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Mark Hughes has Manchester City on right track but Liverpool will win fight for fourth
Mark Hughes will know well enough that six successive Premier League draws is not title-winning form or even Champions League qualification form.

With the money that Manchester City have spent, there is now pressure with every game and there is a greater expectancy from both the supporters and the owners, but that is what comes with being at the top.

There is no doubt that City are on the right lines. The days of them finishing 10th are long gone and, whether it is this season or in the future, they will become a top-four club sooner rather than later. But the timescale is everything for Hughes and the question for Mark is how long has he got to take City into the top four? Sport on television Mark is a calm guy, however, and he certainly won’t be panicking. I can point out that they haven’t won any of their last six league games, but he can spin it the other way and tell his players that nobody has beaten them in that run and that they have lost just once all season to an injury-time goal at Manchester United. If City beat Hull at Eastlands next Saturday, then all the concerns will go away. They will then go into the game at home to Chelsea the following weekend with Eastlands absolutely buzzing and a real big-four feel about the occasion.

But City are being punished for every mistake they make at the moment and it happened again at Liverpool. For the third time in four games, they gave away a lead through bad defending. Their defensive problems have already been identified this season, but when you look at their personnel, City have a great goalkeeper and some very good defenders. Even if you had the best 11 players in the world it would take time for the players to gel and settle as a team and that is what is happening at City.

The midfield and front-line have settled well, but it’s a different scenario at the back. When I played at Liverpool, both the first team and reserves played exactly the same way, but it still took time to adjust when a new face came into the team. Kolo Touré and Joleon Lescott are still trying to build a partnership at centre-half. At the start of the season, Touré looked like the player he was three years ago at Arsenal, but now he isn’t playing so well. City have been shipping too many goals, but even the best players take time to get used to each other and there is no magic formula. Touré had a fantastic partnership with William Gallas at Arsenal, but Gallas is a different player to Lescott. Even if City had retained Richard Dunne to smooth the transition, there is no guarantee that he would have gelled any better with Touré or Lescott. City will get it right at some point, though, and the Hull game gives them the opportunity to get back to winning ways. They are one of four clubs, along with Liverpool, Aston Villa and Spurs, who I believe are fighting over the fourth spot. Sunderland have been magnificent under Steve Bruce, but they won’t challenge for fourth.

Despite Tottenham Hotspur’s incredible victory against Wigan and the fact Liverpool have won just one of their last 10 games in all competitions, I still fancy Benítez’s side to finish fourth. Their sole objective now is to ensure that they are playing Champions League football next season and, although they still have a slim chance of qualifying from the group stages, I don’t see that miracle happening. Liverpool just have to focus on getting it right in the league. It’s only November, but the league appears their only realistic route back into the Champions League. They have some difficult fixtures on the horizon, with away games against Everton and Blackburn next up, followed by a home game against Arsenal.

More season-defining games. Liverpool have been having them since October, but the one thing they have in their favour is that they have two big, big players in Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres. If they can keep them fit and playing, Liverpool have the edge over the rest in the race for fourth place.

AC Milan coach Leonardo rubbishes reports linking Gattuso with Manchester City
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... l?ITO=1490

Will Mourinho finish what Hughes has started at Manchester City?
José Mourinho caused a storm, as only he can, in this newspaper last week by fluttering his eyelids in the direction of the Barclays Premier League before trying to reassure his domestic audience of his desire to stay in Italy. But despite the subsequent outcry, more squalls should be expected over the coming months if Inter Milan’s Champions League campaign goes awry. Inter lead the ultra-competitive group F by one point, but defeat by Barcelona, the holders, at the Nou Camp tomorrow night could leave them struggling to qualify for the knockout stage.

Mourinho has won Serie A by a street in both his seasons in Italy, but the Champions League is the club’s primary target, so an early elimination could cause him to look over his shoulder. The coach made a habit of flirting with other clubs even during his successful period at Chelsea, so several Premier League executives should prepare themselves for intriguing conversations with third parties. Liverpool cannot afford him, Manchester United do not want him, but the Portuguese is the ideal candidate to carry on Mark Hughes’s work at Manchester City. As an up-and-coming club with deep pockets who are desperate to embarrass the establishment, Mourinho, the self-styled outsider, could not find a more perfect challenge.

TRANSFER BOLLOX
Chelsea are hoping to win the race with Real Madrid for Bayern Munich's £45m-rated French midfielder Franck Ribery in January.
The Sun

The Blues' pursuit of Ribery has been given a boost by Bayern general manager Uli Hoeness conceding the player will leave the German club if he does not believe they are ambitious enough.Daily Mail

Bayern have revealed that they turned down a £70m bid from Chelsea for Ribery in the summer. (Daily Star)

WAG OF THE DAY - Gemma Hiles

http://www.thespoiler.co.uk/index.php/2 ... emma-hiles

OTHER BOLLOX
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is facing a fight to keep his Dutch coach Rene Meulensteen, with wealthy Qatar desperate to appoint him as their national boss.Daily Mirror

