Derby 1 City 1

It really did seem at one point that we were set to really come unstuck had we gone down to defeat last night at Pride Park, but thankfully some resillience was shown by the side following Sunday's FA Cup exit and Danny Sturridge scored for the second game running to rescue a point - and importantly the way other results went last night, keep us in the hunt for the European positions.

Sven has talked much of mental tiredness in the squad, and coupled with him busily trying to add players in before the deadline passes, he opted to make a swathe of changes with Elano, Mpenza, Hamman and Onouha all notably not in the starting eleven.

At his point, and amidst some of the restlessness from fans over recent results and performances, it is worth just taking a step back and reflecting on where we currently area and just what progress has been made this season given the lack of squad depth in comparison to the sides around us, but importantly just what was expected as we headed into the season.

A top ten finish was the instruction from the new owners for this season and the majority (certainly myself) echoed this as a reasonable position given the hectic way in which the squad was assembled under Sven and the time it takes to get a side challenging for Europe (evidenced by Everton and Aston Villa being ahead of us in that respect), from being a side who flirted with the wrong end of the table.

Talk of a Champions League position was nice at the time, if a little fanciful and it was inevitable at some stage we would hit a rough patch and things would not quite go our way or one or two key players would see a dip in form, all of which naturally result in a slide down the table.

A look through the squad (and those on the fringes) tells us we are well set for the future in terms of the quality both progressing through and added by Sven and with additions before this window closes and next summer, then I feel is the time where expectations can really be higher.

In reality, perhaps just now is a time to check those expectations a little.

Match reports:

Manchester City rolled another product off their Academy conveyer-belt last night in the shape of Daniel Sturridge, a striker with a famous family name, and he popped up with the equaliser that prevented a humiliating defeat at the Premier League's bottom club. >> The Telegraph.

MANCHESTER City had to come from a goal down to draw with rock-bottom Derby as the Blues' unconvincing form continued at Pride Park.

Youngster Daniel Sturridge scored his second goal in two games to haul City level after a Sun Jihai own-goal had put the Rams ahead. >> MEN.

Daniel Sturridge's goal for Manchester City denied Paul Jewell his first league win in charge of Derby County.

Sturridge's first Barclays Premier League goal kept Manchester City's European ambitions on track as they denied Derby County a long overdue victory at Pride Park. >> premierleague.com.

City stumbled to an unconvincing 1-1 draw against all-but relegated Derby County at Pride Park as Daniel Sturridge's first Premier League goal cancelled out Sun Jihai's own goal to give the Blues a point.

Darius Vassell squandered two gilt-edged one-on-one opportunities to win the game and in truth City should have had the points wrapped up by half time. >> Blue View.

Derby County's modest aim of avoiding the lowest final points total in modern times – Sunderland's 15 two seasons ago – would have received a useful boost had they been able to hold on to a rare lead last night. Sun Jihai's own goal right at the start of the second half put them in front for once, but Manchester City's Daniel Sturridge equalised on his Premier League debut to leave Paul Jewell's side with only eight points from 24 games, seven short of Sunderland's unwanted record. >> The Independent.

Sven Goran Eriksson was left frustrated as his wasteful Manchester City side failed to clobber the worst side in the Premier League. >> The Mirror.

Samaras joins Celtic on loan

LONDON, Jan 29 (London) - Celtic have signed Greek striker
Georgios Samaras on loan from English Premier League Manchester City until the
end of the season, the Scottish champions said on their Web site (www.celticfc.net).
Celtic said
they had the option of making the deal permanent for the 22-year-old, who has
won 12 international caps. He scored eight goals in 55 league appearances for
Manchester City.

>>reuters.com

So Samaras becomes the second member of our forward line to depart on loan this transfer window, and it is likely that short-term loan moves may well be a feature from now on during January windows, given the short timeframe does not always give too much room for manouevre to hammer out a permanent deal and does give the opportunity almost for a trial period for clubs to assess how a player fits into their side between then and the end of the season.

Like Bianchi, the Samaras move can be made permanent and if indeed it does do, it will bring an end to the career of a player who never really impressed or won over the fans. In his defence, he arrived as a young striker with more promise than polished talent and was very much a work in progress - something we couldn't really afford given our plight over the last season or so.

With the takeover of the club and emergence of some of the younger players, it has made Samaras surplus to requirements and was another player that Sven never took a shine towards and although had a couple of fleeting appearances, hardly seized the opportunity handed to him this season and of course may well have departed the club earlier if the deal with Birmingham had gone through.

Undoubtedly Samaras does have talent, and it may well be that he does go on to prove himself at Celtic or elsewhere, but the fact is that when he arrived at the club he perhaps needed more time to ease into the Premiership than he was afforded, and givent he lack of funds available to Stuart Pearce during his time as manager, the signing will go down as an expensive mistake made.

As for Celtic, a surprising move perhaps, but Gordon Strachan has taken on loan signings previously as short-term squad depth as they hit the second half of the season and in the SPL, Samaras may well fare for better than he managed in the Premier League - and at the very least will put himself in the shop window for a move during the summer if things do not work out at Celtic Park.

Balloon-gate gets serious

Manchester City have written to the FA voicing our concerns
about how Sunday’s FA Cup game at Bramall Lane was handled.
The Club are
particularly concerned about the lead-up to the first goal, which came as a
direct result of a Sheffield United cross striking two balloons on the
pitch.
City had previously asked fourth official Mark Clattenburg to remove
the numerous balloons that were spread across Joe Hart’s penalty area.
Mr
Clattenburg told our coaching staff that he had raised the issue with the match
referee, Alan Wiley, however Mr Wiley’s only action was to ask Joe Hart to help
clear the pitch when play was at the other end of the pitch.
The Club believe
that Mr Wiley and his team should have stopped play and instructed Sheffield
United staff and stewards to remove the obstacles from the field of play before
continuing with the game. It was the officials’ responsibility, and their
failure to do so had a direct bearing on the first goal being scored in a very
important FA Cup tie, which was decided by one goal.

