Training Friday 22/1

[Douglas Higginbottom]

Depressing day weather wise but a good session today at Carrington and not hidden away behind the fence for a pleasant change. Missing were Vieira ( Sunday not looking good at all) Lescott( very close now and has been working hard on one to one stuff) RSC ( the calf injury not as bad as it's been said) Shay but no word about him and I suspect no problems with him injury wise at all.. Bridge was back in full training today and altho a few with niggles they were still out there. ( SWP,Barry,Tevez)

Mancini deep in conversation again with Kidd when I arrived and I was joined by a young Italian ( actually from Naples but currently based in Stretford) who decided to shout across in fluent Italian to Mancini. His response was to walk over and have a brief chat and get his picture taken with him. I got a quick hello.

The session started with 2 "teams" working around the field in the way they have been recently led by either Mancini or one of the other coaches before they introduced a ball and satrted passing the ball around in the defensive formations for a while. After that they moved over to do some work outs which were really all about stretching. The Tuesday team doing one set of exercises and the rest a different more strenous work out. Mancini was chatting to Tevez quite a bit here and the relationship seems very good. All this very close to where we stood. My new Italian friend thought it was great to be so close and was amazed there were so few watching as at Napoli he might have expected a crowd.

He talked about the Italian way of playing and how 0.0 or 1.0 were so often seen as good results but he feels that at City the defence isn't good enough for Mancini to play like this.He was though very complimentary about NDJ but not so about one or two others.

They then started a game on just less than half a pitch which was quite frenetic and with litle space or time demanded a really good first touch and excellent awareness. Needless to say NDJ thrived on this but the likes of Robinho ,Petrov and Tevez struggled to make any impact. It was a close run competitive game which NDJ's team won 6.5 with two late goals from Barry to seal it. Bellamy got one or 2 as did Benjani and there was a cracker from Ireland who latched onto a misplaced pass. Competitive but no injuries from what I could see despite Stevie limping out of one little crunch tackle.

At the end of this game a few disappeared but Mancini took 11 away onto another pitch to do a little attacking work with them whilst Bellers and Robinho did some shooting practice. I just got the feeling that Robi just needs something good to happen and it will all come flooding back. During this shooting practice a ball flew over and after afew words in Italian Mr Napoli was allowed to keep the ball!

I am off to get some Italian lessons.

[Blue in North London]

Good stuff. Cheers again, DH.

Good to hear that Lescott is back. I appear to be only one of a few Blues I know who actually rates Lescott. Having both Bridge and Lescott back will shore up the left side and right side (assuming Micah Richards goes to RB), we will have more pace in teh team and Lescott will provide an additional threat from set pieces.

[Ted Hughes]

Thanks Doug. Good stuff as always.

I recon a goal will make a huge difference to Robinho. Does Ireland look fully match fit now ?

[Chinners]

Il buon lavoro Doug… lo ha lasciato appena sapere quando volete il tipo di alcune lezioni

[Hinch's 5 Fingered Salute]

good report Doug. Do you think Robson will play on Sunday? I think he just needs a strong goalscoring performance to get his confidence flooding back.

[Beeks]

Good stuff. Cheers again, DH.

Good to hear that Lescott is back. I appear to be only one of a few Blues I know who actually rates Lescott.

Same here...I just think he has taken time to adjust to his new surroundings...that coupled with a 24 million price tag hanging round his neck

I really think he will be a stalwart in defence once he settles in

[13021J]

Unbelievable DH! The new guy nips in, has a word with the gaffer and gets a ball?!

Glad Lescott and Bridge are almost ready, would help tremendously on wednesday.

I'm becoming a bit disillusioned with the Vieira situation, will he ever be ready?

Hoping Robinho can turn it on Sunday, come on Robbie!

[CityFanFromRome]

Good report Doug, and if you need any Italian lesson by web, just ask ;) I'm starting to get worried about Vieira, to be honest. Not so much for sunday in itself, but because if he is to play any part at the swamp he needs to get some play time, but if he is still out for sunday, he won't be able to before the second leg.

also, hopefully Robson will score on Sunday if he plays, he needs that a lot imho.

[dikdik]

Agree with above.
Robinho needs to score on Sunday to get his confidence back. It may seem daft to say it but he needs to get his arrogance back to some extent. The skills God gave him can best thrive in a situation where his mind is relaxed and at peace with itself. Too much pressure I think is strangling these skills.
Also
Would like Vieira to have a run out on Sunday if at all possible. The psychological advantage of having him in the team against manure next weekend, given his track record against them, would be immense.

[carolina-blue]

Thanks Doug . I have the same worries re Vieire as others do Cant wait to see him play .

[carl_feedthegoat]

AN ITALIAN GOES THERE FOR THE FIRST TIME...SPEAKS TO MANCINI..GETS A FOTO..AND FUCKS OFF WITH A FOOTBALL.
HILARIOUS.

[Blueboylewis]

Cheers Doug! Great report there mate.

Hopefully i might be able to join you tomorrow if they are training please?

[Crossie]

If robbie and bellers werent in the 11 that went over the other pitch, i guess that means there not playing on sat?

[Original Dub]

I don't care what anyone says, its clear as day you have an agenda against Roberto!

Hor dee hor :))

Nice one Doug, hope Ireland and Robbie get back to the way they were. Although we're not really concerned about fire power at the moment, it'd be nice to get a couple of big wins to put the goal difference to bed.

[carl_feedthegoat]

I don't care what anyone says, its clear as day you have an agenda against Roberto!

Hor dee hor :))

Nice one Doug, hope Ireland and Robbie get back to the way they were. Although we're not really concerned about fire power at the moment, it'd be nice to get a couple of big wins to put the goal difference to bed.

WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU ON ABOUT?

[Douglas Higginbottom]

To answer some points raised yes I think Stevie is 100% ready and I feel certain he will play Sunday. Robinho I would expect to play Sunday but Mancini might think it best to use him from the bench.

I agree it will be good to have Lescott back as I think he was playing well and had got over the early times where he seemed to be a little overawed.I don't think he will be ready for Sunday or Wednesday . Bridge though might just be ready for Sunday and I think he would need to play v Scunny to be considered for Wednesday. Vieira is a little concern I guess as he is very keen to play Wednesday but will he or should he without any playing time behind him here.

As for the ball thing it was a nice gesture but I have enough already and OD behave yourself :)

[Mark (Blue Army)]

Great report Doug, glad to see Ireland,Lescott and Bridge all on there way back.

[johnny crossan]

I think it's utterly outrageous that Mr Napoli got a ball and you didn't. You can tell Mancio from me that he'd better come up with something better than "Hello" next week or there will be trouble!

[Renato_CTID]

Il buon lavoro Doug… lo ha lasciato appena sapere quando volete il tipo di alcune lezioni

Ottimo lavoro come sempre, caro Doug!
that means:
Quality job like usually, dear Doug!

[john@staustell]

I too reckon Lescott will be very good for us over the next 2 or 3 years. I'm pleased Bridge has a chance for Weds. Not perfect but better than Spanish Gaz!

Thanks Douglas.