Chelsea 2 City 0.

The actual result from yesterday has been somewhat overshadowed by the Drogba handball and Distin sending-off, with much of the MOTD analysis and press coverage this morning concentrating on the two incidents, with the Drogba one inevitably attracting most of the attention - primarily because of his post-match comments.

Looking at the Drogba hand-ball first - much has been made about his comments that he 'cheats' and 'dives'. There is no doubt that he has been guilty of diving (or simulation) during his time at Chelsea, but if I can play devils advocate for a moment I wouldn't class his hand-ball necessarily as cheating. As Lee Dixon commented, it wasn't as if Drogba jumped up and punched the ball in the net. The ball came across him and as he attempted to control it the ball struck his arm and unfortunately for us fell perfectly for him to slot home for his and Chelsea's second goal. Clearly he wasn't going to hold his hand up (sorry, wrong choice of phrase perhaps) and have the goal chalked off. It was however nothing to do with diving or cheating.

The people at fault in this situation were the referee and linesman - particularly the linesman who was right in line with Drogba and should have clealy seen it, and disallowed the goal.

Which leads on nicely to incident number two - Distin's sending off. In the aftermath of Drogba's second goal, Distin and Kiki Musampa were booked for dissent (ie. protesting the validity of the goal). At half-time, Distin was in possession of the ball when the referee blew and Distin went over to speak to him. It was hardly a conversation the two had - Distin presumably asking "Why did you allow the goal?", whilst Rob Styles kept repeating "Give me the ball". Possibly sensing the only way to end it was to yellow card him, Styles did precisely that and Distin got his marching orders. It was all unnecessary as when he did produce the yellow card it appeared that Distin had begun to move away, obviously realising he was not going to get a satisfactory response.

This again is another topical issue as much has been written recently regarding the intimidating and influencing of referees to make decisions. One suggestion that has been made is to allow only the captain to speak to the referee - precisely what Distin was doing. If Rob Styles had given an answer to what Distin was asking instead of just repeating "Give me the ball", I am certain Distin would have walked away and we would have remained with eleven men for the second half.

Not that it appeared it would have made much difference though.

Stuart Pearce, mindful of the lack of options available to him altered his normal tactical approach and opted for a 5-1-3-1-1 line-up, with the intention of providing extra protection to counter Chelsea's attacking threat. From the highlights it didn't appear that are midfield trio of Musampa, Ireland and Flood could get any sort of hold on the game which left the defence exposed time and time again and Chelsea could have had two or three more gols - Gudjohnsen, Drogba and Crespo wasting clear chances.

It says a lot for our lack of creativity that our two best efforts were both from Danny Mills - along range effort which would matched his Everton one if it had gone in, and a decent attempt from a free-kick.

A lot has been made following the West Ham defeat that we should now play some of the younger players from now to the end of the season to give them experience as we are now just playing out the season. The problem Pearce faces is that around the mid-table positions it is quite congested and with around £500,000 on offer per place in The Premiership he cannot afford to simply throw away points as a higher Premiership finish could provide more flexibility to Pearce in the transfer window over the summer.

Players have been blooded this season already though with Onouha, Richards and Ireland getting extended runs and Croft, Wright-Phillips and Miller also featuring. Given the injury problems we currently face in addition to one or two suspensions it is highly likely that some of the younger players will see extended action between now and the end of the season - whether Pearce intended it or not.

Match reports:
Observer
Independent
MCFC.co.uk

Blogwatch.

I've managed to catch up one or two of the blogs that I regularly read today and in doing so I came across an interesting piece about Kevin Keegan.

It was on former footballer Andy Hunt's blog, and is part of a series that he is doing entitled 'How to become a professional footballer' covering all the way from his first pro-contract to his unfortunate and premature retirement.

What I found particularly interesting about this latest instalment was that it covered his time at Newcastle United and his (non)relationship with Keegan. He had signed for them prior to Keegan's arrival, and had performed fairly well the during that time. However, for whatever reason it became clear that Keegan simply didn't 'fancy' him as a player and effectively jettisoned Hunt from the team and shunned him in the process until Hunt's former 'Toon manager Ossie Ardiles rescued him and took him to West Brom.

Whilst Hunt admits his admiration for what Keegan achieved at Newcastle, the piece is an interesting insight into how Keegan operates and confirms the theory that with Keegan that it is 'my way or the highway'. Of course this was true during his days with City as well in that players he didn't fancy when he took over were frozen out or sold off (Whitley and Wiekens) and those that challenged him were also discarded (Jensen and Berkovic).

It's definitely an interesting piece (and series) and well worth taking a look. Also interesting to see that Hunt has most definitely not taken the usual career path of an ex-pro either.

