Tuesday's B*l**x
Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 12:26 am
That's all very well but ...
Mario Balotelli: AC Milan and Juventus in Manchester City talks
Manchester City have held talks with AC Milan and Juventus about the sale of striker Mario Balotelli, but will only let him go if the Serie A clubs meet their valuation.
City value the Italian, 22, at around 24m euros (£21m) including add-ons.
Balotelli is not actively up for sale and City will not subsidise any of his salary should he leave the club.
Contrary to reports, Balotelli is with the squad that travelled to London for Tuesday's meeting with QPR.
Milan initiated talks with City over the Italy striker, and Juve subsequently made contact with the Premier League club to discuss buying Balotelli, who arrived in Manchester from Inter Milan in August 2010 for a fee in the region of £24m.
Mancini on Mario
•30 March 2012: "No, I don't trust Mario. No-one trusts Mario."
•6 April: "I told him, if you played with me 10 years ago I would give you every day maybe one punch in your head. If Mario is not one of the best players in the world it will be his fault, because he has everything."
•27 April: "It's like a family when a child does stupid things. The affection of the parents is still there. He's young and he commits big mistakes that can put the team in difficulty."
•20 November: "He has everything to be one of the best players in the world. He could be like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi if he understands that to be like this you should work hard. Sometimes he doesn't understand how his job is important for his life but I hope he can understand this quickly."
Earlier on Monday, City assistant manager David Platt had said Balotelli would not be moving to AC Milan this month.
"I don't think anything is going to happen," said Platt of a proposed January move.
"It's a shame the manager's not here. He might know more than me but as far as we are concerned I think he is still a Manchester City player.
And City manager Roberto Mancini had also insisted on Friday that the Italian, regularly linked with a return to Italy since he arrived in England in 2010, would not leave the club.
"It is not true. Mario stays. We didn't have any requests about Mario or other players," said Mancini.
The Italian also said it would be "difficult" to buy new players with so little time left in the transfer window.
"I don't know [if City will buy anyone] but we don't have enough players," he added. "We are 18 players now. We can't sell any players."
Balotelli - who has scored one league goal in 14 appearances this term - has courted controversy throughout his time in England, with the latest incident involving a training ground row with Mancini at the start of January.
AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani had stated that if City were to lower their valuation then a move could be on, but Mancini insisted the Italy international remained part of his long-term plans.
"Mario has another three years on his contract," he said.
France defender Gael Clichy, 27, says Manchester City can get under the skin of neighbours United and derail their title bid again. The Times
[spoiler]
[/spoiler]Swansea City goalkeeper Michel Vorm, 29, has emerged as a shock target for Barcelona. talkSHIT
Liverpool striker Luis Suarez, 26, is among Bayern Munich's top summer transfer targets as incoming manager Pep Guardiola begins planning for next season. Independent
Queens Park Rangers and Everton will go head to head for South Korean striker Kim Shin-Wook, 24. The the 6ft 5in Ulsan Hyundai striker has been dubbed the 'Korean Peter Crouch'. talkSHIT
Arsenal have opened talks to sign Barcelona's Spain striker David Villa, 31. Goal.com
AZ Alkmaar's midfield starlet Adam Maher, 19, has been urged to join Arsenal - by his own manager. Metro
Wigan are stepping up their efforts to sign Ecuador winger Jefferson Montero, 23, from Mexican side Monarcas Morelia in a £2.75m deal. DSSC
Norwich City striker Grant Holt, 31, could be allowed to leave if manager Chris Hughton can sign either Celtic's Gary Hooper, 25, or Sporting Lisbon's Ricky van Wolfswinkel, 24, as a replacement. Guardian
Fulham are close to signing Brazilian-born Belgium international striker Igor de Camargo, 29, from Borussia Monchengladbach. Daily Mirror
Turkey striker Colin Kazim-Richards, 26, on loan at Blackburn Rovers, is being recalled by Galatasaray and sold to Bursaspor. DSSC
Brentford forward Clayton Donaldson claims to have witnessed on-field tensions between Chelsea players during the sides' FA Cup fourth-round 2-2 draw, with Ashley Cole regularly bemoaning a lack of movement in attack. Guardian
Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov has said that former striker Thierry Henry is "pushing him" to complete a buy-out of the club. Daily Telegraph
Former Manchester United striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer advised Southampton defender Vegard Forren, 24, to choose the Saints over a move to Liverpool. Daily Mirror
West Brom striker Peter Odemwingie, 31, a target for QPR, says he lashed out at the Baggies on Twitter because he was bored. Metro
Last man standing: Forgotten Joleon Lescott ready to answer City's defensive crisis
With Kompany and Nastasic injured and Toure away on international duty, England defender is the only available senior centre-half
Forgotten man Joleon Lescott will answer Manchester City’s defensive SOS against QPR tonight.
