THE nail-biting and hair-pulling is over, but the sustained bout of self-assessment at Manchester City has only just begun.

And that is only proper after a season when Kevin Keegan's men put fans through the wringer.

How a side assembled at such a cost and so expensive to run failed so miserably is a topic of conversation wherever Blues followers assemble.

Under-performing, overpaid players, bad buys, a manager who lost the dressing room, poor coaching, a weak board, redundant tactics, poor captaincy and sheer bad luck have all been proffered as excuses for a 16th-place Premiership finish.

It would be far too easy to alight on any one of those theories, and much nearer the truth to admit that there is probably a bit of each of them mixed in the recipe for near-disaster.

Keegan doesn't need anyone to point out that some of his high-profile, well-remunerated signings have not come off.

Coup

The two best players this season, week in and week out, have been Shaun Wright-Phillips and Richard Dunne, two men he didn't bring to the club although Irishman Dunne is one that Keegan did manage to save from himself.

David James's arrival was a coup, even if it was forced upon the Blues by the retirement of David Seaman, and he has been at the top of his game.

Other arrivals have not been so impressive. The near '4m splashed out on Matias Vuoso continues to be an irritation, Steve McManaman's contribution has been minimal after his arrival from Real Madrid and Trevor Sinclair has had a season to forget.

Robbie Fowler never really clicked with Nicolas Anelka, although the effort was clearly there, and Claudio Reyna and Paul Bosvelt proved reliable but not inspiring in the engine room. Ironically one who probably did justify his deal was Michael Tarnat, although the German has now left the club.

Whether the manager lost the dressing room as suggested by the spurned Eyal Berkovic and the fact that there were some hastily-convened April meetings, only those involved will know. But there was tension in some of Keegan's words towards the end of the season, hopefully brought on by frustration and not a lasting schism with his squad.

Coaching was an issue as fans bombarded internet sites, radio phone ins and letter pages with reasons not to be cheerful, but Keegan stood steadfastly by his back-room team of Arthur Cox, Derek Fazackerley and Stuart Pearce.

That takes us to the boardroom, where some hands must be held up over agreeing deals for players. Keegan and chairman John Wardle have an admirable relationship but there remains a feeling among supporters that the chairman could have said `no' more often.

As for tactics, Keegan cannot be accused of failing to change. He began with a 4-4-2 system and was always willing to adapt to 3-5-2, particularly when Daniel van Buyten arrived on loan.

Flak

Where the manager did attract some flak was in his reluctance to change the way the team played in the middle of matches.

He was hampered by a lack of variety in his squad - though it has to be remembered it was he who fashioned the playing rota - but there were many like-for-like substitutions.

There is a belief, too, that Keegan never established his optimum starting eleven.

Up front, the best combinations were Nicolas Anelka and Paulo Wanchope, or Robbie Fowler and Jon Macken, while in midfield there were changes all season as the manager sought to discover which three should play alongside Shaun Wright-Phillips.

The defence too often picked itself with no pressure on any of the four players, and it is that area the manager must strengthen. He is desperate to add the height and muscle of Belgian international van Buyten, a move that would possibly allow him to play three at the back or convert Sylvain Distin into a left back.

The athletic Frenchman has been an enigma. Strong, quick and good in the air, he has too often relied on his speed and suppleness, rather than tactical nous, to get him out of trouble.

Many blame his inconsistency on being the captain and he may be freed from that responsibility next season. But it would be wrong to pin City's woes on Distin's captaincy. He is an honest member of the dressing room who did the job in the best way he knew how.

Finally we come to bad luck and misfortune and there is no doubt there was plenty of that, to challenge the long-held belief that `You finish in the table exactly where you deserve to.'

Grateful

Middlesbrough, Spurs, Chelsea, Charlton, Leeds, and even Arsenal can all be grateful they got what they did from their visits to Eastlands and not one of them would argue that the Blues had suffered a degree of misfortune.

To a certain extent, however, a team does make its own luck and better finishing and more savvy defending could have seen ten more points on the total.

City produced some decent performances without reward but that doesn't mean to say there were no highlights during a difficult campaign.

Terrific wins at Charlton and Blackburn got the pulses racing, hitting Bolton for six and Everton for five were memorable matches and then there was the come-from-behind FA Cup miracle at Spurs when Keegan's men found the strength to triumph 4-3 after being 3-0 down at the break.

Best of all was the 4-1 derby demolition of United at Eastlands, though next season there needs to be an awful lot more reasons than that to celebrate.

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