Season 2010/11 Fixture change news

Season 2010/11

Fixture change news 

The following fixtures have been changed in April: 

Manchester City v SunderlandNow: 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.

 

 

 

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.