The joy of having city on sky again fills me with fear and panic. We always fail to impress on TV, i can only hope we turn up for once. West Brom are in the bottom three, were above with a decent goal average, so this is now a crunch battle at the bottom. it's needless to say, but this is a must win, many believe Hughes won't be around much longer if we don't win.
What can we expect? Hughes has been largely conservative away from home due to our woeful record. Fulham for instance, it became obvious as the game went on, we played for a draw. The likely hood of playing two defensive players will probably mean either Hamann or Gelson partners Kompany in the middle of the park. Ireland and Swp will certainly feature after, well some rest for swp at least. Dunne is will return, along side, micah, pablo and Javier at the back and Joe Hart returning after a poor display from the young Dane midweek. With benjani, Robinho, Sturridge all certainly set to miss out, Jo's fitness is unknown, so it could be a battle between the unimpressive Ched Evans and The 10 minute wonder Felipe Caicedo.
I can't contemplate losing tomorrow, we will be in sorts of trouble is that is the case. I expect Hughes to go out with a winning mindset, as we should be beating a side like WBA. A draw isn't good enough. therefore i must predict a 2-0 win for city.
Saturday, 20 December 2008
Friday, 19 December 2008
Hughes to move for the familiar.
It appears a move for Roque Santa Cruz is on the cards again for Hughes. I'm personally not a fan, it's allot of money to spend on one good season form, which he hasn't be able to sustain. He's scored 3 in 13 league performances this season. Benni McCarthy scored 18 goals in his 1st season, he has steadily scored less in two seasons campaign. I can mention similar dips in form for Gamst Pedersen. I'm yet to be convinced that Santa Cruz is a right target. Hughes has told us he doesn't want to be ripped off.
It appears Roque wants out of Blackburn, and of course Hughes is likely to go for whats worked for him before. He's a big target man, but he could be another big disappointment. This deal looks more plausible than David Villa for instance. I'm yet to be convinced, but I'm pretty certain he will be signed considering today's announcement. 17-18 mill for a striker that has averaged around 5 a season at top champion league side, crazy really.
We have drawn FC Copenhagen in UEFA cup, tldorc has a good summary on the draw.
It appears Roque wants out of Blackburn, and of course Hughes is likely to go for whats worked for him before. He's a big target man, but he could be another big disappointment. This deal looks more plausible than David Villa for instance. I'm yet to be convinced, but I'm pretty certain he will be signed considering today's announcement. 17-18 mill for a striker that has averaged around 5 a season at top champion league side, crazy really.
We have drawn FC Copenhagen in UEFA cup, tldorc has a good summary on the draw.
Thursday, 18 December 2008
Racing Santander 3:1 Manchester City. Blues fail to turn up in Spain.
Few positives can come from tonight. The big plus point is that we came top of the group, PSG stuffed Twente 4-0, meaning paris finish third in the group with a greater goal average than Santander.
Final Standings:
Man city 7
Twente 6
Paris 5
Santander 5
Schalke 4
A very poor defensive display from the centre backs and goalie, meant Santander could waltz through our defence netting three times. General poor positioning, poor tackling meant we couldn't handle anything they through at us. Kasper was at fault for the 1st half, but he was also let down by a catalogue of errors at the back. A very poor performance, here lies the source of the problem, it needs to be fixed 1st.
Our midfield failed to win the battle, elano dispite what Bailey's written in the MEN, he endeavoured to get the game going, but was in fact the only creative player. Kompany showed how much we need him when he came on, he came on showed gelson how it's done. Ireland added much needed energy but couldn't raise the a downhearted well beaten side. Hamann and Gelson couldn't get to grip of the midfield, gelson's rather erratic style, and hamann's slow legs meant we were outwitted and out ran for most of the game.
Ched Evans can't really read a pass, fairly slow and not really effective. No doubt he'll start Sunday then. The promising Big Felipe Caicedo came on and flashed skills and scored. He is a strong lad and isn't much older than Evans, he should be given a decent chance a city, he's young and talented, he should be given more opportunity's to prove himself. I have mentioned a while back on here, that he deserved a chance, an Ecuadorian adriano. Hopefully Hughes will give him a chance.
I recognise that we didn't have to win tonight, but a bit of effort could of been nice. Robinho is injured again apparently, hope that's a worthy excuse for his performance. Hopefully with our better player back, ie kompany, ireland, swp we can at least muster up some effort for the WBA game.
Good summary on here!
Final Standings:
Man city 7
Twente 6
Paris 5
Santander 5
Schalke 4
A very poor defensive display from the centre backs and goalie, meant Santander could waltz through our defence netting three times. General poor positioning, poor tackling meant we couldn't handle anything they through at us. Kasper was at fault for the 1st half, but he was also let down by a catalogue of errors at the back. A very poor performance, here lies the source of the problem, it needs to be fixed 1st.
