Manchester City loyalty goes beyond faithful fans
Man City columnists Ian Cheeseman has been debating with Blues supporters.
What value does the modern game of football put on the word loyalty?
It’s a question I’ve been debating on social media with Manchester City fans all week, and the volume of responses I’ve received suggests that it’s a subject close to their hearts.
Let’s start with what it means to be a loyal Blue. I can speak with some authority on this subject because I’ve been watching City all my life, first as simply a fan, and during the last 20 years as a journalist.
My family are supporters too. I know what it’s like to have to plan your working life, your social life and family life around the ever-moving football fixtures, and although I’m back in the press box now, I’ve had to buy tickets too. I know the commitment it takes to be a loyal fan.
I know plenty of supporters, even more determined to follow the Blues than me, who use all their spare cash on travelling the length and breadth of the country and further afield, but I also know fans who can only get to games now and again.
There are dedicated City fans all over the globe these days, who can only watch games on TV but still travel to their supporter’s club’s meeting room, often at anti-social hours, to gather in support of the Blues. They’re all loyal in my book.
There was a long list of loyal City fans who contacted me on twitter as I debated loyalty with them. LoulouBelle was typical, saying: “Supporting the team through thick and thin times, knowing that it will survive everything….we did and it has.”
There is no doubting the loyalty of City fans. They never deserted the club, even when relegated to League One. Unbelievably there are still some ignorant onlookers calling City fans glory hunters. They make me laugh.
On the basis that football fans never change their loyalty, no matter what happens, it’s more difficult to discuss the loyalty of footballers in the same way. They are paid to play the beautiful game, and have to go where the job takes them, so their loyalty is measured in a different way.
The cynics will say that this group of City players and management are only here for one reason, but it’s much more complicated than that. I believe there’s a great loyalty between Pep Guardiola and the men who brought him to City, Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain.
The bond between Pep and his loyal advisor Manuel Estiarte is rock solid.
There are players in the current first team squad who have shown loyalty too, although again the cynics will find reason to disagree.
Sergio Aguero has never hidden his desire to return home to Independiente, where he started his football career, and despite being constantly linked in the press with a move away from the Etihad Stadium, he has stayed loyal to City who I believe will be loyal in return, allowing him to fulfil his plans when his time at City comes to an end.
It’s a similar story with David Silva, who intends to play for his boyhood club Las Palmas before hanging up his boots. Loyalty is a two-way thing and I believe City are seeing the best of these players because of the mutual loyalty happening right now.
You can’t talk about player loyalty without mentioning former players like Peter Barnes, who runs the City old boys team, Tommy Booth, who’d turn up at the opening of an envelope in the name of City and many other great club loyalists down the years.
The fact is that Manchester City is a club that encourages and nurtures loyalty. They’ve never forgotten where they’ve come, which makes what is happening now and will happen in the future, will taste that bit sweeter.
STUPEFACTION
ˌstʃuːpɪˈfakʃn,ˌstjuːpɪˈfakʃn
noun
the state of being stupefied.
"The Swedish win left all of Italy in grief and stupefaction."
Emmanuel Adebayor gives in-depth account about that infamous Man City celebration against Arsenal
The striker has had plenty to say about his celebration in September 2009
Never shy of a few words, former Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor has given a full account of his infamous celebration in front of the club's supporters at Manchester City in 2009.
After sealing a big-money move to the Etihad Stadium in July of that year, the striker raced the full length of the pitch to goad his former fans after netting in City's 4-2 win.
Insisting that his celebration was justified following abuse from the fans, Adebayor was slapped with a £25,000 fine and a suspended two-match ban for his actions.
Now playing his football in Turkey for Medipol Basaksehir, the 33-year-old, speaking with French publication So Foot, has given his most in-depth account of his celebration yet.
"Afterwards, I got told the English FA wanted to give me a nice fine, but even if I would have had to pay €2m, considering what I went through, I would have still done it," said Adebayor.
"I wasn’t going to stand there, listening to five thousand people insult my family when they had nothing to do with it.
"During that moment, I felt like I weighed 20 kilos when I felt like I weighed 2000 kilos before the game.
"When I start to run, Wright-Phillips tries to catch me. He’s small, so a shoulder barge sends him flying.
"Then there was Barry, very slow: a quick juke move and he’s left behind.
"Around the centre circle was Kolo Touré, and he quickly realised it was better to just let me do my thing.
"When I slide on my knees, arms wide in front of the fans, I felt untouchable.
"People were throwing everything: phone, bottles of water. I never flinched. Everything flew past me. Pew, pew, like in the movies!
"It was like having a sensation of being in prison for so many years and suddenly being told: ‘Brother, take the door and leave. Now, you are free’.
"That’s what I felt, a deliverance."
