Training Wdnesday 26/8

[Douglas Higginbottom]

After the press conference at COMs it was back to work at Carrington. 20 players out today including Lescott who got the usual round of applause from all the players and staff as Silvinho did yesterday and has been quite a regular thing in recent times. Instant impression of him when he was stood next to Micah was wow this guy is a big unit. Not as many of the reserves there today as they are playing at Hull tonight I understand. Just Weiss and McGivern plus of course Taylor. Johnson and RSC were not around today but that's part of their programme at the moment and they will be hard at it again tomorrow.

Definitely just a settling in day for JL as they went through all the warm up stuff and some fun routines set up to get everyone going.The first football work was very much about passing and switching the play around with 2 sets of 5 a side goals at each end to score in. Normal play except for in a central corridor where it was only 1 touch to ensure it was moving about quickly. Then onto a half pitch game and again looking for quick movement and touch. Hard to pick out too much but Ade stood out to me. The guy really does have everything and just looked exceptional. I can only remember one goal being scored in this session and it was a right footed shot which caught everybody out from McGivern.Hardly noticed Lescott to be honest but I was impressed with one lovely pass he sprayed out to the right wing with his right foot. TBH did one of his trademark efforts on SWP as he looked like scoring. He didn't score , it would probably have been a penalty but most important SWP wasn't hurt.

At the end the strikers had some shooting practice with Eddie N kneeling and feeding on the edge of the box. It was either first time efforts or chest control and hit .They have done this before with mixed success but today there was some great finishing pretty well from them all , Tevez,Ade,Robi,Bellamy. A few went into the field behind but the quality was good and even Eddie commented on how good it was.

Some players signed autographs again at the end as did Mark H. He even had a quick photo for one young girl. No insights into who will play tomorrow but looking at the 20 on show it's a quality side whoever plays. You definitely have to pinch yourself looking at the fantastic array of players on show to realise it is CITY.

Flying out tonight at about 5pm and they will be coming back straight after the game so a limited training session is likely on Friday.So much positive attitude around the camp as you would expect but I think they also know how important the next 2 games are for us.

[Surrey Sky Blue]

Cheers Doug, Agree with what you say, I have been pinching myself for the last couple of weeks now!!

[london blue 2]

Cheers DH-ughsie. top report as ever. Appreciated

[Mike J]

excellent report. glad it looks like a strong team will be sent. its my first live game in bloody ages!

[Beeks]

Cheers Douggie!

[john@staustell]

Thanks Doug. Amazing that amongst all the hype we've shipped out 16 'squad players', leaving us with a leaner, much more quality look.

[irblinx]

any sign of/word on Danijel Aleksic?

[Cityfan]

Interesting post.
With regards to sending a strong team to play Palace.It is very difficult to see how we could senda weak team now such is the strength of the squad!

[Douglas Higginbottom]

any sign of/word on Danijel Aleksic?

No mention of him at all.

[irblinx]

any sign of/word on Danijel Aleksic?

No mention of him at all.

reading the SSN article again it says that he'll be here as soon as his Visa is granted so you might get to fill us in next week

[Douglas Higginbottom]

I just saw footage of Dunne on Sky as they talked about him possibly leaving and they showed him in training. Alonside him were Bojinov, Hamman , Berti, Shaleum and Ball! There might have been others but it just shows how far we have come in a very short time.
I forgot that today Michael Ball was working out on his own at Carrington

[Blue Blood]

cheers for the report doug. class as usual :D

[Dubciteh]

cheers doug excellent as usual

I cant believe ball hasnt been signed up hes no world beater but hes certainly good enough for lower premiership side and is still young, if blackburn sell warnock hed be ideal free replacement!!!

[Mark (Blue Army)]

Cheers for the report Doug top class as always.

[10.Goater_Legend]

Cheers Doug.

[Whassat]

Quality as usual Doug! These training reps are the icing of the cake to read.

[Fidel Castro]

I just saw footage of Dunne on Sky as they talked about him possibly leaving and they showed him in training. Alonside him were Bojinov, Hamman , Berti, Shaleum and Ball! There might have been others but it just shows how far we have come in a very short time.
I forgot that today Michael Ball was working out on his own at Carrington

WHAT? Forgot completely about Michael Ball. Not a bad player at all, is he just keeping his fitness levels up with us or is he going to be another Danny Mills?

[Douglas Higginbottom]

I think Ball is officially not a City p[layer any longer but we have agreed he can do his rehab work with us so he can get fit and find another club. Definitely not another Mills scenario. I don't think he has the Mills mentality either to just hang around and he is certainly good enough to get another club.

[Slim]

I think Ball is officially not a City p[layer any longer but we have agreed he can do his rehab work with us so he can get fit and find another club. Definitely not another Mills scenario. I don't think he has the Mills mentality either to just hang around and he is certainly good enough to get another club.

Same with Alfie a few years back after he was released was still given access to the facilities.

[johnny crossan]

How's Benjani doing Doug - Could he play tonight and give Ade a rest?