City Vox Pops, part 5

Do you see the recent draws as points gained or dropped, what positives can you take from the performances and what are you expecting of the rest of November?

Jack, The Lonesome Death of Roy Carroll
I think there has been a steady decline in the quality of our performances, and also in the value of the points over the last four games. Our performance was admirable against Aston Villa, acceptable against Wigan, average against Fulham and abject against Birmingham. Of course, the two do not always go hand in hand. We played better against Fulham than against Birmingham, but our point - given our two goal lead - was probably worth less. Which is basically a long way of saying we're probably down a few points from where we should be.

The positives don't exactly shine out. Martin Petrov has done well when in the side, Nigel de Jong's been consistent and Joleon Lescott is making baby-steps towards justifying his fee. The worrying thing is that we look like doing what we did two years ago; appearing to gel very well in August and September, before looking more like a team of strangers as the season progresses. I'm not saying that this season is going to end as 2007/08 did, but we do need a big win on Saturday to put us back on track.

November? The reintegration of the two flair players of last year; Robinho and Stephen Ireland, as Hughes chases creativity. The likely losers? Shaun Wright-Phillips, certainly. Nigel de Jong, Emmanuel Adebayor and Craig Bellamy will also have to be alert. In terms of results I think we'll beat Burnley, surprise Liverpool (it's three days before they go to Debrecen) and hit six or seven past Graeme Souness' Hull City!

Lloyd, Man City Issues
It's hard to say, we've drawn four games on the trot now but in different situations I think some of the draws earned were commendable. For example, I would definitely have taken a point from the Villa game, they are a tough opposition and considering we went 1-0 down, to come back is a good result. That would be a point gained. Again, I would view the Wigan game as a point gained. They may be very inconsistent but they beat Chelsea. We went 1-0 down and had a player sent off just as we looked likely to score, so considering the circumstances, that would be a point gained, too.

However, the Fulham game is a different story, we should expect to win EVERY game at home and should definitely not throw a two-goal lead away - that was suicidal. It was very disappointing and was two points dropped. Don't even get me started on the Birmingham game, we were terrible, that was the worst we have played since the 8-1 drubbing in Middlesbrough. We posed little to no attacking threat against opposition in Birmingham, who no disrespect, aren't anything special. Again two points dropped.

As for the rest of November, I think we can put Burnley to the sword as they will come at us. We like team's to 'have a go'. Then we have Liverpool, it would be great to get one over on them because they are in such a dire situation and they are basically out of the title race and the unlikely to qualify for the next stage of the Champions League. Then it's Hull - we have to destroy them. Overall, I expect us to win all our remaining games, barring maybe with a draw at Anfield.

Danny, Bitter & Blue
As a whole you have to say points dropped. Looking at the four fixtures on paper given our form over the first half a dozen games I was expecting 8 or 9 points as the return, which would have given us a nice cushion in the top four.

We haven't played well,l though, to be honest, apart from in patches, so putting a positive spin on things we were unbeaten and City sides of the past would certainly have come away with nothing from a couple of those games so it is clear that the mentality is changing and the new players who have come in have definitely raised expectation levels.

It is important that we get a good return from the remainder of the games in November. We should be beating Burnley and Hull at home, make no mistake, and a point at Anfield would be something most people would take. If that is the return, we will have 26 points over the first third of the season and would be exceeding all expectations.

Gary, We've Got Robinho
The recent draws are definitely points dropped, apart from the point we got at Villa. As for any positives, I really don't think that there are too many to take from those games, there has been a couple of good individual performances that have been positive, but as a team we have not done anything to change the way we have been playing.

I would like to think we can expect seven points from the rest of November, Burnley and Hull at home are must wins and I think we should be pushing hard for at least a point at Anfield against a struggling Liverpool side.

Jason, This Is Our City
Sure, logic points to dropped points but as a whole the bigger picture shows us in a top four position with a game in hand. It would have been nice to continue winning games but the draws were in my opinion a minimum requirement considering. All is not lost as long as we start winning games starting with Burnley. There will be no excuses for a loss at home to a bottom-half club (no offence intended).

All in all, i'm expecting Stephen Ireland to pick up where he left off last season, hoping Michael Johnson continues his comeback at a reasonable pace and want to see Gareth Barry start imposing himself more. Ultimately our midfield has let us down. Other than that I am reasonably pleased with our progress, things could be a hell of a lot worse. I'm hoping for a good run of November wins.

Norfstander
Mixed feelings about the results, as others have touched on. So long as our good form at Eastlands continues then draws on the road are okay. People might expect us to be beating sides like Birmingham and Wigan, but they're always going to put up a tough fight on their own patches.

I'd have been content if not singing from the rooftops with three draws from the visits to Villa Park, the DW Stadium, and St.Andrews, it's just the two wasted at home against Fulham that have let the undefeated run down. Seven points from twelve would have been a respectable return, four seems somewhat deflating, even though we're beginning to get something from games we wouldn't previously have.

As covered in a previous post, the best way to measure improvement is on a match-by-match basis. We're consistently matching, mostly bettering, our results from previous seasons. We should, of course, with such a great squad, but these points mount up, and if we continue as we are doing, we might just have a chance. At least we're not losing, despite not playing well.