Manchester City's Friday BIG City BolloxWe start off the new regular Friday review with a salute to centurion Given but before we do that a brief quote from the man that totally fecked up Ireland's chances in the World cup by going home only days before their first match.Keane, the Ipswich Town manager and former Ireland captain, gave an interview two years ago in which he questioned Given's motives for wanting to appear in every international friendly. "I think players have agendas, certain players come over all the time no matter what," Keane said. "Maybe they want to get 50 or 100 caps and a pat on the back for it. Shay is one of those ones. He wants to get 200 caps." . . . quite
They still stand there in all weathers, peering through the green prison walls of the Ireland training camp, hoping for an illegible scrawl on a shirt, the latest sticker album or a scrap of paper.
There's fewer of them nowadays. Giovanni Trapattoni's training sessions may be open house for the likes of Peterborough manager Darren Ferguson, but for some reason they are not for the prying eyes of the handful of young schoolkids and their parents prepared to make the trek to Malahide.
For hours they will try to amuse themselves to alleviate the boredom and occasionally they will stretch their necks to look into the inner sanctum of Trapattoni's training session beyond the imposing canvasses surrounding Malahide United's tiny ground.
But they all know the only real glimpse they will get of their Ireland heroes will be in the few minutes the squad walks between pitch and bus past the ever decreasing numbers begging for autographs and photos behind iron railings.
When Shay Given was on the other side of the fence, there were no such draconian barriers which keep the modern footballer at a distance. So perhaps it is no wonder when Given is in town he will ensure every young fan is satisfied before boarding the bus back to the comforts of Portmanock's finest hotel.
Given is one of the most sought after scribbles, as he has been for the last 13 years since making his debut in Mick McCarthy's first game in charge, a 4-2 pasting against Russia at Lansdowne Road.
The Lifford-born stopper, then a raw recruit at Blackburn with an impressive loan spell at Sunderland under his belt, took to the international stage immediately in his quest to follow in the gloves of his boyhood hero Packie Bonner.
But he could never have envisaged he would take the great man's appearance record and truly establish himself as Ireland's No 1 in the eyes of the nation.
Pondering the week in which he hopes to claim his 100th cap, Given said: `Growing up in Ireland and supporting the Irish team as a kid with me dad we used to go to the hotel and get autographs off the team, that was special enough for me personally.
`If someone had said you'll play for your country one day, I'd think "no chance, I'm from Lifford, Donegal, it doesn't happen." To make 100 caps, I'd never have imagined it.
`It will be a special occasion for me and my family. I'm looking forward to it but, all that aside, there's massive points at stake and it's not just a friendly when you can relax and take in the occasion. I'll try to do that a bit but it's a massive game for qualification.'
Typically Given and his close friend Kevin Kilbane have tried their best, with the build-up to the two final World Cup qualifiers in mind, to deflect attention away from reaching the century of caps together next week.
As stalwarts of McCarthy's 2002 squad, the pair understand the significance of the next week and precisely what is at stake for Trapattoni and his squad.
Ideally they would like to share the achievement of reaching the 100 milestone together at a low key friendly but it is not to be. Points are at stake but before Montenegro there is the small matter of the world champions at Croker, and one man's personal battle against his home nation.
`I'm sure the manager will put a face on it that it's a normal game,' Given said. `But he's Italian and he's highly regarded all round the world and even more so in Italy. He'll want to do the job for ourselves and get us into the World Cup. He'll put all the other stuff to one side.
`The advantage for us is that he knows every Italian player, the manager and everything about the Italian set-up. Inside out, better than anyone. He will have us well tuned in to what he thinks they'll do. There couldn't be a better man in charge, he knows the Italian game inside out.
`They were favourites to top the group before a ball was kicked, they are the world champions and they've got the results throughout the campaign but there's still an outside a chance that we can upset them and do something to change that.
`They have some great players and they will come to Dublin to win the game but I look back to the game in Bari and we should have won that game. Buffon was probably man of the match. We've got to believe that we can go and cause them some problems.
`It's a great game to be involved in, to play the world champions at home in front of a sell-out crowd at Croke Park and a night-time game with the lights on. Hopefully, the atmosphere is going to be electric. It's a game you just want to play in, it's a great game to be a footballer, to be involved in.'
And Wednesday night promises to be memorable for Given and Kilbane, who will have their young families in attendance. It will be the first Ireland match for Given's children Shayne, aged five and two-year-old Sienna.
Given added: `Hopefully, we'll do it together. We've been through so much down the years and had lots of good times and a few bad times along the way.
`It would be great to walk out with Kev against Montenegro both on the same amount of caps. He's a great guy, a great professional and maybe he doesn't get the credit he deserves some times. Hopefully, my two kids are going to come as well and that will be special.'
Meanwhile the Mail select their top stopper at the moment . . . drumroll please for . . . http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... l?ITO=1490On the injury front theres some good news as Kolo declares himself nearly readyManchester City captain Kolo Toure is confident he will be fit when the club return to Barclays Premier League action having been sidelined during the international break with a heel injury. The Ivory Coast defender sustained the problem late in Monday's 1-1 draw at Aston Villa and, as a result, was ruled out of his country's World Cup qualifier against Malawi this weekend.
But the 28-year-old believes by the time the next league match, at Wigan on October 18, comes around he will have returned to full fitness. "I am having some pains but it will be fine for me after the international break," Toure told skysports.com.I was desperate to play for my country against Malawi because we can qualify that day there, but I could not do it. I would like to let City fans know we are together and I should be fine.It was a very hard kick on my Achilles but nothing is broken."
