CSKA Moscow v Man City: Vincent Kompany angry at away fans ban
Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany criticised the ban on away fans after his side's 2-2 Champions League draw behind closed doors at CSKA Moscow.
Kompany said City had been punished unfairly after the game was played in a near-empty stadium, with fans banned over previous CSKA disturbances.
"Why the hell do we not have any fans here? What have our fans done wrong? There's no fairness in it," he said.
Despite the ban, a group of vocal CSKA supporters watched from the main stand.
City were pegged back on Tuesday despite taking a 2-0 lead in the first half, and are without a win from their opening three games in Group E.
Uefa ordered the Russian club to play three Champions League home games without any fans present as punishment for a series of offences including racist chanting.
However, it did appear that a sizeable number of the 650 people allowed into the match, possibly from an allocation of about 300 tickets set aside for sponsors, were CSKA fans.
How the attendance of 650 broke down at CSKA Moscow Stadium
"You say no fans, all of a sudden you turn up and the team who has no fans is Man City. So who's getting punished? Who's being done for racism, Man City or Moscow?" said 28-year-old Belgian Kompany.
"It needs to be looked at, it needs to be changed. Our fans shouldn't be punished."
The fans inside the stadium made their presence felt, chanting throughout, and City manager Manuel Pellegrini did not disagree with suggestions this could have influenced a late penalty decision for the home side.
"I don't know who has permission to give entrance to all those people, but really it is not my duty. I don't want to talk about the referee or other things. I don't want to be punished again," he said.
City are understood to have brought the issue about supporters to the attention of Uefa.
CSKA media director Sergey Aksenov said: "Those people you are talking about are 360 people from the Uefa Champions Club - partners, sponsors.
"If they are CSKA fans they are good for us. Everyone is invited by Uefa, not CSKA."
Pellegrini, who was handed a two-match touchline ban for criticising a referee last season, said his team were not helped by the icy weather.
"Moscow is so cold that it is very difficult to maintain motivation," he said.
Despite the defeat, Pellegrini is confident his side can still progress to the next stage.
"We have nine points left to play for, of course we can still qualify," he told the club's website.
City are third after three games with their remaining matches at home to CSKA Moscow and Bayern Munich before a trip to Roma, who were thrashed 7-1 at home by Bayern Munich.
Watch on youtube.comManuel Pellegrini orders Manchester City to sign Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil as Yaya Toure replacement
Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini has reportedly ordered the club to sign Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil in January – as the club plan for life without Yaya Toure.
City have been linked with a £32million move for Ozil in the last few days, with the Gunners believed to be ready to cash in on the German.
And now reports say City boss Pellegrini has personally asked the club to sign Ozil in the new year, with Ivory Coast star Toure looking likely to leave.
PSG and Monaco have both been linked with huge moves for unsettled Toure – and City want to get Ozil in to replace his attacking influence.
Arsenal & Man City Scout Impressive Centre-Back Ahead Of Potential January Swoop.
Arsenal and Manchester City are scouting Leicester City’s Liam Moore ahead of a potential January battle for the highly-rated centre-back, according to reports.
Moore came through the Leicester youth ranks before breaking into the first team set-up in 2011 and subsequently enjoyed loans at Bradford and Brentford over the next two seasons.
He returned to the King Power Stadium in 2013 and established himself as a first team regular in Nigel Pearson’s Championship winning side, with his superb displays at the back helping the Midlanders gain promotion to the Premier League.
The 21-year-old has continued that impressive form in the top flight this season and it seems he’s attracting interest from some Premier League’s heavy weights as the Mirror are reporting that Arsenal and Manchester City are both keeping a close eye on his progress.
The newspaper suggests that Arsene Wenger and Manuel Pellegrini have sent their scouts to watch Moore in action on several occasions this season and they could be ready to battle-it-out for his signature in January.
Arsenal are short of numbers at the back after failing to sign a replacement for Thomas Vermaelen in the summer and Wenger has already admitted he will look to bring in another option this winter, and Moore would be the kind of young talent that the Frenchman could help nurture.
However, City are also understood to be in the market for another option at the back and with Pellegrini keen on boosting their number of home-grown players, England Under-21 international Moore could appeal.
Leicester will be desperate to hang on to the youngster and already showed their determination by rejecting a £5m bid from Fulham last January. However, they may find it more difficult to keep hold of him if the likes of Arsenal and City come calling as Moore is sure to have his head turned by the prospect of joining a Champions League club.
Moore is predominantly a centre-back but is also capable of playing at right-back if needed so his versatility is also likely to appeal to the likes of Wenger and Pellegrini, but we’ll have to wait and see if they make their interest official this winter or continue to monitor him ahead of a summer swoop.