And another 48 hours.

And so it ends.

The vital 48 hours of our season only served to produce two defeats - a lame league defeat against Wigan to certainly end the league route into Europe and then the disappointment of Monday in a game which to me we never looked like winning.

I didn't catch any of the Wigan game as I was on a train heading down to London, but left instructions that texts should be sent detailing any crucial moments. I got the half-time score, Wigan's goal and then the full-time score (accompanied with the word 'dreadful'). Pearce surprised me by going against his comments earlier in the week and resting the bulk of the 'Cup' side. On my previous post if you recall I'd suggested he should play the same side to continue the momentum built up. By dropping eight players though, this did at least ensure that the team didn't become too disjointed if say he had only rested three or four of the side.

Onto Monday then. Any remaining confidence I had drained when I saw that Samaras had lost his fitness battle, which left us with a out of sorts (and unfit) Vassell to partner the raw Wright-Phillips in attack. Even more crucially perhaps was the absence of Sinclair from midfield. Around ten minutes into the game, it looked obvious that we looked a little disjointed and the attacking moves which we have shown in recent times at home were not in evidence. Musampa's failure to hit the target was inexcusable (why did he hit it with his right foot?) and Vassell's lack of confidence was clear as he looked for other options as opposed to striking at goal.

Once West Ham scored we were always struggling to get back in the game, and for me it was a neat build up and well taken goal with Ashton starting and finishing the move. It was interesting to hear that Norwich had 'rested' him for their third round Cup defeat, which of course meant he wouldn't be Cup tied. If memory serves he didn't move until late in the window but it seems clear Norwich were looking to sell, so if Pearce was keen it seems the £7.5 million was definitely an issue.

The second half didn't see is exactly spring into life and was went from one disaster to another - first with Sun's 'raising' of his hands in the direction of Etherington (who I saw engage in a winding up session with Bolton's Kevin Nolan the week before) and then both Jordan and Barton going off injured. And it was only once West Ham scored their second that we mounted a sustained period of attack on their goal. However, it was often more in desperation than anything else and disappointing that we did not test Hislop enough either side of the superb strike from Musampa.
Congratulations though to the youth team who booked their place in the Cup final against Liverpool with a 1-1 draw at home to Newcastle last night, winning 4-3 on aggregrate. I doubt there would have been much chance to celebrate as it looks like most of them will be lining up against Chelsea tomorrow at the rate that the first team are going down at the moment.

Another 48hrs

Unfortunately there isn't another 48hrs , and as a result the 2005/6 season effectively ended on Monday night On Friday night we still had high hopes of extending our superb home form and t aking a step closer to Europe with a win over Wigan and expectancy was also High regarding the FA Cup QF versus West Ham.

The Wigan game saw nine changes from the team that saw off Villa to secure our first QF since the days of Peter Reid . One was the return of Sylvain Distin , the two to keep their place James and Sinclair. Despite a bright start the cutting edge never appeared to threaten Wigan with BWP gaining a rare start and failing to impress and Darius looking like he needs the hernia op he is scheduled for sooner rather than later. Wigan without ever excelling forced there way into the game and always the more likely in a game devoid of any quality , bar Lee McCullough's header after Sommeil and James had both sliced the ball to give Wigan the corner , when it should have been hoofed down the other end of the pitch. Presumably James didn't think it was as funny as he originally thought when McCullough powered the ball past him with a superb back post header. Samaras had made a brief appearance as sub before been subbed with an injury that was going to haunt us. Sinclair should have leveled it up but again fluffed a one on one with the keeper , maybe he had been watching a collection of Anelkas and copied the style.

Still at this point most blues were not too despondent , the first team was due back versus West Ham and the optimism that unjustly flows through city fans was begining to bubble.
So where did it all go wrong ? Tricky Trev and more notably Samaras has picked up injuries in the Wigan game so it didn't bode well from before kick off. Again City started brightly in a cracking FA cup atmosphere (credit to West Ham for shifting 5/6 thousand for a monday night TV game and in 4 days as well)
The Hammers had there fair share of first half possession but rarely threatened with city allowing them to move it along the back four and into non Threatening areas and looking pretty solid at the back. Up front however the lack of quality was apparent despite a number of balls going into the box , there wasn't that much quality and West Ham also looked pretty comfortable at the back. However Dean Ashton , a failed target for City twice , looks like every inch of the 7 million the Hammers board invested in him when City balked at the fee. A superb first half twist and turn and the Hammers go in 1-0 up.

The second half onsalught never really got going for City and Sun Jihai made it mission impossible with his swat at Matthew Etherington , Queue Ashton again with a suspiciously off side looking goal. and despite a late Musampa goal the FA Cup dream dies for another year.

