Over at OleOle

After taking a break for the summer, I'm back over at OleOle as the countdown to the new season begins.

Five Live to feature Shinawatra

Tonight on Five Live Sport at 9pm is a feature entitled 'A Fit and Proper Premiership' - looking at the raft of foreign ownership that has come into the Premier League, and expect much focus of the programme to be on our new owner.

Agent - Chiellini wants City move

Giorgio Chiellini’s agent has revealed that the Juventus
defender is hoping to join Manchester City this week. The former Azzurrini
full-back was linked with Liverpool in recent weeks and seems set to leave the
Serie B champions after stating that he felt neglected by the club. “I will soon
meet Juventus to discuss Giorgio’s future,” said Davide Lippi. “We all hope that
he will soon join Manchester City. “The problem is that in transfer negotiations
there always is a club who sells and one that buys, so I cannot possibly know
how this will end.“Chiellini would be thrilled to play in the Premier League
with City, but everything depends on Juventus, on the final price and on their
will to let him leave or not.”

-channel4.co.uk

Perhaps you have to take what agents usually come out with with a pinch of salt, but on the back of Claudio Ranieri's comments over the weekend it does look promising that we could capture Chiellini - although it appears as though there is a little media posturing to get over first.

Hopefully we do capture him sooner rather than later though, if only to put an end to this rumour.

Castillo link in doubt

Reported Manchester City target Nery Alberto Castillo has
agreed a €15million (£10.1million) move to Shakhtar Donetsk, according to
widespread reports in Greece.
Castillo was thought to be high on Sven Goran
Eriksson's wish-list, with cash-rich City ready to offer in the region of
£10million to secure the talented Mexican.

-Sky Sports.

MCFC Supporters Society in Dubai

I received the following email from Dave Hammet, the vice-chairman of the recently formed MCFC Supporters Society in Dubai:

Hi there,

I'm writing on behalf of the newly-formed Dubai Manchester City FC Supporters Society and was wondering if you would be kind enough to give the group a mention on your website.The idea is for all Blues living (or even just holidaying) in Dubai to meet up on a regular basis to watch the boys in action as every single game is to be featured live on TV this coming season.

The society is based at the Player's Lounge bar in the unfortunately-named Chelsea Hotel in the Bur Dubai district of the city and we are currently in negotiations with the bar's management over special food and drink offers for City fans.We have a group set up on the Facebook website (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2417119600&ref=mf) so please sign up if you are interested.

Alternatively the society's Chairman, Mark Lynch, can be contacted by email at Marklynch1978@hotmail.com.

If you are a Blue living in Dubai or over here on holiday, please don't hesitate to get in touch or drop by the Player's Lounge on matchdays.

Kind regards,
David Hammett
Vice Chairman
Dubai Manchester City FC Supporters Society

Charleroi 2 City 0

The first dent in the bright, new era then as we fell 2-0 in yesterday's friendly in Belgium to put a slight dampener on the heady optimism enjoyed over the past couple of weeks.

Only a brief report on mcfc.co.uk, with it suggesting that we were perhaps a little unlucky to end up with a defeat, although the sentance 'City had the best of the remainder of the match, however they could not create enough decent chances' is slightly concerning based on the majority of viewing over last season.

Looking at the line-up it shows just how inexperienced the holdovers from last season in midfield are, and I doubt we will see a defensive line-up this season again featuring Mills & Mills as it looks as though Eriksson was using this game as a chance for certain players to prove themselves as we head towards the final week of pre-season preperations.

Duo close to signing?

Manchester City target Nery Castillo claims Olympiakos are
prepared to sell him.
Castillo has been strongly linked with a move to
Manchester City with Sven Goran Eriksson keen to bolster his attacking options.
City are believed to be willing to pay £10million for the Mexico striker and
Olympiakos are now thought to be ready to listen to offers for the highly-rated
attacker.
Talks between Castillo and Olympiakos about his future broke down
on Friday and he says he was stunned to find out the club were prepared to
listen to offers for him.

-Sky Sports.

Manchester City hope to agree a £7m deal to sign Juventus'
Italy Under-21 captain Georgio Chiellini within days, BBC Sport
understands.

-BBC Sport.

Ordinarily I've being trying to shy away from posting about most of the rumours that have been appearing, as frankly most of them have been well wide of the mark, but with both of these reports the past couple of days there does seem to be more substance to them than solely from the imagination of a bored staffer at one of the national newspapers.

Chiellini would certainly be an upgrade to the defensive positions, whilst from what I have heard about Castillo has generally been positive.

I don't doubt that Eriksson will continue to be looking to upgrade the squad, but ideally I imagine he would want pretty much his 'full' side to be in place for next week against Valencia - when it seems there is some post-match entertainment being laid on.

Global domination

Overall the City boss thought the tour to Sweden went very
well and told us: “I think Manchester City has got a lot of new football fans
over there.
“There were six and seven thousand people at our games. It
doesn’t seem a lot if you are talking about the Premier League, but we played in
small places and people came from all over to watch.
“I also think the Club
got a lot of good press in Sweden, which is a good thing.”

