Man City

[scawsby steve]

3 points from the last 12.

Karma?

[ravenrover]

Don't write them off yet

[normal rules]

No one cares about them . Why is there a topic on here about them ? There are, quite frankly, in a different universe to the football we love and follow.

[ravenrover]

Should that be "you" don't care about them?
Personally I can't stand Pep cheque manager extreme. But a good coach  but with good players!

[Padge_DRFC]

You'd trust him with cheque book v all the current and previous Man Utd and Chelsea managers though

[ravenrover]

Is it the managers who are buying these players though?

[GazLaz]

Should that be "you" don't care about them?
Personally I can't stand Pep cheque manager extreme. But a good coach  but with good players!

They’ve got money admittedly but the way they buy and sell players is just about the best in the business. Rarely over pay for players and get the maximum when selling. They could have easily paid fortunes for dross like United have over the last period of time.

[ravenrover]

Grealish 100k to warm the bench?
I agree about Utd and 1 or 2 others

[GazLaz]

Grealish 100k to warm the bench?
I agree about Utd and 1 or 2 others

Grealish has been great for them. Fantastic player.

[scawsby steve]

No one cares about them . Why is there a topic on here about them ? There are, quite frankly, in a different universe to the football we love and follow.

Come on, NR. We have to listen to people on here constantly berating Leeds and Wednesdays, who quite frankly I don't care about.

I hate it when Rovers lose, and someone comes on and says we shouldn't be too despondent because at least Leeds got hammered.

Really?

[Pancho Regan]

Grealish 100k to warm the bench?
I agree about Utd and 1 or 2 others

Grealish has been great for them. Fantastic player.

You must be joking Gaz.
Hugely overrated and generally an ineffective player.

[Plumbster]

Souness really laid into Grealish the other day- too slow, too many touches, predictable, no assists, no goals

[GazLaz]

Grealish 100k to warm the bench?
I agree about Utd and 1 or 2 others

Grealish has been great for them. Fantastic player.

You must be joking Gaz.
Hugely overrated and generally an ineffective player.

Took him a bit of time to settle in there but he was one of the best players in the Prem last season. He had a great season.

[Padge_DRFC]

He'd be my pick for England on the left for sure

[scawsby steve]

Grealish was brilliant today. Controlled everything in attack.

[Sammy Chung was King]

Luton are no pushover are they? Getting beat but not losing by much. Every team has a battle when Luton play, whether that will be enough to stay up I doubt it, but nice to see a smaller club like that battling with the big boys.

I don’t see City winning the title this season. As good a squad as they have, the one or two that have left, seem to have left them not quite as good with the replacements that have come in. Doku is a good player but not as good as Mahrez.

I see either Liverpool, Arsenal or an outsider like Villa winning it. Tottenham for me would be right up there without the injuries to key players. If Kane was there I think they would be real contenders, but just lack that backbone that see’s you over the line. With Kane and those key players missing it has cost them.

[GazLaz]

Grealish 100k to warm the bench?
I agree about Utd and 1 or 2 others

Grealish has been great for them. Fantastic player.

You must be joking Gaz.
Hugely overrated and generally an ineffective player.

Took him a bit of time to settle in there but he was one of the best players in the Prem last season. He had a great season.

The best player, for the best team in the world, today. Not many ineffective players can do that. 

[tyke1962]

Luton are no pushover are they? Getting beat but not losing by much. Every team has a battle when Luton play, whether that will be enough to stay up I doubt it, but nice to see a smaller club like that battling with the big boys.

I don’t see City winning the title this season. As good a squad as they have, the one or two that have left, seem to have left them not quite as good with the replacements that have come in. Doku is a good player but not as good as Mahrez.

I see either Liverpool, Arsenal or an outsider like Villa winning it. Tottenham for me would be right up there without the injuries to key players. If Kane was there I think they would be real contenders, but just lack that backbone that see’s you over the line. With Kane and those key players missing it has cost them.

I'm glad someone else can also see just how superb Luton Town actually are .

This club have given Liverpool , Arsenal and Manchester City proper games so far this season and other than possibly one or two others have never been out of any game they've played so far .

They've actually recruited very well , they  always recruit very well , never saw Jacob Brown and Carlton Morris in their time at Oakwell as cutting it at Premier League level , decent yes but Premier League is totally different gravy .

People at that club are extremely good at what they do , seeing players that others don't is an art and a talent .

[drfchound]

It’s good though they several teams are genuinely in the running for the title this season.

