Birmingham 3 City 1

I had a conversation this week at work in which the topic of respect to referees was discussed. My argument was that the problem was not solely down to petulant and spoilt theatrics from Premier League players, but a large part of it is down to inept and incompetent refereeing decisions, which you can understand why players feel the need to challenge a referee.

And yesterday we had a case in point.

I know some Birmingham fans are claiming that both penalty decisions were incorrect, but I thought the penalty awarded in favour of us was a correct one given the manhandling of Benjani by Quedrue - in fact he could have gone down previously when bearing down on goal when he got a shot in that came back off the post. Looking at the letter of the law, the red card was also the correct one as he denied Benjani a goal scoring opportunity.

The decision to award Birmingham a penalty with the game at 2-1 with us attempting to mount a comeback was perhaps the worst penalty decision I have ever seen, and having watched numerous replays I cannot fathom how or why Rob Styles has saw fit to award a penalty.

The loose ball in the box was challenged by both Sun Jihai and Gary McSheffrey with an old school 'shoulder barge' between the two with McSheffrey getting the better off things. By going in harder than Sun Jihai, this knocked him off balance and he went to ground.

Clearly no foul on either part.

However, Styles saw fit to award Birmingham a penalty and if you look at the replay McSheffrey at first appears to think he has been penalised and looks as though he may get up to complain about the decision before he realises otherwise.

Far from sour grapes though as whilst the decision may have cost us a chance to get back into the game, it was an opportunity we perhaps didn't deserve given our poor play up to that point. Looking at the first half performance, following Benjani's effort our best attempts on goal were when both Richard Dunne (twice) and Sun Jihai threatened Joe Hart's goals with misplaced clearances and positionally the defence looked at sea - particularly centrally where we have not been solid for some time.

Sven - whilst not happy witht he penalty award, was also refusing to solely blame it for our shortcomings, saying:

It is not possible that we talk about Europe and we
don’t win a game like this because it was not that difficult. It was not even a
physically hard game that we had maybe expected.
“We should win a game like
this and you won’t do that if you concede two goals like we did before our
penalty......We can’t perform like this if we are Manchester City.
“I don’t
know how many passes we missed without being pressed. We didn’t hold the ball in
the first half and it’s impossible to concede two goals as we did.
“I am
frustrated because we are talking and dreaming about Europe and I think we are
losing our confidence. I am very, very disappointed because I think you have to
take at least a point in a game like this, but we didn’t.”

Whilst the possibility of Europe is still being mentioned, it is now in rather more hushed tones as we are not stepping up when it counts and our potential place finish is dropping by the week and it is only the failings of other sides to snatch the initiatve (namely Villa's recent implosion) that is keeping us with a shout of qualification for next season.

It was a big win for Birmingham though, and with a fixture against Wigan next week they can put some daylight between themselves and the relegation positions, with Bolton letting slip a big, big opportunity at home to Arsenal.

Reports:

Handling pressure is something that quickly becomes second nature as an Old Firm manager. You get used to have everything thrown at you all of the time. In the hot heat of a Premier League relegation battle, it is now standing Alex McLeish in good stead. >>the guardian.

Alex McLeish started the season dreaming of the European Championship and the former Scotland manager would be loath to finish it by dropping into the Coca-Cola equivalent. However, if his Birmingham City team carry on playing like this he will stay in the spotlight.
Whether or not referee Rob Styles can avoid demotion after his performance is another question. Players and managers have been asked to show more respect to officials but it was not easy yesterday. >>the independent.

Everyone agrees that referees need to be shown more respect, but Rob Styles gave a performance yesterday that would have tested the patience of a saint. Two extremely dubious penalty decisions had the crowd yelling: "You don't know what you're doing". It was hard to disagree. >>the telegraph.

Blues secured a crucial three points with a 3-1 home victory over Manchester City at St Andrews.
Mauro Zarate struck twice before an Elano penalty got Man City back into it for a while until a Gary McSheffrey spot kick settled Blues' nerves and saw them home. >>singing the blues.

Only 23,000 bothered to turn up to what was Blues biggest game to date. Of course every game is that for Blues at this stage of the season, but the meanies who stayed in out of the rain missed a Blues performance of assurance and in the end bravery. >>planet blues.

Birmingham prediction

Following on from last weekends largely forgettable encounter at Bolton, we visit another side in the relegation mix with a trip to St Andrews.

