Match day preview.

An early start for City this Sunday as we rise at some unholy hour or other to get to Eastlands for an 11:15 am kick off.
It is a game where both sides are desperate for the three points to put an end to recent poor form - City to banish the memories of the past two weeks whilst Everton high hopes for this season are quickly disintegrating following an abysmal beginning to the league campaign and a European venture that made our 2003/04 campaign (wins over TNS and Lokeren before being dumped by the 'mighty' Groclin) look like a glorius success.
Everton have yo-yo'd in the last couple of seasons, posting a succesful campaign, then avoiding relegation before last seasons campaign when they proved the doubters wrong by finishing in fourth place.
So what sort of team should we expect Everton to be? Moyes has had much of the Rooney cash to spend, bringing in players such as Tim Cahill, Per Kroldrup, Phil Neville and James Beattie. It is Beattie who has perhaps been the biggest disappointment so far, as he has not become the goalscorer that Moyes was counting on.
I don't think Everton will finish anywhere near the relegation places come the end of the season, but need to put a decent run together sooner rather than later.
With the impressive Arteta likely to be missing on Sunday, they lack creative options with only Tim Cahill able to spark them, as the likes of Kilbane, McFadden, Bent and Ferguson should not be able to hurt our defence. Defensively, Nigel Martyn has been dependable enough to be mentioned for an England recall, but the both David Weir and Joseph Yobo to me are pedestrian whilst Nuno Valente and Matteo Ferrari are yet to really settle.
As for City, we are boosted by the news that Andrew Cole should be fit to play (how many would have admitted that at the start of the season?) and his movement along with Vassell's pace should cause Everton problems. Joey Barton and Ben Thatcher are listed as doubtful, so Stephen Ireland and Stephen Jordan could step in.
Atmosphere wise - it could be a strange game with the early kick-off and probably needs some early action to spark the crowd into life. I expect Moyes to play a 4-5-1 style with Bent or Beattie holding the play up with the Kilbane and Cahill in support.
Stuart Pearce will be hoping City can bounce back from recent disappointments and keep Everton at the foot of the table.
A warm welcome will probably be afforded to young Mr Neville, and I'm going to go for a 1-1 predicition, leaving neither manager pleased nor truly disappointed.

Cole to be fit for Everton?

Having missed the three consecutive defeats last week with a hamstring injury, Andrew Cole is expected to be passed fit for this Sunday's game at home to Everton.
It will be a boost to get Cole back as his partnership with Darius Vassell was beginning to prosper before he went down injured and to me it is no coincidence that we have looked less potent and clinical up front in his absence. As gainly as he has tried, Antoine Sibierski is notn adequate replacement and both Bradley Wright-Phillips and Robbie Fowler are still stuck on the sidelines through injury as well.
The reserves continued their impressive start to the season with a win over Blackburn last night, although Steve Wigley is still hoping for more from his young charges who rank as one of the favourites for the title. Goals from top prospects Ishmel Miller and Micah Richards sealed the win.
For everyone who will wake up bright and early (well, not so bright) this Sunday and realise they have to head down to the ground for the 11:15 kick-off, rest assured as it's for the benefit of us the fans explained Stuart Pearce. You see, this extra Sky money means we can go out and buy players according to Psycho. Hmm, added to the money from the SWP sale we should have a nice bit of spending money tucked away for the January sales shouldn't we....

City, we're from Manchester.

Don't know if anyone has noticed any posters or billboards around the city at the moment, and admittedly I had seen these without realising they were directly related to City, but reading a report in The Independent yesterday it seems that we have launched an advertising campaign designed to promote City as 'Manchester's club'.
Unfortunately, I've not been able to get a link to or a picture of any of the adverts so far but the one I have seen shows a City blue background with the phrase 'Real Manchester' across the middle and 'This is our City' underneath.
Other slogans apparantly contain such phrases as 'Pure Manchester' or 'Greater Manchester'. City have denied their is any antagonistic intent towards United in the campaign stating the intention is solely to 'emphasise the intrinsic bond between Manchester City Football Club and the city of Manchester'.
And perhaps it is just a way of creating a bit of banter and stoking up cross-town rivalry as a response to accusations that there is a falling level of interest in football this season.
But, do we really need to embark on an advertising campaign which is basically promoting City as some sort of corporate brand? I don't see any real need to do this as surely we are not a product that needs to be sold or marketed to the masses as the fan-base (or target market if you like) is constant (and indeed growing naturally).
I'm glad there appears to be an element of humour in this particular campaign, but I must admit to being slightly worried about the future direction this could go in, especially in view of recent initiatives such as the piped in chanting which got short shrift at the Bolton game, and the other options the club are supposedly considering.

Weekend round-up.