Ah well , at least were safe ! So two defeats and can't complain about decisions or bad luck or even playing a superior side as both all 3 teams are quite evenly matched.The team simply didn't perform on each occasion.

Don't rest on your laurels.

In what is just over forty-eight hours until the biggest game of the season for his side, Stuart Pearce has to make a decision which could have potentially huge ramifications for Monday nights quarter-final match up with West Ham.

Due to the wisdom of the FA's scheduling of the quarter finals, City and West Ham have to face-off on Monday night with little or no preperation and recovery from matches against Wigan and Portsmouth respectively. In some ways, we have the better of the situation given that we played our fifth round game a day earlier, were not taken to extra time and have all three games at home.

Hammers boss Alan Pardew has been extremely vocal with his intention to play a fringe side in order to rest key players ahead of Monday, citing the toll the fixture pile-up was having on his squad. Pearce on other hand has been more bullish about playing his strongest side in both games, stating that first and foremost he must "pick a side to win on Saturday".

It is an interesting situation for both managers and there is a valid argument for both approaches. Why I think I back Pearce's move (unless he is calling everyone's bluff of course) is the fact that at home (we can ignore away form for the immediate future) we are on a roll - winning seven straight and turning in strong performances in the process. Whilst the Wigan game is by no means a given, it is winnable and for me it is important to maintain the momentum and confidence that has built up.

Of course you cannot legislate for injuries or how the players will recover and it is possible key players could pick up an injury or wear themselves out for Monday night. That side of the argument dictates that players such as Mills, Sommeil, Croft, Wright-Phillips and Ireland should be brought to keep those starting on Monday fresh.

One thing to bear in mind though is Pearce believes that over the last year City have become one of the fittest teams in the Premiership, which of course helps in the recovery process and there were no stories of City players suffering cramps following our midweek game (as Alan Pardew admitted some of his squad had experienced).

In reality it is a situation where the only way Pearce can win is to take three points against Wigan and then triumph in the FA Cup to send us through to the semi-finals.

Unfortunately, I'm down in London as of this afternoon until Thursday so will be missing both games. I'm sure you can look after yourselves until I get a chance to post again (maybe Thursday, more likely Friday), but feel free to fill up the comments section in what is an important old forty-eight hours.

Tonights action.

FURTHER UPDATE Moments after hitting 'publish' for the last update, Marlon Harewood goes and slots home the winner with a neat finish. Bolton huffed and puffed for most of extra time but you sensed getting back in the game was always beyond them. West Ham at home next Monday then for a place in the semi-final - the game most people wanted?

UPDATE The West Ham v Bolton game has now gone into extra time. The second half was more of an open contest than the first half but was again littered with mistakes and both sides wasted good possession. One or two chances created for both sides but nothing too clear cut. I have a feeling this one could go all the way to penalties.

A couple of games of relevance going on around the country tonight, with our future quarter-final opponents being decided at Upton Park. At half-time it currently stands at 1-1 with two errors giving the goals. West Ham opened the scoring when Nicky Hunt's poor clearance cannoned of Jaaskelainen into the back of the net. The Hammers looked more likely to increase the lead in what was becoming a tetchy affair before a long range shot from Kevin Davies wasn't dealt with by Shaka Hislop and gave Bolton the equaliser.

It's by and large been a scrappy affair with errors being made by both side, although West Ham looking the more fluent going forward with Ashton and Harewood linking well with Etherington and Bennayoun. It's set to be an interesting second half.

City youth team have been in action tonight away at Newcastle in the first leg of their semi-final match up and we will take a lead away with us thanks to a come from behind 3-2 win. Full match report from mcfc.co.uk.

Two former Blues have been on the scoresheet at Anfield in the game between Liverpool and Fulham. Robbie Fowler scored his first goal since his move from City, before Collins John equalised only to see Liverpool restore their lead with a Michael Brown own goal.

Cup reaction.

Into the quarter finals then for the first time in thirteen years and the catasrophe that was the 5-2 home defeat by Tottenham. Perhaps it is that memory that is resulting in a tentative approach to the possibility of FA Cup glory, despite the possibility now being a very real one.

I expected last nights game to be a cagey, cautious affair as both sides seasons hopes in effect rested on the result. It was City though that started the brighter side and it was pleasing to see Riera restored out on the left. The ever improving Samaras carved a great opportunity out for himself early on but his final shot did not do his early work justice. He also failed to convert another half chance before he deservedly gave City the lead, hitting home the rebound after Sorensen had saved his initial shot brought about by good play out wide.

