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Manchester City v Bolton Wanderers

A £200million investment in playing staff. Wholesale background changes. Managerial casualties. New dawns. Revolutions.

It’s fair to say that Manchester City Football Club is synonymous with change- but one thing that remains constant throughout is the guarantee that the eleven players on the pitch, whoever they happen to be and however much they cost- will veer between the sublime and the ridiculous again and again. To outclass Chelsea and Arsenal one week and be run ragged by a lowly Bolton the next just typifies this. Many have tried to understand the condition- managers have spent lavishly and revoultionised their working environments- but still, the parasite that is ‘Typical City’ remains. Little surprise, then, that 19th placed Hull, without a win in eleven games, managed to quite comfortably outgun the Blues on Saturday. They enjoyed the lion’s share of possession, carved out chances with relative ease and claimed the three points thanks to two men. The first, Jozy Altidore, had failed to score in any of his previous appearances for the Tigers, and the second, George Boateng hadn’t found the net in nearly three years. Typical City indeed.

So, having seen his side collapse spectacularly against Hull, preceded by less than impressive displays against Everton, Manchester United and Portsmouth, Roberto Mancini’s honeymoon period has drawn to a close and the reality of life in English football has struck. The popular Italian has introduced changes in style, though- Mark Hughes’ aggressive, fast counter-attacking tactics have been replaced by a more patient, functional playing style, in which not many risks are taken. The players appear much more disciplined positionally- rigid, even. As with any change in leadership, time is required to allow Mancini’s influence to be truly felt. Perhaps the biggest question is will the fans, and more so the club’s ownership, afford him that time?

Bolton are Tuesday night’s visitors to Eastlands, and buoyed by the appointment of club legend Owen Coyle as manager recently, they won’t be coming to make up the numbers. Despite their current precarious position, confidence is high at the Reebok and Coyle will of course take encouragement from his last visit to Eastlands in November, when as Burnley manager he orchestrated a spectacular 3-3 draw. He, like Mancini at City, has overseen big changes at Bolton with the direct approach favoured by Gary Megson replaced by a much more fluent, attractive passing game. His loan signings of creative minded youngsters Jack Wilshere and City’s own Vladimir Weiss paint a picture of the style the Scot is looking to implement.

Recent Form

City’s last five Premier League encounters have been a mixed bag, in truth. They impressively dispatched Wolves at Molineux and followed it up with a spectacular demolition of Blackburn, in which Carlos Tevez starred- but that has been followed by arguably the poorest performance of the season at Goodison Park, a lacklustre 2-0 win over bottom club Portsmouth, and Saturday’s defeat at Hull. Statistically, 9 points from a possible 15 is reasonably good form. A deeper analysis gives more cause for concern, perhaps.

Meanwhile, the opposite is true for Bolton. Four points from five outings doesn’t sound particularly pleasing but it’s been an incredibly tough start for Coyle. Arsenal visited the Reebok and struggled to overcome the Trotters, eventually winning 2-0. Only three days later, the two sides met again- this time at the Emirates. The signs of Coyle’s influence were apparent, as Bolton attacked with style and purpose, scoring twice but going down 4-2. Next up was the visit of newly-promoted Burnley. This was arguably the poorest Bolton performance in weeks, but they got the all-important result, a 1-0 win allowing Coyle to finally celebrate his first victory. They battled admirably at Anfield but Liverpool quite fortuitously picked up the three points. Their most recent game was the visit to the Reebok of Fulham, on Saturday. Remarkably, Kevin Davies’ late strike was ruled out for ‘infringement’- a decision which has left many even more disillusioned with beleaguered referee Mark Clattenburg.

Key Encounters-

Kolo Touré vs. Kevin Davies- Since arriving from Arsenal in August, Touré’s form has been questionable. At times outstanding, at others disastrous, consistency has so far evaded the Ivorian. Davies, meanwhile, has been his usual menacing self. Often regarded as one of the hardest strikers to mark in England, his physicality and workrate will require both concentration and determination from Touré. If he switches off, City are in trouble.