A couple of stories and bits of news floating around the papers and websites from the weekend which are worthing reporting on.
For those of you who want to reflect some more on Saturday's game at Newcastle, check the following match-report courtesy of Ben From Newcastle United blog blackandwhiteandreadallover.
Sad news for the club in that Helen Turner (aka Helen the bell-ringer) died last Friday. Plenty of tributes and such like are on the City website. I guess she will always be part of City folklore and the daft thing is you probably wouldn't even be allowed to take a bell into a Premiership ground these days.
Antoine Sibierski is reported to be being offered a new two-year contract with the club after 'impressing with recent performances', which has brought a predictable response from the message boards. Personally, I think Sibierski has struggled from being shunted around various positions (wide left, centre midfield and now striker) rather than any discernable lack of talent. However, having said that he is one of those players who will frustrate fans because he does come across as if he really isn't playing (or trying) half as well as he could be and certainly isn't the Bernarbia replacement that KK sold him to the fans as. But, I think he is a decent enough squad player and as we know, we have found it difficult to bring in an attacking midfield player throughout the summer.
One player who could be on his according to The Daily Mail is Ajax midfielder Steven Pienaar, who is out of contract in the summer and could be a target then or in the January window. From what I've seen of Ajax, he is a creative player in the style of a Berkovic or Bernarbia and scores plenty of goals, but may be on the light side for the rigours of the Premiership. Ajax are in Arsenal's Champions League group so I might follow that game with a bit of interest.
Stuart Pearce has attempted to lift the gloom of the past week by lauding the efforts of some of the younger members of the squad, praising Steven Ireland, Nedum Onouha and Lee Croft for their performances this season. A bit of psychology here from Pearce in that he may be attempting to get some of the more senior members of the squad to take responsibility for reviving our season.
And finally, David James has stated that he 'expects' to be part of Englands World Cup squad (assuming they qualify of course). After being torn apart by the media following the Denmark game, he was axed for the recent games at Wales and Northern Ireland and many assume his international career to be over. However, I think he will be part of the squad, albeit as back-up to Paul Robinson as Chris Kirkland has yet to play a game for England and Robert Green is not doing himself many favours in a struggling Norwich side.

Newcastle 1 City 0.

A bad end to a bad week. What a week ago was the basis of a good start to the season has hit an unexpected buffer over the past week with defeat at home to Bolton, being dumped out of the Carling Cup by Doncaster and yesterdays defeat away to Newcastle.
Unsuprisingly, Michael Owen was the goalscorer - continuing his streak of seemingly scoring every time he plays against us, with Stuart Pearce believing he was the difference between the two sides.
Again for me, what is worrying is the lack of goals. Apart from the penalty at Doncaster, we have not scored in open play for the last three games and appear to struggling to find that clinical edge up front. With Andrew Cole again missing yesterday and Robbie Fowler crocked for another six weeks with a recurrence of his back injury it leaves us with just Vassell and Sibierski has serious options up front. It is apparant that we are missing Cole's presence as Sibierski fails to offer as much and doesn't link as well with Vassell as Cole was doing at the start of the season.
It places a big emphasis on next weeks game at home to Everton, who are currently mired in a miserable run of form and we need to get back on track with three points to keep on the tail of everyone else but Chelsea in the Premiership if we are to fulfill the hopes of European qualification this season.

Match Day Preview

A special match day preview today comes courtesy of Ben from the excellent Newcastle United blog Blackandwhiteandreadallover. Over to you then Ben...

City have made an impressive start to the season. The 0-0 draw at home to West Brom didn't augur well, but since then there have been excellent performances at Old Trafford, St Andrews and the Stadium Of Shite. Almost inevitably, though, things have tailed off a bit with the disappointing defeat to Bolton (albeit a game City bossed and on another day could have won handsomely) and the Carling Cup embarrassment at the hands of Doncaster.In many ways how to respond to Wednesday night's horrorshow will be Stuart Pearce's first real test as City manager. So far I've been impressed by what he's achieved. The sale of Shaun Wright-Phillips, inevitable though it was, could have destabilised the whole club - instead, it seems to have galvanised everyone.
Things seemed to have turned a little sour under Keegan, but Pearce has instilled a belief, togetherness and fighting spirit in the players (well, he didn't have to instil the latter in Joey Barton...), and spent wisely in the summer, bolstering a goal-shy attack with two quality forwards in Andy Cole and Darius Vassell at no great expense.Without SWP, the City squad looks on paper to have no real superstars. Robbie Fowler might fancy himself as top dog, but he's a shadow of his former self.

Much more impressive in the pale blue shirts have been the rock-solid defensive partnership of Sylvain Distin (who we've tried to resign) and Richard Dunne (the most improved player in the Premiership?). I also rate Antoine Sibierski as a real goal threat from midfield, and it has to be said (grudgingly) that, however badly he's cocked up for England, David James has rarely put a foot wrong between the sticks at Eastlands. Of the two new forwards, Vassell could well prove an excellent signing - having gone stale at Villa, he needed a new challenge and he seems to have set about translating some of the form he's shown in an England shirt into his Premiership performances.A UEFA Cup place might be out of City's reach, but they'll certainly be comfortably mid-table if they do miss out.

As for ourselves - well, it's been the same old farcical story. An abysmal start to the campaign - take out the inevitable defeats to Arsenal and the Buccaneers, and you're still left with utterly unacceptable displays against West Ham, Bolton and Fulham. We were awful for an hour against Blackburn, too, before Shearer's free-kick set us on the way to an improbable first league victory of the season.Souness has been perfectly justified in bemoaning our injury problems - Shearer and Owen are our only fit strikers, and against Blackburn we were without Parker, Luque, Emre, Dyer and Solano, the sort of midfield that would give any side in the league a good game. As a result, Faye's found himself a fixture in the side even though his performances wouldn't guarantee him a place on the bench at Torquay.What Souness can be blamed for, though, are the tactics. The Fulham game in particular springs to mind - we had Carr playing on the right side of midfield, while Taylor, our best central defender in the previous matches, was shunted out to Carr's normal position to make way for the return of Bramble. Five defenders on the pitch and yet our organisation and composure was an absolute joke. Fulham could have had a hatful.But enough of the dwelling on the negatives: we go into Saturday's game on the back of (what was on paper at least) a good win. City, on the other hand, will still be licking their wounds from the League Cup exit. A good time to play you? Well, possibly - if you're entering a sticky patch. You could be stung into showing what you're made of, and with our defence anything is possible. I'm going to go for a 2-1 home victory, though, and hope that we can carry on the momentum from last weekend and really get the season underway. It won't be easy, though.

PS City fans can expect plenty of ribbing from the home faithful about the crowd chants that were piped into Eastlands last Sunday - what a daft idea. That said, St James's Park isn't exactly the cauldron of noise it once was, either. I just hope we don't follow suit...