Lescott has spent most of the season on the margins, but will take centre stage tonight when he could be City’s only available senior centre-half.
Vincent Kompany is out with his calf injury, Kolo Toure is at the Africa Cup of Nations, while Matija Nastasic is struggling with a knee ligament injury.
Lescott has not moaned about being restricted to just eight Premier League starts because Roberto Mancini has preferred Nastasic and coach David Platt is delighted by his professionalism.
“I’m impressed with his attitude, but then I would not have expected anything else from him,” said Platt.
“He is an extremely good professional. Never once, since I came here two-and-a-half years ago, from being an ever-present to sometimes finding himself on the bench, have his training levels gone down.”
Platt claims Nastasic could recover to play alongside Lescott and says Mancini would have no worries about playing rookie defender Karim Rekik if the Serb misses out.
Rekik, 18, has only played one Premier League game for City against Reading last month and City have big hopes for the Dutchman.
“We’ve also got Karim Rekik,” said Platt. “He’s in the running for tomorrow.
“We would have no qualms about sticking him in and he was on the bench on Saturday against Stoke.”
Platt admits City are worried by Kompany’s latest calf problem, even though the Belgian international could be back for Sunday’s clash with Liverpool.
“It’s a concern that it’s not a fresh injury,” he said. “The calf is the strangest muscle and there is probably more more re-occurrence than with hamstrings, groins and things like that.
“It has happened on a couple of occasions so the concern is to make sure we clear the problem and that is what we will be working through.”
City have won their last six games and Platt claims their form is “more satisfying” than last season when they steamrollered the likes of Manchester United and Tottenham on the road.
He feels City have shown more control in games, even though they are five points behind Manchester United in the title race.
“I don’t know how many times we reached the heights last season,” he said. “There is a perception we did so on a regular basis because we went to Old Trafford and won 6-1, and to White Hart Lane and won 5-1.
“We probably haven’t hit those heights, but they are a little bit false anyhow. They give you a false perception.
“The control we have had over our performances in the last couple of months has been more satisfying.
“We have been going into games with a belief that we will do something, and no more so than at the weekend against Stoke.
“I have read about it being a dour game, but I thought we were controlled.
“We have been to Stoke before and there has been a worry, but I never felt that on Saturday, even at 0-0, I never felt that we wouldn’t win the match.”
GOLDEN BOLLOX 29-1-2010
Garry Cook's Manchester City future in doubt after failed boast
Chief executive guaranteed Carling Cup victory over United
Manchester City's owners in Abu Dhabi are starting to give serious consideration to the position of the chief executive, Garry Cook, at the end of the season after becoming increasingly perturbed about his leadership style and the frequency with which he has attracted bad publicity.
Cook has developed a reputation as one of the game's more derided figures after a series of personal embarrassments in which his fondness for speaking his mind has come back to haunt him. The latest came in the build-up to the second leg of the Carling Cup semi-final against Manchester United when he was filmed telling supporters in New York's Mad Hatter Saloon that City would get to Wembley "not if, but when, we beat United again".
Cook also proclaimed that City were on course to supersede United, Real Madrid and Barcelona as the "biggest and best club in the world". He later claimed that he thought it was a closed event, despite the presence of television cameras as he took the microphone. Sir Alex Ferguson is understood to have cited Cook's remarks to his players ahead of Wednesday's 3-1 win which took United into the final with a 4-3 aggregate victory.
