Sunday's B*ll*x

[Chinners]

ROBERTO MANCINI will get another £80million to spend in January and will only be sacked if Manchester City fail to make the Champions League.
The Italian’s job is safe for this season. Astonishingly, his position was not even on the agenda at a club summit in Abu Dhabi a week ago.
The meeting with City’s Middle East paymasters came as fans turned on the manager for his negativity after successive 0-0 home draws. City sources moved quickly last night to insist Mancini’s performance was not up for discussion.
And they took the unusual step of revealing that substantial transfer funds – up to £80million – will be available again to chase primary targets Edin Dzeko, the Wolfsburg striker, and Benfica’s versatile Brazilian defender David Luiz.
That vote of confidence might be welcomed by Mancini, but for the man he replaced at Eastlands, Fulham boss Mark Hughes – who faces his old club at Craven Cottage today – it has a familiar ring.
Hughes was given similar backing before the club ruthlessly ditched him last December.
City, currently fifth, were then sixth in the league and in a Carling Cup semi-final against rivals Manchester United. Hughes spent £251m compared with £133m so far by his successor.
Before he buys again, though, Mancini is under orders to sell at least three stars from a list that includes Emmanuel Adebayor, Joleon Lescott, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Wayne Bridge, Shay Given, Roque Santa Cruz and Jo.
All eyes will be on the Italian at Fulham as he looks for a win over Hughes, who remains bitter at the way City lined up his replacement while he was still at Eastlands. Mancini needs a win after being booed by his own fans at last weekend’s grim home draw with Birmingham.
But after the Abu Dhabi meeting – attended by chief executive Garry Cook, director of football Brian Marwood, finance director Graham Wallace and club chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak – some of the pressure is off.
Mancini said: “When you have worked at Inter Milan you can work anywhere. I stayed there for four years and no manager has done that in the last 25 years.”
And he refuses to give up on the league title, adding: “I will try to win the Europa League, the FA Cup and Premier League.
“We have a chance to win the league still – why not? The season is very long and if we can recover our best players in a short time we have a chance.”

The mail continue with their story from yesterday obviously no new rumours or bust-ups to report.
Boss Roberto Mancini has had a blazing training ground row with four of his unhappy Manchester City players, who claim he is giving Italian striker Mario Balotelli special treatment. Mail on Sunday http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... ation.html

Manchester City defender Kolo Toure has accused his team-mates of cheating the club and admits they will never win anything if they continue to fight with each other. (News of the World)

U TURN BOLLOX
Todays biggest u-turn is the Mirror who were quite adamant that Mancini was on his way in last Sundays paper ... funny stuff
Manchester City are preparing transfer bids for Wolfsburg striker Edin Dzeko and Barcelona defender Dani Alves - and have no intention of replacing current manager Roberto Mancini.Sunday Mirror
http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Ma ... 32829.html

WAG OF THE DAY

http://www.boxofficefootball.com/wag-of ... y-higuain/

OTHER SUNDAY BOLLOX
Manchester United have made an enquiry about Benfica's Portugal left-back Fabio Coentrao - in case Patrice Evra leaves the club in the summer. (News of the World)

But United face competition from neighbours City who are ready to offer £20m for the 22-year-old in the summer.Sunday Mirror

Bayern Munich coach Louis van Gaal has put Manchester United on alert after admitting the club could sell star midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger next summer if he does not extend his contract, which expires in 2012. (Sunday Times)

Bayern meanwhile will battle it out with Aston Villa for the signing of Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema. imscouting

Tottenham midfielder Niko Kranjcar is to be offered a January exit route from White Hart Lane. But it is to German club Hamburg rather than Premier League Liverpool, who were thought to be leading the race to sign the £7m-rated Croatian. Metro

David Bentley is another Spurs midfielder who could be on his way out of White Hart Lane with Fulham keen on the 26-year-old winger. (News of the World)

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp is lining up an £8m move for Newcastle defender Jose Enrique and he is also keeping tabs on Magpies striker Andy Carroll. (News of the World)

But Magpies owner Mike Ashley has reiterated his desire to hang on to star striker Carroll saying the 21-year-old is "not for sale". (Sunday Express)

Newcastle midfielder Nicky Butt could sign for South China, the champions of Hong Kong, in a deal worth a staggering £200,000 a week. Sunday People

Redknapp will also make a third bid for Watford goalkeeper Scott Loach in January this time offering £3m for the England under-21 star. Sunday People

Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce is lining up a January move for out-of-favour Aston Villa striker John Carew.
Sunday Mirror

Villa could replace Carew with Juventus' Brazilian striker Amauri who would be available for about £5m. caughtoffside

Aston Villa boss Gerard Houllier is also to launch a January bid for Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner. Sunday People

Chelsea are lining up Blackburn defender Phil Jones as the perfect replacement for injured captain John Terry. (News of the World)

Or, Chelsea could launch a £15m January move for Bolton centre-back Gary Cahill as they fear Terry could be sidelined until March because of a troublesome back injury. Sunday Mirror

Liverpool will offer forward Ryan Babel as part of an £18m deal to land Aston Villa winger Ashley Young. (News of the World)