Our midfield failed to win the battle, elano dispite what Bailey's written in the MEN, he endeavoured to get the game going, but was in fact the only creative player. Kompany showed how much we need him when he came on, he came on showed gelson how it's done. Ireland added much needed energy but couldn't raise the a downhearted well beaten side. Hamann and Gelson couldn't get to grip of the midfield, gelson's rather erratic style, and hamann's slow legs meant we were outwitted and out ran for most of the game.
Ched Evans can't really read a pass, fairly slow and not really effective. No doubt he'll start Sunday then. The promising Big Felipe Caicedo came on and flashed skills and scored. He is a strong lad and isn't much older than Evans, he should be given a decent chance a city, he's young and talented, he should be given more opportunity's to prove himself. I have mentioned a while back on here, that he deserved a chance, an Ecuadorian adriano. Hopefully Hughes will give him a chance.
I recognise that we didn't have to win tonight, but a bit of effort could of been nice. Robinho is injured again apparently, hope that's a worthy excuse for his performance. Hopefully with our better player back, ie kompany, ireland, swp we can at least muster up some effort for the WBA game.
Good summary on here!
Sunday, 14 December 2008
Manchester City 0:1 Everton. Pride in battle?
A dreadful display of lacklustre football. City failed to keep out a side that in fact had no strikers on the pitch. The prevailing message from yesterday game was the evident lack of desire from the city player compared to Everton squad who simply looked better, tackled better, passed better and deserved the result despite what Mark Hughes might think. That's made the result even more disappointing, at home we performed like we usually do away.
Moyes has spent less than Hughes even without Robinho and Jo added to the list. Everton have more injuries than city. Yet we are 7 points a drift at Christmas. How do we account for this. Our tactic of playing one upfront simply isn't working! Yes we have scored allot of goals at home this season, but our strikers have hardly made an impact. Benjani isn't good enough, his 1st touch is woeful and lets him down.
Jo looks disheartened and simply not up for it. I find it all too easy to criticise Jo, he came with a expensive price tag, he's played for his country. Yet he has only had small chance to impress in our side, ched Evans has featured in more games. I believe the manner and time given to Jo by hughes is inappropriate and harsh, I'm not saying the lad is the answer, but we saw yesterday he actually won a fair amount of ball, but there is know one to feed of it. He isn't good enough to play alone and probably hasn't done it before. This is my view of Jo and i know many will disagree, but he hasn't had a great deal of opportunity, and should be played up front with another striker.
The continued decision to play a side in this formation is simply reinforcing failure. It would be interesting to see how many points dunne has actually cost this season rather than saving. I sit to left side of the goal in the north stand and watched dunne all of the second half, he's clumsy, i don't even trust his defensive skills anymore he couldn't handle a couple of midfielders playing up front.
Another question to ask is whether the team is on Hughes side, i perceived our squad yesterday to be one of our strongest, especially without vassell. Yet we were pretty bad. a half promising start slowly ebbed away has Benjai fell over the ball for the third time. Some have been harsh on Elano, but his effort in the 1st half was good, even when losing the ball, he endeavoured to re-claim it. He may have drifted in the second half but who didn't. Ireland simple looked lightweight, he could hack the combative nature of pienaar who ran the midfield yesterday. Swp gave a gallant effort, some good skill to beat defenders but often met with very little options in the box. I'm concerned because we simply looked like a losing side. Everton were certainly more up-for it and performed well. Considering these players are fighting to keep their place for when January comes, such a gutless performance makes you wonder what is happening behind the scenes.
Player ratings:
Hart: a good game generally, one bad punch, but some good saves. 7
Zabaleta: Reckless, possibly should of been yellow carded, but again a good performance and by far the best defender we have at the moment. 7
Dunne: i don't share Chris bailey view, I'm not sure what agenda he has, but he's wrong. a poor performance, struggled against a team without strikers, poor clearance, gave away three corners, one led to the goal. 5
Richards: not at this best, missed the header for the goal, but tackled fairly well. 6
Ball: Decent defensive showing, not a great crosser, but a decent effort. 6
Kompany: He is our most consistent performer. Over-worked, but a good effort. 7
Ireland: should of scored in the 1st half, light weight, not at his best. 6
Elano: very good 1st half, indifferent 2ND half, not combative enough, but should be played behind the strikers anyway. 6
SWP: Always endeavoured to push forward, good to see some one effective on the right again, had a good shot hit the cross bar. 7
Robinho: i forgot about him, not his best showing, only trained the day before, looked unfit, his ankle was strapped up before the game. wasn't effective, still had a decent shot saved by timmy.6
Benjani: couple of good passes, poor 1st touch, poor second touch. 5
Subs:
Jo: Didn't make an impact, nor did i expect him to, won a fair amount of balls, but know one around him, drifted out wide to receive the ball. 5
Vassell: Well he came on and ran at the keeper, that was about it, that's what he's good at, pointless endeavours. Cheered the fans up. 6
WBA is a must win, will Hughes still be incharge come January?
disagree with anything, feel free to comment!
