City Slam So'ton

[Gribz 743]

City's squad is weak IMO. No good team has Milner on the bench. Milner would struggler to get a game for Chelsea u12's. Man City severely need a top centre half, central midfielder and winger/deep lying forward. That is just to become a competent team in Europe.

 

We would have romped the title had we not fucked up v Villa and Crystal Palace. This City side is unworthy of beating the glorious Mourinho. It's so frustrating because we have owned the top 6 but fucked up against the weaker teams.

 

Very biased view. Im not a big Milner fan but Chelsea U12s is a slight exaggeration which doesn't show much seriousness in your argument. I would say they were wrong to let Gareth Barry away to Everton when he would be a better option. Everton have benefitted from that and England are only shooting themselves in the foot not taking him to Brazil.

 

Secondly Toure is by far the best midfielder in the league and possibly the best player. Fernandinho next to him has been superb and reminds me of Gilberto Silva setting next to Vieira in the invincibles, bit of an unsung hero.

 

Upfront Agureo is world class and Dzeko gets his fair share of goals. Negredo has had a terrific first season in this division but dropped off lately. How any Chelsea fan can accuse Man City of needing a striker when the Great Mourinho would bite Citys hand off at any of their strikers is beyond me. This is the same great Mourinho who only took the Chelsea job because the Man Utd job wasnt offered to him (wrongly IMO).

 

The season is played over 38 games, you could say the same for Arsenal if they didn't fuck up against Stoke and Swansea, they would be going for the title also. And if they didn't lose Ramsay and Walcott they would have probably got another 10-15 goals which would have been more points.

[Doc 280]

City are a horrible club. At least Chelsea were a top 4 team before they got a money man and had top players. Before RA came Chelsea were playing quality football with the likes of Zola, Hasselbaink, Di Matteo, Desailly etc. Man City are just Stoke with money.

 

City have all the money in the world yet are completely incompetent in the CL and miles behind the top teams in Europe.

 

Don't see why anyone would like them - I hate them.

 

What rubbish. Chelsea were days from oblivion before Ken Bates sold them to Abromovich. City have money now but they didn't for years and have the most loyal fans in England. Twice relegated in the 1990's and they still drew 30,000+ every home game at Maine Road in the old 3rd division. Opposition fans sing "Where were you when you were shit?" and we sing back "We were here when we were shit!" Whatever success City now have is testament to the love and loyalty shown by City fans in those dark days. That's real dedication and Chelsea fans can't even come close to that. City fans saved and sustained the club just as Rangers fans are sustaining our club right now. City are just paying back that debt right now.

[Gribz 743]

What rubbish. Chelsea were days from oblivion before Ken Bates sold them to Abromovich. City have money now but they didn't for years and have the most loyal fans in England. Twice relegated in the 1990's and they still drew 30,000+ every home game at Maine Road in the old 3rd division. Opposition fans sing "Where were you when you were shit?" and we sing back "We were here when we were shit!" Whatever success City now have is testament to the love and loyalty shown by City fans in those dark days. That's real dedication and Chelsea fans can't even come close to that. City fans saved and sustained the club just as Rangers fans are sustaining our club right now. City are just paying back that debt right now.

 

Got to agree with that, City sold out Maine Road in the 3rd tier and this wasn't even too long ago. Late 90s early 2000s.

 

And Chelsea have been bankrolled by as much.

[Ser Barristan Selmy 222]

What rubbish. Chelsea were days from oblivion before Ken Bates sold them to Abromovich. City have money now but they didn't for years and have the most loyal fans in England. Twice relegated in the 1990's and they still drew 30,000+ every home game at Maine Road in the old 3rd division. Opposition fans sing "Where were you when you were shit?" and we sing back "We were here when we were shit!" Whatever success City now have is testament to the love and loyalty shown by City fans in those dark days. That's real dedication and Chelsea fans can't even come close to that. City fans saved and sustained the club just as Rangers fans are sustaining our club right now. City are just paying back that debt right now.

Which part of my post is rubbish? That they were a top 4 club or that they had top players? Because of these points are facts.

[Ser Barristan Selmy 222]

Very biased view. Im not a big Milner fan but Chelsea U12s is a slight exaggeration which doesn't show much seriousness in your argument. I would say they were wrong to let Gareth Barry away to Everton when he would be a better option. Everton have benefitted from that and England are only shooting themselves in the foot not taking him to Brazil.

