The road to fitness.

Good news today in that City's long term injured trio of Geert de Vliiger, Sun Jihai and Trevor Sinclair are all on the road to recovery.
The trio, who between them missed virtually all of last season have apparantly worked hard all summer and are expected to return for pre-season training.
One player who has had a setback however though is Nicky Weaver. Weaver, who himself is no stranger to long term injury woes finally made a return to action last season in the reserves before making his first team return during the Boro game which saw David James play as a makeshift striker. Unfortunately, Weaver broke a bone in his wrist at the end of season which it was hoped would fuse together over the summer. However, he now faces minor surgery which rules him out of pre season and sees him possibly slip down to number 3 in the pecking order.
While it's fair to say Weaver did not do himself many favours earlier in his career when he first hit the headlines, he has fought back bravely from injury which would have wrecked many players careers.
I think though that once he overcomes this setback he needs regular first team football to get his career back on track this season. With David James entrenched as number 1, we can afford to let Weaver go out on loan for the season to a Championship side, especially with de Vliiger back to full fitness to reside on the bench for the season.
Hopefully, with a full first team season under his belt, he can then come back to City the year after to put pressure on David James to eventually reclaim the number 1 spot and fulfill the potential that he showed when he first broke through into the side.

Free The Goat?

During the last week of relatively quiet news, Shaun Goater has featured in the M.E.N. a couple of times talking about the 'hell' of last season at Reading where he has been effectively frozen out by the club who will owe City a further £50,000 as part of the transfer fee which was agreed when Goater left City for Reading two seasons ago.
This effectively wasted Goater's season, and he ended the season on loan at Coventry. It is a surprise that Reading are holding off on paying this installment as he's a guy who could probably still score goals at that level and a lack of goals cost Reading a play-off place down the stretch. On top of this, they are not a poor club and could easily afford to pay this amount and it all leads to Goater having another miserable season as he still has one year left on his contract.
What has astounded me though is that looking around various message boards is the call from many City fans to bring Goater back for one last hurrah at City. Granted, following selling Jon Macken to Palace (although no tears were shed by yours truly there) we are down to the bare bones in attack and at present there has been only rumours of potential new signings, but does anyone seriously believe Goater could step into the City side and add something to us?
Admittedly, I was never sold on his 'talents' as a striker but he worked hard and deservedly earned himself a place in City history for his efforts during his time with us but I had to laugh as I read the pleadings of fans who think he could still score twenty Premiership goals. Especially with two seasons out of the Premiership and only playing eight games last year, he could struggle to perform in the Championship let alone the Premiership.
If it even came down to a straight choice between the Goat and David James to fill a strikers position for City this season, I'd be sorely tempted to tell Jamo to leave his gloves in the car.
Sorry Shaun, you may have some role to play at City again in the future, but it won't involve lacing up your boots I'm afraid.

Marc-Vivien Foe R.I.P.

Tuesday June 28th 2005. Today is the second anniversary of Marc-Vivien Foe's tragic death whilst playing for Cameroon in the Confederations Cup Tournament.
I didn't know the man so I am in no position to write or say what a great guy he was to be around and how he did this or that but the BlueMoon site carries some comments and tributes from City players and staff which say it all in regards to what he meant to those who were close to him.
I remember watching the game in which he collapsed and it all seemed so unreal sat there just watching him lay there motionless. I think I will also remember a photo of him on the front page of The Sun the following day which I know upset a lot of City fans. It was a photo of him lay on the ground with his eyes wide open and all that you could see was the his eyes, staring motionless as paramedics and players stood helpless around him.
As a player it's fair to see his season with City didn't exactly him win him plaudits amongst most fans, but perhaps the biggest tribute I can pay him as a player was that in the last two seasons we have still not managed to replace him, his defensive strength and his goals - despite signing numerous midfielders since.
Marco, may you rest in peace.

City issue denial over SWP.

