The mancityfans.net football forum

TRANSFER BOLLOX
Manchester United and Real Madrid are both keen on Fiorentina striker Stevan Jovetic, who scored twice against Liverpool in the Champions League this week, but the Italian side are set to offer the Montenegro star a new five-year contract. (The Sun)

Bolton boss Gary Megson insists defender Gary Cahill will not leave the Reebok Stadium in the January transfer window despite interest from Manchester United and Tottenham.The Sun

Birmingham City winger Gary McSheffrey is poised to join Sheffield United on a three-month loan deal. (Daily Mail)

Reading boss Brendan Rogers plans to send Dave Mooney, Julian Kelly, Scott Davies, Michail Antonio and Jay Tabb out on loan.Daily Mirror

Former Everton and Manchester City left-back Michael Ball has turned down a three-year deal at Notts County and could join Portsmouth or Turkish giants Galatasaray. The Sun

Oldham Athletic hope to sign out-of-favour Hull City midfielder Bryan Hughes on loan.Daily Mirror

OTHER BOLLOX
Notts County's players called in the Professional Footballers' Association after the League Two club failed to pay them their win bonuses.Daily Mirror

Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie has secured a £5m cash injection from Saudi property magnate Ali Al-Faraj that will allow the Fratton Park side to pay their players. Storrie and Al-Faraj were part of a rival consortium that lost out to Sulaiman Al Fahim for control of the club.Daily Mail

The Premier League is ready to take over at Portsmouth to stop the club from slipping into administration.The Independent

Football Association chief executive Ian Watmore has called for a crackdown on "hostile and abusive" chanting as part of a campaign against disorder in football grounds. The Times

Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov admits he has been a failure at Old Trafford since his £30.75m move from Tottenham in August 2008 and says his poor form caused him sleepless nights.The Sun

Liverpool forward Ryan Babel says being dropped by the Netherlands ahead of next summer's World Cup finals has scared him into trying to salvage his Anfield career. The 22-year-old has struggled since joining the Reds for £11.5m from Ajax in 2007.Daily Mail

Former Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari is facing the sack at Uzbekistan side Bunyodkor after they were knocked out of the Asian Champions League. The Brazilian, who is the highest paid manager in the world on £12.5m a year, will get a huge compensation package if he is forced out. The Independent

Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner claims only divine intervention saved his life when he crashed his car on his way to training on Sunday. The Danish star says it is a "miracle" that he is still alive, but hopes to face Blackburn this weekend.Daily Mirror

Under-fire Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate says he will not quit the Riverside despite being criticised by fans.Daily Mail

Liverpool striker Fernando Torres says he would never join Manchester United because of his respect for the Anfield club's fans.The Sun
Hotels in South Africa are raising their prices by up to 440% for next summer's World Cup finals.Daily Mirror

WAG OF THE DAY
http://www.thespoiler.co.uk/index.php/2 ... na-kurkova

AND FINALLY
Gillingham boss Mark Stimson says referees would get less stick if they went back to wearing black rather than multi-colour outfits. Stimson said: "They get enough abuse as it is. As soon as they walk out with pink shirts on, people laugh at them." (The Sun)

Preston legend Sir Tom Finney has told National Football Museum bosses that he wants all his memorabilia back if they leave Deepdale to move to Manchester. (The Sun)

City bollox shortly ...

Manchester City Bollox

We kick off today with an announcement from The Sun. Oh you know they've switched sides already? er . . . um . . . well look closer and tucked away on its pages you will also find this

MANCHESTER CITY FC AND SHEIKH MANSOUR

A report on 16 July stated that Sheikh Mansour, owner of Manchester City FC, had given a number of players watches worth £168,000 when he met them at a reception in Abu Dhabi.

We now understand that the report was incorrect. No such gifts were made and Sheikh Mansour was not present. We are happy to set the record straight and apologise for any embarrassment caused.

The strangest thing being that this statement was also issued over two months ago but damages have only just been agreed and the club will be giving them to loacal charities. Meanwhile the Adolf Hitler parodies continue apace with the next instalment concerning Micheal Owen's 3 days into injury time winner in the derby ...you'd never guess it was 'thought up' by a bitter ... ragarse

[youtube]YquUgDihMT0[/youtube]

The Adebayor story continues to dominate most papers but only the Belfast Telegraphy decent enough to comment on the panel's judgement of the away fans

The Football Association have accused Arsenal fans of provoking Emmanuel Adebayor after giving the Manchester City striker a two-match suspended ban and £25,0000 fine for his controversial goal celebration.