City eye Barkley
Everton face a battle to keep hold of Ross Barkley next summer with Manchester City ready to pay £40m for his services.
The Toffees rebuffed interest from City last summer when they quoted them a massive £50m for Barkley when City came calling prior to the World Cup in Brazil.
Since then Barkley has signed a new deal at Goodison Park but this has not put off City with senior sources at the Etihad Stadium indicating they were prepared to go as high as £25m for the England midfielder.
City scouts were at Goodison Park last weekend to witness the 20-year-old's impressive return from a three-month knee injury lay-off against Aston Villa.
City's director of football Txiki Begiristain sees Barkley as one of the few homegrown talents who can immediately hold their own in their first team, but Everton have neither a need or a desire to sell so unless the money gets to ridiculous levels then they will not be tempted.
TYPICAL CITY FEATURE BOLLOX
Some City Fans Need To Grow Up
I am proud of Manchester City. I like feeling part of this Victorian institution which has stood for generations of people like me. I have invested a lot into them emotionally for three decades, and got a lot out. Most of my mates support them too. As a result, I have always been slightly irritated when I have had to deal with the negative stereotype of a City fan which can pervade. The hysterical small-timer, the unhealthily obsessed, the Bitter Blue. It is even more annoying when in some City fans this stereotype bares out.
It has got worse recently, and seemed to reach a peak around the Champions League game against Roma. Before the game Paul Scholes – who upon retirement has morphed into a cross of Dapper Laughs, Zinedine Zidane and Howdy Doody – amplified the criticism around the ground not being full for what was supposedly a big tie. The reason many gave for the relatively low turnout in response was a nuanced one around City fan’s relationship with the competition: which is valid, but one which sounds shrill when attempting to express it within 140 characters. It would have been more useful to have the courage to admit the fundamental truth that there are better things to spend forty odd-quid on than a game of football with little riding on that single result. It is also probably a more poignant response to a millionaire asking why normal people are not putting their hands in their pocket for something which they are currently viewing for free.
For most though, the problem is not ex-players of rival clubs gobbing off: it’s the fact that they are given a platform by a major TV network for that very purpose. The establishment are after us, you see.
Or so the more unhinged – but not insignificant – part of the club’s fanbase would tell you. It grumbled loudly again last night when a bad refereeing decision led to CSKA’s equalising goal. The Hungarian referee was identified as the latest part of a conspiracy maintained by scores of officials, not to mention governing bodies at national and continental level, as well as dozens of the most prominent members of the print media and the aforementioned broadcasters.
The sheer amount of people required to be involved in this cover up makes hoaxing the moon landing seem quaint and parochial in comparison. If that level of deceit is considered to be too farfetched for winning the space race then involving even more people in order to stop someone winning a game of football is fanciful to say the least.
The fact of the matter is that UEFA does not have to act in an underhand way for the Champions League to benefit certain clubs. It is already structurally geared towards helping the established teams through its transparent seedings and coefficient system. It is a system which will eventually end up working in City’s favour: a process which could be accelerated if City could turn over the second best side from Europe’s fifth best league at home.
“Platini got what he wanted” is now a familiar refrain. The logical explanation of the Financial Fair Play rules has shifted: it is no longer the result of vested interests causing mission creep away from a laudible aim to make football fairer; it is now a vendetta orchestrated by one powerful man who has made it his life’s work to destroy one club. The result of Gerry Gow leaving his studs in during a pre-season friendly and some Moss Side scallies telling him to stop codding.
The complaints are increasingly glib: during the recent draw against Chelsea they received a free kick on the edge of the box and took it too quickly; as soon as the referee blew his whistle to retake the dead ball a man who sits close to me exclaimed that the referee would not have done so had the ball flown into the City goal. This was a throwaway comment, but an interesting one when considering the similar way in which City’s current success has been built to Chelsea’s: the victimisation which is now felt is not ideological or sporting any more: it is just personal.
I recognise that this has now become a whinge about a whinge, and also that the majority of City fans have a better sense of perspective than the types which I have outlined here: they are not as vocal, however, and that is the reason why it is frustrating when the caricaturish aspect of our support speaks on your behalf.
This present position is a product of our past. In the period prior to the Abu Dhabi takeover we prided ourselves on being good fans of a bad team. Most other fans were sympathetic to us and we felt that we deserved some good luck. When a huge slice of good luck came about we felt that we were entitled to that as well as the approval to which we clinged previously.
The answer to this is not to become ‘good fans of a good team': most interpretations of what that constitutes would be frankly awful, and would be even more distorted from the relationship that I enjoy with the club than the mentality which I have argued against in this piece. Besides this, even the worst proponents of this bitterness do not even believe most of the things which they say themselves. If they believed that the whole thing was a stitch up why would they continue to watch it? Deep down there must be some hope after all, probably because there is evidently so much to be hopeful for. The more real fear is that of failure but who wants to admit that?
