"All I'll say is that it's not over until the fat lady sings. It's not finished 'til the whole tie is done."We're recognised as being very good at home, and if we play the way we usually do, we will make enough chances to win 2-0. It's a matter of taking those chances on the night. We have to put them on the back foot straight away.
"Anything is possible. If we go out there and play the way we know we can on Thursday, it will be difficult for Hamburg. Everyone is confident, we've spoken about it already and we have got the belief that we need."
NdJ:
"HSV are the favourites to go through, they showed that in the first leg," De Jong told Bild. "They really made a strong impression there, but I am not surprised by this.
"The team has been strong all the way through this season and is now playing with a lot of confidence - and confidence is important to success.
"Still, I feel we could win the match 2-0. We are playing at home and, despite the fact that losing 3-1 at Hamburg was a tough blow, anything is possible now we are playing at home."
3 comments:
I posted this on the MEN site, where the MH debate is running full tilt ahead of the Hamburg match:
Let me try and change the perspective a little. Our last good manager was Tony Book. Since then we've had twenty-odd managers, who've ranged from the mediocre to the abysmal. They've all had their own equivalent of the foamers and clappers (they've just become more noticeable in the computer age).
HOWEVER, during that same period we've also had a far smaller number of chairmen. If you think in terms of those chairmen all sharing the same disastrous (for City, and everyone who loves them) character flaw, the total inability to choose a good manager, then what's happened to us falls into perspective. I would say the last good chairman we had in that respect was Alexander - and he was ousted in the boardroom battle that saw Joe Mercer fired (a piece of infamy that was the biggest blot in the whole history of our wonderful club).
Now I have my own views on Mark Hughes performance, as have you all. In my view he's the latest in a long line of under-achievers. Doubtless there are many of you who see him as the saviour of the club. Fair enough. The point here is that it doesn't matter what we think. We have new owners in control, and it is their opinion that matters. They will have been watching the team's displays this season with more than a passing interest with a view to the manager's abilities both on and off the pitch. They will know all about our managerial merry-go-round, and if I am any judge at all they will have employed the very best people available to help them with their decisions (which boil down to "Will sacking Hughes do more harm than good with regards to the promotion of the State of Abu Dhabi").
Meanwhile, can I just point out one thing? We are all City fans. City is in our blood. We will all be City till we die. We love them. None of us signed up for life to love Mark Hughes (or any other manager for that matter). In the Hamburg game at the COMS you can all go to the match and roar your heads off to drive City to victory and Mark Hughes will be a total irrelevance. Because there are sky blues out there on that pitch who need your help. Tomorrow night. Do it. For City.
well said
@Wigan Blue
While I have disagreed with you about your assessments of Hughes on this blogspot, I have to applaud you on your latest comment. We all as City fans need rally behind the squad every game with 100% commitment for the entire 90 minutes regardless of well or poorly the squad plays.
I've posted it before but i'll post it again that chants such as "you don't know what you're doing" are not only pointless but are counter-productive to the club (I realize that you did not partake in these chants so cheers again for showing the proper restraint).
There has been a lot of talk over the years about the City mindset and lack of a winning attitude at the club. As much as it pains me I happen to agree with this assessment. Over the past decade or more there has been a collective tendency to put our heads down at the first sign of adversity. we as fans need to help change this and I for one think it will start to happen if we do as you are asking which is to give 100% percent commitment to the team every game. we need to become the 12th man. we need to be able to pick the team up when things are not going well. There is nothing more motivating for a player than having the fans behind you in such circumstances. We as City fans need to help foster an "over my dead body" winning mentality at this club until it runs top to bottom. Anything else is unacceptable.
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