>>mcfc.co.uk

For what its worth, I do agree that the responsibility should have lay with the officials to remove the balloons from the pitch (insert appropriate player reference here) given their proximity on the pitch to a potential crucial area of the pitch, but I can't help but think this move by the club is a sour move, and the above statement on the website reads terribly and certainly lays us open to the accusation of us whingeing and acting rather childish and much like a spoilt Premiership side who didn't quite get things their own way.

Derby prediction

Although we were dumped out of the FA Cup at the weekend, we have every right to be bullish about this game as we make the relatively short trip to Pride Park given that Derby are in the midst of a horrible run which saw them also knocked out by Championship opponents, but more importantly are almost certainly heading for the relegation trapdoor and could indeed threaten an all-time low points record.

I doubt goals will be aplenty during this game, but our defence should be able to marshall an attack even less threatening than our own, but we could do with an early goal under our belts to settle any nerves and to inject a little confidence into our game.

Team wise, given that we don't have too many options available, there will not be too many changes (if any), although Sturridge may push for a start and Johnson must be getting closer to a return to action.

Given how he was drawn into a clash with Gary Speed at Bramhall Lane, it is highly likely that Robbie Savage will pay some attention to Elano during the game and hopefully Sven will have had a quiet word, and Hamman and co. will be on hand to provide some support.

A win from this game is an absolute necessity given our forthcoming difficult fixtures, and whilst it would not be beyond us to be part of kick-starting Derby's relegation survival campaign, a 2-0 scoreline in our favour is what I fancy - but not without one or two tricky moments.

Sheffield United 2 City 1

Aren't balloons supposed to part of a celebratory and joyous event, not something that should have a helping hand in ruining something?

Joking aside, although it is being portrayed as a comical occurrence, it did help to contribute towards an awful start to the game which we never recovered from - and to undoubtedly make matters worse, the players and staff came in post game to find that the changing rooms had been burgled.

Not the best day I'm sure for all involved.

What has surprised me most in the aftermath of the game is how much stick the side have received, whereas some of the sensible commentary pointed to the obvious in that we are glaringly short up front, I have read anything from we now in freefall to mid-table to some City wesbsites labelling the performance 'gutless' and 'embarrassing'.

Now steady on.

There is no doubt that we contributed to our downfall with the opening two goals, but I thought from half an hour in we dominated the game in terms of possession and quality, looked by far the more dangerous side and when Danny Sturridge pulled a goal back immediately after half-time I thought we were a cert to get at the very least a replay out of the game, but perhaps - and here's where the lack of squad depth comes in, we didn't quite have enough to pull it off.

Firstly, 'Balloongate'. It certainly wasn't the first game I have seen where stray balloons littered around the pitch but is the first time they have had a bearing on a vital passage of play and it was clear that Ball's concentration was disturbed - although if he had made contact with his far from strong right foot who knows where the ball may have ended up anyway. And whilst Joe Hart has taken some blame for the goal, for me it was the responsibility of the referee to have halted proceedings whilst the area was cleared.

The second goal however, was clearly all our own doing and boy did we miss Micah Richards here as Nedum Onouha got himself in a horrible position initially and then criminally as the ball broke free there were no defenders even close to the Sheffield United players who were advancing from the edge of the area and we found ourselves in a hug hole.

As the half wore on though we got more into the game with Petrov again impressing and from one of his deliveries the ball flashed across the goal where Vassell's lack of conviction kept us off the scoresheet.

What has been obvious in recent games is that teams have wisened up a little and concentrated their efforts a little more on Elano - particular as Michael Johnson's injury has meant we lack that driving force in midfield as as well as Hamman and Gelson have played they do not offer that burst from midfield, and this has restricted Elano's effectiveness as team can deal solely with him. This has resulted in one or two petulant little challenges from the Brazillian and yesterday was another example of that, and resulted in him being withdrawn at half-time.

Sven's magic touch appeared to have worked once again though as Sturridge hit a beautiful volley from the edge of the area from a cleared corner to put us back in the game. It was a strike that illustrated exactly why he is so highly thought of at the club and his performance for the rest of the game - whilst a little in or out, was a breath of fresh air as regards a confident and almost arrogant approach (which all top class strikers have), certainly in comparison to Vassell and the recalled Mpenza, who is bearing more of a resemblance to Norma from Shameless than a centre-forward.

What (worryingly) it did also illustrate is that our best attacking option currently may well lie in the hands of a teenager, who has not completed a full game for us yet and has been out for over six months with injury - something which Sven alluded to, and why I still expect a striker to arrive before the end of the week.

Our attacking problems is now a tired story, and has seen us slip of late (two wins in nine now) and again it was our undoing late as for all the possession and territory we enjoyed, as the game got down to the last ten or fifteen minutes, we lacked a spark and conviction that you felt would see us draw level and ultimately no surprise to see Sheffield United hang on and progress to round 5.

At least we have an immediate chance to repair the damage from Sunday and in many respects, the trip to Derby is a more important game in terms of getting a vital three points - and to be honest, although our away form has been poor, we should really come away with the points on Wednesday given another horrendous performance and result at the weekend from Derby.

We will need the points though, as a scan of our next few fixtures reads United, Arsenal and Everton.

It is shaping up to be a vital February.

Bianchi makes an immediate impression

...Bianchi made his debut for Lazio, just days after Torino furiously claimed he had promised to join them. Within 30 seconds he had hacked down Nikola Lazetic and received a booking.

Pandev missed an incredible opportunity moments later, his free header from a De Silvestri cross nodded on to the frame of the goal.

