Thursday's B*ll*x

[Chinners]

Mario Balotelli not in Manchester City's future plans - Roberto Mancini
Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has informed Mario Balotelli that he won’t be required for the next ‘few matches’, as he looks to juggle an attacking line-up of Sergio Aguero, Edin Dzeko and Carlos Tevez.
The former Inter Milan striker has had to settle for just one appearance off the bench this season, and while the Italian manager considers himself fortunate to have Balotelli in his ranks, he’s warned the temperamental 21-year-old he may have to get used to a minor role.
‘I count myself very lucky to rely on four strikers, especially in a situation where the team needs to play every three days. I can have a good turnover of the strikers,’ said Mancini.
‘For now Mario will have to adapt to the situation, he will not be playing for the next few matches.
Champions League-chasing Mancini, did however, have words of encouragement for another one of his unsettled forwards, and insisted last season’s top scorer Tevez remains an important part of his plans.
‘Dzeko and Aguero are great players and Tevez has nothing to be afraid of,’ he added.
‘He is a player who always gives 100% performance and doesn't need to prove himself. He has already done so.’

Weaver: Man City can win the Champions League
Nicky Weaver has told talkSHIT that there is no reason Manchester City can’t win the Champions League this season.
City are set to make their Champions League bow tonight against Serie A side Napoli, and go into the game as firm favourites with bookies to go further than 2008 finalists Chelsea.
And former City goalkeeper Weaver insists that this isn’t just hype around the club, claiming they have the players with experience at the highest level to go all the way.
When asked if Man City could win the Champions League, Weaver told Drivetime: “I don’t see why not. They’ve got a lot of players that have played at the highest level across Europe.
“Tottenham did really well last year in their debut season [in the Champions League] and I’m sure City will do well too.
“It’s a new thing for the club, the spectators will absolutely love it and I think it is a great time to be associated with Man City.”

Khaldoon star trek for Next Generation as City take on Barcelona
During a rare lunch with Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak last season, it became clear just how exacting the standards of those running the world's richest club can be.
Talking about a youth system that had brought dozens of players through to the fringes of the club's first team over the past decade, it was surprising to learn that Khaldoon was not particularly impressed with the results.
How many of those players, he asked, could stand shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi at Barcelona?
On Thursday night at Hyde United's ground, the early stages of City's attempt to nurture the best young players in Europe will be evident as the club's Elite Development Squad take on Barcelona in the first group game of the NextGen series.
The concept of the tournament is simple. The best young players from some of Europe's top clubs face each other in what is effectively a Champions League for up-and-coming talent.
City's team will feature Denis Suarez - a Spanish attacking midfielder - Dutch central defender Karin Rekik, 16, and an Italian striker called Luca Scapuzzi, who is 20.
While the club insist they remain committed to finding the best British talent - England Under 16 winger Alex Henshall may play - it is clear that under Abu Dhabi ownership the net has been cast wide to find the best.
Rekik was signed from Feyenoord, while Scapuzzi came from AC Milan's academy.
This is how it has been at clubs like Manchester United, Arsenal, and Chelsea for some time.
City - as is often the case - are catching up quickly.
Liverpool drew 1-1 with Wolfsburg at Anfield on Wednesday night thanks to a late equaliser from Hungarian striker Kistian Adorjan, 18.

[spoiler][/spoiler]

OTHER BOLLOX
Everton boss David Moyes has conceded he may be forced to sell Marouane Fellaini if the star midfielder refuses to sign a new contract. Daily Mirror

Blackpool boss Ian Holloway is making a shock bid to sign free agent El Hadji Diouf on a deal that could be worth around £14,000-a-week. Daily Mirror

AC Milan are lining up a surprise swap deal with Chelsea involving Fernando Torres and Robinho. talkSHIT

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is weighing up a move for two more Brazilian starlets. talkSHIT

Arsenal target Marvin Martin has hinted that he could still make the move to England, despite signing a new contract with Sochaux. talkSHIT

Tottenham Hotspur are rumoured to be taking a look at Sporting Lisbon right back Joao Pereira. Caught Offside

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is pondering a swoop for Real Madrid's Esteban Granero. The Sun

Spurs manager Harry Redknapp has admitted that despite the pressures associated with the job, he would not be able to turn down the chance to become Fabio Capello's successor as England manager next year. Daily Mirror

