Friday's B~*l**x

[Chinners]

THE BOLLOX



Newcastle boss Alan Pardew has agreed a £10m deal for 25-year-old Marseille striker Loic Remy - paving the way for Magpies forward Demba Ba, 27, to leave in January. Daily Mirror

Arsenal and Liverpool target Fernando Llorente is set to meet Juventus officials on Monday in a bid to thrash out a deal that will see the 27-year-old old Spain striker leave Athletic Bilbao. talkSHIT

Chelsea have been told to cough up £30m if they want to sign 28-year-old Corinthians striker Paolo Guerrero, who scored the winner against them in the Club World Cup final. Daily Star

Manchester United want Benfica centre-back Ezequiel Garay to beef up their shaky defence. The club are ready to bid £15m for the 26-year-old Argentina defender at the end of the season. Sun

Arsenal have turned down a bid of £2.5m from Turkish side Galatasaray for their Brazilian left-back Andre Santos. The Gunners want to recoup £5m of the £6.8m they paid Fenerbahce for the 29-year-old last term. Sun

Former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson will be put up for sale by Blackburn Rovers. Southampton, West Brom, West Ham and Fulham are all reported to be interested in the 33-year-old. DSSC

Liverpool are set to add 19-year-old Birmingham and England keeper Jack Butland to deals for Daniel Sturridge and Thomas Ince, as Reds manager Brendan Rodgers targets a triple swoop of English talents. Chelsea striker Sturridge, 23 and Blackpool winger Ince, 20, are also expected to complete their moves in January. Metro

However, Liverpool's initial offer for Ince is significantly short of Blackpool's valuation. the Independent

Zambian international Felix Stoppila Sunzu, 23, has reportedly chosen to sign for Reading, despite interest from Arsenal. The striker will travel to England to sign his new contract after a forthcoming international against Tanzania. L'Equipe

Argentina legend Diego Maradona is "one step away" from being named coach of the Iraq national team. A spokesman for World Cup winner said the deal would be done before the end of 2012. AS

Hours after Paris St Germain winger Nene, 31, wrote on his website of his desire for "freedom" from the club, coach Carlo Ancelotti said that the Brazilian has not made an official transfer request. "He has not asked for a departure officially," the Italian said. "You know, I do not have time to go online. He has not talked to me or the club." L'Equipe

Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes plans to retire again at the end of this season, with fellow veteran Ryan Giggs also set to leave and defender Rio Ferdinand yet to indicate if he will extend his contract. DSSC

Former QPR striker Les Ferdinand is set to return to the club in a coaching role under manager Harry Redknapp. Daily Mirror

Everton manager David Moyes has revealed his ambition to coach in a European league one day - and named Germany as the most appealing option. DSSC

Journalists, fans and Uefa officials were left stunned after the Champions League last-16 draw produced exactly the same ties in both the rehearsal and the real thing - the odds for which are 5,000-1. Metro

MORE LATER ...

[Beefymcfc]

Mmmmm, nothing City related? I'll throw this in from the Telegraph.

Roberto Mancini's soft-dad tough-dad double act muddles Mario Balotelli's mind at Manchester City

Roberto Mancini’s relationship with Mario Balotelli is a stage play in which the strict father veers between an iron rod and tenderness with no benefit to either side. Arthur Miller could have been the author.

Still to be resolved is whether the domineering patriarch realises the son’s spirit is untamable or the boy finally sees the pain he is causing the man who is trying to help him. Here is a third ending: Mancini stops confusing the player with his alternating soft-dad, tough-dad approach, but Balotelli remains in the grip of a personality that brings him problems everywhere he goes.

Diagnosing a footballer’s state of mind in a newspaper column is not really on. Yet there are people with no interest in the game who are convinced Balotelli is troubled in ways only those closest to him may understand. One of those insiders is Mancini, who would be justified in buying a chauffeur’s cap and driving his unpredictable striker to Manchester airport with a one-way ticket to Palookaville.

With the Premier League title he won in May, Mancini has no further need to justify the £24 million he spent to bring Balotelli from Inter Milan, where Jose Mourinho considered him “unmanageable”.