Shaun Wright-Phillips vs. Paul Robinhson- With Craig Bellamy ruled out through injury, surely this is a perfect opportunity for Wright-Phillips to cement a place in Mancini’s side. The winger has been unspectacular this season, but hasn’t had much playing time recently. With aspirations of playing at the World Cup this summer, he needs to start performing well consistently. A date with a tactically naive and one-paced Robinson must be the perfect springboard.

Lee Chung-Yong vs. Wayne Bridge- South Korean Lee has been in sensational form this season for Bolton. Signed from FC Seoul for £2million in August, he has vision, dribbling ability, is a fantastic crosser of the ball with an eye for goal, and has been dubbed in his homeland as ‘the Korean Hleb’. Wayne Bridge has been embroiled in personal controversies recently, but will need to be fully concentrated on Tuesday to nullify Lee’s certain threat.

So, it’s the meeting of the Premier League’s two most newly appointed managers. While Coyle slowly rings the changes and goes about securing Bolton’s top flight status for another year, the beads of sweat will be dripping from Mancini’s brow. His targets have been set, and time is running out to deliver. It should be a fascinating clash, the outcome of which is difficult to call- will City’s famed inability to see off ‘lesser sides’ strike again, or will their class come to the fore?

Thank you to “Colin The King” of www.mancityfans.net for writing this excellent match preview.

The Tenacious Tigers versus The Classy Citizens

Well, I could have had a higher profile match to make my debut on the mancityfans.net journalistic rostrum but then again, I believe that this is a very big game in the scheme of things from now until the end of this season. I quantify this by stating that this is one of the so called “softer matches” that we are expected to take at least a draw from. However, we all know that The Tigers will provide a decent test on their own manor because they, like at least another eight teams in the Premier League, are dramatically involved in a chaotic survival fight and it appears that all of these teams are determined to ride for another season on the top division’s gravy train. I say gravy train but it’s more like clinging onto the rubber lifebelt that drapes precariously over the last dinghy to leave the Titanic due to the serious financial restraints that befall relegated teams.

Hull put up a decent show against Chelski earlier this week and quite deservedly gained an important and oh so precious point towards their ultimate goal of escaping relegation. On the face of it, a point against our favourite Russian Oligarchs would appear to be a major achievement but the statistics show that Chelski have been thwarted from maximum away points in exactly 50% of their league away games so far this season. One of those games ending in our beloved Blues taking the three points at Eastlands.

From a Tigers perspective, they currently sit third from bottom of the table on twenty one points along with no less than three other teams, with only goal difference separating the quartet. One of the problems being for them is that their much inferior goal difference basically means that they need an extra point more than their rivals to enable themselves to negate this deficit. A win against our City would be much cherished for this reason alone and just as significantly, a home win is more realistic for them than an away win because they are yet to win away from The KC Stadium this season.

From a City perspective, we currently mirror the Tigers status as we are in our own scrap at the top of the table and harbouring ambitions of at least a top four Chumps League finish. Our league away stats are very similar to Hull’s home stats and a Blues victory could quite easily propel us up into that coveted fourth position as the Mickey Mousers are embroiled in a potentially tough Merseyside derby and The Yids and The Villa could also cut each others’ throats at White Hart Lane. Although at this stage not as important, there is also the possibility that Chelski and the Gooners may also cut each others’ throats.

As I stated earlier, this is a very big game for us and we need to be well prepared, up for the challenge and I trust that Bobby The Manc selects the best players that are available to us, in the best formation.

