Wednesday's B*ll*x

[Chinners]

Manchester City 1970 League Cup final shirt on target to reach its £3,000 goal

City’s Glynn Pardoe, Harry Dowd, Mike Doyle, Francis Lee, Neil Young and Tommy Booth celebrate victory in 1970 City’s Glynn Pardoe, Harry Dowd, Mike Doyle, Francis Lee, Neil Young and Tommy Booth celebrate victory in 1970
A famous black and red Manchester City shirt worn by a goalscorer in the 1970 Football League cup final is set to sell for more than £3,000 at auction.The long-sleeved Umbro number four shirt, which was worn by Mike Doyle, was owned by the late Joe Mercer, who managed the team for their Wembley cup final victory.
Now the shirt and other football mementoes owned by Mercer’s family have been put up for sale and the whole collection is expected to fetch around £11,000 at Bonhams in Chester later today.
The Doyle shirt is the most valuable item in the Mercer collection. Manchester City were trailing 1-0 against West Bromwich Albion in the Football League Cup final on March 7, 1970, before Doyle scored the equaliser to send the game into extra time, when Glyn Pardoe scored the winner.
Doyle, now 64, made 448 league appearances for City in the 1960s and 1970s and played for England five times.
Another red and black striped Manchester City shirt, also owned by Mercer, is expected to fetch between £600 and £1,000 at the auction.
It is a spare shirt from the FA Cup final at Wembley, on April 26, 1969, when City beat Leicester City 1-0 with a goal from the late Neil Young. The shirt features a City badge and the words ‘Wembley 1969.’
Other items in the collection include tickets, pin badges, programmes, a signed copy of Dixie Dean’s biography, FA Cup ribbons limited edition coins.
Mercer,who created and managed City between 1965 and 1971, died on his 76th birthday on August 9, 1990.

Bellers MuEN Bollox
Yesterday most of the media reported Craig Bellamy being lined up for the vaccant Cardiff City post. It now seems he's likely to turn it down as being too early a job for him as reported again by large parts of the media ... all except the good old MuEN who report him taking the post a day after everyone else ...
http://menmedia.co.uk/sport/football/ma ... rdiff-post



OTHER BOLLOX
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is readying a bid for Blackpool playmaker Charlie Adam. Ferguson is looking to replace Paul Scholes, who announced his retirement from the game on Tuesday. Caught Offside

Tottenham midfielder Luka Modric is at the heart of Ferguson's planned £50m summer overhaul at Old Trafford. Daily Mirror

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney expects Ferguson to bring in some major signings to try to close the gap on Barcelona, who beat the Red Devils in the Champions League final at the weekend. Daily Express

Wingers Ashley Young and Stewart Downing have hinted they want to leave Aston Villa by revealing their desire to play in the Champions League. Daily Star

Arsenal may be forced to sell midfielder Samir Nasri if they fail to agree a new deal with the France international. Daily Mail

Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner is set for a £12m summer move, with Bayern Munich expected to make a bid. Daily Mirror

Liverpool see Monaco forward Benjamin Moukandjo as an alternative to Lille's Gervinho, who would cost more money. Metro

Chelsea could be on the verge of clinching a deal for Santos forward Neymar after sources claimed his agent had flown to London to hold transfer talks. Metro

But former Manchester City striker Robinho, who is currently at AC Milan, believes Brazil team-mate Neymar would be better suited to a move to Barcelona than Stamford Bridge. Daily Mail

Chelsea winger Yuri Zhirkov wants to leave the Blues for more first-team football. the Sun

Arsenal and Liverpool are battling it out for the signature of Standard Liege's £10m-rated midfielder Axel Witsel, who has shown an increasing desire to move to the Premier League. Footylatest

Millwall are holding out for up to £3m from Norwich for Steve Morison as 25% of any fee received will go to the striker's former club Stevenage. the Sun

Losing Championship play-off finalists Reading face a battle to hold on to Shane Long, with Scottish club Celtic among the clubs hoping to sign the forward. Daily Express

Former Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce has signed a £3m deal to be Championship side West Ham's new manager. He will also be paid a seven-figure bonus if he leads the London club back to the Premier League. the Sun

