Man City FC : A Bluesology

Normal Service Resumes at City

2008-05-11T20:39:00.005+01:00

Well now, it just goes to show that it probably doesn't make a huge amount of difference what regime (and I use the term advisedly) is in charge at City, there is just something inherently flaky and chaotic within the very fabric of the club that we are able to self destruct so spectacularly and with depressing regularity.

Just cast you mind back a short while to those heady pre-christmas days when we were riding high with 'nited looking up at us in the table and all was well with the world. Well, what a difference a few months makes.

It's difficult to put your finger on quite where it's all gone tits up and in which direction the club is heading now. Just w.t.f happened this afternoon, I mean being thrashed 8-1 by 'Boro - that really is rock bottom and captures in a scoreline the current gloom at Eastlands.

I'd like to think today was just a complete abhoration, and it probably was, but what was Dunny thinking of and why was there just such abject chucking in of the towel by the rest of the team in the knowledge that it was more likely than not Sven's last game. If Shinawatra had been wondering whether to hang on to Sven, any doubts he had must surely have evaporated at the Riverside.

Yes, I know we were stuffed today and our season has tailed off, but when you think about it, we have in Sven, one of the few managers with the gravitas and respect of the footballing world to be considered as a potential manager of Madrid, Inter & AC Milan, Barcelona, Chelsea and dare I say even United and we are just about to show him the door - the world has gone mad.... or is it just me ?

And just to rub salt into the deepening wounds, Taggart won another League title with the Rags this afternoon.

Thank Christ it's the cricket season already !

Sign Up to Save Sven

2008-04-30T10:53:00.004+01:00

If you haven't seen this "Save our Sven" petition already, you might want to add your support.

Hopefully it's not just City fans who will sign, but also all football fans, irrespective of their club loyalties who will have been saddened by the rough treatment being handed out to Sven and will want to register their views about the almost certain departure from the Premiership of a fine manager and a genuinely nice guy.

Sven deserves better than this !

The Return of the old Citeh !

2008-04-29T23:13:00.004+01:00

At the end of one of City's better seasons in many a year and during a nine month period since Sven took over when it has been difficult to find anything of substance to moan about, we have news today that the owner is about to shoot the club in the foot big-time, and dare I say score a massive own goal if reports of the imminent sacking of Eriksson are to be believed.

This is the stuff long suffering Blues have been waiting for, as it has been a sort of uneasy season when you just knew deep down that despite an upturn in fortunes, somehow it was unlikely to last long and this news marks the return of the Citeh of old that's seen us reeling from one crisis to the next.

I've a lot of time for Sven and I thing given a chance he could well have done great things with the Club, but it looks like now, we'll never know what might have been under his managership.

Shinawatra is obviously a clever guy, but it seems to have escaped him and his advisors that clubs who have found a good manager and stuck with him, have by and large enjoyed long periods of stability and success.

Just this evening we've seen Taggart take the Rags to another Champions League final, Wenger has transformed the Gooners over the last decade and even Moyes up the road at Goodison has been given time and has done a great job within a tight budget.

I have a feeling the full story behind Sven's departure has yet to emerge and I'm sure there will be endless speculation about it. However, in the blink of an eye, Shinawatra has managed to alienate a large proportion of the City fans with what looks like a misguided and badly advised course of action.

Sven's replacement will need to be a galactico of a manager to appease the fans and nothing short of someone like Mourinho will go anywhere near to making amends. Would even the "Special One" be that much better than Sven.... I doubt it very much, but I'd like to see him have a try.

Nice one Frank !

Bluesology Update

2008-04-06T16:19:00.002+01:00

In response to the many requests I've had (both of them, and one of them was from my Mum) to post some articles, I would just like to apologise for the relative inactivity in recent weeks.

Unfortunately, I have a day job and at the moment am struggling to find enough time to spend with my family, let alone write articles.

I will be posting sometime soon though and will keep this Blog going..... things at City are almost getting sufficiently depressing at Eastlands to drive me back into action, so I could be back sooner rather than later.

Keep the faith !

City's Reverse Striker Issue Conundrum

2008-02-22T18:23:00.007Z

Talk about famine and feast, it wasn't so long ago that City's firepower looked like it was going to have to rely on academy lads still green behind the ears and not well acquainted with the daily bathroom encounter with Mr Gillette or Mr Wilkinson.

Now, by a combination of new signings and players return from injury, Sven has got quite a problem choosing his best strike partnership from what now looks almost like a bottomless pit of forwards.

I say strike partnership, but Sven's favoured formation so far has been one up front, which if he sticks that line-up will make the problem of what to do with all the forwards much more acute. Strikers tend to be a highly strung lot by nature and none will relish the prospect of keeping the bench warm.

By my reckoning, the following are now all vying for two or maybe just one place:

- Bojinov

- Mpenza

- Benjani

- Vassell

- Caicedo

- Castillo

- Sturridge

Add to that list the strikers out on loan and you have the likes of Bianchi, Samaras, Dickov & Corradi, plus the precocious talent of academy graduate Ched Evans, who to me has top premiership striker written all over him, and you get a sense of scale of the issue City now have. Oh, and I forgot Etuhu.

Granted, some of the loan strikers are unlikely to return, but nothing is certain and City will have to do some serious thinning out of the herd in the summer, especially if Sven fancies other players during the transfer window.

I guess, after all we've been through over the last few years, it's a nice problem to have for a change, however, we've still yet to find our regular 20+ goals per season striker. Once we do that, I think we can start talking more realistically about trophies and a successful European campaign.

It'll be good to see City adopt a more attacking formation for the rest of the season, now that we seem to have an abundance of riches up front. Let's park the 4-5-1 formation and go back to a 4-4-2, maybe even throw the boat out and try a 4-3-3.

As for the best strike partnership, I haven't got a clue, but Sven needs to find it quick and stick with it. Any ideas ?

Time To Resume Normal Service

2008-02-13T18:04:00.008Z

It's been a strange couple of weeks.

All the rubbish media hype about the inevitable disruption to the minute's silence by loutish City fans never materialised, much to the disgust of the gutter press who I'm sure already had articles penned in advance about what a load of low-life scum all us City fans are..... well, we're not, but we knew that anyway, and now that whole world knows it as well.

I've got to say I felt a bit more emotional about it during the event than I thought I would. For me, the lingering shot of Bobby Charlton's face captured the moment with his obvious pain, and from what he's said about it himself, lingering guilt about how he survived yet others around him didn't. It's clear that the passing of half a century has done little to heal any of his emotional scars judging by the sadness etched in his face - it was very moving indeed.

Anyway, going back to the strangeness thing. First of all doing the double over United is pretty strange enough - I'd just entered my teenage years the last time it happened and had almost forgotten what it was like. I hope I won't be drawing my pension before the next time it happens!

Then there has also been this recognition in the ranks of some United fans that City played well and actually deserved to win, with absolutely no suggestion that the referee had cost them the game; dare I say it, but we heard grudging admiration of what City achieved on Sunday.... and rightly so.

I don't know, all this appreciation from United makes one feel slightly uncomfortable; it's not something we're used to. I must admit it was nice to see our lads being applauded down at the Stretford End after the game - that must be a first !

Now that it's all thankfully over I'm just looking forward to getting back to normal service with the re-instatement of that peculiar Mancunian rivalry in all its incisively brutal cruelty yet at the same time affectionately humorous splendour - long may it continue !

Finally, for those of you who haven't seen this explanation of United's performance, click here ..... it's a classic !

City Give Reds The Blues

2008-02-10T21:28:00.001Z

Well, what can you say ?

After all the media specultion about whether City fans would or wouldn't be respectful to the memory of the victims of the Munich tragedy, the team confounded everyone, including themselves probably with an unlikely, but yet typically City victory against all the odds.

I could write volumes about the game, but all that really needs to be said is that the players and the fans were just magnificent and every Blue can be immensely proud of their Club tonight.

As it was a wonderful all round team performance, it's a bit unfair to single out individuals, but Dunny and Richards were simply a different class today. In many ways, we did to United what Arsenal did to us at home last Saturday and played a tactically smart game for which Sven and the rest of the backroom need to be given a lot of credit.

Nobody gave us a chance today and it was expected that we'd just turn up to be fodder for United in this higher-profile than normal derby game, but I think we've stunned the world today. I'm sure the various media will be disappointed about the fact we won and that our fans did us proud, but 'twas ever thus !

Well there you go, we've taken six points off United this season and it doesn't get much better than that !

A Final Word on Munich

2008-02-08T19:49:00.000Z

So much has been said and written about the Munich disaster and as a result the emotion levels surrounding the Manchester derby on Sunday have already gone up a few notches - god knows what it'll be like just before kick off time.

I haven't got a ticket for the match, but like the vast majority of City fans, I will be respectfully observing the silent tribute to those poor souls who perished so tragically half a century ago.

I'm absolutely sure most Blues at the game will behave impeccably during the minute's silence, although it does seem likely that there will be a few mindless idiots (not necessarily City fans) who will try to hijack this very public event - worryingly it happened during the tribute at Wembley this week where the minutes silence was brought to a premature end by the referee to avoid an embarrassing situation.

I must admit, It'll be a big relief when they whole thing is over. However, I got to say what crass stupidity it was by some anonymous football bureaucrats to schedule the Old Trafford Manchester derby to coincide the the Munich tragedy. Of all the dates it could have been played, what on earth made them pick that date when it's obvious events and emotions could trigger something very ugly.

I'm really sad that if there is an incident by some idiots, then all of us, as City fans are going to be tarnished with the same brush and our Club's reputation will be rubbished all around the world; we ( and United ) should never have been put in this situation.

Lest we forget, there also the small matter of a football match to consider on Sunday and our best response will be to let the players do the talking on the pitch.

To all City fans, please show silent respect to the occasion, but once the whistle goes, let normal service resume... somehow I just feel a draw would fit the occasion.

Benjani Training At Carrington

2008-02-05T15:13:00.000Z

My spies at City tell me that Benjani Mwaruwari has been seen training at Carrington today.

The Club have just announced that he has been signed for an initial fee of £3.87m, which looks a whole load better than the £7m+ quoted as the transfer window closed.

Benjani is likely to go straight into the squad for this weekend's emotionally charged derby against United where he is desperately needed up front to sharpen up City's currently depleted forward line.

Welcome aboard son..... just do the business at the weekend please and stay fit please?

City Still A Class Apart

2008-02-02T19:13:00.000Z

City 1 - 3 Gooners

If a reminder were needed about just how far City need to develop before becoming one of the regular Premiership "Top Four", it was evident on today's performance.

Now I've always had a loathing for Arsenal, but not just because they play in red and white. I guess it goes back to the boring and dirty sides they had during my formative years in the late '60s and '70s. Those of you who were around will know exactly what I'm talking about.

However, I've got to say that at the moment Arsenal play some wonderful stuff with pinpoint passing and silky-smooth touches and were miles ahead of City this afternoon in every department (including time-wasting !).

As is becoming worrying familiar at the moment, City keep on giving the ball away sloppily time after time. Arsenal however kept possession with ease, but more impressively always looked so comfortable on the ball with time and space to pick their passes.

Despite another awful performance by the referee, there was no question that the Gooners didn't deserve to win; quite simply they were a class apart. Lets hope that City will have watched and learned and apply themselves in the same way next week the other side of town.

It's fair to say that despite a great start to the season, City have hit a bit of a wall since before Xmas and our lack of quality in some positions is beginning to hurt us badly. The unbeaten home Premiership record is now gone, but being unbeaten at home until February is something none of us would have believed this time last season.

The transfer window hasn't really been kind to us and it's difficult to see what difference a 19 year old, swiss based Ecuadorian striker is going to make to our season, but let's wish Felipe Caicedo all the best when he pulls on a blue shirt - if he scores the winner against the Heathens from Newton Heath next week he'll be a legend before he hits 20 !

On the plus side today despite a toothless first 20 minutes, City battled back and almost looked comfortable for long periods of the game without ever really looking threatening - the propspect of Vassell & Mpenza aren't going to give many defences sleepless nights, although Sturridge did show tantalising glimpses of class even though he's miles away from being match fit.

Fernandes probably had his best game for City so far and Elano's contribution was a lot better than is has been for quite a few weeks. It's still baffling that Geovanni is keeping the bench warm most of the time, because whenever he comes on he give us a bit punch and guile; the fans know it and their calls for "Geeeeeeoooooohh" were answered swiftly in middle of the 2nd half, but by then it was really too late to make a difference by then.

The next two games against United and Everton will be a tough test for City and for Sven's managerial and motivational skills. On recent performance, it's hard to see where the points are going to come from in those matches, but City being City are just as likely to confound everyone (including themselves) and pull a surprise or two out the bag. Studying Arsenal carefully in a tape of today's game would be a good starting point.

City Nearly Ticking All The Right Premiership Boxes !

2008-01-10T10:42:00.001Z

This was passed to me recently and is a letter from a City fan sent into a newspaper.

I'm beginning to understand it all now.

...and he's quite right, we are almost there ;-)

Apologies about the image quality, but if you can't make it out, here's a translation:-

As a Manchester City fan, I finally understand what a club needs to thrive in the Premier League:

A billionaire owner
A foreign manager on a 5 year contract (or 3 English managers per season)
A new sponsored stadium
Season ticket prices at a minimum of £700
Two foreign goalkeepers
Two players (preferably strikers) whose names end in " i " or " o "
At least four players who wear gloves in all games from October to March
Two or three squad members who qualify for the England, Wales of Scotland U-21s (for Carling Cup duty only), and finally...
As a ready made excuse for not making the top four, at least four players who will be away on duty for the African Cup of Nations

We are getting there !

Santa Draws City's Home Run To An End

2007-12-28T11:39:00.000Z

City 2 - 2 Rovers

Well it had to happen sometime I guess, and City's 100% home record is sadly no more.

It was a shame however, that the eventual result of yesterday's game was settled by a controversial decision by the referee and his linesman - something that is quite a common thing at Eastlands these days.

Was it offside or wasn't it? Was David Dunn "active" or was he not? What's clear is that the offside law is a mess and needs sorting out so that the match officials are not put into the unenviable position of making a split second judgment on something that is a purely subjective matter.

This "active" and "inactive" nonsense is completely unworkable and leaves little scope for consistency for big decisions, something the players, managers and fans are all desperately craving.

As for the game itself, if I'm being totally objective (something that doesn't naturally come easy), I guess you'd have to say that a draw was a fair result on the balance of play. City looked good in short spells with Petrov at last showing what he's capable of, but Rovers dominated the 2nd half with City struggling to win and keep hold of the ball.

Having extolled Bianchi's virtues in my previous article, he was pretty disappointing up front and how he missed that goal line tap-in I will still never know. Somehow, I fear his City career will not be a long one!

I was surprised not to see Geovanni again as he's looked quality in his few cameo appearances to date. City were crying out for a bit on invention in the centre of midfield and you would have thought that resting Hamann and Elano would have given Geo his chance - I really don't understand that at all.

Next up is another tough game against Liverpool - never an easy match.

Even if we draw, that will mean a disappointing three points from the Xmas fixtures; a win of course would make things look a whole lot better !

Bianchi Proves His Worth

2007-12-25T11:51:00.000Z

No doubt there will be a flurry of activity in the transfer window in the New Year and endless, rubbish rumours, but I wouldn't be too surprised if Sven doesn't turn out to be that active in the market.

It's been clear that we've been struggling up front this season and have been fortunate that the midfield have been able to score some extremely valuable goals. Despite a lot of work rate, Mpenza doesn't look as good as he was last season, now that he's surrounded by much better players. For me, he's too much like Vassell, but without the blistering pace and bullish strength.

It's been hard to be critical of Sven so far, but his handling of Bianchi has been poor - he even admitted it himself in a recent interview and said lessons had been learned. In the last few games, "Rolandinho" has showed just why Sven forked out £8.8m for him in the summer.

It looks like Bianchi is finally settling down in his new surroundings and is now playing with a confidence that we haven't seen before. It does beg the question about what he could have achieved and where we might be in the table if Sven had picked him every week (when he was fit of course).

The exciting arrival of Castillo will I'm sure spur Rolando on even more and competition for what could be only one striker's position will hot up intensely. it's easy to forget that Bojinov is poised to return and when he does, it will be like having a whole new pool of forwards to choose from.

With more forwards available, it would be nice to see Sven make the most of his attacking options and use a more orthodox 4-4-2 formation, maybe even a 4-3-3 for the right occasion. We've looked much more threatening in recent weeks when Sven's used two strikers.

So, for me it's Mpenza and Samaras that need to be the movers in January. Despite only a handful of appearances, Bianchi has shown that he has got quality and at just 23, City will have him at Eastlands during his prime and that could be worth an awful lot.

Xmas Roast? ...... That's My Boy !!!

2007-12-24T12:33:00.000Z

It was only a matter of time before one of the young City players with too much time and money on their hands ended up featuring in a tabloid scandal and sadly Micah has managed to "score" a big own goal if the reports doing the rounds at the moment are true.

