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Nothing yet but will be on the way soon to collect my pass and watch from inside. Happy Christmas to one and all.

Douglas Higginbottom wrote:Nothing yet but will be on the way soon to collect my pass and watch from inside. Happy Christmas to one and all.

Hurrah.
We still want to know about all the punch ups, so don't be in their pockets just for the perks on offer.....
Even though I would be.

If they are continuing to let you watch Doug, its very well deserved for your dedication and discretionary reporting skills too.

Yeah, Don't go currying favour .... just the chips ! ( had some great curry and chips at the ground on sunday ! ).

Amazing! How's that come about then? Did you apply for it? Do they know you post about it on forums etc?

Details!

I take it vicky has come through for you. Great news Doug, i look forward to the report :-)

twosips wrote:Amazing! How's that come about then? Did you apply for it? Do they know you post about it on forums etc?

Details!

They are fully aware of who Doug is and his standing as the official unofficial reporter on all things to do with training. Its down to Doug and not and their very discretion that they are valued like this. Well done Doug, Neil and city.

It's official then? He has his pass?

Brilliant news, well happy for you Doug.

Just don't go ringing up talksport next time you get pissed off! hahhahaa

Well chuffed for you Doug and for the board.

Richly deserved.

I absolutely love it, well deserved.

I doubt many fans would have been given this and I think it is a credit to Mr Higginbottoms level headed sensible view of things and his reluctance to report too much about the irrelevant gutter press talk.

By eck it took long enough! I'm very relieved that Angry Talksport Higgi's appearance didn't put the kybosh on this!

In all seriousness though "Doug"....thanks for all your continued efforts, you are a superstar (not as much of one as Mario mind...but a star nontheless haha).

Hopefully catch you and the brood before the Liverpool match on 3 Jan if possible

You and your reports have obviously passed muster Doug Mate. It's great news for all of us...No more mixing with the riff raff gutter press photographers.
Congratulations...It is well deserved.

It would be nice if the club would publish his reports on the OS with a link to MCF.net

Maybe even put him on the payroll (Tevez's wages will be going begging soon)

Great stuff doug!

Go on tell us how it came about? and is there a censor on what you can and cannot say??

Dubciteh wrote:Great stuff doug!

Go on tell us how it came about? and is there a censor on what you can and cannot say??

There has been precedent:

WIll you get patted down before entering?

Doug is a legend and deserved this well done City.

ALL WE ARE SAYING IS GIVE DOUG A PASS!

Fantastic news!

It's probably true to say that I probably saw more from behind the fence than inside! But first things first I got the extra priviledge when I was in reception of meeting Mark Allison ,son of the great Malcolm who was over from Australia and there today to watch the training with son. And he also had the David Silva shirt that he scored in on Sunday which hopefully will get signed today.Nice to know that he reads the training reports over there on the gold coast.

Most of the players were out when I was escorted out and I entered the fray with Silva and Aguero.Not a bad start.I could see one fan perched high in a tree and another peering through the curtains but no sign of any photographers so hopefully that's sorted.The excellent news was that we had a full squad on show.That included Kolarov and Hargreaves and no injuries from Sunday although we all saw a few niggles during the match.

After initial warm up jogging and work Mancini took al the players away to the middle pitch where I couldnt see a thing and wasn't allowed any closer.In the past I could have just moved position to see but although I knew it was all about preparation for tomorrow I didn't see a thing.No doubt a lot of positional stuff as usual.Then back out for some regular one and 2 touch work switching between the diddy nets and the full sized ones. One touch finishing in the small one sand headed goals only in the big ones. Silva scoring very cheekily in the little ones,Micah goal hanging to head home in the big ones before AJ finished it off with a strong shot.

At this point the Sunday team went inside for a rest and the game was started with the addition of Bridge,Suarez,Rekik. Nedum was already involved.A flurry of early goals was quite unusual coming from Rekik,lowinto the corner,Hargreaves bursting through onto some sloppy defending and then AJ,high into the top corner.Maybe a little casual play but then it tightened up a lot. Kolarov was attacking a lot and as you might expect shooting a lot without any success.

Then finally Milner got one back and suddenly goals flowed and 3 nil was turned into 3.4. Suarez with a good finish,Kolarov a side foot after some poor defending and then Milner again with a great left footer turned it right around. One of the most notable things about the game was the constant noise coming from Joe Hart.Very loud,always shouting good advice to his defenders,very suuportive but at the same time showing when not happy. A good part of his game I would say and of course some great saves as well.

Regular faces stayed back for some shooting practice.AJ,Milner,Clichy and today Suarez.I would have to say they all lookked pretty good and I was impressed with Suaraz.Milner taking most of his shots left footed and Clichy with his right.So that was that and I can only hope for more.I don't have an automatic pass but hopefully it will be fairly regular each week.

So no photographers at training but as was coming back home there were some of the familiar faces taking pictures of a funeral outside a church in Ashton.Lots of cars and people around but I have no idea who it was.

He's just a pass away, he's just a pass away.....!

Terrific news! Thought you were joking earlier!

Great news and good report Doug, We will dip into the site funds for a trilby with a mcf.net press ticket sticking out.

Mark Allisons son must be 14/15 now. I had the pleasure of big mal coming to watch him when he came to train with my team when he was about 7/8 yrs old.