[Padge_DRFC]

That second goal I'd be furious as a Luton fan. Terrible from the defender at the back post he has to make that.

[scawsby steve]

That second goal I'd be furious as a Luton fan. Terrible from the defender at the back post he has to make that.

As that happened, Padge, my first thoughts were if Ro-Shaun Williams had done that with us, he'd have been panned on here all week.

That's how bad it was.

[ForsolongaRover]

Luton are no pushover are they? Getting beat but not losing by much. Every team has a battle when Luton play, whether that will be enough to stay up I doubt it, but nice to see a smaller club like that battling with the big boys.

I don’t see City winning the title this season. As good a squad as they have, the one or two that have left, seem to have left them not quite as good with the replacements that have come in. Doku is a good player but not as good as Mahrez.

I see either Liverpool, Arsenal or an outsider like Villa winning it. Tottenham for me would be right up there without the injuries to key players. If Kane was there I think they would be real contenders, but just lack that backbone that see’s you over the line. With Kane and those key players missing it has cost them.

I only saw the first half and having also noted how well they handled Arsenal and Liverpool, you have to recognise that their defensive set-up must be worth very close analysis. Top teams buzz around the fringes and just can’t penetrate the areas where they can take a shot at goal. I’m no technical analyst, but there has to be a key to how they work it which is not obvious to me and which has defied the best attacks in the PL.

[ncRover]

Just goes to show how good De Bruyne is.

Foden is not in the same league no matter how much the press hype him up.

[selby]

  There is no real secret in it the Italians especially and Argentinians and Uruguayans are masters at it.
  A bank of four at the back who do not push up too far at all, and when defending another bank in front and always defenders between the goal and the ball, and force them wide, and don't let them hit the goal line to pull the ball back across goal.
  Celtic under Jock Steen were never given the credit for attacking full backs that countered the Inter Milan side who dominated European football with defensive football with Burgnich and Facchetti hatchet men but in Lois Suarez, and the Brazilians Costa and Vinicio just hit teams on the counter while defending most of the game, Helenio Herrera  brought the style over from Uruguay and lots of teams started to follow the defensive style. Manchester United and the great Dutch Ajax side followed the Celtic attacking style and did a lot to stop what was becoming the norm of defending at all costs and saved the game as a spectacle.
   We have never recognised in England just how good the Celtic side of all local lads were, the game owes them a lot of good will for changing the pattern of the way the game was heading.

[Campsall rover]

  There is no real secret in it the Italians especially and Argentinians and Uruguayans are masters at it.
  A bank of four at the back who do not push up too far at all, and when defending another bank in front and always defenders between the goal and the ball, and force them wide, and don't let them hit the goal line to pull the ball back across goal.
  Celtic under Jock Steen were never given the credit for attacking full backs that countered the Inter Milan side who dominated European football with defensive football with Burgnich and Facchetti hatchet men but in Lois Suarez, and the Brazilians Costa and Vinicio just hit teams on the counter while defending most of the game, Helenio Herrera  brought the style over from Uruguay and lots of teams started to follow the defensive style. Manchester United and the great Dutch Ajax side followed the Celtic attacking style and did a lot to stop what was becoming the norm of defending at all costs and saved the game as a spectacle.
   We have never recognised in England just how good the Celtic side of all local lads were, the game owes them a lot of good will for changing the pattern of the way the game was heading.

That team of Simpson, Gemmill, McNeil, Chalmers, Auld, Johnstone, Lennox, Hughes, just to name 8 of that squad we’re some team Brian.
How they didn’t win the European Cup in 1970 is a massive mystery. That team was probably more talented than the 1967 European Cup winning team. They just didn’t turn up for the final against Feyenoord.
The 2 semi final games v Leeds United were 2 fantastic games between the 2 best teams in Britain at that time.
Think there were 22 full international players in those teams. That was very rare in 1970.

The Italians as you say Brian were masters of the dark arts and their No 1 priority when the crossed they white line was keeping a clean sheet at all costs.
Jock Stein, Matt Busby and to a certain extent Don Revie found a way to combat the ultra defensive tactics of many foreign teams particularly the Italians.

[selby]

 A good lesson in how eight men plus defend a penalty area going on at Newcastle at the moment for anyone mystified.
  But you don't stop shots like that one by Joelinton,come on you geordies, what a crowd.

[drfchound]

Newcastle just scored.

[selby]

  Same old 60 years on, how to snatch a win by keeping the opposition in front of you, case proven.