And with the first signs of spring upon us, it is perhaps fitting that Sven is trying to build on the shoots of recovery from the past two games (where we are unbeaten) to launch a late assault on the UEFA position in the hope that Everton or Liverpool slip up between now and the end of the season – or at the very least grab 6th spot which would be out highest Premiership finish and would guarantee an Inter-Toto position.

Team wise, Didi Hamman is back in contention following his ban whilst Michael Johnson should shake off a chest infection. For Birmingham, James MacFadden – instrumental for the Blues since arriving from Everton, is sidelined for a few weeks but Martin Taylor could feature for the first team since his red card following his challenge on Eduardo.

Birmingham are hovering above the relegation zone at present with only one win in twelve and will be desperate to start picking points up (especially so given Fulham can also close the gap on them with a win over Derby this weekend). For ourselves, the hunt for the top six is very congested at present and this fixture provides a big opportunity to get another three points on the board.

Given our recent record against them – bidding for our fifth successive victory, I would take us to scrape this one with a 1-0 victory.

Mpenza rejects potential moves

CITY striker Emile Mpenza has turned down the chance of first-team action elsewhere to stay at Eastlands.

Belgium international Mpenza, 29, was wanted on loan by a number of Championship clubs for the last few weeks of the season.

Mpenza has started just eight of his 14 Barclays Premier League appearances this season, scoring twice, and Leicester were one of the clubs apparently keen to offer him more time on the field.

>>mcfc.co.uk

Mpenza was clearly not keen on a short term move away from the club, but given his contract expires at the end of the season, with the direction the club is heading (and despite him being a fixture at the start of the season) his future is very much away from Eastlands.

Stat-attack

Over at football365, there is a decent page dedicated to team stats for each club and scanning through does throw up some interesting observations as far as our successes and failures this season:

• Unbeaten when scoring first, but have lost 8 out of 13 when we concede the first goal.
• 11th ranked attack, 7th ranked defence.
• We are 15 points better off at home this season, but only 1 point better off on our travels.
• Only Elano has scored more than 5 league goals this season.
• Most likely to score between minutes 45-50 or 85-90.
• Have conceded 8 goals in the last 10 mins.
• Our last five home games have only garnered 5 points, ranking us 17th.
  

Worth a look around and our page can be found here.

Alex Williams named to influential black list

Newspaper The Voice this week published a list featuring the top 30 most influential black people in football and amongst the names that made the list was former Blue and current member of the staff Alex Williams, whose community work on behalf of the club is well known and has seen him awarded both an MBE and nomination to City's Hall of Fame.

His profile in the article states:

ALEX WILLIAMS

Manchester City in the Community, Director of Community Affairs

WILLIAMS has worked tirelessly on Manchester City’s community work and regularly advises the Premier League on its community relations strategies.

Many will remember Williams from his time at Manchester City, where he became the first black goalkeeper to play in the top division of English football making his first team debut in the 1980-81 season.

In 2001 his received an MBE for his work in the community.

I have got more on the list as a whole over at Football Rants.

Bitter and Blue fantasy league update - week 30

It's getting even tighter at the top as both AusCam and clarkywarky step up the pressure on Joseph Millar to set up a tight finish, with just 61 points seperating the top three, which looks as follows:

Hose's Blumers (Joseph Millar) week 111 total 4149
I've had my fill, my share of losing (clarkywarky) week 129 total 4104
Big Tackle (AusCam) week 158 total 4088

Bolton 0 City 0

Links to match reports of Saturday's 0-0 draw, which coupled with results elsewhere (namely defeats for Portsmouth and Aston Villa) keeps us in the hunt for sixth place but highlights some key reasons why we will ultimately miss out on automatic European qualification:

If Kevin Davies's injury-time header had not been cleared off the line, Bolton would have climbed out of the bottom three and their supporters would have left in buoyant mood. Instead, they are still wondering whether their team have the quality and spirit necessary to survive. The Observer.

While Bolton Wanderers dominated for much of a bitterly cold afternoon yesterday, they still gave the impression that hell might freeze over before they manage to score another goal in the Premier League. The Times.

It was never going to be pretty and that's the way it turned out with Manchester City hardly enhancing their chances of European football next season. The Intertoto Cup looks Sven Goran Eriksson's best option, after talk of Champions League action just a month ago. Manchester City Mad.

For cold, abject, footballing poverty you had to join the shivering thousands as they watched their Bolton team slide closer to the doom-laden prospect of relegation from the Premier League.The entire match was a shocker with Manchester City contributing to the misery at a time when they have targeted a top 10 finish. A point apiece was more like a point of nothing. The Telegraph.

