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4-1 up at halftime

This is the squad list that City have sent to Stalybridge:



Loris Karius, Ian Ormson, Ian Lawlor, Kieran Trippier, Wayne Bridge,
Nedum Onuoha, Karim Rekik, Michael Johnson, Abdul Razak, Devante Cole, Gai Assulin, Joan Angel-Roman, Courtney Meppen-Walters, Ahmed Benali, Ellis Plummer, Kieran Kennedy, Paul Clowes, Bradley Robinson, Jordi Hiwula, Jeremy Helan and Adam Drury

and Emanuel Ade.........................oh wait.................... hahaha.

Adebayor wasnt there but he has been in full training at Carrington for the last 2 days. Missing from the above list was Bellamy and he was the stand out player of the game imo.

He looked very sharp and was always looking for the ball,good touch,very quick and threatening at all times.He was even coming deep to start things off.Until the subs started City were in total control and looking like scoring but it was a penalty given away by Karim Rekik which got Celtic their first goal.

Bellers goal came after Razak won a ball,passed it to Assulin and he timed the pass perfectly to Bellers who also timed his run well before scoring Thierry like.The next goal was a bit of a fluke as Roman tried an outside of the right foot curler and it was deflected past the keeper( maybe by Assulin).Then a lucky goal from Ibrahimwhich some might say was quality but for me he had got forward into a decent poistion but overran the ball and then turned and passed it to the keeper who was just surprised and didnt see it .

A nice 2nd for Roman from a Bellers set up finished the scoring.Although we got 2 fairly lucky goals we could have scored plenty more with a few misses, especially MJ who hit the bar when I thought he had to score.

Overall I am sure a useful work out.
Karius not great in goal, could have given a pen away,raced out of goal once and got away with it and wasnt great on their 2nd
Trippier (capt) so so game. Looks like he knows how to cross a ball
Bridge just below a so so game for me
Razak interesting player.Strong and usually a decent first touch and always available.Just not sure he has it for the top level.
MJ fairly quiet and didnt run the game as he should and as razak got much closer to doing
Karim Rekik.Looks a decent unit and player but from this game prone to rash challenges. Like the pen and another pen that could have been given
Nedum quiet and efficient
Ibrahim seemed to play a very forward role and to me was totally lost.Scored his goal but did little else.
Roman linked with Bellers and Assulin quite well and seems to make things happen.
Assulin as for Roman but not as good on the night.Still looks a prospect though.

I don't think we created anything of note once Bellers,Bridge and MJ went off and it really was poor when Assulin and Roman went off.Jordi Hiwula was anonymous up front, Helan a waste of time wide left,Benali looked the best of the subs with some good touches but after 60 odd minutes the game effectively ended. Their 2nd goal was a shocker from our point of view as it was screwed in from a silly angle through both Roman and the keeper after Roman I think should have cleared it.

Good to see some football though

I forgot we had a trialist who replaced Ibrahim at half time. Francisco or something and he was bobbins.

Thanks Doug,a good summary and plenty to be encouraged about.

Cheers doug.

When the hell are we gonna see Gai with the first team though, surely the lad is knocking on the door now?

Blue Blood wrote:Cheers doug.

When the hell are we gonna see Gai with the first team though, surely the lad is knocking on the door now?

I would expect him to get a subs appearance at some time and also to be involved in the Carling Cup but don't get too excited just yet. If he gets a go at the right time though he will probably shine with all the quality that will be around him.

thought kairus was in the US? who are the two keepers there besides stu and harty? i definitely remember there were four of them.

Thanks for the insite on the game Doug.Appreciated.

BmoreBlue wrote:thought kairus was in the US? who are the two keepers there besides stu and harty? i definitely remember there were four of them.

It's that Colombian dude Gonzalez. I've heard that he is pap though and people who have seen him say that he should never start for us. What does Doug think? Is Nielsen, that guy from Faroes, still with us by the way? He seemed alright.

Karius is Academy keeper and can't be more than 19. We signed him year or two ago and I'm sure he was 17 then as he was going count as homegrown in future. He seemed like bit of short arse back then so I wonder if he has grown?

Generally about the keepers, we DESPERATELY need quality 2nd choice keeper. Taylor is really crap and hasn't got any experience playing regular football in years. Also, I don't think he has any career aspirations, he was career back up even before he joined us, so he can fight for third choice keepers spot with these obscure Columbians and Faroese lads. But we have to have someone as a back up to Hart who can jump in and maintain at least some sort of standards. I would've loved Westwood but he is gone now. It might seem trivial now with all the talk about Aguero's and Snejder's and Nasri's but in some scenarios might turn out key signing.

