Newcastle preview

A return to the 'real' stuff tomorrow after what seems an eternity since the Middlesbrough win due to the International fixtures and all the hyped-up media coverage and then inevitable fall-out regardless of the result.

What was of concern for City fans of course was that Micah Richards was stretchered off, and is ruled out of tomorrows game at least (with some reports suggesting his ankle ligament damage is season ending).

I understand Stuart Pearce's talk of it being an honour to represent England, but with Richards struggling/suffering from a calf injury should he even have been risked? Can you imagine certain other Premiership managers allowing certain players to have played? I think not.

Perhaps Pearce's talk of wanting to rest Richards at some stage has now come back to haunt him, although he has claimed he will be able to utilise his squad between now and the rest of the season.

A tricky fixture awaits us then tomorrow, in what Pearce has identified as a three game period which could secure our safety. Despite Newcastle suffering a couple of poor results recently, they have generally been on a decent run of form and St. James Park has not always been a happy hunting ground for us. MCFC.co.uk also takes a look at the history between the two sides.

The news that they are unbeaten at home therefore does not bode well, and of course they have Antoine Sibierski in their ranks and will undoubtedly be looking to score against us.

Team news (courtesy of BBC Sport):

Newcastle midfielder Nicky Butt returns from a one-match ban.
Defenders Stephen Carr (groin), Celestine Babayaro and Peter Ramage (both hamstring) are available again.

Manchester City will be without England full-back Micah Richards who was stretchered off playing against Andorra in midweek.
With his remaining internationals having returned relatively unscathed, Pearce would look to retain an otherwise unchanged side.

Newcastle (from): Given, Harper, Solano, Carr, Babayaro, Edgar, Taylor, Bramble, Onyewu, Moore, Ramage, Huntington, Butt, Parker, Milner, Duff, Emre, N'Zogbia, Pattison, Troisi, Martins, Dyer, Sibierski, Luque, Carroll, LuaLua.

Man City (from): Isaksson, Weaver, Richards, Dunne, Distin, Ball, Trabelsi, Barton, Ireland, Beasley, Samaras, Corradi, Sun Jihai, Dabo, Vassell, Hamann, Dickov, Sturridge, Mpenza, Miller.

I don't expect a classic encounter by any means, and I'm sure Pearce would be happy to head home with a point in the bag. Expect a tight formation, with not a great deal being risked with the hope of perhaps snatching a win.

Prediction:

Newcastle 1 City 1

It is of course coming to the time of the year when other results begin to become more of a factor, and down at the bottom there are a couple of clashes which could shake things up around the relegation zone. Charlton will be fancying their chances of a win against Wigan, whilst I'm sure Neil Warnock will have one eye on Upton Park to see if Gareth Southgate is again in charitable mood when it comes to his 'mates'.

Is anything going on?

Don't worry, Bitter and Blue hasn't befallen the same fate as other blogs featured in this Times Online article.

Currently, it is a bit of a hectic time for me with a couple of other projects (one just starting and one nearly finishing) on the go at the moment, added to the fact it has been somewhat of a non-event news wise at the club during this international break.

It will be a little quiet around here for the rest of the week but I'll definitely have something covering the Newcastle game over the weekend.

City in the community article

One thing the club have had a lot of kudos for - and rightly so, is the work that they do and links that they have established throughout the community.

The Telegraph profiled some of this today, and also looked on a wider scale at the effect that hosting the 2002 Commonwealth games had on the club and Manchester as a whole.

Keegan speaks

Former manager Kevin Keegan was interviewed today in The Independent, reflecting on a wide number of topics such as his time in the England job, bemoaning the explosion of money and foreign players in the game, his time at City and his current venture/passion, Soccer Circus.

Covering his time at City, he says:

"I just see football for what it is, which is all about
money. I find it incredible that a doctor can train for eight years to earn in a
year half of what a footballer earns in a week. And the more they earn, the more
remote they get.
"I didn't close football clubs, I opened them up. These
days, training grounds are like prison camps. At Man City I let the fans in to
watch. They're the fans, they have the right. At the stadium, the players rush
straight in from the bus and when they come out they're straight back on. That's
wrong. Supporters should have the chance to get an autograph, and when they've
travelled two or three hours and seen you play badly they should have the right
to have a go at you, too."

As ever with Keegan, it is an interesting and revealing read and dedicates quite a lot of the piece to his latest venture, something which Keegan appears to have sunk most of his time, energies and money into since his departure from City.

Corradi set to return home

Jettisoned from the side in recent weeks as one of the culprits behind the woeful 'goals for' column this season, Bernardo Corradi has hardly done his chances of forcing his way back into the side with a critique of both manager Stuart Pearce and captain Richard Dunne:

"Pearce is a pure English coach. He never knows how the
opposition plays because they do not sit here and study their next opponents.
"If that was not enough, the morning before the Cup quarterfinals I read in
a newspaper that (Richard) Dunne, the captain, had attacked the foreign players
here."

The MEN described Corradi this week as the 'Italian hitman' - something which alone should have seen them subject to libel action, and it has been apparant that Corradi has struggled to adapt to the Premiership this season after enjoying a (relatively) succesful Serie A career and appears likely that he may return back to Italy (with former club Lazio reportedly keen) just one season into a (at least a season too long) three year deal.

Whilst it may be dismissed as ramblings of a failing 'johnny foreigner', his comments regarding Pearce perhaps expose a worrying lack of preparation by Pearce and the coaching staff when it comes to analysing and assessing forthcoming opponents.

In Italy, this is an area that is still ahead of the Premiership in general terms (although Benitez and Mourinho are probably on par), but added to critcisms of the training methods at the club it does paint a worrying picture of what goes on at the club when preparing for games, and, is perhaps easy to see why some of the foreign players are somewhat disillusioned.

International City!

From mcfc.co.uk:

With the start of the latest international break upon us,
Manchester City will have an impressive 12 players away on duty for their
countries, ranging from an England Under 18 call up for Daniel Sturridge through
to a return to the Chinese set up for Jihai Sun.

(full story...)

