Wednesday, 20 April 2011
Monday, 7 March 2011
Season 2010/11 Fixture change news
Season 2010/11
Fixture change news
The following fixtures have been changed in April:
Manchester City v Sunderland
Now: Sunday 3rd April, 4.00 pm. Live on Sky Sports. (subject to involvement in a FA Cup 6th Round replay)Liverpool v Manchester City
Now: Monday 11th April, 8.00 pm. Live on Sky Sports.
Manchester City v Tottenham Hotspur
Now: Sunday 17 April, 1.30 pm. Live on Sky Sports (subject to participation in the FA Cup Semi-Finals)
Blackburn Rovers v Manchester City
Now: Monday 25 April, 8.00 pm. Live on Sky Sports.
Manchester City v West Ham United
Now: Sunday 1 May, 4.10 pm. Live on Sky Sports.
Tuesday, 1 March 2011
Transfer Gossip
What The Media Says, formerly known as What The Papers Say!
Or maybe you prefer "a pinch and a punch" to welcome a new month. A quick trawl through football cyberspace reveals plenty of pinching, although most websites are happy to acknowledge the source of their story.Tribalfootball.com reckons that "City could use Emmanuel Adebayor as a bargaining chip in talks for Real Madrid star Kaka." Or rather, they confess they've seen the speculation in the Daily Mail and, er, repeated it.
Here's the gist of their re-write: "Chelsea and City have been put on red alert after it emerged Real Madrid are ready to sell Kaka. The Brazil international has failed to impress at the Bernabeu since arriving in a £58million deal from AC Milan in 2009."
They recall the Blues' earlier bid to sign the player and suggest: "With Roberto Mancini's side now on course for Champions League football next season, Kaka could be tempted to join them if offered the chance. Adebayor, currently on loan at Real from City, could be used as a makeweight in any deal."
Right then. What else can they tell us at Tribal? Here's one. It seems they've discovered that "Micah Richards is weighing up his future at Manchester City." Do continue, chaps ...
"The Daily Mail" - aaah - "says Richards' advisors have alerted a number of Barclays Premier League clubs to the player's potential availability in the summer.
"Richards has played regularly this season, featuring in 20 of their 41 games. But his long-term future is unclear with manager Roberto Mancini looking at Barcelona star Dani Alves and Ajax full-back Gregory van der Wiel as potential replacements for Richards."
Moving swiftly on, let's check out FIFA.com, a drab affair that could do with a bit of colour and imagination injecting. They run with the post-match quotes from Gareth Barry that you heard first on mcfc.co.uk.
The story goes: "Gareth Barry concedes Manchester City are now focusing on cup success after falling away in the Premier League title race.
"City host Aston Villa in the FA Cup fifth round on Wednesday, with the chance to earn a place in the quarter-finals against either Everton or Reading. City are also through to the last 16 of the UEFA Europa League.
"England midfielder Barry admits that City are now targeting a top-four finish, which would take them into the UEFA Champions League for the first time, and success in the FA Cup and the Europa League."
They quote GarBar: "Of course the cups are becoming more important for us. It's a big game for us and we've got the incentive of another home tie in the quarter-finals. If we get through those two you never know, and you're getting close to Wembley. Cup competitions have been important to us all season."
Over at bbc.co.uk, they go with former City boss Kevin Keegan's assertion that the Premier League is a "two-horse race" between Manchester United and Arsenal after City drew 1-1 with Fulham.
And at skysports.com, the Blues line is that "Roberto Mancini admits the team is struggling without Adam Johnson, who is set to be out for another month."
Over on the prints, David Anderson's take on the Barry Fulham quotes is proper Mirror stuff. He has Gareth warning that City must become more ruthless to finish top.
He quotes the midfielder: “If you’re going to challenge for the title, you’re going to have to win games like this at home. The top teams over the years eventually break teams down, but that didn’t look like happening for us."
That Handshake
Shake that shook the Press box
Never mind the game. The meeting of City managers past and present was always going to be the focus of attention in the Press Box, and they were amply rewarded with the Greatest Handshake Controversy Ever.
Was it even a handshake? Will Arsene Wenger and Tony Pulis be able to put up a credible challenge for the title? Will people ever get tired of reading about these things? Well, the answer to that last one is emphatically No.And after a lacklustre 1-1 draw, the reporters and their offices were only too happy to pile in on the few seconds of "drama" that followed 90-odd minutes that offered little material bar Mario Balotelli's super strike.
You only need read the headlines to get a flavour, which is what headlines are for, after all.
"Sparky's Revenge" booms The Sun over Neil Custis' frontline despatch. "Angry managers share the points" responds the Express in rather weary fashion to do scant justice to Richard Tanner's well-honed words.
"Hughes shaking with rage"? That's more like it from the Mirror, who also take their cue from the mcfc.co.uk Chappys to award a few of their own mini-Oscars to aspects of the match. Not quite as funny, of course.
And where does the influential International Herald Tribune stand on all this post-match mayhem between a Welshman and an Italian in an English league game? "Birmingham scores late to surprise Arsenal, 2-1". Er, right.
The Mail sums it up well: "Mancini and Hughes fail to see eye to eye" above Ian Hodgson's picture capturing the moment when Hughesy looked one way and Roberto looked another. Their hands are tantalisingly close to touching ...
Serious points are sometimes buried on days like this. The Mail also notes that "City's points tally in 2011 (12 from eight matches) is more like that of a mid-table side and has hampered their push for a Champions League place."
And on that bombshell, another one. This is the final What The Papers Say. Stop cheering at the back: We're being replaced by What The Web Says in order to present the bigger picture of the way that others see City.