You can just picture the scene in the manager's office with a furtive and uncomfortable-looking Sven, with years of personal experience in these matters giving Micah some fatherly advice about off the field etiquette and acceptable behaviour from high-profile footballers.

Sven is reported to have "had a word" with him about it, probably with a glint in his eye and with some mild admiration. Micah is lucky that his boss just happens to be the most qualified person on this delicate subject - just ask Nancy, Faria, Ulrike etc..etc..

I just hope the other premiership player alleged to be involved isn't Rio Ferdinand.... now that really would kill his reputation !!

Grow up Micah !

Sven Makes A Good Point

2007-12-23T12:18:00.000Z

With the unenviable home record City have this season, a point yesterday at Villa Park was a decent enough result.

It could have been better after Bianchi fired City into an early lead, but it could have been a whole lot worse if Villa had converted more of their many chances. On the balance of play, Villa dominated without being able to produce a killer finish.

City held firm and I guess rode their luck a little, but we'll take that - it is the season of goodwill after all! That said, most of the away fans would have headed back up the M6 with a bit of early Christmas cheer savouring a well earned point.

I couldn't quite work out some of the team changes though. Dropping both Garrido and Corluka to the bench seemed a bit strange; clearly they were both fit and both had decent enough performances in the Spurs game on Tuesday night. I wonder whether there was an element of Sven making a point after some sort of internal misdemeanor? All a bit strange if you ask me.

To be fair though, Ball came in and was probably man of the match. His block against Reo-Coker in the final moments denied Agbonlahor an easy tap in and meant City came away with a share of the spoils.

After slating Steve Bennett in my last report (available here), once again the referee (Lee Mason) in my opinion was far to keen to get his card out - 6 bookings was inappropriate for what was good match played in the right spirit. It just makes you wonder when common sense is going to prevail in football matches.... sadly, probably never is the answer to that one!

Merry Christmas to you all and thanks for reading this Blog!

Next game: Blackburn Rovers at CoMS on 27th December - k.o 7.45pm

Prediction: another bruising game - they always are against Rovers, but City to shade it with another trademark 1-0 home win

The Horse Called It Right !

2007-12-18T22:59:00.001Z

City 0 - 2 Spurs

I don' t know why, but I had a sense of foreboding driving to Eastlands this evening; I think it's just something about playing Spurs in the Cup, a fixture that always seems to be a highly charged affair.

My anxiety about the game was heightened as we approached the Spurs end outside the stadium when a Police horse scraped its hoof twice on the ground just as we walked past.

My lad and I looked at each other and were reminded Soccer AM's " Mystic Ed" and simultaneously came to the same conclusion - this could only mean a two nil away win, and so it came to pass. I only wish I'd gone straight round to Ladbrokes instead of stopping off for my usual pre-match chips and gravy.

So what did we learn tonight ?

1) Spurs and City fans agreeing in loud chorus that Steve Bennett is "not fit to be a referee"; a truly shocking performance from the man in black tonight. By the time Zokora had been sent off in the middle of the 1st half, he'd already lost control of the game. Malbranque should have been red carded as well for what seemed a worse tackle than Zokora's. Dunne and Johnson should have had penalties, but to add insult to injury, Johnson was yellow carded for a dive, when it was clearly a foul - I was right in line with it.

2) We looked blunt up front again. nice to see Nery Castillo come out on the pitch before the kick off - shame he wasn't available to play tonight as we're crying out for a regular goal scorer. I'm really looking forward to seeing him in a blue shirt in January. Bianchi is still a better option than Mpenza and Samaras though !

3) Sven needs to get the players down to Carrington early tomorrow and do some intensive passing practice. I lost count of how many times we gave the ball away with sloppy passes and poor positioning - real schoolboy stuff.

4) We missed Stevie Ireland in midfield, although when Geo came on we looked a different team and he really should start a few games now and get his chance to cement his place. He looks so strong and comfortable on the ball.

5) Berbatov is a real class act; he was outstanding tonight and if Mr Shinawatra has still got some cash left, sign him up quick!

Disappointing that the home record went tonight, but it wasn't our best performance - lots of effort, but little quality on display.

I must try and find that horse again for the next match though !

Has Sven Gone Too Far ?

2007-11-28T17:57:00.000Z

It's great to see City flying high so far this season; after the lows of the last few years the fans have at last got something to cheer about.

Although I'm naturally chuffed to see City in the top 4 and obviously hope we stay there, all this heady success is causing me what is perhaps a strange problem ...... apart from bulk standard match reports (which I don't tend to do as everyone else seems to re-cycle the same thing), there isn't that much else to write about City these days.

I don't know what my fellow regular City chroniclers such as Danny @ Bitterandblue and Andy, Gavin and Johnny Baguette @ Vital Football think, but these days it's hard finding something different, challenging or provocative to write about as everythings going so swimmingly, just like a well oiled machine. Even the output from the excellent Purelymancity and KoTK doesn't seem to be as prolific as it was just a few months ago.

For so long, City fans have had such a rollercaster existence swaying from one crisis to another, but now it's so different, and I have to say quite disconcerting that we have very little to moan about these days, such is the impact that Sven and the new regime have made - I can't remember the last dig I had at the Club it's so long ago.

Is it just me or does anyone else feel the same anxiety that all this is too good to be true and can't last or is that just a typcial City thing?

If things don't start getting worse very soon, I may have to knock this blog on the head and get a life :-)

Don't Blame Corluka - He Was Right !

2007-11-23T11:59:00.000Z

Comments made to the press by City's Croatian defender, Vedran Corluka after his team humiliated England at Wembley this week have raised a few eyebrows and there's been speculation about the reception he'll get at Saturday's game against Reading.

However, when you think about it, you realise that he was absolutely right. Corluka is reported to have said: "England got just what they deserved because they were unbelievably arrogant !". They were unbelievably shite as well, but I guess he couldn't say that, be we all know they were.

Vedran, you are spot on mate. England have overall, been an embarrassing shambles during the Euro2008 qualification phase and the team got what they deserved .... absolutely nothing!

The fans, however didn't deserve such a gutless, defeatist performance and have every right to be incensed by the players, the (ex) manager and those useless buffoons in FA Hq who haven't even got the decency to step aside and give people who really understand the game and care about it, the chance to put their sorry house in order. No guesses who will emerge blameless from their "investigation" !

In the end, Croatia have probably done us a big favour by signaling the death knell of the current FA regime; this is probably one failure too far, even for them! However, when you then hear that the FA are heading up the investigation into themselves, you just have to wonder whether they've learnt anything at all from a catalogue of failures with previous appointments and a history of failure in major tournaments.

Craig Johnston on Sky Sports News this morning, an Aussie for Christ's sake, showed more passion and emotion about the state of the English game than the mandarins in the FA. Why doesn't the FA use the experience and passion of people like this? The answer is that the truth hurts and they just seem quite content to paper over the cracks and deflect any criticism and responsibility away from themselves and onto others.

Good on Corluka for telling it how it is - he deserves praise rather than stick !

The Two Extremes Of Sven's Problem

2007-11-11T07:08:00.000Z

There's no doubt that the Sven effect has transformed City into a confident and professional outfit this season.

The football is unrecognisable from the dire spectacle City fans had the misfortune to watch in the last 3 or 4 seasons and thank goodness for that. City are riding high in 3rd place and playing some stuff, although I have to say the awful performance against Sunderland on Monday night took me right back to the darkest Pearce and KK days - I suspect that was just a blip on an otherwise wonderful season so far.

As I've said, the performances are a vast improvement, but they can and must still get better and more consistent if we're serious about challenging for Europe.

Sven's forays into the transfer market have been very successful on the whole, but there are two areas that still need to be sorted out, namely the 'keepers jersey and the forward line. The top and the bottom of the team, if you like, have been problematic since Sven took over and even now, they look far from being resolved. The bit in the middle, i.e the back four and the midfield are solid enough, but don't be surprised to see some additional strengthening in January.

Now that Kaspar is away on loan, it's a straight fight between Hart and Isaksson with Hart just edging it at the moment for the green jersey. Joe has done very well for a young lad, but he does obviously lack experience which has shown a few times this season. He will develop into a top, probably future England 'keeper, but it's a big ask for him to play at this level every week at his age.

As for Isaksson, despite him being here for 18 months, we still haven't seen enough of him to make up our minds. It's obviously an uneasy relationship between him and the club as neither Pearce or Eriksson have shown total faith in him - why, I really don't know.

Up front, we are clearly lacking a 20 goal per season striker. Bianchi may be that person, but like Isaksson, we just don't know. Mpenza has toiled hard on his own up front, but he's clearly not cut out to be a lone striker, something that showed against Sunderland, when he didn't win a ball all night. Enough's already been said about Samaras and the best think for him and City would be an early exit elsewhere to rebuild his career. Of the three, I'd probably only keep Bianchi and persevere with him.

Where does that leave us then? Well, with money to spend we need a top international 'keeper and two proven strikers at this level. With the transfer window looming Sven will be linked with every player under the sun and if true to form will buy none of them and pull off a surprise or two when he does eventually dip into the market.

Let's hope he and the backroom team have been hitting YouTube a lot over the last few weeks and have spotted some more talent ;-)

Good luck to the team and the travelling support today - Fratton Park is an awful place to go to at the best of times; I think I'd settle for a draw if I could.

Ireland Strike Illuminates An Otherwise Dull Evening

2007-11-05T22:54:00.000Z

Just got back in time from the game tonight to post a quick report, but I don't think I'll be stopping up to watch any highlights on TV which could probably be shown in full during a commercial break.

After the hammering we got from Chelsea, it was important that City responded with a big performance and a win. We got the latter, but the it certainly wasn't the classic that many City fans are coming to expect these days.

A lot of players were clearly struggling tonight with only Dunne, Corluka, Garrido and Hamann having anywhere near a decent game. Even match winner Stephen Ireland drifted in and out of the game, but it was a great, almost Elano like finish that illuminated a dull spectacle on a cold November night. For me, Corluka was man of the match and he looks to be getting better and better with each game.

Petrov and even Elano looked out of sorts, but we can forgive them an off night now and again. Johnson looked jaded and we forget that he's still just a young lad being asked to do a man's job, which for the most part he's done admirably, but it was no surprise that Sven replaced him a the break, as he was clearly struggling with some kind of problem.

I was expecting to see Geovanni, but Vassell came on instead and did a pretty good job despite his lack of match fitness and battled well to set up the goal for Ireland.

Nice also to see Bianchi come on for over half an hour and despite giving the ball away sloppily with his first touch, he looked more of a threat than Mpenza in that lone striker role.

Sun Jihai probably gave Sven all the necessary ammunition to go back to Thaksin to strengthen the squad in the January window. Despite his effort and enthusiasm, Sun looks increasingly lacking in Premiership quality alongside his new team mates.

Couple of things that puzzled me this evening:

Why so many back passes to Hart from the halfway line?

Why did Sven switch Petrov onto the right in the 2nd half when he is such a left sided player. It just didn't work or make sense.

Apart from Ireland's classy winner the highlight of the evening was the "warm" reception given to Roy Keane when he strayed into the technical area. It wasn't just because of his obvious United connections, but many in the crowd this evening would have vividly remembered the way he pretty much ended Alf-Inge Haaland's career with a typically cynical and brutal challenge in April 2001.

On a more positive note, Sunderland brought some decent away support with them and showed enough to suggest that they may just survive the drop this season.

No such worries for City this season as talk continues about European qualification.... any why not? We're just 2 points away from the top of the table and hopefully over the shock of the 6 - 0 result at the Bridge. Pompey away on Sunday will be a sterner test than the Mackems were tonight, but this is just the sort of game City have to get something from to be serious contenders for honours.

SVEN OUT !

2007-10-27T19:16:00.000+01:00

I can't believe that the "Sven Out" campaign has started - what are some people like ?

It can't be real City fans on the phone-ins this evening- they must have been Reds taking the p*ss. Thankfully there were only a few.

Can't deny it though, we were well and truly hammered today at the Bridge. I wasn't there to witness it in the flesh, but listening to the Radio commentary and the post match reaction on GMR, it sounds like Chelsea were simply irresistible this afternoon and City just had one of those days; Chelsea would probably have demolished whoever had been put in front of them.

It was on the cards that Chelsea were sooner or later going to thump someone under the new Avram Grant regime and it with City's normal luck, it was bound to be us on the end of it.... and it was !

When ever this sort of humiliation happens to your team (nobody enjoys losing 6 - 0), you have no option but to look for some positives, which this evening is made even harder by the fact that United beat 'Boro and are now (hopefully only until tomorrow) on top of the table.

In a way, it's good this happened now, i.e before the January transfer window and this temporary blip in City's magnificent season so far has for me confirmed the following:

1) Samaras has probably had his last chance - pity for him though that he didn't have an easier game to try to resurrect his City career, but I guess that's just tough, but he's blown all his previous chances too.

2) We do need a world class striker. Having spent £9m on Bianchi, Sven ought to do him the courtesy of playing him now and again. He may well be this missing top striker people are talking about, but nobody really knows. Can't understand how Samaras got the nod today whilst Bianchi sat on the bench.

3) We need a top 'keeper. Hart has got enormous potential, but he's still a young kid and we need a bit more experience between the sticks. Maybe Isaksson can establish himself with a decent run, but Sven hasn't shown much confidence in him so far.

4) Ireland needs a long rest to get his life back together.

Now that we've had this rather predictable setback, it will be a good test for Sven and the players. Our next games are against Bolton and Sunderland. The outcome of these two matches will show just how far City have come in the Shinawatra / Eriksson era.

A Game I want the Blues To Lose

2007-10-13T09:04:00.000+01:00

No, of course I'm not talking about City, but as there's no Premiership football this weekend and the English national team is such a bore I, like millions of football fans will be glued to the Rugby World Cup tonight hoping for an inspirational England win over the old enemy, "Les Bleus".

"Le Crunch", as it's been hyped up in the French press is last barrier between England and an unprecedented appearance in back-to-back world cup finals. Who knows what might happen if we reach the final?

I don't know what it is about beating the French at any sport, but it's almost as satisfying as beating the Rags and the Scousers.

Look out for former England World Cup winner and massive City fan, Will Greenwood, who is normally wheeled out as a TV pundit on these occasions. We could have done with him in the team this evening, but I'm sure all the guys will give 110% against the garlic... sorry I mean Gallic foe.

Come on England !

Please Not Lehmann !

2007-10-11T20:06:00.000+01:00

A load of speculation today that Sven will be in for aging Arsenal 'keeper Jens Lehmann (now 37) to bring in a bit more experience and increase competition for the No1 jersey.

I really hope this is just a case of wild speculation, as I for one would not like to see him at Eastlands.

I think Sven needs to be very careful with his next wave of signings as so far he's been very fortunate to have assembled a group of players that (a) seem to gel very well together and (b) have a good relationship with the crowd. This has been a significant contributory factor to City's best ever start for over 30 years.

I don't think Lehmann fits either of the above criteria and over the past few season's he has by far been the 'keeper who has irritated and angered the City fans the most with his "gamesmanship" and unsavoury antics, particularly at corners and set pieces around his area - you all know what I mean.

I would think it unlikely that many City fans would welcome his arrival and warm to the man. I can't see that it would do wonders for team spirit in the changing room either.

The 'keepers position at the moment does need to be resolved, but I hope not like this. Both Schmeichel and Hart have done ok so far, but they are still young kids and far from the finished article, but both have enormous potential.

I also increasingly get the feeling that Isaksson seems to be developing into a square peg in a round hole at City, as since his arrival under Pearce, he's had a string of unfortunate injuries and when he has been fit, I've never really felt that the management have shown total confidence in him. We'll just have to wait and see on that one, but what the guy needs for sure is a decent run of games and to stay healthy.

Personally, I'd stick with what we've got for now and have another look at things at the end of the season.

Former Blue Gets The Axe

2007-10-09T10:18:00.000+01:00

Millwall have just parted company with former City defender Willie Donachie, where he had been in charge for just over a year.

Willie spent eleven seasons at Maine Road between 1970 and 1980 making a total of 436 appearances for City. He was also a regular for Scotland and will hate me for mentioning that infamous own goal from a suicidal back pass in the 1978 Home International against Wales in the final few minutes of the game that leveled the scores; unfortunately something for which Willie will always be remembered.

Willie had quite an impressive record as an assistant manager with stints at Oldham, Everton, Sheffield Wednesday, Ipswich and Millwall, but it could be a case that he turns out to be one of those great assistants that never quite makes it as the boss - a bit like Brian Kidd and Steve Wigley.

With the recent and sudden departure of Hans Backe there is a gap in City's current backroom staff and maybe there's a role for Willie to play?

We wish him all the best.

Good Time To Give City Young Guns a Chance

2007-10-08T21:36:00.000+01:00

With City continuing to fly high and playing some really entertaining stuff, now would be a good time to give one or two young lads from the academy and reserves some first team experience.