Ian Bishop interview on epltalk

The Gaffer has an interview with former City midfielder Ian Bishop in which Bishop reveals which British heavy metal band he's best friends with, which midfielders today are reminiscent of his playing ability, the controversy about why he was only selected for the England B-side once, and his thoughts on his former clubs West Ham United and Manchester City and their relegation battles.
Plus, Bishop lets us know what he's doing these days, and how he learned that his Major League Soccer career was over.

Take the following link to download it.

Warnock hit out at Southgates 'favour to Pearce'

In the wake of our 2-0 victory over Middlesbrough which kept our six point gap over Charlton intact, and in the process dragged several other teams back into the relegation mix, Sheffield United manager Neil Warnock has accused Gareth Southgate manager of giving a favour to Stuart Pearce because of the friendship they have.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Warnock ranted:

"Personally I think it is a disgrace. I know Stuart is a
friend of Gareth Southgate's and I know they've got Manchester United, but I'd
love to see them lose the next six games....I think it's scandalous and I don't
think a club like Middlesbrough should disrespect Sheffield United or Charlton
or anyone else scrapping for their lives.
"I'm absolutely disgusted to say
the least. Take those three out of the team and they are a shadow."

With West Ham on the horizon, Warnock even speculated that Southgate could decide to rest key players against West Ham this weekend to aid Alan Curbishley's bid for survival:

"They play West Ham on Saturday, that's another pal of his,
so they'll probably not bother there. How he imagines us not to be disappointed
I don't know, and I'm sure Alan Pardew feels the same".

Whilst there is no doubt that we were helped by the absence of Viduka, Yakubu and Woodgate, maybe Warnock is looking to deflect a little attention away from the current plight of his own side, whose recent form has seen them sink like a stone to now look the most likely of the sides at the bottom to be leapfrogged by the bottom three.

Southgate is entitled to play whichever players he feels, and to suggest he saw fit to aid our survival bid as a 'favour' to a friend is ridiculous. Perhaps Warnock would be better served looking at the administrators who decided to schedule FA Cup replays 48 hours after a Saturday fixture to aid England's Euro 2008 campaign.

Remember last season, did Stuart Pearce do a 'favour' for Paul Jewell ahead of our FA Cup tie against West Ham, or (as entitled to do so) did he rest players ahead of a game which was then (as Middlesbrough's game is now) the most important remaining one of the season?

Many people seem to feel Warnock's 'honesty' is refreshing in the Premiership this season, but at times he comes across as a man on a mission to rail against all and sundry who he believes are targetting him and his club.

And with this new instance, it only comes across as the paranoid ranting of a manager whose side are now seriously under pressure down at the bottom of the table.

Richards feature in The Independent

The Independent ran an interview feature on Micah Richards yesterday, in which he outlined his enjoyment at being at the club and also his support for Stuart Pearce.

It also took a brief look at some of the other Academy 'graduates' - although missed off profiling both Daniel Sturridge and Michael Johnson (who of course got another start yesterday).

Middlesbrough 0 City 2

Most of the journalists at The Riverside must have gathered with a 'Pearce sacked' story very much on their minds.

Yet I felt that despite a poor record at Middlesbrough and our recent dreadful run, we did have the opportunity to take something from the game, and so it panned out.

And it was members of the 'foreign contingent' of the squad - Distin and Mpenza, who earned the points with two second half goals. Distin's was pretty much gifted to him as a result of some shocking marking from a corner - and the celebrations following it gave no indication that there was any split evident in the camp. The second was well taken from Mpenza and was the sort of finish that has been lacking from the striking department this season.

Match highlights:



Press reaction in the wake of the win was very much focused on Pearce earning himself some more time in the job, although it was generally accepted that a Middlesbrough side with one eye on their FA Cup replay had not provided the sternest test. But, with Sheffield United losing and Wigan only picking a point up, the table - from a relegation perspective at least, looks a whole lot better.

Reaction:

"The results have not been good enough over the course of
the season for me and this football club.
"We know that, we are aware of
that and it is important for us to get some victories between now and the end of
the season.
"The players have had a really tough week both physically and
emotionally but we deserved to win.
"We probably deserved something from the
Chelsea game on Wednesday as well but we did not get it. But looking at the
game, it only looked like one side was going to win it."

-Stuart Pearce.

"I think the whole atmosphere was very flat, we didn't
create any spark and didn't play with any verve.
"Subconsciously, the players
were maybe looking towards Monday and, if I set the tone for that by making
changes, I have to take responsibility".

-Gareth Southgate.

"It was the first time I played with white boots. I
have had some stick in training, so I'm proud."
The centre-half is also
hoping the win will raise morale in the City squad, particularly after last
week's FA Cup exit to Blackburn Rovers. We will have to wait and see what's
going to happen. It's good to enjoy the moment and see what will happen
next.
"The mood could only be better than last week, so everything is fine at
the moment."

-Sylvain Distin.


Reports:

The Observer
Sky Sports
Daily Mail
BBC Sport

US perspective on 2-0 Riverside conquest

Alas, some breathing room...I for one will be sleeping considerably better this week after City's first league triumph since New Year's Day. Finally some positive momentum to build upon going into a challenging set of fixtures to finish out the season.

People may say that our Blues were lucky to face a 'Boro side with one eye on their Monday showdown at the Evil Empire and the likes of Woodgate and Viduka held out of the starting lineup, but make no mistake...these 3 points were very well deserved. Thank you, City for coveted bragging rights over Middlesbrough's Phil McThomas on "Soccer Shout"!

Somewhat overlooked in recent matches is how solid our backline has been, and this was no exception. Fortunately, it looks as though Micah's injury was not too serious...and with the Neville incident earlier in the day, Richards may be an integral part of the England setup in their crucial showdown in Israel.

The match was shown on tape delay here in the States (Setanta North America). As per usual, the City away contingent was impressively audible throughout the telecast. Sadly (?), no up-close shots this weekend of the sobbing, screaming Blues supporter from the FA Cup quarterfinal who is now infamous in some circles. It was quite pleasing to see Samaras actually hustling today at the Riverside...Emile Mpenza's performance hopefully will be a big confidence-booster and earn him starting lineup honours amongst a tragically impotent strike force.