The Reds are also interested in bringing Villa midfielder Stephen Ireland to Anfield in January. caughtoffside

Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal target Xherdan Shaqiri is reportedly in talks with Inter Milan with the Basel winger set to seal a £5m deal with the Italian club. imscouting

Everton manager David Moyes is interested in bringing Wolves midfielder Karl Henry to Goodison Park. (News of the World)

Gerard Houllier says he feels "alive again" at new club Aston Villa, and admits he made poor signings in his final two 'exhausting' years at Liverpool after suffering heart problems. Mail on Sunday

Former Arsenal midfielder Ray Parlour has questioned if the club's frustrated manager Arsene Wenger has the right players at his disposal after watching them lose the north London derby 3-2 to Tottenham on Saturday. talkSPORT

Manchester United duo Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs will be offered new one-year deals at the club to extend their playing careers by an extra season. (News of the World)

Insiders at Chelsea fear that manager Carlo Ancelotti could walk away from the club at the end of the season as the first cracks begin to show in his relationship with the club. (News of the World)

West Ham co-owner David Gold has told manager Avram Grant that his job is safe for now, despite their latest defeat - a 3-0 loss to Liverpool on Saturday. (Mail on Sunday)

Wigan may be one of the least-supported clubs in the Premier League, but - ever since Hugo Rodallega arrived at the Lancashire club just under two years ago - vast hordes of Columbians walk around their native country wearing Latics shirts as they avidly follow the club's matches on television. Mail on Sunday

Arsenal are set to create football history with the cost of an 'ordinary' seat for a Premier League game at the Emirates Stadium in the new year poised to break the £100 barrier. Mail on Sunday

[Beefymcfc]

Some proper Bollox today:

Roberto Mancini has had a blazing row with four Manchester City players who claim he is giving Mario Balotelli special treatment.

Emmanuel Adebayor, Shaun-Wright Phillips, Joleon Lescott and Wayne Bridge confronted their boss the day after the goalless Manchester derby, when striker Balotelli left training early, despite not having played the night before.

It is felt that Mancini, who recently accused players of laziness, does not apply his usual rules to the former Inter Milan striker, who arrived in August for £23million.

‘The lads are not happy because they are not playing as much as they’d like to be, but they work hard,’ said a source. ‘Balotelli is Mancini’s blue-eyed boy because he came from Inter.’

Adebayor was furious at having only played a few minutes as an injury-time substitute, and kicked over a tactics board after the game.

Balotelli is on a five-year contract but could be leaving next summer. He was seen dining with AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani this week. ‘The likelihood is I will be at City up to June,’ he said. (Mail)

I wonder who he's talking about? From SS:

Kolo Toure believes some of his Manchester City team-mates need to pull their socks up and work harder for the team.

The big-spenders currently sit fifth in the table - six points off the top - heading into Sunday's clash against former boss Mark Hughes' Fulham.

But Toure believes some of the stars at the club are relying on their reputations and are not doing enough to earn their massive wages.

He told the News of the World: "You need to be honest, even if you hurt people.

"And there are some players here, I am not scared to say, who are not working hard enough for the team. Some don't do enough in training, but still expect to play.

"We all get big wages at City, but some need to work harder.

"You cannot have a place in the team - even if you are an international - if you don't show what you can do in training.

"As players, we have the best job in the world and if the manager said 'You haven't worked hard enough, you will only get half your wages this week' it would make the players fight harder.

"I'm a professional footballer and, to me, playing regularly is the most important thing, money is secondary."

Amid reports of bust-ups behind the scenes at Eastlands, Toure, who joined City in a £16 million move from Arsenal in July 2009, believes his current team-mates could learn something from the team ethic at the Gunners.

He said: "There are players with big egos here, but you get that at every club.

"I signed from Arsenal, where we had Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Dennis Bergkamp, all top players, but their behaviour was fantastic.

"The most important thing was for the team to win - it didn't matter who was playing.

"If everyone fights with each other, the team is not going to get better."

Toure believes City are still in with a chance of winning the title - as long as everyone pulls in the same direction for the team, who also need to be more consistent.

He added: "Football is not just about money, it's about winning trophies. City want to be a big club. We feel pressure that we have to deliver and we can still win the title.

"I can't say we will because it is very difficult. There are top teams like Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal.

"At the moment we are not consistent enough. We played well in beating Chelsea but lost to Wolves and you cannot play like that.

"The bust-ups happened, but there is always fighting at clubs and that is normal.

"It shows the team has hunger, the players want to win and I don't have a problem with that.

"When you have players from different countries, different mentalities, you will always have arguments.

"But the most important thing is the team - as long as each player does his job, that's it. No buts.

"If a player's commitment starts to drain, the manager needs to control that, but he cannot go to everyone's house, so it's difficult.

"For me, the only thing that will calm us is to win. We need a trophy this season. And then we will get into the habit of winning."

[Burt]

"Newcastle midfielder Nicky Butt"

Hahahah great bollox. He retired after last season!

[Dubciteh]

Get shweinsteger in hes exactly what we need, looks like they could do business and even at 30m he would be a steal compared to some of the players we have bought....

[blootoof]

That wag looks proper naughty