City v Valencia: Caption This Photo ?

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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

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 ?

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

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?

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

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.