It wouldn't be right to end things without some bitterness...Rovers did us no favours today. It is bad enough Blackburn defeated City three times this season, how could they lose to West Ham at Ewood Park with a 1-0 lead in the 70th minute? And I have major concerns that Charlton is getting Newcastle at just the right time tomorrow afternoon...the Addicks will be very up for this one, while Newcastle are coming off a classic European hangover situation following their heartbreaking Thursday night match in Holland (and historically have been very poor in the Capital).

Lost in translation?

It seems that the foreign contingent in the squad have not taken too kindly to Richard Dunne's comments prior to the Blackburn game where he was critical of certain elements of the side - or so says Sylvain Distin:

"The foreign players, particularly the French and Italians,
have not taken it well at all.....it is a difficult time but we have to stick
together," he continued. "We have to communicate amongst ourselves and stop
blaming one another for mistakes. Sticking together until the end is
key."

For me it was more of a rallying call from Dunne, but from his comments perhaps it is understandable to infer that he was singling out the foreign players in particular. Still, there didn't seem to be much disharmony shown in the performance against Chelsea so hopefully it is one of these small points that the media seem to pick up on when targetting a 'crisis club'.

New City blogs

Not noted as one of the most prolific blogging clubs around, there seems to have been a mini-explosion in recent times.

New blogs that have sprung up are citeh-citeh, beneath the scoreboard, king of the kippax, bluesology and the invisible man.

Go on over to the 'city links' section on the right-hand side and take a look at all the City links as we are blessed with some good (and varied) sites at the moment.

Richards in, Barton out for England

Fairly predictable stuff but the latest England squad sees Joey Barton axed following his debut against Spain in the recent friendly, but Micah Richards keeps his place in the squad for the double-header against Israel and Andorra.

There was a little speculation that senior members of the squad had called for Barton to be left out due to his 'big-time Charlie' antics when he was in the last squad. Despite ruffling a few feathers with some of his comments about the team, surely it was inevitable that McLaren would revert to type and plump for the tried and trusted faces when it came to the 'serious' games.

Middlesbrough preview

This really is a game that I feel should be there for the taking.

Buoyed by a more positive display on Wednesday against Chelsea, we go up against a side who will undoubtedly have minds on Monday's replay against United.

Team wise, I don't expect a great deal of change for ourselves, but manager Gareth Southgate could field a less than full-strength side - saying:

"Both the league and the FA Cup are important to us and I
still feel we have a lot to play for in both competitions.
"I have lots of
decisions to make because these are two very big games and we want to win both.
"We need to go into both games with as much energy and strength as possible, and
I have to take each match on its individual merits."

I believe that key players will be missing so the opportunity to get a vital three points is definitely there and we need to take the spirit from Wednesday into the game. A key undoubtedly is the first goal as at present there is a (justifiable) sense that if we fall behind we are unlikely to get anything from the game due to our scoring drought.

For the opening quarter of both the Chelsea and Blackburn games, we have looked the equal of our opponents but then conceded and never looked like grabbing an equaliser. It will be an interesting situation then if we can get our noses in front as it will almost be an alien way of playing to us.

I do feel that we will get something from the game - if only because Pearce has managed to buy himself time throughout the season when things have looked precarious.

Three points may be a stretch too far for us though.

Predicition:
Middlesbrough 1 City 1

City 0 Chelsea 1

An unsuprising end result, but perhaps a surprising level of commitment and passion shown by both the players and the fans given recent reports of a divided dressing room and stories that fans were turning up en masse to signal the end of the Pearce reign.

Again, for the first twenty minutes of the game (much like Blackburn) we had the equal of the game and perhaps looked more likely to go in front, but a rash challenge from Micah Richards on Solomon Kalou saw Lampard put Chelsea ahead and rarely did we look as if we could then get anything from the game.

There was plenty of effort, spirit and endeavour shown but it still remains that the first shot on target was Samaras's effort in injury time. Chelsea have taken a lot of stick in the papers today for their 'dour' approach but for me it was more a case of them getting their noses in front and then doing just enough to take the points.

I always felt they had (particularly upfront) more pace at their disposal, created more space and were more incisive than we were, although the effort can't be faulted and I though decent performances were shown by Distin, Dunne, Ball, Barton and Mpenza, whilst I liked the composure that Isaksson brought to the side.

However, there was still too many wayward passes and examples of poor control for us to have really threatened a Chelsea side who weren't at their best. Still, there were flashes of cohesion and creativity and it was pleasing to see the crowd getting behind the team (although not Pearce directly).

What will be more of an indicator if the players are behind Pearce and pulling for the cause is how they perform against Middlesbrough on Saturday, against a team who will have their eyes fixed on Monday's FA Cup replay against United. With a two week break following the game, any decision on Pearce (at least until the end of the season) would surely be made following the game.

If we are going to grab three vital points and earn a reprieve for Pearce, it will surely be then.

Man of the match:

Michael Ball played well again on the left (and has surely done enough to earn a longer deal), but I thought Richard Dunne shaded it. Drogba is top quality and Dunne kept the shackles on for the most part.

Reaction:

“People say our heads are down. But the players were
very buoyant before the game, and I don’t think you could put on a performance
like that if there were splits in the camp.
“We are under the microscope and
I am under the microscope. The one thing that will alleviate it is if we win a
game sooner rather than later.
“There are eight teams who could get
relegated, and we are in the mix. We have some tough games in the run-in but
make no mistake, the other teams have as well.
“We gave as good as we got
against Chelsea, and I have to harness this endeavour.” - Stuart Pearce

Reports:

The Guardian
The Telegraph
Guardian live blog
Chelsea blog

Chelsea preview

Wednesday March 14th 2007, City of Manchester Stadium. Live on Sky Sports.

Probably the last thing Stuart Pearce needed this week following a disastrous FA Cup exit was a re-arranged midweek game. Not only that but it sees a visit by the current Champions who are desperately clinging onto their title and need all the points they can get.

Added to this mix is the Sky cameras are present at the match along with the media hordes, sharpening their pencils and ready to read the last rites in anticipation of the axe falling on Pearce after another defeat.

