Despite the widespread belief outside Manchester that 'City will be ok', there is plenty of evidence to suggest that Stuart Pearce's goal-shy side will face a tough struggle to survive in the Premiership in what may well become a straight fight with Charlton.
The Blues' superior goal difference, which is in effect worth another point over the third bottom side, could prove to be vital.
And the Easter weekend clashes with the Addicks at Sportcity and away to Fulham promise to be the biggest back-to-back games for years.
Home contests against Charlton and Villa have become a lifeline for City, with anything gained from matches against each of the top four considered a bonus.
If City can reach 37 points - and to do that they need to solve their chronic lack of goals, and gain something from their quartet of trips to Newcastle, Boro, Watford and Fulham - it may well be enough.
But with the strikers misfiring so badly they are going to have to rely on their defenders to keep clean sheets.
Of the other strugglers, Wigan and Sheffield United would appear to have the easiest fixtures and the Blues the most difficult.
So if there is to be a major surprise in the bottom three it could well be an inconsistent Fulham who drop into the mix with City and Charlton.
In the past few days, bookmakers have trimmed the odds on the Blues being relegated from 20-1 to 11-2. And I expect those to shrink still further before Pearce's side clinches survival - just!
What do you think? Have your say.
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I am pretty certain we will go down and have thought so since Christmas. The record in goalscoring is abysmal, we haven't played well in any game since Villa, confidence levels are low and nothing has been done to remedy the dearth of quality in the side. On top of that, if you look at our relegation form over the last 12 months, it is clear that we will really struggle to stay up. realistically, if I were a betting man I would bet on Charlton getting enough points top escape the drop and I can't see anyone else being drawn onto it.
I cant see it if SP is still in charge much longer . I just hope and pray that they can stay up because I am at an all time low as far as this club is concerned ! Can it get any worse ????
It is looking extremely bleak now and the general concensus of opinion is Stuart Pearce is 90 mins away from the sack. I can recall S.A.F. being in the same situation back in 1990 almost every Utd fan wanted him out they went to Forest in a 3rd Round FA Cup tie won the game and went on to lift the trophy and of course Ferguson kept his job.However I doubt whether Pearce has the ability or know how to repeat the feat on the same scale but I have the feeling City could spring a shock at Blackburn but whether it would save his job is open to debate, winning the FA cup and staying up certainly would but has Stuart got both the team or the ability to do it,despite my reservations about him I hope he achieves it not neccesarily for him but for City's suffering supporters THEY DESERVE A LOT BETTER.My prediction is we'll finish with 39 pts but whether that will be enough to avoid the drop is anybody's guess.Whatever these are sad days for us all!
Goretown - it did before when we dropped into the 'old' Football League 2 in 1998 & with a pessimistic head on it can easily do so again. just look at Leeds. Timmy - you are pretty close to the mark here i fear. The 'just scraping through' mentality is very dangerous - I remember the farce of Alan Ball beleiving that a draw against Liverpool in 1996 was going to be good enough....Apart from the doubts about Pearce's motivational ability (never thought I'd say that) it is much easier to motivate the team who are chasing (Charlton) rather than the one that thinks it can just get by. My prediction - by the time we get to April 6th the gap will be 3 pts and Charlton will be able to draw level on points if they win at COMS.
Realistic points haul as follows. Chelsea (0), Aresenal (0), Boro (1), Newcastle (0), Charlton (1), Fulham (1), Liverpool (0), Watford (3), Villa (1), United (0), Spurs (0) - meaning 7 points in total = 37. Charlton as follows Newcastle H (3), Wigan H (1), City A (1), Reading H (3), Everton A (0), Sheff U H (3), Blackburn A (0), Tottenham H (1), Liverpool A (0) = 12 points in total = 36. THIS IS BEING OPTIMISTIC - After Saturday I dont know where the next point is coming from!
I CAN ONLY SEE US GETTING 6 POINTS,WERE NOT SUDDENLY GOING TO START BANGING IN GOALS, WE HAVE NOBODY WITH ENOUGH FLAIR TO TURN A GAME, WE WILL HUFF AND PUFF, GET PLENTY OF BOOKINGS, AND OUR MANGER WILL GO ON ABOUT "PUTTING IN A GOOD SHIFT "IF WE COULD SWOP OUR STRIKERS WITH CHARLTON, T THINK WE WOULD STAY UP
I predict no points from this little lot.