The papers are full of rumours about who Sven is going to buy in the January transfer window, but he does have other options from within the club and now is a good time to have a proper look at them.

For the past few seasons out of necessity, City's youngsters have had a baptism of fire and been chucked in at the deep end when both Keegan and Pearce had no other option but to raid the Academy to bolster a paper-thin first team squad. The likes of BWP, Jordan, Flood, Croft, Miller, Ireland, Onuoha, Richards and most recently Schmeichel, Hart and Michael Johnson spring instantly to mind. Some of these lads have taken to the first team like ducks to water, whilst others have not quite been up to the task and have since moved on.

With Sven having instilled a new found confidence within the Club, what better time to gently introduce some more fresh talent and increase the competition for places. Whilst our defence and midfield look generally very solid, up front, we still don't look that convincing, and I'm still not entirely sure about Samaras, although to be fair to the lad, he's not had much of an opportunity so far.

In the absence of the much vaunted Daniel Sturridge who is thankfully on his way back from injury, some of you may have noticed that Ched Evans is getting rave reviews in the reserves and looks to be a fine young prospect; perhaps now would be a good time to give him a first team run out? Similarly, Kelvin Etuhu, who has been around a bit longer is maturing into a decent striker and has already had a brief taste of the first team and did ok in a poor side and maybe deserves another crack at it.

Sven recently backed off buying a new, experienced 'keeper once he saw how Schmeichel and Hart performed. Perhaps the same thing might happen if our young strikers are given a chance. Lest we forget, it was the academy who saved City from relegation in the three of seasons and despite City's new found wealth, we still need to bring our top youngsters through. Obviously if we get a chance to sign a Torres, Drogba or Villa we'd be mad not to, but just in case we can't, we need a plan B.

Champions League Update

2007-10-03T23:25:00.000+01:00

No, sadly not a report about City blazing a trail in Europe - that'll be next for next season...yer right :-)

I don't often write much about other teams, but I was lucky to be at Parkhead tonight in the torrential rain for the Celtic v AC Milan game, and I've got to say what an unbelievable atmosphere - the stadium was rocking and I can understand why their fans call it "Paradise".

Apart from the referee, who was just shockingly awful and did his best to help Milan whenever he could, the only downer was the queues to get into the stadium and we missed the first 15 minutes whilst getting drenched in rain of Mancunian proportions.

Anyway, that aside, what a great night and what absolutely top supporters Celtic have got.... they did their Bhoys proud tonight.

I only hope that idiot at the end doesn't end up spoiling what was a famous European victory.

Ireland Coming Through His Difficult Times

2007-09-30T21:53:00.000+01:00

This article may be a bit belated given the well documented events of Stephen Ireland's sudden and somewhat bizarre exit from Eire's national team squad a couple of weeks ago, but lest we all forget, he deserves some praise and respect for playing through what is obviously a difficult time.

Those people who have experienced such a personal trauma will understand the affect it has on the individuals concerned and close family.

That Stephen has been able to carry on playing and been able to maintain anything approaching his best form is not only a testament to him personally but also to the Club and management team for supporting him and showing trust in his ability and professionalism. He had a decent game yesterday against Newcastle and was unlucky not to have scored had it not been for a trademark point-blank save from Shay Given.

Stephen has taken a fair bit of flak in some of the papers and fan sites over this episode, but if those individuals concerned had been through what Stephen and his partner have been through they probably wouldn't have been quite so critical.

Time To Take City Seriously

2007-09-29T16:46:00.000+01:00

City have often been the butt of many jibes about being a club that cannot be taken seriously. Some of the criticism has been deserved, but last week's battling performance against Fulham and today's 3 - 1 win over a decent, but Owen-less Newcastle has sent out a message that we are a much tougher proposition than in previous seasons.

Even the reddest of the many anti-City hacks must now (grudgingly) accept that Sven's influence has transformed City's fortunes and the club is unrecognizable from the lumbering, mis-firing team of the last few seasons.

For the second week running, City went a goal behind, but instead of crumbling like they would have previously, the teams' newly found confidence and self-belief meant they were soon on level terms with a quality finish by Petrov from a tight angle.

Although Newcastle had their moments in the first half, City were the dominant side after the break and with Mpenza wrong-footing Given with a clever header from Petrov's cross almost immediately from the restart, there was only ever going to be one outcome to this match.

City contained Newcastle without too much difficulty for the remainder of the match which was rounded off with a sensational free kick by Elano from 25 yards which flew past Given into the top of the net before he could move such was it's power and accuracy. Sky TV measured it at 76mph.... not quite as fast though as Didi Hamann as recently clocked by the Cheshire police ;-)

This was probably City's best performance of the season so far and was especially memorable for the performances of Martin Petrov and Elano who were both just outstanding. Petrov for his trickery, strength and pace down the wing and Elano for his silky skills and reading of the game. Sven took some stick for spending "big" money on these guys, but they look now to be very shrewd investments with many clubs sizing them up with envious eyes - expect some big-money bids in January, but luckily for us, we don't need the money.

Just a couple of thoughts to finish with:

1. Seeing Joey Barton sitting uncomfortably behind the Newcastle bench, probably thinking " what the hell have I done ?" .... ditto for Distin

2. Wondering what life would be like if Big Sam had been appointed City manager instead of Sven and being very grateful that the right choice was made

City v United Match Photos

2007-08-19T20:01:00.000+01:00

A few memories of a magical afternoon

Whilst storm clouds gather in the red skies, the Blue Moon is rising !

Click photos for larger versions

Images Copyright Bluesology.blogspot.com. No reproduction without permission

United Set To Sign Thai Striker

2007-08-19T18:07:00.000+01:00

His name .... Win Wun Sune :-)

(as heard on GMR after the game)

City's Card Has Been Marked

2007-08-16T08:53:00.000+01:00

Six points from a possible six, four points ahead of United, Ronaldo and Rooney out of the Manchester derby and a home goal to remember - I don't think many of us expected such a fantastic start to the season.

After the stunning performance at Upton Park, it was always going to be difficult to match that in the next game and the first home Premiership game of the season wasn't a classic performance by any means, but there were again glimpses of wonderfully flowing one-touch football against a well organised Derby team who on last night's evidence may not be the push-overs everyone is predicting.

It was great to see one of the local youngsters grab the headlines and Michael Johnson's goal was just stunning. If Elano or Geovanni had scored that, I'm sure a lot of the headlines would have been about superior Brazilian skills so let's not short change the lad, his goal was pure quality and proof there is local talent; you just need to look for it and develop it properly.

Despite the great start though, I do have a slight concern about the number of yellow cards we've received in just two games. Bookings to Garrido, Ireland, Elano, Geovanni against West Ham and Petrov, Hamann, Johnson last night, bring the total to seven.

Both the games City have played have been good sporting games played in good spirit, but yet seven cards have been dished out to City for the most innocuous of challenges, whilst only one card has been shown to City's opponents in those games. None of the two games have been dirty, physical matches, yet seven cards have been shown - something is not right somewhere!

It seems to me that so far City have been very harshly treated by the officials, especially last night when the Derby players got away with a lot of cautionable offences, whilst the referee (who by the way bore an uncanny resemblance to CJ from the classic Rise and Fall of Reginald Perrin series), couldn't get his card out quick enough for the slightest transgression by the City players.

There were also some highly dubious free kicks awarded to Derby right on the edge of the City penalty area and at times it was if the referee was doing his best to help Derby score, hence the ironic cheers when City managed to get a rare decision in our favour

There was one incident last night when a Derby defender nearly ripped the shirt right off one of our players and it went un-punished. His shirt was literally up around his neck right in front of the ref, but for some reason he didn't see that as worthy of a yellow card. If it had been a City player he would have been booked without hesitation.

I'm just wondering if this is now a pattern that City will have to put up with throughout the season. Is it because Sven's the boss, is it due to the Shinawatra takeover and all the high profile coverage? I really don't know, but what's for sure is that our players have been singled out for harsh treatment whilst our opponents have been treated more leniently.

I'm sorry to say that in his first Premiership game, last night's referee was poor and extremely inconsistent. This will cost us later in the season when the suspensions begin to kick in.

Anyway, on a more positive note, it's the Rags on Sunday and whatever the result, we'll still be above them in the table. Surely the prospect of opening up the gap to seven points is more than enough motivation (even for the new foreign signings) to turn on the style and beat the old enemy - can't wait !

A Word For The Mirror

2007-08-11T18:17:00.000+01:00

Two words in fact ......

Up Your's !!!

West Ham 0 - 2 MCFC .... just in case it has escaped your attention

Just What Is The Point Of This ??

2007-08-11T10:44:00.000+01:00

I don't know why the Mirror seem to have such a downer on City, but this latest "article" has descended to new depths of journalistic lows. Click Here

Over the summer, the Mirror in particular has published a series of poison-pen articles about our club, and I don't really understand why City are being singled out for this sort of treatment.

How come the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea, Portsmouth, Spurs and many other Premiership clubs haven't received similar treatment from the Mirror.

After all this rubbish, I would never buy the Mirror and hope other City fans will steer clear too.

Hammers To Test Sven's Mettle

2007-08-10T14:38:00.000+01:00

I can't believe it's already the start of the new season tomorrow - where did the Summer go to?

City start their campaign with an awkward looking away trip to West Ham where a pack of vulture-like press will hovering, just waiting to get their claws into Sven in the event of the slightest slip-up.

Make no mistake, the hatchet-happy hacks that write for the national press just can't wait for their first chance to stick the knife into Sven and the new look City, but hopefully they won't be given that opportunity tomorrow.

Like City, the Hammers have spent big over the summer with a lot of personnel changes, but with Curbishly at the helm, they will surely be a much tougher prospect than last season.

London always seems to be a bit of a graveyard for City, so to start the season with an away trip to the Capital is a little cruel. I suspect that over the course of the season the Upton Park will turn out to be a bit of a home fortress with very few away teams coming away with all three points.

City are a bit exposed at the back with unfortunate injuries to Isaksson and Hart, so young Kasper Schmeichel is on standby to play in goal, although it is thought that Hart may recover in time.

I'd happily settle for a draw tomorrow - preferably not a 0-0; a goal or two would be nice for the City away fans who will be braving the long trip down to the East End.

If the worst does happen and City come away with nothing then I hope we don't see the start of the "Sven Out" campaign by some disgruntled City fans. We need to be realistic here, it's going to take time for Sven to forge a team out of the individual players he's brought to the club over the summer; that's not going to happen overnight, but please can it happen before the 19th when we play Rags in the home Derby!

City (from): Hart, Schmeichel, Onuoha, Sun, Richards, Dunne, Corluka, Garrido, Ball, Hamann, Geovanni, Fernandes, Elano, Ireland, Johnson, Petrov, Bianchi, Vassell, Samaras, Bojinov, Corradi.

Thomas Cook Tournament Images

2007-08-05T07:14:00.000+01:00

Just thought I'd post a few snaps of yesterday's event.

Not the best of games to watch, but friendlies never are. However, I thought there were some good signs that City will be more of a force this season; in particular, Petrov looks a real class act.

Copyright Bluesology.blogspot.com

City v Valencia: Caption This Photo ?

2007-08-04T19:55:00.000+01:00

I took this photo at today's Thomas Cook Trophy game.

It didn't quite come out as I'd anticipated !

Looks like Sven's influence is showing already :-)

Sven's "Buy British" Strategy Going Well

2007-07-17T17:56:00.001+01:00

News this evening that City have made their 3rd summer signing.

Once again, not a name that City had been previously linked with, but instead have swooped for 27-year old Brazilian forward, Geovanni on a free transfer and he joins on just a 1 year deal.

The former Benfica and Barcelona striker is perhaps best known for scoring one of the goals that knocked United out of the Champions League a couple of season's ago - excellent credentials for a City signing.

Having already signed Italian Rolando Bianchi and Swiss Gelson Fernandes, Sven's plan for buying British players seems to progressing nicely.

Expect fellow Brits, Ibrahimovic, Martin Petrov, Lucho Gonzalez, Roque Santa Cruz, John Arne Riise, Ludovic Guily, Thiago Motta and Yakubu to follow to follow suite and sign for City shortly ;-)

Another Chance for Corradi ?

2007-07-14T19:12:00.000+01:00

After the end of last season, Bernado Corradi was probably near the top of most peoples' lists of players for a quick City exit, although some of you may remember that back in March I did this article about the big Italian striker when he was copping a lot of flak.

Sometimes, bringing a new manager in can re-vitalise a flagging player's career and I wonder if this may be the case for Corradi?

Having seen the action from this afternoon's 1 - 3 win over Doncaster, Corradi scored an absolute stunner. If only he'd done that a few times during the course of last season, the talk would have probably been about a contract extension rather than a quick exit.

I noticed that Sven singled Bernado out for praise in the post match interview which suggests to me that it's not a forgone conclusion that he will leave. Having said that, I'm sure if City get an offer that recoups the bulk of the £2m we paid for him, then he would probably go.

I'm probably going to suffer the wrath of many Blues when I say that Corradi should be given a chance with Sven at the helm. For sure, he's never going to be an Anelka, Henri or Torres, but with the right formation and some decent service from the wings, there's always room in any squad for a big, fearless "traditional" centre forward, which is exactly what Corradi is.

I think it was a bit unfair on Corradi that it seemed to be very fashionable and easy thing to rubbish him mercilessly last season. A few negative reports seemed to start a bandwagon, but despite his shortcomings on the pitch, he gave 100% and looked up for it in the wave of a lot of stick, much of it undeserved.

Maybe Sven will have the midas touch on both Corradi & Samaras. We've yet to see anywhere near the best of them. Last season they were hamstrung by poor tactics and played out of position by Psycho. The arrival of Bianchi along with Mpenza should really heat up the competition for the strikers roles. It'll be interesting to see who will rise to the challenge.

Before passing judgement, have you seen his girlfriend? Forget Nancy, a quick google on Elena Santarelli will explain all, including the games where he did seem to run out of steam, and who can blame him ;-)

There..... I've ignited the blue touchpaper..... now waiting for the fireworks.

City Line Up For Doncaster

2007-07-14T15:28:00.000+01:00

The City team for the friendly at Doncaster has just been announced:

Isaksson

Richards

Ball

Onuoha

Dunne

Ireland

Dabo

Miller

Vassell

Samaras

Mpenza

Subs: Johnson, Dickov, D Mills, Hamann, Hart, M Mills, Corradi

Sven seems to have been true to his word about putting out a strong line-up rather than sending a load of Academy players.

The side does seem to have a very familiar look about it though, with new signings Bianchi and Fernandes joining up with the squad for the pre-season Sweden tour.

After the last season, how many of us thought we'd see the likes of Dickov, Dabo, Hamann, Mills & Corradi in a City shirt again?

Let's hope we do better than last time we played Docncaster.

Why Take The Risk With Ljundberg?

2007-07-12T10:23:00.000+01:00

Reports today that Sven is on the brink of signing Freddie Ljundberg for £6m is not good news in my opinion.

Ljundberg in his prime was a fantastic player, but now at 30 is not good value for that sort of money plus the high wages he'll almost certainly command.

Add to that the fact that for the past two seasons, he's been dogged by injuries and it doesn't look a particularly smart buy. If it happens, as it now seems it will, it is likely to end up in the same way as Reyna, Cole, Hamann, Fowler, McManaman etc with them spending more time with the physio than on the pitch.

We need to sign younger, fit and hungry players and avoid 30-somethings whose careers are declining, something City have made a speciality of over the years and it's never worked.

Sven should listen to Micah and sign Defoe instead - that would be a much better investment !

Not Impressed By Transfer Targets

2007-07-08T19:05:00.000+01:00

Now that the euphoria of Sven's appointment has subsided a bit, the attention is switching to the new signings.

I know that a much of the transfer speculation is generated by groundless media gossip and hype from desperate player agents, but I have to say that I'm a bit worried about a lot of the players we've been linked with so far.

Firstly, and I hope Sven and his team are reading this, please don't sign any United rejects - stories about the imminent signings of Richardson, Alan Smith, Veron, Beckham and Christ help us, even Phil Neville certainly sent my alarm bells ringing.

Sven's first priority has got to be on survival and make sure we don't end up in a relegation scrap again. Therefore, he has got to be very smart with his signings and minimise risks where possible.

What we need first and foremost is a core of quality players with a proven track record in the Premiership. What we don't want is to gamble everything on a load of big money continental unknowns that may or may not work out. City's recent history is littered with failed foreign signings and we can't afford to make that mistake again.

I've read with some concern the likes of Christian Wilhelmsson, Roque Santa Cruz, Steven Pienaar, Rolando Bianchi & Johan Elmander - one of these unknowns maybe, but not all of them! Hopefully, most of these names are just "spoilers" whilst City turn their real attentions elsewhere. I read with amusement that Bernard Mendy has been linked yet again - that's the 4th consecutive year I've seen that one !

