Top 10 EVER Manchester City Players – No. 2

This blog is designed to choose the greatest ever Manchester City player in my opinion (remember I am only young!). I shall publish one of these every now and again until finally we reach the best player ever to have embraced Maine Road or The City of Manchester Stadium!

*DRUM ROLL PLEASE!*

NUMBER 2 >>>

Shaun Goater

1998-2003, 212 appearances, 103 goals.

Shaun was never the most technically gifted player to grace the club, in fact, quite the opposite, however one thing you could also guarantee…he would score a bag of goals! 103 goals for a club in the modern era is without a doubt an impressive feat. Many will criticise me and say he scored all of these in the lower leagues, however in my opinion that is nostalgic bullsh**. Without a doubt ‘Feed the Goat and he will score’ is one of the most vindicated sayings as he did genuinely score when set up! It isn’t the case all his goals came in lower divisions, he also scored when he played in the best league in the world. In his first season in the under Joe Royale he was joint leading scorer with Wanchope and this is coupled with that fact that for the first half of the season he was out injured, unable to play! Under Keegan, he wasn’t favoured, as anyone who has read his book will know, but when given the chance he still scored and this is proven with his 99th and 100th goals for the club against the scum.

He loved this club and always played with his heart on his sleeve, something which cannot be said for a few of those players in the team nowadays. He was also great to watch, you knew you would always see something incredible! No, I don’t mean a 30 yard screamer, I mean goals which came off all different parts of his body; his chin, his backside, or his shin! He always managed to put it in the back of the net. His goals were vital in getting us up into the higher leagues, and lest we forget his first touch at Old Trafford which guided the ball into the net and rescued us a point?

He is probably the biggest legend of my time watching City and I’m sure that goes for a lot of other young Blues. Scoring over 100 goals in this generation and not playing for a top 4 side is a very, very good achievement for any player, it was a shame Keegan never gave him more of a chance to flourish as i’m sure he would have snatched the opportunity. However his professionalism was never dented and was never blunt. He respected the manager and subsequently, the fans respected him.

Another attribute he had was the ability to defend, especially corners. He does a similar job to Caicedo in that respect. Stand at the front post and wait until it hits your head! Despite the fact he couldn’t control his feet, they were like a donkey on an ice-rink, he could find the back of the net, and for that reason alone he will always be remembered. Great all round ambassador for the club, now living a new life in Bermuda. (He actually lived in next door but one to me during his time at City, and he was never angry to see me constantly knocking on his door for autographs, or at Halloween for extra sweets! A true gentlemen 🙂

“I just hoped that people would look back on my time at City and say: `Shaun was a striker and he did well.’

100% LEGEND! (That good enough for you Mr. Goater?)