Weekend Preview Match Day No. 7

Courtesy of MCFC Official Facebook

The Borussian Problem

Watching Dortmund match was the most excruciating experience since I started to watch city match in 2007. Especially in the second half, City seemed very lazy at a time and if it wasn't Hart's brilliance in front of countless Dortmund attack, Gotze & Reus in particular, City could have conceded double digit. Frustrating performance all around the squad and I really do sympathize with Hart's anger against the rest of the squad. 

His anger reminds of Iker Casillas in 2006 when he had to make string of brilliant saves to guide them to the La Liga title. But then Real lacked in defenders at that time. Likes of Pavon and aging Helguera & Cannavaro, the team were deemed to concede numerous chances against their opponents. With Kompany struggling and Mancini indecisive on 3 or 4 backs, I could see Hart mourning in every post match interview.

v Sunderland

Remember what happened last time? Well surely not this time right? Especially City are chasing Chelsea with 4 points behind and midweek Champions League misery, this is kind of match that City must win to change the mood in the dressing room.

The away record of Sunderland is particularly encouraging. Since 25th of February, away match against WBA, their record is 7Ds 4Ls. Also, since the investment was made in 2008, City looked pretty dominant against Sunderland at home.

But those facts are meaningless when the squad is beaten up like this. Apart from Joe Hart, none of the core member of title winning squad are firing all cylinders. Kompany looks shaky from the start of season and Silva looked knackered from summer international duty, especially he exhausted prior to the Euro already and rest of the squad haven't been as consistent as last year.

Courtesy of MCFC Official Facebook

Having said that City did get the result out of the current circumstance and they always had someone to deliver something special to win the match and City showed their resilience against their shortcomings during this season.

For Sunderland their talismen are Adam Johnson and Steven Fletcher. Fletcher in particular is one to look at, as he is now scoring 7 out of 7 league matches. Hope City's defense are up to the task in early morning kick off.


http://tiny.cc/wiwqlw - Guardian Squad Sheet
http://tiny.cc/dkwqlw - Telegraph on City's plan on new training ground
http://tiny.cc/ymwqlw - Telegraph Match Preview
http://tiny.cc/xpwqlw - ESPN Match Preview
http://tiny.cc/grwqlw - BBC Match Preview
http://tiny.cc/2wwqlw - Independent Match Preview
http://tiny.cc/tn2qlw - Independent's article on Adam Johnson Comment

Violent Conduct Charge for Wright-Phillips!

Shaun Wright-Phillips has been charged for violent conduct

The charge relates to an incident involving Rory Delap in the first half of Man City's 1-0 defeat against Stoke on Saturday.

No action was taken at the time as referee Martin Atkinson did not see what happened, but video footage has now been studied.

Atkinson has informed the FA that he would have sent Wright-Phillips off if he had seen the incident.

Now he is likely to miss 3 games for this charge, if he doesn't win a appeal that must be submitted by Thursday 6pm. I have some issues here. Firstly the severity of his petulant kick is minimal. Delap reacted badly to a fair challenge by SWP and took him out and then preceded to take a deliberate kick at him. He was provoked and in a court of law, he would be dealt with less severely. The ban isn't in proportion to the incident, why does he get the same length ban as the original culprit. Surely Zab and Richards push on Delap afterwards is also counted as violent conduct, there is no consistency!












My next issue is why have the FA allowed the rules to be so flawed that they have let Bosingwa get away with an unprovoked kick on Benayoun.



I fail to see how they can let a player get away with this but give SWP a ban for a little kick in response to being kicked himself. It's not the 1st time the FA have ignored these incidents. It's just difficult to take, when a player committing a worse offence get lets off. Ronaldo too has been let off this season, with his petulant kick on Dawson, the FA decided to take no action. All we ask for is consistency and fairness.




* Good read here! Rick Turner from Bluemoon has written an article The Times Fanzone, a very amusing read!

On Sunday Supplement

Brian Woolnough, Paul Hayward, Neil Custis - it's hard to think of a more dour, miserable bunch of, well, bastards (I'm not sure if that's the correct collective noun for journalists, but it seems apt).

Manchester City Vs Wigan: Preview.