Villa were lacklustre, even more so after the threat of Baros ended due to injury and we should have gone in at half time three goals up, and Sinclair's miss when one on one would surely have sealed the game. As it was, David O'Leary must have been cursing when minutes into the second half Villa conceded a soft goalas old boy Darius Vassell was allowed to re-direct a shot from Riera to put City 2-0 up.

You never felt that Villa had it in them to mount a comeback of any sorts and City remained in control for the rest of the game allowing only half chances as the impressive Dunne and Richards allowed nothing past. City managed to make things hard though by allowing a Villa goal with five minutes left but despite an attempted assault from them, James was never tested again and the whistle went to usher us through to the quarter-finals.

On the night, Samaras impressed me a great deal and his all round play is good and Riera seems to bring the best out of him linking up on the left and it was a good move from Pearce to restore the Spaniard to the side, which also allowed Musampa to slot back alongside Barton and turn in one of his most solid displays. Micah Richards again in the centre in relief of Distin showed a maturity beyond his years and I think there will be no shifting him from the squad given his performances over the last month.

Match reports:

The Times
The Mirror
Birmingham Evening Mail

City 2 Villa 1.

We booked our place in next weeks quarter finals in what was a far more comfortable victory than the 2-1 scoreline reflected.

In truth, we could have had three, four, maybe five? goals tonight and Villa's goal hardly warranted the description 'comeback'.

I'll post a more in depth match report tomorrow, by which time we should also know who our quarter-final opponents will be.

Portsmouth 2 City 1, and the end of European hopes.

Another away day, and another pointless return. In fairness, recent away games have seen us either well beaten or turn in a poor performance (or even both on occasion) which didn't really seem to be the case at Fratton Park.

I caught a re-run of the game early evening in The Griffin, and whilst hardly an inspiring performance from City I don't think it could be argued that we were good value for a point. In fact, I believe that our points return from games in which we have been behind is second only to Chelsea in The Premier League this season.

Maybe I jinxed matters when mentioning this fact after Richard Dunne had seemingly rescued a point late in the game, only to see Pedro Mendes smash home the winner with an unstoppable shot at what was fast approaching 5pm (I thought Mark Halsey was supposed to be a Blue?).

A more in-depth Pompey perspective here can be found here.

So again, hopes of European qualification via a high enough league position is put on the back burner until our next home game. But is time running out to put together a consistent enough run in the league to garner the necessary points?

Our league run in is as follows:

Home - Wigan, Middlesbrough, Arsenal and Fulham.
Away - Chelsea, Tottenham, West Ham, Villa and Blackburn.

Not the easiest run in all honesty with no games you could safely classify as 'bankers'.
The current Premier League table concerning the clubs I believe are fighting for the sixth and seventh positions which should ensure UEFA Cup qualification are:

GR PTS
Blackburn 9 46
Bolton 11 45
Wigan 9 43
West Ham 10 42
City 9 40
Everton 9 40
Charlton 9 39
Newcastle 9 39

Personally, I think that despite the efforts of teams below them Tottenham and Arsenal are realistically battling for the fourth and final Champions League place, with the side missing out obviously taking fifth spot, whilst Villa and Middlesbrough on 34 points have too much ground to make up.

Last season we missed out on seventh spot to Middlesbrough who totalled 55 points. Looking at the table currently, Bolton are in seventh place with 45 points and realistically could take a further 20 points from their remaining eleven games, and even just five wins from their remaining nine games (and current form is far more impressive than that) will see Blackburn finish on 61 points. In addition both Wigan, West Ham and Everton are also showing far more consistent form over the past ten games than ourselves as well.

Over the past ten seasons in the The Premier League, interestingly only once has it taken 60 points or more to finish seventh, with either 57 or 58 usually being enough. Looking at the current league table, my belief is that it will take as much as 62 or 63 points to qualify for the UEFA Cup via the league this season (which would have yielded Champions League qualification in some seasons).

All of which means, we will likely have to win seven or eight of our remaining games to reach this total - a feat which is clearly beyond us.

The mark of 62/63 points is something I might keep my eye on and update how close teams are as we approach the final stage of the league campaign.

Engledon

It appears the England manager situation is gathering pace with both Curbishley and Allardyce having informal chats with the FA , whilst Pearce takes the 'no reply' stance on his position having agreed to sign a contract later this week that apparently gives him the option to leave if either England or A bigger club come in for him.

It appears the FA have decided it will be between the two interviewed men as all talk of O'Neill and Hiddink has quitened.

So who's it to be ? In the absence , or maybe David Deins interference , of an approach for Arsene Wenger who I would love to see manage England. And somewhat suprisingly given the kudos associated with the England job on the continent no other 'big' names in the frame, who would you go for between Curbishley and Allardyce ?