Doncaster 1 City 1 (aet). Doncaster win 3-0 on pens.

Well, what can you say? We carried on the pattern so impressively set over the years at other distinguished opposition such as Halifax, Cardiff, Barnet, Lincoln et al by being dumped out of the Cup last night at Doncaster.
Starting with the game - true to my away day form I managed to get to the ground with kick-off already underway. Seemed like it was a real town outing with all of Donny coming out for this one. A few changes to the side with Onouha, Ireland and Hussein (for his debut) coming in for Mills, Barton and Musampa.
In truth it started like one of those games that seemed like it would go all the way to penalties. City, dominated the possession and were passing around nicely with the impressive Ireland and Hussein seeing plenty of the ball. However, as a follow on from Bolton there was a lack of edge up front with Sibierski and Vassell unable to penetrate the defence. Doncaster thoug, were rarely creating anything and it kept the crowd flat throughout most of the game.
The second half continued in the same vein and the City crowd (how many did we actually take by the way) began to get restless as any promise of an attack seemed to falter through an error. Croft was introduced for Hussein, who had showed a decent touch but looked lightweight, and began to see much of the ball but several crosses were wasted by a lack of attacking presence in the box.
City had a great chance with only minutes left when Sun Jihai ensured City won the crossbar challenge by rattling it from all of three yards, consigning the travelling Blues to another 30 minutes punishment before being able to escape. Less than five minutes into extra-time, City were awarded a penalty which Vassell converted (although it very nearly clipped the bar, hmm...) and most fans began to plot their exit to get home before midnight.
Onouha then slid in for what appeared a fifty-fifty challenge with their keeper, and after he was stretched off the referee decided to show the red card and we were down to ten men. This should be overturned on appeal and didn't really alter the game as Doncaster huffed and puffed but only created half chances in truth. Then just as we were filing towards the exit there was a cheer from the opposite end as the referee awarded a penalty to the home side and just when we could see a flash of light at the exit, we were dragged back in for the penalty shoot-out.
Doncaster won the toss and the shoot-out was in front of the home end. This was to be a surreal experience as the players lining up on the half-way line in solidarity, completely blocked the view of the goal. However, the moment we realised Vassell had missed we knew we were struggling and true to form, Sibierski and Dunne failed to convert prompting the stereotypical small town pitch invasion to celebrate the 'scalp' of a bigger fish.

It now places a big emphasis on Saturday's game away at Newcastle as a third defeat in a week will probably see the 'Pearce out' chants (piped in I wonder?). Seriously though, there were a few alarm bells again last night in theat it is apparant we missed either Cole or Fowler up front and need a creative midfielder to have more of an impact than Ireland did (who played well but faded after an hour). Is our small squad beginning to be exposed with a couple of injuries?
It will be a stern test at the Toon who probably feel their season has been kick-started now after the victory at Blackburn and they will be fresher with not having to play mid-week.
Pearce said he will know more about his side in defeat than victory - let's hope he doesn't learn much more on Saturday eh?

Match day preview.

Barnet away 0-1, Wycombe away 0-0, Lincoln away 1-4, Doncaster away ?
My first League Cup away day at a 'minnow' for a few years and is one which we really shouldn't falter at. Don't know a great deal about Donny admittedly except that Joey Barton started a bit of a brawl in a pre-season game their last season.
Anyway, it's a new ground for me and a damn site cheaper than the Premiership away days so why not - hey, it might even stay dry considering it is an open end!
Team wise - Cole will probably miss out again and Sinclair is definitely out as he anxiously awaits the results to see the extent of Sunday's injury which looked a bad one at first sight. Hopefully, this may give Stephen Ireland a chance in midfield with Reyna possibly pushing out wide. I can't see wholesale changes as Pearce will look at this as a competition we need to have a decent go at. Still, I expect a couple of young lads to maybe make the bench so they could get a run out assuming things are going well.
Predicition: Doncaster 0 City 3.

Much ado about nothing?

It seems to be the vogue topic of discussion at the moment - has football lost it? This is usually accompanied by various explanations saying how The Ashes have stolen football fans, or ticket prices are pricing people out of the game or whehter Premiership tactics have resulted in a more bland and sterile product.
Even the M.E.N. got in on the act today with a two-page special focusing on Wigan, Bolton, United and City.
So, are City facing a problem attracting fans this season? Three games into the season and we see that the club is down in two and up in one of the corresponding fixtures from last season. However, on closer analysis, Portsmouth only brought 1,000 fans with them and last seasons game against West Brom was on Boxing Day. The Bolton game, in which we were up this season, was a Monday night game last year so I don't think that at this stage too much can be read into the home attendance figures.
It is evident though, that it is far easier to get hold of tickets if you are not a regular supporter this season. Certainly, the first season at Eastlands, games were selling out well in advance wheras last season it seemed the initial first season excitement had worn off and some fans did not renew their season tickets or go to as many games. This season though, thanks to being on some sort of marketing mailing list, I have received the in the week leading up to home games flyers 'reminding' me that there is a game at the weekend and not to miss out on the action. All of this with a lovely personal message by our esteemed manager.
I think away games are a more of an indication of a dwindling support as these tend to be the games where fans will give it a miss due to the additional cost of travelling etc. I know the Birmingham game went on open sale but to be fair that was a Saturday TV game with an evening kick off. It will be one to monitor, but fans 'voting with their feet' is a definite last resort.
What is apparant though at City, is a growing concern over the atmosphere at the new stadium since the move from Maine Road. Funnily enough, a guy I know who is a (casual) United fan went to the Portsmouth game and sat in the Colin Bell Stand and commented how good the atmosphere was (in comparison to United).
But it is a concern, and in our third season it should have sorted itself out by now. I know several of the fanzine owners have been part of action groups and there are various other individuals who have held meetings with representatives of the club to address this (and other) issue. Stuart Pearce has also mentioned it a couple of times, whilst still acknowledging that it should be the players on the pitch who get the crowd going.
To me, the problem is that the new stadium (how long can it be called that by the way?), whilst being comfortable and aesthetically pleasing does not have the intensity that Maine Road produced and I can't see that it ever will.
To be fair though, since moving to the stadium, there hasn't been much to excite the fans on the pitch as we had a near-relegation battle and the dour end of Keegan's reign. Maybe if we take off a little under Pearce and get a succesful season going then half the battle will be won.
One thing that was worrying though was the comments from City spokesman Paul Tyrell: 'we have been examining ways of improving the atmosphere, and over the next few weeks we will be trying out other things'. Thankfully, I wasn't at the game Sunday to have to witness first-hand the piped in chanting that the club decided to play. Someone should have been heading down to the dole office Monday morning with P45 clasped in hand for that disastrous decision.
It might work in Mary D's with the accompanyment of several pints to rouse a pre-game crowd but not inside the ground.
Please stop.