This is no longer about self-justification on the Manchester City manager’s part. Nor is it about Balotelli’s erratic talent. Mancini appears to be on some private mission to save a lost soul. And, with his constantly mixed messages, he is making a terrible mess of it, however good his intentions.

The classic case in point was promoting Super Mario to the starting XI for the recent home game against Manchester United and then taking him off after 52 minutes. Contrary to popular belief, Balotelli was no worse in the first half that day than at least half the City players. Yet he was the one subjected to the biggest barrage from Mancini as he bounced around the coaching zone.

This is where we see the contradiction. Mancini puts him in the side for the biggest game of the season and then hammers him from the get-go.

Mancini jokes to the press (“this is Mario – you never know,” he grins) and then lectures him in public about faults City have failed to correct. The message is always the same: Mario must learn, adapt, conform, submit, fall into line.

Balotelli’s self-absorption is certainly farcical. The excitement of playing drains from him with no warning. His shoulders sag, his gait slackens and his eyes dip. From then on he has no interest in the collective, which must sicken City’s other players. It would be worth counting the times, though, that his spirits have collapsed after a blast from Mancini, who cannot seem to decide whether to love or fight his Mohican-ed enigma.

My point is that it has to be one or the other. The clear boundaries are there but so is the indulgence. The criticism is sharp and the praise is gooey.

A personal theory is that Balotelli has persuaded himself he is some kind of genius: a performer, rather than a player, who should not be constrained by the normal hustle and bustle. He looks unable to reconcile Mancini’s flattery with the verbal battering he takes when a back-heel goes wrong or he fails to chase back to help defenders.

The £340,000 club fine he agreed to pay on Wednesday after nearly taking City to a tribunal only added to the catalogue of slapstick. But there is a darker undercurrent to all this. A seemingly capricious willingness to accept his punishment for repeated breaches of discipline suggests his agent may have told him there are few escape routes open in Italy or elsewhere.

While Mancini’s loyalty is stretched to snapping point, other players grumble about his special status and City’s middle eastern owners recoil from the fuss he creates, Balotelli himself becomes ever more isolated: his talent ever more peripheral to the main tale of unreliability and extreme eccentricity.

Still HD-fresh is the memory of him destroying Germany in this summer’s Euro 2012 semi-finals. Interestingly Balotelli was not indulged by Cesare Prandelli, the Italy coach, or by his team-mates. There were no special exemptions. He seemed happiest on those terms. Yet even Prandelli is giving up now. Balotelli is not expected to make the Italy squad to face Holland in February.

The simplest conclusion is that he and Mancini now inhabit a dysfunctional relationship that must be ended for the good of both sides. But there is no better place for him to crash cars, let off fireworks, fight with team-mates on the training ground or make a mess of wrapping Christmas presents.

He is stuck in the middle ground between pest and manager’s pet. In that sense Mancini is not helping him by dragging this out. The rescue act has failed. Balotelli is the master of his own fate, good or bad.

[Ted Hughes]

I absolutely agree with most of that, it's exactly what I feel has been happening.

Recently, Bob has not been doing Balotelli any good whatsoever & has been helping carry the torches and pitchforks for the angry mob.

Whether this tribunal stuff has been behind that, remains to be seen.

[Beefymcfc]

I absolutely agree with most of that, it's exactly what I feel has been happening.

Recently, Bob has not been doing Balotelli any good whatsoever & has been helping carry the torches and pitchforks for the angry mob.

Whether this tribunal stuff has been behind that, remains to be seen.

I put some of it down to Mancini but when I think about it, Mancini seems to look after him behind the scenes but then makes a big show and dance in public. They seem to have a fractious relationship in public where Mancini goes overboard to highlight certain faults, as seen in the Derby game when he brought him off for his attempted flick-on, but in private I think they've still got a decent relationship.

A bit like having a fling with someone at work. You know you want to look after them but you can't show the rest of the workforce, if you may.

[Ted Hughes]

I absolutely agree with most of that, it's exactly what I feel has been happening.

Recently, Bob has not been doing Balotelli any good whatsoever & has been helping carry the torches and pitchforks for the angry mob.

Whether this tribunal stuff has been behind that, remains to be seen.