Today's bonus WAG is a big admirer of our left back Wayne Bridge, Vanessa Perroncel. Maybe this explains his better form this season
More of/about Vanessa . . .
http://www.thespoiler.co.uk/index.php/2 ... -perroncelAs seems to be the fad at the moment, former players are queing up to compliment our Craig including Liverpool legendary predator Ian Rush. Liverpool and Wales striking legend Ian Rush has taken heart from Craig Bellamy's decision to keep playing international football, as he believes the Manchester City striker provides leadership and inspiration for the young players in John Toshack's team.
"Craig is a great player and is in top form. He is captain and he should be helping the youngsters out," Rush said, according to the Press Association. He has to set the example. I watched him against Russia and he couldn't do much more. He was running around everywhere - the younger players need to follow that example and do the same themselves.He can do his talking on the pitch. It is about the experienced players helping the younger ones.
"Craig can play for another four or five years. If we can get people like Craig helping the younger ones through these times, then they will have done their job. Bellamy said he would never retire from his country. That is good because people have retired to concentrate on their club careers - good luck to them and I don't hold it against them for doing that - but Craig wants to play for his country and that is a great thing for Wales. We need people like him, especially the forwards, because sometimes we are a bit short of quality like that."
Stuart Brennan reports in today's MuEN says that Tevez is out to make City history not cashThat's the claim of Tevez's agent Kia Joorabchian, the man who previously held the economic rights to the Argentinian ace, and engineered his £25.5m sale to the Blues.
Tevez (pictured) was also wanted by Liverpool, and was subject of a late attempt by United - where he spent two seasons on loan - to hijack City's bid.
But Joorabchian says Tevez - who has won virtually all the major honours available to him in Europe and South America, apart from the World Cup - was motivated by manager Mark Hughes' vision of taking City to glory.
"In South America he won the Argentinian championship, he won best player in Argentina three times in a row - something which Maradona did not do. He won the Brazilian championship, he won the Champions League, he won the Premier League, he won the Copa Libertadores - so he's won every major championship he's ever played in.
"When he was making his decision, he wanted a club that had a lot of ambition which he could achieve great things with. He took the risk of joining City because he believed in what the manager had told him and that was the main deciding factor for him."
The Mirror has got thinking, oh dear I hear you cry, here they come up with 10 "hillarious" ways the beautiful game can be 'improved' after Jack Warner suggests 10 minute sin-bin for players that dive ...10) Dealing with the divers
Instead of a mere sin-binning, go the full works and make any player judged to be guilty of simulation don scuba mask and flippers for 10 minutes while the stadium PA system plays whalesong and aquatic favourites like 'Yellow Submarine'.
9) Send in the clowns
Any player suspected of faking an injury to waste time or stop an opposition move shouldn't be attended by his own physio or the St John's Ambulance. Instead, accompanied by the traditional music, three clowns should enter the field of play and attend to the stricken star with water-squirting flowers and sponges. If play is down the other end, they could ever drive on in their car, loading up and comically dropping the 'injured player' several times before exiting to the Benny Hill theme tune. Priceless!
8) Get on the bus
Any Big Four manager who dares to moan that a club with one-fiftieth of his resources is playing "negative football" by "parking a bus" in front of their goal should be punished by having an actual bus parked in front of their opponents' goal for a 10-minute period in the next match. They could score only by shooting through a strategically-removed window. The bus to be driven onto the field by fine actor Stephen 'Blakey' Lewis. If he's still alive.
7) How to save the shoot-out
Sick of watching England lose these time and again? Let's introduce a random element to liven things up. The refree should start each shoot-out with 10 balls, one of which is a cunningly disguised medicine ball. This 'powerball' would be distributed at random or, if Germany are playing, to a Germans. Imagine the fun when Michael Ballack takes a long run-up and the smashes his instep into the immovable object. This bit would work better if Dale Winton replaced John Motson in the commentary booth.
6) Fans get to vote off players X-Factor style
Every team has one player who even his own fans hate but who the manager inexplicably loves. We'd solve the problem by allowing supporters to vote off one member of their team via text message. The removed player would then be forced to watch his 'highlights' with Davina McCall.
5) Amazing goals count as double.
What better way to be entertained than with a screamer, or a great individual/team effort goal. Surely they should count as double - but only if ratified as belters by the buzzers of a celebrity panel including Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh and Dannii Minogue (Cheryl Cole sadly disqualified for Toon/Chelsea bias).
4) Charades half-time team talk.
All half-time team talks must be undertaken on the pitch, Phil Brown style. But in the form of the traditional Christmas game, Charades. Would help a manager communicate with foreign players who, in Harry Redknapp's words "don't speak the lingo too good". And could see teams hiring Give Us A Clue veterans Lionel Blair and Una Stubbs as assistant coaches.
3) Transfer Deadline day = National Holiday.
It's any football fan's favourite day of the year - except Chelsea fans for the next couple of years - and what better way to celebrate than a whole day off watching that bloke with all the mobile phones on Sky Sports News. Potentially the only remaining vote winner left for Gordon Brown. Come on Mr Prime Minister, you know it makes sense.
2) No extra-time, cage fights instead
If a game is tied at the end of 90 minutes, rather than go through the rigmarole of another half hour of football, instead lower a large cage around the touchlines and, with spotlights swinging around the stadium, make players fight until the last man standing wins. Imagine Crouchy taking on SWP. Or, even better, Adebayor and Van Persie bringing the ruckus. (Oh, hang on - they've already done that one, haven't they?)
1) Two words: Monkey goalies.
Finally, for now, Sven gives his expert opinion on Danny Sturridge believing he will be a big hit at Chelsea"I was in Manchester City for one year, and Sturridge I saw beside the training ground for six or seven months, he was injured," the Swede told the official Chelsea website. So only towards the end of the time I was there, he started training with us and started to play some reserve games and first team friendlies. If I don't remember badly he came on in the first team in the league as well, and it was easy to see this is a very good footballer."
