BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Man City | Man City to build slowly - Hughes
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Sky Sports | Football News | Premier League | Manchester City | Hughes calls for patience
Blackburn 2 City 2: Verdict - Manchester City - Football - Sport - Manchester Evening News
We have now rounded out the 2008 calendar year, and all being told it hasn't been the most successful year. Interesting also that despite the recent calls for Hughes's head there was an (admittedly slight) improvement on the finish to Sven's tenure.
A total of 38 games have been played - 18 to round out 2007/08 and 20 to begin 2008/09, with it being a toss up for which has been the most disappointing. The slide over the second half of last season was an underwhelming end to a season which offered so much promise, whilst the expectation heading this campaign has not been realised by results on the pitch (UEFA Cup aside) so far.
Our total record for 2008 is as follows:
P38 W 11 D8 L19 Pts41
This is comprised of:
2007/08 P18 W5 D4 L9 Pts19
2008/09 P20 W6 D4 L9 Pts22
If this were translated over the course of a full season it would signal a relegation battle, and whilst the expectation is that January will herald a bright new chapter it does illustrate that there is still plenty of work still to be done.
Idle speculation only, but there were some interesting comments from Harry Redknapp over the weekend when he said that he would not be able to bid for Jermain Defoe because a substantial bid had already been placed:
"I think they've a massive offer from somebody for him, so good luck to them - I paid about £9m,"Defoe was also left out of Portsmouth's side against Arsenal yesterday, with manager Tony Adams citing it as a tactical decision, yet Portsmouth look to be in selling mode.
West Ham United have rejected a £15m bid from Manchester City to sign both Craig Bellamy and Scott Parker. The Premier League club insist that neither player is for sale and have also moved to hold talks with Matthew Upson's representatives to spell out their intention to hold on to the England international who is also attracting intense interest with the transfer window set to open.>>independent.co.uk
Manchester City - Man City - The Times Get It Right
A look at the success of transfer rumours in the press.
We're so solid - blasts SWP - Manchester City - Football - Sport - Manchester Evening News
Whilst we have put together impressive performances this season which have hinted at better things to come, the reality has been anything but as we have struggled to put together any sustained period of consistency.
A look at our results this season suggests consistency is something that we have just not been able to achieve, resulting in us languishing at the wrong end of the table for the most part.
Our six wins this season have been followed by the results in italics:
West Ham (h) 3-0, Sunderland (h) 3-0
Sunderland (h) 3-0, Chelsea (h) 2-3
Portsmouth (h) 6-0, Wigan (a) 1-2
Stoke (h) 3-0, Middlesbrough (a) 0-2
Arsenal (h) 3-0, United (h) 0-1
Hull (h) 5-1, Blackburn (a) ?
What is striking is that apart from the Sunderland victory at home, we have lost each game following a victory - notably two underwhelming away defeats to Wigan and Middlesbrough.
Blackburn will be a big test tomorrow given that the arrival of Sam Allardyce has seen a win and a draw against Stoke and Sunderland, without conceding a goal in the progress. Clearly we have the players and system to be able to post a victory at Ewood Park, but both Blackburn and Sam Allardyce have enjoyed success over us at the past. Form during the course of this season does not suggest we will be able to do this however.
With the victory over Hull being labelled a statement victory by Mark Hughes, it is time for the side to now put together the sort of consistent run that Hughes yearns for.
Manchester City v Hull City
Friday December 26, 2008, 3.00pm
City of Manchester Stadium - Att: 45,196
mcfc.co.uk report, MEN report,
Things will be a little quiet around here for the next few days or so over the Christmas period.
Hopefully I'll get to post something up after the Hull game but in all likelihood normal service will be resumed after the Blackburn game.
Merry Christmas everybody.
Lassana Diarra has admitted that Manchester City offered him a bigger wage than his new club Real Madrid before his move from Portsmouth
Comment: Back to basics - Manchester City - Football - Sport - Manchester Evening News
Stephen Ireland is the only individual to have responded to the Welshman's new, disciplinarian culture, with neither Richard Dunne nor Micah Richards worthy of a place in any Premier League starting line-up on current form. Darius Vassell is another inherited player who, according to some noises emerging from the club, is disenchanted.>>independent.co.uk
I expected a Black Monday type of scenario today the way texts and emails flooded in following yesterdays defeat - particularly when the morning started with a call from Xfm to provide some comments regarding the 'Hughes situation', yet it has been strangely quiet around the media.