Bolton Wanderers remain in the bottom three after being held to a goalless draw by Manchester City at The Reebok. Sky Sports.

Ivan Campo'spublic rift with his manager, Gary Megson, best summed up the unbearable tension in the Bolton dressing room as they continue to flirt with relegation. Daily Mail.

Wind and hail blowing in from the West Pennine Moors turned yesterday's Greater Manchester derby into something of an ordeal for spectators and players alike. The Independent.

After managing two goals against Spurs last weekend, City reverted to type with a turgid 0-0 draw against struggling Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok Stadium. City were on the back foot for the majority of the piece, but Bolton's typical no-nonsense direct style failed to pay off in the end, despite Megson's side creating a series of opportunities. BlueView.

The struggling Trotters wasted a host of chances on home soil against an uninspired City side whose strikers were far too anonymous. Both teams had efforts cleared off the line in a game where either side could have stolen the points. Setanta.

Bolton prediction

A precarious time indeed for near-neighbours Bolton, who host us on the back of five straight defeatsand currently occupy one of the relegation spots.

The past week has seen a 1-0 defeat to 10 man Wigan, and a 2-0 reversal at United - a stark indication that the lack of goals is hurting them this season (particularly since the sale of Nicolas Anelka), not to mention a noticeable drop in the number of set-piece goals, long thought of as a particular strength.

We will go into the game with confidence restored to a degree following the win over Tottenham and recent years have seen a fairly level set of results between the two sides. Martin Petrov returns after a three game spell cooling his heels in the stands, and if a positive can be taken from his suspension then hopefully he will be fresh and raring to finish the season on a high.

Benjani should be fit after a slight scare, but Didi Hamman completes his suspension whilst Kevin Nolan and Gary Cahill face late fitness tests for the hosts.

Bolton will be fighting and scrapping for their lives, but we should have enough to try and continue our late season fight for a top six finish and take us to come away with a 2-0 victory.

And back to where we started...

With late in the season fixture changes and postponements coming in to play at all levels of the Club, we can now advise on revised fixtures for the weeks to come.

We can now officially confirm that the Manchester City v Chelsea Barclays Premier League fixture set for Sunday April 6 will now take place on Saturday April 5 at 3.00pm.

>>mcfc.co.uk

No doubt Sky were none too please at losing a fixture they had moved to the Sunday, but Chelsea's partcipation in the Champions League quarter-final means the second leg will be played the following Tuesday so the game has been switched back to the original time and date.

It begs the question though - considering it was likely Chelsea would be in the quarter-finals, why was the game switched in the first place?

Youth team Cup Final dates announced

The dates for both legs of the FA Youth Cup final against Chelsea have been confirmed.

The first leg takes place on Thursday April 3rd at Stamford Bridge, with a kick off time of 7.00pm.

The return leg has been set for just under a fortnight later, Wednesday April 16th at the City of Manchester Stadium, starting at 7.45pm.

>>mcfc.co.uk

Thaksin 'happy with progress'

RELAXED Thaksin Shinawatra headed to London on Tuesday night happy that City's 'bolts' did not need much 'tightening' and his Blue revolution is still on course.

The chairman, who watched his side clamber back into the race for the Premier League's top six by coming from behind to beat Spurs 2-1 on Sunday, held a two-day series of meetings with key personnel at the stadium during his stay.

>>MEN.

Plenty of positive spin was put on the recent visit from the owner, of course which coincided perfectly with the 2-1 victory over Tottenham, but nothing compared to the opening paragraphs from this article from The Bangkok Post:

Manchester City chairman Thaksin Shinawatra has proved he is so important to the English Premiership side that his presence can spur the team to triumph.

When their Thaksin was away to fight corruption charges in Thailand, City were like a sinking ship. The players seemed to lack motivation and inspiration and had poor results which affected their ambition to secure a Uefa Cup berth.

This prompted the former prime minister to return to England to "tighten the bolt" and "steady the ship" as well as hold talks with Sven-Goran Eriksson about future plans to make City a major force in England, and perhaps Europe.

The former prime minister instantly made his presence felt at City of Manchester Stadium on Sunday as the Blues came from behind to beat Spurs 2-1 for their first win in four games.

Despite facing corruption and abuse of authority charges, Thaksin is still popular at City. He is often mobbed like a rock star by fans who seek his autograph.

Few football club chairmen receive such treatment from their supporters. This is not surprising as Thaksin has turned around City's fortunes since he took over the club last year.

At the stadium before Sunday's match, Thaksin was all smiles and pretended to fight with British boxer Ricky Hatton, one of the club's best known fans. Whether Thaksin or Hatton is more popular in the blue part of Manchester is debatable.