The fall-out from Sunday has not been pretty, with Pearce (again) forced to defend himself amidst reports he has two games (Chelsea and Middlesbrough) to save his job - although other reports suggest it is irrelevant how the rest of the season pans out.

The comments from Richard Dunne ahead of the Blackburn have now been seized upon, with reports suggesting cracks in the camp, and that Pearce has 'lost' the dressing room. One suggestion was that an unnamed player called training at City a 'joke', and I know that one summer signing was dismayed at the training set-up in comparison to his previous club.

The players who did attempt to applaud the fans at the end of the game were given short shrift - with Chris Bailey pointing out this could have a detrimental long-term effect.

Pearce has likened the current situation to the Alamo, but perhaps a more fitting comparison would be to portray Pearce as King Canute, desperately trying to turn back the tide that is closing in on him.

The board have remained steadfastly silent thus far, offering neither support nor the poisoned 'vote of confidence', but it may well be that they are a little tied by the current takeover situation and could just be hoping to scrape through the rest of the season before bolting out of town, with at least Premiership status secured.

The worry for Pearce is that it appears he has lost the support of the crowd (who incidentally played a large part in him being appointed), and history shows that whilst fans do not run the club, once they turn against a manager it is inevitable that they will be shown the door.

The problem is excasperated for Pearce by the fact that the very problem with the side - goalscoring, is firmly laid at Pearce's door. The current striking options - Samaras, Corradi, Vassell and Dickov (the jury is still out on Mpenza) were all brought into the club by Pearce at a cost of around £10 million and have failed to deliver.

The defence has been strong on the whole (although more error prone than last year), the 'keepers have not really put a foot wrong and the midfield have been effective enough without the support of forward line.

It is the strikers who are the problem, and Pearce must be held accountable.

Corradi - who I described as a 'poor mans Luca Toni' when he signed, has proved anything but. Vassell is a confidence player who has failed to show any apart from short spurts. Dickov has been a wash-out and Samaras - the brunt of fans derision, has gone from a 'prospect' (albeit an expensive one) to a young player who is hiding from the ball.

bbcsport ran a lengthy feature today looking at the City career of Pearce thus far, and had the following graph to look at his season by season comparison - which does not appear to favourable:



Lest we forget there is actually a game taking place tomorrow then, and it is difficult to see anything but a Chelsea victory. I am interested to see what side Pearce selects, as he may roll the dice and gamble on a Mpenza-Sturridge partnership to shake things up. More likely though I expect Pearce to try and keep it tight for as long as possible against a Chelsea side who are suffering through injuries, but still grinding out results.

Pearce will be delighted to somehow come away with a point from this game to stretch the cushion to the bottom three just that bit further, and a 0-0 would suit just fine but Chelsea should have too much for a side whose confidence and morale are badly damaged.

Prediction:
City 0 Chelsea 2

When it rains...

From reuters:

Manchester City footballer Joey Barton has been
arrested and bailed on suspicion of assault and criminal damage, media reports
said on Tuesday.
Barton, 24, who won his first cap for England as a
substitute in last month's friendly international against Spain, was arrested
over an incident involving a taxi driver in Liverpool in the early hours of
March 4, the reports said.
"I can confirm a 24-year-old man, from Cronton,
Cheshire, was arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage and assault," a
Merseyside police spokeswoman said.
Barton's club said in a statement it had
no comment on the reports.

Fancy a flutter?

From William Hill:

Under pressure Manchester City boss Stuart Pearce is
8/1 with William Hill no longer to be City boss by kick-off time of their
weekend game against Middlesbro.Pearce is already odds-on favourite to be the
next Premiership manager to leave his club this season following Manchester
City's Cup defeat by Blackburn, withWilliam Hill making him 5/6 to be the next
to go this campaign and also offering7/1 Curbishley; 25/1Pardew; 40/1 Boothroyd.
They also offer 11/10 that no more managers will leave their club this
season.But with City facing Chelsea in midweek, a game which they are 11/2
outsiders to win, with Chelsea 4/9 and the draw 13/5, Hills are offering 8/1
that the City manager will have departed before they play Boro. 'Pearce is a
proud man and a heavy defeat at home, even to the champions, would be bound to
produce critical crowd reaction which could make him decide to walk away or
prompt his sacking' said Hill's spokesman Graham Sharpe.City are currently 11/2
with Hills to be relegated this season.

Blackburn 2 City 0

Why did we expect it to be any different?

At one point when Tottenham were 3-1 up against Chelsea I even began to think of a potential semi-final quartet of City, Tottenham, Middlesbrough and Plymouth and the easier route to Wembley glory that would provide.

Yet a few hours later, once again hope was extinguished and we are left with a battle against relegation that threatens to turn ugly given the current mood of the fans - and perhaps as important, the media who will be circling to target the demise of Cty in much the same manner they have gone after West Ham in recent weeks.

For the first twenty minutes we came out with a purpose and intent that backed up my theory that Richard Dunne had played a little psychological trickery on the side by dishing out a some pre-match criticism.

However, once the initial burst had fizzleed out we regressed to type, offering little in the way of attacking threat - and even less in terms of tangible attacking opportunities. And once Mokoena had (fortioutously) put Blackburn ahead it was more in hope than anything else that we relied upon to gain anything from the game.

Team wise, what did Pearce get wrong? Perhaps only the ommission of Mpenza but fitness may still be an issue with him, but critically it looked as though the team has lost heart and belief in both themselves and their manager.

Time and time again, the wrong option was chosen - often a simple mistake which you do not see from other teams. Particularly frustrating again was the insistence of playing into the hands of the opposition strengths and the terrible lack of cohesion between the attacking pair and the midfield/wing-backs.

With about fifteen minutes left (maybe with the introduction of Samaras?) a different mood was sensed from the crowd and chants of 'you're not fit to wear the shirt' directed at the team, and of 'what the %#$* is going on?' very much aimed at Stuart Pearce. It was no surprise when Blackburn added a second through Derbyshire - having been given time and space to slot easily past Weaver to seal their passage into the semi-finals.

