City 1 Fulham 2.

Surely you couldn't have really thought it would have happened?

Fulham, whose away form has meant they have been dragged into relegation trouble despite one of the best home records in the Premiership come to City and take all three points.

Not only do we lose the game but manage to concede two goals in the last five minutes in the process - the second pretty straight from our corner after Samaras had been unfortunate not to score with a deft chip. The reaction from the Fulham fans and players was one of disbelief as much as joy I think.

Looking at the Premiership table, remarkably we are now only five points clear of Portsmouth who were dead and buried a couple of months ago - until they faced a 'last chance' home game against us.

Reaction:

"It was a poor defeat today, we allowed them too much space for the first and with the second we were trying to chase a winner. Their players can break and sprint 100 yards, but we can't break and recover 100 yards, and it's not good enough." - Stuart Pearce.

"I am delighted, especially with the fashion we did it in, although we rode our luck in the second half. It was a great finish by Malbranque. He's a quality, quality player and we're absolutely desperate to extend his contract." - Chris Coleman

Match reports:

The Observer
The Independent


For those at the game who had a bad day, it can't have been as bad as the one I had.

Appearance on View from the Away End.

Click the link for my appearance on 'View From The Away End' on Black and White and Read All Over.

Dunne named supporters player of the year.

Richard Dunne has been named the Official Supporters Club player of the year for the second season in succession, holding off David James and Sylvain Distin who were second and third respectively.

"I'm really proud. It's a surprise because it's not been the
best season for us, and there's a couple of other players who have done
really well.
Andy Cole did well before his injury, David James has been
brilliant, Trevor Sinclair has done well also so it's a really big honour
and I'm delighted.
It was really nice getting it last year and you don't expect to
win it two years in a row. There are other players in the team who
deserve it, some of us have all had our moments, so I'm really pleased that I have won it."

Personally I thought Dunne had a loss of form mid season which is why I think Distin gets my vote but I don't think there was much to call between the top three.

Unsuprisingly Micah Richards picked up the Young Player of the year award with Kelvin Etuhu named most promising player.

Voting is still open for the Bitter and Blue readers player of the year.

Weaver gets close to start.

Being the back-up keeper for David James must clearly be the worst job in football. It looked at one stage like Weaver would make his first start in some time at home to Fulham later today but the durable James has recovered from a back injury to continue his ever present run, which has been a feature throughout his career.

Seems the most likely scenario for Weaver to get some first team action is if James gets the nod again for a striking role...

Villa 0 City 1.

At last! A win. Not just a win, but a win on our travels!

As teams on a hopeless run of form must welcome our arrival, if there was a ground to travel to and end our miserable run then Villa Park surely ranks at the top of the list.

A result that could have easily ended in a draw thanks to a late disallowed Villa goal but Stuart Pearce was in mood for charity after the game; "It happens in football...we lost out on two goals last week and gained one tonight".

It was Villa old boy Darius Vassell who settled the contest, improving on the finishing he displayed in the FA Cup tie earlier in the season and backing up my 'due a big game' predicition in The Observer on Sunday.

Sandwiched in between the two Champions League games and without anything meaningful at stake it must rank as one of the lesser focused Premiership contests of the season and I doubt that the three points have really stirred the masses from their recent apathy.

I'll leave the final word on the victory to Stuart Pearce though;

"It's not the end of a losing run, but the start of winning
one".

Aston Villa preview.

My preview of the Villa game which appeared in The Observer this past Sunday:

When we knocked Villa out of the FA Cup this season it was difficult to imagine we would be jostling them for a league position when this fixture came around.
The season is drawing to a depressing close and it is difficult to even see where the next point may come from looking at our final few games.
Perhaps the spirited display though from the youth side in their second leg game on Friday night can help spark the first team out of the rut they are now stuck in.
Villa Park has been a happy hunting ground over the years for us and Stuart Pearce will be hoping the few days off he gave the squad this week will signal a reversal of recent fortunes.


BIG GAME: Darius Vassell. Struggled on his return in the Cup game and lacking confidence of late.

A fatherly word.

A year after telling him (and the press)that it would be in Shaun Wright-Phillips best interests to move to Chelsea and be playing regular Champions Leage football, Ian Wright now says

"I know how much Shaun wants to play for Chelsea but if he
has another season like this I will be telling him to move on".