The sense at Old Trafford is that Cook committed one of the oldest mistakes in the book and, after the match, the midfielder Darren Fletcher pointedly referred to United "doing their talking on the pitch". However, the concerns about Cook go back much further and are more elaborate than just his habit of talking himself into trouble. City have had a mixed record in the transfer market, overpaying for several players and missing out on several key targets, most notably the attempt to smash the world transfer record by persuading Kaká to sign for the club from Milan for £91m in January 2009. In one of Cook's more infamous outbursts, the former Nike marketing executive accused Milan of "bottling it".
More recently, Cook came under scrutiny when City sacked their manager, Mark Hughes, and it subsequently emerged that his successor, Roberto Mancini, had been approached three weeks earlier. Cook tried to pass off meeting the former Internazionale coach as "general football talks" but the episode reflected badly on the club when the Abu Dhabi United Group has been trying to project an image of being different and more noble than other football club owners. Cook later revealed that he had actually started to identify possible replacements for Hughes as long ago as last summer, despite having repeatedly insisted that the club would be patient with their manager.
The sacking demonstrated the ruthlessness of the club's owner, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, and the chairman, Khaldoon al-Mubarak, during a period of significant change at every level of the club. Cook was paid £1.5m last year and has admitted being brought to tears during parts of a 20-month tenure in which, in effect, he ousted Alistair Mackintosh from the job.
Cook was appointed by the previous owner, Thaksin Shinawatra, the deposed prime minister of Thailand who had been charged with corruption offences in his home country. In Cook's first major interview, he defended Thaksin's reputation, saying: "Is he a nice guy? Yes. Is he a great guy to play golf with? Yes. Has he got the finances to run a club? Yes. Whether he's guilty of something over there, I can't worry too much about. Morally, I feel comfortable in this environment."
He subsequently admitted after Thaksin's conviction that he felt "dreadful" about making those comments. "I have made some mistakes in my life," Cook said, "but I deeply regretted my failure to do proper research on Thaksin."
That particular episode was not under ADUG's watch, but Cook's propensity for saying the wrong thing has started to jar with his employers and also affect the way the supporters consider him. His public gaffes include welcoming former striker Uwe Rösler to the "Manchester United Hall of Fame" at a supporters' event, a mistake that led to him being booed. Cook later wrote an apology for the mistake.
Cook also vehemently denied reports that Robinho would leave the club in January but was proved wrong yesterday.
MCF THREAD: viewtopic.php?f=119&t=29965
Football fan charged with throwing coin at Craig Bellamy
A man has been charged with throwing a coin at footballer Craig Bellamy during the Manchester derby.
Adam Teese, 26, of Nelstrop Road North, Heaton Chapel, Greater Manchester, is accused of ''throwing a missile on to the pitch'' during the Carling Cup semi-final at Old Trafford, police said.
Another man has been charged for trying to enter the ground while drunk, police said.
Paul Rooney Nelson, 35, of Melton Road, Crumpsall, will appear at the same court two days later.Two other men who were arrested last night received fixed penalty notices for public order offences and a third man was fined for being drunk and disorderly, police said.
Six other men, arrested on suspicion of criminal damage, affray and conspiracy to commit violent disorder, were bailed pending further inquiries.
There was a massive police presence at the game after trouble flared during last week's first leg, with 29 people arrested in connection with the game, which City won 2-1.
Officers issued CCTV pictures of suspected football hooligans after the first match and appealed for calm ahead of the return leg, which United won 3-1, giving them a 4-3 aggregate victory.
Assistant Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said: "The vast majority of fans behaved very well and I would like to thank them for listening to the messages we have been giving, to help make the evening pass off peacefully."
MCF THREAD: viewtopic.php?f=119&t=29981
LAHAD'S WINNING BINGO BOLLOX
A perfect place to honour the Fez & Nipple Tassel wearing one ....
So What should go on Bingo's plaque? .... You decide ... AND THANK YOU!!!
viewtopic.php?f=121&t=45089
MANCHESTER TITLE RACE
PTS +5 GD +1[/i]
MORE SOON!