Adebayor is now available for City's Premier League trip to Aston Villa on Monday as the ban will only be triggered for a similar breach of FA rules before December 2010.

The 25-year-old has already served a three-match suspension for violent conduct in a separate incident during the victory at Eastlands against his former club last month, although there was the possibility of further action after he sprinted the length of the pitch to celebrate in front of visiting fans following his headed goal.

It is understood the Togo striker was at Wembley to admit a charge of improper conduct to an FA regulatory commission hearing. His admission was taken into account as was, crucially, the conduct of Arsenal fans.

“In reaching its decision the Commission took into account his admission of the charge, public apology and the extremely provocative nature of the abuse he received,” read an FA statement.

“However, the commission also stated that players have a responsibility to conduct themselves in a proper manner and that such celebrations are unacceptable and have the potential to cause a serious public order incident.”

Arsenal fans have been criticised for personal abuse of Adebayor after he left them in the summer. He felt he was a scapegoat for supporters during his final days at the Emirates Stadium.

City boss Mark Hughes was relieved after his striker escaped a further ban.

City were expected to use the evidence of Gary Neville's goal celebration against them the following week — which did not even bring a charge against the Manchester United defender — as part of their defence.

Hughes said: “There has been a lot said and written about Emmanuel's goal celebration. We are just glad to put it all behind us now and I am relieved he will be able to play at Aston Villa on Monday night.

“Manu was in great form before his suspension and having him available again is a huge boost to us.”

Todays wag is Karolín Kurková, more details in the maine bollox



Meanwhile four of City's players have got involved in more local charity stuff

Four Manchester City stars took time out from training at a recent open day for fans at the City of Manchester Stadium to lend their support to City in the Community’s Getting Manchester Moving project.

The project is designed to encourage and support Manchester people to get more physically active, eat more healthily and, in some cases, lose weight. The campaign is supported by the local NHS Community Trust, Manchester City Council and Manchester City Football Club.



Emmanuel Adebayor, Micah Richards, Nigel De Jong and Shaun Wright Phillips all posed in t-shirts to promote the project’s website http://www.gettingmanchestermoving.org.

The website is a one-stop-shop for the public to access when looking for ways to get more active and eat healthier.

Shaun said: “Getting Manchester Moving is a great initiative and the website is the perfect place for people to find out where they can get fit and take part in fun activities.”

For more information about Getting Manchester Moving please contact Steven Turner at City in the Community on 0161 438 7711 or e-mail steven.turner@mcfc.co.uk.
Or visit http://www.gettingmanchestermoving.org.

and Santa thinks about all the pre Christmas presents he's going to hand out

ROQUE Santa Cruz is back - and raring to form a powerhouse partnership with Emmanuel Adebayor.

During his long rehabilitation from knee surgery, Santa Cruz has been pigeonholed by some observers as "back-up" for the big Togolese ace, especially after Adebayor began the season with four goals on his first four league games.

And there is little doubt that manager Mark Hughes has been extra-careful with the Paraguayan's comeback, as he will be crucial once Adebayor packs his bags for the African Cup of Nations in January.

Santa Cruz made his long-awaited debut for the final ten minutes of Monday night's win over West Ham, a game which Adebayor missed as he completed his three-match ban.

But 6ft 2ins Santa Cruz feels that the day will come when he and the 6ft 3ins Adebayor team up in a formidable duo.

Hughes is keen on his "horses for courses" and Santa Cruz feels that they may pair up in games against teams which have height and are very physical, or those which are susceptible to such things.

"We are big guys but we both also like to play with the ball," he said. "The kind of football we practice won't change at all - we play together in training and at some point we should be up front together.

"You get teams who are very physical, and then you will need two big guys up front but to still play good football. That will come and we will take it when it happens."

Santa Cruz is expected to be on the bench again on Monday night, when a win at Aston Villa would give City their best start to a season since 1897, when Queen Victoria was on the throne. To Santa Cruz, suffering those long, hard days of rehabilitation, have made it feel like it might have been 1897 when he last played!

"It has been very hard," said the 28-year-old former Blackburn man. "I have worked really hard, and every day has been a case of working seven or eight hours with the physios.

