Charleroi 2 City 0

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

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

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

Carlstad United 0 City 4

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

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

Örgryte 1-4 City

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

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

All of which pleased Sven, who commented:

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

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