The Tigers are a competitive bunch; however their Achilles heel is up front where their top scorers are winger Stephen Hunt with six goals and former Blue Geovanni with five goals. Phil “Orange Face” Brown usually utilises Geo quite sparingly so we will have to see if he selects him from the start or gives him a cameo appearance from the bench. I seem to remember Geo coming off the bench and scoring the only goal of the game for City not all that long ago. Let’s just hope that he is subdued if he makes an appearance! Hull turned down a £5million bid from Wolves this week for Mr Hunt and that may well turn out to be a shrewd, wise move by the Tigers, as Hunt is not without ability and he’s also a bit of a dirty fucler, which has served similar teams well in the past when in Hull’s predicament. A player that all of us should know is Nick Barmby who is still only fifty three years of age and must have at least ten more top flight seasons left in his tank. If he makes an appearance than I fear that we could be on the end of a severe thrashing due to his superior pace and killer goal scoring prowess.

City’s team could potentially possess a few changes from the side that beat Pompey last Sunday as Lescott and Bridge have been back in full training and Bobby The Manc may feel like we can rest a couple of our back four who have actually performed pretty good recently and he possibly will be considering using the two aforementioned defenders against Hull because of their experience even though they cannot be fully match fit. Bobby has a few options up front including Tevez, Bellers, Ade and SWP but It should be of no surprise if he chucks our new signing Adam Johnson straight into the fray, as he has done recently with the likes of Boyata. I know that a number of Blues will probably be more interested in who we have in midfield to combat the Tigers’ tenacity. This is the grey area as Vinny and Nige are doubtful and Gaz Barry has apparently been carrying an injury for quite a while. This may force Bobby’s hand to play Superman in a very attacking formation but this has its obvious risks and Mad Zabba may be used as our midfield enforcer wearing his Phantom Of The Opera mask!

Because we have so many doubts about which players we will have available for selection. This is a tricky result to call but if City are to achieve what we all want to achieve this season, then it is imperative that we nail the three points in this game, A draw may not be a poor result depending on how our rivals’ results pan out but I’ll nail my colours to the mast and tip a two nil victory to The Citizens.

Without trying to be condescending, Hull is a bit of a grey place that is littered with large council estates and not a lot else. The fuclers even closed one of my beloved greyhound racing tracks down recently! I am not privy to which battle cruisers are away friendly but I am sure that they do not sell Holts gary glitter so you may have to take your life into your own hands and sample whatever weird and wonderful ales that they serve around there. Hull does not have any known crew or firm to be wary of but there may be a handful of knuckle-grinders from the council estates that aspire to make a name for themselves. This will not present a problem because I have enlisted Blue Boy Lewis to have a nice little chat with Bingo with regard to self defence and BBL should be able to sort out any shenanigans with the assistance of a handful of our girls including Sister Of Fu and her more than able honchos.

In summary; a high tempo contest where we must not be afraid to stick a boot in now and again. A game that we must endeavour to stamp our superior class and authority on it.

Cum on you BLUUUUUUUE BEAUTIES!!!

Thanks to Burt of ManCityFans.Net for writing this preview.

Manchester City v Portsmouth

Match Preview
Sunday, January 31
Eastlands, 13:30

What a difference a Sheik makes …

Not too long ago Manchester City were regulars at the Lower Table Inn. European football was only a dream (thanks Robbie!) and players were sold to keep the club finances afloat.
At the same time Portsmouth was a club on the up. Thanks to a new, wealthy owner big names were brought in and the team steadily climbed the Premier League table. City were a selling club, Pompey a buying one. In short succession David James, Sylvain Distin and Andy Cole were all Redknapped to “a club with ambitions, and with the chance of winning trophies” - S. Distin.