Rather than just being 'coming out fighting' words, it does seem Hughes's comments have a ring of truth in that he is being backed by the board and busy preparing for the January sales and given that there has not even been a whiff of a 'Hughes out' report in the press today suggests that his position is very much safe.
In fact, Paul Aldridge also spoke out in support of Hughes today, with a very public backing:
"Clearly no one is comfortable where we are but I think the new owner is very pragmatic and understands things don't happen overnight and that it will take time for Mark to build the team, the squad and the ethos of the club how he wants it."Opinion in the City blogosphere is split pretty evenly at the moment, with some being for the sacking of Hughes, and some taking a more patient line.
Real Madrid and Portsmouth have confirmed that midfielder Lassana Diarra has agreed to leave Fratton Park to join the Spanish club in January and will undergo a medical tomorrow. Pompey agreed a deal with the Spanish giants for the 23-year-old midfielder earlier this week, with the fee reported to be in the region of £20m.>>telegraph.co.uk.
West Brom 2 Manchester City 1
Sunday December 21, 2008, 1.30pm
The Hawthorns - Att: 25, 010
Sources close to the owners believe that talk of signing the likes of Kaka, Casillas, Messi and Torres is premature, with the management preferring to take a more patient approach to building the club into one of the biggest in the world.
However, it is believed that City will face little or no competition from Premier League rivals should they decide to pursue mid-price targets, including the Blackburn striker Roque Santa Cruz, as the majority of clubs face up to the realities of the difficult financial climate.
January has not historically been the time to snap up big name players, and I imagine given our current position in the league it is not likely to help in attracting any players who may be wavering.
Logically, summer would be the more likely period to bring in 'name' players, and hopefully we will be dealing from a greater strength than we currently are.
A surprising article nonetheless though given the way the media has been concerning our transfer speculation.
Venue: The Hawthorns Date: Sunday, 21 December Kick-off: 13:00 GMT
West Brom central defender Leon Barnett has recovered from a knee injury.
Roman Bednar is also pushing for a recall, while James Morrison and Borja Valero have been ill but are expected to recover in time to play.
Manchester City skipper Richard Dunne is expected to return after missing the Uefa Cup defeat in Spain on Thursday to deal with a family matter.
Robinho suffered a recurrence of his ankle injury against Racing Santander and faces a late fitness check.The Brazilian midfielder Elano is, in particular, considered lazy and a negative influence. Micah Richards, who has made little headway for the last season and a half, is considered a poor trainer, too interested in the time in the weights room which has contributed to his ballooning muscle bulk. Michael Johnson is at the club each day to do the rehabilitation work on his abdominal injury but is lacking the conviction to recuperate.>>independent.co.uk.
"I have to say the people here at Blackburn are fantastic, I am very happy with the fans.>>Roque Santa Cruz.
"But, I don't want to miss the chance of playing with a big side. If a bigger club came in for me then I would like to take that opportunity.
"I also understand the interests of Blackburn as well and they do not want to lose players.
"I want to watch out for myself but I have to think of Blackburn. It is a very hard decision."
£120 million according to this report in The Telegraph.
I know since the takeover we are armed with an unlimited pot of gold which effectively renders transfer fees irrelevant, but if we were to spend this amount to land Villa we would be more than doubling the previous record transfer fee.
As good a player as Villa is, is paying this type of fee to land him (or any player for that matter) really something that we want to see?