City 0 Bolton 1.

Mugged. That was the word I thought of when trying to describe the result from the game. Funnily enough. that was how both Stuart Pearce and Sam Allardyce viewed the game as well.
So, the unbeaten run goes and it is extremely galling to lose a game like that (especially against Bolton) but I saw enough again to convince me that we will be there or thereabouts for a UEFA Cup place come the end of the season.
It was of course an unjust scoreline, we didn't murder them but I thought we were comfortably the more inventive, brighter and creative side and looked to win the game far more than Bolton did. We hit the woodwork five times and forced Jaaskalinen to make a couple of decent saves as well, whilst Bolton had a header (which he should have buried) and a wayward shot from Davies before getting the penalty in stoppage time.
A little bit has been said about Bolton and their direct approach, both on this site and a some of the message boards out there, but I didn't see much evidence of that as Bolton rarely attacked with any threat throughout the whole game anyway.
For all the negative words about their style of play, what you cannot discount from Bolton is their hard work, energy and the way they press their opponents. But to me, surprisingly that was missing from them today and was possibly a hangover from Thursday nights UEFA Cup game.
As for City, I thought we were fairly creative, impressed with how the team linked with one another (a credit to Pearce and the work done in training), but although we deserved to win the game I thought we lacked a killer instinct in front of goal. Sibierski played well in relief of Cole and linked well with Vassell, but he is never going to be an out and out 'finisher'. I was suprised that Fowler was not given a run out at least for the last ten minutes. In the first half I thought Reyna and Barton bossed the midfield, and were both keen to retrieve the ball from deep positions (although a little too deep at times) and brought Mills, Musampa and Sun Jihai (when he came on) into the game well.
Second half, I thought we lost a little focus and didn't boss the game as much as in the first half but we still created enough chances to put one away and take the game away from Bolton.
Hopefully, Sinclair's injury may not be as bad as I first feared, but a plus was the bright little cameo from Stephen Ireland who looked like he offers a bit more of an attacking option than some of the other midfielders on the books.
Pearce thinks that this defeat should galvanise the side and that somewhere down the line a team is going to pay for the result today. Well, we should rebound away at Doncaster on Wednesday in the Carling Cup before we head up to the North-East to take on Newcastle, who may think their season starts now after beating Blackburn 3-0 today with Michael Owen getting his first goal.

Some Day's your the statue - Some Days' your the pigeon.

City 1-1 Bolton

That’s just the way it is! Cant really fault the any of the team today for effort and general play , but , unlike most who have been unswerving in their praise WOULD criticise both Sibi- I can pick the goalkeeper or post from anywhere – erski and cheeky Kiki Musampa for there finishing , enough quality chances to have won easily.

Where do you start? hitting the frame 6 times and pretty much bossing the play apart from a 15-20 min spell 10 minutes into the second half when Bolton came at us but ultimately didn’t force a save, and a fair dinkum penalty at the end when Dicky Big Shorts as much as I admire his defending proved he is undeniably an ‘unlucky’ player – think 2 own goals against Utd , a scorcher of a free kick disallowed ……….

Bolton played exactly as you expect them to, with the style and panache of a team that has the Bolton public turning up, in, well literally hundreds! Though jasskalien (can’t be arsed to check the spelling) must have set a new record with his time wasting clocked at 16 mins into the game? They spoiled, Davies stamped, Sam made negative substitutions and they won, so pretty much business as usual for them.

From a Bolton perspective they must be delighted , rubbing there 6 fingered hands together with glee at a mid week Uefa cup (NOT European Cup as they sing) and a smash and grab raid away from home. As much as you can slag there style of play and believe me I will , you can’t fault the fact they to a man stick to there game plan and coming off a Wednesday night match dug deep , particularly during that second half spell that took the wind out of City’s sails just after Barton (Man of the Match) predictably hit the post.

Positives on the day we errr we didn’t look like losing ! sounds daft but I thought from early on the game had draw stamped on it. Stephen Ireland is well worth a second look and last but not least, at least I don’t have to pay to watch Bolton every week!

Just one final point , who ever came up with the idea of piping singing and chanting into the stands , make your way to East stand level 1 , Entrance 107 , Row K , Seat 168 you will find a revolver and one bullet under the seat, do the honourable thing .

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The Beautiful Game ?

Next up; Fat Sam’s Wimbledon tribute act.

Slightly harsh I thought (the saying was borrowed from a message board) as a description for the current Bolton team that has achieved a fair bit of success in the last season or two, European Football and a Cup Final.