Lest we forget, Blackburn were even down to ten men towards the end of the game following the sending off of Mokoena, but we couldn't capitalise and in all honesty failed to even threaten Blackburn with a half-decent chance.

For quite a vocal and animated character, Pearce towards the end appeared to be wearing an almost deflated expression, perhaps as though he realised time was up on his tenure at the club.

Wendesday night at home to Chelsea could see an intresting reaction from the crowd, and I expect those attending will not hold back on either Pearce or the team from the word go as the pressure begins to mount on the Pearce reign.

It is time for a response, and it is needed quickly.

Reaction:

"It's frustration really, that's one word I'd associate with
us at the moment. We're a little bit frustrated from top to bottom at the club
and that goes for the fans as well. It was a little bit of frustration from him.
I'm as frustrated as he is to be honest and the players are as well. We're in
the dressing room and it was very quiet. We've just got to pick ourselves up and
that must start with me."

-Stuart Pearce.

Reports:
The Times
soccerway.com
Telegraph
roversnet.co.uk

Dunne and Barton hit-out and challenge the squad

Ahead of the biggest game of the season later today and the newspapers this morning are hardly paining a picture of a happy camp at City at the moment.

Joey Barton has been claiming that some of his teammates do not share his own ambitions, and talking to Sky Sports he said:

"I want to win trophies, I want to play in the UEFA
Champions League and I want to play in the European cups. "I want to play at the
highest level and I want to test myself and I don't think anyone can have any
qualms with you for wanting that.
"Whether it's this season or next season
we all have to strive at this football club to achieve it, every single one of
us.
"There's no point me wanting to achieve it and ten others not, and I
don't think that's the case.
"I think at the minute it's a case of five or
six wanting it and five or six not.
"I think as soon as we get the playing
field level and eight, nine or ten wanting it then we'll start achieving
things."

However, it is perhaps Richard Dunne's comments to The Observer which are perhaps more scathing:

'We are not scoring enough goals and two or three
players are going missing when things go against us,' he says. 'At home, in
particular, we seem to go into our shells, or at least some of us do. That's the
disappointing thing. We are not a good enough team to win games with just seven
or eight players, we need everyone to pull together. We can't afford to have
players hiding. I feel let down by certain people and I'm sure the manager does
too, but it's not his fault. The squad is not big enough for everyone to be
pushed and when that happens you get people operating in a comfort zone.
'When a manager only has limited funds to spend on new players, the ones he
does bring in need to hit the ground running, and that hasn't happened either.
Foreign signings are always going to need time to adapt, but at this stage of
the season you need to be giving 100 per cent. It should be a matter of personal
pride.
'We go to Blackburn as underdogs and we are away from home so to some
extent the pressure is off, but in the league we have got a really hard run-in.
We are not going to be able to survive just by picking up points from bad teams,
we are going to have to beat some good teams. We've got to
improve.'

Whilst The Times has a similar piece, but adds:

"Managers live by their transfer deals. I’m sure the
manager feels let down but it’s not his fault if the personal pride in a player
is not there.” I don’t think we’re scoring enough goals,” Dunne said. “I think
there are a couple of people going missing during games. And we’re not

good enough team to have just six or seven players turn up every weekend. We
need 11, 14 players putting effort in. If your skill isn’t holding up the least
you can do is put the effort in.
“There’s the likes of Joey Barton who you
know you can rely on to be there fighting every week, but there’s others who go
into their shells. It’s a lack of self pride and they need to understand in
their own minds what they’re doing. They’re hiding from the rest of the team.”

Whilst not uncommon for Barton to speak his mind, it is quite rare for Dunne (even as captain) to be very vocal in the press - and even less so for it to be with a critical tone.

I don't think he is particularly the type to stir up trouble within the club, and perhaps, ahead of such an important game and stage of the season, he is playing a little psychological game here and aiming to throw down a challenge to the team as a whole that it is time to stand up and be counted.

Views from America on the eve of Rovers cup tie

I'm carrying cautious optimism (believe it or not) going into the Blackburn match, as seemingly every audible pundit has been confidently proclaiming Rovers to easily advance...often the kiss of death. I attended City's 4-2 defeat at Rovers whilst on holiday this past September, and was taken aback at how many supporters City was able to bring to the ground, as well as how benign an environment Ewood Park was for visitors. Our set piece defence was shocking that afternoon...still have nightmares of MG Pederson's prowess against City...hopefully history will not repeat itself.

The match will be televised live here in the states on Fox Soccer Channel. Amazingly in this day and age, the majority of City matches are now available on tele in America (as long as consumers are willing to pay for the premium cable TV channels, which I happily am). With daylight savings time starting early tomorrow in the US, we get a nice break for a while on the West Coast, only being 7 hours behind England (as opposed to the usual 8 hours, which can be dreadful for the early lunch-time GMT kickoffs).

Here's hoping after tomorrow...for the first time in 26 years...we see the blues in an FA Cup semi final.

Fa Cup - Blackburn V City - Preview

Sunday 11th March - 4pm
Ewood Park - Live on Sky Sports

The bookies have Rovers nailed on certs in this quarter final clash and given city's recent form you can't really dispute them ! Blackburn have already put 3 top flight sides out this year including a great win over Arsenal.
Meanwhile this is the first premiership side that City will have faced on an FA Cup run that has kept Stuart Pearce clinging on to his job by fingernails, all the wins so far have come against lower league opposition.

The abysmal form has done little dampen Cup Fever at Eastlands, with 7000 tickets going in 4 days to season ticket holders only, it would appear that the gallows humour that kept us sane in the 3rd division days has re-appeared.

On the injury front blackburn have David Dunn suspended, whilst Nonda should miss out with injury. City have almost a full squad to pick from with Dickov and Vassell returning giving us seven fit strikers including the youngsters Sturridge and Miller , Wonder if the 7 of them can muster up a goal between them.

On form City go in as no hopers, everything in my head has Blackburn down for an easy win, but still.... Tremendous backing should be generated by the 7k should motivate the boys in blue, This is Ewood Park and the gods have smiled on us before at Ewood, this is the FA Cup ! Lets pray for some famed cup magic. God knows we need it.