Trio named in under-21 squad

Three City players have been named in the England Under 21 squad for next Tuesday’s friendly against Poland at Molineux.

Nedum Onuoha is the most experienced player in the 20-man list named by former Blues boss Stuart Pearce with 13 caps, and he will be joined by goalkeeper Joe Hart as well as midfielder Michael Johnson.

The trio will see another familiar face next week, with former City striker and Youth Academy graduate Ishmael Miller also receiving his call-up papers.

>>mcfc.co.uk

City 2 Tottenham 1

Often, the end of a bad spell of form or run of results is courtesy of a fourtuitous incident which can turn the tide back in your favour.

Whilst there was nothing lucky about the performance or overall victory yesterday, we have to say we had the rub of the green with both our opening goal and the disallowed Tottenham 'equaliser'.

After falling behind to a smart finish from Robbie Keane (although Corluka was guilty of slack and careless defending to allow Chimbonda to play Keane in), it would have been easy to think 'here we go again' given recent results both in the league and against Tottenham in general.

We fought back well however in the second-half, looking far more spirited and perhaps sensing an impending substitution, Stephen Ireland managed to get himself in the right place at the right time to steer a pair of mis-timed attempts on goal passed the stranded Robinson - although TV replays later confirmed Ireland had strayed into an offside position.

Little over ten minutes later we took the lead with a goal that came from two surprise sources - firstly a set piece, and secondly a debut goal from Nedum Onouha - very much in the manner of the player he replaced, Micah Richards.

We may have also caught a break five minutes from time as a narrow offside decision ruled out would have been a late equalise from the visitors, but we held on to end the msierable sequence of recent results against the Carling Cup winners.

The second half in particular saw a far more lively approach and what I don't think can be understated is the effect that the returning Michael Johnson has had on the side. Whilst Gelson has deputised more than ably during his absence, Johnson's forays into opposition territory are an important cog in our attacking game and the goals per game ratio was something that dropped off during his spell on the sidelines.

In his post match interview, Sven was clearly hoping that the result would be a turning point as we head to the final stretch of the season, and it puts us right back into the mix in the race for sixth position, something which would be an excellent return and a real platform to build on for next season.

6	Portsmouth	30	6	7	2	22	12	8	1	6	22	19	13	50
7	Aston Villa	30	8	3	4	25	18	5	7	3	27	21	13	49
8	Man City	30	10	4	2	23	14	3	5	6	13	20	2	48
9	Blackburn	30	6	5	4	18	15	6	5	4	21	22	2	46

If nothing else, will perhaps ease the tone of his scheduled meeting with Thaksin later on today.

Reports:

The Times
The Telegraph
Independent
Daily Mail
MEN
push and run.com
Harry Hotspur

Tottenham prediction

Frustrating times following City at the moment, as Darius Vassell acknowledged, with the past ten games seeing us go from Champions League hopefuls to trying to recapture early season form in a bid to end the season on a high note.

Sven has highlighted the final ball in recent games as being our downfall, but defensive problems have resulted in defeats as opposed to picking up points to keep things ticking along. A win though would see us back within striking distance of sixth place in the league and would be a welcome sight for the returning Thaksin, who stated he is back to 'tighten the bolts' although this rabble-rousing piece from The Mirror suggest it is more of a showdown that the owner is seeking.

Team wise, we will have a late check on Richard Dunne who will hopefully be fit despite having a badly gashed leg, but Micah Richards and Michael Ball are out, whilst Martin Petrov serves the final game of his suspension. With the defensive problems we are facing, Nedum Onouha will make a welcome return though.

Tottenham had a big loss in the week on penalties to PSV, but since Juande Ramos took charge they have performed admirably as he has really began to shape the side, with Sven effusive in his praise prior to the fixture and he has already hoisted his first trophy in charge at White Hart Lane.

Tottenham have defeated us in the last eight encounters between the two sides, with a 2-1 scoreline being the result in five of the games and it wouldn't be beyond the realms of possibilityto see a similar scoreline.

Tottenham have on occasion slipped up (notably Birmingham in recent times) and I think their style of play in that I expect them to come at us will be beneficial to us if we get our gameplan right.

We are short on confidence though but expect some big performances from some of the big players who have not quite shown of late, and I am going to pick us to end our barren run against the North-Londoners with a 2-1 victory.

Sven sticking to sound principles

Despite a recent downturn in results, Sven has been talking in the press today about sticking to his footballing principles and not abandoning the way the team is playing, in favour perhaps of a more direct approach seen by some sides around the Premier League.