Parental advice - don't you just love it?

Youth team feature.

My fellow writer Paul Grech at squarefootball.net has profiled the City youth team in his latest article and featured the six players he tips to make the Premiership grade.

Blogroll update.

One or two new entries onto the Bitter & Blue blogroll (to the right hand side of the page).

None with football content, but all have a Manchester angle to them. First up is Eskimo girl, based in Manchester and whose blog houses some decent tunes you can download. Oh, and she is a City fan to boot.
Also making the blogroll is Manchester based collective Hoodlum Tribe, who I've only recently come across but their radio show on Wednesday nights is well worth a listen. And finally is Manchester based Yankunian who must surely hold the largest Manchester blogroll in existence and has featured yours truly in recent times.

Go enjoy.

Dickov set for return?

Former fan-favourite and scorer of officially the greatest goal in City history - Paul Dickov is strongly rumoured to be on the verge of a move back to City, with the club apparantly set to pip Blackburn for his signature in the summer.

Dickov has been offered a one year deal by Blackburn but is believd to be concerned that he has fallen down the pecking order and is ready to complete an emotional return to the club which he admittedly never wanted to leave.

Granted, Dickov has surprised me with the level of performance he has shown at Blackburn and Leicester since leaving us but his goal record is still no more than average and would be a major step backwards were we to re-sign him.

The forward position is not something we are desperate to fill either given the fact that (fully fit) we have Vassell, Samaras, Cole, Sibierski and Wright-Phillips would be in competition with Dickov for a place.

However, perhaps his 'infectious enthusiasm' is what Pearce is looking for in his signings and undoubtedly he would come cheap (both wages and cost of signing him) so fits the profile that the club have pursued over the past year but it isn't a move that would be welcomed by fans in general - even those (admittedly not myself) who were big fans first time round.

If indeed he does sign, then to me it is a clear indication that the pot is bare and Pearce is working on little more than a shoestring when trying to improve a squad which has clearly struggled over the latter part of the season.

Making history.

News reaches that former Blue Christian Negouai has entered the record books by scoring for Belgian side Standard Liege after just 11 seconds against Westerlo.

"I will go down in history", said Negouai following the game.

Presumably said without a hint of irony.

Points of View.

The following letter made it's way into 'Bitter and Blue' inbox recently and with permission from the sender of the letter, I am posting it up as I'm certain it covers issues that a lot of fans can currently identify with.

Dear Mr Chairman,

I am sure that this is not the first or last letter to be sent to you by a season ticket holder that thinks he knows best but please read on as what I have to say should be of great interest to you.

Much as you are undoubtedly a fan of Manchester City Mr Wardle, it is impossible for you to still be in touch with the majority of ordinary fans that go home and away week in week out.

This is by no means a criticism, it is just something that goes with the territory of being the Chairman of the football club. So this is where I come in. To be blunt, being a fan of Manchester City is no fun at the moment whatsoever. This goes way beyond the abject performances on the football pitch. City fans do not expect much. We are not in it for the trophies, if we were we would have taken an altogether different direction at a very early age, but we are in it for the enjoyment factor. The only reason we got crowds around the 30 000 mark in the old Second Division was because, come what may, we could be guaranteed a good laugh with our mates at the games. Believe me, if we plummet the depths we have previously we will not get those sort of crowds. Why? Because it's not a laugh anymore, particularly at home matches.

I sit in the second tier of the South Stand and see the heavy handed, sometimes brutal, treatment of Manchester City fans by testosterone fuelled security men on your payroll. The City fans crime? Standing and singing at a football game. The very same behaviour that got our club such a good reputation in the first place. Other fans don't say 'Oh Manchester City are a great club, their balance sheets for the last financial year made fantastic reading'. But what they are likely to say is 'I really admire Manchester City, their fans are so passionate and vocal'.

Unfortunately, at the moment, what they are actually saying is 'Manchester City? Isn't it quiet in their new ground? And did you see all the empty seats? They're no better than Middlesborough'. Of course we are better than those jokers but that's the public perception outside the club, and surely this is hampering potential outside investment. People are not renewing season tickets because of this so it is a very serious issue to be addressed.