Incredibly, five minutes into his Biancocelesti debut, Bianchi was sent off for another yellow card, jumping with his elbow up on Paolo Zanetti.

>> channel4.co.uk

Sheffield United prediction

We travel to Bramhall Lane for Sunday's Sky Sports offering without Micah Richards, who has a slight knee-injury and is no doubt being rested ahead of the weeks two Premiership fixtures.

Although the trio of Bojinov, Johnson and Mpenza are back in full training, none will be risked in a competitive match at this stage but one who will make the trip is Daniel Sturridge who returned from injury in style with a midweek hat-trick for the youth team and left with praise from Sven who was raving over his potential.

Although we have not quite thrown off our stuttering form of late, this is a game which I fully expect us to win given the troubles Sheffield United have had this season as they look to bounce back to the Premier League under Bryan Robson at the first attempt since last seasons relegation.

Not wanting to look too far ahead (or at least past the quarter-finals!), given the number of Premier League sides who have crashed out already, the draw could really open up if we make it through this round and get a favourable tie in round 5.

A comfortable win for me in this one, with 2-0 being the most likely scoreline.

Bianchi departs a well trodden path

Rolando Bianchi has gone on loan to Lazio until the end of the season, with a view to joining the Rome club on a permanent deal afterwards.

The 24-year-old has struggled to adapt to the Premier League since arriving from Reggina last July, scoring four goals in 19 league appearances for the Blues.

The Biancocelesti currently lie in 14th place in Serie A just two points above the drop zone, and Bianchi is expected to go straight into their squad for this Sunday’s game against Torino.

>>mcfc.co.uk

I've been mulling this one over for most of the day, and I'm still struggling to fathom out the reason(s) behind this move - and I'm sure I'm not alone.

When you look back over Bianchi's brief career at the club, it certainly won't be thought of in the same terms as a failure like some other young Italian strikers who have not fared well following the transition from Serie A to Premier League, but there is on overwhelming sense of disappointment or unfullfilment about it.

Despite stories of unimpressive training ground performances, you have to take it at face value I guess and perhaps him not settling (like many Italians before him) in this country is a genuine and plausible reason for his departure. There has been no comment from the club bar the brief release above, and Bianchi has been anything but critical - talking about the club in glowing terms and being thankful for the opportunity he had.

It is all a far cry now from when he arrived as one of the first signings Sven made, and arrived on the back of a good season in Serie A and started well, scoring on his debut at West Ham but he was quickly jettisoned in favour of Emile Mpenza and apart from a brief spell around Christmas, never got back into the team - despite the backing of the fans, but Sven remained resolute that he had a future at the club.

It is clear that he never really found favour with Sven though, and this must be a fact borne out of the continued absence of him in the side, even moreso given the lack of success and options in that department - and he joins an ever growing list of players who have arrived from Serie A with a big reputation and for a variety of reasons have failed in the Premier League.

The only saving grace appears to be th fact that we will recruit virtually all of the near £9 million we paid out to Reggina to sign him in the first place.

But, he has moved on and is his departure perhaps a reason why the Samaras to Birmingham move 'stalled' as Alec McLeish suggested? There have of course been plenty of links to strikers throughout the transfer window today, with strong rumours linking Seville forward Fabiano with a move this morning, only for cold water to be poured on these later in the day, and lets not forget the succesful return of Daniel Sturridge this week from injury, with Hans Backe's comments indicating it may not be long before he features in the side either.

UEFA Cup final ticket date launch announced

Lovers of football fans will be able to bid for the perfect Valentine’s Day gift for the object of their affections as tickets for the UEFA Cup Final 2008 in Manchester go on sale that day.

A giant example of the tickets was shown off today (Wednesday 23 January 2008) by football legend and former City and United star Denis Law, ambassador for the Final.

And with him at the City of Manchester Stadium, venue for the final on 14 May, were children from St Brigid's RC Primary School in Beswick who will take part in a 3v3 (three-a-side) Street Football competition in the lead-up to the Final.

Fans – or their lovers – will be able to apply for up to two tickets each between then and 14 March. Tickets will be awarded by ballot and every valid application will enter the ballot.

There are 11,000 tickets available for sale to fans worldwide. In addition, each finalist club will be able to take up to 13,000 tickets for distribution directly to its supporters.

Ticket prices will be £35, £55, £75 and £95. For details visit www.uefa.com.

Tickets for the UEFA Cup Final will go on sale on 14 February exclusively via Europe’s football website www.uefa.com

>>tournament press release.

Colin Bell memorabilla on sale

Memorabilia from the illustrious international career of City legend Colin Bell will be on sale at an auction this Friday.

Caps and shirts from some of Colin’s 48 appearances for England will go under the hammer at Northampton Rugby Club’s Franklin’s Gardens ground from midday onwards.

Amongst the items available are the shirt worn by Colin in the legendary game against Brazil in the 1970 World Cup, his cap from the 5-0 win over Scotland in the Scottish FA Centenary game in 1973 and rare shirts from games played between the English League & Irish League in the early 1970s.

For full details of the auction and descriptions of all lots to be put on sale, go to the Sportingold website by clicking here.

>>mcfc.co.uk

Birmingham end Samaras interest

Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish has abandoned plans to sign Manchester City striker Georgios Samaras.
But McLeish has decided to concentrate on trying to strengthen other areas of his team after signing James McFadden from Everton and Mauro Zarate on loan from Al Sadd.

>>The Telegraph.

This was a move that was first mooted at the beginning of the transfer, but never got to more than the 'reported' stage but it seems now there was definite interest with even a fee of £2.5 million agreed for the player between the clubs, buy McLeish lamented the fact that matters had dragged on too long for his liking:

"Time has just run on with the Samaras one," said McLeish. "I had identified the big guy as a target five or six weeks ago and if I could have done it then, it would have been different. But things have dragged on and other people became available. McFadden became available, Zarate was an unexpected opportunity, therefore it created a problem with the Samaras one."

