http://www.manchestercity.vitalfootball ... p?a=181463
Writers view round up bollox
Sam Wallace, The Independent
Robinho was the worst offender in a poor City performance but he was by no means the only one. Emmanuel Adebayor blasted his only decent chance over the bar in the closing stages of the game and he failed to make a tackle when he had a chance to stop Tottenham's third goal. Kolo Touré was at the centre of a City defence that no one would describe as commanding. This was a godforsaken City performance and Hughes knew it. The City manager twitched and gesticulated, but the uncomfortable truth was that the superstars of this £200m team Hughes has assembled are letting their manager down. In the last 10 league games they have only won once and that is not what the oilmen of Abu Dhabi had in mind come Christmas.
Russell Kempson, The Times
Hughes’s star players did not perform, with Robinho, the Brazil forward, looking totally out of sorts. It was a blessing in disguise when he was substituted in the second half, disappearing straight down the tunnel — presumably to keep warm rather than sulk. He did not look that concerned about being replaced.
Kevin McCarra, The Guardian
Whatever the flaws, there had been an intent to Tottenham's work that was not echoed by the visitors. The blandness of City appeared to increase. They were in a familiar 4-2-3-1 system, but the lone centre-forward, Adebayor, was isolated. The visitors sorely missed Bellamy's readiness to go haring into the attack with clear intent.
Jeremy Wilson, Telegraph
Lennon is blossoming as a right winger of genuine international class and, with the 35 year-old Sylvinho deputising for Wayne Bridge at left-back, it was clear that Tottenham were determined to exploit City’s obvious weakness. In fairness, Sylvinho does still possess a sharp footballing brain and sound positioning sense but, on the occasions he was caught one-on-one with Lennon, there was only one winner.
Ivan Spenk, Daily Mail
One victory in 10 Premier League encounters, albeit against Chelsea, is not the kind of return City's Abu Dhabi owners would have anticipated when they financed the club's astonishing spending spree. Especially when so much of that money has been blown on strikers.
Lonesome's ratings bollox
http://tldorc.blogspot.com/2009/12/spur ... Carroll%29
Mark Hughes has all the problems as Tottenham lead race within race
The furore over Mick McCarthy’s decision to field second stringers away to Manchester United on Tuesday, because he doubted that Wolverhampton Wanderers’ first team could take even a point from the match, has inevitably highlighted the problem of competitive balance within the Barclays Premier League. While no neutral could be satisfied with McCarthy’s explanation that he preferred to keep his elite fit for the supposedly more winnable visit of Burnley to Molineux at the weekend, any notion that the defeatist attitude towards matches against the top clubs is a new phenomenon should be resisted. McCarthy has just made it more obvious than most. He will have done the game a favour if people continue talking about competitive balance, which, according to independent studies, has been steadily declining since the formation of the Premier League in 1992. The problem has been most blatant in the existence of a top four that seemed almost self-perpetuating until Manchester City became super-rich and others including their hosts at White Hart Lane last night, decided to join them in having a go.
By and large, though, the league has become a thing of subdivisions without its popularity being affected because in each layer there are six-pointers, an example being the forthcoming affair between Wolves and Burnley, which McCarthy is entitled to regard as pertinent to his team’s chances of staying up. Last night’s match at White Hart Lane had the feel of a six-pointer because City and Tottenham Hotspur are fighting for promotion from the league’s second tier and keen to keep in touch with the current leaders of that group, Aston Villa, who had maintained a rich vein of form by winning away to Sunderland the previous night.
Everyone senses that Liverpool’s sudden decline offers a Champions League place next season and, until recently, City looked a better bet than Tottenham in both the short term and the long, for which their greater resources clearly give them a massive advantage. Victory over Chelsea 12 days ago seemed significant because it had evidence of their knitting as a team under Mark Hughes; before, they had tended to be a collection of expensive individuals, vulnerable to the counter-attack. Such was the entertainment value of their 3-3 draw away to Bolton Wanderers that few were in the mood to complain of a return to cavalier ways. But last night they were at it again, and Tottenham were only too glad to administer punishment.