Prediction 3-3 - Blood and Thunder cup tie.

Nedum facing international dilemna

From BBC Sport:

The invitation of 37 players to a provisional Super Eagles
squad by newly appointed coach German Berti Vogts has come under severe
criticism from the local media in Nigeria.
There were several surprise names
included in the provisional squad released by the Nigeria Football Association
(NFA) for the African Cup of Nations qualifier against Uganda on 24
March.

One player named in the squad was our very own Nedum Onouha - born in Nigeria but who moved to the UK at a young age and joins fellow Premiership youngsters Victor Anichebe and Gabriel Agbonlahor - who admitted he is undecided over the offer.

He has represented England under-21's on a number of occasions now, but could still represent Nigeria at senior level with dispensation from FIFA.

No news from Onouha on whether he is considering representing Nigeria, but still must be considered as future England potential if he can stay injury free. His absence from the City side through injury is likely to mean he is unfit for the Nigeria game at the end of March, so he may get to wait a little longer before he has to make a decision.

Pearce comes out in bullish mood

Perhaps stung by recent displays on the pitch, and increasing unrest off it, Stuart Pearce has come out fighting over the past day or so to state whilst he acknowledges the 'sack talk' currently going on, he has no fear of the axe and equally so, no intention of quitting as manager of the club.

It was believed that Pearce may get his P45 this week, but talk of a new managerial appointment may have been slightly exaggerated and resulted in the appointment of Kenny Jackett, although according to the MEN:

".....rumbling of discontent has been mirrored in the
board room and a lengthy Monday meeting is believed to have discussed the
manager's position before deciding to stick with the former England
skipper."

Pearce was in confident mood in the interview and believed that he is still in charge because the board want him to be - not because of any 'ulterior motive':

"I hark back to before Christmas when we lost at Wigan
in a very poor game and come the Monday morning everyone was there ready to
work, even those who had opportunities to pull out with injuries or one thing
and another. From that moment on I knew I was working with a very genuine squad
we have been given a bit of a nosebleed last weekend.

We have had a bad result in front of our own fans, one
or two people have had a moan and, if you like, the pressure has cranked up on
me. That's fine."I know the players will respond. They will turn around and say
they want to work hard on the training pitch. Once you have got that, and when
you have always got that, then you are home and dry."

At this club over the last two years there have been a
lot of things right and a few things wrong. We know what the short-comings are.
This season they are there for all to see. It is important that - no matter what
my future is at City - the baby doesn't go out with the bath
water."

I still feel as though there is a hell of lot right at
this club, that we get a few wins together, learn from what has happened this
season and we approach next season in a different vein to improve what we have
already done.

"The most disappointing thing about last Saturday was
that if we had put three points to bed then all talk of relegation from people
outside the club would have diminished. What we did was give a leg-up to a team
that were looking over their shoulder. That's the most disappointing
thing."

There is still a third of the season to go and it is
important that people keep an eye on that. "We know what we have got to do and
the bottom line is that our own fate is in our own hands. There are three teams
below us who would swap places and we know that one win will vault us up the
table."

It is all but two years since Pearce first took on the job amidst the wave of optimism and clamour for his appointment (remember that?) and one thing he has always seemed to do is when the pressure begins to build on him is pull out a result to ease it off for a few more games.

However, it now seems that patience has run out and a small ripple of vocal displeasure could soon begin to build if the next month continues as recent weeks have done.

With the number of fans and build up to the Cup game at Blackburn, I feel that there will be nothing but total support for Pearce and the team on Sunday. However, if we do go out of the Cup and things do not go well next Wednesday against Chelsea he may well be in for a rocky ride.

Survival prediction

Chris Bailey at the MEN looked at our league run-in today to assess our chances of staying up in comparison to some of the other sides down at the bottom of the table and concluded that - only just, we would be safe and it may be that Fulham could be dragged into the mix if one of the bottom three gets their act together and goes on a decent run.

He pinpointed the 37 point mark as being enough, in comparison to the 38 mark I have used previously.

It looks like the BBC have put together their own final table predictor where you can input the results for the remaining games to see what the final table would like.

If anyone has a go of it, feel free to post in the comments the points total and where you had us finishing.

Let the pessimism begin!

Pearce grabs his Jackett

Not quite as I expected it to pan out, but it seems that one of the issues on the agenda at Monday's 'lengthy' board meeting was to ratify the appointment of Kenny Jackett as reserve-team manager, although Stuart Pearce was quick to point out his role/duties would not be restricted solely to reserve team matters:

"He’ll take our reserves, but because of the squad and the nature of how we operate he will be working with the first team for a fair proportion of the week and will be involved on match days at the weekend.He’s enthusiastic, he’s a good man and I think he’ll be a major asset to this football club.

"I have two assistants now that have both managed and that in some ways is invaluable. Steve Wigley has been a fantastic help to me and Kenny will fit in well.

"Maybe at the end of the changes I now have a better staff than I did two weeks ago."

Jackett seemed to be doing a good job with Swansea until the end of last season, and was perhaps unlucky not to take them up into the Championship, but the wheels came off a little this campaign and he left the club by 'mutual consent'. Still, Pearce appears confident in him and following the departures of Flowers and Bunn the coaching staff needed padding out again.

So it seems that Pearce's position is safe for now, or certainly until the end of the season, and whilst it may not be on the scale of a new appointment to the managers position, maybe Jackett's appointment will give the playing staff a lift over the coming weeks.

Reflections on the Supporters Trust open meeting

As mentioned previously on here, it was of course the Supporters Trust open meeting on Sunday where the idea was to try and formally establish the Trust.

Myself and Mr Banks braved the inclement weather to make our way (not entirely confidently due to not thinking to get directions) to the Building where the meeting was being held to take our place amongst another 150 or so hardy souls - including Paul Tyrell and the MEN who featured the meeting in Mondays edition.

The meeting was conducted by master of ceremonies James H Reeve, who controlled matters in typical style. Interestingly, he revealed that Stuart Pearce had spoken to him and asked him to report back on the content of the meeting as he does like to keep in touch with what fans are thinking.