It is something I agree with, and Michael Ball was also echoing the sentiment today in that we are not doing a whole lot wrong, or different from the start of the season, and my view supports that with the exception we are not displaying the consistency we had throughout the team at the beginning of the campaign.

In a lot of ways, it was to expected though as the way we started this season was on the back of consistent team selection and key players were performing week in week out. There is also a truth in that many of the players - particularly key performers such as Elano and Petrov, were largely unknown quantities.

Over the second half of the season though, teams become a little more aware of the likes of Elano - singleing him out for more attention, and the squad depth (or lack of it) is something that is now being exposed with the spate of suspensions and injuries we are suffering from.

Sven and his backroom staff are calm characters though, and whilst this can grate on some people or be interpreted as a lack of passion, I believe it will stand us in good stead in the long run as despite the 'win now' demands of the modern day Premier League, the 'evolution not revolution' approach is the sensible one and by continuing to try and play football with a young, hungry side, we are more likely to achieve success in the long run than a return to the signing of over the hill players seen during the last days of the Keegan reign, or adopting a more physical, direct approach.

Unless you are blessed with Roman Abramovich's millions, you cannot simply buy overnight success given the gap the top four currently enjoy, but looking at the sides who are hoping to challenge - namely ourselves, Tottenham, Aston Villa, Portsmouth and Everton, they are generally sides that are being built with an emphasis on youth, as opposed to simply being acquired.

The continued success of the youth team this season is another positive and proof of the excellent foundations the club has, and whilst this season looks to end on a disappointing note given the start we enjoyed, we are clearly heading in the right direction - something that has been a rare feeling as we head towards the climax of a campaign in recent times.

Bitter and Blue fantasy league - week 28

It certainly is getting tight at the top with both clarkywarky and AusCam gaining further ground on Joseph Millar this week to leave things very close indeed.

The top three (given they are way out in front) is as follows, and the full table can be found over at SquadGod.

Hose's Blumers (Joseph Millar) week 98 total 3870
I've had my fill, my share of losing (clarkywarky) week 126 total 3800
Big Tackle (AusCam) week 138 total 3733

Schmeichel joins Coventry on loan

Danish Under 21 goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel has made a loan move to Coventry City until the end of the season.

The 21-year-old stopper made the request for the temporary move in a bid to gain more first team experience after already enjoying a successful spell with Cardiff this season.

Schmeichel will now join up with the Sky Blues’ squad ahead of Saturday’s home game against Sheffield Wednesday.

Speaking to the official Coventry City website, new manager Chris Coleman said: “Kasper has shown this season that he has all the attributes to be a top class Premier League goalkeeper and I have no doubt he will be a very valuable addition to the squad.

“He has a great ability and strength, plus he has age on his side. The future is certainly bright for him.”

>>mcfc.co.uk

Youth team progress to final

City are into the FA Youth Cup final - but only after a real scare. Sunderland took an early lead and were the better side for much of the second leg, with City squandering several chances as well as looking nervous at times. But the Blues hung on with some resolute defending and they are now set to face either Chelsea or Aston Villa.

>>mcfc.co.uk.

Reading 2 City 0

The tone of my match review posts has certainly taken on a more negative tone of late, as both results and performances have dipped of late to leave us on the outside looking in in terms of European qualification this season.

Saturday's defeat at Reading - coupled with the defeats for both United and Chelsea, have meant that direct European qualification is now out of the question, both in terms of the points differential to now make up, but even more importantly, the likely performances between now and the end of the season do not hold out any hope that we can be realistic challengers, with even the Inter-Toto route perhaps now out of reach.

Much has been made in the aftermath of the game about the non-penalty decision (and Johnson's booking), and whilst my opinion is that both Johnson 'incidents' were penalties, to use this as a reason for the defeat is burying your head in the sand.

Two key areas have been apparant of late - the lack of creativity and defensive fallability, and both of these were again our undoing on Saturday. The defence was facing problems already with Onouha's absence along with Richards absence giving the line-up a makeshift look with Corluka, Dunne, Ball and the returning Garrido starting the game. Dunne's injury left an even bigger hole at the back, with Sun-Jihai's return perfect timing for my interview piece about him on Goal.com, but ultimately was a key part in our conceding both goals.

The first, saw Ball easily brushed aside at the touchline, whilst Corluka clearly thought he was still playing at right-back as he allowed Long to wander competely unmarked to fire past the exemplary Joe Hart.