At the end, Hughes tried to point his players towards the travelling fans but gave up on the idea and, muttering as he walked up the tunnel, looked every inch the frustrated manager. This was a poor display and the prospects of improvement are not helped by the loss of Joleon Lescott, whose knee operation is an ill-timed intervention so close to the African Cup of Nations, which will deprive City of Kolo Touré, his central defensive partner. Hughes plans to buy again in the winter transfer window. “It doesn’t take much thinking about what we need,” he said afterwards. How many more windows he will gaze through as City manager is open to question; the best guess is that he has until the end of this season to get City playing regularly as they did against Chelsea.
Harry Redknapp, meanwhile, got what he wanted to see after the shock of home defeat by Wolves. His men were workmanlike and first to most balls in the first half and, once Jermain Defoe’s goal had provided a cushion, handsome in the second in the image of the outstanding Niko Kranjcar. With the pace of Aaron Lennon, Peter Crouch offering more than physical awkwardness and Tom Huddlestone and Michael Dawson shining, it was a good night for the English. Spurs look equipped to stay in the race. They have drawn at Villa Park and February 6 will be ringed on Redknapp’s calendar. On that evening Martin O’Neill’s benchmark team visit the Lane for what may be another six-pointer. A juicier fixture is on January 10 when Spurs are at Liverpool; long live this league within a league, for at least all the teams in it are looking at the stars, rather than trying to stay out of the gutter.
Lescott set for two months out
Manchester City manager Mark Hughes has confirmed he could be without Joleon Lescott for up to two months after the England centre-back was forced to undergo knee surgery. The 27-year-old went under the knife to remove floating bone in the joint on the eve of the Barclays Premier League defeat to Tottenham at White Hart Lane. It means Hughes is in the market for a centre-back when the transfer window opens next month.
"We've lost Joleon for six to eight weeks, that is a big loss to us and comes on the back of losing Kolo Toure for the African Nations Cup," Hughes said. "So it doesn't leave much thinking about in terms of what we probably need in January."
Lescott is expected be ruled out of at least the Carling Cup semi-final against rivals Manchester United. It would also mean he will need to build up his match fitness for an England friendly in March ahead of the World Cup in the summer.
Will the real Robinho please make himself known to Manchester City supporters?
Those seeking definitive proof of the true worth of a £32.5million footballer with fancy Dan skills in the nine-month grind of an English season were once again left dissatisfied at White Hart Lane. Winter nights like these, when the breath freezes as leaves the mouth and the chill rips through the body, reducing it to state of semi-paralysis - and on an away ground at that - have not been the Brazilian’s circumstances of choice during his 15 months in English football.
He has instead been seduced by the cosiness of a crowd bedecked largely in sky blue, able to strut his way through games and use his vision, close control and balance with devastating effects. Such talents would be missed were they to disappear to warmer climes during next month’s transfer window when Robinho will turn 26. The problem is they disappeared too often in away games last season for City to manage anything more than a mediocre 10th place in the Barclays Premier League. Then again, he wasn’t surrounded by the quality of players, which has become a City staple now that Emmanuel Adebayor, Gareth Barry and Carlos Tevez have been brought in. Last season it appeared that only Stephen Ireland possessed the awareness and easy movement that Robinho would choose in a team-mate.On Wednesday night, by contrast, he was spoilt for choice by the bewildering interchange and complexity of the running around him in a beguiling first half City display.
Sliding passes into the feet of Tevez and Adebayor, only the desperate lunges of Michael Dawson and Sebastien Bassong prevented him setting free each of his front men to run at goal.
Nor was he discouraged by a robust tackle from behind from Tom Huddlestone which dumped him on his backside in the 11th minute.
A rasping 20-yard drive tipped over by Heurelho Gomes following two delicious feints midway through the half was the perfect response to treatment which rendered him invisible at times last season.
Fully recovered from the stress fracture of his ankle, which had limited him to just five previous starts this season, he even eschewed the option of wearing gloves on a bitingly cold night in north London - an option which Adebayor and half of the Tottenham team took up.