Messages of support (and apologies) from David Bernstein and Chris Bird were read out before Colin Howell ran through the days agenda and an explanation of why the group were seeking to formally establish the Trust.



There were three 'guest' speakers present for the meeting, Dave Boyle, from Supporters Direct, Sean Hamil, director of Celtic Supporters Trust, who gave a very eloquent and reasoned talk on the unique ‘business’ of football and the dangers that increased American ownership in the Premier League could lead to, and Jon Keen, from the Reading Supporters Trust who explained how they had met with initial indifference from the club to get to the situation where they actively worked alongside the club.

The final speaker was the Trusts' Colin Savage, who outline the five aims of the Trust, and made an interesting statement in that although Wardle/Makin had pumped in around £20 million in loans to the club, hadn't the fans also paid an extraordinary amount into the club (not to be re-paid should I add) during the same period?

There was then a Q&A session which raised some interesting (and difficult?) questions, and here I'll defer to Sue from King of the Kippax who clearly did a better job than me with her notetaking:

Q: Contact with the club – when will this be made?
A: The members of the working party have been in contact with the club from day one, and continue with this contact.

Q: Some of the aims need increasing – eg 50% of the shares?
A: There are legal restrictions to adhere to. Fans might want more involvement short term – if so they should get involved with the working party. The trust will represent the fans democratically – one member, one vote.

Q: Has there been any effort to contact shareholders?
A: Yes – those owning more than 25%.

Q: Has anyone put themselves forward to sit on the board?
A: No. It must be someone with sufficient expertise (someone like David Bernstein). There are many highly qualified professionals amongst City fans, but it’s not so much who the person is, as that the kind of person voted into the position would be able have an honest dialogue. Today’s ideas are draft proposals. As a point of interest, Arsenal don’t have a board member, but have monthly meetings with the board.

Q: Would a takeover have a detrimental effect?
A: Until there is a firm proposal we cannot say. We would hope for the right sort of investment package, one without massive debts attached and we fear that an American franchise would eventually reduce football to the level of WWF.

Q: What about the cost involved of becoming a founder member?
A: Reading have a fee of £10 per adult, which seems reasonable, but would be decided upon after formation.

Q: What about existing supporters groups?
A: We would like to see more active involvement, but no preferential treatment for any one organisation. Communication is vital.

Q: Can the Trust function without the co-operation of the club?
A: We would hope to co-operate, but would exist anyway – hoping to achieve our own credibility.

The vote to formally establish the Trust was then held, and was unanimously carried - something of a surprise as I expected one or two dissenters in the audience. Maybe there had have been had Paul Tyrell not already departed at this stage.

So what now? Well, I guess there is still much to do, many questions to be asked and many answers to be given. Judging by some of the message boards since Sunday, there is still a cynical element out there yet to be convinced.

But it is a start. If the Trust now go forward and ultimately fail, then they will have given it a try. It is a long road ahead to be travelled to ultimately begin to influence and effect change and matter may not be helped by the current attitude of the board (who did promise dialogue once the meeting had been held) which was evidence further by their comments in Monday's MEN.

From what I know of those involved in the group - admittedly some more than others, I do know they are committed to this and bring with them a wide variety of background and skills, but one common factor - to see the club prosper and move forward.

Please visit the Supporters' Trust blog for details on the next steps as they now aim to take things forward.

The answer to our goalscoring woes?

From mcfc.co.uk:

"George Michael has announced that he will be playing at the
City of Manchester Stadium on Friday 15 June as part of his British and European
stadium tour.
Having sold-out in mere minutes, ‘25 Live’ entertained over
650,000 delighted fans over the course of a 49 date tour, in 11 different
countries, receiving unprecedented praise from fans and press alike".

Could he be worth a go to try and solve the current goalscoring problem?

Has Pearce run out of time?

Following on a little from Mr Banks review of Saturday's 1-0 defeat to Wigan, the comments section was filled by many of you calling for Pearce to go - with you naming (surprisingly?) Bobby Robson named as a favourite to take over (albeit in a short term capacity).

It now seems that fans patience has finally worn thin with Pearce, with a depressing last few months punctuated only by the glimmer of a Wembley appearance on the horizon, something which until the last couple of weeks has certainly deflected away from the miserable league form.

The normally reflective Pearce has also come out today to bemoan the 'lack of investment' over the past three seasons - something he does not normally criticise outright despite the obvious frustration it must cause:

"Over the last two or three years, the fact we have not
speculated as well as we should have done financially is probably catching up
with us a little bit."

He has also suffered the blow of losing two talented and trusted members of the coaching staff in Tim Flowers and Frank Bunn over the past week or so, and it is no great secret that he did not endear himself to his employers with the mess created over his appointment to the England under-21 managers position.

Do not now be surprised then if Pearce is now gone sooner rather than later.

The timing of making such a move is now crucial given the impending Blackburn cup game followed by the league games against Chelsea and Middlesbrough. I think it is a racing certainty he will be gone in the summer - heading off to the under-21 position full-time, but I believe that the board may be thinking of acting now to give the club a jolt to shake it out of the current malaise it is in, with the hope of safeguarding Premier league status and maybe, just maybe getting to the FA Cup final.

The danger is by making a move at this stage, you run the risk of causing unrest within the squad, and then having a situation where the new man comes in and has so little time to impose himself and methods on a squad. Conversely, a short-term boost of a couple would be all that is needed to virtually ensure survival.

It is inconceivable that we will be able to prise a manager away from another club at this stage of the season so it would be a caretaker who comes in until mid-May (and it won't be Steve Wigley) before targeting the next 'full-time' manager. The list of potential candidates out there is by far from exhaustive and I don't see any of the 'big names' risking damage to their reputations by actually taking us down.

By the process of elimination this means that a caretaker apointment would probably not be the sort of name that fans would be happy with and would also represent a huge risk undertaken by the board for whom it would be a financial disaster if we were to be relegated given the inevitable fall in value to the club in the midst of takeover talks.

A lot can happen in a week - whether it politics or football, and by this time next Sunday we could have given ourselves a real shot in the arm for the rest of the season by beating Blackburn in the FA Cup.

It remains to be seen though as to whether Stuart Pearce will still be in charge to oversee proceedings.

