Kick Up The Backside Required

An embarrassing, wholly unacceptable defeat at Sheffield United sees City out of both cup competitions and continuing to lack direction...

The midwinter, as many of us feared, has seen a City side that we saw set the Premier League alight and send all Blues into dreamland last autumn, stutter and consequently drift through recent games seemingly without a purpose.

In some quarters it's been suggested that the City team and squad have found their level, but I don't accept that. What I do accept however, is that right now too many players are not putting in a shift for the cause.

Svennis and Hans Backe have got a job on lifting morale because following what now looks a tricky trip to a pisspoor Derby County, a season defining triple header of Arsenal, the rags and Everton looms. Based on the current level of performance and absence of cutting edge I can't see us getting anything from those games.

City hoplessly failed to stamp their authority upon Sheffield United who to their credit gave a battling classic cup performance and paid the price. Blaming it on balloons is a non starter.

But you take another look at the teams on paper.

The disjointed collection of players and playing style that a clueless Bryan Robson has inflicted upon their public, the state their club was in, as 7000 (and the rest) Blues descended upon Bramhall Lane, then this defeat is all the more unacceptable.

There's only one positive today and that's Daniel Sturridge who showed up City internationals around him with his effort and application. That we are reliant on a teenager who has hardly come back from a serious injury to pose a goal threat is a massive cause for concern.

Still, we remain in with a serious shout of European competition via the Premier League, but for that to be achieved it's serious kick up the arse time.

I've said before that we should not settle for what has been superbly achieved by The Sven Revolution folowing Frank Shinawatra's takeover that pulled our Premier League status back from the brink because the efforts made deserve some reward.

Tremendous hard work has been put in to get us this far. But City's fantastic travelling support who made up over a third of today's attendance deserve far better.

We will always acknowledge 100% effort and right now this City side owe us one, big time.