Are My Expectations Too High?
by Gary Nolan
After the most recent draw against Birmingham I lost my temper somewhat in relation to how we have been playing. I have calmed down but still stand by my opinion that we are playing dreadfully, so am I and other City fans with my feelings expecting too much?
I obviously am going to say no! I do not think we are expecting too much. We have spent an awful lot of money on the current squad and for them to be playing the way they are is a disgrace in my opinion. It is hard to see how our top-drawer, international footballers cannot do the simple things, our passing, formation, tackling, marking and so on are abysmal at the moment.
I do feel a lot of this is down to Hughes. For so many players to not be performing well all at the same time is certainly strange, and on top of that the fact that our formation and shape is non-existent is definitely down to our manager's tactics. Hughes is certainly tactically naive which was obvious from day one, but to be as naive as he has been lately is a mystery. Without any kind of system, how can the players play as a unit?
Out of all our recent draws I would say there was only one good result in them and that was the draw against Aston Villa, they were a good team and we played quite well considering the quality of the opposition. The rest of the results, however, I would have to say I was not pleased with, going two goals up at home against Fulham only to draw was the worst, although the other two performances against Wigan and Birmingham were also very disappointing.
The feedback I have received back on my thoughts about what I feel, maybe controversially, have mostly been negative in my eyes. I am hearing "its OK, we are fourth" or "Calm down, we got a point without playing well". Well, for me that shows a real sign of settling for second best. We need to realise that the team we watch now is not the team we were watching a few years ago, we all need to have that winning mentality. With all the money spent and the squad we have, we have the right to expect better, we need to stop being scared of expectation. Without expectation we will achieve nothing.
I do have something positive to say about our recent results and that is, I think we can come out of this rut we are in. We obviously have the players to do it and although I have heavily criticised their recent performances, I do think they are good enough to turn it around. Granted, Hughes needs to
improve his performance for that to happen, I think he too can stand up and sort it out.
Before you think I am starting to go easy on them though, if we were not to beat Burnley in our next game it could be the beginning of rocky times ahead. If we do not win, I am not sure how long it will be before Hughes starts to take the flak from all corners.
Read more from Gary at wevegotrobinho.blogspot.com