It is somewhat of a surprise that we would have stalled matters at our end (as McLeish inferred) given that Sven has said he would allow Samaras to depart if a suitable offer was made, and it is even a bigger surprise to me that McLeish would think Samaras as the sort of player he needs for a relegation scrap - and to compound matters then go and sign James McFadden for more than twice the amount agreed for Samaras.

Just what do we need from the transfer window?

It has been a very strange and subdued transfer window thus far, with not too many moves and even fewer 'name' players moving in and around the Premier League.

Perhaps a lot has to do with the hectic fixture list over the festive period which leads upto the FA Cup 3rd round games, but with under ten days remaining until the window shuts for the last time this season, are clubs ready to make a last minute splash in the transfer market, or are (unbelievably given the managers criticism of the 'restrictive' transfer window) clubs happy to stand pat with what they have until the summer?

There was much activity anitcipated from ourselves in all quarters as the clock ticked down to the window opening, with even the MEN imploring Thaksin Shinawatra to loosen the pure strings to fund some reinforcements to build on the position we have got ourselves into at this stage of the season.

Of course, every man and his dog has a view on what we need and who we should sign, and I have read us linked with players in virtually every position on the field. Sven has stated that he is looking at two or three players, but, looking at the squad at his disposal, what areas should he realistically target over the next week or so?

I do not see that there are more than two immediate positions - right midfield and up front that are realistically up for grabs at the moment and to replace any of those positions would need to be done with the calibre of player that commands a substantial transfer fee, and in my view we are best served concentrating on those two positions.

Whilst Stephen Ireland has been as consistent as he has been during his time at the club, I can imagine the possibilties and increased attacking threat we would have if we had a true winger at the club - someone with the ability to run at defenders with pace, which would bring a far more potent attacking threat and complement the threat on the other flank that Petrov has brought this season, a move which would potentially realease Ireland into a more central role where he has turned in good performances this campaign.

Up front is clearly a problem and there have been a number of players who have featured in that position this season, yet - as I wrote for The Observer recently, disappointingly none have grasped the opportunity to make the position their own. The injury to Bojinov early in the season may well have scuppered Sven's plans to an extent but none of Bianchi, Mpenza, Samaras or Vassell have stamped their authority up front and too often we have looked light and without threat in that department.

Of course, plenty of players have been linked with a move in (and indeed out) of the club, and most of it has been nonesense, too often based without any thought on potential availability of a player or how they would fit into a particular system.

Another factor has been that the potential budget available to Sven is a bit of an unknown quantity, with one newspaper suggesting he is working to two budgets depending on what Thaksin may be able to get his hands upon, and whilst it may be a fanciful suggestion, the loan deal for Castillo and rumoured move for Podolski could be evidence of this.

But one thing is clear is that is highly unlikely that a hugely significant amout of money will be spent, and that Sven is no fool in the transfer market and would be more likely to reinforce the squad in the summer where (as he himself mentioned) it is an easier marketplace to operate in.

Because there are no gaping holes in the squad which are in need of urgent repair, Sven is unlikely to be throwing around the cash in a desperate manner as seen by some clubs, and a far more likely policy will be to only add players in on either the basis that they are 'one for the future', or they can make a serious impact on the team both now in the short term and over a longer period, both of which would fit Sven's buying policy to date so far, and more importantly continue the excellent progress so far.

City 1 West Ham 1

Another two points dropped and the concensus being another flat performance yesterday from ourselves, in a game which even Sven conceded we were second best but battled hard and stuck to the task to maintain our unbeaten home record this season.

Richard Dunne's contribution to the Titus Bramble school of defending put us on the back foot early on, and we relied on the interpretation of the 'grey area' of the offside law to allow Darius Vassell's equaliser to stand - very much a case of 'you win some, you lose some' and my view is that we dodged one here as (and this is despite being on the wrong end of a decision against Blackburn) if a cross is delivered into the box, how a player in offside position could be deemed to be not active is a mystery.

Still, equalise we did and whilst not as flat as Wednesday night the game struggled for any real momentum and it was a case of more smart keeping from Joe Hart and profligate finishing (once again) from West Ham ensured that the spoils were shared and we continued our bid for the European places.

Match reports:

Sven-Goran Eriksson was left frustrated as Manchester City surrendered further ground in the race for a coveted European berth after being held at home by a severely-depleted West Ham United side. - premierleague.com

West Ham was where Sven-Goran Eriksson's return to English football began. It started, without expectations, in the sunshine and finished with an improbable win for a side said to have been assembled from watching video clips. It was to trigger an improbable first half to the season. The return fixture found Manchester City ahead of where Eriksson might have expected them to be, but with the energy and ideas beginning to drain from them. - The Telegraph

Sven Goran Eriksson spoke more presciently than he probably anticipated when cautioning, amid the delirium of Manchester City's golden start to this season, that the real test would come in the depths of winter, when some of his imports were used to putting their feet up for a few weeks. The roller coaster has been slowing for some time and it had truly grounded here, in a game as grey as the soggy Manchester day which delivered it up. - Independent

IN not so far off years gone by, the Blues would have made a complete pig's ear of Groundhog Day! Not so under the wily Sven-Goran Eriksson, who has probably never heard the tales of `typical City'. The Blues boss will, however, be slightly perturbed by a third successive home league draw, that his jaded-looking side so lacked a cutting edge, and that his own goalkeeper was by far the busier of the two. - MEN

So we finally come to the end of our Manchester City tour and leave with our heads held very high(to answer one of the commenters, I was treating the 3 games in close succession as a group but yes we have played them 4 times). The match ended 1-1 but even City’s manager acknowledged our superiority and the shoddy officialdom which gave City their point. - West Ham blog