I put some of it down to Mancini but when I think about it, Mancini seems to look after him behind the scenes but then makes a big show and dance in public. They seem to have a fractious relationship in public where Mancini goes overboard to highlight certain faults, as seen in the Derby game when he brought him off for his attempted flick-on, but in private I think they've still got a decent relationship.

A bit like having a fling with someone at work. You know you want to look after them but you can't show the rest of the workforce, if you may.

I just think he's made a big effort to do what Mancini wants recently but is still getting shit as if he was turning in half arsed performances, when it's purely down to nothing quite coming off for him. Mancini would have been giving him encouragement for the same performances last season imo. I'm wondering if there has been a lovers tiff due to the tribunal business.

[Ted Hughes]

In other news: Txiki was in Sao Paulo Tuesday night. He won't have been there on vacation.

[Beefymcfc]

I absolutely agree with most of that, it's exactly what I feel has been happening.

Recently, Bob has not been doing Balotelli any good whatsoever & has been helping carry the torches and pitchforks for the angry mob.

Whether this tribunal stuff has been behind that, remains to be seen.

I put some of it down to Mancini but when I think about it, Mancini seems to look after him behind the scenes but then makes a big show and dance in public. They seem to have a fractious relationship in public where Mancini goes overboard to highlight certain faults, as seen in the Derby game when he brought him off for his attempted flick-on, but in private I think they've still got a decent relationship.

A bit like having a fling with someone at work. You know you want to look after them but you can't show the rest of the workforce, if you may.

I just think he's made a big effort to do what Mancini wants recently but is still getting shit as if he was turning in half arsed performances, when it's purely down to nothing quite coming off for him. Mancini would have been giving him encouragement for the same performances last season imo. I'm wondering if there has been a lovers tiff due to the tribunal business.

I think there's always going to be friction there (no pun intended) mate. The fact that he gave him a chance against the Rags says it all for me. He knew Mario had got their backs up with his play and antics so decided to see if he could do it again; horses for courses and all that.

Most people on here know my thoughts on Mario and his antics but I do believe he could come good. I don't think he's been as bad as some have suggested and also believe that the media hype takes his case to another level. The problem for me is that with Mancini showing such distain for him on the pitch it leads to further negativity form all around. I'd like Mancini to just give him that bit of love when he comes off, whether he's played well or not.

[Mark Garrett]

I personally would like Balotelli to start repaying the faith the manager and the fans have/had in him with some consistent performances instead of the erratic displays that have littered his career at City. I mean they range from the clinical and explosive to the utter dismal and dysfunctional and Balotelli has to take the bulk of that responsibility. Any player can be out of form but you work hard, you graft.

Contrary to popular belief, I don't believe Tevez has always been in the best of form for some games this season but he works his balls off. Same with Aguero, who has been not at the level of last season for the most part but his work ethic and team play still exists.

Overall though if I had my way, Balotelli would have been sold in the summer and I would seek him to be sold in January.

[Beefymcfc]

Ha ha ha, fuck you CarlFeelYourScote ;-)

[urlnp=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2251607/Joleon-Lescott-wins-Manchester-City-FIFA-13-challenge.html]Lescott - Officially the Best Player at City[/urlnp]

[Sideshow Bob]

In other news: Txiki was in Sao Paulo Tuesday night. He won't have been there on vacation.

neymar? has been fairly shit this year, the olympics notwithstanding. anyway, i thought barca had him locked up?

[carl_feedthegoat]

Ha ha ha, fuck you CarlFeelYourScote ;-)

[urlnp=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2251607/Joleon-Lescott-wins-Manchester-City-FIFA-13-challenge.html]Lescott - Officially the Best Player at City[/urlnp]

If anyone thinks that cunt is better than Zabaleta then they need a fuckign frontal lobotomy.

[Swales4ever]

In other news: Txiki was in Sao Paulo Tuesday night. He won't have been there on vacation.

neymar? has been fairly shit this year, the olympics notwithstanding. anyway, i thought barca had him locked up?

I would lead to believe that among being in Brazil on vacation and being there chasing for an immediate january signing, there is a whole ocean of professional tasks featuring the role of a sporting director, in between.

It has been a long, boring week without City, for me too. I just tried to cope with some recordings.