Ball, was again at the centre of the second goal as Kitson was allowed to slalom through the defence with Ball statuesque at the heart of the defence.

Injuries cannot be accounted for of course, but since Richards' absence (and even before as he struggled prior to his injury) we began to ship goals but it has highlighted we are short on numbers at the back and we have owed a lot to the consistency in appearance and quality that the Richards-Dunne axis provided.

Of bigger concern must be though the lack of creativity in the side, and the lack of firepower from the front men, and once again this was evident and our goals differential is now only plus 1. In the past three games we have failed to score, and in the past eleven matches we have only scored more than one goal on one occasion - a damning statistic and a clear reason on why we are sliding down the table.

The team tough looks tired, particularly key components Hamman and Corluka who are now struggling to maintain the levels they were at earlier in the season as they have rarely had a spell on the sidelines this season to help re-charge the batteries and keep them fresh for this exact stage of the season where a fresh and large squad is a necessity - and something we do not have.

Nine games left now, with European qualification no longer on the horizon, and we are in danger of a continued slump between now and the end of the season, a far from palatable proposition, but one that is perhaps unsurprising when all things are considered.

Reports:

The Independent
The Telegraph
The Observer
The Guardian
Purely Man City
Hob Nob anyone?

Reading prediction

Reading eded a miserable sequence of results last weekend with a 1-0 at Middlesbrough, something which I'm not too sure is a good thing or not given our penchance for 'assisting' struggling teams back into form.

They are, however, still mired deep in a relegation battle and will probably look at this game to get at least a point from.

Sven is expecting as tough an encounter as the Eastlands meeting last November, and it does not strike as having many goals in the game.

Team wise, Elano is expected to be fit to start but Nedum Onouha is out through injury and joins Martin Petrov on the sidelines. For Reading, quartet Emerson Fae, Graham Murty, Brynjar Gunnarsson and Glen Little all miss out through injury.

Reading's attack has not been impressive this season, yet have only notched two goals less than ourselves, which gives an indication of their defensive struggles which have left them in a relegation battle.

Although they won last week, they have not notched back to back victories for almost a year now, and given our recent form we need to get back on track, yet have struggled on the road for the most part of this seasom.

Overall, a point is the maximum return I can see us coming away with, and a 1-1 result will be the outcome of another frustrating afternoon.

Seasoncard sales update

City’s renaissance under Sven-Goran Eriksson has been reflected in the news that Seasoncard renewals for 2008/09 are 50% up on the same stage last year.

Nearly 13,000 Blues supporters have already secured their seats for next term, and there are still two days to go for anyone to renew before the first deadline
at the best possible prices.

>>mcfc.co.uk

All looks to be an impressive increase - until you cast your mind back to this time last year..

What will it take for UEFA qualification?

Much has been written of our recent slide in form and position in the table, and whilst it now is almost certain that the Champions League spot is well and truly gone, we are still in thick of the fight for a UEFA spot - but as we all know, the recent form that has seen us take 11 points from the past ten games has to be corrected starting from this weekend at Reading.

As stuttering as our past ten games have been, an even bigger illustration of how our season has gone has been the season split so far - with the first 14 games yielding 29 points, and the second 14 just 16, to leave us sat as we are in eighth spot on the outside looking in.

The race for the sixth spot is currently as follows (and I'm assuming that Liverpool and Everton are battling for fourth and fifth):

Aston Villa P28 Pts 48
Blackburn P28 Pts 45
City P28 Pts 45
Portsmouth P28 Pts 44

Now, our remaining ten games this season are as follows:

Reading (a)
Tottenham (h)
Bolton (a)
Birmingham (a)
Chelsea (h)
Sunderland (a)
Portsmouth (h)
Fulham (h)
Liverpool (a)
Middlesbrough (a)

Not the easiest set of fixtures on paper, given that apart from Tottenham and Middlesbrough, all the sides involved have something to play for.

With Tottenham's Carling Cup victory, this has resulted in a maximum of sixth spot qualifying for the UEFA Cup, and should either United or Chelsea fail to reach the FA Cup final, this will eliminate sixth spot as well which could make the UEFA race academic anyway.

One of the main problems that we have encountered this season is the raising of the bar in the level of play and points that the chasing pack are putting up - evidenced that in the majority of previous seasons our current record would see us placed far higher in the table, and the likes of Villa, Portsmouth and Blackburn have all progressed this season and become far more consistent.

A plus point for us is that whilst not being on top form of late, we are not losing, and also, we are not throwing away games to sides in the lower half - with our only defeat against the bottom half coming against Tottenham.