Moyes has spent less than Hughes even without Robinho and Jo added to the list. Everton have more injuries than city. Yet we are 7 points a drift at Christmas. How do we account for this. Our tactic of playing one upfront simply isn't working! Yes we have scored allot of goals at home this season, but our strikers have hardly made an impact. Benjani isn't good enough, his 1st touch is woeful and lets him down.
Jo looks disheartened and simply not up for it. I find it all too easy to criticise Jo, he came with a expensive price tag, he's played for his country. Yet he has only had small chance to impress in our side, ched Evans has featured in more games. I believe the manner and time given to Jo by hughes is inappropriate and harsh, I'm not saying the lad is the answer, but we saw yesterday he actually won a fair amount of ball, but there is know one to feed of it. He isn't good enough to play alone and probably hasn't done it before. This is my view of Jo and i know many will disagree, but he hasn't had a great deal of opportunity, and should be played up front with another striker.
The continued decision to play a side in this formation is simply reinforcing failure. It would be interesting to see how many points dunne has actually cost this season rather than saving. I sit to left side of the goal in the north stand and watched dunne all of the second half, he's clumsy, i don't even trust his defensive skills anymore he couldn't handle a couple of midfielders playing up front.
Another question to ask is whether the team is on Hughes side, i perceived our squad yesterday to be one of our strongest, especially without vassell. Yet we were pretty bad. a half promising start slowly ebbed away has Benjai fell over the ball for the third time. Some have been harsh on Elano, but his effort in the 1st half was good, even when losing the ball, he endeavoured to re-claim it. He may have drifted in the second half but who didn't. Ireland simple looked lightweight, he could hack the combative nature of pienaar who ran the midfield yesterday. Swp gave a gallant effort, some good skill to beat defenders but often met with very little options in the box. I'm concerned because we simply looked like a losing side. Everton were certainly more up-for it and performed well. Considering these players are fighting to keep their place for when January comes, such a gutless performance makes you wonder what is happening behind the scenes.
Player ratings:
Hart: a good game generally, one bad punch, but some good saves. 7
Zabaleta: Reckless, possibly should of been yellow carded, but again a good performance and by far the best defender we have at the moment. 7
Dunne: i don't share Chris bailey view, I'm not sure what agenda he has, but he's wrong. a poor performance, struggled against a team without strikers, poor clearance, gave away three corners, one led to the goal. 5
Richards: not at this best, missed the header for the goal, but tackled fairly well. 6
Ball: Decent defensive showing, not a great crosser, but a decent effort. 6
Kompany: He is our most consistent performer. Over-worked, but a good effort. 7
Ireland: should of scored in the 1st half, light weight, not at his best. 6
Elano: very good 1st half, indifferent 2ND half, not combative enough, but should be played behind the strikers anyway. 6
SWP: Always endeavoured to push forward, good to see some one effective on the right again, had a good shot hit the cross bar. 7
Robinho: i forgot about him, not his best showing, only trained the day before, looked unfit, his ankle was strapped up before the game. wasn't effective, still had a decent shot saved by timmy.6
Benjani: couple of good passes, poor 1st touch, poor second touch. 5
Subs:
Jo: Didn't make an impact, nor did i expect him to, won a fair amount of balls, but know one around him, drifted out wide to receive the ball. 5
Vassell: Well he came on and ran at the keeper, that was about it, that's what he's good at, pointless endeavours. Cheered the fans up. 6
WBA is a must win, will Hughes still be incharge come January?
disagree with anything, feel free to comment!
Friday, 12 December 2008
Manchester City Vs Everton: preview
Short preview today.
Good to have another 15:00 kick off. Team wise, Robinho may be fit, i am unaware if he trained today, hopefully he did and will features again tomorrow. Danny Sturridge has been ill will a virus, likely not to play, garrido is possibly still out too. Hughes staunch support of vassell, assures his prolonged role in the side.
Everton are a decent side, but are lacking firepower at the moment, our home form should count tomorrow and see us through to a much needed victory. It's teams like everton that we need to be able to beat regularly. A good run into the christmas period will push us back up the table away from the relegation spots.
hopefully a decent crowd tomorrow too.