City kept their unbeaten home league record intact - just, with a hard-fought 1-1 draw with West Ham United at Eastlands. Darius Vassell cancelled out Carlton Cole's opener as the lacklustre Blues were fortunate to come out of the game with a point against Alan Curbishley's side. Another insipid display will have reinforced to Sven-Goran Eriksson the need for a top-class striker if City are to have realistic ambitions of a European spot come May. - Blueview

Alan Curbishley insisted during the week that there is no need to bring another striker into the squad. But after his side failed to win this afternoon despite controlling the game, questions marks will once again be asked about the lack of firepower available to the United boss. - Knees Up Mother Brown

West Ham prediction

Manchester City will be without striker Nery Castillo for the visit of West Ham after he fractured a shoulder bone.
Michael Johnson (abdominal strain) and Emile Mpenza (hamstring) are also ruled out through injury.
West Ham boss Alan Curbishley could bring back Hayden Mullins and Carlton Cole after preferring Lee Bowyer and Luis Boa Morte in midweek.
Danny Gabbidon is available after a groin injury and Julien Faubert is edging closer to a first-team start.

Man City (from): Hart, Onuoha, Corluka, Dunne, Richards, Ball, Garrido, Ireland, Hamann, Fernandes, Petrov, Elano, Bianchi, Vassell, Samaras, Isaksson, Jihai, Etuhu.
West Ham (from): Green, Wright, Neill, Spector, Ferdinand, Upson, Collins, Gabbidon, McCartney, Bowyer, Faubert, Noble, Mullins, Etherington, Boa Morte, Reid, Ashton, Cole.

>>BBC Sport.

For the fourth time this season we face off againsy West Ham, and we are yet to be defeated or concede a goal, and I think we go into this game with plenty of confidence following the Cup win during the week.

With the way the pack chasing the fourth spot in the table is bunched together, arguably this game has a greater importance than the FA Cup game in terms of getting a win, and in this case maximum points.

I would be surprised if Carlton Cole is not recalled for West Ham, given the ineffectiveness of Boa Morte on Wednesday and a forward line of Cole and Ashton will bring plenty of size for Dunne and Richards to cope with.

For ourselves, Castillo is obviously out and either Bianchi or Gelson I imagine would step in depending on what formation Sven opts for - with Gelson being the likelier addition. This will also allow Elano to adopt a more forward role where he can cause far greater damage than either on the right or in a more withdrawn position.

Hamman is again the key for me in this game, as I thought he was outstanding in midweek, controlling the game, the focal point of all of our moves and never once pnaicking under pressure. His influence this season will surely benefit Gelson, Ireland and Johnson tremendously in their future development.

As I mentioned on Wednesday, we were good value for our win (despite some protestation from the West Ham camp) and I cannot see the result being any different tomorrow - this time with a scoreline of 2-0.

Kevin Keegan : Never EVER go back

' I haven't watched a game of football since , when was the last Manchester City Match ? '

'I have all the help I needed since I took the job, but I have not quite been good enough'

He said that Manchester City would be his last job in football and just two weeks ago ruled out a return to club management.

Mike Ashley seems to have changed his mind, and the two of them together obviously buy into the geordie myth that they are a ' big club' 'underachieving' the heart truly is ruling the head.

I don't wish KK any ill , in fact I respect his reign that brought us a brilliant championship season and established us a premiership club before the wind blew out of the sails and, I like the guy !!

One of the saddest sights in football for me was seeing him sat on the bench coat zipped halfway up his face, arms crossed completely clueless as to how tactically to put things right as the money dried up and his knowledge was called into question.

He got measured, he came up short. He wont be with the deluded army for more than a year, i am sure of it.

City 1- 0 West 'armm

And on we go to face Sheff U.

Martin Petrov carries on his personal crusade to be personally involved via assists or goals in more attacking intent than a whole team showed last year.

In truth West Ham could have been 2/3 -o up before we decided to make a game of it in the last half hour. Petrov and Bianchi, who must have finally put down his marker for the centre forward spot along with a bubbly Micah Richards at the back finally started to hit the heights we know they can. Of course the goal was scored by the mercurial Elano who started way way to deep to effect the game.

And although West Ham may have cause to complain, they only have themselves to blame for poor finishing and its hard to feel sorry for any team that contains the likes of the ever horrible Boa Morte, Lucas Neill whose second bite at Castillo resulted in a dislocated shoulder and that absolute c**t Anton Ferdinand 'Elbow Elbow; he screams at the ref , replays prove otherwise. West Ham pride themselves on been an 'Academy' , probably of cheating nowadays.

3 points on Sunday would be nice to rub the drugs cheats little c**t of a brother's nose in it.

West Ham prediction

The first of a tricky pair of games in the space of five days against the Hammers with both contests having a great deal at stake given our defeat last weekend at Everton.

However, first up is a reprise of our FA Cup quarter final clash of two years ago for the right to travel to Bramhall Lane in round four.

Both sides I expect to field full-strength sides (injuries permitting) as both Sven and Alan Curbishley have indicated a desire to do well in the competition.

Team wise Michael Johnson (abdominal strain) and Emile Mpenza (hamstring) are both ruled out through injury, but for the Hammers captain Lucas Neill is expected to be available after a hamstring injury. However, Scott Parker (knee), Nolberto Solano (groin), Bobby Zamora (knee) and Craig Bellamy (abdominal) are all out still out for the Hammers.

This one is really tough to call, a view shared by the opposition camp, and West Ham have a formidable record at this stage - having not been beaten since 1999/2000 at this stage and only seen four defeats in twenty-four seasons.