We can do this! Pearce won't go this season because we can't get anyone else worth having at this time of year. Use the Blackburn game to find a league team that might just keep us up - Isaacson (distribution), Sun (effort), Dunne, Dustin, Ball, Richards (midfield cover for Barton/Ireland), Barton, Ireland/Beasley, Abdoun, Mpenza, Sturridge (Evans, Johnson, Vassell, Weaver, Trablisi or Dickov on the bench). This line up has more promise of goals than Corradi/Samaras. Even more importantly lets get behind them even though they don't deserve it. It is the only thing we can do. And lets stop all the personal bickering on the site - it gets us nowhere.
ted knott, droylsden: with
all due respect, Ted (and
your many posts are generally
excellent), SP is no SAF.
The latter may be a nasty,
vicious, back-stabbing
alcoholic S.O.B., but he is
also a great manager who
knows how to select a team,
make intelligent substitutions, and change
tactics to achieve a positive
result on the pitch. He can
also spot talent. SP is an
absolute zero in all of these
areas. A manager who is
simply competent in these
areas would be a vast
improvement over our incumbent.
city 39 points charlton 36 points COME ON CITY
Along with Ted Knott, I have to say that these are indeed grim days. If SP persists in playing Samaras and Corradi we have NO chance of staying up. Courage has to be shown now and Mpenza and Sturridge should be given a chance. If there are any other young players that are good enough and that will be willing to die for thecause let them be brought forward, because itis clear that the current incumbents are not.
Charlton will be this seasons Portsmouth. They will escape relegation. The only question is who will take their place. At the present moment we must be favourites.
Whilst we are talking about Charlton, I see that they have offered a free Season Ticket to their supporters for season 08-09 if they renew for next season and they are relegated. Along with all the other reductions that are appearing shouldn't City be looking at reducing prices for everyone, not just the youngsters?
I reckon 37 will be enough as well. Trouble is I can't see any way we're gonna pick up another 7 points. As to the goal difference, something of a red herring. Two expected defeats in our games in hand, and a couple of wins for Charlton and a goal differential of 14 (or whatever it is currently) will drop to around 3 or 4 in an instant. Charlton at home is the biggest game in years, and Pearce has to get the selection right, and that means a pansy free midfield and forward line. No Trabelsi, no Ireland (unless it's part of a 5, with Micah as the holding player), no Dabo, no Beesley and definitely no Samaras. If we go into that game with passengers, we will get turned over and relegated in the blink of an eye.
Charlton will get 3 points vs Newcastle, 1 vs Wigan, 1 vs Reading, none against us, Everton or Blackburn, 3 against Sheff U, 1 vs Spurs and 1 vs Liverpool. That equals 10 points more and they will finish on 34.
We will Strike out (0 points) against Chelsea, Boro', N'Castle, Liverpool, Man U, Spurs & Arsenal. We will draw against Fulham, Watfors & Villa and we will beat Charlton. 6 Points. We will finish with 36 points and stay up.
Stuart Pearce will get a contract extension 'til 2015 and a press statement will be issued that there was never anything to worry about.
Joey Barton will crack the champagne - over someone's head.
Corradi, Hamann, Dabo, Dickov will all be secured on long term deals to stop them being stolen away (as if).
Micah Richars will be seen as surplus to requirements and sold to some Champion's League team to keep their bench warm.
Most of the other young promising academy lads will be sold for a snip in order to fund our summer recruitment campaign.
We will buy some more old duffers, preferably foreigners with dodgy knees / backs / eyesight / agrophobia etc. with their one great last Huraaaaaah ! just behind them.
We will visit the Isle of Man on a pre-season tour trying to find a team we can actually beat (and we will fail).
And so on it goes...
SHOULD I LOOK AT THE RUN IN AND SAY DON'T RENEW MY SEASON TICKET.............OK WE WON'T GO DOWN BUT THIS HAS BEEN YET ANOTHER LOOONNNNGGG SEASON,PITY THERE WAS NO VALUE FOR OUR HARD EARNED MONEY.......I CAN ONLY SEE 6 POINTS THERE.....HAS ANYONE GOT ANY TISSUES !!
The only thing that is going to keep us up is us THE SUPPORTERS! What we need now is capacity crowds at COMS and taking our full quota of away tickets and getting behind City, lets worry about SP at the end of the season. Lets not give up on the team, the new owners can do that and bring a new manager to hopefully turn things around.
We need Ned back asap. He seems to have a calming influence on Dunney, something Distin doesn't do as he himself panics plenty. When we had our small winning run, Ned was playing. Oh, and Weaver MUST be dropped also.
Points predicting, wouldn't bother, mugs game. The only way to go is one game at a time, which is something Pearce should have focused on throughout the season rather than talking about Europe or other nonsense.
There will be some surprises and hopefully City will provide us with a couple of pleasant ones.
