20 Mar 2015 19:47:25
Good evening all. I was recently having a chat with a mate about Man City. The culmination of a lot of factors will result in City surely dropping our of the top 4 within the next 3 seasons.
These factors include the following.
Players Aging and over paid. Players (Toure, Zabaleta, Kolorov, Sagna, Demichelis) will be soon looked to move on, which will result in other players coming through. The currennt average age of their first team squad is 29. Now some might say City will buy big, But they will not be able to due to FFP and the fact they don't make enough money to allow them to spend massive amounts every season regardless of how much their owners want to pump in. This will force City to play their own Youth products. As we have not seen any products from that system in recent years break into their first team (Last one I can think was Micah Richards and Boyata to a certain extent) we can only assume it is not at the same level as ours, Arsenals,
The wage being paid. This will result in a lot of Cities aging plays finding difficulty in moving on unless they drop their wage demands, which I don't see any of them doing. A big sale may be necessary this summer to allow them to spend
Lack of Away Support. Watching City in the champions league at away games was strange seeing the away section almost empty really shows. This is one of the reasons why City don't make enough to spend big every seasons.
These factors will influence City Greatly in future seasons. It may be due to the rate of unstable growth as they did not have the foundation. A Large loyal fanbase being key, A trusted youth system enabling the generation of successful players either for sale (Generating Funds to achieve rigid standards of FFP) or playing in the first team.
These are the two main foundation blocks city did not have and in my opinion will result in a decline in there league position atleast for a season or two.
Sorry for the long post. I'd love to hear from you guys (Eds Included) about what you all think the future holds for City.
20 Mar 2015 20:52:50
Couldn't care one way or another
20 Mar 2015 21:00:13
I understand where you are coming from and the points you make are valid.
However weather we like it or not I doubt city will be going anywhere any time soon. They will surely be looking to the future in the coming seasons and will be prepared to let the older names go.
20 Mar 2015 21:15:02
City will continue to splash the cash and will be around for a while yet
21 Mar 2015 02:30:18
Weggy, I agree that they will not be far from the top but rather less of a challenger for the title. They will most definitely be letting older players go, but will they find suitable buyers that will generate enough revenue to enable the to replace those players?
Jred, They need to abide by FFP rules and I don't see them having the ability to "Splash the cash" without facing some consequences.
21 Mar 2015 07:35:06
They will find a way around FFP JaMax. City will not decline for a long time yet.
21 Mar 2015 08:32:50
Jamax
there are ways and means
21 Mar 2015 11:04:42
Jamax, city will be here forma long time to come. The owners are investing vast amounts of money into the club, the facilities, the staff, the players. All the older players will be replaced by younger equally as good players.
Their scouting system is better than ours and they will continue to improve.
I agree with you that their support is pathetic and that will never change!