 

Secondly Toure is by far the best midfielder in the league and possibly the best player. Fernandinho next to him has been superb and reminds me of Gilberto Silva setting next to Vieira in the invincibles, bit of an unsung hero.

 

Upfront Agureo is world class and Dzeko gets his fair share of goals. Negredo has had a terrific first season in this division but dropped off lately. How any Chelsea fan can accuse Man City of needing a striker when the Great Mourinho would bite Citys hand off at any of their strikers is beyond me. This is the same great Mourinho who only took the Chelsea job because the Man Utd job wasnt offered to him (wrongly IMO).

 

The season is played over 38 games, you could say the same for Arsenal if they didn't fuck up against Stoke and Swansea, they would be going for the title also. And if they didn't lose Ramsay and Walcott they would have probably got another 10-15 goals which would have been more points.

If you count Hazard as a midfielder then he is the best.

 

I never said City need a striker, I said they need a winger/deep lying forward. IE a player in the three behind the main striker as I don't think Navas is good enough and Nasri has 15 awful games for every good one. I know Nasri is not a winger or deep lying forward but he takes up one of the spaces in the three behind the striker

[Gribz 743]

If you count Hazard as a midfielder then he is the best.

 

I never said City need a striker, I said they need a winger/deep lying forward. IE a player in the three behind the main striker as I don't think Navas is good enough and Nasri has 15 awful games for every good one. I know Nasri is not a winger or deep lying forward but he takes up one of the spaces in the three behind the striker

 

Aguero plays behind Negredo

[Ser Barristan Selmy 222]

I'm aware of that.

[Scott7 5,170]

I like Milner. No genius but a good worker.

 

It's exciting stuff. Any one of the top three will be deserving champions. Can Hart or Cech defy Suarez? A couple of years ago I'd have said Cech. Last year I'd have said Hart. Now I'm not sure either is up to it.

[Doc 280]

Which part of my post is rubbish? That they were a top 4 club or that they had top players? Because of these points are facts.

 

Too easy. I suggest you check your FACTS before you spout such nonsense. Ambramovich bought Chelsea in at the end of the 2002-2003 season. That was the first season in years that they finished in the top 4 and it was widely recognised at the time that if Chelsea hadn't nicked 4th spot from Liverpool Ken Bates stood very little chance of paying finding the £70 million plus he needed to pay back the bondholders who owned the club. Ambramovich cleared that and brought an even bigger cheque book but don;t pretend that Chelsea weren't spending big under Bates. They were another Leeds waiting to happen until Abramovich decided London was a safer place than Moscow for some of his money.

 

PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE SEASON 2002-03

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts

1 Manchester United 38 25 8 5 74 34 40 83

2 Arsenal 38 23 9 6 85 42 43 78

3 Newcastle United 38 21 6 11 63 48 15 69

4 Chelsea 38 19 10 9 68 38 30 67

5 Liverpool 38 18 10 10 61 41 20 64

6 Blackburn Rovers 38 16 12 10 52 43 9 60

7 Everton 38 17 8 13 48 49 −1 59

8 Southampton 38 13 13 12 43 46 −3 52

9 Manchester City 38 15 6 17 47 54 −7 51

10 Tottenham Hotspur 38 14 8 16 51 62 −11 50

11 Middlesbrough 38 13 10 15 48 44 4 49

12 Charlton Athletic 38 14 7 17 45 56 −11 49

13 Birmingham City 38 13 9 16 41 49 −8 48

14 Fulham 38 13 9 16 41 50 −9 48

15 Leeds United 38 14 5 19 58 57 1 47

16 Aston Villa 38 12 9 17 42 47 −5 45

17 Bolton Wanderers 38 10 14 14 41 51 −10 44

18 West Ham United 38 10 12 16 42 59 −17 42

19 West Bromwich Albion 38 6 8 24 29 65 −36 26

20 Sunderland 38 4 7 27 21 65 −44 19

 

 

Let's look at your "top 4" club's record in previous seasons

 

PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE SEASON 2001-02

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts

1 Arsenal 38 26 9 3 79 36 43 87

2 Liverpool 38 24 8 6 67 30 37 80

3 Manchester United 38 24 5 9 87 45 42 77

4 Newcastle United 38 21 8 9 74 52 22 71

5 Leeds United 38 18 12 8 53 37 16 66

6 Chelsea 38 17 13 8 66 38 28 64

7 West Ham United 38 15 8 15 48 57 −9 53

8 Aston Villa 38 12 14 12 46 47 −1 50

9 Tottenham Hotspur 38 14 8 16 49 53 −4 50

10 Blackburn Rovers 38 12 10 16 55 51 4 46

11 Southampton 38 12 9 17 46 54 −8 45

12 Middlesbrough 38 12 9 17 35 47 −12 45

13 Fulham 38 10 14 14 36 44 −8 44

14 Charlton Athletic 38 10 14 14 38 49 −11 44

15 Everton 38 11 10 17 45 57 −12 43

16 Bolton Wanderers 38 9 13 16 44 62 −18 40

17 Sunderland 38 10 10 18 29 51 −22 40

18 Ipswich Town 38 9 9 20 41 64 −23 36

19 Derby County 38 8 6 24 33 63 −30 30

20 Leicester City 38 5 13 20 30 64 −34 28

 

Only 23 points behind Arsenal that year.

 

PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE SEASON 2000-01

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts

1 Manchester United 38 24 8 6 79 31 48 80

2 Arsenal 38 20 10 8 63 38 25 70

3 Liverpool 38 20 9 9 71 39 32 69

4 Leeds United 38 20 8 10 64 43 21 68

5 Ipswich Town 38 20 6 12 57 42 15 66

6 Chelsea 38 17 10 11 68 45 23 61

7 Sunderland 38 15 12 11 46 41 5 57

8 Aston Villa 38 13 15 10 46 43 3 54

9 Charlton Athletic 38 14 10 14 50 57 −7 52

10 Southampton 38 14 10 14 40 48 −8 52

11 Newcastle United 38 14 9 15 44 50 −6 51

12 Tottenham Hotspur 38 13 10 15 47 54 −7 49

13 Leicester City 38 14 6 18 39 51 −12 48

14 Middlesbrough 38 9 15 14 44 44 0 42

15 West Ham United 38 10 12 16 45 50 −5 42

16 Everton 38 11 9 18 45 59 −14 42

17 Derby County 38 10 12 16 37 59 −22 42

18 Manchester City 38 8 10 20 41 65 −24 34

19 Coventry City 38 8 10 20 36 63 −27 34

20 Bradford City 38 5 11 22 30 70 −40 26

 

19 points behind Man Utd and 4 points behind a Leeds about to implode

 

PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE SEASON 1999-2000

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts

1 Manchester United 38 28 7 3 97 45 52 91

2 Arsenal 38 22 7 9 73 43 30 73

3 Leeds United 38 21 6 11 58 43 15 69

4 Liverpool 38 19 10 9 51 30 21 67

5 Chelsea 38 18 11 9 53 34 19 65

6 Aston Villa 38 15 13 10 46 35 11 58

7 Sunderland 38 16 10 12 57 56 1 58

8 Leicester City 38 16 7 15 55 55 0 55

9 West Ham United 38 15 10 13 52 53 −1 55

10 Tottenham Hotspur 38 15 8 15 57 49 8 53

11 Newcastle United 38 14 10 14 63 54 9 52

12 Middlesbrough 38 14 10 14 46 52 −6 52

13 Everton 38 12 14 12 59 49 10 50

14 Coventry City 38 12 8 18 47 54 −7 44

15 Southampton 38 12 8 18 45 62 −17 44

16 Derby County 38 9 11 18 44 57 −13 38

17 Bradford City 38 9 9 20 38 68 −30 36

18 Wimbledon 38 7 12 19 46 74 −28 33

19 Sheffield Wednesday 38 8 7 23 38 70 −32 31

20 Watford 38 6 6 26 35 77 −42 24

 

All the money Bates borrowed and spent and they never came near the top 4 let alone top of the Premiership in the previous 3 seasons before 2002-03.

 

Don't let your hatred of City's current success or the likelihood they'll finished above your lot this year blind you to these FACTS.

[Ser Barristan Selmy 222]

As you have just confirmed, Chelsea were a top 4 club when he took them over.