-mcfc.co.uk

Certainly one thing the takeover and appointment of Eriksson has done is generate a hell of a lot of media interest in the club, and whilst Shinawatra's money is undoubtedly a factor, the presence of Eriksson has surely been a factor in the signings we have made so far this season (and I guess will continue to do so) and it is hard to imagine that Stuart Pearce would have had the same appeal to potential targets, even armed with the cash that Eriksson now has.

It is interesting from the article that we seem to have 'recruited' a few new fans on the back of Eriksson and the short trip the club made to Sweden. The takeover by Shinawatra has undoubtedly raised our profile throughout Asia, and the recent signing on trial of three Thai players will not do any harm whatsoever to our profile (plus of course the interest generated by Sun Jihai).

From this blog I know how much worldwide interest there is in City, and in the modern football world that we exist in we see clubs clamouring to get footholds and a presence around the world (witness tours and games played by Premiership sides in Africa, America and Asia this pre-season) due to the potential riches to be made from these lucrative markets.

Shinawatra has also talked of creating academies and City links throughout the world and this is one area that I'm sure Shinawatra will have an eye on as he looks for a return on the outlay made to gain control of the club.

The press get one right!

Finally a player that the press pack hordes have linked us to in recent times has actually pitched up at Eastlands as Bulgarian international Martin Petrov succumbed to the Sven-gali like charm to climb aboard the re-building programme.

The MEN (I think) were first up with confirmation this morning, following up from a couple of links posted on here last night (keep them coming by the way) and the usual rumours in the mainstream press.

Not being an avid La Liga viewer, I don't profess to knowing a great deal about Petrov but press reports suggest he is a solid player who has a good club record and has been named Bulgarian player of the year, whilst commentors on this blog have labelled him as a crock who has signed on the dotted line because of the lure of a cool £80,000 per week,

Looking at the facts for a moment (stupid of me I know), but we have added an international pedigree player for a fee that whilst not cheap, would realistically barely sign you a player from the Championship should they hold an English passport (as evidenced recently with Chopra and Nugent).

He has performed well enough in a tough domestic league and whilst there could be legitimate concerns over his injury record he fills a position that we have struggled to fill over (not to mention the problems Eriksson had with England) recent seasons with a number of candidates trying (and largely failing) to do so.

On the face of it, he appears to be a good signing and definitely fits a need in terms of his position. He is expected to make his debut for the club in Saturday's friendly at Charleroi.

City beat Spurs for Martin Petrov signing

The 28yr old LEFT WINGER !!! has signed for City on a three year deal for 4.7 million.

City have beaten off stiff competion from amongst others Spurs to land the Bulgarian International.

Alistair Mackintosh put it down to the sven factor !

A youtube taster

With a couple of Italians, plus a striker possibly still to come in im buzzing like an ann summers party for the start of the new season.

Uncorfirmed Rumour !!

Taken from an italian site - states that we have signed Emerse Fae from french club Nantes.

http://www.tuttomercatoweb.com/index.php?action=read&id=69013

Anbody who is fluent in italian is welcome to translate !! A fee of around 4 million Euro's ?

See if its confirmed in the next couple of days.

Thai's on trial

Ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who took full
control of Manchester City on Monday, has arranged trials for three Thai
national team players at the English Premier League club.
Defenders Suree
Sukha and Kiatprawut Saiwaeo and striker Teerasil Dangda will train with the
team in Manchester next week, Thai soccer officials said on
Wednesday.
Teerasil, 19, and Kiatprawut, 21, made their senior national team
debuts at the Asian Cup earlier this month, where co-hosts Thailand failed to
advance from the group stage.
Attacking fullback Suree, 24, has been a
regular for the national team since 2005.

-retuers.

At this stage I can safely say I know nothing about any of the three players, but suggestions of Thai players being brought to the club and straight into the first team appear unfounded as the move (initially) is on a trial basis only and I would be surprised if any of them has the ability (at this stage) to get anywhere near a first team spot.

Big signing imminent?

After a small flurry of signings around a week or so ago, things settled down a little as we headed off to the pre-season trip to Sweden.

We have been continuously linked with players ever since the Eriksson/Shinawatra tandem took over at the helm of the club, with the likes of Yakubu, Castillo and Santa-Cruz most prominently linked.

Now that the club has been de-listed though, attention can once again turn to the arrival of new faces and although he has appeared happy with the players and their attitude, it is certain that Eriksson is looking to strengthen further - with the midfield and attack a definite priority.

Bianchi has impressed all concerned so far, and Corradi seems to have (so far at least) been given a new lease of life under Eriksson after the disappointment of his first season (for which he attributes some of the blame at Stuart Pearce's door) but I don't see that Vassell and Dickov will be given serious consideration and Mpenza may be left to one side now that we are not shopping in the bargain basement.

Midfield is also a crucial area as we certainly lack overall experience (as Hamman and Dabo will not feature I don't believe), although there is plenty of potential there so I think Eriksson will look to add another player, if not a couple.

