" Are we really as good as we think we are ? "

I have not been to see the City much this year at all so maybe others might have a better idea than me but all this talk of our squad being full of Premiership players and other managers having us 15 points clear with this squad in my opinion is a bit silly. Some people even pass it as FACT!!! How people can say that I have no idea. I'll have a look at our players and work out why our squad isn't that great in the grand scheme of things.

Heaton - No way a Premiership player. If he was he would be there when he left Man Utd.
Marshall - Never been a Premiership quality player never will be.
Matthews - Potential to be maybe but far too inconsistent.
Blake - No chance
Quinn - No chance
Mcnaughton - Glimpses of quality required but too injury prone and would probably struggle at Prem level
Naylor - Defo Prem standard which is why we had to fight off all 20 Prem clubs to sign him
Hudson - Too slow. Can get away with it at this level but not in the Prem
Keinan - Potentially could develop.
Gyepes - Too slow by far
Burke - Can show glimpses when he is showing pace to full effect but too inconsistent really. Very little end product for the positions he gets in.
McPhail - Nope. Cannot impose himself on a game.
Olafinjana - Nope, if he was he would be there
Rae - Nah
Whittingham - Again glimpses of brilliance but too inconsistent. Would not cut it at Prem level.
Bellamy - Finished at Prem level in my opinion. Injuries have caught up with him and he has lost the bit of pace that gave him the extra yard. Playing with better players might well make a difference but he has not shown himself to be Prem standard apart from very occasionally
JET - Etuhu mark 2. Very little end product for the pace and skill he has.
Parkin - A trier but not a Prem player or even high level Championship striker
Bothroyd - Shown glimpses when he was hot and was the one player who could keep up with Bellamy's thinking. Far too inconsistent though
Chopra - Lost it. No idea why and I am gutted about that. Has lost the spark and I'm not sure will get it back.

Did I miss anyone?

I don't think any Premiership club would be looking at any of our players were they available at the end of the season. In fact apart from 3 or 4 players I don't think teams who don't go up who are looking to push on next season would look too hard at the squad. We have a good Championship squad but we are missing that little bit extra that Taarabt, Routledge, Sinclair provide for QPR and Swansea. We are lacking quality in midfield, up top and in defence. Not to mention in goal. I know DJ said if he had the wages he would get the best squad in the league but he was wrong. It is not the best squad in the league and I don't think Warnock or Jewell or Holloway would do much better.

Whether they would do a better job assembling a better squad with the money DJ has had is another matter.

I have not been to see the City much this year at all so maybe others might have a better idea than me but all this talk of our squad being full of Premiership players and other managers having us 15 points clear with this squad in my opinion is a bit silly. Some people even pass it as FACT!!! How people can say that I have no idea. I'll have a look at our players and work out why our squad isn't that great in the grand scheme of things.

Heaton - No way a Premiership player. If he was he would be there when he left Man Utd.
Marshall - Never been a Premiership quality player never will be.
Matthews - Potential to be maybe but far too inconsistent.
Blake - No chance
Quinn - No chance
Mcnaughton - Glimpses of quality required but too injury prone and would probably struggle at Prem level
Naylor - Defo Prem standard which is why we had to fight off all 20 Prem clubs to sign him
Hudson - Too slow. Can get away with it at this level but not in the Prem
Keinan - Potentially could develop.
Gyepes - Too slow by far
Burke - Can show glimpses when he is showing pace to full effect but too inconsistent really. Very little end product for the positions he gets in.
McPhail - Nope. Cannot impose himself on a game.
Olafinjana - Nope, if he was he would be there
Rae - Nah
Whittingham - Again glimpses of brilliance but too inconsistent. Would not cut it at Prem level.
Bellamy - Finished at Prem level in my opinion. Injuries have caught up with him and he has lost the bit of pace that gave him the extra yard. Playing with better players might well make a difference but he has not shown himself to be Prem standard apart from very occasionally
JET - Etuhu mark 2. Very little end product for the pace and skill he has.
Parkin - A trier but not a Prem player or even high level Championship striker
Bothroyd - Shown glimpses when he was hot and was the one player who could keep up with Bellamy's thinking. Far too inconsistent though
Chopra - Lost it. No idea why and I am gutted about that. Has lost the spark and I'm not sure will get it back.

Did I miss anyone?

I don't think any Premiership club would be looking at any of our players were they available at the end of the season. In fact apart from 3 or 4 players I don't think teams who don't go up who are looking to push on next season would look too hard at the squad. We have a good Championship squad but we are missing that little bit extra that Taarabt, Routledge, Sinclair provide for QPR and Swansea. We are lacking quality in midfield, up top and in defence. Not to mention in goal. I know DJ said if he had the wages he would get the best squad in the league but he was wrong. It is not the best squad in the league and I don't think Warnock or Jewell or Holloway would do much better.

Whether they would do a better job assembling a better squad with the money DJ has had is another matter.

Spot on post IMO. Perhaps we should be happy with playoffs and start supporting our underdogs when you see it like that.

Good post Maccydee, we are definatly not as good as we think we are..

