The Manchester City Thread

[Alan b]

Continued from here:

http://forums.thedigitalfix.com/foru...d.php?t=627953

[Rob]

Fantastic 2nd half with some high quality finishes.

Looks like Spurs are doing us a big favour as well, so a great start to the new year.

[Grunge]

Hmm , reports of gerrad announcing his move to the MLS at the end of the season tomorrow!

[rustybin]

Can't see him destroying his reputation a la Lampard.... But then nothing would surprise me any more.

[Eastlander]

Not entirely sure what you mean when you say Lampard has destroyed his reputation?

Seems to be enhancing it on an almost weekly basis from what I can see?

Incredible player.

[Eastlander]

As for the game, I thought we played pretty well again. Sunderland pretty much ruined the first half (credit to them though, they achieved what they set out to achieve very well indeed) but there was always the feeling we would make the breakthrough at some point.

Wonderful hit from Yaya. Some great play by Jovetic too - he's quality, we just need to keep him on the field!

Couldn't believe we let another 2 goal lead slip, and not sure how this time - came out of nowhere - but great character to quickly right the ship. Lampard is just a machine - really smart work by City (for a change) to get him tied up, could be the difference in a close run title race, Chelsea must be nervous about that scenario playing out.

Really happy to see Pantilimon have such a good game too (now that we won) - thought he got a raw deal under Pellegrini. Not sure Caballero is significantly/any better than Pants.

[rustybin]

He was a Chelsea legend. I can't see many Chelsea fans singing his name in years to come if his goals help City to the PL at Chelsea's expense.

He's a tremendous player, but a nasty mercenary. Modern football.

[jerl100]

I though Chelsea chose not to offer him a new contract

[rooster]

He's already came out and said he would have stayed if a contract had been offered . Calling him a mercenary is just ludicrous , you can bet your life Rustybin would be calling him a legend if he was ex Man U.

I hope he makes the difference and Man C take the league, would be a fitting end to hi PL career.

[rustybin]

I'm not having a pop at City you clown. There are plenty of clubs who Lampard could have joined and he joined Chelsea's main rivals. That's scummy whatever way you try to spin it and speaks volumes about his character.

[statto]

Dennis Law is a Man U legend even though it was his goal that got them relegated. Lampard will go down as a Chelsea legend regardless of what he does at City.

[rustybin]

We'll have to agree to disagree.

I think the word legend is thrown around a little liberally.

Rooney for instance could retire at 35 at Utd and I still wouldn't consider him a legend as a result of his behaviour - same with Rio.

In the modern era, only G Neville, Scholes and Giggs are Utd legends.

Even Gerrard's flirting with Chelsea over the years is conveniently forgotten...

[rooster]

Originally Posted by rustybin

I'm not having a pop at City you clown. There are plenty of clubs who Lampard could have joined and he joined Chelsea's main rivals. That's scummy whatever way you try to spin it and speaks volumes about his character.

Never said you were having a pop at city and no need to get nasty but speaks volumes for your argument that you are on the defensive ..

I assume Lampard wanted to keep playing at top level and also earn as much as he could in his twighlight years. Chelsea let him go City ticked those boxes . How you can call him scummy for that is beyond me.

[rustybin]

Apologies for the clown comment.. But for the record, if any Utd player went on to join City (as per your post) , I would not consider them a legend.

[statto]

So Dennis Law and Peter Schmeichel don't qualify in your book? To each their own but I think that's a bit harsh personally.

[rustybin]

City weren't title Rivals in those instances were they?

Are you saying that if Gerrard signed for Utd in the summer and won the league with us, that'd be just fine and Liverpool fans shouldn't have a problem with it?

[Dxfatass]

Originally Posted by statto

Dennis Law is a Man U legend even though it was his goal that got them relegated.

No he didn't, we were down anyway, that goal meant nothing in that regard.

But I agree on the basic point - players make their own decisions and given that clubs are rarely loyal to them, it's sometimes a bit childish to hold career moves against them. Schmikes moving to City was never well received (much less the celebration after they beat us) but that was before Mansour had ever heard of them, so they were irrelevant really. Tevez moving to play for Mansour was very different for example.

Another example might be Ince captaining Liverpool some years after leaving us - his OTT celebration in front of the Kop after scoring the goal that looked like it was going to cost us the league title has destroyed his rep (such as it was) in the eyes of many United fans, but thankfully we still won the league that year, so it could've been worse.

It works both ways - Owen wasn't popular with Liverpool fans after he left them anyway, but winning the title with us years later when Carragher and now Gerrard have left without winning that particular trophy will have made that so much worse.

As for Lampard as a mercenary - well it's an understandable label given he's spent most of his career playing for one sugar daddy and then he moves to the other, but I obviously don't know what went on between him, Roman and Mourinho in the summer. If I were a Chelsea fan though, I'd be very ******-off that he was playing such an obvious role in hurting their title challenge, particularly after the adulation he received recently becoming their all-time top scorer, but that's football I guess.

[statto]

I'm not a Liverpool fan so it's a hypothetical really, but if he'd wanted to stay and LFC had declined to renew his contract then I'd have no issue wherever he went - in fact, given that he's never won a Premier League title I'd kind of understand. The bigger issue would be whether the Man U fans would accept him.

[rooster]

The fact is long after Rusty bin has gone and us . Lampard will be talked about as a legend no ifs or buts the clubs top goal scorer always is.

[Dxfatass]

Originally Posted by statto

I'm not a Liverpool fan so it's a hypothetical really, but if he'd wanted to stay and LFC had declined to renew his contract then I'd have no issue wherever he went - in fact, given that he's never won a Premier League title I'd kind of understand. The bigger issue would be whether the Man U fans would accept him.

I think Owen had run his contract down when he left, so Liverpool didn't feel they got the money for him that they felt they deserved for his value from Real, but obviously I'm not a Liverpool fan either so I might be remembering wrongly their reasons for hating him before he won the title with us.

Owen was welcomed by United fans, though I'm sure he'd have had a bit of doubt over how his reception would be when he signed. He of course had Sir Alex bringing him in, which obviously meant no real questions were asked, but that was right at the beginning of the "value" years in the transfer market, which ultimately played such a huge role in our downfall last season. Had he signed ahead of a better striker a couple of years later than the frustration at the clubs transfer business might've been more evident, but as it was most United fans loved that a Liverpool-raised player had to join us to win the league.

I suspect if Lampard is seen charging around Eastlands in May with the league trophy that some Chelsea fans will feel hurt, however I'm not sure it'll really affect his position in their history in the long-term. But I'll leave that to Chelsea fans to comment on.