Given though that Villa currently hold the sixth spot and have 48 points, I believe a minimum of 66 points will be needed to secure sixth spot, resulting of course that we will need 21 points from our ten games.

Six wins and three draws from our final ten fixtures will see us achieve this, and winnable games I would say are Reading, Bolton, Birmingham, Sunderland, Portsmouth, Fulham and Middlesbrough so it is achieveable, but of late, we have drawn games that we were winning earlier in the campaign.

At this point it is difficult to see us putting together the consistent run needed, and I would say the next four games (Reading, Tottenham, Bolton and Birmingham) will ultimately make or break our European hopes this season.

If we can return three wins from these fixtures then the UEFA race is most definitely on.

Bitter and Blue fantasy league update

It's been a while I know since I posted an update up on the league standings, so apologies there, but since I last did, things have tightened up an awful lot at the top and a massive week for clarkywarky has seen Hose's Blumers lead at the top cut to under 100 points.

The top five also sees a change as AusCam returns to the leaderboard, whilst Ritchie's Gambit is a newcomer amongst the leading pack.

The full table is at the following link, or at the right hand side of this page, whislt the top five is as follows:

Hose's Blumers (Joseph Millar) week 89 total 3772
I've had my fill, my share of losing (clarkywarky) week 189 total 3674
Big Tackle (AusCam) week 157 total 3595
Ritchie's Gambit (Ritchie's Gambit) week 193 total 3343
Sven's Blue (ali_rainsbury) week 99 total 3340

Trio enter Hall of Fame

NEIL YOUNG, Alex Williams and Fred Tilson last night
became the latest men inducted into City's Hall of Fame.Around 400 guests
attended the black tie gala dinner sponsored by MEN Media and held at the City
of Manchester Stadium.The evening was built around a tribute to the Blues'
hugely successful Academy which is celebrating its tenth
anniversary.

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Whilst I can't profess to be knowledgeable on the merits of Tilson, the induction both Young and Williams is a deserved honour, with Young perhaps suffering a little over the years in the shadow of Bell-Lee-Summerbee, but given the importance he had to the side (not to mention the crucial goals he delivered in big games) it is right he takes he place in the Hall.

Williams, whilst enjoying a modest career on the pitch at the club, has been a stellar contributor to the clubs off-field development - and of course his award of the MBE is testament to this, and he was named as the Lifetime Achievement Award in this years crop of inductees.

Tilson scored132 in all competitions which puts him in eighth place in the all-time list and he was elected to the Hall in the pre-1950s category to honour those players who perhaps do not garner quite the publicity as the more modern day players get.

The full roll of honour of all inductees since the Hall was created in 2004 can be found at the official club website.

Club hit out at BBC

Manchester City have today poured scorn on the suggestion that Benjani Mwaruwari could be banned from playing for the Club.

The BBC's late-night Inside Sport programme made the claim that the option of banning Zimbabwean athletes from competing in Britain is being discussed as part of a new strategy to put pressure on Robert Mugabe's regime.

Club spokesman Paul Tyrrell said: “This is the worst type of scare story which shows a lack of editorial integrity from the programme makers and although we are pleased that the BBC have today been quickly distancing themselves from the claim regarding Benjani, it is important to make the position crystal clear regarding his ability to live and work in the UK.

“The player last month received a three and half year work permit from the Home Office to play for Manchester City. We have been assured work permits are non-negotiable.

“The programme makers and the BBC should apologise to the player immediately.”

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Tyrrell is correct when he referred to the inclusion of Benjani as a 'scare story', and it seems that the BBC are stretching things somewhat by using Benjani as evidence to support their story.

In some ways it is a shame, as the situation in Zimbabwe is a terrible tragedy all told, and the British government clearly need to provide a firmer lead and direction than they have done so far - as shown during the Cricket World Cup debacle a few years ago.

It's a pity that what could have been a relevant investigative piece amounted to little more than headline grabbing from the BBC.

Etuhu joins Leicester on loan

Kelvin Etuhu has joined Leicester City on loan until the end of the season.

The 19-year-old midfielder, who made his City debut earlier this season, links up with Ian Holloway’s side as they battle to stave off relegation from the Championship.

Etuhu made his bow for the Blues in the Carling Cup tie with Norwich City, his slide-rule pass setting up Georgios Samaras to pounce for the winning goal. His first start came against Spurs and just a week later he had his first goal, the final one in the 4-2 home win over Bolton. His most recent game was the draw with Derby at the end of January.