What was interesting today was the link with Juventus pairing Giorgio Chiellini and Manuel Blasi - and rather than rumour alone, it does appear as though some substance is behind the reports - with agent Davide Lippi (son of Marcelo) stating:

"I am planning to meet Juventus on Tuesday to discuss the
futures of Giorgio and Manuele, Manchester City are interested in both players
and I am going to meet Juventus to see if these moves are possible.
"Both
players would be happy to play in the Premier League and Manchester City, but it
all depends on Juventus.
"They both like English football and the fact
Eriksson is there would be a big factor for them to go there.
"However it
depends on the price and whether Juventus want to sell them or
not."

Perhaps proving the Eriksson's name could be a determining factor in any any arrivals, could we be about to see a signing of real intent, players who names would carry some weight throughout the game and hopefully be a real kick on and help draw other big name signings to the club?

Chiellini is one of the brightest talents in the Italian game, but appears to have not found favour with new manager Claudio Ranieri, whilst Blasi was one of the brightest talents in the Italian game but found something of a log jam at Juventus due to their policy of snapping up the best young talent (mainly in order to stop their rivals getting hold of them) and has spent time on loan at Parma, Perugia and Fiorentina - but from seeing him play on a number of occasions I would definitely be excited at the prospect of him in our midfield.

As the season draws closer now, there is beginning to be a sense of real anticipation for this season and whilst Eriksson has done well to keep a lid on things and not go overboard with any predictions or proclamaitions, there is a genuine sense of hope building for the season - something which has been sorely lacking the past couple of campaigns.

Club to de-list from Plus Markets

Thailand's ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra has gained
effective control of Manchester City football club and will delist it from the
stock exchange, his lawyer said Monday.
"Thaksin has gained control with a 75 percent stake in
Man City. The next stage is to delist the club from the stock market to become a
completely private company," Noppadon told reporters.

It was always an inevitable, and hardly a shock when the 75% figure was achieved and once the move is complete I guess we will see whether it becomes the armageddon that some have predicted.

There were comments attributed to Shinawatra's lawyer which also suggested there could be players from Italy, Brazil, Sweden and Thailand's national side joining the side - although I don't believe he has always held too much authority when speaking on behalf of the new owner.

So far, all has appeared to go well since the takeover - and certainly Shinawatra's comments in interviews have appeared positive in terms of the current and future plans for the club.

Obviously, it is only early days in the Shinawatra regime and there is the spectre of the charges against him hanging over at the moment, but as he has now gained full control there is little we (as fans) can do at this time apart from to take his actions at face value - and hope that the clubs best interests are always put at the forefront.

New Blog

I have created a new blog today and will updating daily starting tomorrow.

You can find the new blog @ http://todaysmortgagenews.blogspot.com/

As you can see from the title it will deal with the whole mortgage process. Should anybody want to contribute, or anybody who links to this site who would like to exchnage links to the new site you can email on :

uk.mortgage.news@googlemail.com.

Thanks

Carlstad United 0 City 4

The brief tour of Sweden ended on a succesful note with City completing a winning double with a win earlier, and again saw Rolando Bianchi and Bernardo Corradi on the scoresheet in a 4-0 victory.

Whilst not a second string side, there were opportunities for the likes of Hart, Dabo, both Mills defenders and Hamman to try and impress the new boss but Bianchi will probably grab the headlines with a brace to boost his confidence as he begins life as a City player.

Headline grabbing

Probably the most investigative and thorough City blog or site out there is purelymancity, and this week they did a nice job of looking at some of the headlines and stories written about the club over what has been a newsworthy summer of events.


In a mock awards post, they dished out gongs to some of the more 'creative' of stories that have appeared the past month or so.


Well worth checking out.

Pearce appointed as under-21 boss

Former Manchester City manager Stuart Pearce has been named
as full-time coach of the England Under-21 side.
The 45-year-old has signed
a two-year contract running until 2009.
Pearce was put in part-time control
in January and guided England to the semi-finals of the European Under-21
championships in June.

-BBC Sport.

The role, on a full-time basis - a move away from the recent trend of a part-time manager (which Pearce of course initially operated as) was seemingly Pearce's after a European Championships in which he drew widespread praise from the squad and officials alike after reaching the semi-final stage.

In a full-time capacity it may well be that Pearce operates more as a bridge between the youth levels immediately below the under-21 level and to the senior side - something Pearce has mentioned previously and again yesterday in his interview.

Whilst his tenure at City will probably be remembered for his shortcomings as a manager, it cannot be doubted though that (maybe more out of necessity given the financial constraints he worked under) he was succesful in bringing through and integrating young players into the side.

It is therefore likely then Pearce will enjoy more success as manager with the under-21's than at City.

Personally, I believe his style of management and coaching is more suited to the international game where being more of a 'motivator' than a 'pure' coach has a better effect in an environment where you have the players for several short periods as opposed to a continuous full season where his animated style can (and certainly did) wear thin after a period of time.

Working with the young players at this level, undoubtedly he will command respect from a group of players who would have grown up when he was in his prime as a player at international level, and all the noises coming out of the England camp at the European Championships were positive in relation to Pearce being in charge.