UEFA CUP LAST 32 DRAW
Paris St Germain v Wolfsburg
FC Copenhagen v MANCHESTER CITY
NEC Nijmegen v Hamburg
Sampdoria v Metalist Kharkiv
Braga v Standard Liege
ASTON VILLA v CSKA Moscow
Lech Poznan v Udinese
Olympiakos v St Etienne
Fiorentina v Ajax
Aalborg v Deportivo La Coruna
Werder Bremen v AC Milan
Bordeaux v FC Galatasaray
Dynamo Kiev v Valencia
Zenit St Petersburg v VfB Stuttgart
Marseille v FC Twente
Shakhtar Donetsk v TOTTENHAM
Ties to be played on 18/19 February and 26 February
UEFA CUP ROUND OF 16 DRAW
Werder Bremen/AC Milan v Olympiakos/St Etienne
ASTON VILLA/CSKA Moscow v Shakhtar Donetsk/TOTTENHAM
Lech Poznan/Udinese v Zenit St Petersburg/VfB Stuttgart
Paris St Germain/Wolfsburg v Braga/Standard Liege
Dynamo Kiev/Valencia v Sampdoria/Metalist Kharkiv
FC Copenhagen/MANCHESTER CITY v Aalborg/Deportivo La Coruna
Marseille v FC Twente v Fiorentina/Ajax
NEC Nijmegen/Hamburg v Bordeaux v FC Galatasaray
Ties to be played on 12 March and 18/19 March
At first glance it could definitely be worse overall given both the last 32 and last 16 stages have been drawn.
Group winners: MANCHESTER CITY, Metalist Kharkiv, Standard Liege, Udinese, Wolfsburg, Hamburg, St Etienne, CSKA Moscow.
Runners-up: FC Twente, FC Galatasaray, VfB Stuttgart, TOTTENHAM, AC Milan, Ajax, Valencia, Deportivo La Coruna.
Third-place: Paris St Germain, Olympiakos, Sampdoria, NEC Nijmegen, Braga, ASTON VILLA, FC Copenhagen, Lech Poznan.
Entrants from Champions League: Bordeaux, Werder Bremen, Shakhtar Donetsk, Marseille, Aalborg, Fiorentina, Dynamo Kiev, Zenit St Petersburg.
There are clearly some good sides who have made it through to the final 32, and talk of a long run in this seasons competition may have to be checked for the time being given our current form, but actually topping the group should not be underestimated.Racing Santander 3 Manchester City 1
Thursday December 18, 2008, 8.45pm
| P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Man City | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 7 |
| 2 | FC Twente | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 8 | -3 | 6 |
| 3 | PSG | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 5 |
| 4 | Racing Santander | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 5 |
| 5 | Schalke 04 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 | -1 | 4 |
Open thread for today's game which does have a little more riding on it than hoped, with Santander needing a win to keep their hopes of qualification alive whilst a win for ourselves would secure top spot and avoid the Champions League 'drop outs' (current qualifiers here).
Team wise, Richard Dunne misses the trip along with Jo and with the injuries we have it won't give Hughes much opportunity to experiment - although given the need to win the group I'd be surprised if he played anything other than his strongest side.
"He's obviously a player I like. He's a good player, but
he's still a Portsmouth one. Things may develop for him but the window isn't
open at this moment so we'll just have to wait and see what happens."
>>telegraph.co.uk
There was a piece in today's Express that suggested whilst Diarra favours a move to Madrid, he is willing to listen to other offers, which could obviously sway things in our favour.
As coy as Hughes was being with his comments, it is clear that he would like to sign Diarra but like I have posted previously, I'd be surprised if he didn't end up at Madrid.
It has been an up and down week with all the speculation and stories surrounding Diarra, and will only escalate the further we head towards January.
"We have always said we would only allow our players to
leave if we received an exceptional bid. We could not stand in the way of a move
such as this for Lassana."
>>telegraph.co.uk
I guess this will now show if our reported interest in Diarra is genuine or not, and if the believed bid from Real is around £20 million, it will test the resolve that we will not overpay for players.
I would be hugely surprised if he didn't sign for Real now Portsmouth have accepted an offer (especially given these comments), and if he does slip away from us does Hughes have a Plan B for this area?
I know it was a story that surfaced yesterday, but there were some interesting comments from the President of Espanyol today:
"We have received the offer for the loan but have still not given an answer".This suggests that rather than an approach from Espanyol for Elano, it is ourselves who maybe hawking him around and Espanyol may be in the mix as a result of relations following the signing of Pablo Zabaleta.
Some up and down news today regarding the possible signing of Lassana Diarra, with mailonline suggesting Real have captured his signature (after being fairly confident in recent days he would end signing for us), only for Guillem Balague to later suggest we could trump Madrid both in terms of wages and transfer fee.
