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Hamsik just missed an open goal. http://www.firstrowsports.tv/watch/98668/1/watch-napoli-vs-as-roma.html

I myself, was referring to the justification of the sheva/torres deals.. age, reputation, motivation wise etc. The fact we replicated the same thing again, only worse. learning nothing from the first deal. When big money signings are both necessary & thought out it's entirely different, ala Modric.

After the way we treated him.. We should have appointed Clarke as caretaker manager when Jose' was abruptly sacked.

January is are only saving grace, no doubt as usual everything will be left until the last minute. ideally someone in the mold of Hazard will be brought in, so we can eventually shift Sturridge to his favoured position.

No, not success itself, but successful 'decisions/moves'. What did we really learn from the majority of our failures? .. The only poignant one that springs to mind is our policy of not brining in new coaches entire backroom staff. Instead only allowing one or two. Due the shake up caused by sacking Scolari, and the army of backroom staff he brought with him as our coaching foundations. That and the new contractual policy of only extending 30+ players to one year extensions, or will Drogba bypass this rule? Yes, the club are only concerned by results. Be that as it may, results can come from not repeating the same baffling and recurring mistakes, which is why we have Sheva mark II, only 2 years after leaving the club.

Poor managerial appointments, baffling transfer targets, tying players up to long term contracts, prioritizing deadwood, the continued obsession with signing the ‘finished article’. Transfer windows past, when we’ve chased one player until the final hours, with no equally placed alternatives, time and time again. Shevchenko’s spell at the club along with the grandiose transfer fee was the ultimate lesson learned. Never sign established stars on the wrong side of 20 for that kind of fee ever again, Yet here we are.. with an even bigger flop. It’s debatable, but it seems the club are incapable of learning from down right mistakes, no justification needed, especially when they are replicated. However, it’s abundantly clear Roman’s ‘yes men’ have learned from success. Well, for the most part anyway. Signing a promising young goalkeeper, the most expensive keeper in the clubs history, even with the incredible Carlo Cudicini at the helm. It would have seemed to be a case of fixing something that wasn't broken. A pre-season injury to Cudicini allowed Jose' to promote Cech, ever since then he's been our number one. 7 years later, We sign Thibaut Courtois for a similar fee. Leading to our head goalkeeper coach confirming his and the clubs concern over Cech's long term future. This is one of many examples of how the club have made a conscious effort to replicate successful chain of events, benefiting the club in the long term. The Jose & AVB appointments were both on an entirely different scale (high off the successes of European glory and youth). Yet both managers arrived when ‘change’ was on the agenda. Grant, Scolari, Hiddink and even Carlo were here to prolong the success of ‘Jose’s untouchables’. AVB as one of the most highly rated young managers in the game, was appointed to implement an entire new football philosophy. Once the deadwood clear out, we will see this come into fruition, which may well replicate the cycle. This time, post-AVB appointments prolonging the success of 'his' formula/untouchables, success permitting. Granted, I’ve merely touched the surface of this ever so slightly disjointed theory. Merely pointing out a few key examples to strengthen a somewhat uncompromising headline. I’m sure you can conjure up your own damning report of all the baffling decisions continuously being made by the club. Thankfully it’s clear from attempts to replicate successful sequences, that the club have learned from success rather than what‘s really important, failure.

The worst moment of the season for me wasn't when we lost to Arsenal, or the humiliating defeats to Liverpool. It was the last hours of the transfer window, when Spurs rejected a £40m bid for Modric (AVB's number 1 transfer target). The player we had been chasing the entire summer, and for the deal to collapse in the final hours. In a panic move, the club signed an average 28 year old fringe player not fit to tie Modric’s boots. The board adopted a small club mentality and settled for what was merely available.

Napoli are gradually proving they can 'get the job done' when they fail to perform, the Villarreal result for example. Inconsistencies in the league take nothing away from their ability to beat anyone over 2 legs. If anything they are better suited to a cup competition. They are the most effective counter attacking team in world football. If you missed the City game, go find a download link.. Like BLionheart said, if you don’t fear Napoli.. go watch them play.

Meh, either way, AVB's laughing all the way to the bank.

Remember towards the end of the summer when Malouda was being seriously linked with Juventus. Before we could even react, he (on his own accord) came out and declared his intentions of staying put. Smh, the inmates run the asylum over here.

Mata will want out next season, players of that caliber belong at competitive clubs.

This seems to be a recurring theme.

Disgraceful. AVB should force them to watch the replays of their celebrations after the City result, pathetic.

1 step forward, a million steps back. We merely did United a favor with the City result.

The City result now pointless.. Merely doing United a favor, Smh.

Disgraceful. The City result now pointless.

Good tactic from JT, just as Wigan were building momentum.

Great vision from Ash. Sturridge is a revelation.

Modric really was the most important signing of the roman era. Only small clubs settle for second best with deflating acquisitions like Meireles.

Poor performance. We should cancel the Napoli game, it beats being embarrassed..

http://www.firstrowsports.tv/watch/98375/1/watch-wigan-athletic-vs-chelsea.html

^ Keep bringing in more Napoli fans, Great club. Incredible how you had 50,000+ attending Serie C games, Imagine a League One club over here managing that..

^ This.. is pretty much the answer to every single comment in this thread. Most people on this forum were watching the United game when City faced Napoli at the San Paolo. A game which pretty much encapsulates the threat Napoli pose.

Tbf, Napoli should have beaten City 4-1, incredibly misleading final scoreline. The San Paolo has become a fortress, we certainly won't get anything over there.