I do feel that this is a good move for him, enjoying what looks to be a reasonably talented crop of young players at his disposal - and also that it is unlikely that his City record will see a host of tops clubs queueing up to employ him, so he may struggle to get a club job that he truly sees as one to challenge him.

I think Pearce has every chance of being a success, and one angle he may look at is this is a chance to redeem himself a little and restore a reputation that took a bit of a beating over the final few months in charge at the club.

Bitter and Blue fantasy football league

In the coming weeks betwen now and the start of the season, Bitter and Blue will be bringing you a completely new fantasy football game for the new Premiership season.

The game will be more feature rich than most other fantasy football games provided by other media outlets. As soon as the last finishing touches are ready by our fantasy gaming partners, the game will be freely available to all visitors to Bitter and Blue in plenty of time for the new 2007/08 season.

Players will have the chance to transfer players in and out of the team as the season progresses, in case of injury, suspension or loss of form, with many new features to give the best fantasy football gaming available.

Stay updated with the latest news on our fantasy football game by visiting us regularly as we constantly update our information on the release of the game, or by dropping me an email at bitterandblue@hotmail.co.uk to register your interest.

Update:

Thanks to all those who have emailed so far to register their interest. I should have some more detils regarding it next week so stay tuned.

Board make further offer announcement

The club announced some further details today in respect of the offer for the club. It is all fairly long winded so the link to the full story is here.

In summary, it appears as though just over 80% of the shares have now been acquired by Thaksin Shinawatra, a figure which is still short of the 90% mark required for the compulsory acquisition for him to gain total control of the club.

Update:

Thanks to the anonymous poster in the comments section for pointing out the paragraph regarding the request to cancel the admission of shares on the Plus Markets as of 23rd July (Monday):

As a result of UKSIL having declared the Offer
unconditional in all respects and having acquired, by virtue of its
shareholdings and acceptances of the Offer, Manchester City Shares carrying at
least 75.0 per cent. of the voting rights of Manchester City, UKSIL announces
that it has requested PLUS Markets to cancel the admission of Manchester City
Shares to trading on PLUS Markets with effect from 4:30 pm on 23 July
2007.
Any cancellation of admission to trading of Manchester City Shares will
significantly reduce the liquidity and marketability of any Manchester Shares
which are not acquired under the Offer and their value may be materially and
adversely affected as a consequence.
UKSIL now intends to procure that
Manchester City be re-registered as a private limited company.

Third kit launched

Link courtesy of mancityfans.net:

I agree with them when they say the away kits through Reebok were pretty poor, but for all my initial cynicism when the deal with le coq sportif was announced, I think all of the kits look to be fairly good on inital viewings anyway.

Örgryte 1-4 City

City opened up their pre-season campaign last night with a comfortable victory over their Swedish lower league opponents - not before they had pulled back to level at 1-1 following Rolando Bianchi's opener.

Whilst I doubt too many are getting carried away (although one or two texts I received acclaimed our new 'goal machine') it is always pleasing to get a win on the board, and especially so that Bianchi, Corradi and Samaras got on the scoresheet - with youngster Shaleum Logan adding to the scoresheet.

All of which pleased Sven, who commented:

“We were better in the first half, but we scored the goals
in the second.
“It was good to see Rolando Bianchi play so well on his debut,
and to see Richards, Onuoha and Dunne perform so solidly in defence. The three
debutantes all had very good games.
“It was important for Rolando’s
confidence that he scored a goal. He’s really a week or nine days behind
everyone else because he only had two training sessions without a ball at
Reggina before he came here. He needs time, but he is a very good player.
“A
Premier League game would be more difficult but it was good that three of our
strikers scored. The training camp has been excellent and it will breed
confidence in the squad.”

Pretty much the whole squad had a run out at some point last night, with Eriksson employing England friendly style substitutions to ensure everyone received a run out at this stage of the season as we begin to build up towards the opening day kick off in around a months time.

Vassell bid rejected

Manchester City can confirm that they have received an offer
from Besiktas for Darius Vassell, which has been rejected by the Club.
The
player is part of the 22 man squad currently on the pre-season tour of
Sweden. -

mcfc.co.uk
All very brief stuff, with no indication of whether the reason is a financial one or whether Vassell is seen as a key part of the squad for the forthcoming season.

Personally, I would say it is more to do with (despite recent arrivals) the squad still appearing thin as opposed to Vassell being one of the first names on the team sheet, but perhaps also that our new financial position means we don't necessarily have to consider every bid that comes our way.

Stories suggested Eriksson was not overly impressed with Vassell's contribution against Doncaster and it seems that like much of last season, any chance he does get will again be out wide as opposed to through the middle.

Bianchi to make first start

Rolando Bianchi will make his first start for the club in tonights' friendly against Örgyte IS, partnering Emile Mpenza in attack, whilst Gelson Fernandes will also be making his debut.

Youngster Shaleum Logan gets a nod in midfield in a side which looks to be the most likely 'full-strength' line-up (Geovanni not including) depending on whether any more re-inforcements arrive at the club between now and opening day kick-off.