Whilst I am now firmly in the bricking it / Pearce out camp, I will inject a psoitive note. Many people are predicting City will go down because they can't see where any goals will come from but the fact is that although we do not have a frequent goal scorer in the team, most of our outfield players have scored this season or are capable of scoring. Indeed Barton, Ball, Dunne, Hamann, Dabo, Sun, Samaras, Sturridge, Ireland are, for example, all capable of hitting a screamer in from outside of the box. City have already kept somehting like ten clean sheets this season; they can keep some more. Two one - nil wins and two nil - nil draws might well be all that's required to stay up. All hope is not lost but the players need to believe that; their manager needs to convince them they can do that and more. The manager needs to get his team working harder, pressing the opposition more when they have the ball, staying organised...simple basic stuff. We just need the board to ditch Pearce and get someone who can sort that stuff out. The great danger of not making a change is I believe the mental effect on the players. The dressing room is full of fed up players, something needs to be done to give them a lift.
As I suggested 2 weeks ago, we will JUST survive with 36 points in 17th position. But even if this does happen, it is certainly no cause for celebration. The Board need to take a long hard look at SP's performance over the last 2 years, and, even with the paucity of funds, find it extremely lacking. Wave him off to the U21s (heaven help them and future England prospects) and, with new investment, bring in Big Sam. He's looking for a new challenge, wants a well-supported club (which we used to be) and is tactically astute - even if it means playing defensively when that suits. But if the Board mandate him to take the club forward, playing as attractive football as possible, then that's what he will do. Let's just pray that we do stay up. I'd give a lot for a season or two of consistent mid-table mediocrity before going on to bigger and better things.
Try and be a bit more optimistic guys and gals. I remember City beating Charlton 5-1 when we got promoted from theold Div 2 into Div 1 (now Premiership) - I think Paul Simpson got a hatrick that day (but I'm willing to be corrected on that). We all sang 'We love you Charlton'. Of course we were going for promotion then and Charlton didn't have much to play for. Then again one can recall the game against Luton - a poorly selected team (an over the hill Tueart) and that famous dance across Maine Road. Aargh!! Let's hope it's the former and JB gets a hatrick.
Why does Mr. Bailey think that we are suddenly going to score goals? If anything performances are getting gradually worse. Much like last year - difference being that we are 10 pts. worse off this time..
Charlton have geared up for a relegation fight now and they don't look all that bad.
They will be above us in a matter of weeks.
Relegation is inevitable.
I HAVE SAID BEFORE THE SEASON STARTED THAT WE WOULD BE RELAGATED BECAUSE WE DONT HAVE ANY STRIKERS.I REALLY HOPE THAT I AM WRONG BUT BEING A FOOTBALL FAN YOU JUST KNOW THAT YOUR GUT FEELINGS CAN BE RIGHT FROM TIME TO TIME.WHAT EVER HAPPENS I WILL STILL KEEP THE BLUE FLAG FLYING.CTID
City should win three of there remaining games, I would not be suprised if they finish the season on 30 points. SP should give Sturridge a game,all the other strikers have failed.
Bristol Blue, i was there for that. Maine Road absolutely packed out - over 54,000 if my memory serves me well. Oh happy days. I reckon we'll beat Villa and scrape a draw at Watford. The crunch is Charlton, we need to win, but i think we'll do well to avoid defeat as we always seem to bottle these type of fixtures. We'll struggle to scrape a couple of points from the remaining fixtures, but contrary to what BBN might think, i'll be delighted to eat humble-pie on that prediction. It's City after all, so expect us to beat Chelsea on Weds night. I think Stu would be well advised to go 4-5-1 for the remainder of the season, with Sunji on the right and Micah in the middle with Hamann (yes, no joke) and Barton. Trab at full back where he belongs. Who up front though????
Simpson scored one. Phillips 2 (I think), May, and Melrose. I had ST in Main Stand at the time. I was only about 7. Great day. I remember the aisles were packed. Billy McNeil only celebrated after the 5th goal. Charlton had a young kid in net who was peppered and I don't think ever played again. Lee Harmsworth was his name I think. There's some knowledge. Oh and Rob Lee was playing as well.
As for City today, awful. Pearce should have been sacked years ago and I'll state what got me into trouble a few years back when he got the job. I stated Pearce is famous for being a loser and for this reason he should never have been appointed. The abuse I received at the time now makes me laugh because guess what, I was right after all.
Blau, Germany, I think your right. 4-5-1 for the rest of the season. It will stifle teams who currently expect to turn up & have the rub of the midfield when counter attacking. However I would put Sun in the middle with Hamann & Barton, with Beasley in his proper position for once & Vassell or possibly Abdoun on the right (a player no other teams no much about). Up front I would play Mpenza as he looked like a player who would put himself about against Wigan. I would keep Pearce until the summer as there is no-one to bring in but sorry it will then be time for him to move on. Also agree with the comments that us as fans should be doing all we can to help the team, we need to turn COMS into a pit of fear for the away team. COME ON CITY!!!!