Former West Ham defender Alvin Martin has claimed that if anyone can keep midfielder Scott Parker at the club it is Allardyce. TalkSPORT

Chelsea are happy to wait a further year before securing the services of Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola and, in the meantime, they will put current Turkey manager Guus Hiddink at the helm for 12 months. Footybunker

Chelsea midfielder Florent Malouda has asked for a new contract but does not know if the club want him to stay. the Sun

Fulham boss Mark Hughes will become a free agent if he fails to trigger his rolling contract with the Craven Cottage club. The Welshman heads Aston Villa's five-man shortlist to replace Gerard Houllier as manager of the Midlands club. Daily Mail

Blackburn's penalty spot - from which Wayne Rooney scored the goal that confirmed Manchester United as Premier League champions for the 19th time - has gone on sale on eBay. Metro

[bobby brows]

Today's Rumour Mill from the Guardian:

Given the gulf between Manchester United and Barcelona in Saturday's Champions League final, a footballing lesson dished out with the simple severity of a ruler across the knuckles, it's tempting to see United's summer recruitment attempt through the prism of "Trying-To-Catch-Barcelona".

However, seen through said prism, the fact that Sir Alex Ferguson is apparently "readying" a bid for Blackpool's Charlie Adam to replace Paul Scholes is rather underwhelming. A fine player though Adam is, he's not likely to have Xavi and Andrés Iniesta quivering in their twinkly-toed boots.

But that's unfair. At the moment, catching Barcelona is a futile endeavour, like trying to bottle the wind or put sunshine in a box. In terms of the Premier League, Adam would be a sound acquisition. Think about it like that. Ignore the looming overwhelming unmovable shadow cast by the club of Catalunya. It's the only way.

"He's got to be ... Moukandjo," Kenny Dalglish is singing as he makes his way to the money men at Anfield. "He's got to be ... Moukandjo. He's got to be big and strong, enough to turn me on," he continues, before coming to the conclusion that summer target Monaco's Benjamin Moukandjo may need a different chant if the Kop are going to take to it.

Aston Villa want Mark Hughes to step into Gérard Houllier's sizable but slightly scuffed loafers in the Villa Park dugout. The Fulham manager heads a list of candidates that also includes David Moyes, Carlo Ancelotti, Rafa Benítez and Martin Jol.

Decidedly overrated set-piece-taking Swede Seb Larsson is a free-transfer target for Aston Villa, Liverpool, Everton and Sunderland.

Chelsea and Liverpool have been told they will have to pay £12m if they want to sign Vurnon Anita from Ajax after the defensive midfielder signed up to a new deal that includes a £12m release clause. And Fulham and Spurs have also been told that only £17.5m will be enough to persuade Espanyol to part with Dani Osvaldo. The Cottagers' £10.5m bid has been laughed off by the Spanish club. And not wanting to be left out of all the bossing about, Millwall have told Norwich to stump up £3m for Steve Morison or they'll flog him to a Rangers, and they don't care whether it's the one in Scotland or the one in west London.

Arsenal and Liverpool have stripped to the waist, smeared their rippling torso's with grease and adopted crouched, snarling postures in preparation for a battle to the death, or at least a battle to the slightly-twanged hamstring, over the services of Standard Liège's £10m-rated midfielder Axel Witsel.

Belgian wunderkind Romalu Lukaku wants his future sorted sharpish. "I would like my future settled by next Monday," said the 19-year-old. "My college exams start the next day and I don't want any other concerns." Sources suggest the striker will have to make time for signing an £18m move to Chelsea in his revision timetable.

What have super-rich Saudi club Al Hilal got in common with Cardiff City? They both want Martin O'Neill to be their next manager.

And Jimmy Bullard is ready to swap the throb and clank of life in Hull for the sway and lilt of life in Norwich.


PS: It's SOS, by Abba.

[bobby brows]

Is this potentially the quiet before the storm when it comes to city?

The last two summers no rumous meant transfers!

[Chinners]

You must have been hiding then BB ... the papers were packed with nothing but rumours about us! - off day, normal bollox will return soon I have no doubt

[Kladze]

That WAG is decidedly average.