Team: Isaksson, Richards, Dunne (c), Onuoha, Ball, Logan, Fernandes, Johnson, Ireland, Mpenza, Bianchi.
Subs: Hart, Schmeichel, D Mills, M Mills, Dabo, Miller, Hamann, Laird, Dickov, Samaras, Corradi, Vassell.

Eriksson adds Geovanni

City have made their third signing within a week by bringing
Brazilian midfielder Geovanni to the Club.
He passed a medical at City’s
Carrington training ground today, but is not expected to join the squad on the
pre-season tour of Sweden
The 27-year-old arrives on a free transfer and has
signed a one-year contract.
Most recently with Brazilian side Cruzeiro,
Geovanni brings a wealth of Champions League experience with him, having played
for Barcelona and Benfica, as well as having four international caps under his
belt.

-mcfc.co.uk

Strangely, he played for Portsmouth in a pre-season friendly (and scored) against Yeovil on Saturday but has opted for a one-year deal at City having played for Cruzeiro last season.

He seems to be a useful pickup and will strengthen us going forward without a doubt, and of course trotted out the usual platitudes upon signing:

“It’s been a dream for me to play in England, and this
is a dream as well to come to a club like Manchester City.
“It’s great to
here after playing in Europe for a few years already, and I can’t wait to get
started.
“Playing in England has been an ambition of mine, I watched a lot of
Premier League games when I was at Benfica and now that I’m here I just want to
start playing.”

The squad is beginning to take shape, and whilst this is a more short term addition than either of the previous two signings Eriksson has brought in, he is clearly beginning to mould the side a little into the style he wants to see and we should now begin to get an idea of the incumbent players which he likes the look of.

Gelson Fernandes--Additional info

--Birth date: 2 September, 1986
--Height: 6 ft. 0 in.
--Prior club: FC Sion (Switzerland)
--06/07 Season: 34 appearances (1 goal)
--Professional experience: 1 season in Super League
--Captain of Swiss U-21 team
--Suspected transfer fee: £3.4m
--Planned position: Holding Midfielder
--Other clubs rumoured to have interest: Bolton, Newcastle

City 3, Doncaster 1

City came from behind to defeat Rovers 3-1 Saturday in Doncaster. All three City goals came in the 2nd Half, with Bernardo Corradi (why is he still on the squad?!), Micah Richards, and Emile Mpenza finding the back of the net.

Approximately 1,200 City supporters were in attendance...Sven was booed by the Doncaster fans. It was Sven's first club managerial match since Lazio in 2001. Rolando Bianchi was at the ground, but will not be part of the squad until the Sweden tour.

Now Sven appoints his number 2

Hans Backe is the latest City capture, the third in 24 hrs !

Backe will join as assistant manager, having previously been a manager himself in Denmark, Austria and Turkey.

Sven hailed his new number two as having great experience and knowledge of players.

Sven makes swoop number two - Gelson Fernandes

Sven has moved quickly after the signing of Rolando Bianchi by adding 20 year old Switzerland U21 captain Gelson Fernandes.

The midfielder has joined from swiss club FC Sion, again the fee is undisclosed.

Despite been linked with over 50 players by the press, they appear to have missed both signings until confirmed by one of the clubs. Tossers.

Anybody got any footage or know about this guy ? Leave it in the comments section.

Rolando starts the revolution.

Sven starts his Manchester City spending spree with the signing of Rolando Bianchi , the fee has been left undisclosed but is believed to be about 8.8 million.

The striker who scored an impressive 18 times for Reggina in Serie A last season stated that it was the involvement of Sven and his exciting plans for Manchester City that swung him towards Eastlands.

Meanwhile city are understood to have joined the race for Porto skipper Lucho Gonzalez. Gonzalez is currently playing for Argentina in the Copa America will command a fee of no less than 13.5 million.

And too think not so long ago we couldn't raise the 300k to get Craig Hignett !!

Ball signs new deal

Manchester City have confirmed defender Michael Ball has
signed a new two-year deal with the Blues. The former Everton and Rangers
left-back impressed after joining on a short-term deal from Dutch club PSV
Eindhoven in January.
(Sven-Goran) Eriksson told the club's website:
"Michael's experienced, having played in Scotland and Holland as well as
England, and it's good that he is staying with us as he's going to be very
useful.
"We had to build on what was good here, and there was a lot that was
really good, so I'm happy that he's signed and he is happy as well."

-Football365.com

A sensible move and although Nicky Weaver moved on after Eriksson's arrival, it would have been a surprise had Ball been allowed to walk - particularly after his impressive performances since January, but also given that Eriksson had selected him during his time in charge of England.

Although not a 'new' signing as such, the move should mean that defensive reinforcements are not as urgent, and more of a priority can be put on areas that are clearly in need of strengthening.

Bianchi deal 'done'

"Mr Eriksson called me personally and told me he wanted me
at any cost. He told me 'come and we will be watched by 50,000 fans every
Saturday and we want to be in Europe'.
"When he just mentioned the word
Europe, I had a big feeling. Nothing was moving in Italy so I had to take this
chance".