Last season saw Kelvin make an impact while on loan at Rochdale, that stint being cut short by a serious knee ligament injury which he had completely shaken off by the start of pre-season.

>>mcfc.co.uk

Etuhu enjoyed a brief stint in the first team earlier in the season, but apart from his appearance in Thailand, has been out of the spotlight in recent times.

The Championship will be a good test for Etuhu, and he will hope to emulate the success of Ishmael Miller and Ched Evans, and perhaps will provide a good indication of whether his future lies with the club depending on how he performs.

Personally, I have my doubts that he will ultimately make it at the club, believing he (like Miller) is a little short technically to be a success in the Premier League - but, this loan is another example of the standing our Academy players are thought of within the game, and at the very least should see Etuhu prove himself at Championship level.

City 0 Wigan 0

A game that was ultimately as dull and miserable as the weather turned out to be, and it is safe to concede now that in the wake of another win for Everton yesterday that the fourth position is now out of reach, and given our recent form and results (six at home without a win), the odds are that we will end the season out of the UEFA positions.

It is no secret that we are struggling in particular against sides who don't allow us space (as Sven has conceded in the wake of the Wigan game) and are content to sit back and challenge us to beat them. The disappointing thing is we don't appear capable of it and we are clearly lacking creativity, evident in the fact that the goals are drying up.

It is also the first real time that Sven has been called into question by both the media and the fans (with some particularly doom and gloom views out there), and - much like his time in charge of England, if things are not going well his substitutions are becoming predictable and not altering our tactical approach.

There was a stat over at mcfcstats, which shows we are unbeaten in 15 games this season when we open the scoring, and whilst this resulted in our points haul and winning streak at the start of the season, perhaps now that sides have become 'wise' to us, is it time for Sven to adopt a more adventurous approach?

A difficulty of switching to a 4-4-2 (the likely formation), is what to do with Elano, as the experiment of playing him on the right (at the Everton away fixture) was anything but a success. Added to this is the form of Elano himself, who has not reached the impressive heights of the early season for some time - despite Sven continually claiming he is ready to return to top form and whilst Sven's loyalty is well know, this is no time to be nice and if we are going to operate with a 4-4-2 (and Caceido is knocking on the door for a start) are we best placed to go without Elano as I believe Michael Johnson would be a better bet to partner Hamman or Gelson as part of a midfield two.

With ten games left in the season, we are in danger of having the season peter out into an 8th or 9th placed finish someway off the top six - although in fairness, there are two points worth mentioning here. Firstly, is that expectations at the start of the season were of a top ten finish, so it is conceivable that we have overachieved for the most part and secondly, and this a point that has not been brought up too often, the UEFA positions will almost certainly be attained with a record number of points, and if we do miss out on qualification, our points haul will possibly have secured qualification in virtually all previous seasons.

The season of course is far from over, and with ten games remaining there are thirty points of course to play for, but our last ten fixtures have yielded just eleven points (W2 D5 L3). A positive of this is we are avoiding defeat, but the likes of Aston Villa, Portsmouth and Blackburn are putting wins together so it can only be for so long that we keep looking to the next games as the one to turn things around.

Reports:

The Telgraph
The Independent
The Times
The Guardian
Football.co.uk
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Wigan prediction

A little adrift of the battle for fourth spot following our defeat at home to Everton last Monday, we really need to get back on track later today at home to Wigan.

We've not had the most impressive of records against Wigan since they gained promotion to the Premier League and this looks a tricky game on paper to me.

We haven't been on top form of late, with Elano particularly not looking 100%, but with Petrov serving the first of a three game ban, as Sven says, it is vital Elano discovers the sensational early season form which catapulted us to the top four.

In addition to Petrov's suspension, Micah Richards will be absent from the centre of defence which will allow Corluka to return from the starting line-up. Michael Johnson is gaining fitness following his long lay off and if he is fit enough to start it will be a definite boost in the midfield where the creativity has not quite been there of late.

Despite Sven waxing lyrical about the development of Felipe Caceido, I expect Sven to retain and start with the 4-5-1 line-up with Nery Castillo a probable like for like replacement for Petrov.

Wigan are likely to be at full strength, and are coming off the back of a victory over Derby - but have failed to win twice in a row this season and we have only suffered back to back defeats once during this campaign.

It is a game which we have every right to be wary of given our record against Wigan (and our own recent stuttering form), but results in particular last weekend have really sharpened the focus in terms of recapturing our form to gear up for a run at European qualification, and I'll take us to come away with a 2-0 victory.