Sunday's B*ll*x

[Chinners]

Manchester City tell Roberto Mancini he must change before they offer him a new deal
Manchester City are expected to offer Roberto Mancini a new contract at the end of the season but they are seeking assurances from him that he has taken on some of the club’s concern about his management style.
The Italian’s current deal has a year to run and the City hierarchy are expected to review the situation at their quarterly board meeting at the end of the campaign.
The club are happy that the first team have shown clear signs of progress and want to give him a new deal irrespective of whether they win the title but they feel there is a need for the manager to refine his abrasive man management approach, to be more discreet about any issues he has with the club and to work with the club on ensuring transfer policy falls into line with the demands of Financial Fair Play.
There has been speculation that City would look to a new manager such as Jose Mourinho this summer but there is no appetite in the hierarchy to create an unstable situation at the club at a time when progress is clearly being made.
Mancini, whose side are two points behind Manchester United in the title race with four games to go, has given every indication that he is prepared to sign a new deal.
“I am confident that I will continue to do this job next year,” he said. “I don’t think we have any problems because I think we have done a good job.”
City are at Wolves today while Manchester United face Everton at Old Trafford before the Manchester derby on Monday next week.

Mancini loses the argument – official
City manager's comments on British referees show title race is United's to lose
Although neither of Manchester's Premier League title contenders play until this afternoon, it is tempting to say that the key weekend result is already in: Italian paranoia 0 Scottish sang-froid 1. Manchester City's Roberto Mancini has not only prematurely surrendered the championship, a week ahead of the derby against United, but he has done so by blaming the men he once regarded as the best referees in the world. Meanwhile Sir Alex Ferguson, more experienced than anyone in these matters, has taken advantage of a favourable run of decisions to relax and roll out the hoary old line that things even out over the course of a season.
When it suits him, of course, United's manager is perfectly capable of raging against what are perceived as bad decisions, in the hope of receiving more favourable ones in future. This time, however, it is a case of City claiming the sort of conspiracy theory that is commonplace in Italian football but sits less comfortably in the context of essentially honest British officials whose unconscious bias, if they have any at all, is towards all the bigger clubs.
MORE: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/foot ... 68323.html

OTHER BOLLOX
Everton left-back Leighton Baines is a £5m summer target for Manchester United.
Manchester United are targeting Everton left-back Leighton Baines, 27, as a summer replacement for ageing full-back Patrice Evra, 31. The Reds may offer just £5m for the England international. Sunday Mirror

Nineteen-year-old Athletic Bilbao winger-striker Iker Muniain, who received his first cap for Spain earlier in the year, has caught the eye of Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson. But the Old Trafford club will have to shell out £29.5m for his services, according to the player's agent. Metro

Newcastle are already in the hunt for bargain signings to improve their squad for next season, says manager Alan Pardew. "We're looking at one or two players that we think might help us," he revealed. talkSHIT

Serbia international Adem Ljajic, 20, is a summer target for Arsenal. The Fiorentina midfield man's age and technical ability appeal to Arsene Wenger. Metro

Valencia and Spain left-back Jordi Alba is wanted at Old Trafford, though Manchester United will have to fork out £15m for the 23-year-old's services. Goal.com

Tottenham are yet to offer experienced central defender Ledley King a contract to play at White Hart Lane next season. The 31-year-old has a chronic knee injury that limits his training and playing time, though he has managed 20 Premier League appearances this term. Sunday Mirror

Tottenham are set to sign French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris for £10 million. Sunday Mirror

Everton are considering a move for Fulham's top-scorer Clint Dempsey. Daily Star

Manchester United and England striker Wayne Rooney, 26, is on the 80-strong list of players who could be called up to play for Team GB at the Olympics, despite temporary England coach Stuart Pearce saying no players who take part in Euro 2012 will appear at London 2012. Mail on Sunday

Former Dutch masters Edwin van der Sar and Ronald Koeman have both criticised Chelsea for their style of play against Barcelona in the Champions League. "For the sake of the game and for football in ­general, I hope Barcelona win in the Nou Camp," said former Manchester United goalkeeper Van der Sar, 41. Sunday Mirror

Meanwhile, Chelsea striker Didier Drogba, 35, is injured and may miss the Blues' Champions League semi-final second leg tie at Barcelona on Tuesday, according to boss Roberto di Matteo. "He's got a problem with his knee," revealed the Chelsea manager. talkSHIT

Sir Alex Ferguson says Northern Ireland centre back Jonny Evans, 24, has developed into "arguably the best defender in the country" while playing alongside the experienced Rio Ferdinand for Manchester United this season. Observer

Aston Villa are monitoring the availability of the top scorer in the Dutch premier division, Bas Dost of Heerenveen. Dost, 22, has netted 28 goals in the Eredivisie. Birmingham Mail