Liverpool face an injury crisis ahead of their must-win Champions League match with Hungarian side Debrecen on Tuesday, with major doubts over the fitness of Glen Johnson, Daniel Agger, Ryan Babel, Jamie Carragher, Steven Gerrard and Javier Mascherano. The Reds are already without striker Fernando Torres. Daily Mirror

Cash-strapped Charlton may be forced to sell a number of players, including star midfielder Jonjo Shelvey, this January as their financial woes increase. The club may also face administration next summer if a new investor is not found. Daily Mirror

Ipswich boss Roy Keane is on the brink of being sacked by the Norfolk club following a series of meetings on Sunday regarding his future. Town currently sit second bottom of the Championship. (Daily Star)

Manchester United defender Gary Neville says that a lack of strength in depth could ultimately prove England's undoing at the World Cup in South Africa next year. Daily Mirror

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has admitted that his side "lacked desire and sharpness" as they fell to a 1-0 defeat at Sunderland on Saturday.Daily Mirror

[youtube]j5Yd66hb_R4[/youtube]

AND FINALLY
Manchester United defender Gary Neville has joined his manager Alex Ferguson in blasting players who rely entirely on their agents and said: "A player doesn't need to pay between five and 15% of his wages to a guy to set up a bank account or buy him a new fridge." (Various)

Damien Duff's Fulham team-mates have been helping him get over his World Cup heartache following the Republic of Ireland's defeat by France in the play-offs by taking the mickey out of the winger. "He likes to take the mickey, so he is getting a bit back," said Cottagers midfielder Jonathan Greening. "But he is a great character and he will bounce back." (Various)

Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe has revealed that a change of boots before the game with Wigan on Sunday helped him to score five in Spurs' 9-1 win.Daily Mirror

http://www.wiganlatics.co.uk/page/NewsD ... 29,00.html

mourning?

shit wag today

Fidel Castro wrote:shit wag today

Looks filthy though.

Some sensible comments from Hansen about City there

Irby,
Yesterday you posted some excellent comments regarding the media's attitude and the motives behind them. Reading the above leads me to think that Hanson piece was an excellent example of what you said.
To get a draw at Anfield would usually be seen as an acceptable result for us but the fact that it was City who were disappointed, tells its own tale.
For L'Pool to drop a point on their own turf should be devastating evidence of their present incompetence and yet Hanson can find evidence in their abysmal display to argue that the scousers can get to 4th.
Hanson's piece was nothing more than a political rambling on behalf of the scousers.

Given that the media usually attack those who offer most danger to the establishment, it doesn't suprise me that Mourinho had neen dragged out (AGAIN) to attempt to keep the pressure up on City and unsettle what currently is quite stable at CoMS.

EXTRA BOLLOX
Manchester City Line Up £16m Double Midfielder Raid: Sissoko and Gattuso Wanted
Talk of record signings leads inevitably to Manchester City. Mark Hughes’s latest scheme entails gazumping Tottenham and Bayern Munich in order to secure the services of Toulouse’s goal-scoring midfield achor, Moussa Sissoko. And then he’ll hire a private tutor for the gifted youngster, specifically Gennaro Gattuso. (Guardian)

Mark Hughes is looking to beef up his squad after a solid, if unspectacular, start to the season and both the players mentioned by this source are top quality and well worth considering a move for but what about the mountains of midfield talent already at the club?

Sissoko and Gattuso offer different attributes that would be welcome at any top six chasing Premier League side with the Toulouse man being a very promising prospect as an attacking midfielder with an eye for goal and Italian veteran Gattuso being the perfect defensive midfield option but take a look at who Mark Hughes already has to call upon in those positions. In Nigel De Jong City have an excellent player who is phenomenal at breaking down opposition advances and can use the ball effectively when he is in possession, the Eastlands outfit also has Vincent Kompany who can play the same role as well as at the centre of defence.

In terms of flair playing midfielders Hughes also has a fair few options with Stephen Ireland on his day one of the best in business so one wonders where any additions in these positions would fit. Perhaps the club would be better off investing in another centre back instead?
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PLEASE BEAR IN MIND THE FOLLOWING HAS BEEN DISTUTED BY NOTW
Jim Cassell fears he is being forced out of Manchester City. The News of the World says the simmering tensions between Mark Hughes and legendary academy director Cassell erupted after his office was cleared without his knowledge.

Cassell, who has recently been promoted to work in Abu Dhabi, discovered files and paperwork from over 10 years' service had been dumped in a corridor at Manchester City's Platt Lane academy. City's former academy chief fears he is being forced out of the club after falling out with City's hardline manager last season.

Cassell returned from Abu Dhabi last week, where he splits his time heading up City's worldwide coaching programme, to find new academy director Andy Welsh in residence at his office. Welsh knew Hughes when he was a player at Manchester United and is part of a coaching set-up that has been labelled "The Taffia" by some disaffected members of staff.
(Please remember to think about using the 'Hughes' thread if you need to vent too much spleen on this one)

Manchester City captain Kolo Toure had always intended to stay at Arsenal for the duration of his career prior to moving to their Premier League rivals in the summer; however he suggests he fell out with one of his Emirates teammates to such an extent that Arsene Wenger thought it best to sell him. Toure claims the player in question, believed to be William Gallas, convinced Wenger that the pair could not play together and subsequently sold him when he received City’s offer.

