FORGET Sudoku and crosswords, the favourite `doodling' mind game in the Blue half of Manchester this week has been choosing the players most likely to hoist City out of the bottom four and lift the pall of gloom that has descended on the club and its fans.
Everyone, it seems, has his or her own ideas on who should pull on the coveted shirt and be entrusted to cover it with sweat and glory.
What is clear is that the next 11 league games are probably the most important in the modern history of the Blues.
If things go pear-shaped from here and Charlton, West Ham or Watford play leapfrog with Stuart Pearce's side then in footballing and financial terms it will be calamitous for City.
There will, of course, be a parachute payment to soften any relegation blow but that will seem small change next to the loss in television revenue, ticket sales and most importantly the lack of new investment.
No potential buyer is going to spend tens of millions on a club with an uncertain future outside the Premiership - not when they can buy Newcastle or Everton.
The stakes over the next three months are mind- boggling, even before considering just how a side that has been relegated can hold on to its best players.
Can anyone really see Micah Richards, Joey Barton, Richard Dunne, Stephen Ireland, and Andreas Isaksson and their agents, settling for Championship football, wages and exposure if the worst happens? Contracts will not be worth the paper they are written on.
So with that said, this is surely the time for Pearce to look all of his players in the eye and see who wants it most.
Pride, passion, and pace should be the criteria on which the side is chosen for the run-in.
So on that basis here is the side, with a nod to the treatment room, that this amateur manager would select in a 4-4-2 formation for the remainder of the season.
Goalkeeper
Perhaps the hardest choice of all. There isn't anyone on the staff who identifies more with being a City player, or who has a better rapport with the fans than Nick Weaver.
He has been a revelation this season and yet there remains a suspicion that Andreas Isaksson could be a world class goalkeeper for years to come.
Weaver would stay in until his next mistake simply because he has started 25 games this season and knows the back four better than the Swede. It is, though, a toss of the coin and the one position where the Blues have an embarrassment of riches.
Defence
First the easy bit. Richard Dunne and Sylvain Distin must be in the team. They make mistakes like all central defenders do, but no one puts in more effort than the skipper, whose willingness to put his body on the line has been evident all season long.
Distin, too, has had a decent campaign. People can question his loyalty having left a £40,000-per-week new contract unsigned for the best part of the season but they cannot query his commitment in games.
Now the difficult bit, the full backs. If Nedum Onuoha is fit, then he should, in my view, start at right back with another of the Academy youngsters, Stephen Jordan, on the left.
Onuoha was talked about in England terms before Micah Richards was barely out of the youth team, but has now spent more than a season being held back by injuries.
Intelligent and powerful, he will still end up being a real star if his body allows it. If he is not fit, then play the energetic Jihai Sun there.
Jordan has had a mixed campaign. Having shared the left back duties with Ben Thatcher for most of the season in a perfectly adequate manner he had two appalling games against Wigan and Blackburn where his body language looked poor.
He is, though, battling for a new deal and one of the few who realises what City is all about.
Having been refreshed by a stint on the sidelines he ought to be ready for a recall.
Midfield
If City are going to compete with the top sides then they need more power and pace in the engine room than the lightweight quartet that went into bat against Wigan in the last home game.
Joey Barton, one of only three genuine candidates for player of the season, has to be the first man down on the team sheet in midfield. It would perhaps help him if someone else could take a few of the set-pieces, but the England international's athleticism, will-to-win and goals have been vital all season and will continue to be so.
He just needs more help and more discipline when it comes to `sitting'.
That's why it might be the time to restore Micah Richards alongside him. The England teenager, with the wonder leap, has looked mentally tired over the last month but did well enough in midfield during a successful part of the season to suggest he might be worth another go in the middle.
Out wide, I would plump for Michael Ball on the left. He has already shown that he has an engine, an eye for a goal and likes getting outside full backs when attacking.
His defensive knowledge means he would be able to help out Jordan when it comes to stopping the opposition which is not the strength of the only alternative DaMarcus Beasley.