Tottenham's recent poor run of Premier League form - only one win in their last nine matches - is the fault of their paper-thin squad, says boss Harry Redknapp. "We had what we had today and that was all," Redknapp said after losing 1-0 at QPR on Saturday. talkSHIT

Chelsea must make Roberto di Matteo the club's permanent manager, according to Ruud Gullit. The former boss at Stamford Bridge, who signed Di Matteo as a player, said: "He has done a terrific job." Sunday Mirror

Aberdeen boss Craig Brown handed a debut to 16-year-old Cammy Smith in the Dons' 2-0 defeat of Inverness Caledonian Thistle on Saturday, and said of the young substitute: "He is really outstanding and is the Dennis Bergkamp of Aberdeen." Daily Record

A Copa Argentina clash between hosts Racing Club and Sarmiento was halted temporarily as officials had to remove a dozen walking sticks and crutches from the playing surface. The sarcastic protest by home supporters spurred on Racing, who went on to claim a 2-0 victory. Metro

more bollox later

[trout man]

Everton left-back Leighton Baines is a £5m summer target for Manchester United.
Manchester United are targeting Everton left-back Leighton Baines, 27, as a summer replacement for ageing full-back Patrice Evra, 31. The Reds may offer just £5m for the England international. Sunday Mirror

Baines will be putting in a shift today then....not, I am surprised that the papers haven't linked half the everton players with a move to united, there will be a lot of Swansea players moving to united next season as well.. In the hope that they might start playing attractive free flowing football...not

[Piccsnumberoneblue]

Everton left-back Leighton Baines is a £5m summer target for Manchester United.
Manchester United are targeting Everton left-back Leighton Baines, 27, as a summer replacement for ageing full-back Patrice Evra, 31. The Reds may offer just £5m for the England international. Sunday Mirror

Baines will be putting in a shift today then....not, I am surprised that the papers haven't linked half the everton players with a move to united, there will be a lot of Swansea players moving to united next season as well.. In the hope that they might start playing attractive free flowing football...not

Think he is out injured so i can't see maximum effort from him somehow.

[Beefymcfc]

Everton left-back Leighton Baines is a £5m summer target for Manchester United.
Manchester United are targeting Everton left-back Leighton Baines, 27, as a summer replacement for ageing full-back Patrice Evra, 31. The Reds may offer just £5m for the England international. Sunday Mirror

Baines will be putting in a shift today then....not, I am surprised that the papers haven't linked half the everton players with a move to united, there will be a lot of Swansea players moving to united next season as well.. In the hope that they might start playing attractive free flowing football...not

Think he is out injured so i can't see maximum effort from him somehow.

Out for the season but if that price doesn't wind Gollum up, I don't know what will. Obviously a load of shit though, I'm just waiting for the build-up to the Derby and the bile to come from the red tops.

[lets all have a disco]

So much bollox there today I feel funny after reading that.

[Ted Hughes]

Everton left-back Leighton Baines is a £5m summer target for Manchester United.
Manchester United are targeting Everton left-back Leighton Baines, 27, as a summer replacement for ageing full-back Patrice Evra, 31. The Reds may offer just £5m for the England international. Sunday Mirror

Baines will be putting in a shift today then....not, I am surprised that the papers haven't linked half the everton players with a move to united, there will be a lot of Swansea players moving to united next season as well.. In the hope that they might start playing attractive free flowing football...not

Think he is out injured so i can't see maximum effort from him somehow.

Out for the season but if that price doesn't wind Gollum up, I don't know what will. Obviously a load of shit though, I'm just waiting for the build-up to the Derby and the bile to come from the red tops.

If he really did try to buy Baines, I'd be very interested to see what kind of fee Moyes demands compared to what the asking price would be if we came in for him.

Last time he played v Valencia (I think it was) he was bloody awful, so I'm not sure Sir Knobnose would be interested anyway.

[pieboy]

Not seen the story on here but Manchester City have agreed a deal for Austrian starlet Sinan Bytyqi whilst they have also handed trials to Hungarian twins Gergely and David Bobal.

My friend lives in Hungary and I asked him about the twins. He checked some Hungarian reports, they are claiming that Gergely is the new Cristiano Ronaldo.

He also found this footageHe scored 4 goals in a 7-0 win as his team, Honved won an U-17 tournament that also included Real Madrid U-17s

http://pepsifoci.hu/node/109601

[Mikhail Chigorin]

Not seen the story on here but Manchester City have agreed a deal for Austrian starlet Sinan Bytyqi whilst they have also handed trials to Hungarian twins Gergely and David Bobal.

My friend lives in Hungary and I asked him about the twins. He checked some Hungarian reports, they are claiming that Gergely is the new Cristiano Ronaldo.

He also found this footageHe scored 4 goals in a 7-0 win as his team, Honved won an U-17 tournament that also included Real Madrid U-17s

http://pepsifoci.hu/node/109601

Really interesting post - we don't seem to be linked very often with either Austrian or Hungarian players, so this could be quite noteworthy.

