Manager Pearce’s reign started brightly but City fell away and their young manager needs to get his side back on track before he can feel secure. Pearce has a loyal chairman and goodwill from fans

New faces Among several new signings, Dietmar Hamann looks to be the pick of the bunch. Hamann should add ballast to City’s midfield but up front was where replacements were most needed and Paul Dickov and Bernardo Corradi arrive with high hopes

Player to watch Daniel Sturridge. Micah Richards has already jumped into the first team straight from City’s superb youth programme. The question is whether Sturridge, an England youth striker of pedigree and potential, can do the same. Sturridge ignored interest from Chelsea to extend his contract during the summer and the smart money is surely on him beating his former England Under-17 strike partner, Theo Walcott, to a Premiership debut

In an ideal world FC United battle through to the FA Cup third round and defeat Manchester United in a tie moved to the City of Manchester stadium to accommodate the bumper crowd. The new signings work out, Sturridge is a sensation and Richards’ development continues, catapulting City into the top six

The season ahead Pearce is still finding his way in management, there are lots of new faces to accommodate and Richards and the other youngsters carry the excitement but also inconsistency of all players their age. It all adds up to one thing: a topsy turvy season for the powder blues. No change there then

Official club website www.mcfc.co.uk

Squad analysis

Goalkeepers 12 Nicky Weaver, 19 Kasper Schmeichel, 25 Joe Hart

Defenders 2 Micah Richards, 3 Ben Thatcher, 4 Stephen Jordan, 15 Sylvain Distin, 16 Nedum Onuoha, 17 Jihai Sun, 18 Danny Mills, 22 Richard Dunne, 26 Matthew Mills, Hatem Trabelsi

Midfielders 5 Ousmane Dabo, 6 Claudio Reyna, 7 Stephen Ireland, 8 Joey Barton, 10 Antoine Sibierski, 21 Dietmar Hamann, 28 Trevor Sinclair

Forwards 9 Andrew Cole, 11 Darius Vassell, 14 Paul Dickov, 20 Georgios Samaras, 30 Bernardo Corradi, 36 Daniel Sturridge, 43 Ishmael Miller

Players in Bernardo Corradi (Valencia, £1.5m), Joe Hart (Shrewsbury Town, £600,000), Dietmar Hamann (Liverpool, £400,000), Ousmane Dabo (Lazio, free), Paul Dickov (Blackburn Rovers, free), Hatem Trabelsi (Ajax, free)

Total: £2.5m

Players out David James (Portsmouth, £1.2m), Lee Croft (Norwich, £600,000), Willo Flood (Cardiff, undisclosed), Bradley Wright-Phillips (Southampton, undisclosed), Mikkel Bischoff (Coventry, free), David Sommeil (Sheffield Utd, free), Geert De Vlieger (released), Karl Bermingham (released)

Total: £1.8m

Predictions 14th Who would be a City fan? They should have enough to survive, but there will be a few scares along the way

If they were a historical figure they would be ...Queen Victoria
Seemingly there forever. Without doing very much at all

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