Finally we are back. The team have had a nice break and have been able to re-coup. Robinho is back and has trained all this week. Swp is a possibility, as again the Clubs medical assessment team seem to over estimate every injury. So who are we expecting to see? Wayne Bridge will make his debut finally after signing before the Forest game. Depending on SWP fitness we could see Zabaleta move up the field and Richards slot into the right back role. Nedum Onouha is back to full fitness too. We will need to be strong in the midfield, so Kompany is likely to be partnered by the less reliable gelson.

Wigan have been playing well recently, apart from their defeat to United earlier this week. We have a terrible record against Wigan and it's about time we put this run to bed. We need the results and tomorrow is a good place to start. Wigan are a big physical side, we need to be able to cope with that, and hope our attack is as succinct as it can be. Robinho will be our key, especially without Ireland and possibly SWP.

Ideally we would have a player like De Jong in to add the grit in the midfield. But as we don't Hughes has to deal with a depleted squad. The buzz around the ground tomorrow will be about Kaka, but we must not forget the immense need for results. Our season needs a boost and i would 'just love it' if we beat Wigan tomorrow.

Man city 1- spurs 2 - ref ruins a good game

The pressure on Hughes shoulders in now immense, with Hull, Arsenal and Manyoo coming up along with Schalke in Europe, this spell will be the most important one of hughes managerial career. There is plenty of hostility on radio phone-in's, message-boards alike calling for hughes to be sacked. Are we really going to sack a manager so quickly again? Hughes has made mistakes but has also been unfortunate with injuries and refereeing decisions that have certainly contributed to our poor form. Sending off at liverpool changed the game, penalty at boro changed the game and yesterdays match was ruined by 3 sending offs. I think, if by the end of january we are still around the bottom, his position becomes untenable, but for now i hope Al Mubarak and crew stick with him. It appears he will regarding comments on the official site, i for one am happy with that.

We scored 1st in a game that was open and exciting, we were the better side, vassell did something right, shot on target, gomes with his ability to be brilliant and rubbish in one game, excelled once again pushing the ball out in the box, where robinho was waiting to pounce. The mood around the ground was generally good, despite the awful weather. Mike Dean decided to spoil what would of been a good spectacle of two good attacking sides. He 1st booked Gelson for a reckless but not dangerous challenge and then again for a minor foul, considering how early it was in the game, the horrible conditions of the pitch, the mediocre nature of the challenges, common sense should of prevailed, instead an officious, arrogant ref, couldn't wait to show a red card and make sure he had his stamp on the game.

spurs then dominated in patches as we still tried to score. A lofted pass, that was easy to deal with would become city's downfall, the captain missed the ball completely allowing Darren Bent to place the ball beyond Joe Hart for the equalizer. Dunne once again showed how out of form he is, and how wrong he was criticizing our attacking nature, when he and richard have been at fault for most goals through individual errors. There second goal would come about through some poor defending from dunne allowing jenas to hold up the ball in our box, we were carved open and bent shot passed hart on to the post and in.
To cap off a calamitous performance a through ball from huddlestone would spell the end to Dunnes game. The ball managed to ricochet off the clueless defender into the patch of bent, dunne gave chase and touched bent on the side with his hand, according to the ref any contact on a player constitutes a foul and as he was last man, he had to go. It was far too harsh, dunne barely did anything wrong, the conditions were awful and bent slipped under the pressure. The Fa have reduced his ban to 1 game.

City 3 - Stoke 0 Robinho 3 goal stunner!

The Starting line up came as a shock today, with Jo omitted from the whole team (through illness). Evans was chosen as next choice, but to my dismay! I struggle with the lad, dont really rate him at the moment, yeah, he got a decent assist today, but otherwise he just seems to lack finesse and all round quality. Passing and general ability to take on defenders isn't really there. Sturridge now has to over take hughes golden boy, taffy evans, in the striker rankings!

City again flattered in the 1st half; a good goal from Robinho, but no real penetration afterwards tills half time. I hate it, when we pass it around like a training match, it happened against the geordies and i was worried it would happen again.

We could have had a shed full in the second half, Two more great goals form the main man robinho, but SWP, Ireland and Micah should of all netted.