Later in the day though, this piece on sport.fr (translation required) suggests though that a move to Madrid could be finalised in the next 'forty-eight hours'.
No wonder Jack is all over the place on this one.
"It does surprise me where we are," said Cook. "But we knew
it was not going to be a quick fix. A lot of people expected a light-switch to
be flicked as soon as the club changed control. Yes, things have not gone
according to plan but that does not mean we veer off our original
strategy.
"Sheikh Mansour is in step with that and Khaldoon Al Mubarak [the
club chairman] is absolutely in step with that. We know the second half of the
season will be better than the first and we want to bring some depth into the
squad."
>>guardian.co.uk
Not the dreaded vote of confidence then, but tantamount to an acknowledgement that they (ownership) still view Hughes as the man and have no plans to replace him, although in a similar piece in The Times had a slightly more cautious note, quoting a 'for now and the foreseeable future' tone.
Cook stated he still has hopes of a top six finish this season, although admitted that a top ten position may be more of a realistic aim.
I know there is plenty of talk regarding Hughes's future, with the manner of performances as much as the results themselves being the disappointing factor.
From Cook's words though, he is not straying from the long term philosophy that was espoused when the new owenership took control at the start of the season, and on face value at least, that would suggest that Hughes remains part of that plan as well.
Sky Sports | Football | Premier League | News | Dunne backs City revival
BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Portsmouth | Pompey fined over Benjani moves
Sky Sports | Football News | Premier League | Manchester City | Villa and Silva 'will not leave'
>>bbc sport.Manchester City striker Benjani looks set to miss the Christmas schedule with a hamstring injury picked up during Saturday's 1-0 defeat by Everton.
Manchester City manager Mark Hughes told the club's website: "He'll probably be out for a number of weeks.
"A number of the guys are carrying injuries, so that will have an impact when you've got games coming up thick and fast.
"You need a fit squad and in that respect we are struggling right now."
We're coming into the most important fortnight in our season so far. A trip to Spain on Thursday night, to West Brom on Sunday, Hull at home on Boxing Day and then Ewood Park two days later. A good run of results, and we can still salvage our season. Bad, and anything is possible.
>>the lonesome death of roy carroll.
A good post by Jack, and one that raises the possibility that we could be in a degree of trouble.
Despite our recent poor form - just two wins in twelve games lest we forget, most of the focus from media and fans alike has been on January, and the riches this could invariably bring.
However, with the way the weekends results have gone we now find ourselves just a single point above the relegation places. Although the way the Premier League has gone this season though we are just nine points off sixth place and face a trio of games which on paper are clearly winnable and could see us shoot up the table.
Our form this season though has seen us look anything like being able to put a run together with our return so far being:
(Games 1-6) LWWLWL
(Games 7-12) LDWLLL
(Games 13-17) DWLDL
Not really a pattern of form that suggests any degree of consistency is likely to be achieved.
"In January, I would like to be as quick as
possible in terms of buying players," he said.
"We don't want to be going to
the last minute of the transfer window, that doesn't help, sometimes you don't
get the players you want. We want it dealt with pretty quickly.
Manchester City remain the favourites to sign Portsmouth's Lassana Diarra in the January transfer window, despite reports in Spain suggesting new Real Madrid coach Juande Ramos is preparing a rival offer for the 23-year-old.>>guardian.co.uk
'I was able to add a clause to my contract, so if I shine here, and if a big club wants me, I already know that everything will go well. I don't want any more battles.'
Manchester City 0 Everton 1
Saturday December 13, 2008, 3pm
City of Manchester Stadium - Att: 41,344
Open thread for today's game.
Still no news so far as to whether Robinho will make it or not.
Venue: City of Manchester Date: Saturday, 13 December Kick-off: 1500 GMT
BBC preview, Virgin Media preview, MEN preview, mancityfans.net preview
There are signs that we have become more stable of late and that a greater deal of consistency is creeping in, but we still boast the unwanted stat of squandering the most points (15) from winning positions this season.
Robinho is likely to be a late decision for the game, but it doesn't look promising if he has not trained so far. Elsewhere, none of the other injury casualties are likely to feature - although Nedum Onouha came through a reserve outing and may feature next week in Santander.