Our home record is superb this season (Tottenham aside) and Sven may have delivered a little rocket following his displeasure at the manner of the defeat at Everton, which I feel may be enough to spark a victory - but it may well go the full distance, and will not feature many goals.

Mpenza out

EMILE Mpenza has been given a week off in a bid to help him
heal to the point where he can play a part in City's top six push.One niggling
injury after another have left the Belgian international striker kicking his
heels on the sidelines as Sven-Goran Eriksson's men attempt to maintain momentum
in their assault on the top six.

>>MEN.

At the very least, and whilst hardly prolific in terms of a goalscoring record, it can be argued that we have looked more potent from an attacking sense when Mpenza has featured, providing more of a threat physically than either Vassell or Bianchi, and occupies the defenders to greater effect which can create more space and room for the likes of Elano and Petrov to operate with - something that by and large they have struggled with of late as teams begin to focus more attention on them.

1976 League Cup winning side feature

Some of you may have come across this feature already which appeared in this weeks Sunday Times, which profiled the players and staff involved in the win over Newcastle.

The article is linked here, and looking at the profiles of the squad and how their post-playing careers paths have taken them, it emphasises just what changes their have been in the game in recent years.

Just think, in 30 years time would you expect any of the current players to be a driving instructor or delivering kitchen doors?

How times change...

Everton 1 City 0

It was a disappointing return from the game yesterday, in a game which I really thought we would be value to get a point, and with Liverpool slipping up it would have been a real boost to have put some space between ourselves and Everton and stretched our lead from the final Champions League position.

It was not to be though, and reflecting on the game it was little wonder given that it was not until injury time until we really tested Tim Howard in the Everton goal - from a Petrov shot which was well handled, and a tame Bianchi header.

Sven started the game, not with Castillo making way for Elano but with Elano shifting to the right hand side of midfield - the position he occupies for Brazil, but I don't think the reshuffle deployed worked to any great effect, and by the hour mark it was 'as you were' as far as the tactical line-up was concerned.

It was a frustrating game to watch, as the amount of possession that we wasted was remarkable and time and again the build up play was good and a move was developing only for it to break down in the final third. Any half-chances that fell around the area always seemed to fall to Corluka as opposed to an Elano or Petrov, who it's fair to say would be better positioned.

Sven was particularly frustrated with the amount of long balls which were being hit - '17 or 18' apparantly, and it became even more apparant (as each game goes by I think) that a top class striker with presence and pace (not to mention goals) is a necessity to help us maintain the position we have got ourselves in.

This is something we have suffered from in the past when we face teams who are compact and organised, and we struggled yesterday against an Everton side - perhaps because of the absences of a couple of creative players from their side, who were happy for us to dominate in terms of possession but willing to shut us down in the areas where it mattered and it was also a factor that they were first to much of the 'second ball', and with the pace they have on the break this suited them fine.

Both sides clearly have Champions League aspirations this season looking at the current standings, and whilst we may have more financial clout before the transfer window, Everton have a side who David Moyes has built into an effective outfit, put together over a number of seasons now and this can only stand them in good stead.

Despite Liverpool's best attempts to make the fourth spot a very open and closely fought contest, I don't think either ourselves or Everton quite have enough (this season) to snatch it, but from all of the sides I have seen this season I think both teams are clearly in the driving seat (and my tip) to pick up the two guaranteed UEFA positions.

A busy week ahead for us now with a pair of games against West Ham back on home turf, and it is vital that we get a couple of wins under our belt before some tricky fixtures ahead - perhaps even moreso in the Premier League rather than the FA Cup given Saturday's score?

Reports:

The Independent
The Observer
BBC Sport
ToffeeWeb
mcfc.co.uk

Everton prediction

It can't be too often in recent times that we have had a 'six pointer' at the right end of the table but the short journey to Goodison Park tomorrow is a definite big game in terms of the make up of the rest of the season (and we also face them in around six weeks time in the return game).

It also isn't a place that fills me a great deal of confidence, and despite their twin defeats in the FA Cup and Carling Cup over the past week, we will definitely have a tough job on our hands to come away with all three points.

A win, and we maintain our fourth spot, whilst a defeat could see us drop out of the UEFA positions, to really illustrate how tight it is at the moment.

Approach wise, I don't think either side will take too much of a risk tomorrow given what is at stake and it should definitely pan out to be a tightly fought affair.

Despite the loss of Yobo, Yakubu and Pienaar to African Nations duty, Everton are still a compact and useful side, who have the ability to cause us problems - particularly Tim Cahill who is a constant threat.

For ourselves, Michael Johnson will still be absent but Elano looks set to return in place of Nery Castillo and we go into the game on the back of some sound defensive performances and I expect that to continue into this one.

As I said, I canb't see anything other than a tight game and it probably will need an early goal to open things up a little. If not, and as I expect, I can see this playing out to be a 0-0 draw - something both sides I imagine would be fairly happy with.

Cup or league success?

Amidst the annual slating of the FA Cup following the 'big boys' fielding less than full-strength sides, I was musing over the prospect of whether I would prefer an FA Cup win or for us to maintain our league position and finish the season in 4th place - thus qualifying for the Champions League.

Unfortunately, I was unable to post up the past couple of days and the guys over at Vital Football beat me to it and ran a poll, which came out well in favour of a 4th placed finish.

Personally, it would have to be an FA Cup win but speaking to other Blues, views are definitely mixed on this and perhaps it is a sign of the times with the game in this country that the Premiership riches are outweighing anything else - even the possibility of hoisting a trophy.

Any thoughts?

Duo loaned out

Two players leaving the club today with Ched Evans returning to Norwich on loan following his recent spell and Matt Mills heading back to Doncaster, where he also had a previous spell on loan.

Both players though appear to be heading in different places at the club with Evans very much on the rise, earning praise at both club and Welsh under-21 level this season and impressing at Carrow Road recently.