The right side is trickier. If Onuoha is fit at full back then Sun is a candidate along with Trevor Sinclair. Both have a willingness to battle for 90 minutes and offer greater energy than the fading Hatem Trabelsi, who has flattered to deceive since his wonder goal at Old Trafford.
Strikers
It has been a miserable season for the hitmen with none of them really standing out.
Despite a seeming lack of confidence in one-on-one situations, Darius Vassell has to play because his pace worries back fours.
He is also pretty decent at defending from the front and could, if circumstances dictate, be switched out wide left or right to accommodate another front man.
Who should partner him is a toughie. Georgios Samaras' confidence looks shot to pieces, Bernardo Corradi is more than decent in the air, but struggles with pace and holding the ball up, Paul Dickov is yet to score this season and Daniel Sturridge is a talented raw recruit.
City could do worse than giving Belgium international Emile Mpenze an extended run on the basis that defences do not know his strengths and weaknesses, he is eager to impress and that he could be a surprise packet.
His international record and goals in the Bundesliga also suggest he knows where the net is.
Substitutes
These will be every bit as vital as those on the pitch and therefore should reflect the same qualities. Weaver or Isaksson would be the goalkeeper.
Paul Dickov, especially away from home, has to be on there after recharging his batteries during an injury break. Defenders hate the sight of him running at them late in games.
Stephen Ireland, the best passer of a ball in the club and the most instinctive midfielder also merits a place and would be in the team except for the suspicion that he is best in a five-man midfield where the onus is on distributing the ball and not winning it.
Daniel Sturridge is the fourth man on the bench. He has talented feet, no fear and still plenty to prove and his presence would be a positive in the stands too.
The last place would go to either Sun or Sinclair with both able to fill a variety of midfield or defensive rolls if needed.
The balanced team picked could also be flexible with Ball or Richards able to switch back into defence if injury or bad form dictated they must.
What would your team be? Have your say.
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Chris, you're more clueless than Pearce! Jordan? He's the last thing we need. Playing FULL-BACKS on the wings? Stick to your Sudoku mate!
Jordan at Left Back... unbelievable. Just goes to show the credibility of Chris Bailey's football analysis. We've needed a decent left-back for three seasons, we finally look like we've got one in Ball and Bailey says bring back the walking Haircut. Utter nonsense.
In my anger I forgot to add how ridiculous his suggestion of playing defenders in midfield is.
Definitely a 442 formation for the rest of the season. But one of Pearces biggest mistakes is always asking players to play out of position.
Therefore Ball must play at left back. It was criminal the way Jordan gave up against Blackburn and that cannot be tolerated.
Unfortunately we still have no decent left midfielders. Miller is not a natural there and Beasley is toom lightweight, and has unfortunately proved to be another panic buy. Still, he should start as that is his natural position and is much better than Pearce playing sacrificing 442 to allow Ball to play wing back.
Up front.. correct Mpenza and Vassell should start, the other two jokers should never see the light of day again.
For me it is a sad indictment of our current plight that I would wager that most of us would find consensus quite easily on which Rags' line-up we'd least like to face in May but won't be able to do so in respect of who should be facing them in blue.
I'd generally go with 4-4-2 but in some games 4-5-1 or 4-1-4-1 might be a better option.
For 4-4-2 I'd try:
Iskasson;
Richards; Dunne; Distin; Ball;
Vassell; Hamann; Barton; Sun;
Mpenza; Corradi.
Not a bad call, though clearly Issaksson should get a run in goal. Most incredibly though, is the return of Jordan. This is a player who lacks guts as seen at Wigan and against Rovers. He must never play for City again. Dickov should not be let near the first team and I'd prefer Miller and Sturridge on the bench as the two forward subs.
After a two week break and a luxury holiday in Dubai they should all be recharged and refreshed! A massive win is expected at the weekend - nothing else!