The criticism is therefore aimed at the ‘direct’ style of play favoured by Alladyce , now I have to admit as a season ticket holder I wasn’t thrilled to see his name strongly linked with managing our club, but, I was even more shocked to see the critiscm he has been taking on the Bolton message boards. One comment went along the lines of ‘not been able to take us on to the next level’ ?? Champions League ? 1st or 2nd in the league ? FA Cup winners?

The truth is the paint by numbers football favoured by Big Sam ; long throws, drilled set pieces, big fella up top , flick on’s , 2 solid banks of 4 (or one of 4 one of 5) is only ever going to get you so far. And Bolton have pretty much reached the summit of where they can expect to go.

Curious then that in the weekend papers 2 story’s really stood out. The first was a direct quote from Arsene Wenger ‘there is a trend to play less attractive in England; teams are copying the more cautious European approach. I am very concerned that, even at home, teams are not trying to play.’
Mainly aimed at Chelsea but more of that in a bit.

The 2nd I have paraphrased from David James ‘our success is due to a team ethic now , not relying on individual brilliance of SWP or Anelka’

So have we joined the paint by numbers brigade ? our success has certainly been built on a strong back 5, and the midfield has been a ‘creative void’ since the departure of Ali & Eyal , but , I do believe we at least try and play with some attacking instincts in certain games we will have to defend or get slaughtered but that’s probably only 3 teams , the rest of the time we do try and be positive.

So the question is play ugly and get a result ? or play pretty and risk a hiding ?
The cold hard facts are that Liverpool are European Cup champions and Greece wont the Euro championships , both based on a solid defence and the no-superstar ethic (Steven Gerrard apart) Chelsea won the league and look unstoppable this year based on a pragmatic approach that made them impossible to break down , they do however have the luxury of individual brilliance in abundance so probably have the perfect mix.

People cheer winning football , at least thats what they used to say … Crowds at Bolton have been historically low , Chelsea are down on last season ! another exponent of the ultra defensive approach Boro have also historically struggled.

So the conclusion is a defensive approach will win you things , but nobody will be there to see it ? eh ?

Match day preview.

Bolton arrive at Eastlands later on today, fresh off a succesful start in their UEFA Cup campaign against Lokomotiv Plovdiv on Thursday night.
Big Sam has already mentioned he is concered with the fact there may not be much left in the tank after Thursdays game, and he has been known to tinker with his team in the past, so maybe there will be a few changes made by Bolton today.
Much has been made of Bolton's 'style' of play with Stuart Pearce recently defending them. No suprise that we can expect plenty of long and cross-field balls to 'big' Kevin Davies with the likes of Nolan, Stelios and Speed feeding off the scraps (or is the correct term 'second ball'?) with Jay-Jay Okocha developing a cricked neck.
A win today will take us back to second after Chelsea defeated Charlton yesterday and I see no reason for us not to take all three points.
We will have an unchanged team from the derby, and I think Reyna and Barton (who have been outstanding this season) will be key figures today. Dunne and Distin will also resume their partnership at the back and the onus will be on them to shut down the Bolton attacks early on.
I expect it to be scrappy and non-too pretty at times but I'll take City to run out 2-1 winners.

City dominate Actim Index.

City's performance in the Derby last Saturday and all-round bright start to the season was even more evident this week as four members of the City squad feature in the Actim index top ten.
I must confess I'd not come across this before, but looking at how the rankings are devised it seems to be a development on the more standard Opta statistics that have been around for some time, assessing a players contribution and performance as well as taking into account the opposition team.
The Blues featured are Andy Cole (3), Claudio Reyna (5), Trevor Sinclair (7) and Joey Barton (8), whilst David James tops the goalkeeping rankings.
Ironically, three of the four City players featured are players who entered the season with much uncertainty around them and who had lots to prove. To their credit Barton, Reyna and Sinclair have been consistent this season and at times all three have paid tribute to the management skills and methods of Stuart Pearce for bringing the best out of them, with Sinclair crediting Pearce for the way he was come back from his injury problems.
There really does seem to be a buzz around City at the moment and Pearce must take most (if not all) of the credit for this and has got the team really believing in themselves. If we can sustain this run over the next ten games or so then who knows where this season can take us?

A dream come true Nico?

There once was a young man who had a dream. The dream was to be the best he could be and play on the best stage at all. He didn't care about money, just fulfilling his dream. The problem was, where he was could not make his dream come true so he had to escape to a place where his wish could come true.
So he went to Turkey and signed for Fenerbahce.
Fenerbahce began their 2005/06 Champions Leage campaign with an away trip to Milan last night, providing Nicolas Anelka with the chance to strut his stuff on the biggest stage of all - after all, that's what he wanted all along wasn't it?
And what did he show? Well, in my opinion, he showed everything that we are missing and for as well as Cole and Vassell have started why it was such a mistake to have let him go. And don't tell me we needed the money as six months later SWP was carted off to Chelsea for more than enough money to keep the club 'stable'.
Anelka played pretty much on his own last night (probably preferable to linking up with Macken) and led the line superbly, was strong and held the ball up well, linking in the midfield support (did her have that last season with us?) well as the Turks looked to counter-attack Milan. He came into the game far more in the second half, using his pace well against Nesta to carve out a half-chance before earning a penalty following a clumsy challenge from Rino Gattuso which brought them level before a stunning goal from Kaka restored the win for Milan.
It did make me feel a bit disappointed last night as I think back to the nature of his departure as given a chance Pearce could have got so much out of him and I would have liked to have seen what sort of partnership he could have built up with Andy Cole.
Above all, it made me realise what a talent he had, and, despite the criticism he received from many Blues (you know who you are) about being lazy and uncommitted (both false in my book), how much he was head and shoulders above the some of the rubbish he ended up playing alongside.