Has to be Allardyce for me , Bolton have been transformed from a good Championship side into genuine and regular European place contenders , if you subscribe to to the mini league theory (Title contenders , European contenders , Safe , Relegation Fighters) Bolton have gone up four places over a couple of years ! And notably without any significant investment.
Allardyce is also willing to try new Techniques and Technologies despite his love of the wing commanders theory of getting the ball into the box ASAP. Before the howls of derision from Bolton fans start you do play long ball / direct football , its worked brilliantly for you admit it and enjoy it. Fat Sam would also snap the FA's hand off if offered the job , Im sure he has a lot of affection for Bolton but every time I have seen him interviewed recently he seems to throw his hat in the ring for any job in which his name is muted , presumably he feels he has taken Bolton as far as he can.

The press also seem to have him , quite rightly after his achievements , as flavour of the month. You do wonder how they would react though after a couple of poor England results , Turnip Taylor all over again ? The style of play would also come under the microscope and would test Allardyce's management credentials , sure Bolton play some cracking football at times but there first priority is hard work and knock it too Kevin Davies , could he coach another way ?

Just my opinion as always ! Allardyce has earned the chance , you just wonder how long the press would give him. Now who's going to take long throws for England ........

Portsmouth preview.

The return of Harry Redknapp to Portsmouth has not had the desire effect for Pompey fans so far, with many failing to warm again to the arrival of the manager who defected to rivals Southampton little over a year ago. Since his return, Portsmouth have picked up only eight points in thirteen games.

Harry spent big in the transfer window - namely the Spurs trio of Davis, Mendes, Atouba along with Dean Kiely and £5million forward Benjani, but none of them have been able to spark Portsmouth out of a run of poor form which has seen them fail to generate the goals which convert into three point returns.

It is somewhat of a last chance for Portsmouth today as if there is a result in the Birmingham v West Brom game they can begin to claw back some of the deficit between themselves and safety. If there was a team they could have chosen for today's game then I guess City would feature fairly high on the list given our ineptitude away from home of late. Portsmouth have only scored eight goals at home this season and we have failed to net away from home during 2006.

Team wise, Joey Barton is expected to return straight to the side although reports suggest Riera may make way and Musamapa switch to the left which I would be disappointed in as Riera for me offers far more of a threat out wide. After not even featuring on the bench last week, Danny Mills could displace Micah Richards in defence.

Whilst many see this as a game we could conceivably lose, I think we will end our away woes and come away with all three points today in a low scoring encounter.

Prediction - Portsmouth 0 City 1.

Comings and goings.

Two players from the list of potential summer free agents are set to commit their future to the club. It is reported this morning that Lee Croft has signed a two year extension to his contract whilst Nicky Weaver has been offered a new deal on the back of his return to fitness and performances in the reserves and out on loan at Sheffield Wednesday.

Another one of the summer out of contract players may now definitely be playing for City future is Mikkel Bischoff as he has followed the path of Weaver and moved to Sheffield Wednesday on loan for a month.

Sylvain Distin's future has again been speculated upon over the past day or so. Stuart Pearce has put the ball back in his court by stating a new deal is on the table, yet this morning Marseille are the latest French side to be linked with a move for him with a report quoting him as telling the French media;

"Coming back to France is a possibility, even though I am
happy at Manchester City. I have had contacts with a club in the south, but I
can't tell you any more about it."

It is believed that rather than financial terms being the stumbling block on Distin signing a deal, he is keen for City to be in Europe before committing himself any further. One other potential worry in re-signing him is his mysterious absence from any of the French squads over the last year or so. Perhaps his thinking is that to rectify this he needs to be playing at a high profile French club.

Pearce - a year in charge.

This week Stuart Pearce celebrated a year in charge at the club, and I think it's fair to say that the universal opinion of his time so far is a positive one overall. But breaking it down, just how has Pearce performed since last March when the Keegan era was brought to a conclusion?

• Playing record

P 42 W 18 D 11 L 13.

Pearce inherited what appeared to be a disjointed and unmotivated side - one which had managed to get themselves in a relgation battle the season before and were going nowhere fast in the Premiership, dumped out of both Cup competitions and had seen Nicolas Anelka depart to Turkey.

He galvanised the side with his effective enthusiasm, and on the back of some superb form from SWP he led the side to within a penalty kick of European competition.

This season, despite the sale of SWP we stared superbly in the league (despite the disappointment of the Doncaster Cup exit). Recent away woes have dented UEFA Cup ambitions but we are still within striking distance of the required 6th/7th place and of course have a good shot at an FA Cup semi-final place.