End of January 2010, several managers and a few dodgy owners later, the changes in fortune could not be more contrasting. City – arguably the richest football club in the world – have a fourth spot and Champions League football in their sites. Yet they welcome to Eastlands, a Pompey team in crisis. The South Coast club is in dire straits on the pitch; only 4 wins and 15 points after roughly half of the season played, Pompey are firmly rooted to the bottom of the league. Off the pitch, matters are even worse. The club has continuously postponed paying staff and players wages, facilities are being closed or repossessed and the club’s official web site has even been switched off due to unpaid bills (it’s now back up again, after an agreement was made with the company running the site). The real sword of Damocles hanging over the Southerners, however, is a tax debt due February 10 which could lead to liquidation if not paid on time. Perhaps it’s no wonder that star defender Younes Kaboul is rumoured to return to Spurs for a whopping £11 million fee – a deal allegedly orchestrated behind the backs of manager Avram Grant and Chief Executive Peter Storrie.

Is there any credit left on Porthmouth’s accounts?

But it’s not all doom and gloom in the Hampshire city. The transfer ban imposed by the Premier League has recently been lifted (although with restrictions – the club is allowed to bring in players on loan or free transfer, but is still banned from buying players). As a result Tottenham player Jamie O’Hara has been able to continue his loan spell from the first half of the season. Pompey manager Avram Grant has also used the opportunity to strike a loan deal with Spartak Moscow for the former Arsenal, Birmingham and Cardiff winger Quincy Owusu-Abeyie.

Another thing for the faithful “Blues” to cherish is the recent form the disarrayed team has been displaying – Portsmouth are undefeated in their last four games. After seeing Coventry off in a replayed FA Cup tie, they went on to beat Sunderland in the fourth round. The streak was continued with a league draw against West Ham last Tuesday.

Meanwhile Manchester City are licking their wounds after Wednesday’s League Cup debacle against the reds from Trafford. From a City fan’s perspective one can only hope that defeat will fan the flames rather than dampen the mood in the changing room. Causing further unrest at City is the agreed loan deal to Santos for starlet Robinho. The Brazilian international hopes to increase his chances of a starting spot in the Brazil team for this summer’s World Cup in South Africa. What City will gain from the deal is less obvious.

Robinho – have we seen the back of him?

There is also plenty of speculation about City’s Zimbabwean striker, Benjamin Mwaruwari, joining the Black Cats. If true then it leaves new City gaffer, Roberto Mancini, little time to find reinforcements to the sky blue strike force.

benji or whoopi?

Predicting the Pompey team for Sunday’s match is very much a process of elimination. With Kaboul probably on his way back to London and with three other players, among them the former Arsenal striker Kanu, still absent due to the African Cup of Nations, it’s slim pickings for Avram Grant. As previously mentioned O’Hara is back from Spurs but it is still uncertain if new loan player, Owusu-Abeyie, will get his international clearance on time. Tuesday’s game against West Ham saw Grant only register three substitutes, but he should be able to travel with a full squad for Sunday’s game.

For City the results in the African Cup of Nations have been more favourable. Both Ivorian centre back Kolo Touré and Togolese strike Emanuel Adebayor are back in the country and fit for a fight. Touré looks likely to replace teenage defender Boyata, who’s gotten plenty of game time under new City boss Mancini. Adebayor is also likely to start in what should be a very attacking City line up.
On the injury list are Lescott, Santa Cruz and no-refund signing Patrick Viera.

With Pompey top scorer Aruna Dindane having left the team (another sign of Portsmouth’s tragic financial state – French club Lens refused to extend the loan deal due to fear of not being reimbursed properly), it is hard to find danger men in the Portsmouth squad to warn about. However, tradition states that ex-City players always score against City and a word of caution has to be said about centre back Tal Ben Haim. After being out favour from day one in Manchester, the Israel international has found his place on the South Coast, becoming a regular starter in the Pompey line-up.

It will be very interesting to see what Adebayor can accomplish after his long absence. A match against the weakest team in the league should be a good opportunity to show his new boss that he is fit for the starting eleven. It will also be interesting to see if Mancini will adapt a more attacking style of play. A 4-4-2 formation with Tevez and Adebayor up front and Steven Ireland the pinnacle of a midfield diamond sounds a tempting prospect.