Juvenile I know, but ………

Seen as though he hasn’t bothered to reply to my letter………

Why not !

http://www.punchaceleb.com/hit/ferguson/#Alex%20Ferguson

Best with sound.

And now for something completely different.

Ricky Ponting, Don Bradman, Dame Edna Everage, John Howard, Jason Donovan, Danny Tiatto, can you hear me? Bea Smith, Greg Chappell, Sir Les Paterson, Kylie Minogue, Shane Warne, INXS, Hary Kewell, Skippy the kangaroo, the cast of Neighbours, Crocodile Dundee - let me tell you, your boys took one hell of a beating...

An Apology.

Dear Mr Ferguson,

May I take this opportunity to apologise on behalf of everybody connected with Manchester City Football Club.

I was deeply ashamed on Saturday when I heard your comments about City coming to Old Trafford and adopting a defensive attitude in order to maximise their chances of winning. As you will know displaying commitment to cause and discipline to the formation are not the normal hallmarks of a City team at OT.

Furthermore , your stated ‘domination’ of the game was disgracefully overlooked by the one thing that can not lie : statistics. All of the Sunday papers had City enjoying between 45-48% possession! And to make matters worse they ‘claimed’ that city had 3 shots on target compared to your 2 ! Maybe you should consider not talking to the papers for a while like BBC1 who dared to disagree with you ? Do they have no idea what Total Domination Means ?

Also most TV channels chose to show the Andrew Cole 'Incident' towards the end of the game that could have made it 2-1. I suggest you have this deleted from all records as it may in some peoples eyes , make your 'never looked like losing' comment seem a little bit strange. And those who know nothing of the game (i.e. disagree with you) may think your tired cliches are a sign of man refusing to accept his sides sad decline.

That young upstart Pearce has obviously decided to translate the latin on the City club Badge ‘Superbia en Proelia’ and apply it as a team ethic. Pride in battle in deed , doesn’t he know that the attributes he has drilled into his players should not be used under ‘Old Trafford Rules’ we should have come and over commited in all out attack , thus allowing your expensively assembled forward line the rich picking that your unbalanced team deserved.

In the meantime I shall be writing to the FA to make sure theses dastardly deeds do not go unpunished and that retribution is both harsh and timely. So Mike Riley it is for the return derby.

Yours sincerely


Mr Banks


Nb- How is your horse doing ? or are we still not talking about the annoyance of the coolmore mafia that let glazer in ?

United 1 City 1.

So, we start and end the day above United in the table and keep our impressive start to the season (and unbeaten run) going.
Despite the protestations of Ferguson, it is generally accepted (from both Blues and Reds that I've spoken to) that 1-1 was a fair result.
Ferguson spent some of his post match interview complaining of our defensive outlook and that we had 'parked the team at the 18 yard line', comments which Stuart Pearce took to be of a complimentary nature and countered with his assumption that United would not have too many home games this season where they create so few chances.
I think United's opener had an element of fortune about it, although the defence were sleeping a little and it was extremely harsh on David James, who had made a fantastic initial save to deny van Nistelrooy.
The equaliser itself was slightly scrappy but the end result of a fantastic move started by Cole, and involved Barton, Reyna and Vassell before Joey got the last touch to meg the defender on the line.
Overall, pretty pleased with the point and post-match Pearce was again praising the collectiveness of the team, saying "the spirit in the camp is gaining momentum, they can look at each other and look at the fella beside them and say 'I can trust them and they can trust me.' Once you get that in the team, you'll see the results that you saw today, that resiliance not to get beaten.”
Next game up is Bolton at home next Sunday, which of the course was the corresponding fixture last season which saw the end of the Kevin Keegan reign.
How times have changed....

Match day preview.

It's the moment they've been waiting for all summer. The Glazers must surely have had one eye on this weekend since the disappointment of last seasons campaign.
They have been villified this summer and had their ownership of the team questioned. But, to be fair, they have remained strong and put their faith in the existing coaching staff and even backed the management team with cash to be able to strengthen the playing squad.
Yep, that's right folks, it's the return of the NFL season with Tampa Bay opening up with a road trip at the Minnesota Vikings.
Coach John Gruden is under a little bit of pres....whats that? It's supposed to be a preview of the derby and not the new NFL season? Get me the editor of the site NOW...

Sorry about that folks. Normal service now resumed....

In truth, tomorrow is going to be the first real test of the season for us. Coming off the back of the international double header we are probably in better shape with only Richard Dunne seeing any meaningful action whilst a majority of United's side have been away.
Confidence is high in the City camp at the moment, with Reyna and Musampa talking up our chances this week and espousing the value of the team spirit which Pearce has fostered. Talking of Pearce, good to see he picked up the manager of the month award for August - his second award in his short spell in charge.

Last season you may recall we went to Old Trafford with just Anelka up front and came back with a 0-0 draw but I don't think Pearce will be as defensive today.
Team wise, I have a feeling that he will bring Distin back in to the starting line-up after his run out in the reserves midweek, which will leave a choice between Onouha and Mills for the right-back position.
United have started well this season, with a 100% record and no goals conceded, with much of the credit going to the steady influence brought by Edwin van der Saar. Along with James, I think he is the top keeper in the Premiership but I don't believe United have been really tested by any of the sides they have faced this season so it is perhaps a little difficult to lay too much credit so far.
Ronaldo will be missing for them on compassionate grounds along with Super-Gaz so Giggs may return to the side whilst it is rumoured that Keane will not play after playing for Ireland midweek, so the 'new Keane' aka Alan Smith may come in midfield.
I think defensively United could still be suspect abut it is a case of whether we really have a go at them enough to exploit it, whilst van Nistelrooy (more on him later) and Rooney seem to be hitting form this season which could cause our defense (and midfield) a lot of trouble.
We will probably approach the game relatively cautously and try and use the pace of Vasell and the ability of Cole to hold the ball up to get the midfield supporting. The key for us will be our defence and if we can hold them then I think we have a definite chance.
I don't think it will be as tight a game as last season though but bearing in mind our league record is not too bad over the last few visits my prediction is I'm going to take us to get a 1-1 draw.