• Transfers

In - Kiki Musampa (year's loan, Atletico Madrid) Andy Cole (free transfer, Fulham) Darius Vassell (£2m, Aston Villa) Albert Riera (loan, Espanyol) Georgios Samaras (£6m, Heerenveen)Matthew Mills (Undisclosed, Southampton) Tuomas Haapala (free, Mypa-47)

Out - Shaun Wright-Phillips (£21m, Chelsea) Christian Negouai (Releasd, Standard Liege) Carlos Logan (free, Darlington) Danny Warrender (free, Blackpool) Robbie Fowler (free, Liverpool) Jonathan D'Laryea (Nominal fee, Mansfield) Kevin Stuhr Ellegaard (released) Paul Bosvelt (free, Heerenveen) Jon Macken (£1m, Crystal Palace) Yasser Hussein (released) Steve McManaman (released)

Although the sale of SWP was far from ideal (and one I suspect was more the board sanctioning), Pearce has managed to trim the wage bill by ridding the squad of McManaman and Fowler. Some of the younger players who were identified as not making the grade were also released and a definite plus point was getting Crystal Palace to part with £1 milion for Macken.

As for the players brought in, Pearce was forced to wheel and deal bringing in Cole on a free and Vassell for a knock down price. Musampa on another year loan was a good move and I also like the look of Riera. Matt Mills is a prospect for the future but the first real test of his transfer savvy is the signing of Samaras. £6 million is a lot to pay and although he has got of to a fairly decent start, he has still a lot to learn and prove. This summer will be a big test as he begins to shape the squad how he wants.

• Tactics

He doesn't have a big enough and varied squad to be able to rotate and rest players as the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool etc do. His work before taking over on the defence was clear to see and in the main the defence has remained solid throughout his time in charge. One possible criticism is the approach away from home - especially in recent times, which appears to negative and one dimensional if all does not go to plan. At times I also think his subsitutions are not always correct, in particular Riera being withdrawn and slightly defensive moves are sometimes made when the situation calls for someone like Croft or Ireland to be introduced.

On the whole though no major complaints and we have seen some good stuff being played and are generally harder to beat than in previous years.

• Motivation

An undoubted strength and a feature the press are only to happy to focus on. The players appear more than willing to play for him and several of the senior players have publicly commented on the overall improvement to training and approach to the game that Pearce has brought in comparison to Kevin Keegan. The key with motivating players though is to keep them motivated and hungry to play for you and so far this has definitely been the case.

His infectiousness has also translated to the fans. He was a unanimous choice for the job when he was appointed and he has all of the fans right behind him at this stage - something that I can't remember many (if any) managers enjoying in recent years.

• The future

I think there is every possibility that Pearce will become the longest serving City manager in recent times. The England job is still a possibility but still a long shot in all honesty. Over the last year he has slowly begun to stamp his personality on the team and has now begun to introduce 'his' players into the mix. The squad he has is good enough for a top eight finish (at least), and if he is honest he will admit that he is blessed with the current crop of youngsters who could really explode over the next five years.

For once, there is every reason to be optimistic for the future at City and that future definitely holds a big part for Stuart Pearce to play.

Pearce set to sign.

A couple of weeks ago Stuart Pearce announced:

"There is a contract there, but it's not signed. Bits of paper don't really mean a great deal to me.
To shake the chairman's hand and look him in the eye and get an honest answer from him means a hell of a lot more. To be fair, I am not overly interested in a new contract. I get paid enough as it is. The chairman has looked after me from day one and a word of agreement with him is fine by me."

According to several reports in the press today, it seems that he will after all sign a two year contract to his current rolling agreement, effectively ending speculation linking him to the soon to be vacant England post (according to the bookies at least).

As I have mentioned previously, although signing a new contract would not preclude him from taking the England job if offered, it is an important signal sent out to the club as a whole regarding the commitment to the club from both Pearce and the board. Hopefully this will then filter down to the summer contract negotiations for key (as yet unsigned) players Joey Barton and Sylvain Distin.

The short length of the deal (reported to be two years) is maybe a surprise, and suits the club more as despite his succesful first year in charge at the club Pearce is still very much learning the job and the board are maybe wise to be cautious at this stage and only offer a short term deal.

City announce attempt to create more atmosphere.

Taken from ecotricity.co.uk - after piped music, is this the clubs latest attempt to generate more atmosphere at the stadium?

We're proud to announce that football's biggest fan is coming soon to Premiership club, Manchester City FC... an eighty-five metre turbine.

The Sportcity Wind Turbine project is a global first in sporting history, and will single out the City of Manchester stadium as the only sporting arena in the world to have its own green energy supply. The turbine will also be used to supply energy to the homes of people in East Manchester.