Now please PLEASE read the following carefully. The problems we currently have cannot be solved by piping crowd noises through the loud speakers during games or playing any kind of music after a goal is scored. I very nearly left the ground in disgust when the former occurred and if the latter ever does occur then my most recent season ticket renewal form will be the last the club receives and I am sure I won't be the only one. Over the years City fans have been known as people to lead, not follow. Yet we are slowly but surely being forced down the same road as the likes of Middlesborough. A stadium 2/3 full with 'happy clappy' fans devoid of any passion watching millionaires prance and preen their way through ninety minutes of football. Like I say, it is not much fun anymore.

It would be unfair of me to write a somewhat critical letter without putting forward some suggestions as to what can be improved. Now I realise I am not a successful businessman and I also realise that a business mind is needed to be the Chairman of the football club. However, I have been immersed in Manchester City for long enough to know what the average fan does and does not want to see or hear.

For starters, when our prize asset, one of the only reasons watching City was enjoyable at times, is sold, we do not want to hear, more or less straight away that an ex Manchester United legend/veteran has been signed on a free transfer. Don't get me wrong, said player has been a decent signing, when fit, but it's all about being in tune with the supporters. Couldn't the announcement been delayed further? It also doesn't help when we are then told that his past doesn't matter. It does. That doesn't mean we don't sign him, but we shouldn't be told how to receive him. We'll decide that thank you very much.

In the same vein, when we are linked with another Manchester United legend, a legend that ended a former City captains career, a club statement should be issued to the press immediately along the lines of 'Much as Manchester City are a club open to all, we realise that there are certain players our fans would never accept and the football club understands this. We can categorically deny any interest from our part'. Simple and a great PR exercise too boot.

A much better exercise than hearing that there is very little money to spend on players in the summer when the ink is barely dry on the season ticket renewal forms and certain fans are undecided whether to renew or not. Do you really think the prospect of another season of nothingness is going to tempt them in? Believe me, it isn't.

Loyalty is a two way thing, and we aren't being treated well by the club. Sorry to be so frank. The West Ham ticket fiasco was just the latest incident. I'm on the Direct Debit Cup Ticket Scheme yet had to spend over three hours on the phone trying to get a ticket as West Ham fans were allocated my seat. And this was after I went to the ground and had toleave the queue to get back to my office empty handed. This from the club which is apparently 'Supporting Our Supporters'. Not good is it Mr Chairman? Maybe being automatically allocated a seat in another area of the ground might have been a more favourable policy to adopt.

In addition to this, I don't really want to get embroiled in football matters, but the senior players aren't up to the standard I would expect for a club which gets 40 000+ attendances week in week out. So how do you think we feel when we see players, naming no names, get lucrative contract extensions when they have never proved their fitness or have proved over the years at the club that they are simply not good enough? Disillusioned is how we feel, and this disillusionment is turning to apathy in certain quarters, and anger in others. Either way, it potentially leads to more empty blue seats. We've muddled through this season with two senior central midfielders, one who is permanently injured and the other who is suspended a lot. It's a problem and one which cannot be solved by unknown Scandinavian midfielders who never get in the first team squad, never mind the team. We need to spend money on proven quality and if we are unable to do that we deserve to be told in plain terns. Is the club in such a mess that we should be happy with Premiership survival every season or do we have any aspirations of actually achieving anything on the pitch? If the club told us straight we might lower our expectations, which believe me, are pretty low to start with.

The club has been a success in certain areas. The 'THIS IS OUR CITY' campaign was a masterstroke which wound United up brilliantly. More of the same please. And the Academy is producing high quality youngsters who are getting a chance in the first team.

Losing is made that little bit more bearable when you know hungry young lads, who in some cases are City fans themselves, have gone down trying. Please makes sure these lads are tied up for a long time at City, because the loss of the likes of Micah Richards could be the final straw for some people. It has also been good to see ticket prices slashed for cup games. Now if it was just made that little bit easier to purchase said tickets the club might be on to a winner.

You don't have to pen a reply to the above but it would be appreciated. I'm more interested that the points made are taken on board. If they are not addressed then the club is just going to become another football club, and it's far far better than that.

Yours sincerely.

West Ham 1 City 0 - the law's an ass.

Another an away trip, and another empty haul but a game in which Stuart Pearce commented that we deserved a point if not all three from.