Chelsea's under-fire striker Fernando Torres has been warned not to speak out against his Blues team-mates again, or risk facing the wrath of manager Andre Villas-Boas. Metro

Defender Richard Dunne reckons he has got "a new lease of life" at Aston Villa and believes the entire side have rediscovered their "fight" following manager Gerard Houllier's exit from the club. Daily Mirror

Sir Alex Ferguson reacted angrily to questions asked by Kelly Cates - the daughter of Kenny Dalglish - during a television interview. The United manager was put on the spot about his decision to play Anders Lindegaard instead of David de Gea. Daily Mail

Juan Mata has been assigned a locker next to fellow Spaniard Fernando Torres to help the pair settle at the club. Manager Andre Villas-Boas is desperate to turn around Torres' Chelsea career. Daily Mail

Blackburn supporters are turning the heat up on the club's owners to sack manager Steve Kean. Daily Express

Mark Wright, star of reality TV Show The Only Way is Essex, is hoping to get amongst the goals on the football pitch after being snapped up by Heybridge Swifts and is in line to go straight into their starting XI for their FA Cup first qualifying round against Lowestoft Town. Metro

[Dronny]

Nice Wag, thanks Chinners!

[Beefymcfc]

So, Mario's got to prove himself. Good to see Mancini taking a hard-line on this one.

[Ted Hughes]

'Talking about a youth system that had brought dozens of players through to the fringes of the club's first team over the past decade, it was surprising to learn that Khaldoon was not particularly impressed with the results.'

Lost count of the number of times I tried to explain on here, that it was the bosses, not Mark Hughes, who were keenest to rip up the academy system & start again. It was the first thing Khaldoon looked at when they arrived. They don't want to spend £100m per year on signings & a system which produces Joey Barton & SWP as it's top creative players is no use whatsoever to a club which wants to win the Champion's Lg.

It's strange that threads on this subject only tend to get a few comments as, imo, the academy is at the top of our owner's agenda; the most important part of the club.

[Chinners]

Mancini Scouting £35m European Champion To Complete The City Masterplan

Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets is Roberto Mancini ’s number one target for the January transfer window, according to Itasportspress. City enter their debut season in the Champions League this year, and though there are a number of players with experience in Europe’s elite tournament, only Carlos Tevez and Yaya Toure possess a winners medal, and the City boss is reportedly keen on adding Busquets to his squad in January, with the Spaniard already a European Champion with Barcelona last year, and back in 2009.
Busquets used to keep Yaya Toure out of the Barca side, however the Ivorian has been given a more attacking role at Manchester City since his arrival last year, and so his place in the side is unlikely to come under threat should they be reunited. Mancini tends to deploy Gareth Barry or Nigel de Jong as City’s ‘defensive midfielder’, and it seems likely that one of these two would miss out should Busquets complete a move to Manchester.
Busquets has become a regular part of the Barcelona set-up, and has established himself as one of La Liga’s top midfielders, though the arrival of Cesc Fabregas in the summer has raised questions over the midfield that Pep Guardiola is most likely to go with on a regular basis.
Whether or not Barca would be willing to part company with Busquets remains to be seen, though an offer of £35million will surely force the club to at least consider sanctioning such a move. With both Xavi and Iniesta almost certain of a place in the Barcelona starting XI, and Cesc Fabregas completing a £30m move to the Nou Camp last month, Busquet’s place in the side is far from guaranteed. The Spaniard may also feel he has achieved all he can with Barcelona, and the appeal of Premier League football may be difficult to turn down.
One thing seems certain: we can expect City to come back in to the transfer market in January with the same intent and financial power as always, and with them already reportedly lining up bids for European Champions such as Busquets, both the quality and quantity of players at Mancini’s disposal this time next year looks set to be greater than ever. And there doesn’t seem to be much we can do about it.




Real Madrid winger Cristiano Ronaldo has had his own say on the Dinamo Zagreb fans who booed him during their Champions League clash in Croatia on Wednesday. Following Real's 1-0 win, Ronaldo said: "It's surely because I'm good-looking, rich and a great footballer. They're jealous of me. I don't have any other explanation."


how about being a modest cunt?

[ian494]

how about being a [strike]modest[/strike] cunt?