We now seem to have found a definitive site for the turbine, which has
been a major headache considering the stadium is based in an urban environment.
With the local council backing the scheme we are hopeful of a successful
application. To find out more on the application and how you can voice your
opinion then go to our online exhibition page.

Ecotricity is passionate about averting climate change through building
unobtrusive and attractive turbines, and the Manchester City turbine has been
designed by internationally celebrated architect Sir Norman Foster.

Manchester City's chief executive, Alistair Mackintosh, said:"At a time when the subjects of climate change and carbon emissions are dominating the headlines and the thoughts of the world's most powerful leaders, I am proud that Manchester City is playing a significant part in safeguarding our environment.

"The carbon emission savings from the SportCity turbine would be equivalent to that of nearly 2,000 homes and would really make strides into the long-term goal of making Manchester a truly green city."

City 2 Sunderland 1.

We must be becoming the team under-fire managers fear facing after Mick McCarthy followed Graeme Souness by being sacked following a defeat at our hands. It is testament to how the team have stuck by McCarthy that there is widespread condemnation of his sacking from players and fans alike. Wheras it was clear that Souness had 'lost' the dressing room, Sunderland were committed to the cause and never gave up on the game (something which is a theme throughout the season). Ultimately, they aren't good enough and McCarthy's assumption a few weeks ago that the board had budgeted for relegation doesn't appear to wide of the mark.

It was a game though that we were expected to win, and did so, although not without almost throwing away three points which continued our fine home run of late.

For one reason or another, I didn't manage to set off to the game until after 1pm - musing that we would probably be 'two up by the time I get there'. Arriving at the ground about 1.50 to be kindly informed from a badge seller outside that we were 'two up, Samaras got them both'.

Reflecting on the game as a whole afterwards, it was clear that I'd missed the best twenty minutes of the game and going two clear so early and comprehensively probably had a part in how we approached the rest of the game. Although the midfield saw plenty of the ball and plenty of space to operate in, we were guilty of sloppy and careless play, at times appearing almost lazy as though the team had thought the game was clearly in the bag. It was a poor goal that we conceded, with Stephen Jordan poorly positioned in being outjumped by Breen who headed back for Kyle to score his first Premiership goal.

The goal didn't really jolt us from our malaise either as our touch and link up play was not good enough and it is possible a more able side than Sunderland might have punished us, and indeed they wasted a couple of good chances as they pressed further towards the end of the game before Garry Breen was sent off for comically 'controlling' a throw-out from James with his hands to set up an attack. The sending off was probably a fitting moment to sum up the haplessness of Sunderland's season.

Apart from his goals, I thought Georgios Samaras played his best game so far - looking sprightly, keen for the ball and linking in the impressive Riera and Sinclair several times. Clearly he had read my bit in The Observer that he was due a big game.

Again, I have to question Pearce's substitutions though. I can only assume Riera was injured to be taken off but to be replaced with Sun Jihai was puzzling when either Croft or Ireland would have been a better option and that Vassell lasted as long as he did was a mystery to me as he looks equally short on both fitness and confidence - his touch and composure in front of goal deserting him.

But all in all another three points and we move to Portsmouth next week to face a team fast running out of time and without a goal and win in some time. What better opposition for them to face then.

Other reports:
The Independent
The Mirror (check the appalling headline out)
OneSunderland.com

Sunderland preview.

Preview of the Sunderland game which appeared in The Observer Sport section today:

After last weekend's disappointment at Liverpool, we'll be looking to continue our impressive home form: we're starting a crucial spell of games in leage and Cup.
Sunderland have battled bravely this season, but they've clearly been out of their depth back in the Premiership.
We've scored three times in each of our past three home league games so we have to be confident of continuing that streak this afternoon.

DUE A BIG GAME: Georgios Samaras. Has been up and down so far, but will take confidence from his midweek goals for Greece.

On the block?

Last nights MEN sport section lead with the story that Stuart Pearce could be overseeing a clearout of the squad in the summer. The report suggested that he has a definite target of 'three or four' players he wants to bring in and the ten first team squad players who are out of contract in the summer face an uncertain wait to see if they will be offered new deals.

It also suggested that much may be riding on how high we finish up the table given that each Premiership place is worth around £470,000, and of course a prolonged run in the FA Cup would also help.

The out of contract list of players is quite an extensive one; Nicky Weaver, Geert de Vlieger, Jihai Sun, Lee Croft, Andrew Cole, Kiki Musampa, David Sommeil, Mikkel Bischoff, Albert Riera and Tuomas Haapala. It is quite conceivable that the majority of these players could be on their way come the summer.

I don't imagine that both keepers will be retained next season, especially given the form of David James and the emergence of Kasper Schmeichel and for me Weaver is the most likely to be offered a deal, albeit a short term one.