I have not read the full article as I have stopped in horror at play Jordan at left back. Stephen jordan has never been, is not and will never be a premiership player. In my opinion he is not good enough for the championship. He is slow, physically small, suicidal in the tackle, positionally nieve and offers no attacking threat/support to the midfield. What games has this journalist been to this season. Was he at Wigan or Sheffield Wednesday when Jordan's displays were nothing short of amateur. Rant over: i'll read the rest now.
na i disagree, if everybody is fit i would have 4 of richards, onouha, dunne, distin, (richards and distin should go forward as much as they can, both scare defences) yet when onouha injured distin would go into the centre with ball at lb, midfield two of barton and johnson or barton and sun, on the right in order abdoun, trabelsi, sun, sinclair, left in order beasley, ball, moore, miller. upfront in order vassell, mpenza, sturridge, evans. subs, obviously the ones not used.
In an earlier post I went 3 5 2 even though I don't like it but I really can't see how a recall for Jordan is justified. He simply doesn't have the bottle and needs to be shown the door at the end of the season.
Ball would be my left back and I would bring Beasley in to play as an out and out winger. He can look dangerous at times despite being lightweight. Vassell and Mpenza up front with Samras, Dickov and Sturridge fighting it out for the subs bench.
Chris were you in the pub when you wrote this, Jordan at left back,you must be kidding! ball must play left back! the team needs to also revert back to 442!
i would try:Issaksson sun/Onouha Dunne Distin Ball Abdoun/Ireland Barton Richards Beasley Mpenza Corradi.
Gotta give Sturridge at least half hour too.
Come on City. Nobuto solonely ma!
I hope the editor is reading this, it just shows you how out of touch his main correspondant is. To even consider Jordan is unbelievable. Ball in midfield - WHAT?
Weaver is ok but he ain't as good as the Swedish No.1.
Dunne and Distin have to start but my mum could've told you that. Ball and Onuoha should be full backs.
Richards and Barton would make a tough hard working central midfield but out on the flanks I'd have Vassell on the left (he couldn't hit a barn door but he has got pace and can work back) and Abdoun on the right - proper tricky winger.
Upfront it has to be Sturridge and Mpenza.
The one thing this team has that SP's doesn't - PACE, PACE and more PACE
Sorry would play Trabelsi RB, forgot bout him!! Tup it ma??
I'd share the view that Ball better than Jordan at left-back. After last weekend's casual indifferent performance by Dystain, I'd look at playing someone else alongside Dunne, be it Richards, Onouha or even Jordan. Distin won't be at City next season, even if we manage to stay up
HOME 4.4.2-ISAKSSON-RICHARDS,DUNNE,DISTIN,BALL, SUN,BARTON,HAMANN,BEASLEY, VASSELL,MPENZA AWAY4.5.1 ISAKSSON ONNUHA(IF FIT)DUNNE,DISTIN BALL SUN,BARTON ,RICHARDS ,HAMANN,BEASLEY,MPENZA
Everything OK with the team apart from Jordan. There are several better options than him. However with this being City you can only see one outcome. We are closing in on a take over by someone who hopefully has lots of funds and we are going to end up relegated and the Yanks will end up buying to Everton or similar.
3-5-2; Isaakson, Ball, Distan, Dunne, Jihai, Miller, Ireland, Barton, Richards, Trabelsi, Corradi & Mpenza; Miller to try & push Bentley back & Richards to get stuck into Tugay. These are there main threats & i personally think if you stop them playing we have a decent chance (?). I would have Sturridge & Vassell On the bench. Samaras needs to given a run in the reserves for a couple of games to let him understand what a lucky man he is !.
Our best chance of surival lies in the law of averages, as sooner or later we'll win a game. That's as good as it gets i'm afraid.
Rorz, like your team! Richards to bring drive into midfield and get on the end of things and Abdoun out wide to see if he can finally deliver the quality ball in that we've been missing all season. We know by now what to expect of the usual suspects, time to be bold and try something different.
Chris Bailey has some decent views on the situation and a lot of respect to him for leaving both Corradi and Samaras entirely out of the squad, although Im not sure Dichov is any better. However, the part with Jordan is a complete mess. "Fresh to give new impetus to the title run-in". Title run-in?? Erm... And if he knows what playing for City is all about then - what is it all about? Losing, playing dire football and in Jordan's case, being out of his depth? On top of that Im not sure Ball can play left midfield, I dont think he is cut out for that.