-Goal.com
Earlier reports of him signing appear to have been a little premature, and was probably a case of his club (Reggina) jumping the gun a little but the club have confirmed the deal on the website earlier today. The move will occur too late for him to feature in the opening pre-season game at Doncaster, but he should make his debut before too long.


It should be interesting from the current squad who Eriksson will look to pair with him, but it is disappointing that Daniel Sturridge has had an injury setback and likely will miss the trip to Sweden.

Shinawatra facing court date

Thailand's exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra
moved a step closer to facing corruption charges today after the supreme court
agreed to hear the allegations against him.
Just as Mr Thaksin appeared to
be within days of closing a £81.6m deal to buy Manchester City football club,
Thailand's highest court for the first time ordered him to answer accusations
surrounding a multi-million pound land deal.

-Guardian.

The date of the hearing against him is scheduled to be August 14th - which falls conveniently on the eve of our first home game, lending some weight perhaps to the suggestion that the charges are indeed politically and personally motivated, and perhaps designed to damage any publicity Shinawatra may receive for attending the first game of the season.

The article goes onto to say (quoting his lawyers) that there is no chance he will attend the hearings and Shinawatra himself has said he will only return after the democratic elections this December.

Rightly or wrongly, it does beg the question that for all the vast sums of money and assets that have been frozen, the only charges brought against him (at this stage) are an £11 million land deal in which seemingly it is his wife who is mainly suggested as the 'guilty' party.

There was another interesting article which suggested that a conviction in abstentia could result in Shinawatra failing the 'fit and proper' person test that all owners have to pass, but assuming the takeover is completed I do not see that their is any legal grounds which can force Shinawatra to then sell the club and relinquish control - as a safeguard though this may have been a reason to appoint his son and daughter onto the board.

Perhaps the sooner that the season does get under way, the media may push to one side the off-field distractions that have been brought to the club with the takeover and concentrate solely on footballing matters.

Or perhaps not.

Barton bailed again

Joey Barton was re-bailed on Wednesday by police
investigating an alleged assault on a former team-mate during a training ground
bust-up.
The England and Newcastle United midfielder allegedly attacked
fellow player Ousmane Dabo.
Barton was due to answer bail on Wednesday but
was rebailed until August 2 while police make further inquiries.

-Teamtalk.

Pre-season fixtures taking shape

Well sort of. A couple of dates have been announced that will see us undertake a short trip to our new manager's homeland for games against Orgryte IS and Carlstad United which should be a gentle addition to our pre-season schedule which also sees visits to Doncaster and Shrewsbury.

Current fixture list for the forthcoming season.

Sinclair signs for Cardiff

FORMER City midfielder Trevor Sinclair has signed for
Cardiff.The 34-year-old, who joined City in 2003, had held talks with Stoke but
has already joined up with the Bluebirds in their training camp in
Portugal.

-MEN.
There had been talk of Sinclair joining Stoke but opted for a move to Cardiff and will link up with former-City colleague Willo Flood, whilst there has been talk of Robbie Fowler perhaps joining the Welsh side as well.

Bianchi set to be Eriksson's first signing

Reggina striker Rolando Bianchi is poised to become
Sven-Goran Eriksson's first signing at Manchester City, the Italian club said on
Tuesday.
The 24-year-old scored 18 league goals last season as the Serie A
side avoided relegation despite an 11-point penalty for their role in Italy's
match-fixing scandal.
"We have reached a preliminary agreement with
Manchester City for the permanent transfer of Rolando Bianchi... in a 13 million
euro (8.8 million pounds) transfer deal," Reggina president Pasquale Foti was
quoted as saying by British and Italian media. "The deal will be completed on
Wednesday."

-Reuters, Milan.


Although City have declined to confirm the reports so far, it does seem certain that Bianchi will arrive at the club to become the first signing of the new regime and it looks to be an interesting one.


Bianchi had an exceptional season last time around and finished fourth in the race to be Capocanieri in Serie A, notching 18 goals in 37 appearances for a struggling Reggina side. He is twenty-four years of age so should be entering his prime years as a striker and shouldn't experience the growing pains as evidenced by Giorgios Samaras during his time at the club.


On the flipside though is ultimately strikers will be judged solely on goals, and Italian strikers do not in general have a great pedigree with names such as Grabbi and Maccarone having flopped after arriving in the Premier League at a young age.


Undoubtedly Eriksson though will have seen plenty of football during the year he was out of the game, and despite the funds available will not simply be throwing money at every player out there.


As pre-season begins to draw ever nearer, I'd expect that Bianchi would be the first of a series of Eriksson's recruits to arrive at the club.

Potential Transfer Targets

Here's hoping Eastlands is well stocked with chastity belts given Sven's arrival...now for an overview of the latest potential transfer targets:

YAKUBU: would seemingly be an ideal fit due to his talent, size, and our desperate need for quality strikers...his commitment level is a concern...very inconsistent.

ALAN SMITH: his ability to play multiple forward positions would be great for City...could we stand to do business with the evil empire though?

SHAUN WRIGHT-PHILIPPS: its a shame he ever left in the first place...was never effectively replaced at City.

FREDDIE LJUNDBERG: is past his prime and should stick to underwear modeling at this point...when was the last time Freddie did anything for Arsenal?