"But they have been fantastic, and always try to keep you in a good mood. They were at the match on Monday and I could see their faces, and that they were very happy to see me back.

Roque determination

"It was April that I had the operation, so it has been a long time. I stopped counting the days to my first game, but finally it happened.

"You know you have to work hard, and once you get going, you just get used to it and try to perform.

"There have been days where I have been very positive but then you come back the next day and it doesn't seem as good as you thought.

"It's always frustrating when you are injured but at the same time it's very nice to see the team playing and performing as we have been doing.

"I am happy to be part of a team which has such a great dressing room. Everyone is positive, and no matter how many big names we have bought, they have all been great personalities in the dressing room and helpful to each other.

"Now I just want my first start and my first goal."

That may require another dollop of patience for Santa Cruz, with Adebayor having such a great start to the season, and both Carlos Tevez and Craig Bellamy hitting form.

But Santa Cruz says the squad rotation is an accepted fact of life at City these days - and if it leads to a top-four finish at the end of the season, there will be no dissenters.

Far from being daunted by the prospect of trying to break into a team in such good form, Santa Cruz says he is delighted at how things are shaping up.

"When you have such great players, such fantastic personalities, it makes communication during games easier. And it means being in training every day is helpful," he explained.

"On Monday, I came into the side when we needed to hold the ball up front. Having a big guy gives you the chance to do that and give a little breather to the rest of the players.

"With me, Adebayor, Tevez and Bellamy, we all have different kinds of qualities which you can bring to the game when you think it's best.

"Our squad is so big that we have players for every kind of position in which the gaffer wants someone. It's a happy situation for him."

There has also been talk that Robinho was rested at Portsmouth on his own say-so, with Brazil facing a big World Cup qualifier against Argentina the following week.

Hughes treats such talk with disdain, and Santa Cruz says there is no question who is the boss.

"You can go and knock on the manager's door, but I don't think he will listen to you! He has his ideas and is good at taking decisions," said the man Hughes brought to England.

"He also knows everyone is just waiting for their chances, and that whoever comes in will do their best to perform as well as everyone else has done in the past few weeks."

Decent enough wag,but not a patch on the madam yesterday.

<ahem> this is a football forum thread . . . not a porn site . . .

Chinners wrote:<ahem> this is a football forum thread . . . not a porn site . . .

Agreed I think the daily wag should be removed for a while till people calm down :p. Anyways back to football Santa Cruz won't shut up will he?? I like his enthusiasm but he's done nothing yet to back up his words so he should shut up until he has.

Lovely WAG though I hope you've asked permission from "dad" otherwise it's all gonna go pear shaped again

Vhero wrote:

Chinners wrote:<ahem> this is a football forum thread . . . not a porn site . . .

Agreed I think the daily wag should be removed for a while till people calm down :p. Anyways back to football Santa Cruz won't shut up will he?? I like his enthusiasm but he's done nothing yet to back up his words so he should shut up until he has.

why on earth would you react that way to a few great quotes in an interview from RSC? He's clearly excited, up for it and gives us a little insight into some things. I love reading little comments and quips like that.

cheers

craigmcfc wrote:Lovely WAG though I hope you've asked permission from "dad" otherwise it's all gonna go pear shaped again

I don't think it was the publication of the picture he took issue with, but the lack of any discussion about the football matters covered by the opening post, and the rather too healthy obsession with a certain pair of nipples. Which were lovely. Is there any chance we can have them as the website emblem instead of that thing with the eagle in it?

Scatman wrote:

craigmcfc wrote:Lovely WAG though I hope you've asked permission from "dad" otherwise it's all gonna go pear shaped again

I don't think it was the publication of the picture he took issue with, but the lack of any discussion about the football matters covered by the opening post, and the rather too healthy obsession with a certain pair of nipples. Which were lovely. Is there any chance we can have them as the website emblem instead of that thing with the eagle in it?

Ha ha, like it. The motto could be Superbiá nipple erectús

The fear is catching on like a dose of Swine flu ...

Arsenal's next game is Spurs but their main opponent, I think, is Manchester City.

What about Blackburn on Sunday?

Well, Arsenal have enough skill and energy to beat Blackburn, Birmingham and West Ham.
But they need to defend well and avoid complacency

The main thing about Matchday 2 wasn't that Arsenal took 78 minutes to score.