Most encouragingly of all for City followers is that the boy from Brazil appears to have been influenced for the better by the voracious appetite for work of his fellow South American, Tevez.
He wanted the ball at White Hart Lane. Going forward at least. There endeth the good news.
The bad news is that Robinho goes forward. He tracked back with enough gusto to neutralise any attacking threat that Vedran Corluka might have offered, but then Aaron Lennon didn’t need any help. He was too busy destroying Sylvinho.
The theory goes that Robinho’s woes on their travels are City’s woes.
When they are pressed back into their own half or, worse, concede, the metallic blue boots are rarely dirtied in a scrap to restore parity. Unlike Tevez, Robinho is either unable or unwilling to tackle. Sylvinho was exposed and the result was that Tottenham found the means to drive into City’s soft underbelly. The question, as it has been too often, is how long Mark Hughes is prepared to wait.
The first City galactico barely touched the ball in the opening 10 minutes of the second half.
Exasperated, Hughes could take no more. After 59 minutes, Robinho departed from the game for good and disappeared straight down the tunnel. The conundrum remains. At least until January.
TRANSFER BOLLOX
Barcelona have stated they will "fight" to sign Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas next season and are ready to bid £40m for him.The Sun
Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp is set to make a £6m bid for Wigan left-back Maynor Figueroa, and will raise the funds by selling Gareth Bale. Daily Mirror
Redknapp is also poised to make a move for Chile's highly-rated striker Humberto Suazo, who plays for Mexican side Monterrey.Daily Mirror
Everton are weighing up a cut-price deal for Atletico Madrid midfielder Maxi Rodriguez. Daily Mirror
The Toffees are also close to securing a loan deal for LA Galaxy striker Landon Donovan. (The Independent)
Former Chelsea striker Eidur Gudjohnsen is looking for a return to the Premier League after falling out with his boss at Monaco. The Sun
Bolton boss Gary Megson is still unsure whether to pay £1.4m to make Ivan Klasnic's loan move from Nantes a permanent deal. Daily Mirror
Hull boss Phil Brown has been told to slash £6m of the club's wage bill be selling players during the January transfer window. The Sun
Alex McLeish has told Birmingham owner Carson Yeung that signing "galaticos" next month could wreck City's brilliant form.Daily Mirror
West Ham are set to bid for 18-year-old Belgian winger Geoffrey Hairemans, who plays for Royal Antwerp. (Daily Mirror)
Former Bolton defender Ivan Campo is having a trial at Cypriot club AEK Larnaca. (Daily Mirror)
Crystal Palace have given a trial to Dutch side Heerenveen's Bonavnture Kalou, the brother of Chelsea striker Salomon. (The Sun)
OTHER BOLLOX
Wolves fans who travelled to see their weakened side lose at Manchester United on Tuesday have bombarded the club with demands for their money back.Daily Mirror
Former Portsmouth boss Paul Hart will be appointed as the new manager of QPR on Thursday, with Mick Harford as his assistant. Daily Mirror
Reading have put ex-Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate at the top of their wish list of names to fill their vacant manager's position. The Sun
Or, Reading are pondering a move for former Peterborough manager Darren Ferguson to take over from sacked boss Brendan Rogers. Daily Mirror
Alternatively, Steve Coppell is in line for a return as Reading manager. (Daily Star)
Former Watford boss Graham Taylor has revealed he fears for the club's future as the Hornets veer towards administration.Daily Mirror
Real Zaragoza want Gus Poyet to become their new manager, despite the Uruguayan having signed an 18-month deal at Brighton just over a month ago.The Sun
WAG OF THE DAY - Elsa Benítez
http://www.thespoiler.co.uk/index.php/2 ... sa-benitez
FINAL BOLLOX
David Beckham is hoping AC Milan draw Manchester United in the Champions League knockout phase so he can return to Old Trafford with the Italians, whom he joins on loan in the new year, and knock out his old team.The Sun
Wigan boss Roberto Martinez has compared defender Maynor Figueroa to France legend Zinedine Zidane after the left-back scored a 60-yard free-kick last Saturday. (The Sun)
MORE BOLLOX SOON