Niall Quinns Discopants wrote:

BmoreBlue wrote:thought kairus was in the US? who are the two keepers there besides stu and harty? i definitely remember there were four of them.

It's that Colombian dude Gonzalez. I've heard that he is pap though and people who have seen him say that he should never start for us.

Keep up Antti......I don't think it can possibly be Gonzalez

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/13867983.stm

ant london wrote:

Niall Quinns Discopants wrote:

BmoreBlue wrote:thought kairus was in the US? who are the two keepers there besides stu and harty? i definitely remember there were four of them.

It's that Colombian dude Gonzalez. I've heard that he is pap though and people who have seen him say that he should never start for us.

Keep up Antti......I don't think it can possibly be Gonzalez

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/13867983.stm

Cheers, must've missed that massive transfer!

Niall Quinns Discopants wrote:

ant london wrote:

Niall Quinns Discopants wrote:

BmoreBlue wrote:thought kairus was in the US? who are the two keepers there besides stu and harty? i definitely remember there were four of them.

It's that Colombian dude Gonzalez. I've heard that he is pap though and people who have seen him say that he should never start for us.

Keep up Antti......I don't think it can possibly be Gonzalez

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/13867983.stm

Cheers, must've missed that massive transfer!

Keepers that went to the US are Joe Hart, Stuart Taylor, Eirik Johansen, and Loris Karius

thats taken from official announcement http://mcfc.co.uk/News/American-Pre-sea ... r-Bailey-3

So the above is either wrong or else he flew home.

Have to agree about a second choice keeper we are desperate for one.

Have to laugh at Taylor he seems like a good guy but has zero ambition, he was interviewed on the site last week and he joked saying he hadnt played a match in a year the last time he played was a reserve game over a year ago and that it was weird about being back on a pitch!!! thats beyond rustiness for me. What a life though as a third choice keeper at a big club, he doesnt play reserve or 1st team football so is in limbo. Basically trains mon to friday and then goes home while the rest have games at the weekend and prob gets around 10k a week for it, stress free easiest job in the world.

This is a good read http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011 ... ppearances

Dubciteh wrote: This is a good read http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011 ... ppearances

Good find that.
That's pretty absurd really but I suppose he is living his dream doing fuck all and picking up nice wages.

No doubt it was Karius last night and no doubt he wasnt great either.From all that I have seen I would say Erik Johansen is the most likely to succedd but he is still very young and I woudlnt say he is ready to be number 2 yet. Stu Taylor is still the best bet for that role of the ones we have.

Douglas Higginbottom wrote:Adebayor wasnt there but he has been in full training at Carrington for the last 2 days. Missing from the above list was Bellamy and he was the stand out player of the game imo.

He looked very sharp and was always looking for the ball,good touch,very quick and threatening at all times.He was even coming deep to start things off.Until the subs started City were in total control and looking like scoring but it was a penalty given away by Karim Rekik which got Celtic their first goal.

Bellers goal came after Razak won a ball,passed it to Assulin and he timed the pass perfectly to Bellers who also timed his run well before scoring Thierry like.The next goal was a bit of a fluke as Roman tried an outside of the right foot curler and it was deflected past the keeper( maybe by Assulin).Then a lucky goal from Ibrahimwhich some might say was quality but for me he had got forward into a decent poistion but overran the ball and then turned and passed it to the keeper who was just surprised and didnt see it .

A nice 2nd for Roman from a Bellers set up finished the scoring.Although we got 2 fairly lucky goals we could have scored plenty more with a few misses, especially MJ who hit the bar when I thought he had to score.

Overall I am sure a useful work out.
Karius not great in goal, could have given a pen away,raced out of goal once and got away with it and wasnt great on their 2nd
Trippier (capt) so so game. Looks like he knows how to cross a ball
Bridge just below a so so game for me
Razak interesting player.Strong and usually a decent first touch and always available.Just not sure he has it for the top level.
MJ fairly quiet and didnt run the game as he should and as razak got much closer to doing
Karim Rekik.Looks a decent unit and player but from this game prone to rash challenges. Like the pen and another pen that could have been given
Nedum quiet and efficient
Ibrahim seemed to play a very forward role and to me was totally lost.Scored his goal but did little else.
Roman linked with Bellers and Assulin quite well and seems to make things happen.
Assulin as for Roman but not as good on the night.Still looks a prospect though.