Hopefully, I'll have a couple of special match reports to post up at the start of next week. Stay tuned.

P.S. I know he is playing for Holland on this clip, but doesn't it just sum up all you hate about him? Click on the fourth goal by van Nistelrooy.

Get to the line Wardy.

Former City 'wing ace' Mark Ward has made the majority of the papers today as the trial began yesterday over his involvement in a plot to distribute cocaine.
Ward has actually pleaded guilty to a charge of intent to supply four kilos of cocaine.
Ward has admitted that the drugs were at his home but denied that they were his, although it is not clear if he was just minding them for a mate 'n that.
Ward will now face 'a trial within a trial' to determine the extent of his role in the operation, but he has been told it is 'inevitable' that he will face a prison sentance.
Ward played 69 times for City, scoring 16 goals between 1989-1991 during the Kendall and Reid eras.

Derby Day the scores were level , then the Goat was fed by Neville............................

Well somebody has to hold the fort as Danny lets the heady heights of writing fame take him on the rollercoaster of celebrity. He does deny a role in the next celebrity big brother but is considering letting a BBC docu-soap follow him on his quest to be the next Robert Maxwell.

So down to business , Firstly my favourite derby it all started one friday night in the MUEN , every blues favourite Neville brother the mustachioed , hard-staring , alleged mincing , son of a neville : Gary. The headline from memory went along the lines of 'Never lost to city' and conveyed the handsome hunks intentions never to do so. Cometh the hour , cometh the man ......

The last Maine Road derby , a makeshift centreback pairing of Mettomo and Weikens a mid week defeat at Wigan. Optism was not at an all time high , however , Veron lined up in centre midfield for the rags. As Yoda once said 'always hope there is..' Got to the ground reasonably early to see a hundred or so blues gathered around the Gene Kelly 'urging' the non-colour wearing reds to make there way back to the nations capital. It felt good to be blue.

Memory escapes me as to which goal it was that the England teams shop steward gifted to us , I do however remember my exact words 'take me now lord it doesn't get any better' strangely it did. As the kippax rose to a man to salute our new hero with every touchline run , Fergie in a rare show of humour decided to hand the Captains armband to Phil. Some days are worth the price of a season ticket alone.

The sight of Goater curling in around a helpless Barthez will live with me forever , as will the look on Mr Hard stare's face. Vile Eyal absolutely ran the midfield that day , his best ever game for city bar none.

Gary if your reading , sorry if your mums reading this to you ; could you bring down Andrew Cole (Quickly use a jedi mind trick to erase my pre season misgivings from anybodys memory) in the last few minutes would be nice then drop to your knees and bang your fists on the ground as he slams it home.

The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

You know, Bitter and Blue is not just here to provide thought-provoking opinion and insightful commentary on the goings on at Manchester City.
No, no. In a fine gesture of public spiritidness, today I am bringing you a feature that will provide an informative look at one of our Premiership rivals.
And, with the derby but two days away now, what better team to focus on than Manchester United?So here you have it, with thanks to Blue Moon here is the Bitter and Blue fact guide to Manchester United.

Utd are the biggest club in the world.
Utd took a million to Barcelona.
All their fans know all the words to the flowers of Manchester, they sing it before every match, every time.
All Utd fans are cool socialists.
Utd have the most loyal and hardest firm in the world.
The cockney reds all come from Manchester.
Utd fans are so cool they never wear colours ever (the fact they sell 4 million shirts a week is irrelevant).
Utd have the BEST stadium in the whole world.
Utd fans NEVER sing about death as they know only too well how it feels.
All the famous bands and musicians in Manchester support Man United. All of them. There are no embarrasing celeb fans, they are all cool.
They ALL come from Manchester.
All Utd fans have the first Stone Roses Album (ltd edition of course). All Utd fans know the words to "One Love".
All Utd fans were at Spike Island, it was their special day.
There are no Utd fans in Stockport, and definitely non in London.
They are not in any way bothered about City which is why they never ever spend most of their matches singing nursery rhymes about us.
There are no City fans in Manchester. Not one, they all come from Stockport.
Eric Cantona is the best player in the world ever.
United have never received government aid to build the swamp (except for the full rebuild of the cantilever stand before the 66 world cup).
You just can't get a ticket for Old Trafford.
The train to London Euston is never full of United fans. Ever. Never seen one.

Hark now hear.

Well, what with these pesky midweek games (of course, I mean vitally important World Cup qualifiers) going on at the moment it seems that there has been a bit of a low-key build up to the first derby of the season.
Somewhat earlier than usual and for some reason not shown live on Sky either. In fact, when was the last Saturday 3pm kick-off in a derby game?
Answers to the above on a postcard to the usual address please.
Back to matters in hand though, and it's time that we all focused on the derby, after all it is the biggest one without a shadow of a doubt in England.
Whats that you say? Newcastle-Sunderland, Liverpool-Everton, Villa-Birmingham or even Spurs-Arsenal. No chance. Nothing you can say or do will convince me otherwise.

My favourite Derby? Can't be anything other than the 5-1. The penalty box scramble where Pallister fell on his arse for the second goal is still to this day one of my favourite City goals, and did David White ever deliver a better cross for Hinchcliffe's header. Whatever four/five finger salute Fowler does to United fans, it will never match the one Hinchcliffe did. My United mate's comment post-game were classic 'as soon as I saw Beardsmore wearing no. 7 I knew we were fucked'.
Time to dig the video out methinks..