Mills however, appears to be playing for a future away from the club as his career has barely took off at the club and appears to way down the pecking order following his move a couple of seasons ago from Southampton where he was a highly touted prospect.

Things have not developed as hoped though, and whilst he has seen plenty of 'home grown' youngsters get (and seize) their chance, he has never stuck after the limited opportunities he has had and realistically appears to have no real future at the club.

FA Cup games to be screened live

The FA Cup third-round replay between Manchester City
and West Ham United will be screened live on BBC One on Wednesday 16 January.
The BBC's fourth-round coverage starts with Mansfield v Middlesbrough (1230
GMT) on Saturday 26 January.
The all-Premier League game between Wigan and
Chelsea follows at 1715 GMT.
BBC One's third live game of the weekend is
between Manchester United and either Reading or Tottenham on Sunday 27 January
(1400 GMT).
Sky Sports will televise the third-round replay between
Liverpool and Luton Town at 2000 GMT on Tuesday 15 January, followed by West Ham
or Manchester City's trip to Sheffield United on 27 January (1600 GMT).

-BBC Sport.

Cisse bid rejected

Marseilles have rejected an approach from Manchester City
for Djibril Cisse, the forward. The former Liverpool striker has been linked
with a return to the Premier League in the January transfer window after failing
to secure a regular starting role with the French club this season.
"He is
wanted, that is for sure," Pape Diouf, the Marseilles president, said. "I myself
have been approached by Manchester City [about Cisse] but I turned it down
categorically."
"I want to be clear - Djibril Cisse will not leave. He will
stay at OM until the end of the season," Diouf said. "I have always wanted to
rediscover the Djibril that we signed, the efficient Djibril.
"With
everything that he has had to endure, read, see and hear, I understand that it
piles the pressure on him to leave, having been contacted by an English club
that is among the leading teams in their league.
"But when he and myself
discussed this, he understood my position - he understood that I will not let
him leave and he has no problem with me."

-The Times.

After the speculation in recent weeks linking us to all and sundry, we finally have some concrete news in the way of transfers and possibly not the striker that most fans were hoping to see.

Personally, I can see the logic in the attempt to sign Cisse, given that I think he, or perhaps the type of player he is, would fit ideally into the 4-5-1 formation adopted by Sven for virtually all of the season so far.

As I wrote after the West Ham game, I feel we are lacking the type of player up front who offers that presence up front and Cisse does possess the type of power and pace that the lone striker role demands.

The downside on him is that he has largely been inconsistent since arriving at Liverpool from Auxerre - although his career there was punctuated by a couple of serious injuries, and you never got the feeling he was a Benitez type player.

Cisse I feel would be keen on the move, and although there is no word from the club regarding the rejected bid (as the club have maintained a stony silence on all transfer speculation) it will be interesting to see if this is the end of the matter, or rather as I expect with the Anelka to Chelsea transfer, just the first stage before a higher bid is tabled.

The season so far

I took a look this past Sunday for The Observer looking at how we have fared so far this season. The full article, including features on all Premier League sides is at The Observer website here.

FA Cup 4th round draw

Today's draw saw either ourselves or West Ham paired with Sheffield United, in a 4th round tie to be staged at Bramhall Lane.

It is a tie that although not ideal being away from home, will be one that either side would be confident of negotiating, and given the way Premier League sides have fallen so far would then open up the possibility of a decent run in this years competition - or until the quarter finals anyway.

Joking aside, looking at the 4th round draw below, by my calculations it will mean that a maxium of only nine (assuming all sides win their 3rd round replays and then go through the 4th round) Premier League sides will make it to round 5 - incentive enough surely to field your strongest side?

Full 4th round draw:

Arsenal v Stoke City/Newcastle
Coventry v Walsall/Millwall
Oldham v Huddersfield Town
Swindon/Barnet v Fulham/Bristol Rovers
Wigan v Chelsea
Luton/Liverpool v Swansea/Havant & Waterlooville
Southend v Barnsley
Southampton v Norwich/Bury
Man Utd v Tottenham/Reading
Portsmouth v Plymouth
Derby/Sheff Wed v Preston
Watford v Wolves
Peterborough v Charlton/West Brom
Sheff Utd v West Ham/Man City
Mansfield v Middlesbrough
Tranmere/Hereford v Cardiff

Ties to be played on 26 & 27 January

West Ham 0 City 0

No real surprise that this game ended up a draw, although I did expect goals from it.

Perhaps not as many changes rung by Sven than I thought, but Castillo still came in for his debut, replacing the flue victime Elano, although perhaps an interesting footnote was the inclusion of Schmeichel on the substitutes bench ahead of Isaksson.

It seemed evident from listening to the commentary that it was a closely matched affair, without an abundance of chances being created - penalty claims apart, and like many other teams this weekend in the FA Cup it was possibly a game too far following the hectic and condensed fixture list over the Christmas and New Year period.

Sven was happy enough with the performance though:

“I enjoyed it a lot, we started very well and
controlled it early on. I know it’s a long way to the final but we took a half
step today and hopefully we can take the other half at home.
“We could have
scored in the first half when we had the energy, but 0-0 is OK. It’s another
clean sheet and a very good performance by us, so I’m happy and hopefully we can
win when we replay at home.
“There have been a lot of games within a few
days, and at the end we were tired, but that’s to be expected with all these
games. But I’m optimistic we’ll go through.
“There were a lot of
half-chances, but we could not take them. Having said that we performed well and
I’m happy.”

And in particular praising debutant Nery Castillo:

"He is a new player, coming to a new country, a new club
with a new style of football and he can't speak very much English - when you
think about all that he was brilliant."He started the game absolutely fantastic.
He has quick feet, good technique, very seldom gives the ball away and has a lot
of pace."He will be an important player for us in the future. He was very, very
good."