Close to home, names including Dudek, Harewood, Ljundberg & Paul Konchesky seem to be cropping up a lot, but these are not the sort of signings many Blues will be expecting - we can do a lot better. Besides, we don't really need another 'keeper, we're already well covered with Hart, Schmeichel and Mentel.

Yakubu though seems a much better bet, although the reported £12m is taking things to the point of being ripped off, and that is something that Sven will have to weigh up carefully; £50m wont go far at that rate.

Hopefully, it's going to be a busy few weeks for City and if you guys have any decent suggestions, stick them on this post - you never know, Sven must just be "googling" for inspiration.

Isn't It Just Typical ........ ?

2007-07-06T22:42:00.000+01:00

...... that on one of the most momentous days in City's recent history, the Rags have managed to steal our limelight with the signing of Tevez on a dodgy two-year loan, which for some reason seems to be the top sports story on Sky Sports News.

Just a coincidence - I think not

I'm saving my article on the new manager's appointment for another day, except to say welcome aboard Sven - there's a lot of expectation, but there's a lot of support for you too - don't let us down now !

Weaver Exit Signals New Era

2007-07-05T13:46:00.000+01:00

I've got mixed feelings about Nicky Weaver leaving City.

Although he's not yet 30, he seems to have been at the club for an age and somewhat of a permanent fixture during a decade of constant change.

To be fair though, Weaver was lucky to play as many games as he did last season and had it not been for an unfortunate injury to Isaksson, he would have had another frustrating season on the bench. Although during the season he showed what a good shot stopper he is, his command of the area, particularly with crosses still left a lot of cause for concern.

With Weaver, young Kaspar and emerging talent Joe Hart all now fighting for that No 2 spot, something had to give and unfortunately for Nicky, it was him.

Whether Sven wanted to quickly cut all linkages with the City of old as a bold statement of intent is unknown, but nevertheless Weaver's exit heralds a new era for City and is just the start of wholesale changes to the club and playing staff, something that is long overdue.

I'd like to wish Nicky all the best and thank him for all the memories, especially the infamous penalty shoot-out at Wembley.

I think we also need to pay tribute to his resilience and fighting spirit having come back from a series of injuries and setbacks which would have seen many other players throw in the towel and give up on their football careers.

Good luck at the Valley Nicky - you deserved a testimonial at the least.

Isn't It Amusing ? ........

2007-07-04T18:04:00.000+01:00

............ that the City Website has just published a load of photos from today's 1st pre-season training session without a single reference to Sven being there for the 1st time (even if it is on an unofficial basis) ?

Shots of Sven and John Wardle watching the players being put through their paces have been splashed all over the Internet and shown on Sky Sports News, but strangely not a single reference on the City site.

It's not as if this is all hush-hush and that admission that Sven was at Carrington is somehow a big, dark secret - the whole bloody world knows about it, although if you were an alien visiting earth and only looked at the City website (highly unlikely that it would happen I know), you'd think it was just business as usual.....bizarre !

For those who haven't seen any of the photos check out the excellent Purelymancity website. There a link there and a very interesting article about Sven's approach to football psychology; it'll be interesting to see how that works on the City squad.

Anyways, let's hope that the takeover saga ends tomorrow with an announcement of Frank having secured the 75% of shares..... I can't take it much longer !!

City To Take Hit On Striker ?

2007-07-03T15:51:00.000+01:00

Mounting speculation that City are considering cutting their losses on mis-firing striker Georgious Samaras and are prepared to let him go in the summer sales for around £2m.

Big Sam has certainly not enjoyed the best of times at Eastlands since he arrived from Heerenveen about 18 months ago with just 8 goals in 50 premiership appearances.

I've been critical of Samaras in the past, but I think it would be a mistake to let him go for relative peanuts; even if we get Shinawatra's money, City cannot really afford to take such a big hit on a player that we paid £6m for and who still at just 22, has much unfulfilled potential

In Samaras' defence, Psycho played him way out of position for the most part; most people could see he was not a left winger, except for the previous manager it seems. Playing him in unfamiliar roles dented his confidence badly and he went quickly into a downward spiral.

I would say that with the new manager coming in, it would be worth keeping Samaras for a while longer, as he can hardly play much worse than he did last season and perhaps Sven will be able to rejuvenate his career.

If Samaras doesn't rise to the new challenge, then by all means show him the door in the January window. Alternatively, perhaps loaning him out to a club that's going to give him regular football could be an option.

In any event, until City appoint the new manager and signings have been made, the situation is pretty academic; he won't go unless replacements have been signed up.

Still No News .... Again !!

2007-07-03T09:31:00.000+01:00

I cannot remember a more frustrating period than the last couple of months and for City fans it has been a real torturous time not knowing what's happening with the Club with constant rumour and speculation, but little action.

Another week has passed without a resolution to the ownership of the club and the new manager and as each day now passes,the patience of the beleaguered City fans will be stretched to the limit.

The announcement last week that Shinawatra had at last made a formal bid seemed to settle a few nerves and silenced a few doubters that the buyout would ever happen. Since then however, we have once again entered a period of inertia as Frank imperceptibly inches his way towards acquiring the magical 75% of club shares that will see him able to de-list from the stock market and allow Eriksson to take over as coach.

What seems a simple and routine share acquisition has not been helped by many small shareholders not receiving their offer letters and therefore not being able to sell up, even though they desperately want to. The activity on the PLUS market has been agonisingly slow with Frank stuck around the 70% mark and little signs of trading activity that suggests he'll hit the 75% sometime soon.

Just to add up the ante a little, there are reports this morning that Sven is hedging his bets by talking to little known Spanish outfit Recreativo Huelva about the managers job, should the takeover at City go tits-up.

Given all the uncertainty about Shinawatra and his sources of funds, I guess you can't really blame SGE for having a Plan B, but the news is not really what City fans need to hear at the moment and adds to the already saturated levels of anxiety and frustration.

I'm expecting a few more late twists in the tale before this whole thing is resolved one way or another, but all we can ask is that it sorts itself out quickly now. The latest from Frank's camp is it'll still be another 48hrs, but we've had a lot of 48hr windows over the last few months; time just seems to be elastic at the moment.

Torres Snub Highlights Problem For Sven

2007-07-01T08:08:00.000+01:00

So we've tried to hijack the Fernando Torres transfer to Liverpool with an audacious £27m bid for the the Athletical Madrid hot-shot? Perhaps I'll wake up and find this has all been a dream.

Seeing £27m bid and City in the same sentence somehow looks uncomfortable and just not right given the lower reaches of the transfer market we're used to operating in.

I'm not sure how serious this alleged "bid" actually was though. It looks more like a PR stunt aimed at raising City's profile in the European transfer market in order to make a bold announcement that we're up amongst the big boys now.

On a more serious note now, the fact that Torres dismissed City's advances instantly without even bothering to talk to us is a timely reminder of the problems Sven may yet face trying to attract "galacticos" to Eastlands.

Sure it sounds like he'll have some financial muscle behind him. However, if and when he takes over the hot-seat, having money is one thing, the Club having enough credibility to convince top european players to come to City is probably something that's not going to happen overnight with players and agents too adopting a watching brief to see who signs first, before they are prepared to commit.

Reports this morning that Yakubu is now a target is probably much more realistic. A fee in the region of £9m is being talked about which seems better value than £27m gamble for someone with no Premiership experience and who could well flop as spectacularly as Morientes did. No point blowing over half the transfer war chest on one player.

Nothing much is going to happen until Shinawatra has acquired the magical 75% of club shares, which could take up to another week. Until then, expect us to be linked to every man and his dog.

Heady days for City fans at the moment, long may it continue !

Confusion Over Selling City Shares

2007-06-29T12:43:00.001+01:00

I just thought I'd do a quick follow-up on my post earlier this morning as there seems to be a bit of confusion about the process for selling shares, given some of the comments that were left.

I've just spoken to City's communications team to try to get to the bottom of it. They confirmed that offer letters were sent to shareholders earlier this week, however it sounds like some people have not received them.

Now, this could be due to a number of reasons including:

* The usual slowness of the Royal Mail

* The impact of the postal strike

* Shareholders who have purchased shares and then moved house without notifying their change of address

I've suggested to the City communications team that they ought to put out some easy to read information and contact details so that shareholders that for whatever reason have not yet been contacted are able to sell their shares quickly.

The club did put out this takeover update last week, but I almost lost the will to live after the about the first page; a great document if you're a lawyer, but not so good for an average fan.

So, keep checking the MCFC website or contact the club for advice

Sven's Shrinking Transfer Window

2007-06-29T09:23:00.000+01:00

After a few weeks of relative inactivity, the transfer window seems to be getting into gear at last with news this morning that Darren Bent has signed for Spurs for what to me seems like an over-priced £16.5m.

Back home at Eastlands, we're still caught up in this frustratingly slow take-over that has put a halt to any signings until it has been concluded. Please, if any shareholders are reading this article, sell your shares today !

What I can't quite get my head round is why Frank's current 70% holding is not enough for Sven to sign on the dotted line and why everything is on hold until another 5% of shares are acquired? I'm sure somebody will explain it strikes me as just a bit of a technicality rather than a showstopper.

Anyways, what this means is that City run the risk of missing out on a crop of decent, available players which must be a worry for Sven if he sees most of his targets snapped up by other clubs who are able to open the cheque book and move quickly.

The additional Sky money will certainly distort the transfer market even more this year, but nevertheless there are still potential bargains to be had if deals can be sorted quickly.

For example, Villa's highly rated young midfielder Steven Davis is available for around £4m, Phil Jagielka is apparently on the verge of joining Everton for around the same fee, Reo-Coker is hovering around the £7-8m mark and David Nugent has still not been snapped up by anyone yet. Kevin Nolan also looks like he could be leaving Bolton and a short move down the road to Eastlands could surely be on the cards.

Bent's arrival at White Hart Lane is likely to signal the departure of Jermaine Defoe who would be a great acquisition for City for the right price.

Another Spurs striker continues to be linked to us, but now that City apparently have a large transfer kitty to give to Sven, hopefully we will not be buying Mido and all the baggage that comes with him - we've had enough of that with Barton.

Whilst on the subject of strikers we don't want to see at City, please not Marlon Harewood - he's just not good enough and his arrival would seriously shorten any honeymoon period Sven is likely to enjoy as City boss. Similarly, no Michael Owen - too expensive, too prone to injury and too high risk; you'd be lucky to get 10-15 games out of him per season - let the Rags have him !

SWP Return To City Unlikely

2007-06-27T14:55:00.001+01:00

There's been a load of speculation about SWP coming back to City pretty much ever since he left for Chelsea. Loan deals never materialised, but now with Frank and Sven almost at the helm City would be able to meet the £10-12m transfer tag that would see Chelsea offload him.

Much as I'd like to see him return, he's never given the impression that this would be an acceptable option for him and has been determined to cling on at Chelsea, almost to prove to himself that leaving City wasn't a big mistake. We know it was, he knows it, but for obvious reasons he cannot admit it publicly.

Listening to his Dad on Talksport last night, he pretty much ruled out a return to Eastlands which is a big shame. Shaun was a big favourite up here and illuminated many a dull winters afternoon with scintillating pace and exquisite skills. Most City fans, like me would love to see him back.

His Dad is a big influence on Shaun, and if he says he's not coming back, that's probably the end of it. I guess at the end of the day, money talks, but if his other options turn out to the likes of West Ham and Villa, he and his Dad might just need to have a re-think. Even so, reading between the lines, at the moment, I wouldn't put the probability of SWP coming home at more than 25%.

Blues Should Heed Mrs Beeton's Advice

2007-06-26T11:15:00.000+01:00

With all the heady talk of billionaire takeovers, Sven Goran Eriksson as manager, the return of the prodigal SWP, it is at times difficult to remember that it's Manchester City we're talking about, such has been the club's low expectations over the last few years.

Over the last few weeks the media has been in a frenzy and awash with speculation of who City will appoint as manager and the galacticos that would be signed, seemingly attracted by the much vaunted new investment and big club ambitions.

Personally, I'm still not sure about Frank Shinawatra, but I'll be more than happy to eat humble pie if I'm wrong. However, I was at the club shop over the weekend, and there does seem to be more of a buzz about the place which is always great to see.

Now City fans are well accustomed to disappointment and heartbreak - it's in the blood, but I think before we all get carried away on a wave of media hysteria, it would be as well to remember the legendary advice from Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management for cooking Hare Soup written in Victorian times, but still highly relevant today; " First catch your hare ! "

It seems to me that there will be quite a few more stings in the tail before the takeover resolves itself one way or another. Frank's advisers themselves are saying that it could take another three weeks to complete the buy out, and that's without any more revelations from the Thai government about freezing more funds, arrest and extradition.

Similarly, without the new manager in place, it's difficult to see players like Benayoun, SWP, Nolan etc,,etc signing on the dotted line. Apart from the overall uncertainty, there's still the issue of where the transfer funds will come from until Frank has taken the club over. We could, as usual, be waiting near to the transfer deadline before being able to sign players - always a bit risky.

Furthermore, questions were raised by UK MPs yesterday about the worrying trend of foreign billionaires buying into the Premier League as a bit of a fashion accessory. Add to that the FA still needing to confirm Frank as a "fit and proper" person to run the club and you can see that despite all the new found optimism, some of the foundations are still looking a bit shaky.

Some of the concerns would be reduced if, as widely predicted, Sven takes the job in the next few days. I suspect that secretly he is desperately hoping another big club comes in for him just like Juventus did for Ranieri, so he can be spared making a difficult decision - we will see.

One things for sure though, this is all classic City roller-coaster stuff and the reason why we just love being Blues.

Ricky Hatton - Blue Legend

2007-06-24T09:18:00.000+01:00

Ricky Hatton put on a sensational performance to destroy Mexican Jose Luis Castillo with a 4th round knock out in Las Vegas in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The "Manchester Mexican" looked in awsome shape at the weigh-in and exceeded most of our expectations by stopping Castillo so early in the fight.

Things at last seem to be looking up in the Blue side of Manchester; firstly with the City takeover and now with Ricky's superb performance, City fans are beginning to get back the swagger in their step and the twinkle in their eye.

There's already speculation about the opponent and location of his next fight, with a clash against Mayweather or de La Hoya if they can be tempted back into the ring with a huge wedge of dollars.

Talksport's rambling Mike Parry reckons the next venue for Ricky should be Old Trafford and not Eastlands. Now having Wayne Rooney carrying Ricky's belts is one thing, but Old Trafford is a whole different kettle of fish. Presumably Parry wouldn't mind if a similar Evertonian hero, if there is such a thing, were to stage an event at Anfield..... I think not !

Sad Loss Of A Legendary City Son

2007-06-19T08:51:00.001+01:00

Very sad news yesterday afternoon of the death of legendary comedian and big City fan, Bernard Manning. He was 76.

Manning was in every sense a larger than life character and a love-hate figure; there was no middle ground.

I never did see him at the infamous Embassy Club, but I was lucky enough to see him perform at my local pub (now sadly a Majestic Wine store) in the late '90s, where despite poor health, he still managed to pull off one hell of a show in a venue that was completely packed out.

He took time out after that show to have a chat with myself and a blind friend of mine who had travelled up from Cornwall to see him. This was a side that Bernard's politically correct critics chose to ignore and his support of charities and help for local people was not widely reported.

Like so many controversial celebrities, in real life he was the opposite of his public persona and I found him to be a very charming and caring person.

Sadly at a time when all the news about City seems to be negative, we have more difficult news to take in.

Farewell and rest in peace Bernard, sadly your like will never be seen again - you were a legend

What The **** Is Going On ?

2007-06-18T21:15:00.001+01:00

After yet another week of press rumour accompanied by a deafening silence from City, fans are still non the wiser about the fate of their club. In the words of the great Marvin Gaye, "What's Going On?"

After the news of assets being frozen, I must have imagined that the Board had allegedly set a deadline of Friday last week for "Frank's" mob to prove they still had enough suitcases of readies to buy the club. This evening, the M.E.N are reporting that a further £123m of assets have been frozen in addition to the £830m from last week. How deep are this guy's pockets?

How much more time are the Board going to waste before it dawns on them that the whole thing is as dead as a doornail....... unless they know something we don't? ..... and if they do, please tell us?

Where is the money then? If he has sufficient funding, why is it taking so long to materialise?

How come the Board were so quick to dismiss Ray Ranson's approach and yet they are open-endedly clinging on to Shinawatra?

Is there really an American consortium ... are there two as has been speculated ?? .... does anyone really know?

We're only into June and yet this is already turning out to be an Annus Horiblis of mega proportions, even by City standards with the nightmare prospect of Kenny Jackett at the helm at the start of the season.

I wonder what Alan Sugar would say to the current Board given a chance?

The words "fired" and "you're" spring instantly to mind !