Team news:
Manchester City (from): Hart, Zabaleta, Richards, Dunne, Garrido, Ball, Wright-Phillips, Ireland, Kompany, Fernandes, Robinho, Vassell, Hamann, Benjani Mwaruwari, Jo, Sturridge, Ben Haim, Schmeichel, Onuoha, Evans.
Everton are impressive away from home - notching five wins on their travels so far and haven't lost two consecutive games for 44 matches now, yet our home record has followed a win-loss rotation pattern so something has to give.
They also did the double over us last year and triumphed 2-0 in the corresponding fixture in 2007/08. From memory they have enjoyed success against us from set pieces, and this again is something we need to guard against.
They come into the game though on the back of a gut wrenching loss to Aston Villa after believing they had rescued a point with Joleon Lescott's injury time equaliser, only for Ashley Young to snatch the winner seconds later.
A mini-crisis has hit them in attack, whereby they face the prospect of having no fit strikers available for this game, with even a loan move for Jo mooted in January such are their current woes.
A tough one to call, but I will take a City win by the odd goal, most likely 2-1.
"We expect Boj back before the end of the season but if anyone is asking me exactly when I could not say with any certainty," revealed assistant boss Mark Bowen.>>MEN.
"He is out on the training ground now working hard with the sports science department and he seems to be improving every day."
Manchester City hope to strike a record sponsorship deal
with Etihad, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, after opening
talks about an agreement that would recognise their position as the most richly
endowed club in the world.
Although talks are described as "very early" and
several other companies are also in the frame, Etihad's links to the Abu Dhabi
United Group (ADUG) have established the airline as the front-runners to replace
Thomas Cook as shirt sponsors.
>>guardian.co.uk
Clearly the club are looking to go global and really develop 'Brand City' with their next choice of sponsor given Garry Cook's rather withering comments about our current and previous sponsorship deals:"The market is worldwide," he said at the time. "You look at
our brand and our brand looks like Thomas Cook. And there's something not right
about sitting in a bar in Bangkok or Beijing or Tokyo and seeing 'Fred Smith's
plumbing. Call 0161 . . .' There's something not right about that, so you have
to think on a global stage."
I don't think there has ever been a time where given our ownership and profile we can really attract a deal that will pay us amongst the top end sponsorship deals (the report even suggests United's current deal with AIG could be topped), and the Middle-East is now an obvious area where the club will look to target that deal.
As I posted previously, it does seem that a new kit manufacturer will also be on the horizon - although probably a better indicator of any new deals will be the reduction in price of the current three kits sometime in the New Year.
Valencia are cash strapped and have admitted that their star player will have to go in January, despite Villa signing a contract extension that runs until 2014 just six months ago.
It is understood that the deal, worth an estimated £160,000-a-week, could be completed as early as Friday.
I think there has been enough substance around this story to suggest there may be more to it than the the di Natale link, but reports of a deal being completed as early as Friday strike as premature.
With reports of £160,000 a week and £100 million release fee clause, whilst the transfer amount may not cause a ripple in the owners pockets, Villa's wages may cause one or two knocks on Mark Hughes's door from the current squad.
Quickly pouring cold water on the earlier story is this report from udinese blog, which roughly translates as the story is lacking in any foundation and cites di Natale's contract extension as proof that he is committed long term to Udinese.
No follow up from the British press on this one (nor do I assume there will be any) and this story and subsequent counter-denial is something we are going to get more accustomed to I imagine,
Vassell, 28, was robbed of his designer watch and jewellery on his return home from the club's Christmas party.
Vassell was not injured during the incident, but was threatened by the two offenders.
It is understood the attackers had not specifically targeted the former England international, but struck while the player reportedly disputed his taxi fare.
The raid took place at the junction of Palatine Road and Barlow Moor Road in Didsbury at about 5.30am on Sunday.
It is reported that Vassell was 'relieved' of almost £23,000 of bling, and giving where the incident occurred, it sounds like some 'quality' time at Friday's could have been on the agenda.
Top of his shopping list will be Kaka, the restless genius at AC Milan, former Arsenal idol Thierry Henry who is languishing at Barcelona, Valencia striker David Villa and Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon who is currently keeping Juventus afloat in Serie A.>>MEN.
