Dear Mr Munby (many many words)

If you really are going to check what is being said on this site then I have some advice for you: check the Wrath of the Barclay as well. But anyway here's some things that I, as a shareholder and supporter, don't understand, that perhaps you can explain to me.
1. Transfer policy. I've been watching City for longer than you, but I bet you know just as well as me that signing new players is a hit and miss affair. We can all think of signings that looked great on paper - but didn't work out. And the reason is simple - you simply don't know how a player will fit in with the new environment, with his new team-mates. Much better, and almost certainly cheaper, to retain the services of players who have done a good job for us, or to develop players through the Academy system whose characters are known, and who know the ethos of the club. The present manager's transfer policy flies in the face of this. I will give you two examples. Marc Edworthy had proven that he was a more than capable right back at this level. He has been promoted time and again, and played excellently for us in the championship season. Yet in the blinking of an eye he went from being first-choice right back in the premiership, to not being worth even an offer of a contract in the championship. He has been replaced with a player who has never played in the English game, and who thinks of himself as a centre back anyway. That appears to be transfer dealing for the sake of transfer dealing.
Then there is the case of Matty Svensson. Again we know for certain that he could do an excellent job for us - yet the club would not offer him the security of a two-year contract. His replacement? Bizarrely it's Peter Thorne - actually older than Matty - and, as I outlined above, a gamble as are all transfers. Again this appears to be transfer dealing for the sake of transfer dealing.
2. Playing players out of position. I think the last game we started without at least one player playing out of position was at Crewe. Over the past few months Jonson, Bentley, Stuart, Henderson, Huckerby and now Marney have all been played out of position on the right wing. And, frankly, and unsurprisingly, none of them has starred there. But the manager has no choice in this regard - because despite being more generously supported by the board than any manager in our history, he has failed to sign one genuine right winger. And players have been available. Which colour shirt would you rather have had Kevin Harper in last night? Or Kevin Cooper? Both low-risk transfers, but no attempt was made to sign them. Instead we have a Tottenham reserve playing out of position.
3. Favouritism. There seem to be some players who, no matter how poor their performances, are played week-in week-out. Last season it was Gary Holt. It was transparently clear that he simply was not good enough in the Premiership. Yet in the end the manager told us that Safri (and Helveg) were finally included just so that they wouldn't moan. And what happened next? This year it's Craig Fleming. Last year was our worst defensively since 56/7 yet any defensive combination we try has "Fleming" in it. Why? When we won the league that success was built on the rock of the Fleming / Mackay partnership, that was unquestionably greater than the sum of its parts. Selling either was, in my view, a nonsense, but if one or other had to go - why Malky. The team clearly lacks a leader. Malky is a leader. The defense is disorganised. Malky was the organiser. The Charlton / Fleming partnership that the manager tried was lacking in height. Malky is a monster. Charlton is a very similar player to Fleming so on paper a MacKay / Charlton partnership has a lot more logic than Fleming / Charlton. Yet Fleming has started every single game, MacKay got not even one second of time in the Premiership. Why was this? Is it perhaps because, unlike the current captain and his predecessor Malky wasn't afraid to voice his opinions - a trait he shared with Matt Jackson.
4. Motivation. The team give the impression that they don't much care - with one or two exceptions. Who is responsible for that? We have no leaders on the pitch, and in the dressing room we have someone who told the players before the Fulham game that they weren't playing for their futures. And that worked didn't it? Because that's exactly how most of them played.
5. Players. Over the past few years we have seen Rivers, Mulryne, and McVeigh drift out of the side because their fitness was lacking. All talented players that we never saw the best of because they weren't pushed to sort themselves out. Why is that?
6. Tactics. What exactly are our tactics? At Southampton they appeared to be to keep it tight, and lump the ball aimlessly forward in the hope that Ashton or Huckerby might nick something. Keeping it tight is probably not an option for a team that hadn't kept an away clean sheet since October. And what was Plan "B" when Southampton scored. Stick a couple of extra bodies up front and lump it at them. Who'd have believed that might not work.
7. "You can never have enough strikers". I suppose the manager may be unaware of the concept of "opportunity cost" - but you, as business people certainly are. We clearly have problems at right midfield, centre midfield, and centre back. Yet the manager was prepared, with your support, to spend a fortune on Clinton Morrison. We already have Ashton, MacKenzie, Huckerby, Jarvis, Henderson and McVeigh who can play up front. If we had blown the transfer budget on Morrison then we simply could not have afforded to deal with the more obvious weaknesses. Thank god for Iain Dowie. And a related point - you can also have too many goalkeepers.

Nigel Worthington, until about 12 or 13 months ago did an excellent job for City. But so did Saunders. And Bond. And Brown. And Stringer. They all took the club forward. But in the end the only way for us to progress further was for them to leave. We've reached that point with Nigel Worthington. He's a great man. We can never thank him enough. I'll buy him a pint any day of the week. But it's time to go. I know you take an interest in the fortunes of a certain other team. Look at the upswing in their fortunes, and of those of Mr Burley once the parting of the ways took place.

Posted By: Winged Eel Creosote on August 30th 2005 at 15:08:30

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