West Ham's goal was a poor piece of defending from start to finish as it began with a throw for the Hammers deep in their half which somehow saw Dunne and Distin dragged way out of out of position - although credit Zamora for holding Distin superbly. Ben Thatcher somehow managed to pull sell himself a superb dummy to allow Newton to hit home the only goal of the game.

The main talking point from the game though was the two 'goals' which we had disallowed for offside. The concensus from the 'experts' who analysed the game on TV was that it was correct to disallow Micah Richards goal but Vassell's was harshly chalked off.

There is no question Vassell's should have stood as he was clearly level with the last defender Danny Gabbidon when he turned the ball home so that was plainly an error on the part of the referees assistant.

Micah Richards was a different story and centres around the was he/wasn't he active ruling. When Sinclair shot (and I'm still not sure how he managed to get the ball in the net after scuffing it so badly) Richards was marginally offside, and would have been better advised to leave the ball alone. However, he is a young lad and was obviously keen to try and earn another goal bonus.

From the camera angles I have seen on the TV replays though, Richards failed to get a touch until the ball had crossed the line so he wasn't active in the play as he has not impeded the path of either the defence or the goalkeeper, in a nutshell meaning Sinclair has shot on goal, the ball has gone directly in the net so there is no question the goal should stand.

Fast forward twenty-four hours to the Blackburn v Liverpool game and the winning goal is again a controversial one and one I think even more so than either of our disallowed goals. Djibril Cisse was about five yards off side when the ball gets played to him and he goes to control the ball, but realising he is offside (and that Morientes is there running on to the ball) cleverly allows the ball to run, resulting in Morientes to square for Fowler to slot home another goal (another story in itself...). The 'official word' from the referee was that it was not deemed offside as Cisse had not got a touch to the ball in the build up to the goal.

A perhaps harsh 1-0 reverse probably sums up ours and West Hams respective fortunes since the FA Cup meeting and now leaves us kicking out heels a little for over a week until we travel to a happy hunting ground in Villa Park.

Happy Birthday!

Has it really been that long?

Yep, today is exactly one year since the debut post here on Bitter and Blue, which was an eve of trip down to Fulham post. And so here we are, 277 posts and almost 56,000 hits later.

Far the large part, it has been a less-than-typical year following City as there hasn't been any calls for the managers head, generally the team has fared quite well, we haven't endured a struggle against relegation or a battle for promotion.

And in some perverse way that may be part of the reason behind some of the malaise and apathy that seems to be affecting fans at the moment. There hasn't been any of the excitement of the Keegan era with the likes of Bernarbia, Berkovic or Anelka. Or conversely, the depths of despair under Ball and Clark with the likes of Brannan, Edghill and Whitley to vent your anger at.

Things have just been, well ok. There was the 'typical City' reaction after the Middlesbrough game on the final day of 04/05 when we missed out on the UEFA Cup - but no-one expected us to get anywhere near when Pearce took the reigns. The sale of SWP caused a reaction but the majority accepted that £21 million was more than a decent fee and that he himself wanted to go.
This season we have been hovering on the fringes of UEFA qualification without getting in the positions or sliding too far away and were putting together a decent FA Cup run. On the pitch performances have been ok without raising the pulse and I think City fans have found it difficult to know exactly how to react.

This is why I think that there has been the reaction there has been of late in the wake of the FA Cup exit and the performance against Middlesbrough. If we had beaten West Ham then we would now be facing a semi-final (against Middlesbrough) and Wembley (alright, Cardiff) fever would have taken hold.

But I think the West Ham defeat has now hit home as we are now playing out a meaningless set of matches to determine whether we finish 12th, 13th or 14th and that isn't what we have experienced too much over the years.

It could be said that we are in a period of stability now as this is our longest spell in the top flight for a while, but stability can only last so long before it becomes stagnation.

That is why a lot of fans are looking to off-field activities over the summer for some positive signs.

Boy Blues crash.

City's youth team were downed 3-0 in the first leg of the FA Youth Cup final last night against Liverpool at Anfield.

The match, also shown on Sky appeared to be fairly well attended and the City fans were certainly in fine vocal form which didn't appear to be matched out on the pitch.