Time For City To Pull Plug On Thaksin

2007-06-12T10:18:00.000+01:00

The saga of the Shinawatra takeover took yet another twist yesterday with the news that the Thai government have frozen his £830m assets that still remain in Thailand. Shinawatra almost certainly does have access to other assets that he managed to get out of the country before the coup that overthrew him last year, but it seems highly unlikely he will use these funds to buy City.

It seem to me that dealing with Shinawatra is neither desirable or advisable. There are too many concerns about the man and his finances that make dealing with him too high risk. The warning signs were there last year when his high profile attempt to take control of Liverpool proved to be an embarrassing fiasco for both parties and City must learn lessons from this.

Wardle's offer at the weekend to sink a further £30m into the club if the Thai deal fell through was a clear indication that the Club has concerns about Shinawatra's intentions and finances and that behind the scenes, all was not well.

Wardle, and the rest of the board should now go a step further and pull the plug on Shinawatra immediately and pursue other options that may or may not include Ranson and/or the mystery American interest.

All the time that the doomed Shinawatra deal drags on, the club are losing crucial time to plan and prepare for next season. We've already lost players and a manager and cannot wait any longer to sort out the playing staff for next year. Before long, there won't be any decent players or coaches left to fill the current vacant positions and we'll end up yet again with the leftovers and ageing players who look at City as some kind of pension fund for the swan-song of their careers.

The club has looked amateurish and unprofessional throughout the takeover negotiations and it's now time for the Board to be decisive and kill off what is an already fatally wounded attempt to buy the club and move on.

Barton Demands His 30 Pieces Of Silver

2007-06-10T10:03:00.000+01:00

As if Joey Barton hasn't already alienated himself enough from City fans, it appears that he, or should I say his agent, is holding out for a £300,000 "loyalty" payment as part of the overall deal that will see Barton move to Newcastle.

In a gesture akin to kicking more sand in the face of the club that stood by Barton throughout his many public misdemeanors, this final outrage has all the cynical hallmarks of agent Willy McKay.

In view of the circumstances leading up to Barton's exit from Eastlands, let's not forget, a brutal attack on fellow teammate Ousmane Dabo who ironically is also managed by McKay, Barton if he had any humility should have just slid quietly out the back door and up the A1 to the North East.

The word "loyalty" sit extremely badly with Barton and McKay. In fact, loyalty has been a one-way street during Joey's time at City; he has been on the receiving end of it!

I'm glad that the club seem to be standing firm and resisting the player's outrageous demands and hope they don't give in. Joey has reportedly signed a 5 year deal worth in excess of £60k per week with Newcastle. Why then does he and his agent want to make an issue over an amount that roughly equates to 1 month's salary under his new contract? Who said crime doesn't pay ??

I feel a bit sorry for the Geordies; they don't really know what they're getting with Barton, whereas City fans understand all too well - we're far better off without him.

The club need to learn lessons from this whole episode, and particularly dealing with the likes of Mr McKay - enough said !

The Hit Man And Him !

2007-06-07T10:02:00.000+01:00

City fan, Ricky Hatton has come in for a fair amount of stick over his friendship with Wayne Rooney, who we're told will accompany the Hit Man into the ring when he fights Mexican Jose Luis Castillo in Vegas on June 23rd.

I say "Hit Man", but Ricky has said he's changing his name to "The Manchester Mexican" as a tribute to his many friends from that part of the world and it's nothing to do with winding up his opponent - yer right !

It's also predicted that Ricky will be sporting a sombrero and poncho as he enters the ring with Shrek alongside him. Thankfully Blue Moon will be playing in the background and I hope that his ethnic attire will be suitably blue.

As for all the criticsm Ricky has had about the Rooney thing, well it is an unfortunate choice of mate, but everyone is entitled to choose their own friends, even if they are from rival camps. We may not like it, but it's Ricky's business and nobody elses. Personally I'd have liked to see Dunny or Weaver propping him up on his other side just to balance things up a little and maybe there's still time ?

Now before I get a load of stick, how many ordinary blues have Rag mates or even scousers? We all do and the banter and stick from local rivals is what makes football the best game in the world. There shouldn't be a double standard just because he's in the public eye.

So, I say best of luck to Ricky Hatton, the Manchester Mexican and hope all City fans will be supporting him. In these dark times at Eastlands, he's one of City's few rays of sunshine and a great ambassador for the club as well as being one of the country's unsung national heroes - let's not crucify him over something as trivial as who he hangs out with from time to time.

All the best Mate !

Good News For Sibierski ?

2007-06-04T19:36:00.000+01:00

Not the fact that French Tony has just signed for Wigan on a free and will be playing alongside Titus Bramble, but the fact he is now spared the nightmare prospect of teaming up with Joey Barton once again.

It was Joey who famously said that City's French player legion were over-rated and not worthy of a blue shirt.... now hang on a minute, that reminds me of another soon to be ex-City player; now if only I could remember ???

MCFC Manager Solution

2007-06-04T19:12:00.000+01:00

No surprise then that the Tinker Man opted for Juve instead of Eastlands; and who could blame him ?

The last few weeks have taken the biscuit as far as City farces we've seen over the years are concerned. All the media talk about the players Ranieri was on the verge of signing.... what a load of tosh !

As every day passes it now looks likely that the Thai takeover is slipping away and the club will be back at square one...... or should that read Ground Zero ? ..... hey, that's not a bad name for the City of Manchester Stadium ;-)

"Big names" still continue to be linked with us, but let's have a reality check here people, nobody with any ambition or pedigree is going to come whilst the takeover fiasco continues to play out on a very public stage in the form of a rather bad Shakespearian tragedy.

So, I have a quick solution that will avoid wasting all that precious time in the summer before the inevitable conclusion... Just appoint Neil Warnock now !

It's gonna happen anyway, so let's do it sooner than later and get it over with. We can then sign up Brian Deane to solve our scoring problem and with a bit of luck coax Tony Currie and Len Badger out of retirement (yes I'm old enough to remember)

Just a minute, is that Souness I can see looming in the background....... pass me my brown trousers, I think I've just had an accident !

Is This Man Really Right For City?

2007-06-01T16:25:00.000+01:00

This is a slightly unusual article in that I've extracted comments someone left on a previous post as it makes interesting reading.

I haven't changed any of the wording and therefore the views expressed are his/hers and not necessarily mine, although some of the issues raised are very well put.

I must admit there is an air of "any port in a storm" with the current Thai takeover, and I do feel slightly uncomfortable with some of the alleged baggage that surrounds Shinawatra, but on the other hand how much different is it from the big Russian money in the game?

That said, I guess the reality is that if this is a genuine offer to acquire the club and inject the funding and supporting infrastructure we need, any skeletons in cupboards will probably not be too rigorously investigated by the Club; the media will have a different view though, but that's what they are there for.

The comments do paint a very bleak picture, probably overly so, but anyway, I'll leave you all to make up your own minds……….

Regarding Thaksin Shinawatra’s Takeover of Manchester City Football Club

ATTENTION:
1. The Board of Manchester City Football Club
2. London Stock Exchange
3. Manchester City Supporters

QUESTION:
How well do you know Thaksin?

FACTS:
- The man was deposed from Thailand’s Premiership under accusations of massive corruptions among other things.
- The man has been under extensive investigation by the Assets Examination Committee which is founded to especially deal with corruption in the previous government.
- Some of the cases under the Assets Examination Committee have already been prosecuted in the court of law.
- The government had already stated that the corruption cases against him are rock-solid and by year’s end there will be decisions.
- Manchester City is a world-renowned football club.
- Manchester City has a long and illustrious history as well as popular followings in the UK and around the world.
- Manchester City is currently listed in the London Stock Exchange.

CONSIDERATIONS:
- If Thaksin is successful in his attempt to takeover Manchester City, there will certainly be investigation by the Thai government concerning where his source of capitals come from. This will increase the chance of convicting him in court.
- If Thaksin is found guilty, it is more than likely that the Thai authority would proceed to file for his assets confiscation.
- Imagine what an uproar the filing for assets confiscation would cause:
o prolong legal battles that lead to court orders of years of impoundment of assets
o repercussion on the previously unblemished image of the club
o negative reactions from the club’s shareholders
o sustained disruptions that would put the club in most uncalled-for predicament and distract it away from putting effort on the football pitch.

Ranieri On his Way

2007-05-31T20:46:00.000+01:00

It looks like the parties involved in the City takeover must have been reading my article from earlier this evening when I asked to clarity over all the recent speculation :-)

Well, Parma have just announced that Ranieri is leaving the Club, but could or would not confirm his destination.

Give you three guesses ?

It would be amusing if Shinawatra pulled out of the deal now?

Has A Deal Been Done?

2007-05-31T17:38:00.000+01:00

Typical of City, confusion seems to be reigning over the much speculated takeover from Thailand.

From all the reports today allegedly quoting Ranieri, you would get the impression that he is our next manager and that the deal is now a formality and just needs rubber stamping.

Yesterday's withdrawal of the Ranson interest further heightened speculation that the City takeover was now a one horse race and would seem to put the Shinawatra bid in a very strong position and now the only game in town.

However, balance that against other, more worrying reports that Shinawatra's interest is now cooling with the bid now being in danger as a result of the due diligence process, and you begin to wonder just what the hell is going on.

It does seem very odd that Ranieri appears now to be waxing lyrical in a way that more than suggests he knows something about the takeover that we don't, or it is a bad case of counting one's chickens?

My knowledge of corporate takeovers is rudimentary to say the least, but I don't recall seeing or hearing official confirmation from the Stock Market that a formal offer has indeed be made.

Have I missed it or can anyone out there confirm this one way or another?

It's all very worrying !

Keeper Choice Beggars Belief

2007-05-27T08:32:00.000+01:00

As it's a bit quiet on the City front at the moment, I just thought I'd come to the defence of a City old boy, David James and like many, I just cannot understand why he has not made the England squad for the up-coming games against Estonia and Brazil.

At a time where McLaren has given into media pressure to recall a largely ineffective and vastly over-rated Beckham to the squad, the England boss has again ignored Jammo, who for me was this season's outstanding 'keeper.

On recent form, James stands head and shoulders above the three 'keepers who were selected, namely Messrs Robinson, Carson and Green and why he hasn't made the squad or let alone the starting spot is yet another example of gross misjudgement by McLaren.

James will always divide opinion, but surely even his most vocal critics will recognise his outstanding performances this season and last season for that matter when he played for us.

I know he has made some errors, but name me a 'keeper who hasn't? Furthermore, his most memorable gaffs took place many years ago, and for the past 3 or 4 seasons, he has been rock solid. Some of the saves I've seen him make for City have been breath-taking and world class.

It's difficult to know just exactly what more Jammo needs to do to get back into the squad, but given a choice between Beckham and James, I know which old boy I'd go for.

A Case Of Not If But Sven?

2007-05-26T12:58:00.000+01:00

Speculation is heightening about the next City manager.

First it was Ranieri and Co Adriaanse; next it was Eriksson distancing himself; yesterday it was Sevilla's Juande Ramos and most conspicuously Gerard Houllier following his suspiciously timed departure from Lyon, although he says he just needs a rest from football - Eastlands would be perfect for him then ;-)

In what seems to be a U-turn of New Labour proportions, it now appears that Sven would fancy taking over at City after all if the newspaper headlines are to be believed.

At the moment though, links with any big-name manager are just fanciful speculation until such time as any take-over of the club has been resolved one way or another. No manager of the calibre of those mentioned above are not going to come to the club under the existing regime and they'll only stake their respective reputations if they have a sizeable budget to spend.

Personally, of all those mentioned, I think Sven is the best fit. Granted, he underachieved as England boss, although his record was still pretty good compared with other England managers. However, his credentials as a club manager are exceptional.

1979: Swedish cup, IFK Gothenburg
1981: Swedish championship, IFK Gothenburg
1982: Swedish cup, IFK Gothenburg
1982: UEFA Cup,IFK Gothenburg
1983: Portuguese championship, Benfica
1983: Portuguese cup, Benfica
1984: Portuguese championship, Benfica
1986: Italian cup, AS Roma
1991: Portuguese championship, Benfica
1994: Italian cup, Sampdoria
1998: Italian cup, Lazio
1999: European Cup Winners Cup, Lazio
2000: Italian championship, Lazio
2000: Italian cup, Lazio

I'd like to see the new owners move quickly for Sven and give him a chance to start building a side in time for the start of next season. Having Eriksson at the helm would attract quality players who previously would never have considered coming to City.

Furthermore, being a cool and cautious Swede, I don't think Sven would waste big money on risky signings in the same way as Pearce and Keegan did.

As I said, everything depends on the takeover, which according to reports should be concluded in the next 2 -3 weeks. However, having been here so many times before, I'll believe it when it actually happens. I wonder what the odds are on Wardle still being Chairman and Warnock as manager for the start of the season ???

Distin Exit Leaves Sour Taste

2007-05-24T12:34:00.001+01:00

It was one of the worst kept secrets that ex-City skipper Sylvain Distin wanted out of the club to "seek a fresh challenge". None of us will be surprised that he's left, especially as he's come close to leaving several times over the course of the last few transfer windows.

What will come as a surprise though is that despite interest from quite a few clubs, including an 11th hour attempt by Liverpool to sign him, he's opted to join Portsmouth to pursue his dreams of major domestic and European honours.

Now with respect to Pompey, Distin has taken a big gamble in what at his age will probably be his last "big" move. I know that big Harry has done a sterling job to revive Pompey's fortunes, but as a manager he's got very little European pedigree as indeed do Portsmouth. It is a surprise therefore that Distin has chosen to follow David James to the south coast.

I don't blame Distin at all for wanting to move. He's been a great servant for City; a model professional, without whom, Christ knows we're City would have ended up. His partnership with Dunny has consistently been the best central defensive partnership for the last two to three seasons and we'll miss him next season for sure.

In a sense and now at 29, poor old Distin has wasted his best years at a club that's been in turmoil for a while, and with a recent string of managers that were never going to seriously challenge for any sort of honours.

What really leaves a sour taste though, is that a club like Portsmouth is considered a much better option for winning honours than City. Sadly, at the moment you'd probably have to agree, but that is a damning indictment of the years of under-investment and lack of ambition shown by the board; that's the thing that really hurts the fans.

His swift move and cryptic comments also raise some darker questions about City's future and the ongoing saga of the takeover. Like many fans, I'll believe it when I see it happen and I suspect there will be a few stings in the tail before it actually happens, if indeed it ever does.

I just have a bad feeling about the Thai takeover, especially reading today about the restrictive financial regulations for taking such large sums of money out of Thailand. Given that the ex-PM has a bit of a "colourful" past, it is by no means certain that the deal will actually materialise and it could all end up like it did when he attempted to take control of Liverpool.

So, farewell Sylvain and thanks for five years of service. He is a class act and Harry has again pulled off a bit of a coup. Personally, I think he's rushed into the wrong move, but time will tell.

Useless Pearce Fact of The Day

2007-05-14T21:30:00.000+01:00

It's a bit ironic that Pearce's first and last matches in charge of City were away at Spurs where we lost 2 -1 on both occasions.

Just to show how fickle football and a lot of fans are, even though we lost 2-1 in his first game, he got rave reviews for a brave effort in a match we should have got something out if we'd taken our chances; something of a theme that would run through his tenure as gaffer.

However, in what proved to be his last game in charge, he was slated for losing by the same scoreline - it's a cruel world.

Listening to the the great Fred Eyre tonight on the radio, he and some of the other callers echoed what a lot of fans feel about Pearce. There's quite rightly a lot of disappointment for him personally that he didn't succeed. He certainly can't be criticised for lack of effort and passion and the touchline technical area will be a quieter place next season, thats for sure.

It's a shame some of the players didn't show half of Pearce's energy and passion as we'd probably have had a much better season. Ultimately, Psycho paid the price for his disastrous signings, negative and muddled tactics and inability to score goals.

Pearce will have learned from his experience at City and no doubt he'll gone on to be a better manager elsewhere and we may just rue the day we let him go; that would just be City's luck.

Does this mean Steve Wigley is in charge for now? :-(

City Terminate Pearce's Contract

2007-05-14T15:51:00.000+01:00

Not to be outdone by Wigan again this season, City have just announced they have terminated Psycho's contract.

Can't say this is a total surprise and this swift move means they agony wont be prolonged any longer in what has been one of the most painful seasons for a while. It will also heighten speculation that the Thai takeover is now very close.

I'm sorry it didn't work out for Pearce as deep-down he's a gentleman and genuinely decent guy, but sadly not a great manager. At least he'll be spared the task of firing Barton, although he was probably looking forward to it.

We can now look forward to a summer of speculation and rumour ..... roll on next season !

Dull Derby Sums Up a Season of Blues

2007-05-06T11:11:00.000+01:00

You could probably tell from my previous post that I was not looking forward to the derby, although my anticipated humiliation by the Rags thankfully did not materialise; in fact I'll admit I sat this game out and dispatched the wife and number one son to keep my seats warm whilst I watched the game in a quiet darkened room in the depths of Cheshire.