I liked Chris Bailey's no nonsense article earlier this week about the shambles which passed for the Wigan game - and I like this too. Basically SP has tinkered much much the same side all season with no real result at all - so something more ambitious and adventurous is needed and this team of Chris's is bold and imaginative. We've all tended to be over pre-occupied with the well documented problems up front which has side-tracked everyone into overlooking the problems in mid field where Joey Barton just can't be expected to do it all on his own. I think putting Richards and Ball in midfield is a pretty good idea - we need more physical prescence which Ireland with all his talent doesn't have - he was totally lost on Satrday . It's interesting to see which players Chris doesn't include - Hamman,Trabelsi,Corradi,Samaras,Dabo (not even a passing mention for him!) - what an indictment of SP's buying "policy".........
Jordan ??? Have you been drinking turps Chris ??? Good luck to the boys on sunday, you will have 7 thousand loyal fans cheering you on.. MCFC No Surrender.
Isakson / Onuha (Richards)Dunne Distin Ball / Abdoun Richards (Hamman) Barton Sun / Vassell Mpenza
Subs; Weaver Sturridge Beasley Dickov Ireland (hamman)
There are plenty of other options ie Trabelsi/Richards at right back, Vassell wide left/right just a couple of examples. I like Pearce but he needs to start earning his wages as the squad may not be brilliant but it is strong enough to stay up. He needs to try the options in training, put them trhough thier paces use reserve matches see what works and who has the heart for the fight and be flexible on match days and make early strong changes if things are not working.
I feel we will stay up and may even win the cup and renewed my season ticket on Monday. What choice is there? Come on lets get behind them and worry about personnel for next season in the summer.
Bad management,penny pinching and not being able to get player's in during the transfer window have left us where we now are.Surely we could borrow on the strength of next years Sky millions and the money made on a higher league position would cover its interest.On the other hand if the management see Pearce as not up to premiership manager quality and said "no money",hope we survive this season and get another manager in next season.I do not believe the second reason to be true.I agree with most fans that Jordan has lost whatever he had.That Isaksson should be No.1.We need our best back five.Onuoha is out at present sadly.So Dunne Distin and Ball because we need draws if we cannot win.Dabo and Hammann have been a waste of wages.Our midfielders apart from Barton,are lightweight,Ireland-should be used for his skill and passing ability.Beasley and Trabelsi are the others.Sinclair injured,near the end of the line also.I hope Mpenza turns out to be our saviour.Sadly Andy Cole was not replaced,Samaras would need bulk and aggression if he is ever to make an impact,but that will not happen for this season.If Vassell stays fit from now on and give Sturridge at least a half hour if used as a substitude.Everybody, but the people who were in power to do something about it,have been warning about this scenario for months and sadly,those on big money could not or would not see it.Despite my frustation I will still be chewing my nails hoping it can be turned around in time.I am and will always be a City supporter and we all live for the days when we can relax from the constant fear of another relegation.
Raymo, Audenshaw;
Your selection is in my mind spot on !
I agree that Weaver is ok but he ain't as good as the Swedish No.1.
Dunne and Distin have to start but I have grave reservations obout Distin's commitment now that he's leaving. Ball and Onuoha should be full backs.
Richards and Barton would make a tough hard working central midfield but out on the flanks I'd have Vassell on the left (he couldn't hit a barn door but he has got pace and can work back and will pair well with a hardworking Ball at left back) and Abdoun on the right - proper tricky winger.
Upfront it has to be Sturridge and Mpenza. And I'll add that Corradi should be sent back to Italy. Whilst the Greek has been the weakest this season I think he must be put in the reserves for a few months to mature and grow a bit of 'bottle'. Too soon to get rid at his price and age but Corradi is a journeyman and will probably duck out at the end of the season anyway.
The one thing this team has that SP's doesn't - PACE, PACE and more PACE SO IT'S A DONE DEAL 100% SURETY THAT PEARCE WILL NEVER PICK A TEAM LIKE THIS. CAN'T SEE CITY BEATING BLACKBURN ON SUNDAY BUT THEN I'M USUALLY WRONG...BUT I STILL CAN'T SEE IT 'APPN'N'