Friday 23 December 2011

The Sky Blue View Christmas Special: Number 2

So, were on the penultimate day and you have chosen Shaun Goater at second on the list


Shaun Goater
Goater joined City during the 1997-98 season, at a time when they were battling to avoid relegation. He scored three goals during the campaign, but this was not enough to stop us going to the third tier of English football for the first ever time.

The start of his City career was certainly one which personified turbulence. Fans were skeptical of him to start off with, and he was definitely seen as the scapegoat in his first few months.

However, after scoring 21 goals in his first full season and finishing as the club's top goalscorer, he was starting to win over the fans.

His confidence was growing and after helping City to promotion, the following season was even more successful for the Blues. 29 goals meant he was voted by the supporters as our Player of the Year after his influential performances to help get City promoted for the second successive season.

His first ever season in top flight football had to wait for a few months due to the signings of Paulo Wanchope and George Weah as well as a niggling injury. However, for the third season in a row, he was the club's top scorer with 11 goals, but could not save them from being relegated to Division 1.

As you can see, Goater's time at the club was certainly a turbulent one, but he was a poacher of the highest quality, and proved that by becoming City's top goalscorer for the 4th season in a row. This time though, he created a new record, becoming the first City player since Francis Lee in 1972 to score more than 30 goals in a season.

His chances starting to become limited though, as City broke their transfer record twice for strikers Jon Macken and Nicolas Anelka. He started just 14 games, but scored his 100th goal in the last ever Manchester derby at Maine Road. He also scored the fastest goal by a substitute in Premier League history in the reserve fixture.

He captained City for the last ever game at Maine Road, before eventually leaving the club. In total he scored 103 goals in 212 appearances for the club and whilst he was not the best player in the world technically, he always put his effort in and could find the net easily.

A City hero through and through.

No comments:

Post a Comment