I don't think we created anything of note once Bellers,Bridge and MJ went off and it really was poor when Assulin and Roman went off.Jordi Hiwula was anonymous up front, Helan a waste of time wide left,Benali looked the best of the subs with some good touches but after 60 odd minutes the game effectively ended. Their 2nd goal was a shocker from our point of view as it was screwed in from a silly angle through both Roman and the keeper after Roman I think should have cleared it.

Good to see some football though

I forgot we had a trialist who replaced Ibrahim at half time. Francisco or something and he was bobbins.

I thought a superstar signing had gone under the radar for a second

Niall Quinns Discopants wrote:

Dubciteh wrote: This is a good read http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011 ... ppearances

Good find that.
That's pretty absurd really but I suppose he is living his dream doing fuck all and picking up nice wages.

He could easily continue this sort living for another 10 years. He will only ever get found out when he gets called upon.

When that time comes you know fine well he wont move down the leagues to play a few games and he will just bugger off into the sunset.

It's almost the perfect crime. I'd much rather be Stuart Taylor than Rob Green or Scott Carson. It's almost a curse being an English goalkeeper. One mistake and you are remembered for it for the rest of your career then labelled a dodgy keeper. Smart man our Stuart. I bet he could walk around the trafford centre wearing his City goalkeepers top and not one person would even give him a second look.

I bet his wifes a stunner as well.

ross.mcfc wrote:

Niall Quinns Discopants wrote:

Dubciteh wrote: This is a good read http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011 ... ppearances

Good find that.
That's pretty absurd really but I suppose he is living his dream doing fuck all and picking up nice wages.

He could easily continue this sort living for another 10 years. He will only ever get found out when he gets called upon.

When that time comes you know fine well he wont move down the leagues to play a few games and he will just bugger off into the sunset.

It's almost the perfect crime. I'd much rather be Stuart Taylor than Rob Green or Scott Carson. It's almost a curse being an English goalkeeper. One mistake and you are remembered for it for the rest of your career then labelled a dodgy keeper. Smart man our Stuart. I bet he could walk around the trafford centre wearing his City goalkeepers top and not one person would even give him a second look.

I bet his wifes a stunner as well.

Yeah, thought about it as well.

Maybe once upon a time he harboured dreams about becoming top goalkeeper. But he was behind keepers like Seaman, Friedel, Carson, Given, Hart etc. One morning he probably woke up and looked in the mirror and said "look, I'm going to be honest with myself, I'm never going to be top keeper so why bother". He has probably earned few million already and if he has invested it wisely he will live off it comfortably for the rest of his life. Zero pressure, just turn up every day for few hours training session and that's it. Like you said, nobody knows him and he will never get any stick for anything.

Niall Quinns Discopants wrote:

ross.mcfc wrote:

Niall Quinns Discopants wrote:

Dubciteh wrote: This is a good read http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011 ... ppearances

Good find that.
That's pretty absurd really but I suppose he is living his dream doing fuck all and picking up nice wages.

He could easily continue this sort living for another 10 years. He will only ever get found out when he gets called upon.

When that time comes you know fine well he wont move down the leagues to play a few games and he will just bugger off into the sunset.

It's almost the perfect crime. I'd much rather be Stuart Taylor than Rob Green or Scott Carson. It's almost a curse being an English goalkeeper. One mistake and you are remembered for it for the rest of your career then labelled a dodgy keeper. Smart man our Stuart. I bet he could walk around the trafford centre wearing his City goalkeepers top and not one person would even give him a second look.

I bet his wifes a stunner as well.

Yeah, thought about it as well.

Maybe once upon a time he harboured dreams about becoming top goalkeeper. But he was behind keepers like Seaman, Friedel, Carson, Given, Hart etc. One morning he probably woke up and looked in the mirror and said "look, I'm going to be honest with myself, I'm never going to be top keeper so why bother". He has probably earned few million already and if he has invested it wisely he will live off it comfortably for the rest of his life. Zero pressure, just turn up every day for few hours training session and that's it. Like you said, nobody knows him and he will never get any stick for anything.

I really hope this continues to be the case rather than the alternative.

If you exclude the stick he keeps getting for being too shit to be our back up goalkeeper