Mikkel Bischoff I think is a cert to be released at the end of the season. In his time at the club he simply hasn't broken through so far and has also been leapfrogged by Nedum Onouha and Micah Richards this season.

Albert Riera has impressed in the main during his short time at the club and has indicated he wishes to sign on a permanent basis. He does offer something on the left hand side that no one else in the squad does and would like to see him brought in on permanently.

Andrew Cole has been offered a one year extension (which is yet to be signed) and his play over the season has certainly merited the further offer. Lee Croft is an interesting one as for several seasons he has been hyped as the 'next big thing' but has yet to really make a mark consistently. He has impressed at times though and think it is likely he will be given a further deal. Tuomas Haapala signed a short term deal in January but has yet to threaten for a first team place and needs to step up between now and the end of the season.

The three interesting players though are Musampa, Sun and Sommeil. I would think it is unlikely Atletico Madrid would allow him to be loaned for what would be a third season so a decision would need to be made on his future. With injuries and the signing of Riera, he has moved into central midfield of late after a spell out of the team but I don't think he will be signed after this season - especially if Pearce can bring a midfielder in over the summer.

Sun has become a 'Mr Versatile' player for the club during his time at the club, even featuring on the left of midfield this season. However, he has never really proved himself in midfield and finds his path to a defensive position blocked by the emergence of the younger players and may struggle to win a new deal, as could be the case with David Sommeil who hasn't let the side down when he has had to step in this season but clearly is not a long term answer for the club and he too could be playing elsewhere next season.

City links.

One thing which I am aiming to do on the blog is to try and put together a more in depth and comprehensive set of City links.

I have some set up already on the right hand side of the page but if you have(or know of) a website, blog, forum or anything else City related drop me a line at bitterandblue@hotmail.co.uk and I'll get it linked up.

International round-up.

A couple of Blues were away on international duty this week for their respective national sides. For England, although he spent the whole game languishing on the bench David James will certainly be going to the World Cup as the number 2 to Paul Robinson, both on merit and as in all honesty no other alternative has stepped up to challenge his place in the squad this season. Former Blue SWP alsp looks to have booked his World Cup place with a solid performance after coming off the bench and setting up Joe cole for last nights winner against Uruguay.

New boy Georgios Samaras marked his Greece debut with a goal against Belarus and added another in last nights tournament victory over Kazakhstan, which should hopefully bring some confidence into his City performances.

Good news also in that Stephen Ireland made his Ireland debut last night in an impressive 3-0 home win over Sweden, assisting on Liam Miller's goal with Richard Dunne also impressing in the victory earning praise from defensive partner Andy O'Brien in the process.

Profit announcement.

The club this week announced a pre-tax profit of £16.8 million for the six month period ending November 30th 2005.

Despite the positive announcements in the press it must be taken into account that this figure has only increased by 2% and does include the transfer fee received for SWP. It is also believed that £5 million of this amount will be used to pay off some of the more immediate short-term loans and of course does not include the transfer fee paid for Georgios Samaras in January.

A couple of positive notes in the figure are that turnover increased to £28.2 million and the outlay on salaries was reduced by around £1 million - a figure which should drop even further now that Robbie Fowler is no longer picking up his mortgage deposits from the club.

The club are also expecting to profit heavily from their involvement in the FA Cup this season, with a further home game at least still to come and with eyes on a league finish on par with last season to generate further income to at least manage the debt that the club currently have.

Blogroll update.

I've tidied up some of the blog links (right hand side) and point you in the direction of a couple of additions to the Bitter&Blue blogroll - Highbury1913, unsuprisingly an Arsenal blog and West Ham blog which comes courtesy of Simon and is of course dedicated to all things West Ham.

Not standing For It ?

Thanks to all those who replied on the standing issue (especially James) it appears more
action has been taken by the club on the standing issue for the Sunderland game.

Different rows have been closed for this game, though im unsure if this is on top of the
rows closed for the last game or different ones this time round ?

The recipient of this particluar letter has demanded a refund , based on the fact he has
been dispatched to the third tier away from the people he normally sits with. Whilst the
letter makes it clear the clubs hands are tied on this , are they seriously taking enough
action to protect the fans not breaking rules ?

It would appear that this issue is set to run and run , the irony of the situation is that as
the council reduce the crowd they reduce there own revenue !

The opinions on this matter vary hugely as we saw from the comments on the last
article regarding this issue , time to put it to the vote.

Should Standing Be Re-introduced at Football ?
	Yes - No restrictions.
	Yes - But in a controlled manner.
	No - Too dangerous.
	No - I prefer sitting.
Free polls from Pollhost.com