In terms of the scoreline, it was better than I expected and on paper at least looked to be a close game. The reality however is that City never really looked like threatening the old enemy, despite the support of the Referee. Yesterday's game just seemed to sum up City's season ( and last season for that matter) in a nut shell:

Ultra defensive formation and tactics to bore the pants off the crowd:

I can't understand why in out last home game in what was the Derby after all, we didn't put out an attacking formation that might actually threaten the opposition's goal and entertain the home crowd - a lone striker is never going to win you much. This just confirms the lack of tactical awareness of the current management team. We now have the dubious and embarrassing distinction of setting the record for the lowest number of home goals in a season, but hey, I guess at last we won something !

More on-field thuggery:

I was hoping that after Thatcher and Barton, we'd got rid of this most unwelcome aspect of our game. Even though many of us may have thought that Ronaldo does deserve a good kicking, Ball's calculated and cowardly stamp on Angelina Ballerina was completely unacceptable and I'd like to see the Club take action before the FA steps in.

It's a real shame that it was Ball who had a Thatcher moment, as he has been a revelation since he joined in the January transfer window and has shored up that dodgy left flank. What is it about the number 3 shirt that seems to bring out the worst in a player?

Players massively short of passion and confidence:

Last week it was Barton, this week it was Vassell, but you just knew that the penalty was never going to go in. All season, the players' attitude body language have spoken volumes. If the fans can see it, why can't the management?

A manager deluding himself that all's well and we were just a bit unlucky:

Some of the comments from Pearce that City are pretty much in good shape and a top-six team apart from the lack of a few goals will have irritated an already beleaguered set of fans. Yes the strikers are poor, but the problems are much deeper than Pearce's very blinkered view of the situation.Much of the problem stems from the inability of the midfield to control the centre of the park, hang on to the ball for more than three seconds before giving it away carelessly and most importantly actually creating a decent chance for the strikers.

All of the above and more have resulted in yet another predictable season of mediocrity, tedium and disappointment. To be honest, writing about City is becoming quite a depressing chore with very little to be positive about.

Big changes need to happen quickly so that the best fans in the land have something to cheer and feel proud about. It looks like some stronger clubs will be coming up to the Premiership next season, so City won't have the luxury of weaker teams propping up the table. Next season, it could well be us unless we get some professional management throughout the club.

Derby Tomorrow, But Does Anyone Care?

2007-05-04T08:43:00.000+01:00

The Manchester derby is one of the premiere events in the football calendar, or at least it should be. It has served up many memorable encounters over the years with some memorable highs and lows for both clubs.

I should be looking forward to tomorrow's game with great anticipation, but instead I find myself having very little enthusiasm for what should be the high-point of our season.

The 2006-7 season has without doubt been one of the most miserable and un-enjoyable seasons for quite a while. The initial promise as a visionary manager shown by Pearce has long since evaporated and we have had to endure tedious home football watching a set of players who looked totally demotivated and clueless whose overall standard of play is worse than my lads U-11s team.

Unless we manage a goal tomorrow, we're likely to set an unenviable Premiership record of the lowest home goal total. It's been so long since we've scored, I've almost forgotten how to celebrate.

Other low points have included the Thatcher and Barton episodes where we have too many times this season featured on the back pages of the national press for all the wrong reasons.

Added to that the ongoing take-over soap opera and the almost complete disdain and contempt the current board seem to show to the fans, our Club is becoming the laughing stock of the Premiership, but it really isn't funny and it cannot go on.

I've renewed my season tickets for next season, but Christ knows why? I'm at the point now where unless there is a complete change at the club from top to bottom, I'm really going to struggle about getting excited about next year.

Obviously, I hope we beat United tomorrow and finish the season with a bit of a flourish, but am I alone in feeling as flat as this about the club I support?

To coin a phrase, "Am I really bovvered?", well at the moment probably not.

Barton: A Bridge To Far .... or Not ?

2007-05-02T08:10:00.000+01:00

To be honest, it comes as no real surprise that Joey Barton has hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons yet again. The timing of this event could not be worse, coming just a few days before the Manchester derby.

Joey is being crucified in the media, with calls for him to be given the boot. However, and I don't often agree with Barton's agent, Willie McKay, I think that we all need to understand the facts of the situation before one can point the finger of blame.

At the moment, there is a lot of speculation about who did what and in what order. Quite simply, none of us, except the players and those at the training ground really know. Hopefully, we'll get some clarity on that over the next day or two.

If Barton is found to be the instigator, then City should throw the book and a few other assorted heavy objects at him and he should be moved out of the club as quickly as possible... hopefully to 'Boro as that would be a harsh, but suitable punishment in itself.

However, if it is found that Barton was the innocent party (difficult for many to believe I know), then a lot of us will need to eat a big slice of humble pie.

Barton has recently voiced what many of the fans have felt all season, namely the poor quality signings made by Pearce. However, if you're going to do that, you need to put in a huge performance yourself in your next game, and quite frankly Joey was shocking against Villa. He didn't get punished for expressing his views publically, but I'm sure City will take this into consideration when they decide his fate.

It's true to say though that trouble does seem to follow Joey around, much in the same way as it did with Bellamy, Hartson, Roy Keene etc..etc. Actually, thinking about it, perhaps a move to the Black Cats might be best all round.

End of Season Blues

2007-04-29T19:30:00.000+01:00

Just one more home fixture to go this season and thank Christ for that !

Yesterday's dismal performance was yet another in a catalogue of excruciatingly painful displays from a team who know they have just scraped to Premiership safety for another season and seemed to have very little motivation to entertain their home fans, let alone treat them to the rarest of sights, namely a home goal.

It says a lot about the current state of City that we obviously missed Michael Johnson, just a young academy kid who for the last few games had held our under-performing midfield together.

Joey had a shocker yesterday, but before the knives go in on him, we ought to remember that over the course of the season, he's been one of our better performers; yesterday was just one of those days where he was totally out of sorts. All of us sitting in our section of the ground predicted he'd miss the penalty, which he duly did; nothing went right for Joey yesterday and the kindest thing would have been to bring him off at half time.

Yesterday reminded me very much of the Wigan game a few weeks ago, where were just outplayed and outsmarted by a well organised team who came with a game-plan and stuck to it. City, by contrast looked pedestrian and clueless.

It seemed a bit off to me that we didn't have a striker on the bench, given the probability that whoever started up front were unlikely to score. It's tactics like this that worry the fans and cast increasing doubts over Pearce's tactical ability.

After yesterday's comeback by the Rags, I'm fearful that we'll be humiliated in the derby next Saturday, although you can never quite tell with derbies. Hopefully our lads will be up for it and delay what seems to be another inevitable United title. That at least would give the fans a little something to temporarily lift the gloom

With all the speculation about Allardyce, it's going to be tough for the players to focus on next weeks match, especially those that are making their own plans for next season. Don't know about the rest of you, but I'll be pleased to see the back of this season and hopefully we'll be playing under new stewardship next season.

Former City Boss Passes Away

2007-04-25T10:54:00.000+01:00

Sad news today of the unexpected and untimely death of England World Cup hero and former City boss Alan Ball.

It came as quite a shock that Alan died at the young age of just 61 from a suspected heart attack. There are reports that he collapsed in his garden whilst trying to put out a bonfire.

Alan will forever be remembered for his outstanding performance in the 1966 World Cup Final victory over the Germans; an incredible display given that he was at 21, the youngster in that legendary side.

As a player, Ball was arguable ahead of his time, playing with unbelieveable drive and energy compared with most of his fellow players of the same era. Undoubtedly, Alan's best years were at Everton and Arsenal where he assumed legendary status as a player.

Unfortunately, Alan, like so may other top players was unable to emulate his on-field successes as a manager and in a dismal spell as City boss in the mid 90s which saw City relegated and winning less than 25% of the League games.

Nevertheless, we have lost a footballing hero who will be remembered as one of the 20th centuries great England players and one of only a few that have won the highest honour in the game.

Season Ticket Renewal / Purchase Advice

2007-04-24T14:49:00.000+01:00

Like a lot of City fans, I've been holding back renewing my season ticket. Like Joey Barton said himself, " I wouldn't pay money to watch City", and I've been feeling the same given the awful performances and serious lack of goals and overall entertainment.

However, much against my better judgment and like a masochist, I've renewed for another season - I must be barking mad !

Anyway, the reason for this post is to warn the rest of you who are thinking of either renewing season tickets before the Friday deadline or just considering buying for the first time, to watch out for the hidden "booking fee" if you pay using credit or debit cards.

Although City will claim it's carefully stated, there is no mention of this on season ticket renewal main page on their website, where all the pricing information is listed. You have to delve into the FAQs to find it which I pointed out to City's Customer Services was a tad misleading as it should be prominent on the main season ticket page with the rst of the pricing information.

Just to be clear about this, you will be charged and extra £10 for each ticket if you pay electronically, which for me would have been and extra £30.

To avoid these charges, you can pay by cheque, cash or postal order.

What A Difference A Month Makes

2007-04-22T19:28:00.000+01:00

It wasn't so long ago that we were being mercilessly taunted that City's fate would be sealed in the up coming derby game at Eastlands where a United victory would send City down to the Championship whilst at the same time clinching the Premiership.

Well, it's given us all great pleasure to see Mourinho reeling Ferguson' back in, although Chelsea did slip up badly at Newcastle this afternoon. In parallel, City have at last put a decent run together that has seen us pull away from the relegation zone and Premiership safety for another year.

I have to say that I've no real desire to see Chelsea buy another League title, but wouldn't it now be the ultimate irony if it were City who decided United's Premiership fate having had talk of the treble and City being relegated shoved down our throats for most of the season.

What greater motivation do City need when both teams take to the pitch on the 5th May then lobbing a massive spanner in the works to deny United the Premiership title. It couldn't have been better scripted. Another 3 - 1 would do very nicely !

In Defence Of Corradi ...Somebody Has to !

2007-03-27T21:49:00.000+01:00

Poor old Bernardo has copped loads of flak in the media all season, but especially in the last few days. He seems to have taken over from Joey as public enemy number one, but as nobody else has stuck up for him, I thought I'd take on the challenge.

Corradi himself has also gone public with criticism of his manager, Stuart Pearce and clearly is not enjoying life at Eastlands.

There is normally a swift parting of the ways when a player publicly slags his manager off, so it is certain that Corradi's time in the blue of City will not last much longer.

City's lack of fire power this season has been a frequent source of ridicule from the rest of the football world and rightly so. It's embarrassing that with an array of international strikers in our squad, we have so far only managed a pathetic 22 league goals in 29 matches.

But, is it fair that Corradi seems to be taking the bulk of the blame for City's desperate form in front of goal; I think Bernardo is getting a rough deal here, as the situation is not that black and white.

True, Corradi has been disappointing in terms of goal scored, but whenever I've seen him play, he's always given 100% which is more than Samaras, for example. Corradi's failure has been more to do with lack of technique and application rather than just coasting around or hiding on the pitch like some sort of Greek tragedy (geddit ?).

Furthermore, any striker is only as good as the quality of supply he gets from the midfield. This has been a real problem for City in the last few seasons and with a complete lack of decent wingers to fire in crosses to the strikers, it's no wonder that Corradi ( & Samaras for that matter) have looked completely inept in front of goal. For Christ's sake, we have the tallest strike partnership in the Premiership and we can't cross a decent ball into them !!

Corradi may have stood a better chance is he'd have been picked in his proper postion as a central striker ( not drifting out to the right and left hunting for the ball) and if Pearce had picked a team and formation that played to his obvious physical strengths; ditto for Samaras, but I'm less forgiving in his case because unlike Corradi, Samaras just hasn't looked interested all season.

So, we're now left with an almost certain parting of the ways as Corradi looks to head home to Italy and who can blame him. This also means City and more specifically Pearce will kiss goodbye to another £2 million with the £6m spend of Samaras looking like it will also disappear into the sunset without any proper return unless something dramatically changes.

It makes me really nervous when I read that Pearce is looking for investment. Sure, more money would be great, but City haven't bought a really decent outfield player that has worked out since the days of Rosler, Kinkladze or Bernarbia. There are probably others that I can't recall off the top of my head, but the point is, it was a long time ago and my confidence in the current management making shrewd transfer investments is not high.

So, it will soon be arrivederci Bernardo ! In the end you tried hard but just weren't good enough, but I think you were also also a victim of the current management culture within the club and that wasn't entirely your fault.

England Suffer From A Touch Of The Blues

2007-03-25T15:31:00.000+01:00

I don't normally cover any of the England internationals, but yesterday's debacle in Tel Aviv was another in a series of woeful performances of Man City proportions.

As the game unfolded, it was just like being at Eastlands watching a bunch of hopeless overpaid egos coasting around the pitch, each waiting for somebody else to take some responsibility and get a grip of the game.

I know it was only a crucial Euro qualifier ( in Israel ?? ), so I guess it was too much to expect the cream of the current England players to motivate themselves and actually win when it matters.

The parallels with City were frighteningly stark. It was dull, workmanlike, devoid of imagination or inspiration and ultimately completely frustrating. Despite a lot of possession England could have played until Yom Kippur ( which I believe is 22nd September this year) and still not have troubled the score sheet. One goal in the last five games is simply not good enough; Andorra must be fancying their chances on Wednesday night !

Like many, I thought that McClaren's appointment was disastrous and I remember doing an article on another board last year predicting that England would become the new Middlesbrough. Sadly, I have been proved right, but I take no pleasure from that at all.

Even though McClaren is clearly the wrong man for the job, I do feel a bit of sympathy for the man after last night, but not too much as I can't feel too sorry for anyone who would even think of playing Phil Neville.

Even without any sort of coaching or instruction, the players who took the pitch yesterday should have been able to think for themselves and adapt to the pace, shape and tempo of the game; they are highly paid professional footballers after all. Like the rest of us and despite his public post match comments, McClaren must have privately been thinking "w.t.f" was that ??

It's time for some tough decisions and the manager needs to be brave enough to ditch some of the big names who regularly under-perform and disappoint and give a chance to other players who are hungrier and want that England shirt more.

Hopefully, our own manager will have taken note and learnt from the universal criticism of the England performance, except most notably from McClaren who bizarrely saw it as "almost a complete performance"; a complete shambles would be a much more accurate description.

After this weekend's flop in Israel, the day of atonement can surely not be far off.

Back Up And Running

2007-03-21T21:18:00.000Z

Just in case you're wondering about the headline, I'm not referring to City's faltering season, even after an unexpected win against 'Boro at the weekend, but instead to my lack of recent articles.

The last week has been a bit of a mare as I swapped over to a new PC running Vista, and boy what a mistake that was. To cut a long story short, I've chucked Vista away because it's sh1te and caused all sorts of compatibility problems and gone back to good old Windows XP - I'm telling you this so you can learn from my misfortune ....... you've been warned !

With all the stress of the last week, I've sort of glossed over City's current plight, although winning away at 'Boro is something we don't do that often; in fact it was nearly 30 years since we last managed an away victory against the Smokies at their former Ayresome Park ground and what a dump that was; the Riverside though is much, much better.

Apart from beating 'Boro, there is one other thing that sticks in my mind from the Chelsea game last week. It wasn't so much the fact that we lost; ironically, we actually dominated large chunks of the match without ever looking like troubling the score sheet, but it was heartening to see a much livelier and more professional performance.

For me though, the match was tarnished once again by a few individual Chelsea "galacticos". As expected, Drogba was falling down at every opportunity as if his arse was magnetically attracted to the turf - why? He's a quality striker in probably the form of his career and just doesn't need to plunge to those depths (in every sense !), but he's not alone and it seems to be very much a club thing.

More distasteful though was the attitude of Lampard though. I can only describe his performance as surly, the way he moodily dragged himself around the pitch , irritating the home crowd by cynical time wasting. He certainly got a lot of stick from the people around me as he ambled over to take the corners and it was totally deserved.

Something seems to have happened to Frank, and I suspect it's all wages and new contract related - poor lad, I don't know how he manages on his current salary! Whereas I would never condone fans running on the pitch to confront players, after watching him at Eastlands, I can certainly understand how passions could be inflamed. The whole thing left me with a bitter taste.

Anyway, it's onwards and upwards and definitely in a northerly direction to the Toon for the next game. St James' Park is never an easy place to go and get a result and you can bet that French Tony will be looking to prove a point to Pearce. However, after the Chelsea and 'Boro performances I wouldn't be too surprised if we managed to get something up there.

On the other hand I also wouldn't be surprised if we got absolutely hammered, but that's just City for you.

H'way the lads !!!

Should He Have Dunne It ?

2007-03-16T22:01:00.000Z

It seems that Richard Dunne's criticism of some of City's foreign contingent has touched a few raw nerves within the dressing room and the waves it has caused are still rippling away through the club.

Former skipper, Distin seems to have taken particular exception to Dunny's comments saying that the French and the Italian contingent have "taken it personally ! ".

Well Sylvain, they bloody well should take it personally, as should the American and African contingent; something you would find easier to understand better if you sat in the stands like we do and watch the same set of players either going through the motions or looking totally out of their depth.