Good to have another 15:00 kick off. Team wise, Robinho may be fit, i am unaware if he trained today, hopefully he did and will features again tomorrow. Danny Sturridge has been ill will a virus, likely not to play, garrido is possibly still out too. Hughes staunch support of vassell, assures his prolonged role in the side.
Everton are a decent side, but are lacking firepower at the moment, our home form should count tomorrow and see us through to a much needed victory. It's teams like everton that we need to be able to beat regularly. A good run into the christmas period will push us back up the table away from the relegation spots.
hopefully a decent crowd tomorrow too.
Thursday, 11 December 2008
Injury News Update from the Boss.
Some mixed news coming out of city today!
This is great news, Bojinov (or Bozhinov as is should be written) is a cracking player, i was really excited when he signed, sadly he hasn't had a chance to impress with two horrible injuries.
Robinho it appears still isn't fit, Hughes is hoping he will train tomorrow, doesn't seem very promising.
Not great news, sturridge has been pretty good this season and a good replacement for Robinho, without both we lack any one with real ability on the left. Garrido has bee in good form and shown great improvement this season, his replacement ball isn't up to standard.
The City boss said on Sky Sports News: "Boj is doing really well. We are really happy. We are hopeful we will get him back for mid-January, if everything goes to plan.
"He has been out training on the pitches looking like a footballer again.
This is great news, Bojinov (or Bozhinov as is should be written) is a cracking player, i was really excited when he signed, sadly he hasn't had a chance to impress with two horrible injuries.
Robinho it appears still isn't fit, Hughes is hoping he will train tomorrow, doesn't seem very promising.
"Gelson Fernandes is training today, Nedum Onuoha is training, Javier Garrido is having treatment and Daniel Sturridge is ill."
Not great news, sturridge has been pretty good this season and a good replacement for Robinho, without both we lack any one with real ability on the left. Garrido has bee in good form and shown great improvement this season, his replacement ball isn't up to standard.
Wednesday, 10 December 2008
Manchester City news round-up.
Bitter and Blue has an interesting article on city seeking out a new sponsor, mainly Etihad the Abu Dhabi based airline. A move that would see city rival the likes of Arsenal with Emirates and United with the economically unstable AIG. This will be another large step for the club to compete on the world stage.
Two interesting articles in the M.E.N, firstly Mark Bowen has come out to slam reports that Hughes was ready to walk, due to interference from the ADUG board. The sun is mainly responsible, most discerning fan will ignore anything written in that paper.
The next article really irritated me. Mark Hughes believes Vassell is the right man for the job.
In my opinion, it appears hughes is having a little dig at the fans, who have shown their annoyance in Hughes persistence to pick vassell. He offer very little to the team apart from work rate. He may well track back, but he's not even good at that, his tackling is poor and often leads to giving away a foul. I believe he's a player who's simply redundant in skill and ability, he simply isn't premier league standard, I'm sure there will be a few who disagree, but I'm sure i wont be convinced otherwise.
Here is a link from the poster below from his correspondent at ESPN about Vassell and his impact on the team and results.
The Final article i found interesting was from yesterday, Vital football believe they have a scoop, they have stated city may have started preliminary talks with Eto'o's representatives to bring him to City. Obviously it's another rumour, but i do enjoy reading some of the big names linked with a move to city, hopefully we will buy some top quality in January.
Two interesting articles in the M.E.N, firstly Mark Bowen has come out to slam reports that Hughes was ready to walk, due to interference from the ADUG board. The sun is mainly responsible, most discerning fan will ignore anything written in that paper.
The next article really irritated me. Mark Hughes believes Vassell is the right man for the job.
He is doing a job for the team and maybe some people, though not the players or myself, are not appreciating what he is doing for the team as a whole."
In my opinion, it appears hughes is having a little dig at the fans, who have shown their annoyance in Hughes persistence to pick vassell. He offer very little to the team apart from work rate. He may well track back, but he's not even good at that, his tackling is poor and often leads to giving away a foul. I believe he's a player who's simply redundant in skill and ability, he simply isn't premier league standard, I'm sure there will be a few who disagree, but I'm sure i wont be convinced otherwise.
Here is a link from the poster below from his correspondent at ESPN about Vassell and his impact on the team and results.
The Final article i found interesting was from yesterday, Vital football believe they have a scoop, they have stated city may have started preliminary talks with Eto'o's representatives to bring him to City. Obviously it's another rumour, but i do enjoy reading some of the big names linked with a move to city, hopefully we will buy some top quality in January.
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