Naylor prem standard ? you havn't seen The City much this season have you

Looks like if we get promoted we will have to replace the whole squad then. Hope the Malaysians have deep pockets as that would cost many millions.There are many prem sides especially in the bottom half that have players who are not good enough for the league but its a matter of getting the balance of the team right rather than having all superstars otherwise man city would be winning everything.

I have not been to see the City much this year at all so maybe others might have a better idea than me but all this talk of our squad being full of Premiership players and other managers having us 15 points clear with this squad in my opinion is a bit silly. Some people even pass it as FACT!!! How people can say that I have no idea. I'll have a look at our players and work out why our squad isn't that great in the grand scheme of things.

Heaton - No way a Premiership player. If he was he would be there when he left Man Utd.
Marshall - Never been a Premiership quality player never will be.
Matthews - Potential to be maybe but far too inconsistent.
Blake - No chance
Quinn - No chance
Mcnaughton - Glimpses of quality required but too injury prone and would probably struggle at Prem level
Naylor - Defo Prem standard which is why we had to fight off all 20 Prem clubs to sign him
Hudson - Too slow. Can get away with it at this level but not in the Prem
Keinan - Potentially could develop.
Gyepes - Too slow by far
Burke - Can show glimpses when he is showing pace to full effect but too inconsistent really. Very little end product for the positions he gets in.
McPhail - Nope. Cannot impose himself on a game.
Olafinjana - Nope, if he was he would be there
Rae - Nah
Whittingham - Again glimpses of brilliance but too inconsistent. Would not cut it at Prem level.
Bellamy - Finished at Prem level in my opinion. Injuries have caught up with him and he has lost the bit of pace that gave him the extra yard. Playing with better players might well make a difference but he has not shown himself to be Prem standard apart from very occasionally
JET - Etuhu mark 2. Very little end product for the pace and skill he has.
Parkin - A trier but not a Prem player or even high level Championship striker
Bothroyd - Shown glimpses when he was hot and was the one player who could keep up with Bellamy's thinking. Far too inconsistent though
Chopra - Lost it. No idea why and I am gutted about that. Has lost the spark and I'm not sure will get it back.

Did I miss anyone?

I don't think any Premiership club would be looking at any of our players were they available at the end of the season. In fact apart from 3 or 4 players I don't think teams who don't go up who are looking to push on next season would look too hard at the squad. We have a good Championship squad but we are missing that little bit extra that Taarabt, Routledge, Sinclair provide for QPR and Swansea. We are lacking quality in midfield, up top and in defence. Not to mention in goal. I know DJ said if he had the wages he would get the best squad in the league but he was wrong. It is not the best squad in the league and I don't think Warnock or Jewell or Holloway would do much better.

Whether they would do a better job assembling a better squad with the money DJ has had is another matter.

HOW DARE YOU?! ANNIS SAID WE HAVE A QUALITY SQUAD SO WE MUST HAVE A QUALITY SQUAD!

Looks like if we get promoted we will have to replace the whole squad then. Hope the Malaysians have deep pockets as that would cost many millions.There are many prem sides especially in the bottom half that have players who are not good enough for the league but its a matter of getting the balance of the team right rather than having all superstars otherwise man city would be winning everything.

If we want to stay up we will have to, prem player we got at this very time is ! super Kev when hes at his best, oli is too slow now, Bellers is ok yes, but hes not ours , Whitts may sound silly to some but No, even he is not got it. I would say he dont put a full shift in and he passes across or back , never makes runs and will pump long balls down to the front , but they dont get there ,that much. Burke works like hell, and put a really good shift in, but the standard of some of the defenders in the prem would give him a really hard time. unless we really do get some quality and I do mean quality in we would be better of where we are, that way we would see us win a few games.

I think the point about our squad is in comparison with other CHAMPIONSHIP clubs not those in the Premiership.

When you consider the bulk of the squad which finished 4th last year was retained and strengthened with the likes of Bellamy etc, then IMO it is fair to believe that this squad should be doing a hell of a lot better than it is.

Naylor prem standard ? you havn't seen The City much this season have you

I think you should go back and RE-read the comment next to Naylors name ya numpty!

in a word - [b]NO[/b]

I think the point about our squad is in comparison with other CHAMPIONSHIP clubs not those in the Premiership.

When you consider the bulk of the squad which finished 4th last year was retained and strengthened with the likes of Bellamy etc, then IMO it is fair to believe that this squad should be doing a hell of a lot better than it is.

Things change season by season Tony. The Championship is pretty random. Look at Sheff Utd this year. Didn't expect them down there. Expected Forest to make a charge too. They strengthened the squad that got them 3rd last year now look at them. People were saying Billy Davies was one of the managers who could do more with our squad. Plus add 2 teams who came up who people felt would be strong.

Last year we had Whitts flying and Chopra scored more. That is the biggest difference for me and why we aren't doing so well. Our left winger (Bellamy) has not been anywhere near as effective as our left winger last year. The goals Whitts scored would have been very handy this year when Bothroyd went dry.