Easter Monday's Chocolate B*ll*x

[Chinners]

Manchester City's transfer spending in the summer restricted by European fair play rules
Manchester City will embark on their smallest summer spending spree since Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan’s September 2008 takeover if the club fail to qualify for the Champions League this season.
With the anticipated departures of Carlos Tévez, Emmanuel Adebayor, Shay Given, Wayne Bridge, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Roque Santa Cruz and Jo likely to raise more than £70 million this summer, City will still be able to generate a substantial transfer fund from selling players.
But without the financial rewards of Champions League participation, which could generate more than £40 million in new income, City risk falling foul of Uefa’s Financial Fair Play regulations if they rely on Sheikh Mansour’s personal wealth to bankroll another huge transfer outlay.
City, who can move four points clear of Tottenham and consolidate fourth position with a victory against Blackburn at Ewood Park on Monday, spent in excess of £125 million on new players in the summers of both 2009 and 2010 as the club dwarfed the spending of their rivals.
But with the 2011-12 season being the first monitoring period of FFP, which will require clubs to balance their books by 2015, a failure to secure Champions League football will force City to tailor their transfer plans without the financial boost from Uefa’s premier competition. Uefa is to allow clubs to register losses up to a total of €45 million (almost £40 million) over three years from 2011 in preparation for FFP, but City’s accounts, which revealed a loss of £121 million for the year ending May 31, 2010, show the problems if they fail to qualify for the Champions League.
Prize money and TV revenue from the Champions League would provide a major injection of football-generated income, but playing among Europe’s elite would also bring the possibility of stadium naming rights and other commercial opportunities.
Although Udinese’s Chilean forward Alexis Sánchez is a £30 million target – a move likely to be funded by the proceeds from Tévez’s departure – City’s transfer plans for the summer are understood to be far less advanced than 12 months ago, when the club had already identified James Milner, David Silva and Jérôme Boateng as priority signings.
With City facing relegation-haunted Blackburn and West Ham this week, manager Roberto Mancini said: “Our next two games are against teams fighting against relegation and that makes them very, very dangerous.”

Mancini urges City to forget Wembley in quest to end away drought
Not since Boxing Day have Manchester City won a Premier League game on the road but if they can end that run at Blackburn Rovers this evening the reward will be some breathing space in the quest for a fourth-place finish and the accompanying promise of a place in the Champions League.
Their last game away from Eastlands may have been the Wembley triumph over Manchester United but manager Roberto Mancini instead reminded his players of their previous League game, a dire 3-0 defeat at Liverpool, in an attempt to keep feet on the ground. The message of "forget Wembley" is a mantra repeated across the squad, especially as it is the Champions League the club's Abu Dhabi owners crave more than most.
"We have to put that all to the back of our minds now and concentrate in finishing in the Champions League spots," said Shaun Wright-Phillips. "We're all ready for this game. Blackburn's always a hard place to go so we are prepared for a tough game. I don't think they have ever played badly against us."
City defender Pablo Zabaleta said the spirit of their FA Cup semi-final win over United should be used as inspiration. "We need to be the same as we were against United," said the Argentina international. "The game after an important win can just be as important. The passion and concentration was 100 per cent, but when you go to a lower-placed team it's sometimes different.
"Last season we were very close and it went to the last home game. We need to get to the Tottenham game two or three points ahead."
For Mancini, the lacklustre first-half showing at Liverpool last time, which saw them trail by three goals, still remains fresh in the memory. "We must remember the Liverpool game," he warned. "We have to do better than that so we know the Blackburn game is very important. It is time we started to win away again."
For a side that has struggled for goals all season, the absence of Carlos Tevez may be felt more than ever in the run-in. Much will rest on the shoulders of strikers Edin Dzeko and Mario Balotelli. "The most important thing is that Edin continues to work hard," added Mancini. "If he does that I'm sure the goals will start flowing for him again."