Pullis felt his team should have got something from the game, disagree! They had a couple of chances that were well saved from Joe hart, who played his best of the season. They are horribly physical side and were allowed to continue by the ref, who didnt really have a bad game, but should have clamped down on the over physical challenges. We peppered Sorensen, who looks to have revived his career, looking like the top class goalie has he left behind last season. Sturridge changed the game today, someone more gifted up front to complement what we had going in the midfield. We could of been 10 nil up by the end of it, stoke were lucky we didnt score more!


Players performance
Hart: Best game of this season for me, less dodgey at set pieces, delaps's throws are quite slow and can be picked up easier than a cross. Made some cracking saves today, to top off his new contract at the club!

Richards: looked off the pace today, although brightened up towards the end of the game, glad he's fit. Should of scored, he tried to blast it, unlucky, the other players seemed to find it amusing that he missed.

Ben Haim: Couple of cock-ups, but by far his best performance, tackling was superb today and his distribution on the whole is better than dunnie.

Dunne: 1st tackle, it thought he was going to have a cracker, MEN had him down as being almost faultless, almost being the word, he made a couple of mistakes today, but is looking like he can recover form, which we need.

Garrido: Defending wise pretty average for him, got skinned a couple times and missed a sliding tackle in the box towards the end, some decent balls today, some not so great a usual performance for the lad.

Kompany- MEN gave him a 6!!! Did they watch the game, he was brilliant today, made so many tackles, dropped deep when needed and eventually moved to centre back because he was so solid today. Back on Form!

Elano: Outstanding again for me, He is the engine of our team, he creates so much through clever balls and movement, was desperate for a goal, and made some decent efforts on goal. My man of the match (usually goes to the hat trick hero!)

Ireland: quiet game today for stevie, but again came alive towards the end, great ball for swp in the build up for the final goal.

SWP: Much better from him today! Allot of effort, cocked up a big chance, but help assist another, he will be even better Vs boro!

Robinho: Outstanding, full of class today! Finished well every time. I knew from go, when he 1st broke on goal, we was going to be a handful today

Evans: Nice assist looks like a revved up nutter that will challenge anything, far from the finished article! Injury doesn’t look great

Subs
Sturridge: Changed the game, created goals, and nearly scored himself, very strange that he's 3rd choice.

Onouha: much better today, played a wicked ball in the box, glad he looked less surprised to be playing.

Gelson: it's like letting a jack Russell out of a box, he is everywhere, full of energy, running into both boxes.

Ref :

Steve Tanner: well done, the game flowed fairly well, only one card, should of gripped physical stoke more, but did well!


3-0 a good result to set us up for the REVENGE match at boro midweek. Great news about hart signing a new 5-year deal at the club. Good day all round for city, but not for juande ramos i guess!

Days Round up.

All round miserable bore Jack Charlton tells Steven Ireland to apologise and get on with it or just forget about it. He wouldnt tolerate it in his day. Not entirely sure what Stevie problem is, was it the wig, or does he just suffer under pressure. Ireland(country) would be pleased to have him back, by far, on of the best talents they have.

Mark Hughes is optomisitc over Martin Petrov's injury. He hopes to delay knee surgery for the player after consultation with Petrov's specialist in Spain. Luckly he didnt damage his ACL, but has damaged his meniscus ( often cited as torn cartiladge, it helps spread the weight ont he body and reduce friction in the knee.) They are hoping over the next few weeks to build the muscle around it, to give strength and support, andget him playing much sooner than expected.

Looks like a long shot to me!

Micah Richards looks' set to return for the Stoke game this sunday, Great news if true, as we are looking pretty bare at the back at the moment. We need him at right back, Onouha looked awful when he came on the other day.

Mark Hughes is preparing his side for the challenge of Rory Delap, who isnt that good a footballer, but has a long effective throw, that Stoke have put to good use this season (still doesnt rival Dave Challinor record breaking throw of 46.75 metres). Hughes is rightly concerned, as our defence is rubbish at the moment, no zabaleta, dunne playing some of the worst football we have seen for some time and garrido still struggling to tackle anything. We need a result in this game, or the pressure will grow on hughes. Elano needs to play, i would hate to see him a vicitm to tactics, everyone has raved over steven ireland this season, but i believe Elano has been the unsung hero, scored goals, created goals and his role with the defence means we dont lose so much ball from dunney whacking it upfield. He also has a far better final ball than ireland or anyone else and shouldnt be the one left out.