We're being promoted as well, to the home page carousel. You'll find us more easily. So from tomorrow, we'll be freewheeling down the information highway as well as scanning the back pages. Still wearing our snood, obviously.
Wednesday, 23 February 2011
Carlos Tevez
Carlos Tevez new doubts emerge over striker's future
Mancini and his coaching staff are endeavouring to play up the strength in depth of the Blues attack, and play down talk that they over-rely on the Argentinian.
And they are also batting away suggestions that Tevez is getting special treatment on the training ground to ensure he is at his best for the run in.
Brian Kidd, Mancini’s assistant, has acknowledged that City are making sure that they don’t over-train the striker ahead of a potentially frantic end to the season.
Of all the players at City, Mancini has taken the greatest care in his handling of Tevez. On the one hand, the manager handed his star striker extra responsibility with the captaincy last summer because he felt it would encourage him to interact better with his team-mates.
On the other, Mancini has been ready to ease the burden by giving Tevez time off when he has needed it in order to attend to family issues.
Anyone who has seen the Blues in action at any stage over the last season-and-a-half will understand Mancini’s approach.
Tevez is the heartbeat of the team, linking midfield to attack, foraging for the ball, refusing to give opposing defenders a moment’s peace and proving as comfortable setting up goals as scoring them.
Even when the striker slapped in – and then withdrew – a transfer request in December, Mancini did not strip him of the captaincy.
And even though Tevez’s English has shown little sign of improvement after four-and-a-half years in the country, the manager has not called his leadership skills into question.
City’s Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure, who spent three years at Barcelona, revealed this week that his conversations with Tevez are in Spanish.
“Having played in Spain, I learned Spanish so I can converse with him,” Toure said. “I think this is important.”
Toure is also fully aware of the striker’s value to the side.
“We really need Carlos to finish well for us this season,” he said. “We need all the team to do that, but especially Carlos Tevez.”
The statistics show why. Tevez was City’s runaway top scorer with 29 goals last season. His cool finish in Sunday’s 5-0 FA Cup victory over Notts County was his 50th for the club.
So the last thing the Blues needed as they prepare for a glut of league and cup fixtures was for Joorabchian to suggest that Tevez could soon be on his way out of Eastlands.
The Iran-born businessman, who acts as an adviser to the striker, has re-opened the wounds that seemed to be healing after December’s transfer request saga.
Joorabchian has suggested that Tevez may be heading back to South America to join Corinthians, throwing in United midfielder Anderson, Tottenham keeper Heurelho Gomes and Villarreal striker Nilmar as potential targets for good measure.
“I want to help Corinthians in their sporting quest and I can guarantee that Carlos Tevez would be happy to return to Brazil and play for Corinthians,” Joorabchian said.
“Ideally I would like a deal to be done swiftly, but in reality it will probably take time.”
City take a dim view these days of Joorabchian, who once enjoyed a close working relationship with chief executive Garry Cook. Blues officials felt the adviser was the driving force behind Tevez’s transfer request two months ago.
Whatever the striker’s long-term future holds – and that is something no one ought to predict with any confidence – his form on the pitch gives hope that City can achieve their twin aims this season of Champions League qualification and a trophy for the sideboard.
Sunday, 20 February 2011
FA Cup 4th Round
Five-star City crush County
Vieira strikes twice to set up Villa clash
Manchester City produced an impressive performance to overcome Notts County 5-0 at Eastlands and advance to a fifth-round FA Cup meeting with Aston Villa.
Notts County showed they could compete with City in the original tie at Meadow Lane, which finished 1-1, and they started well in the replay with Karl Hawley's wonderful curling effort hitting the inside of the post.However, City started to take control as the first half progressed and broke the deadlock on 37 minutes when Patrick Vieira headed in at the near post from David Silva's corner.
Vieira headed in from another corner just before the hour mark to double City's advantage and the resistance from County fell away in the closing stages.
Carlos Tevez came off the substitutes' bench to score a classy third in the 84th minute and then set up Edin Dzeko to make it 4-0.
Micah Richards completed the rout in stoppage time to bring County's run in the competition to an end and keep City dreams alive.
Micah Richards
Richards happy at City
Micah Richards insists he is happy to stay at Manchester City following a recent chat about his situation with manager Roberto Mancini.
The right-back has been in and out of the City team this season and was reportedly the subject of enquiries from Liverpool and Juventus in the January transfer window.Aston Villa and Chelsea were also rumoured to be interested in the 22-year-old, who has forced his way back into the City side in recent weeks.
Richards revealed he discussed his situation with Macini and is now feeling confident about his future at Eastlands.
Confidence
"I initiated the contact with Mancini," said Richards in The People. "I'd had a back injury and then I was on the bench for three games. I wasn't happy because I was fit, so I went to see him."I asked him what was going on because I think I've been doing the business this season. He told me to bide my time and then take my chance.
"Mancini makes it easy for you to speak to him. He has a tough side to him but, deep down, he is a soft guy. The chat only lasted about 15 minutes but I'm pleased with how it went.
"Getting a place in the side is tough but Mancini told me that if I concentrated more I could be a top defender and even a world-class defender.
"When a top manager says that, you have to start believing it. I do believe it because when I'm on top of my game I can match anyone.
"When a top manager says that, you have to start believing it. I do believe it because when I'm on top of my game I can match anyone.
"It's about maintaining your confidence. Some of the times I was on the bench were because I was injured but other times it was down to personnel.
"It was frustrating and that's why I went to see the manager. I want to stay here, of course. There were a couple of links with Chelsea and Aston Villa but I have not heard anything myself.
"I am happy as long as I'm in the team at City but if I'm not playing then I would rather go somewhere else and play."
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