City And Two Jobs Pearce On The Brink

City -0 Wigan - 1 (Folan 18)

The storm clouds gather over Eastlands after city's 4th straight premier league defeat, brought about by Caleb Folans (another player we supposedly looked at) header in the 18th minute which in truth could have been Wigans third as city left their legs (and minds) in Dubai with an opening 20-30 minutes that brought two words to mind .... Frank Clark...
The man charged with motivating our players of course is the man who replaced Clark at Forest, Our very own England patriot Mr kick every ball Stuart ' psycho' Pearce.


To todays game first , as already stated Wigan could quite easily have been 2 or 3 up by the time Folan took advantage of Nicky Weavers hesitation to loop in an unchallenged header after 18 mins of wigan of domination. You can blame the players for not tracking Folan after the initial header looped up in the box but Weavers one step forward one step back indecisiveness was the killer had he come he would have got a block , had he stayed would have been a routine catch on the line.

To lay the blame for the defeat at Weavers door would be harsh as nobody except Michael Ball emerged with any credit. Stuart Pearce described it in his post match interview as been bullied, I call it a complete unwilling less to compete aligned with the fact that players seemed to be totally clueless as to what formation , who was picking up who and what the game plan was. Either that or they are playing to get Pearce sacked.

You could point to the fact that after the opening half hour we gave it a good go, but in truth we created nothing , despite Filan dropping everything that came his way in the first half. Which pretty much sums up the whole season , OK at the back but if we concede first we are F****d.

Heard a few Pearce out chants after the game outside the glass frontage on the Colin Bell Stand, I would make him stay until the end of the season, he got us into this mess there is no way he is slinking of to the U21's without another major black mark on his managerial record. We should however be looking to replace him in the summer whatever happens, quite simply the guy has been measured and come up short.

The relegation battle starts here.

Wigan Preview

Sat 3rd March - 3pm - Eastlands

Just a point separates 15th placed City and 17th Placed Wigan as we head into what has surprisingly not been dubbed a six pointer. A win for City would all but ease the relegation spectre lurking in the background, while a win for Wigan would put a 3 game cushion between themselves and Charlton.

Of course Wigans fall from grace has hardly been there own fault as whining scouse Paul Jewell has stated every week its the refs , a conspiracy to get them relegated or more likely the alignment of reality with Uranus. A win against Newcastle last week had Jewell state with probably no understanding of the word irony that 'he didn't want to talk about referees' , given he spent the last 2 months doing nothing but some might say about fucking time. While Stuart Pearce has his critics in the club for not saying anything about referees I would much prefer he said nothing than make a complete fool out of himself like Jewell has done.

Onto todays game , Wigan have Fitz Hall missing through suspension (not his fault though, Paul Jewell) probably more of a blow for Wigan is Henri Camara is missing after aggravating his previous injury in training this week. City have long term injuries Sinclair , Onohua and Vassell missing. New signing Emile Mpenza is in the squad but not expected to figure.

Prediction :

1-1 - neither side hauling themselves clear.

Supporters Trust meeting - final reminder

For those who are not aware, it is the Supporters Trust open meeting this Sunday, so anyone who wants to get down and check it out, it is held at the Renolds Building, Sackville Street Campus, Altrincham Street, Manchester, M1 3BB (map here).

Say the group:

At the meeting, we will present our aims and proposals,
concerns and ideas as well as allow time for a "question and answer" session at
the end to ensure that supporters have their say and raise points that are
important. This part of the meeting is crucial and will ensure that the views
and concerns of the supporters are known, which can then be used/ addressed in
the next phase.

At the end of the Open Public Meeting the supporters
present will be asked to vote on the proposal to establish a working party to go
ahead and register the Trust. If the vote is successful, the working party will
work towards the formal launch of the trust and deal with areas including the
drafting of the constitution of the trust, registering it with the Financial
Services Authority, open bank accounts, draft membership forms etc.

Assuming the vote is successful the numbers in the
current trust working party will need to be increased from 7 to 12. There will
be a chance at the meeting for supporters to sign up as additional members and
in so doing will be asked to confirm their availability and the skills they have
to offer the working party.

If you don't get chance to get down there, I'll post something up the early part of next week on the meeting.

Mayday campaign

Hat tip to Ben for the link to this campaign to try and establish fairer pay for nurses.

One of their aims is to try and encourage every Premiership player to donate a days wages to the campaign, and currently ten players have signed up - and kudos to our very own Micah Richards for doing so.

In terms of fan support, currently we lie 13th in the table. If this is your sort of thing, please check the link to the campaign and go ahead and sign up yourself.

How far from safety?

The MEN ran a piece recently entitled 'Things are looking up for City', in which it very much put a positive spin on the final third of the season and how we can look to crack the top ten and move on from there.

Perhaps it is us being inactive this weekend, but with the results Wigan and Charlton have got this past week it does drag us back into the mire a little bit - or certainly casting a nervous glance over our shoulders at the drop zone.

A couple of weeks ago I thought that potentially even thirty-five points may be good enough to ensure safety as neither of the bottom sides looked capable of putting a significant enough run together to really put us in trouble.

For me, Watford and West Ham are doomed already. Simply Watford are not good enough whilst West Ham just appear a club in absolute turmoil and Alan Curbishley came across as a condemned man in the post match interviews following the 4-0 defeat at The Valley yesterday.

Wigan have been just above the drop zone for the most part of the season, and have yet to have a real consistent run and will have one eye on forthcoming fixtures against ourselves and Charlton to ease themselves out of trouble after pulling off an important victory over Newcastle yesterday.

Charlton are the key side in all of this for me and have ten games remaining - having none of the top five to play (unlike West Ham and Watord), have key players coming back and appear to be rallying around Alan Pardew, and will be looking to hit the thirty-eight point mark, which they may consider enough to keep them up.

I don't think ultimately we will be in any grave danger of the drop (as I have maintained throughout the season), but from a couple of weeks ago it may now seem we need to hit the forty point mark (or at least three wins) to at least guarantee safety.

Three points at home to Wigan next would be a welcome step to achieving that mark though.