There you go fixed it for you ;-)

[Chinners]

Reality check, really? Sky Sports understands it's B*ll*x
Alex Dunn feels Manchester City deserve more praise for a creditable bow in the UEFA Champions League than they have been afforded by many.

Mancini: May not have enjoyed all of the morning's headlines.
The ink is black. The page is white. There is no in-between. Scanning through this morning's written press it would appear football is just as straightforward. The need to cast definitive judgement after 90 minutes has become absolute. In this sense football is becoming no more rational than Heat magazine. The age of circling Tevez's thighs to expose cellulite is nigh. Hot or not - there is no in-between.

Only the churlish, Manchester United supporters or those predisposed to loathing the mega-monied would have enjoyed Manchester City's return to Europe's premier competition after 43 years. Napoli were cast as Simon Cowell in puncturing the inflated ego of a deluded wannabe as City were put to the sword with a ruthlessness normally reserved to Camorra hit-men.

Except this didn't really happen, did it? It makes for an interesting news angle but were City really inferior to Napoli? Do they really need to improve drastically if they are to dine at Europe's top table without embarrassing themselves? Is Roberto Mancini currently sat in a box questioning his very existence with only a borrowed copy of Joey Barton's boil in bag cod-philosophies for company?

Hesitant City given worrying taste of life in the fast lane - The Daily Telegraph

City learn some harsh lessons - The Times

Europe's top table provides a harsh reality check for Mancini - The Independent

Reality check for the pretenders to Europe's crown - Daily Mail

For those City fans who decided the potential of Kirsty and Phil's unsated sexual banter finally being consummated on-screen justified empty seats inside the Etihad, flicking to the back pages must have made for grim reading on the morning commute.

The problem is that the spectacle is no longer enough. That a game at the normally pre-ordained group stage baulked tradition in being genuinely absorbing has largely been overlooked in favour of a dissection that sees fans and hacks united in waving the scalpel with abandon. God knows why Norman Mailer dedicated a whole book to the 1975 World Heavyweight Boxing Championship in Zaire when he could have simply surmised 'Ali King, Foreman stick to your grill'.

There is no doubt the game raised the odd glitch in Roberto Mancini's masterplan but on this evidence, City are undoubtedly heading in the right direction. In fact, it would be fair to say it is us, the media, more in need of a reality check than Mancini. For is it not he who has ridiculed early approximations of his side as being an English Barcelona? It is not the atypically staid Italian who has always spoken with unerring good sense when the rest of us have been left with a well-thumbed thesaurus in the search for that elusive adjective which best describes avalanches of goals against Swansea, Bolton and Tottenham respectively?

That Napoli were excellent is not up for debate. City can learn much from the way they set out to play a counter-attacking game away from home, whilst simultaneously taking the contest to their hosts. It's a tough tactic to pull off but the brilliantly animated Walter Mazzarri - replete with the best bomber jacket since Steve McQueen's in the Great Escape - orchestrated it with aplomb. At the back Napoli's three centre-halves were typically Italian; at times brutal but every hatchet job was followed up with a wide-eyed expression of innocence that suggested they were good Catholic boys at heart. Sergio Aguero's shins may beg to differ.

It was further up the field though where they really impressed. A much-feted front three of Edison Cavani, Ezequiel Ivan Lavezzi and Marek Hamsik were as interchangeable as they were excellent all evening. The astuteness of the former's movement was matched by his team-mates' capacity to find him and when Cavani broke the deadlock after a counter-attack that saw Christian Maggio punish Gareth Barry's profligacy with a lightning raid and perfectly weighted pass, it looked as if only Diego of the Aguero/Maradona clan would end the night with a smile on his face.

Here was the lesson then. A £50million+ rated striker, who scored 34 goals last season, will punish you if given the chance. Why didn't Mancini think of that?

In reality neither Mancini nor City need a reality check. For all the money, characters and egos that make up City's dressing room there has been precious little noise about how they'll fare in Europe this season. Mario Balotelli is too busy on his iPad these days and Carlos Tevez seems to have cried himself out.

The reality is that this was an entertaining game between two good sides willing to trade blows. It was a game that again dispelled any lingering doubt that Mancini might be tempted to resurrect his disciples of dour mantra of last season. And for that we should all be grateful.