I only caught the first half before shooting off to play myself, but apart from a good opportunity which was spurned by Etuhu, from what I saw it looked to be a disappointing display from the kids and seemed to be a mirror image of some of the problems witnessed in the first team of late - lack of cohesion amongst the side, wasted possession and territorial advantage and an overall lack of quality to be able to win the game.

The two players down the left hand side - Shaleum Logan and Karl Moore impressed me and what creative spark there was came from them but the much vaunted front two of Sturridge and Etuhu lacked sharpness and struggled to make their presence felt.

There is always a chane of overturning a 2-0 first leg lead, but Liverpool's late third makes the task virtually impossible now.

New issue of City 'Til I Cry.

The new issue of City 'Til I Cry is out should be available to anyone travelling down to West Ham this weekend, in a couple of weeks or so when we next actually have a home game.

The issue features the interview I did with Tom which appeared on the site a little while ago.

You can contact Tom to buy or comment on the issue - just click on the link to the right hand side of this post.

Looking hard enough?

Paul Lake was commenting today on the current crop of youngsters at the club ahead of the FA Youth Cup final, and also reminiscing about his own days as part of a batch of kids who made the grade at the club.

One aspect he gave particular credit to was the club set up - in particular the work of Jim Cassell, Paul Power and the rest of the scouting network, which was interesting when I came across an article quoting Cassell and the scouting methods.

"I think there's a trend at the moment to widen the net and
I wouldn't criticise that approach. But all we can do is look at our own club.
We haven't quite gone into the area of trawling around the world yet -
whether we will I think depends upon the finances of the club".

Obviously the club has done a fantastic job in bringing through the youngsters that have come through over the past couple of seasons, with another crop knocking at the door but I find it disappointing that the club would restrict themselves to the local area.

We must clearly be able to compete with any other club in the locality when it comes to attracting players from Manchester and the North-West but it must make sense to 'cast the net' as far and wide as possible in bringing the next generation of players to the club.

Cassell mentioned the 'finances of the club' as one of the reasons, but it surely wouldn't bankrupt the club to establish a network of contacts and scouts around Europe (and beyond) to bring in the 16-21 age group to the club?

There must already be a scouting network of some sorts covering Europe - bearing in mind we have brought in Samaras and Riera this season alone.

We don't have the financial clout to be able to compete with the very top clubs in attracting players once they get to 21+ so it makes sense to nab them before they get established and beyond our reach.

Any other approach and we are only hindering our progress for the future.

Worth the money?

The Independent ran a lengthy feature today with an exclusive report on players salaries.

The main thread of the story was that the average Premiership footballer earns a yearly salary of £676,000, which equates to £13,000 per week. Although this is a 65% increase since the last study was done back in 2000, it was a figure that I imagined would be higher.

It was interesting to think back a week or so ago, when Stuart Pearce stated that if was still a player City would be a club 'he would want to play for' and cited our wage structure as being comparable with teams we are competing against.

Looking through our squad then I would think it is likely that the majority of senior players in our first team squad would be earning in excess of the £13,000 average. Certainly James, Mills, Dunne, Distin, Reyna, Sinclair, Samaras, Cole, Vassell and Barton would be taking home no less than that.

The figure of £13,000 of course rises depending on the age of a player and also the position they play, which is an interesting fact when considering the amount that Joey Barton was believed to be asking for when he handed in his transfer request back in January.

If the figure of £28,000 is correct - which he wanted to ensure parity with his peers, it is a figure which far exceeds the averages both for his position and age.

For a 23 year old, the average Premiership wage is £582,500 a year (or around £10,500 a week) with the average midfield wage being £754,000 a year (£14,000 a week).

If Barton is on between £10,500 and £14,000 a week, the you could argue a case that he deserves a higher salary in comparison to the average wage as opinion would generally be that he is an above average Premiership midfielder (for his age at least).

If Barton was claiming he wanted 'parity' when demanding an improved deal, it doesn't appear that it was parity against the rest of The Premiership.

And if anything the report does highlight is that a majority in our squad are earning more than The Premiership average - and could that be a problem in itself?

Squarefootball.net article.

Click here for the latest article I've had featured on squarefootball.net.

Tottenham 2 City 1.

Despite last weeks public shellacking by Stuart Pearce, there can't have been too many Blues who approached yesterday's game with much confidence or optimism.