City moved swiftly in the face of a weekends barrage of transfer speculation by issuing a press statement concerning the future of SWP.
It is a fairly unprecedented move by a club to issue such a statement but one that the club felt was necessary once Saturday's backpage headlines in the tabloids began to revurberate around, with most suggesting that an £18 million transfer was all but signed, sealed and delivered.
"Shaun has not been sold, we have received no bids for him nor will we encourage any" was the official line put out by City and Stuart Pearce again stated today that he sees SWP as a vital part of the clubs' future.
Ian Wright also weighed in with an interview on Sky Sports in which he said that SWP was happy and enjoyed it at City but believed he needed to be playing Champions League football 'sooner rather than later'.
It has left most Blues fearing the worst (ahh, Blue optimism again) and to me the most interesting factor was the club releasing the statement. When statements are released to the press they are obviously very carefully worded and to me the wording is a key reason why I fear he may not be with us for too long after the July 1st transfer window opens.
What the club ommitted from the statement was what would happen should we receive any bids from Chelsea (who appear to be the only team willing or able to pay the magical £20 million we are supposed to be holding out for). It is all very well confirming no bids have been received and we won't encourage any, but lets face it that wording is unlikely to be a strong deterrent to Chelsea and Roman Abramovich will hardly be quaking in his boots at City's tough talking.
What it basically will come down to is whether Chelsea want him. If they do, Chelsea will be able to bid enough, we will not be able to turn a bid of in the region of £20 million down, and realistically SWP won't be able to turn it down (as if he would realistically have much choice in the matter). I fear that it will just be a case of damage limitation for City now as they try to handle it in the best way to avoid the inevitable fans backlash following a sale.
All the noises coming out of the press suggest Chelsea do want him so it is likely to be a nervous time for all Blues as we wonder if SWP has played his final game for the club.

The season starts here.

Just like the players who will soon be back for pre-season training, this site is back up and running once again following a spell of rest and recuperation out in Ibiza.
After a couple of quiet weeks in the world of football with not much going on and no international tournaments to keep us occupied, the unofficial start to the season has arrived with the publication of the fixtures. On paper at least (when will I learn?) we have been handed what looks to be a far from testing start with West Brom at home followed by away trips to Birmingham and newly promoted Sunderland before rounding out August with a home game against Portsmouth. All of which means of course that we will then head to Old Trafford for the first derby of the season on September 10th sitting proudly at the top of the league (already I have heard talk of ten points from the first four games). Or, knowing City we will turn in a shocking start to the season picking up a point from the first month - before going to Old Trafford and tearing United apart of course.
It will of course be a strange atmosphere at United this season as we may actually get more than our usual allocation of 100 tickets if FC United (the marketing men really earned the money there didn't they?) are at home on the same day.
There is a fairly hectic Christmas/New Year period this season with Wigan away on Boxing Day (10,000+ Blues?), Chelsea at home on the 28th, Boro away on New Years Eve (hmm, give that a miss anyone?) before hosting Spurs on January 2nd.
Other standout games include the home derby on January 14th and a final chance to go to Highbury on October 22nd. The season is rounded off with a final home game against Fulham before a last day trip to Blackburn to conjour up memories of that famous promotion game.
Before all of that though we have what can only be described as a 'shocking' set of pre-season fixtures with away games at Tranmere, Macclesfield, Stoke and Sheffield Wednesday.
Who keeps agreeing all of these away day money in the bank games for these lower league sides?
Surely we can get some Scandanavian jolly-up organised or at least a decent away game by the sea or something? Ah well, it's football I suppose and it does mean the first game is now only three weeks away. Bring it on......

Summer sales start now!

