by Simon 10 Replies latest social current
Won the Premiership.
Won the FA Cup.
Won the Champions League.
That's the treble baby. So amazing after we spent 44 years without anything. No more "noisy neighbours".
Now let's do it again, back-to-back, and achieve new heights - more consecutive premierships than anyone has every done before would be enough.
Rarely seen a team with such momentum and self-belief.
It's still City though, and even when they are at their absolute best at the back of your mind you're always thinking "how can they snatch defeat from the jaws of this certain victory?!"
Really great to see them dig deep and come through.
I met my wife at Maine Road ... not at a game, unfortunately, but a district convention.
Yeah, City deserve this.
Gardiola has crafted a wonderful team.
Well done Citeh !
Bought the title...115 FFP charges against them...will pay extorist fines but who cares right because money talks.
City kill competitive football by breaching rules. and get away with it.
Rarely seen a team with such momentum and self-belief.
@notsurewheretogo - it's true that City have a huge advantage because of all Sheikh Mansour's money.
But money alone is not enough to guarantee success.
Look at Everton. They've spent loads of money in recent years but they're shit - they only just avoided relegation this season and last season.
Same too, at Man United. For the past ten years they've spent loads of money but have been a shambles up until Erik Ten Hag took over last year.
City haven't been the biggest spenders - they've spent wisely and developed players. Many of the top stars didn't cost that much, compared to what other teams pay for players. Gundogan was 'only' 20m, Halaand was only 50m, Foden came through the youth academy. Other teams have spent significantly more and failed to deliver.
In fact, over the last 5 years ... we're only 10th in the list of highest spending teams. So sorry bitter-fan-of-whoever, you'll need to come up with something else.
https://www.football365.com/news/transfers-premier-league-five-year-net-spend-man-utd-man-city
On this table of net outlays, City are ranked 16th (I think the period it covers is slightly offset):
https://www.si.com/fannation/soccer/futbol/news/all-20-epl-clubs-ranked-by-net-transfer-spend-over-last-5-seasons
City have the highest operating income in the Forbes list of most valuable clubs (which doesn't yet factor in this treble winning season). Sort it by the last column (descending). Zero debt helps (compared to Man Utd). It's just a well run business.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbes_list_of_the_most_valuable_football_clubs
The bottom line is: of course money and investment helps, but throwing money at a soccer club is a good way to lose money - you can't simply buy success. City have built and developed over time, creating something sustainable, by looking at a longer time horizon than just the current season. The success on the pitch is supported by the well-run business off the pitch, both sides helping each other.
"Won the Premiership.
Won the FA Cup.
Won the Champions League."
What does this mean? Does soccer not have a single winner take all championship at the end of the season like The Super Bowl or NBA championship? Or is is more like golf or tennis where there are numerous tournaments of varying prestige?