Facing a Tottenham side looking to rebound from the previous weeks setback to their Champions League hopes, we were coming off a four game Premiership losing streak and away form which would shame Sunderland.

As Guy summed up quite well in The Observer; 'I thought there was more chance of Red Rum winning the National than City getting three points'.

Pearce chopped the midfield around, with only Sinclair remaining from the horror show of last week but without the form of James it could (and should) have been more but credit is perhaps due to the side for battling away and actually getting a foothold back into the game when most must have considered heading for the exits.

Whilst we were on our impressive streak at home, it seemed to paper over the cracks of the loss of form on our travels and at least led to some confidence in the side. It seems that all hope of any positive finish to the season has now evaporated and we are trying to take positives such as a 'spirited display' and 'improvement on last week' from the game as opposed to any tangible pluses.

Our recent woes have also led to the first rumblings about Pearce's management with one post match phone-in call stating he was the worst manager we've had since Frank Clark.

I certainly don't subscribe to that theory and I think Pearce posseses the qualities and skills to take us forward, but his honeymoon period has now long gone and this is the first time he has been tested and needs to provide answers to the questions being posed as there is no doubt that the on field problems are leading to a degree of off field disillusionment (as is the theme throughout the latest issue of City 'Til I Cry at the moment.

If the remaining five games go the same way of the last five games then perhaps everyone will be glad of the distraction of The World Cup.


Did David James's performance help his player of the year hopes? Click HERE to vote.

Empty coffers?

So if reports earlier this week are correct and we are set to ship out upto five players in the summer then our are already thin squad will be stretched even further.

As in somewhat of a surprise move, the normally cautious Stuart Pearce when it comes to transfer details revealed that there are next to no funds available in the summer for reinforcements and that he will need to be 'cute' in the transfer market if he is to bring the 'four or five' players in that he feels need to be added to the squad.

And in what was perhaps the nearest he has come to a controversial comment aimed towards the City board he has said that there 'may need to be compromise' when talking about the transfer kitty.

I'm sure names such as Malbranque will again be trotted out over the summer, but I expect that any reinforcements will be along the same lines of last summers captures with small transfer fees and loan signings being the type of player who arrives.

Still, I expect most of the transfer speculation over the summer though to focus on players to be moving out rather than coming in.

Five go to pastures new?

Perhaps inevitably after Stuart Pearce's post game comments on Sunday, reports surfaced yesterday that Pearce is set to wield the axe amongst the current squad with five players reported to be on their way out.

The five - listed as Danny Mills, Ben Thatcher, Antoine Sibierski, Kiki Musampa and Bradley Wright-Phillips would not perhaps cause too much consternation amongst fans if they were elsewhere for the 2006/07 season but I can't helping feeling the reports were without a great deal of foundation and most of the five will still be at the club next season.

If it were left to the majority of fans Sibierski would be on his way but it is not too long ago he extended his contract by another season (along with Reyna) so it would be a big u-turn by Pearce to now sell him. Musampa may be a different story as he is only on loan and it is likely Riera will sign permanently. However, he has featured more and more in the centre of midfield so if a nominal fee can be agreed with Atletic Madrid Pearce may be tempted to make his move permanent.

Mills and Thatcher are no longer the first choice pairing at full back, with Jordan and Richards/Onouha having usurped them over the course of this season. Mills's contract maybe a problem to shift though and still has a couple of years remaining on his contract, although I believe Thatcher's deal runs out in the summer and I can't see that Pearce would offer him a new deal.

I was surprised to see Wright-Phillip's name on the list though. He has made strides this season and featured more in the team (although too often as a cameo substitute appearance) but I am still sceptical whether he will truly break through as a regular and will surely come under pressure from the likes of Miller, Sturridge and Etuhu in the future. One thing he needs more than anything at this stage of his career is regular games and it will be most beneficial if he spent next season out on loan at a Championship side.

One factor that will surely affect the number of players moving out will be the number of players arriving. After spending £6million on Samaras, Pearce may not have much money to manouvere with so he may be forced to keep some of the fringe (ie. lower value) players to maintain some semblance of squad depth.



Click HERE to vote for the Bitter and Blue player of the year.

City 0 Boro 1 - Pearce hits out.

