simple reason : no champs league. other reasons : not enough financial muscle to compete..both fees and wages wise. we overspent last season. (to be honest, of cuz i'd love to see us signing big names or upcoming stars but blv me, allen is one of them... i'd loathe to see fans who are questioning why we're not aiming for big names when it is pretty obvious the reasons why.. u'd b btr off with supporting mancity that way, no offence intended to anyone, just wishing for some patience - as i said last season, we gambled on carroll n henderson, n it didnt pay off, while downing's form, that i cannot explain - he was superb for villa prior to joining us albeit only the last season for villa )

long term, i blv BR can be a success. i hope this time henry keeps to his words that champs league qualification failure will not costs BR his job. although im sure that is what we're aiming again. prolly just to lower the expectations n pressure for BR to be able to carry out his job n play the way he intends to.

next match, up against roma, i know pre season friendlies doesnt exactly tell the real picture as players are getting their fitness, but i watched the match against toronto live. all i can say is with about 70% full fitness, the players are looking alright, raheem n suso are ones to watch. n we play a passing game. so, be ready to see a more attractive brand of football ! finally !

gomel are in the middle of their season, so fitness wise, they are way ahead compared to us. nice to see sterling getting the nod when cole was injured. hopefully the 90 mins will help gerrard. the league is only 2 weeks away. suarez n coates to come back. full squad at br's disposal. looking ahead to this season and see how the players adapt to his playstyle. reports linking us closely to allen again. i personally hasnt exactly watch him closely. i've seen a number of swansea games and i like their play just like most neutrals did last season but didnt pay much attention to individuals.

btw guys, what do u all think of enrique ? i personally feel he has been disappointed after the promising start. n to know that we went through so much trouble to get him from newcastle, this is frustrating.

if aquilani is THAT GOOD, why didnt BOTH juve and milan bought him from us ? when it was clear both woy n king didnt favour him. aqua's career is on a stall, tough luck for him but if we dont need him, i'd rather we sell him. his wage is pretty high last i remember.

many of you talk about how lucas is now a key figure in our team after his awful start in liverpool, yet not giving players like henderson or downing another chance, still singling them out as 'bad' players and fall guys for our poor league form last season. is it purely because they came with a huge price tag on their forehead ?

BR wants to play with a tried and trusted system. i know this is getting frustrating, everytime a new man comes in, we say we gives him time to change things around. time is not on our side, with both the huge financial muscle and winning titles 'pull' for manc, manu, and chelsea. look at chelsea, they have bought easily like 5 young players with huge potential with a huge price. marin, oscar, hazard, de bruyne. we cant compete with that for now.

that is the reality. i was only a year old the last time we won the league championship, n a fan since the days of roy evans. im not trying to show off or prove my loyalty whatsoever. im just saying i didnt knw how it felt to be winning the league title and i hope it will come before i am 30.

im just a little annoyed with fans not trusting the club to do the right thing and expecting us to be winning titles so soon. in simple words, glory hunters! then again, i know there are a huge num of u lot that supp this club no matter what happens on the field.

on other matters, news on agger is worrying me, if it is true that we rejected manc's approach TWICE, im not sure if we could hold on to him any longer if they come in again for him. plus agger hasnt signed a new contract yet, i would loathe to lose him next, he was one of the very very few top players for us last season. he's 27, time to peak soon for a defender when they are 29 or 30. and he fits into BR's style of passing play esp as a defender.

guys, wanna confirm ,what time is the match 2nite ? 3am ?

expect our first eleven to be like reina, jonno, agger, skrtel, jose, downing/cole, borini, lucas, gerrard, allen, suarez. i think our next signing would be a winger if there will be one.

br got his players in both allen n borini. looks like henry is supporting him. we did get rid of high wage earners like kuyt n bellamy n aquilani. altho many thanks for their effort n service, they're past their best. we needa look forward.

cant wait to see if allen will get a run against sami hyypia's leverkusen this sunday. hope to see raheem n carroll get a run out. and now is to pray hard that agger stays. at least for this season.