What is it about these high-earning prima donnas who seem to live in their own cocooned world that they think they are above criticism or reproach? They need to hear it like it is and I'm only surprised Dunny has managed to hold on so long before venting a bit of steam. If the rest of us performed like they do in our respective jobs, we'd get a rocket up our arses!

Dunny is the club skipper and carries out his responsibilities with obvious pride. Being City captain is clearly a big honour for him and by speaking out like he did, he was only reflecting what fans have been complaining about all season. Make no mistake, us natives are extremely restless at the moment.

Dunny alone stands out like a beacon in the gloom of Eastlands and seeing him as fired up as he was on Wednesday against Chelsea, he did what he has done all season and lead by example. It was a hi-octane performance from a leader giving it 110%.

I'm sure Dunny will now be gagged by the Club and slapped on the wrist, but hopefully his controversial but accurate explaination of City's dire form will have done its job. Sure we lost again on Wednesday, but it was a gallant defeat rather than abject surrender. It remains to be seen whether the white flag goes up at the Riverside tomorrow and "normal service" is resumed or whether they have finally got the message.

To the sensitive souls in the City changing room - sorry guys but the truth hurts. If you don't like it, then do something about it one way or another!

Win, Lose or Draw - City Need to Perform

2007-03-13T16:24:00.000Z

It's funny how football has a nasty habit of kicking you when you're down.

Just when City need an easy game and confidence boosting win to put the disappointment of the Cup exit (and the disappointment of the whole season to be honest), we're up against the mighty Chelsea machine at Eastlands tomorrow night.

Now there's been a lot of speculation of how many games Pearce has left before he gets the bullet, but most football pundits reckon it'll be a case of "G.B.E" - Gone By Easter.

We're clearly going through desperate times at the moment, with performances that wouldn't even be acceptable in Division 1 let alone the top flight, but before the knives get sharpened for tomorrow night, I think we could all do with a reality check about Chelsea game.

At the start of the season when you saw the fixture list, you'd have probably put this game down as an away win with only the most optimistic and probably foolhardy expecting any other result.

I'm expecting us to lose the game, but what I and all the fans want to see from our players is a performance. The players need to earn back some respect from the fans by making sure they turn up focused and motivated. If we've battled hard and fought for everything and still lose to the Champions then I don't really think most fans will have a problem and accept we've lost to a better team.

If we lose timidly with the players having just not turned up again, like so many times this season, then the level of fan disenchantment, which is already nearly off the scale will go up another notch or three.

We shouldn't be surprised if we lose tomorrow, but the performance is everything. I think Pearce understands that, but I'm not so sure about some of the players. We'll find out tomorrow.

I was going to say, wouldn't it just be typical of City to beat Chelsea, but with the way things are at the moment, you wouldn't want to put too much money on it.

Not Fit To Wear The Shirt ?

2007-03-12T17:06:00.000Z

Well what can you say about yesterday?

It was obvious during and after the game that passions were running high. The 7000 or so City faithful who had made the relatively short trip up to Blackburn clearly didn't like what they were seeing; neither did the rest of us watching it from behind our sofas such was its scary qualities.

It was always going to be a tough game on paper; Rovers had swept us aside with relative ease twice already this season, so I wasn't really that hopeful that we'd get a result - on recent performances why should we ?

Having said that, to go a whole game in an FA Cup Quarter Final without managing a single shot on target is indefensible. If the motivation of reaching a Cup final isn't enough to shake the team out of their malaise, I don't know what is. The chance of playing at the first new Wembley final should have been an added incentive, but our performance didn't reflect this at all.

The players and management came in for a lot of abuse from the fans with accusations of not being worthy of the shirt they wear, with what at times seems complete contempt from some individuals.

Whereas I've lost confidence in Pearce as a manager and I can understand the fan disappointment, I didn't like to see the personal abuse hurled at Pearce in particular, as it's the players and the Board who bear the bulk of the responsibility.

His failings and mistakes as a manager are clear to see, but the bloke is trying his best and must be just as frustrated as the rest of us, although it doesn't help when he doesn't seem to learn any lessons from his bad signings, duff formations and naive tactics. However, he doesn't deserve the personal abuse that we saw yesterday. He does however need to take responsibility though, as do the non-performing players and do what's right for the club.

Sadly for Psycho, his days at Eastlands are now numbered, with the fatal vote of confidence from the Board surely just around the corner. It is they, the Board, who need to take the responsibility and take decisive action now. Pearce is too proud a man to walk away, so the Board need to do what they are there for and take the tough decisions; trouble is, most of us have less confidence in the Board than we do with the management staff.

Pearce is now odds-on favourite to be the next premiership manager casualty and just an 8/1 shot to be gone by the weekend and it's not a foregone conclusion that City will be caught by Charlton before the end of the season.

There's no doubt City are in deep trouble and anything but complete a shake-up right through the club will be a complete waste of time. Let's hope the much speculated takeover happens sooner rather than later, but who in their right mind would want to buy the club at the moment?

What's In A Name ?

2007-03-07T16:44:00.000Z

There's been so much doom and gloom recently that for my own sanity, I needed to find a bit of light relief and I think I may have come up with something.

Writing my previous article on the appointment of our new reserve team coach, and don't get me wrong I really do wish him all the best, it suddenly dawned on me that many of City's recent appointments to the back-room staff have an inanimate object theme.

On the way out we have Tim Flowers and Frankie Bunn, who have been replaced by Eric Steele and Kenny Jackett respectively.

I guess a precedent had been set by the first team whose "inanimate" managers include Tony Book and Alan Ball. In fact City's first ever manager was called Lawrence Furniss ( a bit tenuous I know !).

I'm wondering now whether having the same name as everyday objects is a pre-requisite for the job and what possibilities that opens up for future appointments? No doubt I'll get a few decent suggestions.

I'm sure I've missed a few, but I've saved the best for last, as I don't think Arthur Cox will ever be surpassed ;-)

No Jackett Required

2007-03-07T09:23:00.000Z

A lot of fans have been calling for a shake up of the backroom staff - me included. With the departure of Tim Flowers and Frankie Bunn to Coventry, there was a chance to do something radical to shake the playing staff out of a deep malaise.

It was disappointing, but sadly predictable to say the least that Pearce has seemingly gone for a "safe" option by appointing Kenny Jackett to the reserve and first team set-up, and now the opportunity to do something radical has passed him by.

I don't have anything personal against these guys, but when you look at the pedigree and achievements of Wigley and Jackett it doesn't really set the pulses racing. Was he (Jackett) selected for his outstanding footballing credentials or was it more a case that he was simply available? Similarly, Wigley's record at the top level doesn't really stand up to much close scrutiny; Southampton fans will testify to that.

I remember Jackett from his Watford days and he was a solid enough stopper. He did ok at Swansea in the sense that he managed to stay for about three years, a decent enough achievement for any football manager these days, but City are a Premiership club (well for now anyway), and should have European aspirations.

After the debacle of Saturday against Wigan, I fear that with the new backroom set-up we're in for more of the same dour, negative and mainly clueless performances. What City need are some big, strong and uncompromising personalties to whip the team into shape and reel in all the big egos and delusions of grandeur that have infested our club over the years.

Put it this way, if I were an ambitious current City player or someone looking for their next footballing career move and I was faced with a coaching staff of Jackett and Wigley, would I really fancy that? I think not !

We've got one of our biggest games for a while on Sunday when we take on Blackburn in the Cup. Hopefully we'll win, but if we do, that mustn't paper over the widening cracks in our club, because we are in big trouble, and on recent evidence we do not appear to have the management team capable of really turning it around and taking City forwards and upwards.

Two Things I Regret From The Weekend

2007-03-05T13:30:00.000Z

Well, having had a while to reflect on the weekend, there are two things that given another chance I would probably do differently:

Number 1: Bothering to turn up for the Wigan match.
I don't think I can add that much to the volumes of criticism that's already been expressed by the papers, websites and City fans, but by the interval I was really beginning to lose the will to live.

It just so happened that for this game we took my 12 year old lad's school and junior football team-mate who is a Wiganer. Like a lot of kids, he was able to make the most cutting of observations and ask the simplest of questions that us adults struggle to answer, including:

Why don't City ever pass the ball forwards ?
How come the City players look like they don't know what they're doing ?

Two great questions that perhaps should be directed at the City management and playing staff !

Number 2: Missing the 1st MCFC Supporters Trust meeting.
Sadly parental duties at junior football meant I couldn't make it in time. Based on Saturday's ( and most previous games of the season ) performance, if ever there was a time for fans to be able to exert some sort of influence over the club it is now.

I've not seen any updates and outcomes from yesterday's meeting, but let's hope the new supporters trust develops into an organisation that can make a difference.

At the moment it's hard to see where the next goal, let alone win is coming from, but it would just be typical of City if we managed to scrape past Blackburn on Sunday and get to the semi-final of the Cup and then beat Chelsea in our next home league game on the following Wednesday...... or maybe we'll just get totally stuffed in both games.

Thank goodness for Watford, West Ham and Charlton otherwise it really would be brown-trouser time!

Gentleman Joey

2007-02-26T22:08:00.000Z

It just so happens that some friends of mine were on the same flight home from Dubai with a certain Mr Barton at the weekend.

Although they're Liverpool fans, even they commented on what a gentleman he was and how he was great with theirs and other folks young kids during the flight.

I just thought I'd mention it, as this side of Joey is rarely reported by the press who only seem to want to report negative news in relation to him.

Let's hope the break in the sun has done Joey and the rest of the players good and they're up for the scrap against Wigan on Saturday.

I'm looking forward to seeing Mpenza after all the glowing reports from Pearce; surely he has to start.

A Gift of Flowers to Pearce

2007-02-20T11:50:00.000Z

Alas, farewell to Tim Flowers who has joined Coventry City as assistant manager, the club he supported as a lad, and from one sky blue to another, we wish him well.

It's very clear that Stuart Pearce rates Flowers highly, saying that in his opinion, he is the best goalkeeping coach in the country and was desperately disappointed to let him go.

However, with every set-back, comes an opportunity and Flowers departure could prove to be very fortunate, as it gives Pearce the opportunity to shake up his backroom if he so wishes. The club have said they are in no particular rush to appoint a quick, permanent replacement, so he would be well advised to take a step back and consider the wider picture.

I've felt for quite a while now (since the KK days) that City's backroom could really do with a major overhaul as despite changes in managers, we have by and large, been inflicted with the most dire and uninspiring football and it is no wonder that crowds are significantly down.

Even for the bluest of Blues, watching City is hard work with very little to commend it in terms of excitement and entertainment. Yes, I know we're in the FA Cup Quarter Final and Ball and Ireland's goals were spectacular, but these are exceptions and we shouldn't kid ourselves about the standard of football City usually serve up.

I've nothing personally against the current backroom, but we're crying out for a bit of flair and creativity to replace the ultra defensive and excitement stifling performances that City grind out week after week.

There's been a lot of debate about formations.... the whole 3-5-2 v 4-4-2 thing has been argued about in nearly very pub, club and online forum. Personally, I think too much is made of formations. The main problem is the seemingly underlying negative football culture that focuses too much on not losing as opposed to actually going out to attack and win a game.

It wouldn't be so bad if we played cautiously and didn't lose, but that doesn't happen. That's why I believe now is the time to bring in some fresh and positive ideas and produce a more entertaining brand of football. If it's fun and exciting the fans will come back.

Let's hope Pyscho has the courage to take a step back and use the loss of Flowers to his advantage and grasp this opportunity to transform the Club's culture and fortunes - he may not get a better one.

Footnote: Tim Flowers gain was another City old boy's loss, as Coventry parted company with Andy Dibble as goalkeeping coach, having only relatively recently taken up the position. I enjoy my chats with Andy at our local junior soccer club and hope he finds another position quickly; he's a top man !

Just Two More Wins And We're There !

2007-02-18T19:24:00.000Z

I'm just beginning to wonder whether, at last, this could be our year for the Cup?

Today's visit to Deepdale was not a journey many Premiership teams would have relished, and I'm sure most neutrals ( and perhaps some seasoned Blues), would not have been surprised if City had crashed out of the competition..... but we didn't !

Nugent's predicted goal came as expected, but perhaps for Preston it came a bit to early in the game, as it allowed City to re-group and attack. For a 21-year old, he sure looks old, but he is an obviously talented striker who I'd love to see in a City shirt.

City need a bit of credit for this win. For sure, we had to grind it out at times, but it was a steely performance, without ever being spectacular.... apart from Ball's and Ireland's goals.

I have to say that I thought Corradi was good today and really unlucky not to have scored. His workrate was of Vassell-like proportions and he took a lot of stick without much protection from Mike Riley. What a contrast to Samaras, who for 99% of the game was in-effective and just doesn't look up for a battle when leading the line. I know he got the (soft) goal, but a lucky deflection isn't really enough from a £6m striker and I'm looking forward to Mpenza's arrival.

I would have liked to have seen Sturridge have another run-out, and I'm surprised that Abdoun didn't even make the bench - he looks a much better prospect that the lightweight Beasley. I was also surprised to see Weaver back in goal and wonder whether that could be one of the final nails in the coffin for Isaksson - I hope not.

But what the hell, we've made it into the quarter finals and are only two games away from Wembley...or Cardiff...or wherever. I couldn't give a stuff where, as long as we make it.

It's going to be a nervy lunchtime tomorrow and it's a cliche I know, but give us a home draw for a change! I will be at Confession early tomorrow and praying for Chelsea v United, Spurs v Arsenal, City v Plymouth and I couldn't care about the other one.

Barton's Week That Was ........

2007-02-12T17:55:00.000Z

Well there's never a dull moment being a Blue; that's for sure !

I don't really enjoy being negative towards City - honest I don't, but I have to say that Saturday's performance at Pompey wasn't just bad because we lost, it was more disappointing because once again, it's not the football that's particularly grabbed the headlines, but a certain Mr Barton is once again at the centre of attention for all the wrong reasons.

What is it about Pompey that seems to bring out the worst in some of our players? The infamous Thatcher incident doesn't need any more comment here, but how ironic that it was the hapless Mendes on the receiving end of what looked to me to be a horrendous and indefensible challenge.

I know Mendes keeps scoring irritating and outrageously spectacular goals against us, but let's hope the poor lad hasn't sustained long-term damage to his achilles. Was it accidental or was it deliberate? Only Joey knows the answer to that one, but the ex-player pundits on Sky TV, (i.e the old pros who know better) seemed to be unanimous in their view that it was no accident.

Whatever way you look at it, it was bad .... unacceptably bad, and I for one don't want to see the players in my team putting in potentially career-ending challenges. Rightly or wrongly, City are beginning to get a reputation for on-field thuggery if the comments I've had recently are anything to go by. I do however, expect our lads to play hard, but fair.

I'd like to see Pearce nip this one in the bud and leave our players in no doubt that future, similar transgressions will not be tolerated. In fact, all team managers should do the same, it's not just a City thing, but once again it's us in the spotlight at the moment.

The other matter that Barton seems to be embroiled in, namely being the subject of potential Police action for alleged gesturing, in my opinion is a total waste of everyone's time and should be halted immediately. What a waste of Police resources, and in this instance, I have a certain amount of sympathy for Joey as he, admittedly mainly of his own making, has become an easy target.

Whereas I'm glad City have come quickly to Joey's defence over the gesturing incident, I'm disappointed they haven't given out the right messages over the Mendes tackle. Whatever moral high-ground can be taken from the aftermath of Saturday needs to be grabbed with both hands, and quickly!

It's been a roller-coaster of a week for Joey. One minute, he's newly capped and the answer to England's misfiring midfield and then all of a sudden he's a football's public enemy number one again. It will be a very short England career if he can't sort this part of his game out.

In conclusion, I just wish I had something positive to write about the football :-(

What Was The Point ?

2007-02-08T15:06:00.000Z

Great seeing a couple of City players in the full England squad and with all the media hype about the Barton/Gerrard/Lampard thing, it was all a bit of an anti-climax in the end.

However, having said that, what was the point of Joey really being there in the end, as he was only on the pitch for 11 minutes; what sort of opportunity was that?

As soon as I saw the teamsheet I was tempted to run down the bookies and stick a few quid on an away win. The Neville brothers at full back - what was all that about? What could McClaren possibly learn from that has-been brotherly pairing? What made it even worse was that Micah and Gareth Barry (a naturally left sided player) were left on the bench - what's going on?

Lamps and Stevie G failed as a midfield unit yet again, leaving the onlooking Barton to freeze on the bench in complete bewilderment as to what he was doing there. SWP flattered to deceive again and just always looks like he's trying too hard all the time to prove he was right to join Chelsea, which we all know he wasn't.

At best, the England performance was lacklustre and at worst pathetic. At least when Micah came on we looked more threatening with his pace and power. Joey was given all of eleven minutes in a hopeless cause and looked comfortable without really getting into the game. We did however see one of his trademark through-the-back tackles and was a bit lucky to get away with it.

