Something to be proud ofUpdated: May 8th, 2007
Reading the talkboards in the last couple of days has been a depressing affair.
But what makes it worse is the increasingly heated exchanges taking place. It’s understandable that emotions are running high. Virtually everything about this club appears to be going backwards - the standard of football, the transfer policy, attendances.
So maybe this is a good time to remind ourselves about one thing which can give us some hope. Jim Cassell’s U-18 academy side is currently 15pts clear at the top of the table (link) with almost double the points total of United’s U-18 side. In case you missed it, I wrote this profile of Cassell in December, while last month the BBC interviewed him (link).
I’ve also been updating the season’s player ratings which reveal that two of our top three rated players this season - Barton and Richards - are academy products. The figures in the table (below) are compiled from match ratings in newspapers and on talkboards. Players with two starts or less are listed separately as it would be unfair to make a direct comparison. A full breakdown can be found in the Stats & Squad section here:
The next table is probably more revealing and provides even more evidence that Pearce is not the right man for the job. It shows that none of our top seven rated players are Pearce signings but four of the bottom five are, while the other player in the bottom five, Stephen Jordan, has suffered a remarkable decline in form since Pearce took charge.
In support of the Trust
Just two days to go before the MCFC Supporters Trust open meeting. I’m in the US right now and can’t be there, but wanted to at least show my support on this site.
I met some of the people behind the Trust earlier this season before a match. They’re certainly passionate about the club, and struck me as people who are trying their best to help City be successful again.
I also met Ollie, the original driving force behind the movement. He’s lived in Guernsey all his life, but inherited his support for City from his mother, who hails from Manchester. “Growing up I was the only Blue in the village,” he tells me.
He first tried to set things in motion around 18 months ago after posting a message at the MEN site. He got no response, but last summer tried again and with the help of Supporters Direct things began to snowball. There are now six others on the Trust’s steering committee, steady progress is being made and substantial financial support has been pledged.
I’ve always been a lousy activist myself. I did go to the Poll Tax demonstrations in 1990 that ended in riots, but spent the day in a pub near Trafalgar Square and only realised there had been a riot after boarding the coach home. But I think people who put in all this time and effort to try to improve the club (and for no financial gain) should be applauded.
At the very least, they deserve to be heard.