smacks of you saying it was not a goal by claiming Barry fouled Shorey. You even claim its 3 points stolen from Reading, seems you're just backtracking there Tony.
We deserved all three points despite not scoring a sack of goals, to say our boys didn't is the act of what I brand a doom-monger. They put in 100% right to the very end, Ill defend our corner as strongly as I see fit. So if you're offended that's your problem.
Maybe YOU need to think before you slag people off. I have watched the goal several times and Barry's hands are on the guys back, therefore he has made contact and many referees would have given a foul. I am delighted he didn't but I am not going to be slagged off for suggesting that we were lucky that it was given. I didn't say that we stole the points from Reading but that on another day Reading could have punished us because they had two free headers in the game which I have seen other teams score from against us. At the end of the day, we had 90% possession and we created three REAL scoring opportunities and that is not good enough. If you are happy with that performance then that's up to you, but I can assure you many more performances like that if we play like and our luck wont hold. Open your eyes and stop being so blinkered. I was offended by you questioning my loyalty as a Blue because I didn't see things the way you did. I live and breath City, too much sometimes but I maintain that one of the things that sets us apart from rags is our ability to be truthfull and that's all I was doing. I agree that we deserved the points, but we were lucky to get them because for most of the game it was hard to see where the goal was coming from.
DeleteTony, well said my good man. Thoughtful, articulate, and graceful,like a proper City fan. I for one will never question your loyalty. Unfortunately some people confuse blind obedience with loyalty.
DeleteMotD saw it as a good goal so who am I to argue?
ReplyDeleteWatching MotD, one could be mistaken that the game was fairly even. Also the possible penalty for Reading was covered as infinitum, but the shirt pull on YaYa in the 1st half didn't even get a mention, or the challenge on Pablo in the 2nd. Both as marginal as Readings' was, but each could have easily been given.
ReplyDeleteAt least the Sky match choice gave a better representation of a game City totally dominated. I don't think the performance was bad, just ok. The problem we have, especially at home, against these teams who set up with 8.2.0 line ups was highlighted yet again, eg the lack of a pace option on the flanks. Sure, Sinclair got a small run out, but nothing you could form an opinion of, and there's talk of him going on loan to Everton.
Yet the talk of transfer options is Paulino from Brazil to cover YaYa in Africa, thought that was why we signed Garcia. If Mario can be offloaded, maybe Falcao but more likely seems to be Walcott. That would give us a pace option, but he wants to play down the middle and his supply from the flanks is generally terrible. Maybe for around £15m in January, he would be worth a punt, but I'd rather look at other options first, especially as he may be available for nothing in the summer.
Not a fan of Walcott and believe he'd be a bad buy when we can easily find much better elsewhere. One player I think we should do everything to get is De Rossi or Fellaini.
DeleteWe also need some decent widemen who can bring the best out of Yaya, Barry, Kompany, Dzeko etc by whipping in golden balls from out wide, someone whos not afraid to dribble.
Bale would be worth a punt don't you think, note these players I mention also defend well.
I'd be concerned at De Rossi's age and pace, but have thought we should have gone for Fellaini 2 or 3 seasons ago, and still do. Bale would be great if we could get him, but the cost? You'd be looking at £50m+ probably and I can't see that happening unless Mario and maybe Tevez going as part ex.
ReplyDeleteAt least CityBlue and I agree on one thing, I don't want Walcott either, he has been a promising youngster as long as I can remember and I put him in the Rodwell/Sinclair type of signings, in other words squad members rather than someone who will make a big difference. Much as I hate saying it, I think we need to look abroad for signings as I haven't seen many British players who excite me. My son says that he's heard that the Brazillian pair of Neymar and Fernandinho are targets as our ex Barca guys are over in Brazil right now negotiating. He's seen this reported several times now, anyone else heard anything? Not sure about Brazillians in the Prem though
ReplyDeleteI think the bigger issue is for Mancini to get his tactics sorted. It does not matter who City buy if City continue to play this slow possession buld up through the middle of the pitch that is void of width and pace. Would it kill Mancini once in a while to try and vary our play once by trying to get down the flanks at speed, looking to get to the byline and pulling the ball back to stretch the opposition? Or how about players making diagonal runs looking to open up the middle now and again.I look at a team like Dortmund and can't help but think they are miles ahead of City in terms of tactics. I don't want Mancini to get sacked, but if City want to win anything this season he needs to wake up fast.
ReplyDeleteThanks pjdemers for your earlier comments and I agree 100% with what you have said above. We are so slow sometimes it gets me really annoyed. When I see stats that say we had 75% possesion, they don't say that 25% of that possession was around the half way line and another 20% in the area between their 18 yard box and the half way line where we aren't bothering anyone. Much as I feel that this united side is the worst since 1974, they still attack faster than we could ever dream of doing, why? Because they ussually use two wingers. They have about four players who can play on the flanks and every signing you hear them linked with is yet another bloody winger. I want Mancini to stay with us for years, but if the owners do lose patience with him it will be no ones fault but his own.
ReplyDelete