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Ahead of Boxing Day's game at The Hawthorns, we caught up
once more with City fan Howard, from the website
Standing Alone.
He gives his views on City's season so far, the Champions
League, Joleon Lescott,
and more. You can also follow
Howard on twitter @howiehok34
THE NEXT
FEW DAYS WILL SEE THE HALFWAY POINT REACHED IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE SEASON, HOW DO
YOU VIEW CITY'S CAMPAIGN SO FAR?
I am very happy, especially
considering the fortunes of the last month, though I might feel differently if
we drop points over the Xmas period. The season started sluggishly, with average
performances and disappointing results. Key players were below par, and the
whole season had a damp squib feel about it, just like the first time we tried
to defend a title. However, the past month has changed everything. City have got
through to the knockout stage of the Champions League and have closed the gap on
Chelsea, for now. At least there is a title campaign to talk of now, which
seemed unlikely a month ago. The most pleasing aspects have been that the team
has put a run of eight victories, one short of the club record, and have coped
with numerous injuries to key players.
CITY WERE
HANDED AN EXTREMELY TOUGH DRAW IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE LAST 16, A TIE WITH
SPANISH GIANTS BARCELONA. ARE CITY FANS CONFIDENT AHEAD OF THE GAMES OR FEARING
THE WORST?
Quietly confident. I think
there’s annoyance at getting the same teams season after season but a relief
just to qualify. If Aguero, Silva, Kompany etc are fit when the ties come around
there will definitely be confidence in progressing, as
Barcelona
are going through a small crisis, by their ridiculously high standards. Their
front line strikes fear into any defence though, but City need to be less
cautious than last season and try and exploit their defence rather than the
other way round.
FORMER CITY DEFENDER JOLEON LESCOTT HAS BEEN IN IMPRESSIVE FORM FOR ALBION SINCE
JOINING IN THE SUMMER, ANY PARTICULAR THOUGHTS ON HIM / MEMORIES OF HIM?
Yes, only great thoughts. He is
part of a trio of English players (the others being Gareth Barry and James
Milner) who were/are key players in our success in recent years but get nowhere
near enough praise. Lescott’s transfer fee always seemed too high, but in our
title-winning season of 2011/12, he was as good as Vincent Kompany, and forged a
crucial partnership that saw us edge out our biggest rivals. If he was younger
we would have got more mileage out of him, and he still did a job for the team
when asked even after he fell out of favour. A good professional, nice guy, and
we couldn’t have asked for more out of him during his time at the Etihad. I’m
glad of that last-gasp win over QPR to win the title for so many reasons, but
one reason is that it meant his mistake to allow them to equalize didn’t prove
costly – he deserved better than that.
IS THERE
ANY WEAKNESS IN THE CITY TEAM THAT ALBION SHOULD BE LOOKING TO EXPLOIT?
Well, the lack of a striker
should help you! It’s hard to say where our 4-6-0 formation is weakest as it is
so new, and against Crystal Palace
the opposition still created chances by breaking with pace and from the
occasional set-piece. If there is still one troublesome area, it is defensive
midfield, as Fernando is still growing into his role. Mangala will be at the
heart of the defence again, and whilst he has steadily improved, he may still
have the odd wild moment in him.
HIGHLIGHT
OF THE SEASON SO FAR?
The Champions League has not
captivated most City fans yet, but the stand-out moment so far has to be
Aguero’s winning goal against Bayern Munich – it was the first time the crowd has
celebrated so wildly since the league was won, and felt like a big two-fingered
salute in the direction of all our many detractors.
LOW POINT
OF THE SEASON SO FAR?
There have been a few
disappointing games in the league and the home defeat to Newcastle in the
Capital One Cup was bad, but the home defeat to CSKA Moscow was the lowest point
in years. It wasn’t just because of the result or performance in itself, it was
just a culmination of depressing events. At half-time, I saw CSKA Moscow fans
being led out of the ground, after a group of (mostly female) fans had been
hounded out the ground (away fans were banned for the game). City fans hung off
the spirals singing about what terrible racists they were. It just felt so
petty, the lack of away fans meant no atmosphere, the performance was appalling,
then we got two players sent off in the second half. It was the old City
returning to haunt us all and it was soul-sapping. It probably rained too, it
usually does.
PLAYER OF THE SEASON SO FAR?
Well that has to be Sergio Aguero. This season, until he got injured yet again,
we saw real evidence that he is one of the best players in the world. When fit
and raring to go, he is unplayable. Power, guile, movement, strength, pace and a
winning smile – he’s got it all. Such a shame therefore that his body keeps
failing him, but that’s a characteristic of most of City’s key players.
ANYONE BEEN
PARTICULARLY DISAPPOINTING?
Stevan Jovetic has not kicked on
as I had hoped, as I do see a top class player in there, but another injury for
another player made of glass has curtailed his contribution again. Fernando came
with glowing reports but has been rather underwhelming so far, whilst Willy
Caballero hasn’t really excelled when deputising for Joe Hart, and hasn’t shown
what a class keeper he is.
PREDICTION FOR CITY'S
SEASON?
Whatever happens against
Barcelona,
I don’t see the squad being strong enough to win the Champions League. A good
season would be any domestic trophy, preferably the League, but a good run in
the FA Cup shouldn’t be beyond our capabilities. Any season with a trophy is a
success, so perhaps the FA Cup is City’s best bet if
Chelsea
are still top of the league come the New Year.
PREDICTION
FOR ALBION'S SEASON?
Fighting relegation, sadly,
though I think there are at least three worse teams in the league, not that it
always proves to be the crucial factor. With another manager I wouldn’t have
many concerns about your season, but with
Irvine
in charge I worry about how he would react in the heat of a relegation battle in
April. That’s when teams have to battle and be bold, and that doesn’t sound like
his “shtick”. I do think you’ll stay up, but not by much. Then hopefully get a
better manager and push on next season.
CHAMPIONS?
I never back my own team (negativity/superstition) so Chelsea it is. Fact is, if
they come through the next few tricky games still on top of the table, they will
be very hard to overtake, though City have won two titles from much harder
positions than this. We play them at Stamford Bridge in a few weeks, so even at
this stage it could be a very important game.
RELEGATED?
Leicester seem doomed, and I think Hull might go with them, as the fraud that is
Steve Bruce is finally exposed (just part of the endless jobs for Alex
Ferguson’s merry band of players). The final spot will be very tight, but I
think Burnley might just fall short.
PREDICTION
AND THOUGHTS ON BOXING DAY'S GAME?
Hard to know how our “flooded
midfield” formation will perform second time out, and Palace frustrated us for a
long time last week by getting men behind the ball, as I expect Albion will do,
but I really expect us to win this game, so will go for 0-2 (Silva, Lescott OG).
And a Merry Xmas to you all!
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