Fans attitude towards Champions League football Thread viewtopic.php?f=119&t=49173
David Villa loan spell at Melbourne City ends after just four games
Former Spain striker David Villa's loan spell at Melbourne City is to come to an end next month after just four A-League matches, the club said on Wednesday.
Villa was loaned to the club from Major League Soccer (MLS) club New York City, who are also owned by English champions Manchester City, and it had been hoped he would play the full 10 matches allowed to a guest player under league rules.
The club confirmed on Wednesday, however, that Villa would leave Australia in early November to fulfil marketing and commercial obligations in New York.
The club is hoping Villa could return to play more matches for Melbourne after he has settled his family in the United States.
"We would obviously want a player of his calibre to represent the club in as many games of the guest allowance as possible between now and the commencement of MLS pre-season training in January," a club spokesman said.
"The precise number of A-League games that David will play will be determined by the best interests of the player and his now New York-based family and the prioritisation of the requirements of both New York City FC and Melbourne City FC.
"That means that his playing and training schedule will be the product of all of those factors and subject to ongoing assessment."
The former Barcelona and Valencia forward has scored equalisers to rescue 1-1 draws for City in the first two games of their A-League season against Sydney FC and Newcastle Jets.
His last two matches will be this weekend's local derby against Melbourne Victory and the following week's fixture at home to Adelaide United
Manchester United could renew their interest in midfielder Fredy Guarin after Inter Milan put the 28-year-old up for sale. (Daily Star)
Bundesliga side Schalke are poised for a shock January move for Chelsea striker Fernando Torres, who is currently on loan at AC Milan. Schalke boss Roberto Di Matteo is keen to work with the 30-year-old again after his time in charge of the Blues. (Bild)
Arsenal and Chelsea's hopes of signing Barcelona's teenage attacker Munir El Haddadi are fading with the Spain international, 19, set to commit his future to the Nou Camp. (Daily Express)
Luke Shaw, 19, Manchester United's £27m left-back signing from Southampton, says fans have yet to see the best of him after a slow start to his career at Old Trafford. (Guardian)
Chelsea are running out of strikers to face Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday after Loic Remy was injured 16 minutes into Tuesday's Champions League win against Maribor. Diego Costa has already been ruled out, leaving veteran Didier Drogba, 36, as manager Jose Mourinho's only recognised front man. (Daily Telegraph)
Swansea boss Garry Monk, 35, has revealed he fines his players for diving - in training. (Daily Mirror)
Sunderland manager Gus Poyet has refused to take the blame for Saturday's humiliating 8-0 defeat at Southampton, saying he is not responsible for the strength of the team. (DSSC)
Arsenal will try to recruit current Real Madrid boss and former Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti if Arsene Wenger accepts a lucrative offer to take charge of Monaco at the end of the season. (Daily Express)
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has warned Liverpool fans that booing former Manchester United attacker Cristiano Ronaldo could backfire in the team's Champions League meeting tonight. (Sun )
QPR could fine manager Harry Redknapp for his part in a public falling out with playmaker Adel Taarabt, 25. (Daily Telegraph)
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard is "finished" according to former QPR, Manchester City and England star Rodney Marsh. (TalkSHIT)
After West Brom's ill-fated jibe at Manchester United midfielder Marouane Felliani on Monday evening, Bayern Munich poked fun at the Baggies by writing a similar tweet about their French winger Franck Ribery.
Closer to home, Wolves also riffed on their local rivals' social media pain, adapting West Brom's infamous tweet during their 2-0 win over Middlesbrough...
...only for the Baggies to shoot back with a reference to the division's difference between the two clubs' standings in English football.
Arsenal are ready to offer £32 million for Mats Hummels but Borussia Dortmund are unlikely to let go of the 27-year-old German defender. (Bild)
Former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry could return to French football as both Paris St-Germain and AS Monaco are interested in the 37-year-old forward. (Lefigaro)
Tottenham have loaned out their 19-year-old Swiss defender Milos Veljkovic to Middlesbrough until January next year. (L'equipe )
Former Liverpool and current Real Madrid defender Alvaro Arbeloa, 31, says a lot has changed at Anfield since he left the club five years ago. (Marca)
Kieron Dyer has revealed that a withering assessment of Lee Bowyer's playing ability started their infamous fist-fight when Newcastle lost at home to Aston Villa in 2005. (Newcastle Evening Chronicle)
Cristiano Ronaldo and his Real Madrid team-mates were drenched by torrential rain as they attempted to warm-up at Anfield ahead of training on Tuesday. (Liverpool Echo)
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