Much has been made of whether City overplayed in the final third, with Samir Nasri's presence raising suspicion the Frenchman has brought a dose of the 'tippy-tappy' lurgy with him from Arsenal. It didn't seem to be a problem when they stuck five past Tottenham on his debut but that won't stop calls for him to wear a bell in his boots at the weekend.

There's a thin line between overplaying and patience and in the first half especially they were on the right side of it. There was the odd superfluous pass on the edge of Napoli's box but City will not be alone in becoming frustrated by a well organised Italian backline. I'm sure if it were at all possible one of City's players would have stopped all the fannying about and raked it in from 30-yards but apparently that's quite difficult too.

The easy option would have been to go longer to Edin Dzeko but given the short passing style they employed presented openings for 11 attempts on target and two crashing efforts against Napoli's crossbar, there seems little overtly wrong their approach.

Adam Johnson's bright cameo off the substitutes' bench provided City with a lift at a time when in fairness Napoli appeared to have worked them out but to suggest they are 'too narrow' when using Nasri in tandem with David Silva is as premature as the claim they are the new Barcelona. Of course at times City will need width, in the same way that away from home they might have to employ a lone front-man to accommodate an extra holding midfielder or go for Pablo Zabaleta's defensive stability over Micah Richards' buccaneering spirit, but these are choices that should be viewed in isolation rather than drawn as overriding conclusions.

Had either Aguero or Yaya Toure directed their efforts an inch lower the headlines would have been of City setting down a marker - 'Watch out Barca, City are coming for you!'

Maybe the only lesson Roberto Mancini needs to learn is that an inch goes a long way in football

[Original Dub]

Reality check, really? Sky Sports understands it's B*ll*x
Alex Dunn feels Manchester City deserve more praise for a creditable bow in the UEFA Champions League than they have been afforded by many.

Mancini: May not have enjoyed all of the morning's headlines.
The ink is black. The page is white. There is no in-between. Scanning through this morning's written press it would appear football is just as straightforward. The need to cast definitive judgement after 90 minutes has become absolute. In this sense football is becoming no more rational than Heat magazine. The age of circling Tevez's thighs to expose cellulite is nigh. Hot or not - there is no in-between.

Only the churlish, Manchester United supporters or those predisposed to loathing the mega-monied would have enjoyed Manchester City's return to Europe's premier competition after 43 years. Napoli were cast as Simon Cowell in puncturing the inflated ego of a deluded wannabe as City were put to the sword with a ruthlessness normally reserved to Camorra hit-men.

Except this didn't really happen, did it? It makes for an interesting news angle but were City really inferior to Napoli? Do they really need to improve drastically if they are to dine at Europe's top table without embarrassing themselves? Is Roberto Mancini currently sat in a box questioning his very existence with only a borrowed copy of Joey Barton's boil in bag cod-philosophies for company?

Hesitant City given worrying taste of life in the fast lane - The Daily Telegraph

City learn some harsh lessons - The Times

Europe's top table provides a harsh reality check for Mancini - The Independent

Reality check for the pretenders to Europe's crown - Daily Mail

For those City fans who decided the potential of Kirsty and Phil's unsated sexual banter finally being consummated on-screen justified empty seats inside the Etihad, flicking to the back pages must have made for grim reading on the morning commute.

The problem is that the spectacle is no longer enough. That a game at the normally pre-ordained group stage baulked tradition in being genuinely absorbing has largely been overlooked in favour of a dissection that sees fans and hacks united in waving the scalpel with abandon. God knows why Norman Mailer dedicated a whole book to the 1975 World Heavyweight Boxing Championship in Zaire when he could have simply surmised 'Ali King, Foreman stick to your grill'.

There is no doubt the game raised the odd glitch in Roberto Mancini's masterplan but on this evidence, City are undoubtedly heading in the right direction. In fact, it would be fair to say it is us, the media, more in need of a reality check than Mancini. For is it not he who has ridiculed early approximations of his side as being an English Barcelona? It is not the atypically staid Italian who has always spoken with unerring good sense when the rest of us have been left with a well-thumbed thesaurus in the search for that elusive adjective which best describes avalanches of goals against Swansea, Bolton and Tottenham respectively?