It was that the team was up for it. Arsenal were really, really up for it. Their performance-level was 30% above their Premier League level. They were very keen, energetic, determined, concentrated well, and did a lot of good things in the 78 minutes before RVP scored.

That difference between their league form and their Champions League form is a worry because Manchester City are not in Europe and don't have that distraction.

City have a big squad of experienced players who want to play in the Champions League. If they don't achieve that, half of them could be replaced.

Man City are fifth on 15 points, Arsenal sixth on 12.

On what we've seen so far, City could finish fourth, or even third.

However, their defence is shaky and shabby. Richards is playing like a zombie, Toure is way past his best, Lescott runs stiff-legged and doesn't win the headers he used to win at Everton, and Shay Given, an ace goalkeeper, doesn't come for crosses.

But they have explosive pace and many goalscorers. With their firepower, they might win more games than Arsenal, especially if Arsenal are more interested in the Champions League, a competition which suits them.

So the $64,000 dollar question is : is Mark Hughes the kind of manager who can get consistent performances out of this newly-assembled squad?

Therefore I'm now asking myself : What do I really know about Mark Hughes?
Answer : not a lot.

He was hard case as a player, a quiet striker who combined great balance, huge strength, and loads of aggression. Mark Hughes was Alan Shearer with far more skill.

But he was so silent that he was very hard to read. As Sir Alex said last week : Mark never gave me any hint that he wanted to be a manager.

I met hundreds of managers when I was a football reporter for 25 years, but never met Mark Hughes. He appears to be temperamentally suited to a very stressful job. He seems dogmatic, implacable, tough-minded, very clear about what he wants to do. He gives the impression he can pull this squad together and control them and motivate them. And it helps that he is much smarter than his team.

His players include Craig Bellamy, Stephen Ireland, Shawn Wright-Phillips, Joleon Lescott, Adebayor, Carlos Tevez, Micah Richards and Robinho, so City might be the team with the lowest IQ in Europe.

Still, you don't need brains to play football. They have plenty of goalscorers and might win more games than Arsenal.

Aston Villa take on Man City on Monday night in the ESPN game.

If Arsenal have beaten Blackburn, as I expect, City will need a win to stay fifth and maintain momentum.

Arsenal v Man City is on Saturday, April 24 and that might be a massive game with £40 million riding on the result.

With Crouch, Defoe and Robbie Keane, Spurs also have firepower, plus a very effective powerhouse in Palacios. But, on what I've seen so far, I don't see them finishing in the top four this season, mainly because King, Dawson and Woodgate will not be available often enough.

Arsenal v Spurs is on Saturday October 31 at 12.45 p.m.

Yesterday I bumped into a Gooner pal at the gym. A season-ticket holder who missed the Olympiakos game, he said, "I couldn't be bothered, just watched it on telly. My mate, the guy I usually go with, was doing something at home with his girlfriend, he didn't go either."

He said one of his friends runs a company and had six season-tickets last season, five for clients. But he couldn't give the tickets away, so this season he's only got three.

He told me his Mum is an Arsenal supporter and her birthday's coming up, so, after talking to his brother, he called Arsenal to see if a box was available. And he got one. So they've got their Mum a box for Arsenal v Spurs.

Nots County players have not been paid their win bonusses??? cant get my head round that one, they get a wage and then get paid more if they win!! hows about winning as part and parcel of getting a wage????????????

dick dastardley wrote:Nots County players have not been paid their win bonusses??? cant get my head round that one, they get a wage and then get paid more if they win!! hows about winning as part and parcel of getting a wage????????????

every team does it

His players include Craig Bellamy, Stephen Ireland, Shawn Wright-Phillips, Joleon Lescott, Adebayor, Carlos Tevez, Micah Richards and Robinho, so City might be the team with the lowest IQ in Europe.

ooo, that's a harsh one even if it did bring a slight smile to my face. I bet all of the above could spell Shaun right though unlike this journalist.

Nice Kinkladze rememberd article on the following link

http://www.adifferentleague.co.uk/defau ... rticle=482

[youtube]YsvhBnKBohk[/youtube]

Lovely wag. BTW by the time I read yesterdays bollox the wag link had been removed. Anybody got a link?

I believe the links were put back in later in the thread . . . but to save you time hunting (and you'll poke you eyes out hunting for this!)

http://www.thespoiler.co.uk/index.php/2 ... aria-mazza

Cheers Chinners. You're a star. Ive opened the link in a new tab so I'll be away for a while.