My worst Derby? A tough one as we have been on the wrong end of one or two, but the 3-2 defeat at home back in 1993, after we had gone 2-0 through a Niall Quinn brace gutted me. When it became 2-1 after a Vonk error, I knew if they got another we were done for and lo and behold we went and cocked it up. Came not long after United had done the very same thing against Galatasary to be dumped out of the European Cup. How ironic the chants became..

Anyway, in the bests interests of impartiality, neutrality, public spiritidness and other dull phrases, we'll put aside Derby day hostility, animosity and all-round piss-taking for one day as you can all check-out the interview I did for the website United Rant which appears today.
Despite being a United site, it's not a bad one I suppose (he says grudgingly). And before you think I've turned to the dark side, we'll crank up the Derby day stuff tomorrow.

Soccer survey

For those of you who want to rant about your team, astronomical wages or the fact that the club is taking the piss out of you, please go on-line to complete the following survey.
It will give you a chance to vent some of your frustration and once the survey is complete I'll post up a link to the overall results and how City have fared.
Plus there's free stuff to be won. Enjoy.

Why do you hate me?

Not much going on at the moment as we are in thick of the International calendar (huge yawn!) and with the transfer deadline having passed without any action for City.
One thing that did catch my mind at the weekend was the serialisation in the Mail on Sunday of Robbie Fowler's autobiography 'Fowler' (imaginative title Robbie).
This week was a focus on his time at City and his struggle for form and fitness. The most interesting part was that his confidence was in tatters as he claims that the fans 'hated me. Fucking hated me'. This all culminated in his walking out of the stadium after being subbed against Everton at home last season, and was then sent away by Keegan to get fit and focused. What didn't come out at the time was his mental state and that he wanted to quit the game.
I take issue with Fowler a little here as I don't think the fans really ever turned on him, let alone hated him.
He arrived with a big repuatation and transfer fee which cost David Bernstein the chairmanship of the club. He plainly wasn't fit - for a variety of reasons but the fans always backed him (myself more than most) and although there were dissenting voices over his performances the support he received was in stark contrast to the abuse some players quickly received (remember Lee Bradbury anyone?).
He also mentioned that Nicolas Anelka was 'a selfish bastard who just played for himself' which exposes a common held view that the two of them (and their egos) could never function together.
Reading excerpts from his book it is clear that he has always felt like he has been the 'man', right from his early days at Liverpool and it will be interesting to see how he fits into the squad on his return from injury, especially with Cole and Vassell starting well.
Can his ego handle it? Time will tell.

Sunday morning service.

News came in yesterday that the Everton home game originally scheduled for Saturday October 1st which was to be a Sky pay per view game has been switched to the Sunday due to Everton's participation in a UEFA Cup game the previous Thursday, as originally it was presumed they may have qualified for the Champions League.
No real problem with that as fair enough if they have a UEFA Cup 48 hours before, as we had a couple of Sunday games when we were in the UEFA Cup two seasons ago and the Bolton home game has also been moved.
However (and prepare yourselves for this one), the kick-off time is 11:15am!!!!
Is this some kind of joke? The game is still to go ahead on Sky (as pay per view of course) and the kick off time was decided upon after ahem 'consultation with senior officials from both clubs and the local police in Manchester'.
One question. Why?
Can anyone provide me with a sane and logical reason why this game should kick-off at 11:15am?
Season-ticket holders aside for one moment, what incentive is there for someone to actually bother buying a ticket specifically for this game, especially when they may have to travel some distance to get there?
Taking a wild guess, I'm presuming this kick off time is so that Sky's coverage of their other Sunday games is not affected as this one will be all wrapped up by the time their lunchtime pay per view game kicks off.
File this one as another example of the clubs and TV companies taking the piss out of fans.
Sky are in a win-win situation as they know that fans who will be unable (or unwilling) to attend the game due to the kick-off time will end up forking out £8 or whatever it is to watch it on TV.
City are not alone in that attendances are down so far this season and I cannot see this one being any different. Surely a candidate for the first sub-40,000 game seen at Eastlands?

Much ado about nothing.

Well, I'm back and did I miss anything?
Not much if I'm honest. We seemed to get a left behind a little in the transfer deadline sweepstakes with the club failing to land any reinforcements (either permanent or on-loan) before the deadline whilst most clubs seemed to be involved in a certain amount of wheeling and dealing.
I don't believe it was for a lack of trying on Pearce's behalf as I think he does genuinely want to strengthen the side but circumstance dictated that he was unable to do so with the players he has in mind.
We knew already that he had run into a brick wall in his attempts at adding either Stelios or Steed Malbranque a couple of weeks ago, and I think that Pearce does have to be applauded if he has indeed refused to panic and splash out on someone he is not entirely convinced of as it does seem that certain managers have gone out and added a couple of players to appease the fans/board/press.
One confirmed bid we made was for Dane Christian Poulsen but the player was believed not to be keen on the move at this stage and also his club Shalke 04 indicated they would not have time to find a replacement for him due to the bid being made so close to the deadline.
One rumour I read which is believed to have been true is a move for Juventus forward Alessandro del Piero. To be honest, I don't know what to make of this one. If it is true, did the club think they stood a chance of landing him? Maybe they did get word he would be interested but it would have been a big coup to have landed him. Actually, make that a MASSIVE coup - almost as massive as his wages would have been.
David Sommeil was rumoured to be heading for the exit, but maybe the fact Distin is yet to return from injury has made Pearce think twice, but come the January window I would think he could be on his way back to France.
Overall, I think we needed certainly the midfield area strengthening as we will be a little exposed if we suffer a couple of injuries but I don't think there can be too many complaints that Pearce has decided to stick at this time with the hope that he will be able to work on a couple of deals and bring in new faces in January.