Nice goal as well; beautifully taken (shame about the loose defending though) and they were playing in Black and Red stripes, of sorts, which also adds to the overall appeal.

On a different tack altogether, hope the story about Ljajic possibly moving to Arsenal from Fiorentina, is a load of old rubbish; if there was no City in my life, Fiorentina would be my favourite side. Don't want to see them weakened by Whinger making an astute 'killing'.

[Tokyo Blue]

title race is United's to lose

A good start they have made to it then.

[Chinners]

Manchester set for Premier League title showdown B*ll*x
BBC Sport Last week the Premier League was canvassing opinion on the best games of its 20-year history but it appears it came seven days too early.
Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson might not think so, but his team's 4-4 draw with Everton at Old Trafford was a genuine thriller.
And following Manchester City's win at Wolves, it sets up perfectly a Manchester derby on 30 April at the Etihad Stadium which Ferguson admits is the "most important" of his 20 years at the club.
It is a completely different picture from two weeks ago, of course, when City's defeat by Arsenal gave United an eight-point advantage.
But since then Roberto Mancini's side have strung three wins together, scoring 12 goals in the process, to reduce the gap to three points.
And City, whose goal difference is six better than United, will go top of the table with a derby victory.
But which team is best prepared to win?

What they said
Ferguson: "It's probably the most important derby game in my time. We have to go there, make sure we perform in the right way and not give away silly goals.
"There's no reason why we can't get a good result at the Etihad. There has been an expectancy from City that this could be their decider, but it's our decider too."
Use accessible player and disable flyout menusMan Utd threw it away - Ferguson
Mancini: "United [are favourites] always, because they have three points more and they have games that are not [as] difficult [as ours].
"We don't have a better chance to win. The derby is a good game but I think United has more chance than us."
Manchester United winger Nani: "There is anger from the players, of course, because we wanted to win against Everton. We're disappointed to lose four goals.
"We have to keep believing in our qualities because we still have a great opportunity to win the title. It's a huge game at City - there will be a fantastic atmosphere there."
Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart: "We've focussed on ourselves. Our title chances are certainly a lot better than they were at the start of Sunday. We feel ready, we're firing goals in and we feel good, so we look forward to it."

Team form
Even though many of their recent victories have come against teams at the bottom end of the table, United have only lost one and drawn two of their last 15 league games.
The recent defeat at Wigan was followed up by victory over Aston Villa but United will have to respond once again after Everton exposed defensive frailties reminiscent of their early-season form.
By contrast, Nani looked fresh on his return to the side by setting up two goals and scoring another, and the way Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck linked up will give United added vibrancy.
The re-emergence of Carlos Tevez has coincided with City's upturn in fortunes and his combinations with Sergio Aguero have caught the eye despite Mancini still asking for the team to be more clinical in front of goal.
Their blip of no wins in three games around the end of March appeared to be more psychological and borne from a lack of title-race experience.
But that seems to have lifted as they have shifted from the hunted to the hunters.

Manager psychologyDespite his continued insistence that United are favourites to win the Premier League, Mancini let slip after the recent Norwich victory that he hoped his stance would inspire his players to prove him wrong.
As ludicrous as it now sounds with only a three-point gap, it seems to be doing the trick as Manchester United begin to wobble.
Ferguson accepted the defeat by Wigan, but was less charitable after the Everton game. And by highlighting the problem in defence he has automatically shifted the focus onto the likes of Rafael and Rio Ferdinand, who were at fault for at least two goals against David Moyes's side.
Still, Ferguson holds the upper hand in inspiring teams to the title from a variety of situations. The question remains if he has the team to do it.

Footage of City's 6-1 win over United at Old Trafford earlier this season will no doubt be played on TV stations all week in the build-up to next Monday's spectacle.
Though City will be without their chief tormenter on that day, Mario Balotelli, they may still hold the psychological advantage given that their 3-2 FA Cup defeat by United came after captain Vincent Kompany was dismissed.
United also had Jonny Evans sent off in the Old Trafford loss so it may boil down to who can keep 11 men on the pitch.
The other important factor is that United do not necessarily have to win, unlike City, but in reviewing the Everton game Mancini will take interest in how the Toffees' five-man midfield found spaces between Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick.

The North-East factor
Now Ferguson has described this as the biggest derby of his time at Manchester United, it will only add to the hype.
But whatever happens at the Etihad Stadium, there are some tricky games looming which could play a telling part in which side of Manchester the Premier League trophy travels to.
United appear to have the easier games, as Mancini has suggested, with a home fixture against Swansea followed by a trip to Sunderland.
As good as Brendan Rodgers's side have been this season, their away record is poor while the Black Cats have not scored in their last four games.
After the derby City will travel to face the form team in the division - Newcastle - before hosting a QPR team who are fighting for their survival and have beaten Tottenham, Arsenal and Liverpool over the last month.