Well, the first player move of the summer has occured and it was no suprise really as Jon Macken moves onto Crystal Palace for a fee in the region of £1 million. Rumours had been circulating for the last couple of weeks regarding Macken and with just a year remaining on his contract represents a better return than I expected for a player who in his three seasons with City has not really justified the £4.5 million price tag Kevin Keegan paid for him, and in truth looked some way short of being Premiership class. He was a 'trier' and held the line well with a decent touch, but lacked real pace and was never a 'finisher' like Fowler or Anelka.
However, we wish him well at Palace as they look to bounce back from their relegation and we'll always thank him for that goal against Spurs in the Cup.
It has definitely been rumour week around City with a couple of notable names linked with moves away and a couple of foreign strikers linked with moves into the club.
Danny Mills name has been mentioned as a possible departee with both Blackburn and newly promoted Sunderland. Mills came over from Leeds and commands both a long and expensive contract which we could really do without as he lost his place to Nedum Onouah towards the end of the season and doesn't strike as offering anything that Onouha can't (apart from getting booed by every opposing supporter. He has never been a favourite of mine and I'd be happy to take a fairly nominal fee for him to clear him and his wages off the books. One move which could scupper this is the possible destination of Tranmere right-back Ryan Taylor who Blackburn are also interested in as well as ourselves. He has posted a decent campaign in Tranmere's play-off run and a fee of around £500k would fit in well with our limited transfer kitty if we can fend off Blackburn and win the race for him.
Captain Sylvain Distin has also been linked with a move away, this time with Aston Villa linked with him, and their chairman Doug Ellis has certainly done nothing to quash theres rumours, admitting they are interested although no formal offer has been made so far. Fan opinion is generally split on the issue of whether we should cash in on Distin with a section of fans believing if we got an offer in the region of £6m+ then we should cash in. I think if we were to cash in on him it would be a mistake as he rebounded from from a poor 03/04 campaign to put in a solid season alongside Richard Dunne during the last campaign, and at present we only have young Nedum Onouha who could realistically step in.
With Macken's departure, much of the focus on potential newcomers has been the forward position. First name mentioned this week was veteran Portuguese and PSG striker Pauletta who is believed to be available on a free transfer. As he is now 32 years old, he would be a very short term option, but with his experience could be ideal to bridge the gap before Bradley Wright-Phillips and the other young strikers at the club are ready to stake a claim for a full-time position.
The next striker mentioned this was Lens' Nigerian international John Utaka. Admittedly, I don't know too much about this guy but his record in le Championnat is good and he is still only 23. It appears unlikely that we will sign him though as SC Rennes are believed to have offered £5 million for him and Lens believe the speculation around a move for him is being engineered to get him an improved contract.
The potential new signings rumoured so far all seem to be following a set pattern in that they are foreign players, around the 30 years old mark and costing little or next to nothing. These are frugal times at City and Stuart Pearce has a lot of owrk to put in over the summer as he bids to add some depth and quality to the squad.
As it is the end of the season now, I feel it is only fair that I follow the footballers lifestyle and will be getting my arse over to Ibiza tomorrow for the next week so the next posting to the site will be in a couple of weeks or so. Here's hoping for Premier League style shenanigans then - just hope it is more Kieron Dyer than Alan Shearer!

James England career over?

Englands recent tour of America where they played (or faced off if we are getting all American here) against the USA and Colombia was largely a forgetfull affair with several withdrawals (including our very own SWP) from the original squad.
However, it did give David James a chance to reclaim the number 1 jersey following the injury to Paul Robinson who supplanted him between the sticks following James' howler against Austria last autmun.
James has been in superb form for City again this season, behind a miserly back four that was the catalyst for our largely succesful season, but seems to be a target for the tabloid media here in England who love to villify him at every opportunity and put the nortoriously fickle City fans to shame with their opinion of him.
And so it was again this weekend as James played the full game in the 2-1 victory over the USA and the first half of the 4-2 victory over Colombia. To be fair, he didn't turn in the most assured of performances but I don't subscribe to the view that he was at fault for any of the goals, but again seemed to be the target for the press and in particular the BBC commentator John Motson, who was quick to criticise James at every opportunity.
Unfortunately, Sven does seem to pander to the media and I felt his dropping of James initially was to satisfy the blood lust of the Fleet Street hacks. I know James is proud to play for England and intends to fight for his place in the line-up but I can't see any way back for him after the last couple of games. For me, he needed to turn in two exceptional performances to even silence his detractors. He will probably remain in the squad certainly until the World Cup next summer but then I expect one of the crop of younger keepers such as Green or Kirkland to move up and take his place.
It's a shame for him, but like most City fans it's what he does for us that we are bothered about.