Opposition manager Alan Curbishley, like Sven was also satisfied with a draw from this game:

"I am delighted what our players have done defensively but
we just need a bit more going the other way”, said Curbishley.
"I can't ask
any more from the players. Everyone connected with the club realises the
situation we are in and we will just keep going."
"The replay may now give
us an opportunity for one or two of our players on their way back from injury to
get a game.

We move on back to the City of Manchester Stadium for a replay on Wednesday January 16th then, the scene of our quarter final defeat of two seasons ago, and the game will come just a few days before our encounter in the league at the same venue.

Petrov again seemed the focal point of our attacks, with his form of late meaning he is our most dangerous outlet - moreso than Elano perhaps, with Lucas Neill the latest full back to testify that. It is slightly concerning that we could not manage a goal to seal the victory, and now we are in January, speculation continues to grow around which forward will be imminently arriving (candidates are now in double figures for this weekend alone from those I have read linked).

A striker with more of a physical presence is probably what is required, given we seem to lack a little up front - and wasting a little of what the midfield are providing and creating.

By the time the replay comes around (or even earlier) we may have an answer to this though.

Match reports:

The Independent
MEN
The Observer
Knees Up Mother Brown

New blog launched

I'm part of a team that has set up a new football blog, Football Rants, which I'm looking forward to being involved in and I'm sure will be well worth a visit.

Feel free to stop by.

West Ham prediction

A very tough one to call this one, but following the win over Newcastle in midweek, I am far more confident but I have a suspicion that Sven may rest one or two players for this game - and it does seem that Nery Castillo may go straight into the line-up following his clearance arriving in time for the game.

West Ham have problems, with their seemingly never ending injury crisis continuing, and also rumours of a spat between Dean Ashton and Alan Curbishley, but they have played relatively well for the most part this season following our win over them on opening day.

When in doubt play safe I guess, and I'm going with a 1-1 draw as most likely to set up a replay back at the City of Manchester Stadium.

Mills joins Derby on loan

City’s England international defender Danny Mills is heading to Derby County on loan for the rest of the season.

Danny has just finished a loan spell with Charlton Athletic and will now help the Rams in their fight to avoid dropping straight back into the Championship.

The player went to The Valley after being told in the summer by Sven-Göran Eriksson that he was free to find himself another club.

The 30-year-old joined the Blues in July 2004 and also spent part of last season on loan at Hull City. -mcfc.co.uk

More love for Sven

In todays Telegraph, from Don Howe, who was one of the doom merchants at the start of the season who have now have had to somewhat eat their words.

Kudos for me also a little bit, as in my season preview for OleOle, I said to look out for a media u-turn as far as Sven was confirmed, and it is amazing how quickly he has gone from persona non grata as far as the press corps were concerned to tactical genius who has gelled a side together in a matter of no time.

Schmeichel returns from loan spell

Goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel has returned to
Manchester City following his loan spell at Cardiff.
The 21-year-old Dane
made 14 appearances in the Coca-Cola Championship for the Bluebirds but turned
down the chance to stay on for two further league matches.
Schmeichel would
have been unavailable for Saturday's FA Cup third round clash away to Chasetown
under the terms of his loan agreement.
The shot-stopper began the season as
first choice at City, but lost his place in manager Sven Goran Eriksson's first
XI.
Joe Hart has since enjoyed an impressive run in the City first-team and
Schmeichel will face a tough task to force a place in the starting
line-up.

-Sky Sports.

Not being one to normally speculate or comment on any old transfer rumour (would Birmingham really pay nigh on £3million for Samaras?) but could this decision possibly be as a result of an impending move for Andreas Isaksson?

Newcastle 0 City 2

A trip to crisis club Newcastle was just what was required to end a frustrating spell of football away from the City of Manchester Stadium.

Newcastle, lurching from problem to problem this season were under the pressure with Sam Allardyce once again facing calls for his head after a disappointing run of results, and Allardyce perhaps tried to deflect attention from himself with his pre-match comments which hit out at Sven's tactics against Liverpool where we had 'set out' for a point.

Well, I'm not sure what Newcastle set out to achieve yesterday they came across as a side lacking in confidence, purpose and direction. To be fair to them though, the first-half an hour was a poor affair with both sides seemingly suffering from a New Year hangover as the game was marked with a string of mis-hit passed, mis-timed runs and poor decisions.

All of that changed however around ten minutes from the half, with the first real piece of quality. Elano started a neat move outside the Newcastle area and Ireland linked well with Vassell to return the ball to the Brazillian who slotted home with his left foot from just inside the box. The goal spurred us on somewhat and we looked lively until the break, with Petrov a threat and Elano looking composed in the centre of midfield.

The second-half kicked off with the introduction of Michael Owen and with his first touch of the game should have levelled matters as he got onto the end of a through ball but slotted it too close to Hart who managed to get a foot to it and see it gratefully roll past the post.

I thought for the remainder of the second-half we looked composed and assured with the hardly languid pair of Hamman and Corluka dominating midfield and using Petrov - who remained our most potent attacking threat, on a number of occasions.

Vassell again ran gamely up front, but for the most part left you wondering what an Anelka, or even an Owen could achieve with the level of service our current midfield could provide. Defensively, we were rarely threatened at all following the Owen miss and the game was sealed late on as substitute Etuhu held the ball up well under pressure in the box to tee up Gelson Fernandes to fire past Given and earn our first victory since opening day of the season, and coupled with Liverpool's 1-1 draw at home to Wigan we move back upto fourth position in the table - marking an important result given wins for Everton, Aston Villa and Portsmouth yesterday.
Reaction:

Sven-Goran Eriksson and Sam Allardyce.

Reports:

BBC
Guardian
nufcblog
MEN
king of the kippax
sky sports