CHRISTIAN WILHELMSSON: am concerned about Sven showing a Swedish bias here (such as what we see with Benitez at Liverpool)...seems quality on paper though...27 year old winger for Nantes recently on loan to Roma.

ROQUE SANTA CRUZ: talented 25 year old Bayern Munich striker...not impressed with form at World Cup last year for Paraguay however.

ZOLTAN GERA: attacking Hungarian midfielder who has been with West Brom since 2004...can play the striker role, but is better suited as a right midfielder. Has struggled with fitness issues, and underwent a hernia operation in late 2005.

PAUL KONCHESKY: not sure why we would be looking for backline help at this time given the dire midfield/strike force situation.


PLAYERS WHO CITY SURPRISINGLY HAVEN'T BEEN LINKED TO (to my knowledge):

Jermain DeFoe
David Nugent
Marlon Harewood
Kevin Phillips


PLAYERS PREVIOUSLY LINKED TO CITY, BUT APPARENTLY OUT OF THE PICTURE NOW:

Michael Owen
Nicolas Anelka

Sven-Goran Eriksson Announced as Manchester City Manager

You wait for one announcement and along come two.

The club have announced Sven as the new manager on their website, pre-empting the press conference by twenty minutes in the process.

Sven (from mcfc.co.uk)

Welcome to Frankie and Svennies !

UPDATE- Some audio of Sven's press conference can be found here and here, whilst the official club site presents us with Sven's 'top ten facts'.

Shinawatra Seals deal for Manchester City

About time.

An announcement through plus markets, making Franks offer unconditional has been posted at around 13.37 today.

It would appear that he has not yet hit the 75% mark but has waived that part of the deal.

Let the signings begin.

Plusmarkets

The club have also announced a 3pm press confrence to announce the new manager (Sven).

Eriksson has holes to fill

Sven-Goran Eriksson has asked Thaksin Shinawatra to
finance virtually an entire new team after overseeing his first training session
at Manchester City yesterday. The former England coach is alarmed by the parlous
state of the current squad and wants to bring in as many as 10 players before
the transfer window closes.

-Guardian.

Putting to one side any jokes about who was the one player who actually managed to impress Eriksson, if the reports (and virtually all of the press carried this story today) are indeed true it underlines quite just how much work needs to be done - with not a great deal of time for action.

Eriksson will undoubtedly have ideas of who he wants to add to the squad, in addition to reports of the current incumbents but where exactly needs strengthening, and which areas are the most crucial.

For me, the biggest problem is the lack of genuine starters (to borrow American terminology) and this is the area Eriksson needs to address immediately.

The goalkeeping area is generally set - despite Weaver's exit, with Isaksson the de-facto number 1 and Hart and Schmeichel benefitting from loan spells last season and ready to push one another for the back-up role.

Defensively, a line-up of Richards, Dunne, Onouha and Ball obviously lacks the qualities of Distin could bring but it would be a good signing to oust any of that quartet and realistically all that is needed is adequate cover for injuries and perhaps to spell Richards and Onouha from time to time to prevent burn out.

Midfield is perhaps the biggest concern of all, and perhaps some of last seasons goalscoring problems can be traced to a glaring lack of creativity in the midfield area. Among our current squad, there doesn't appear to be a genuine stand out player who has seemingly nailed down a guaranteed first-team spot. We have two (very good) prospects in Ireland and Johnson who I expect to play a large portion of the season but they are only really supplemented by 'depth' players (Jiha Sun) and players who are on the wrong end of the careers (Hamman, Dabo).

It is apparant that someone to replace Barton's energy is required, in addition to someone who can provide much needed creativity in the middle of the park and we also have yet to replace Shaun Wright-Phillips with a genuine wide player (on either side of the pitch).

The strike-force (hardly an apt description) is in a mess though and there is a strong case for none of last seasons forwards being retained in the current campaign, and this is the area that Eriksson is believed to have targeted more than most (with Yakubu again being strongly linked). I wouldn't be sorry to see either Dickov or Corradi ushered out of the door, but think Vassell's England connection could help him remain whilst Samaras is reported to be keen to stay and for all his struggles last season it would be perhaps foolish to cut our losses on him quite just yet.

Whilst Eriksson is likely to have players in mind, he has little over a month to actual get players in ahead of the start of the campaign and you have to wonder how much activity there will be. Whilst there are leftovers on the coaching staff from the Pearce regime, it may be that perhaps he will have more of an eye on the January window once he has had time to assess the squad for himself in competitive action.

Looking at the current squad though it does illustrate both how light we currently are and how much work is needed.

It may well be that the reported tranfer kitty of £50 million handed to Eriksson will ultimately not see too much spare change.

Weaver snipes at City exit

'One minute we were talking about a testimonial and the next
we weren't talking at all. I found that disheartening,' he said.
'I was told
the contract offered while Stuart Pearce was manager was no longer on the table
and I would have to basically go on trial for the new manager. I found that a
bit of an insult, given that I played more than 30 games last season.
'My
agent made it clear I didn't want to leave City, where I had spent most of my
adult life, but in the end it became clear it was time to move on'.