Prediction… With City being City, and with this looking like the ideal moment for a good ol’ carnage, I fear we will struggle on Sunday. Portsmouth’s off the pitch predicaments also seem to have brought the squad closer together. That said, the difference in quality between the two teams should prove to be decisive. I predict a 4-1 City victory, but only after a very difficult first 75 minutes.

Thank you to mr_nool, a member of www.mancityfans.net for this preview. Special thanks to LMIOMCFDN for editorial expertise also.

Manchester United vs. Manchester City- Carling Cup 2nd Leg
27/01/2010

If the average Manchester derby is tense, exciting and unpredictable, how can words possibly describe this occasion? The prize of course is more significant than pride, bragging rights. The winner of this particular scrap is going to Wembley for the Carling Cup final. A formality, United fans might tell you- but at 2-1 down thanks to Carlos Tevez’ brace last Tuesday, the reality is somewhat different. And for City’s long suffering supporters, this might just be the biggest game in a generation. Not just a victory over the hated next door neighbours, nor only a first cup final in 28 years. No. This is the chance to tell the world- “City are back”.

In anticipation of such a big game, the mudslinging has been in full force this week. Gary Neville reckons Carlos Tevez is a waste of money, despite 17 goals in 23 appearances thus far. Carlos Tevez reckons Gary Neville is, and I quote, ‘an absolute boot licker’. Alex Ferguson, meanwhile, reckons City lack the mental strength to see out the tie. In 24 hours, the talking will come to an end and all eyes will be locked to the pitch.

Thanks to their humiliating FA Cup exit to League One’s Leeds at Old Trafford, United faced Hull City in the Premier League at the weekend and, frighteningly, Wayne Rooney bagged four goals without reply. City faced lowly Scunthorpe at Glanford Park, though, and scored four goals of their own- Martin Petrov, Nedum Onuoha, Sylvinho and Robinho sending the Blues through to round five where Stoke City will come to Eastlands hoping to upset the applecart.

Key Players-

Nigel de Jong: The tenacious Dutchman was outstanding in the first leg at Eastlands, and a similar level of performance is needed to see City through. United will look to dominate possession and press forward at every opportunity, but de Jong is perfectly capable of limiting their threat. If he has an off day, however, the Reds will capitalise and dominate.

Carlos Tevez: With 17 goals so far this season, the Argentine hitman has rapidly earned a place in the hearts of City fans everywhere. A brace to win the game last Tuesday only strengthened that bond- should he damage United further on their own patch tomorrow, it might be time to start building the statue.

Wayne Rooney: Four goals on Saturday underlined the scintillating form he’s in this season- City’s defenders did remarkably well to stop him from scoring last week, but at Old Trafford the test only gets harder. Without doubt United’s best player, if Rooney’s influence is stopped it makes the task of overcoming United significantly easier.

Thanks to the Ivory Coast’s exit from the African Cup of Nations, Captain Koló Toure returns to Manchester although the chances of him starting must be slim. Emmanuel Adebayor has returned following the devastating Togo bus shooting, and according to mancityfans.net training expert Douglas Higginbotham, the striker is looking sharp and confident. He may well be involved in some capacity. Meanwhile, Wayne Bridge is in full training after a long lay-off and should be capable of returning to action within two weeks. Patrick Vieira will miss tomorrow’s game but is expected to be fit for the visit of Portsmouth on Sunday. Roque Santa Cruz, Joleon Lescott and Michael Johnson remain sidelined.

For United, Rio Ferdinand returned at the weekend and may well feature, while Alex Ferguson must decide whether to prioritise this encounter or the trip to Arsenal at the weekend- that will determine the involvement of certain key players.

So, for all the argument and speculation, the big moment is only a matter of hours away. When United and City run out onto the Old Trafford pitch, the words will become insignificant- the talking will be done on the pitch. Can a huge statement of intent be made, or will normal service resume?

We’ll soon find out.

Many thanks to Colin the King of ManCityFans.Net for writing this preview