That Napoli were excellent is not up for debate. City can learn much from the way they set out to play a counter-attacking game away from home, whilst simultaneously taking the contest to their hosts. It's a tough tactic to pull off but the brilliantly animated Walter Mazzarri - replete with the best bomber jacket since Steve McQueen's in the Great Escape - orchestrated it with aplomb. At the back Napoli's three centre-halves were typically Italian; at times brutal but every hatchet job was followed up with a wide-eyed expression of innocence that suggested they were good Catholic boys at heart. Sergio Aguero's shins may beg to differ.

It was further up the field though where they really impressed. A much-feted front three of Edison Cavani, Ezequiel Ivan Lavezzi and Marek Hamsik were as interchangeable as they were excellent all evening. The astuteness of the former's movement was matched by his team-mates' capacity to find him and when Cavani broke the deadlock after a counter-attack that saw Christian Maggio punish Gareth Barry's profligacy with a lightning raid and perfectly weighted pass, it looked as if only Diego of the Aguero/Maradona clan would end the night with a smile on his face.

Here was the lesson then. A £50million+ rated striker, who scored 34 goals last season, will punish you if given the chance. Why didn't Mancini think of that?

In reality neither Mancini nor City need a reality check. For all the money, characters and egos that make up City's dressing room there has been precious little noise about how they'll fare in Europe this season. Mario Balotelli is too busy on his iPad these days and Carlos Tevez seems to have cried himself out.

The reality is that this was an entertaining game between two good sides willing to trade blows. It was a game that again dispelled any lingering doubt that Mancini might be tempted to resurrect his disciples of dour mantra of last season. And for that we should all be grateful.

Much has been made of whether City overplayed in the final third, with Samir Nasri's presence raising suspicion the Frenchman has brought a dose of the 'tippy-tappy' lurgy with him from Arsenal. It didn't seem to be a problem when they stuck five past Tottenham on his debut but that won't stop calls for him to wear a bell in his boots at the weekend.

There's a thin line between overplaying and patience and in the first half especially they were on the right side of it. There was the odd superfluous pass on the edge of Napoli's box but City will not be alone in becoming frustrated by a well organised Italian backline. I'm sure if it were at all possible one of City's players would have stopped all the fannying about and raked it in from 30-yards but apparently that's quite difficult too.

The easy option would have been to go longer to Edin Dzeko but given the short passing style they employed presented openings for 11 attempts on target and two crashing efforts against Napoli's crossbar, there seems little overtly wrong their approach.

Adam Johnson's bright cameo off the substitutes' bench provided City with a lift at a time when in fairness Napoli appeared to have worked them out but to suggest they are 'too narrow' when using Nasri in tandem with David Silva is as premature as the claim they are the new Barcelona. Of course at times City will need width, in the same way that away from home they might have to employ a lone front-man to accommodate an extra holding midfielder or go for Pablo Zabaleta's defensive stability over Micah Richards' buccaneering spirit, but these are choices that should be viewed in isolation rather than drawn as overriding conclusions.

Had either Aguero or Yaya Toure directed their efforts an inch lower the headlines would have been of City setting down a marker - 'Watch out Barca, City are coming for you!'

Maybe the only lesson Roberto Mancini needs to learn is that an inch goes a long way in football

Hallelujah!!

Poxy media and their reality checks. Their harping on has even convinced some members of this site to keep going on about it.

Did Inter get a reality check? Arsenal? United? Did they fuck. It was a good old fashioned tough european tie that would have been completely different had we scored when we we tearing them a new arsehole for the first 20 mins.
Other teams won't be so lucky.

And if "reality check" means that we thought we were going to beat champions league teams 5 nil and the like, then they must think we're fucking retarded.

Enough of the reality checks.

[Dameerto]

Sam Wallace made it onto my shit list with his effort in the Independant today, apparently we nearly lost and 'just rescued a draw', while the RAGs earned a 'creditable draw'.

[Ted Hughes]

Tbh, there was actually an element of reality check at the ground whether we like it or not. It wasn't so much down to our inability to score, more the fact that with Napoli's 1st fully fledged breakaway, there were a good six City players stranded in the oppo's half, not particularly hurrying to get back as they broke on us & a better side would have eaten us alive at that moment.

There's no point in pretending; it needs sorting & it was obvious to most people in the ground, who, after a significant murmur of worry quietened down a fair bit after it happened.