It's a shame that with the ink barely dry on his new deal, Weaver has decided to air his grievances so publicly (although he did find time to praise the City fans and the 'bond' he had with them) but I would like to believe it was more in frustration than anything else.

It was unfortunate set of circumstances as Weaver was of course offered a deal by Stuart Pearce which went unsigned, and then of course Pearce was sacked and Weaver was left in limbo.

Now that Sven has arrived, the club has decided that Weaver would have to 'earn' a new contract by impressing the new manager - something Weaver has took slight with. I have a degree of sympathy with him and some of the sniping about loyalty is a touch misplaced, after all the club backed and supported him whilst he spent the best part of three seasons out with career-threatening injuries.

All in all, I think the move is for the best for all parties involved. Not everyone is relishing his move to The Valley though.

Weaver signs for Charlton

Charlton signed striker Svetoslav Todorov from Portsmouth
and goalkeeper Nicky Weaver from Manchester City on free transfers on Wednesday.
Weaver, 28, signed a three-year deal after 10 years at City - during which
he made more than 200 appearances....."Nicky hasn't had the breaks in his career
that he has deserved, but this is a great opportunity for him while Svetoslav's
quality and precision, which is proven in this division, will be very important
to us, especially in home games."

-BBC Sport.
Weaver has effectively been in limbo since the Stuart Pearce sacking which reportedly took a reported two-year contract offer off the table, and it is probably not coincidental that the move was made a day or so after Eriksson arrived at the club.

I think it is a good move for him going to a club looking to bounce back into the Premiership, and he should slot in well to replace Scott Carson who has returned to Liverpool.

The way he has battled back from injury was impressive as his career looked to be all over at one point and he must have sensed a real opportunity when the club sold David James and he subsequently beat out Andreas Isaksson at the beginning of last season.

But, (whilst the timing was strange) I agreed with the decision and I don't think anyone can doubt that Isaksson is the better long term option for the club (and perhaps being Swedish may also have come in handy). I am also certain that the development of both Joe Hart and Kaspar Schmeichel over the past year must have been a factor in the decision.

Is this then the first sign of Sven assessing the squad and making a personnel decision? If so, there will need to many more made in avery short space of time.

Weavers career stats (as taken from mcfcstats.co.uk).

Eriksson jets in to take charge

Sky Sports are breaking news that Sven-Goran Eriksson is Manchester bound ahead of taking his first training session tomorrow on the day that the players return back to the club for the first day of pre-season training.

Although the deal which will see Shinawatra get to the magical 75% ownership has not quite been completed, Eriksson's agreement in principle looks to have quashed any rumours of his Spanish 'get out option' that certain newspapers were trying to stoke up earlier this morning.

One area that I think Eriksson will benefit the club is in creating a 'Keegan' effect, whereby Keegan's high profile (and infectuous enthusiasm) catapulted the club in terms of media profile and undoubtedly this attracted 'name' players to the club (Schmeichel, Anelka, Berkovic) with the development of some younger talent (Wright-Phillips, Barton and Dunne). Eriksson is apparantly enthused with the work of the Academy and hopefully this will augment well with the players he brings in.

I am interested to see the calibre of players he does attract. There were rumours today that he wanted to create 'Team England' with the likes of Crouch and Defoe arriving, whilst the likes of Yakubu, Anelka and Wright-Phillips continue to be linked. His name should be big enough both here in England and throughout Europe to make players sit up and take notice of us in terms of players being attracted to join the club.

Much has been made of Eriksson's supposed tactical frailties, pointing out his rigidness to the 4-4-2 with England, but one aspect players have always held Eriksson in high regard in is his coaching ability, and how he relates to players - and these are players at the top of the game both at club and international level. Eriksson is believed to bring with him Ronald Andersson and Tord Grip - again figures who are well respected in the game.

As the transfer window has now opened, Eriksson has his work cut out to assemble a squad in a relatively short space of time and there have plenty of news stories over the past week or so linking all and sundry with a move to Eastlands. I don't doubt that Eriksson will have a list of 'targets' he would like to bring in, but how close to reality some of the players that have been linked are is still up for debate.

There has to be a note of caution in this however, and despite talk of a £50 million pot being made available it will be hard to manage expectations especially in the first season. Look at how much Tottenham have spent over the past couple of seasons on players and yet they have still struggled to crack the top four and achieve the holy grail of Champions League football.

I have liked the fact that Shinawatra seemingly has a realistic approach to things, and that too much should not be expected during the first season in particular. But, on a more positive note, and despite the loss of Distin and Barton in addition to losing squad depth there is a base of talent there both with the young players who are beginning to make their name in addition to more senior players who are worthy of their place regardless of new arrivals.

Expectations are going to be high, and I'm sure most fans would look for us to be a top ten side minimum, with the hope that European qualification could be attained, but a degree of patience will be needed.

I have backed the appointment of Eriksson since his name was first mentioned as a possibility and believe that with the backing of Shinawatra's money he has what it takes to move the club forward - something that became only too apparant Stuart Pearce could not do.