Shaun Wright-Phillips turns down new Manchester City contract
Winger has seen new arrivals receive bigger salaries
Roberto Mancini's problems with his Manchester City players have extended to Shaun Wright-Phillips after the England international turned down a new contract because he felt he was not being offered enough money, a development that has left the winger starting to begrudge the men in power at Eastlands.
Wright-Phillips, 28, will have two years to run on his £60,000-a-week contract at the end of the season but that deal was signed a few weeks before the Abu Dhabi United Group's takeover established a new pay ceiling at the club. This will be the last major contract of Wright-Phillips's career and he wants to take advantage of the immense riches available to the club by moving closer to the higher earners such as Emmanuel Adebayor, Kolo Touré and Carlos Tevez, all of whom earn in excess of £100,000 a week.
City have responded by telling him they have no intention of increasing his pay so significantly, on the basis he will be 30 when his contract expires, an age that counts against any player who relies so heavily on pace. There is also a disparity between the length of deal the player is craving and what the club's chief executive, Garry Cook, and football administrator, Brian Marwood, are willing to offer.
That has left the Wright-Phillips camp complaining that the City hierarchy seem more interested in rewarding new signings rather than players who have a genuine affinity with the club. Since Wright-Phillips rejoined City from Chelsea 18 months ago he has seen players such as Wayne Bridge, with a weekly salary of £90,000, join on higher wages and is said not to feel "appreciated". In that time he has earned in excess of £4.5m.
Mancini has not been involved in the negotiations but the dispute can be added to a number of problems for the City manager, ranging from Patrick Vieira's poor form and discipline to the much-publicised argument with Craig Bellamy and growing concerns about Stephen Ireland's level of performance.
After winning his first four games Mancini's management style has come into question with only two wins from seven games going into tomorrow's FA Cup fifth-round replay at Stoke City, and the Italian is acutely aware that his team's last hope of silverware is in jeopardy.
"Mentally the players must be strong," he said. "We must try to play football when we can but if that is not possible we must play the ball in the air and jump and fight for every ball and concentrate at set pieces."
Tevez has been in Argentina for 10 days after the premature birth of his daughter and will not be involved against Stoke, but Mancini said the club's leading scorer would be back in time to play Chelsea on Saturday. "He had a serious problem but now I think he has resolved this problem and it's important that he comes back."
MCF.NET THREAD: viewtopic.php?f=119&t=30708
GARETH BARRY admits he is sick of the sight of Stoke.
Manchester City midfielder Barry will face the Potters for the third time in just 11 DAYS tomorrow.
The first two matches have been closely fought, ending in 1-1 draws.
And ahead of Wednesday's FA Cup fifth round replay, Barry said: "It's a tough game.
"We know each other inside out now after three games in such a short space of time.
"We will know what to expect and we know it's going to be a battle.
"We probably won't need to watch too many videos! The guy who does our research has virtually gone through it all before.
"But we've got to be on top of our game. We're going to really have to concentrate.
"It can be frustrating, because you don't want to keep playing the same team, but that's a part of the game.
"And the more we've played against them, the more we've adapted.
"So hopefully the experience we've got from the previous games can help us on Wednesday night and see us through."
Stoke's direct style of play has been criticised by some people in the game.
But Barry added: "Give Stoke credit, it's the way they win games. Sometimes you have to go down that route.
"We've got to concentrate on our own game. They will be playing in the Britannia Stadium in that atmosphere that they create.
"That's when we need to call on our experience.
"It's a great reward if you can get through - Chelsea in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.
"So there's something there to aim for, but Wednesday night's going to be tough first."
TRANSFER BOLLOX
Manchester United are ready to make a fresh move for Spain striker David Villa if his club Valencia put him up for sale this summer. Daily Mirror
Barcelona right-back Dani Alves has dismissed speculation linking him with a move to Chelsea, claiming he wants to stay at the Nou Camp. IMScouting
Crystal Palace manager Neil Warnock hopes to take Eagles trio Darren Ambrose, Neil Danns and Nathaniel Clyne with him when he becomes Queens Park Rangers' new manager. Daily Mirror
Birmingham boss Alex McLeish is eyeing up giant striker Marc Janko, who has scored 67 goals in 92 games for Red Bull Salzburg.Daily Mail
WAG OF THE DAY - Melina Pitra
http://www.thespoiler.co.uk/index.php/2 ... lina-pitra
OTHER BOLLOX
England manager Fabio Capello will read the riot act to his squad because he is so furious at the recent off-field exploits of some of his players. The Mirror
Capello says he will select defenders John Terry and Wayne Bridge and expects them to settle their differences after Terry was alleged to have had an affair with Bridge's ex-girlfriend. Daily Mirror
Chelsea and England left-back Ashley Cole flew to Spain on Monday for warm-weather recuperation on his broken ankle amid controversy surrounding his split from wife Cheryl. (Daily Telegraph)
Fifa general secretary Jerome Valcke admits that South Africa is not yet ready to host the World Cup finals but added that a series of hiccups will be overcome before the tournament starts on 11 June. The Times
Premier League clubs owe more money - £3.5bn - than all the others in Europe's top divisions put together, according to a Uefa report. The Guardian
Former Notts County director of football Sven-Goran Eriksson drew up a plan to sign former England captain David Beckham as part of the League Two club's ill-fated dream of reaching the Premier League. (Daily Telegraph)
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has banned academy players from doing interviews on the club's in-house television station as part of crackdown on attitudes of youngsters at Old Trafford. Daily Mail
Portsmouth will go into administration with a nine-point penalty - but earn an £11m lifeline when the Premier League gives them an advance of the parachute payment for relegated clubs. Daily Mirror
Spain coach Vincente del Bosque insists there is no rift between himself and Liverpool manager Rafael Benitex over the use of striker Fernando Torres. Daily Mirror
Benitez will turn down any move by Real Madrid to become coach at the Bernebeu. Imscouting
Crystal Palace's FA Cup fifth-round replay against Aston Villa on Wednesday is almost certain to be Neil Warnock's last game in charge of the Championship club, with Queens Park Rangers thought to be close to appointing the former Sheffield United manager as their new boss. (Daily Telegraph)
The World Cup plans for the England players' wives and girlfriends are in disarray after Cheryl Cole's split from husband Ashley. On Cheryl's advice, the WAGs were all booked into the exclusive £1,600-a-night Anahita resort on the island of Mauritius, a five-hour flight from South Africa. But Cheryl's decision to part from Ashley has caused the rest of the women to rethink their summer plans. (Daily Express)