An 'uninspiring draw' was what I predicted as a likely outcome in The Observer prior to yesterdays game.

We couldn't manage the draw but uninspiring would seemingly be fitting descriptions of the performance - and our fourth successive defeat which has certainly sent our season into tailspin and led to Stuart Pearce calling out the team in his post match comments:

"We showed no moral courage whatsoever. If I was a supporter I would be disgusted. We were so spineless it was frightening. We were an absolute disgrace. I've told them to go home, look their wives and children in the eye and ask them: 'How did daddy do today?' If we get that kind of performance again, there will be people leaving this club.
Make no mistake about that. I am disgusted as a manager. The buck stops
with me. I'm the first one who takes the flak for it and I'm happy to do so.
"But behind me there are 10 players. I'll excuse the goalkeeper because I don't think there was much he could do out there. None of the others stepped up to the plate.
None showed any leadership or earned their wages. Next time these players come into training and walk past me in the corridor, they've got to look me in the eye and know how I feel about them."If you play like that, you haven't got a cat in hell's chance of getting into Europe, and if you did get into Europe, you'd embarrass
yourself playing like that.
I feel bitterly disappointed for the fans - this was the worst experience I've had as a
manager."

It was certainly a deserved rebuke for the squad, but a little surprising considering the fact that Pearce is usually very supportive of the squad and has publicly backed them at times in the past when he could easily have criticised them.

I don't think Pearce himself though can be immune from criticism and I personally don't understand why he started with the central midfield partnership of Sibierski and Ireland. Also, yet again his substitutions were open to criticism and the wrong players were replaced. Events over the past two weeks are now threatening to turn what looked to be a promising finish to the season into one which which will likely to be looked back on with a high degree of disappointment.

I think with that in mind, it probably prompted Pearce to be as harsh with his comments as he was and was certainly done to invoke a 'shock factor' amongst the squad to arrest the slide that they are currently on.

Pearce was certainly correct to be critical of the players, he knows this, the board know this, the fans certainly know this and the players should definitely know this.

But as Ben mentioned in his comments on a previous post - was Pearce correct to 'wash his dirty linen in public'? It was certainly a bold move but one which I feel was needed. For all we know Pearce may have chided the squad 'in house' already but with the season in tail spin he felt a more drastic approach was needed.

It was an abject performance that has in truth been coming. Far from challenging for a UEFA place (which I previously stated would mean a disappointing season if we failed in that respect) perhaps we are now nestled in the mid table position that is more reflective of the squads ability.
For me, the interesting thing now though is what the reaction will be. Europe has now long gone and relegation is not an issue but we don't have the easiest of run ins.

What is most likely is that rather than the points total over the next six games, Pearce will be primarily looking at the qualities he is most known for from the team - passion, commitment and desire.

Pearce still harbouring UEFA hopes?

It doesn't appear that I've missed a great deal over the past week whilst I've been unable to post.

Of most interest though was Stuart Pearce stating that he still believes we have an opportunity to snatch a UEFA qualification place.

"I still definitely feel there is a chance of qualifying for Europe," said Pearce. "At this stage last season, most people would have said we had absolutely no chance of qualifying for Europe but it is amazing how one result can change the situation.
If we win our game against Middlesbrough and other results go for us this weekend, suddenly we will be back within touching distance again.
While there are points to be fought for, we should realistically look at it and say why not? We have enough opportunity to win any of our remaining games and that is what we should aim to do."

As I posted after the Portsmouth game when I felt that our UEFA hopes had disappeared, I believe it will take 62 or 63 points to qualify. We are currently sat on 40 points with seven games remaining so of course it is not mathematically possible to achieve it.

This is the table as it currently stands:

Games Points
Arsenal 8 50
Bolton 9 48
Wigan 7 46
West Ham 7 45
Everton 7 43
Charlton 7 42
City 7 40

Nothing has happened to change my opinion that it will take 62 or 63 points to qualify, and our current form is clearly the poorest of any of the sides chasing the UEFA positions. The difference last year is that we built some momentum on the back of Pearce taking over and the total number of points to qualify for the UEFA Cup were less than required this season.

Our recent form (particularly our away form) has killed off any marginal hopes of UEFA qualification and perhaps it is more a case of Pearce trying to get the squad motivated and focused for the remaining games of the season.