I sometimes wonder if Manchester City fans suffer from bipolar disorder. It could be a condition that comes on after a few years of supporting a club that shoots itself in the foot at any given opportunity, or it could be something innate that means subconsciously we all tend to lean towards the Citizens. There isn’t really much room for a grey area: Championship challenge or relegation. Brilliant signing or total flop. “I love you” or “**** off”. There doesn’t seem to be any middle ground.
After Wednesday night’s 2-2 draw at Birmingham, I would hazard a guess that The Samaritans were busier than usual, as City did what they do best and struggled against a hard working side at the wrong end of the league. To be fair to Birmingham, though, they played well and deserved their point. Even if the penalty for the equaliser was dodgier than a pub-bought DVD being played on the latest laptop bought on a second-hand market on the cheap. From a guy known locally as ‘Dodgy Terry’.
But, off the back of a game where City were twice leading and should have seen out the final whistle in a winning position yet didn’t, you would have thought that the club had been doomed to a season of mid-table mediocrity or, worse, confirmed as relegated. In no particular order, I heard or read comments from a large number of fans along the lines of: “Hart should be dropped!”, “That’s it, the season’s over!”, “Dzeko is no better than Jo!”, “Adebayor scored, why did we let him go?!”, “We need to get Mourinho in to save us!”, “Vieira should be taken out the back and shot!”…
Roll that forward to the evening of a routine home victory against West Brom and, with the help of a Manchester United defeat and an unlikely Arsenal draw, suddenly the title challenge is back on (conditional, of course, on City winning the upcoming Manchester derby, which they will naturally do now they’re world beaters again – they’re either awful or awesome, remember).
Though, in fairness to those blues, they do have a bit of a point – the defence that is supposed to be leakier than a Julian Assange whistle-blowing website was the only defence in the league that kept a clean sheet last Saturday. And, by virtue of the fact City have played one more game than Chelsea, it’s also the best defence in the league. Still.
I suppose it’s easy to jump to irrational conclusions on the back of a game that was within City’s control and they have let slip away. I’ll be honest, I was quite frustrated on Wednesday evening and I don’t think it would have been right not to be. But we still need to calm down before shouting our mouths off.
Joe Hart’s had a blip in form recently, but has shown his ability for most of the season and won City many points. The season isn’t over because there’s also the FA Cup and Europa League to play for (and were City ever really to be considered title challengers unless they’re still in with a shout in, say, April?). Dzeko is gradually getting better, Adebayor and Mancini clearly don’t see eye to eye, changing the manager now is a ridiculous suggestion and Vieira’s knowledge and experience will be invaluable at the end of the season, if not on the pitch.
Though I do think someone might have shot at Vieira and hit the wrong man on Wednesday evening, given what happened to Phillips in the box. Even strippers working on stag nights wouldn’t have gone down that easily. Vieira’s foul was, at best, obstruction, for which an indirect free kick should be given and not a penalty. Unless you believe Football Manager, but that’s wrong and it winds me up when it gives penalties against me for that.
Anyway… A penalty was given, a penalty was scored and a draw was the result. It felt like (and, in truth, was) two points dropped because City had twice led. But United and Tottenham only managed a draw at St Andrews and Chelsea lost there, too, so it’s clearly not an easy game in Birmingham. And the defeat at Molineux doesn’t look so bad now that United and Chelsea have lost there as well, though I suppose that makes it more of a missed opportunity.
But, despite that negative feeling leading up the West Brom fixture, City did the unlikely – they did what they were supposed to do. They won the game and played well. Instead of giving several fans in the stadium premature coronaries, a skill they’ve perfected down the years with stunts of sheer lunacy, usually in the last minute, as well. But there was none of that on Saturday.
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The problem is, with an increased level of performance and a big investment comes a higher level of expectancy. Fans, perhaps wrongly, go to matches against the teams towards the bottom of the table and expect an easy game and a big win; a sentiment summed up by Angry Lady, sitting behind me at Eastlands, who shouted towards a West Brom defender “get out of his way!” as Zabaleta tried to get a cross in. Teams won’t roll over and die, defences will try and stop attacks and Angry Lady will always be shouting that Tevez should “earn his wages” (that one came when he spooned a shot over the bar, despite already having a hat-trick).
It doesn’t make sense to get agitated when City haven’t scored inside the first twenty minutes. I don’t like using clichés, but there are no easy games and no team is in this division by accident (I lied, I love using clichés). What counts is that City at least win the game, without a good performance, if necessary. Though a good display is always preferable.
On the other side of the fence, one win doesn’t make the season. True, results went in City’s favour last weekend and they were the only side in the top four to have won. And they are only five points off the top (which would become just two, should they win their next game). But they have played a game more – and I think we, as fans, ignored that there were games in hand to play when we were sitting top of the league and talking of the title. Optimism got the better of us.
We should be optimistic, though, don’t get me wrong. City are better than last season. And, in my opinion, will finish higher than last season. But the idea that this would be a bad season for not winning the title or being out of the ‘title race’ in February is ludicrous and is perhaps symptomatic of the “I-Want-It-Now” McSociety we’re living in. I’m sure the title challenge will come in future, but fourth was a priority at the start of the season. And it’s not unreasonable to reassess to third (possibly even second) given the current standings.
Results could go City’s way and they could be within reach of the title with five or six games to play. But nobody should be too upset if that isn’t what happens. We shouldn’t be thinking of dropping ten players, changing the manager, or shooting Patrick Vieira if we don’t win the league. Maybe if we don’t finish in the top four.
We’re in a marathon, not a sprint (cliché alert). One result doesn’t define the season and the collective mood swings of the large proportions of the fans aren’t necessary. We’re not fighting relegation; we’re not sitting mid-table with nothing to play for; we’re still in two cup competitions as well… So let’s sit back, relax and enjoy the (good) ride, for once.
Anyway, it’s derby day on Saturday… Lithium on standby.
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