Much Loved and much Admired: the Joey Barton Story.

"the last-chance saloon"
Yes Joey is worried about it being his last chance, now he's a changed man. Joey blamed alchohol as a convienent excuse for stubbing cigars in collegues eyes, hitting kids in the far east, recking a taxi cab and battering someone outside a Mcdonalds. He doesnt have an excuse for battering a team mate so severely he had to be taken to hospital, depsite having medical staff on hand at the training ground. Nor could he excuse his awful behaviour on the pitch stamping on the heels of another player and and outright kicking dixon Etuhu, for which he escaped any punishment.

He doesnt deserve any chance. A thug, that the game should of tossed aside a long time ago. It's ironic that his return coincides with the arrival of a footballing moron at Newcastle, in joe' i'm irish' Kinnear. The perveyor of thuggish football and long ball nonsense will find Barton right up his street, a poor passer of the ball but a good at kicking the opposition.

If platani really wants to protect the game, he needs to stop thugs like Barton from getting so many chances to shame himself and the image of the game.

Europe

Spurs lose again, i enjoyed every minute of it. They look awful and their Goal Keeper Gomes is loopy.
Pompey were stuffed 3-0, while villa managed to beat Ajax at home 2-1.

In our group, Schalke 04 beat the great under-achievers PSG 3-1, while Muppet Mclaren Twente managed to beat Santander 1-0. What can we make from these results, Schalke are going to be the hardest to beat.


- Rumour of the day-

Vagner Love, ex-striking partner of Jo at CSKA wants to join city, and is desperate to get his family out of Russia, he understands spurs have an interest in him, but knows that they are shite.

-Other News-

The ghostly white Defender from the City Youth Cup winning side has joined Morecambe on loan till the new year. Not really made my mind up on the lad seem him a few times last season, when watching the youth team in league and cup and he has been good and bad. Hope the expereince does him good.

Nery Castillo not heading home, his unknown desire to go home seem's to have collapsed as the Mexican transfer window has now shut. I cant believe he is a bad player, and from what i have seen from him, he would be usefull in our side. Last season vs Spurs, he was our best player, we didnt see him again.

We are also in talks with Spanish midfielders Alex Pla and Jorge Guinovart from UD Cornella, a fairly unkown club north of Barcelona. Good to see Hughes trying to add to our youth team.

Shock of the Day.

Habib Beye has red card recinded. The Fa have once again undermined it's referee's and the law to suit the media. IT WAS A FOUL! Beye took Robinho out through his thigh, so what, that he eventually got the ball. I expect city to appeal Zabaleta decision as he clearly won the ball and that according to the FA is all that matters. Well done!

Newcastle game reflection

Not a Great game as was to be predicted. City never perform against the teams they should be beating. Newcastle are a poor side and will continue to struggle under the buffoon that is 'Joe Kinnear.

We didnt really get out of the starting blocks, a whole lot of possession, about two thirds, through the whole game, yet we did nothing with it. We didnt capitalise when Newcastle rightly went down to ten men, beye took out robinho on his thigh, going through the player to clip the ball, anywhere on the pitch it's a foul, dont see why it should be any different in the penalty box. It appears that most pundits make the rules up to suit themselves. Everyone seems to forget that Coloccini tripped Micah Richards up in the box, but as he stayed on his feet, no decision at all was given.

My main critic of the Hughes in the game, was the dropping of Elano. He has been one the best players this season in creating and scoring goals. He has blossomed in his deep role and has become more physical and overall more fit. He also does a lot of work collecting the ball from the defence and carrying it up field, something Didi Hamman wont do. We missed the creative spark that aides the likes of Ireland robinho and swp.

The defence is really worrying me. Dunne is having an awful season, i have never seen the merit in having him as captain, he seems to have very limited leadership skills. He needs to find form quickly or he could find himself on his way out. Ben haim and Onouha both look out of sorts and lacking match fitness, worrying if they dont get up to speed quickly. Richards seemed to try to hard on the right and actually made SWP less effective, he is now injured, which adds another worry.
Garrido, i have given up on, i like the lad, he seems a decent footballer, but he isn’t really a left back, too often, he's caught out or skinned, he needs replacing quickly, can Glauber berti fill this role?