The 28-year-old told Eurogoals: “I had problems with certain players at Arsenal, especially one, whose name I will not say because I don't want to feed the controversy.”

“I didn't have much time on the pitch last year because I think there's a player who got the manager believing that he and I had no understanding on the field. That did surprise me hugely. I have never looked to put a spoke in anyone's wheel at all. My wish was to finish my career at Arsenal, but there are always banana skins.”

Another Mirror article
With quality coaches like Guus Hiddink lurking, Mark Hughes must deliver fast for Manchester City

For most Premier League teams, a point away to Liverpool would constitute a job well done. For Manchester City, mired in their current plight, it extended their depressing run to six successive Premier League draws. In defending his team, Mark Hughes points to the fact City have lost just once in the Premier League all season, at Manchester United, a game from which they deserved a point. Yet again, though, just as they did against Burnley and Fulham recently, City's defence crumbled at Anfield when they were winning and within sight of the finishing line. Hughes has the backing of City's owner Sheikh Mansour and his team of advisors, but for how long? City's Arab owners have not handed Hughes £250million to spend for the club to be a point ahead of Sunderland and two ahead of Stoke, who have spent a fraction by comparison. Hughes will be given time, just as he should, but the more his expensively-assembled team fail to deliver on their rich promise, the more scrutiny the City boss will come under. And with proven bosses like ex-Chelsea coach Guus Hiddink - who is considering his future after Russia's failure to reach the World Cup - likely to be available, Hughes must deliver fast.
(Again, please remember to think about using the 'Hughes' thread if you need to vent too much spleen on this one)

I think we need a PRESS THREAD to vent our spleens in that direction?

They do seem to think that our riches will eventually lead us to the top. It does not suprise me that they are heaping shite on us in order to cause instability and possibly delay our success.

What next..."City tea lady drops teeth in kettle and upsets 1st team squad"

Breaking Bollox
City tea lady drops teeth in kettle and upsets 1st team squad.
Manchester City Tealady, Edna Sleath (76) the has incurred the wrath of Manager Mark Hughes several times this season and could be on her way out if another incident occurs. Edna has now lost parts of her false teeth on two occaisions this season when they fell into the tea pot she prepared for the half time break. On both occasions, in the last two home games, a winning position was surrended and several first team players complained openly to the media about the effect the tea had given then in the second half of the matches. It is even thought the brew may have also affected the tactics of Mr Hughes and his comprehensive management team.

"Mister Hughes was very angry with me" said Edna, a recent junior recruit in the new tearooms since the Abu Dabby takeover. "I think he is trying to find an answer for all these recent draws and with two of the six matches now having something in common, My position is looking shakey to say the least"

City could be on the way to understanding whats gone so wrong matches if these two can be proven, alas there is a shortage of video evidence that the wealthy Arabs would need if the case is not to go to tribunal stage.

A city spokeperson understands the situation might continue for a record busting 7 matches.

The Media v City Bollox
viewtopic.php?f=119&t=28241

haha pmsl.....cracking that Chinners!

Chinners.....you're a twunt!!!!!....but a very funny one...PMSL!!!!!

Hold on John . . . I just realised, this is the press thread . . . ha ha ha

I always enjoy the news daily, thank you fine sir.

Fidel Castro wrote:shit wag today

bollox

Chinners wrote:Breaking Bollox
City tea lady drops teeth in kettle and upsets 1st team squad.
Manchester City Tealady, Edna Sleath (76) the has incurred the wrath of Manager Mark Hughes several times this season and could be on her way out if another incident occurs. Edna has now lost parts of her false teeth on two occaisions this season when they fell into the tea pot she prepared for the half time break. On both occasions, in the last two home games, a winning position was surrended and several first team players complained openly to the media about the effect the tea had given then in the second half of the matches. It is even thought the brew may have also affected the tactics of Mr Hughes and his comprehensive management team.

"Mister Hughes was very angry with me" said Edna, a recent junior recruit in the new tearooms since the Abu Dabby takeover. "I think he is trying to find an answer for all these recent draws and with two of the six matches now having something in common, My position is looking shakey to say the least"

City could be on the way to understanding whats gone so wrong matches if these two can be proven, alas there is a shortage of video evidence that the wealthy Arabs would need if the case is not to go to tribunal stage.

A city spokeperson understands the situation might continue for a record busting 7 matches.

The Media v City Bollox
viewtopic.php?f=119&t=28241

STOP PRESS- M&A latest _ ADUG acquires U.S. healthcare giant "Fixodent" for $2billion!

ant london wrote:haha pmsl.....cracking that Chinners!

me too. Brilliant !!!!

Things are really looking up round here.

But surely you missed out on the opportunity to include any tactical analysis of pot noodle making as well just the tea.

This one dimensional approach clearly isn't good enough.

CHINNERS OUT!!!!!!!!