Mario Balotelli car in pound 27 times
MARIO BALOTELLI has notched up nearly £10,000 in parking fines and had his luxury car impounded 27 TIMES, The Sun can reveal.
The Manchester City star has left liaison officers at the club tearing their hair out as they have had to go back time and time again to reclaim his Maserati. The £100,000-a-week Italian striker has had an average of three parking tickets a DAY since he signed for the Premier League club last year. A source at the club said: "Mario will drive from his luxury apartment to a restaurant a few streets away and leave the car on double yellows. "The other week the Maserati misfired so he just abandoned it. Staff have had to bail it out 27 times. "The valet the club uses empties the glovebox of tickets every time he cleans it. Mario doesn't seem to care. It's a drop in the ocean to him." The source added: "Mario was pulled over by the police and he had £25,000 cash on the passenger seat. They asked him why and he said, 'Because I can'. He doesn't care much for authority."
Balotelli has also paid £300,000 in club fines, most recently for throwing darts at a youth team player.
And on the field he has had ten yellow cards and two reds in only 24 appearances.

Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart backed to beat Peter Shilton record
Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart has been backed to overtake Peter Shilton and win a record amount of caps for England.
Shilton made the number one spot his own with 125 appearances for the nation in a glorious career.
Now Hart, 24, has established himself as England manager Fabio Capello's first choice and taken his tally to 10 caps.
Capello's decision came on the back of City manager Roberto Mancini handing Hart the jersey instead of Shay Given at the start of the campaign following a season-long loan spell at Birmingham.
Hart is due to face Blackburn at Ewood Park tonight and former City goalkeeper Joe Corrigan is thrilled with the shot-stopper's progress.
Corrigan, who made 603 appearances for the club and won nine England caps, told BBC Radio Manchester: "I was a little bit envious when he got past my total.
"He is a young boy with fantastic potential. I can only see him getting better and better.
"If he does he will be there for a very long time. He could go on and beat Peter Shilton's record. If he keeps his feet on the ground, Joe has got a great chance."
Corrigan was in the City team that lifted the League Cup in 1976 - the last time the club won a major trophy.
Hart and company could be about to end 35 years of hurt as they face Stoke in the FA Cup final on May 14 following the 1-0 semi-final victory against Manchester United.
Hart made two crucial saves from Dimitar Berbatov and Nani at Wembley to keep City on level terms.
"Joe was absolutely brilliant as he has been all season," Corrigan added.
"As a goalkeeper all you have to do is keep the ball out of the net. It's that simple. If you come off with a clean sheet you have done your job."
Mancini could be tempted to name an unchanged line-up against Steve Kean's struggling side.
Italy striker Mario Balotelli looks set to retain his place following the victory over United as Carlos Tevez has a hamstring injury.
With defender Micah Richards also absent with a similar problem, Pablo Zabaleta is set to stay in the team following the Wembley triumph

NSFW - WAG OF THE DAY
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1418702/i ... _magazine/

OTHER BOLLOX
England playmaker Joe Cole will be dumped by Liverpool after only a season with the Anfield club. the Sun

Spanish club Espanyol are keen to sign Aston Villa defender Carlos Cuellar, who has made only 12 Premier League appearances this season. Daily Mirror

Liverpool are reportedly planning a move to sign Arsenal left back Gael Clichy. Caught Offside

Birmingham midfielder Sebastian Larsson is a target for local rivals Newcastle and Sunderland. Daily Mirror

Portsmouth expect to be in Russian hands by the end of this week after Dorset-based Vladimir Antonov agreed a £17m takeover deal with current owner Balram Chainrai. Daily Mail

Blackpool players have voted on their player of the season - and it's not Charlie Adam but fellow midfielder David Vaughan. Adam may have been a PFA Player of the Year nominee but in the Bloomfield Road dressing room he has to bow to Vaughan, whose return from a three-week injury lay-off coincided with a vastly improved Blackpool performance in Saturday's 1-1 draw with Newcastle. Daily Mail

Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney is the latest footballer to join social networking site Twitter. The England star already has nearly 150,000 followers. the Sun

[Wooders]

I am glad this story of us not having much money to spend in the summer is doing the rounds - will hopefully stop other clubs for asking us for silly money for average players

[kinkylola]

I agree, and I also think it doesn't necessarily do us much good constantly buying new players. There are areas we need to improve, but now that we've had our big push, and we've shown that this squad has quality to be contenders, let's focus on solidifying as a team and improving our consistency. Bring in 5 new faces to start/rotate every transfer window is fun to read about, but in reality it hurts team dynamics.

that being said, there are areas that we should look to improve, so ... a bit of a catch 22 I suppose.