Guess we all knew there would be days like this

For me the toughest days to be a City fan are not when Man City or Arsenal rip you to pieces. Its when some horrible dour outfit packed full of haggard old pros come and do a job on you. Very little attempt to play football, play very direct, just 2/3 players that are any good on the balls, defend with a back 6 in a line, and 10 behind the ball, hoof it up and chase, work very very hard.

And we all know that in a premier league context our squad is not particularly good (one of the worst 5), so when we encounter such outfits there's every chance that we'll fail to take the scrappy chances that come our way, and that we'll have enough brain farts at the back to give them a very good chance of scoring against us.

Its not that we play bad. Its not that the players don't try. Its just f**king hard to break down a Pulis or Allardici team when they set up like that with that kind of player. And the game reduces down to 4/5 key moments, where our relative lack of quality leaves us battling the odds.

There's nothing to be done but suck it up I think. No point in scapegoating anyone.

If we're lucky enough to survive this year (and let's not try and pretend that we're going to be anything but relegation battlers this season given the first 10 games) then we'll improve the squad very slightly next year, and we'll see a marginal improvement in results next time Pulis (or whoever) roll into town.

But this is the premier league. It will always be like this for us, never like last season. (although there will be the very occasional great day when we turn over Man Utd or something). Which is why seasons like last year need to be savoured (how many times did we beat the scum??).

Ah well, there's always hope. Who have we got next week? We'll probably s**t em.

Posted By: Under soil heating, Oct 24, 19:52:18