Should We Be Trying To Keep Our Feet On The Ground?

Things are looking pretty damn good at the moment, it's a good time to be a City fan, we sit happily on top of the pile, we have just signed a player capable of changing a game in Samir Nasri, and later today we will be involved in a Champions League draw for the first time, it's going to be difficult to not get carried away...but that is exactly what I believe we have to do.


Let's get things into perspective a little, we play Tottenham on Sunday at White Hart Lane a fixture that we perennially struggle in and a lot could change on that game, it is crucial.  I don't mean to sound overly negative or pessimistic I just wonder whether we are being entirely realistic.  I have told anyone that has asked me that I don't think we will win the Premier League this year, and have always said that I would take a season of consolidation, making sure we qualify for the Champions League again.

I understand the attitude of people who say we are capable of winning or going close to winning the title, we have an excellent squad with fantastic depth, and it could be argued that on paper we have the best starting 11 in the league, so surely that would mean we should win the league.  Well I don't think that is necessarily the case, the point of this however isn't to assess what I believe to be our title chances it is to address the good feeling and high expectations that are enveloping City fans at the moment.


My fear is that if the wheels come off and we go on a losing streak, how as fans will we react?  Football fans are a fickle bunch and when their teams lose they tend to look everywhere for someone or something to blame and that can be passed onto the pitch.  A team with manageable expectations however I think can fair better, in the event of a dip in form they generally pull together as opposed to turning on one another.

One of the key beliefs of our new owners is this need to manage expectations and not get carried away and I think this season it is more important than ever.  There was only really one game last year when the atmosphere at Eastlands was vile, that was Birmingham at home.  We drew 0-0, and clearly it wasn't a great result, Roberto Mancini chose to withdraw Tevez when we were in need of a goal and the Italian manager was hardly flavour of the month for that decision.  I worry that with raised expectations we may see more times of frustration and irritation and I don't believe that is something which proves overly helpful.


Don't get me wrong, I was hardly pleased during that Birmingham game, and I was just as frustrated as the next person it was a bizarre tactical decision, but games like that will continue to exist, we will have bad days and how we react to those is important.

I suppose the most important reason to keep our feet on the ground is for our own sanity, if we lose the next 2 games it will be a kick in the teeth, but it would hardly be the end of the world, look how far we have come and what we have at our disposal.  We all know that great things are coming to this club that we love so much, there is no hurry though, lets just enjoy the ride otherwise we could turn into nervous wrecks!