On a positive note, nice to see Stevie Ireland grab a late winner. He's played well since the start of the year and deserves a decent run in the City team and a new contract.

What then about England? Last night confirmed yet again it was a case of wrong team, wrong formation, wrong manager.

Israel must be shaking in their boots !

Gerrard And Lampard's Pal Joey

2007-02-03T08:36:00.000Z

Love him or hate him, you've just got to hand it to Joey Barton, that his inclusion in the full England squad England has confirmed his re-rehabilitation and transformation from villain to hero.

Many non-City fans may not realise just how close Joey was to having been shown the door following his notorious Christmas party incident and fracas with an Everton fan on a pre-season tour. It's one of the few high points from the KK era that the club kept faith with Joey in those dark times and Pearce also needs a bit of credit for how he has nurtured and developed Barton from potential outcast into the heartbeat of the City team. I guess Joey also needs a bit of credit too.

It's been well documented that Joey ruffled a few feathers amongst the "Galacticos" in the England squad when he criticised their performances and questioned their priorities when it seemed selling books was more important than performances on the pitch. They didn't like it, but Barton was really only saying what most ordinary fans felt; Joey was spot on.

Narturally the press are making a lot of the Gerrard-Lampard thing; it makes great copy, but in reality it is overstated. I'm not a big McClaren fan, but he needs a bit of credit for not giving into player and press power and including Joey in the squad. Joey deserves it; it's as simple as that and he will, if given a chance show a lot of people that he can mix it at the top level.

It's no real surprise that Lampard and Gerrard allegedly don't like it. This England midfield combination, despite many opportunities, has just not worked. Lampard has taken much of the flak, and his World Cup performances didn't do himself or the team any favours. Similarly Stevie G is carving out a JohnBarnes-like England career where despite awesome club performances, the majority of his international games are frustratingly below par - remember Euro 2004?

Barton's inclusion should introduce much needed creative and positive tension into what has become a stale and stagnant midfield. If nothing else and even if he doesn't get on the pitch, his presence should give the midfield incumbents, who have become far too comfortable and complacent, a much needed kick up the backside. The same would apply to Kevin Nolan, who is desperately unlucky to miss out again, but having said that, three Scousers in the midfield may be a step too far :-)

I didn't think I'd ever say this, but good on you Steve McClaren !

Windows Block City's New Vista

2007-02-01T21:54:00.000Z

There's been a lot of spleen-venting in the aftermath of yet another transfer window farce, but was it really such a surprise City were not able to attract some much needed quality?

Judging by the volume of mania and depression on the MEN website, it seems to me that some supporters' expectations of City splashing the cash on top quality players in the positions we really need were way off target - just like our current strikers. The reality is that City are never going to set the transfer market alight and for the really top-class players we are simply not a club of choice; it's just the way things are.

Even so, January was nevertheless a particularly underwhelming month. We're in dire need of a proven goal-scorer and creative midfielder and we end up with a defender and a winger. I had a feeling the Mido deal would fall through and I can't say I'm that upset for the reasons I outlined in a previous article. Shame about Collins John though as he's always impressed whenever he played against us.

So where does that leave us? Well pretty much in the same situation at the end of every transfer window; massive fan disenchantment and a squad of players that's poorly equipped to compete properly in the top flight. None of this came as a particular surprise to me - it's exactly as expected, so I'm not quite as depressed as the seeming majority.

Once again, and it's no bad thing, we'll have to rely on the academy to produce the goods for City's future; they've done it before and they'll have to do it again. However, before everyone jumps on the Sturridge bandwagon, he's still a kid and a long way from the finished article. Yes I know he scores a load of goals in the reserves, but his introduction to the 1st team needs to be properly managed, although I don't think it'll be long before we see him on the bench. Personally, I think Etuhu should get the nod over Sturridge at the moment, as he just looks a more rounded striker, although young Daniel is certainly destined for super-stardom.... but not quite yet.

In the meantime, Pearce has no option but to persevere with Corradi and Samaras and just hope they can find some form and confidence.... and a few goals would also be very handy. Pearce will need to prove that his (part-time) coaching and management skills are capable of turning a toothless frontline into a fearsome strikeforce - no I don't believe it either!

U21 Confusion Reigns at City

2007-01-29T08:47:00.000Z

All the talk about whether Pearce should or shouldn't take on the role of U21 Manager has left me and I guess a lot of others totally confused. There are so many conflicting claims and counter claims that the whole issue is becoming very muddied.

It seems that Pearce has accepted the role subject to City's approval, which after last night's hurried press release doesn't look likely for the moment anyway, with a three-way battle between Pearce, the FA and the City Board now looming.

Pearce is adamant the level of involvement is minimal, but the outgoing U21 Manager. Peter Taylor has said that anyone new coming into the job would need to provide a "lot of commitment" to the role ???

The other thing I find curious is that roughly speaking the U21s have a similar schedule to the full England squad. If therefore an U21 Manager could do the job on a part time basis, that surely begs the same questions about the role of the senior team management - doesn't it ?

Pearce, and City now both find themselves in awkward positions, with most City fans bewildered about why all of a sudden managing City is not a full time role. I think if we were sitting comfortably in the top 4, it would be a slightly different matter, but with our current form and quality of football that is keeping fans away in their droves, Pearce's' priority at the moment should be Manchester City Football Club and nowhere else.

Pearce has also now provided the Board with ammunition to get rid of him if they are minded to do so. It would be a tragedy and completely un-necessary if such a meaningless issue ultimately led to his downfall. Come on Stuart, it's just not worth it !

The Curse Of Managing England

2007-01-26T16:28:00.000Z

It's been reported today that the FA have targeted Psycho to be the next U-21 manager after it emerged that the two had a five minute chat where the subject cropped up.

All today's media reports reminded me of the feverish speculation before last year's World Cup when Sven departed. I remember the likes of Curbishley, Pearce, Pardew being touted as the best young English talent before the FA bottled it and played it safe by appointing McClaren.

It's interesting to see that since McClaren's appointment, the other names in the hat have not enjoyed the best of times to put it mildly.

Curbishley parted company with Charlton very soon afterwards, Pearce presided over one of the worst runs City have had in a long while, and Pardew was unceremoniously booted out of Upton Park by the Hammers' new owners. Furthermore, Peter Taylor, who has just stepped down as U-21 coach hasn't exactly had the easiest of times at Palace during his England stewardship.

The signs are clear therefore the Psycho shouldn't touch the U-21 job with a bargepole. It's a poisoned chalice of role and he needs to distance himself from it fast. If he hasn't already realised he's got one hell of a job on his hands at Eastlands already, which requires his full-time and undivided attention.

DON'T DO IT PSYCHO !!!!

Why can't El-Tel do the U-21s anyway.... better still why can't McClaren do the U-21s and Venables the proper England job? Wasn't that why he was brought in ? ;-)

Mido Not The Answer For City

2007-01-25T13:39:00.000Z

It's been widely reported that City have tabled a £3m bid for Spurs' Egyptian striker Mido.

One the one hand it's nice to see City being linked with international strikers instead of Division 1 players for a change, but I don't really see Mido as the answer to our goal-scoring problems.

Last night's Carling Cup semi final between Spurs and Arsenal confirmed to me that Mido is pretty much like the two strikers we already have ( Samaras and Corradi ), namely big and slow. On a number of occasions last night, he got absolutely nowhere near good crosses and his lack of pace was clear to see.

I also have some nagging doubts about his fitness and temperament and his ability to last a full season. Our last couple of strikers (Messrs Anelka and Cole) were also known for being aloof and moody and I don't think having such players doesn't anything for team spirit.

What we're crying out for up front is pace, and clearly, despite Mido's undoubted talents, this isn't one of them

Reduced Pricing - Just The Ticket !

2007-01-25T11:47:00.000Z

It's great that City are still in with a chance of a decent FA Cup run this year, but it still goes against the grain that despite being a double season-card holder, cup games are not included in the hundreds of pounds that I, and other card holders pay each year.

There is, quite rightly, increasing fan objection to paying high ticket prices and it's great to see the likes of mcfcsupporterstrust championing the cause of the average supporter like you and I.

Even Blackburn Rovers are now suggesting that ticket pricing needs to be reviewed and brought down to more affordable levels to stem the flow of spectators away from the game, which is increasingly being played in emptier stadia. What a shame it's Blackburn making these noises and not City, but well done Rovers for considering fans for a change.

Premiership clubs will all receive a massive windfall next season from overseas TV rights on top of the existing millions from Sky TV. Surely it's not beyond the financial means of Premiership clubs to use this money to reduce pricing and reward long-standing (and suffering in City's case) fans, by including Cup games within the price of season cards.

Despite a ground capacity of 48,000, the biggest home attendance of the season so far was 42,192 against the Blades way back in October and the average league attendance this season is around 39,000. Playing in empty stadia is a depressing experience for both players and fans, so please City, take a lead from Blackburn; get the ticket prices down to bring the supporters back to the ground.

City's Latest Transfer Target Revealed

2007-01-24T20:50:00.000Z

Stuart Pearce has admitted he's finding it tough trying to attract new players into the club; I wonder why ??

Reports earlier this evening suggest that a new signing is imminent, details here

Should stiffen up the defence ;-)

The Saints Are Coming !

2007-01-24T16:35:00.000Z

Like a lot of Blues, I was expecting to be having a football free weekend, as after all, it's the 4th round of the FA Cup, but amazingly our name is still in the hat; in fact, we're only four games away from the Cup Final !

City take on Southampton at Eastlands on Sunday with a 3pm kick off and it will NOT be televised live, so if you want to see it, you'll need to get yourself along to the ground.

The 3rd round against Sheffield Wednesday had a disappointing turnout of just 25,621, but I guess that's not a big surprise as it was televised and the Christmas / New Year fixtures have taken their toll on fans' finances and self-punishment thresholds.

As it's a Sunday kick-off, travelling away support will be a lot less than had it been a Saturday with a maximum of 3000 Saints expected to take the long haul up from the South Coast.

Bradley Wright-Phillips faces his former club for the first time, and he'll be trying his hardest to do an "Anelka" and prove a point by scoring against us. I would think BWP getting on the score sheet is an odds-on certainty like most City old boys. Similarly, City goalie coach, Tim Flowers , will I'm sure be looking forward to the visit of his former club and I would hope be wanting a City victory.

Apart from wanting to get to the next round anyway, City should be motivated by the fact it was Southampton who beat City at the last ever game at Maine Road, and I also seem to remember a dreadful game against them at Eastlands in the KK era, when we were just shockingly awful and Kevin Phillips and James Beattie combined to (deservedly) hammer us 3 -1.

Saints' teenage wonderkid and Rags target, Gareth Bale should be playing, so it'll be a chance to see how good he really is, although with our current blunted and toothless attack, he may have a quiet afternoon.

Make no mistake, it's going to be a tight game against an in-form team with an excellent manager, but the Cup is important for City and after last weekend's season low-point against Blackburn, I'm expecting the players to redeem themselves and give the blue half of the city something to cheer about.

Play Me Where ?? ..... I Should CoCo !!!

2007-01-23T20:12:00.000Z

There's been a lot of wild speculation about the possible reasons behind Inter Milan's Francesco Coco's unexpectedly quick departure during trial with City that lasted just two days.

Could it be that he was spotted turning up on his first day puffing on a Woodbine? Was it that he showed a bit of an attitude? Was he unfit and totally unprepared to the rigours of a trial? or was he just complete pants?

Coco's explanation is rather curious:

"It didn't work out because the coach wanted to use me in a different position to what I am used to, full-back. "After two days we realised that there was no point in wasting time as they already have two players in my position."

So why would City invite an out-and-out left back all that way for a trial and play him out of position? It just doesn't stack up! After much close investigation, I think I can now exclusively reveal the answer though.......

Was it just total coincidence that City held their annual pantomime last weekend? No not the yearly drubbing by Rovers, but the Live4City (formerly Junior Blues) event. It's obvious they must have been short of a player to complete the cast, so who better to make up the numbers and play in a crucial position than a footballer with the splendidly appropriate name of "Coco" !

...... Oh yes it was !!!

Who'd Be A Football Manager ?

2007-01-22T21:44:00.000Z

I can barely bring myself to put some words together about City's performance at the weekend against Blackburn. I thought we'd reached this season's low point against Bolton, but boy was I wrong.

It's at times like this, that once the initial frustration and utter disbelief that any team of professional footballers, let alone the from the club that you support can turn in such a dire performance, that you have to feel a bit of sympathy for the manager, no matter what your underlying opinions of him are.

Pearce may well have had a feeling of impending doom judging by his pre-match interview, during which he looked decidedly uncomfortable and tetchy. The first forty-five minutes did absolutely nothing for his well-being and overall demeanour as he, with the rest of us, witnessed a "performance" that at best can be described as gutless, although the description was a lot more colourful from the regulars in the Colin Bell stand and no doubt other parts of the steadily emptying stadium.

The second half was a marginal improvement, but that said, relative to the first half it was still an awful spectacle and a huge relief when the the game ended and we only lost by three goals, with Psycho looking just as bewildered as the rest of us in complete disbelief of what we had just witnessed.

It's true that the manager carries the can for the fortunes and failures on the pitch and rightly so, but he can only do so much and when the whistle goes for the start of the game, it really is down to the players to take control and responsibility; something that seems to have escaped the attention of our squad.

One can only imagine the post-mortem of Clough or Ferguson-like proportions in the dressing room afterwards. I was half expecting a gesture from the club offering a refund to long-suffering supporters having to endure spectacles like this on an increasingly regular basis, but then I quickly came to my senses.

Having said that, it's not such a bad idea, particularly if it were funded out of the players' wages. I'd guarantee we wouldn't see many performances like that again if they had to cough up.

Barton's Clause For Concern

2007-01-22T19:12:00.000Z

As this year's January transfer window draws to a nervous conclusion, it has once again proved to be an underwhelming month of rumour and general inactivity. Nothing much ever seems to happen in this mid-season transfer window apart from unhelpful speculation and general unsettling of players, managers and fans. Personally, I think it's time to rethink the whole transfer window thing.

Without tempting fate, it now looks like our "crown jewels" of Barton and Richards will stay for a while longer, having learned from SWP's badly advised move to the greener grass of Stamford Bridge, where he now commands a regular place on the bench. It looks like both have realised their chances of international honours are greatly improved by staying at Eastlands as bigger fish in an albeit smaller pond, but nevertheless will be playing week in, week out and catching the eye of the England selectors.

The down side from all this, is that it's now public knowledge that Joey has a clause in his contract whereby an offer of £5.5m for his services allows another club to talk to him. Although it would now appear that he'll stay this time around, he'll be viewed as fair game in the summer when clubs are more serious about new signings.

It seems that such clauses are now common practice, but why did City allow such a low trigger value? What were City's commercial people thinking about when with Joey's potential, they agreed to such a derisory valuation? If City are now considering waving a new contract in front of Joey, they need to ensure that any future financial thresholds are set much higher; we just can't afford to give our best players away on the cheap.

But with every dark cloud comes a silver lining..... if reports are to be believed, it now looks like Joey has parted company with agent, Willie McKay.... allegedly !

City Need To Wing It

2007-01-14T12:37:00.000Z

Not a classic at the Reebok yesterday; Bolton games always seem to be dour, uninspiring encounters but a point's a point I guess.

I must admit though feeling somewhat disappointed we didn't come away with all three points in the end. Like Joey said afterwards, 99 times out of 100, he'd have buried that chance... but anyway, the unbeaten run continues... for now.

The return of Sinclair however, confirmed one of City's worst failings this, and previous seasons, namely the absence of attacking wing play. Like it or not, Corradi and Samaras are here to stay for a while longer, so it's important to play to their strengths and get some quality crosses in the area for them to attack.

With the biggest Premiership strike partnership, they need to play in the up front and in the middle - nowhere else. Playing either of them out wide is a complete was of time and confidence-sapping for both players. Such a formation poses no threat to the opposition and puts City un-necessarily on the defensive.The same is also true for Vassell, who for me needs to play in the centre, just behind the front two.

Sinclair is obviously not the long-term solution to this frustrating problem and for a while we've been crying out for a winger or wingers. With the return of SWP looking increasingly unlikely, Pearce really only has a couple of other options in Beasley and Miller, neither of whom are known for consistent quality ball crossing.

It is surprising therefore that so far in the transfer window, City have signed a largely unknown 20 year-old, second division French midfielder who has only played two first team games. Clearly this is not what City need right at the moment.

I think City missed a trick earlier this week when Villa sold Peter Whittingham to Cardiff for just £350k. For a big 23year-old former U21 international who can play either as left wing or at left back and someone who has a few years Premiership experience, that could prove to be one of the best January sale bargains. At that price, it would have been worth taking a gamble with him.

Good wingers are hard to come by and I'm not really sure what the answer is, but without them, playing big strikers up front is rather pointless.