OTHER BOLLOX
Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho is ready to take advantage of defender David Luiz being unhappy at Chelsea by luring the 30-year-old to Old Trafford. (Daily Express)
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has been given the green light to make a new bid for Southampton star Virgil van Dijk, 26. (Daily Mirror)
Real Betis believe they are close to pulling off a massive coup by convincing Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere, 25, to move to Spain. (Sun)
Wales boss Chris Coleman, 47, is interested in taking over as manager of Sunderland. (Daily Mail)
West Brom manager Tony Pulis could have just two games to save his job. (Daily Star)
Newcastle could sign Barcelona goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen for £9m. The 28-year-old joined the La Liga side from Ajax in 2016 but has failed to establish himself in the first team. (Talksport - via Marca)
Leicester boss Claude Puel has admitted he is interested in bringing Paris St-Germain's former Newcastle and Hull winger Hatem Ben Arfa, 30, to the club. (Daily Mirror)
OLD SKOOL ADVATARS & BANNERS
Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba has raised hope among fans that the club could acquire Juventus forward Paulo Dybala, 24. Pogba sent Dybala an Instagram message with the hashtag #AgentP included, a mark he often applied to messages sent to United targets during the summer. (Metro)
Everton striker Oumar Niasse, 27, has revealed he came close to joining Crystal Palace on transfer deadline day. (Croydon Advertiser)
Everton and AC Milan will go head to head in a bid to snap up Dynamo Kiev defender Domagoj Vida, 28. (Sun - via Futbol)
Paris St-Germain manager Unai Emery has responded to reports linking striker Neymar with a move back to Spain by stating the 25-year-old striker will be going nowhere soon. (Daily Star)
Chelsea midfielder Willian has urged the club to recall Ruben Loftus-Cheek from Crystal Palace and give the 21-year-old England midfielder a chance at Stamford Bridge. (Daily Express)
An overhaul at Arsenal is gathering pace with the club negotiating the departure of the long-serving chief scout, Steve Rowley. (Daily Telegraph)
Borussia Dortmund's highly respected chief scout Sven Mislintat is in the frame to take Rowley's role. (ESPN)
Stoke City assistant manager Mark Bowen is surprised that Chris Hughton has not been considered for the vacant managerial position at Everton. (Liverpool Echo)
Winger Marcus Tavernier's displays for Middlesbrough and England have caught the attention of a number of Premier League clubs. The 18-year-old has drawn particular interest from Everton and Arsenal. (Daily Mail)
Newcastle will send a scout to Turkey to watch 26-year-old striker Cenk Tosun play in Besiktas' next two games. (NTV Spor - via The Mag)
West Ham striker Andy Carroll and fiance Billi Mucklow have welcomed a son into the world and named him Wolf Nine Carroll. (Evening Standard)
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has returned to training after being discharged from hospital on Wednesday. (Independent)
The Reds' left-back Alberto Moreno has put his recent upturn in form down to the club's nutritionist and a ban on cake and ice cream before matches. (Sun)
Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has likened Zlatan Ibrahimovic to "a lion" when talking about the striker's recovery from injury. (Manchester Evening News)
Chelsea midfielder Willian, 29, could be in line for a move to AC Milan in January. (Calciomercato, via Daily Star)
Former Everton forward Tim Cahill, 37, has cast doubt over his future with Melbourne City, suggesting he will leave if he cannot secure regular A-League football in the lead-up to next year's World Cup. (The Age)
Newcastle United are one of a number of English clubs interested in 28-year-old Anderlecht defender Kara Mbodji, who captains Senegal. (Turkish-football.com)
RB Leipzig winger Emil Forsberg, 26, says he wants to concentrate on performing for the German club following reports Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is looking to sign him. (Bild via Manchester Evening News)
Former England manager Sam Allardyce says he is no longer interested in the vacant manager's job at Everton. (Talkshit)
OLD SKOOL ADVATARS & BANNERS
Pepsi Dave
GOLDEN BOLLOX
On this day 2013
England v Germany: Joe Hart ‘in the right frame of mind’ to face Germany with full backing of Hodgson
Roy Hodgson has thrown his support behind Joe Hart, who he said is determined to prove that he can be trusted in goal tomorrow night against Germany at Wembley, his first game in more than three weeks.
Hart, left out by Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini since the club’s defeat to Chelsea on 27 October, will start against the Germans. He did not feature in Friday’s 2-0 defeat to Chile but will be part of a team that Hodgson said will be the best he can muster from a squad that is carrying injuries, not least to Liverpool contingent Steven Gerrard and Daniel Sturridge.
The England manager said that Hart was “in the right frame of mind”. He added: “That is what being England manager has been like for me for the last 18 months – selecting players who haven’t played for a couple of weeks. Jermain Defoe played [as a substitute against Chile] and he hasn’t played for hardly any part of the season unless you count the odd minute here and there and the Europa League.
“We aren’t in the situation where I can only pick players who are playing regularly 90 minutes for their team. We don’t have enough players for me to do that. But I am more than happy that Joe is ready. He will be anxious to show everyone that he is still a very good goalkeeper.
“You would have to ask Dave Watson [the goalkeepers’ coach] how he has been. In the training sessions he does with me he has been fine and I know Dave has been happy with him. So I could only answer in the affirmative that he is fine, he is ready and he knew he wasn’t playing [against Chile]. This was Fraser Forster’s chance to show what he can do but he [Hart] knows it’s his chance on Tuesday night.”
Boss reveals faith in Dzeko
Manuel Pellegrini says he has as much trust in Edin Dzeko now as he had at the start of the season despite the hitman's lack of starts.
In an interview with Sport 360 in Abu Dhabi, where Pellegrini has been promoting the Manchester City Soccer School, the Chilean coach refuted suggestions that he has lost faith in Dzeko, who last started away at Aston Villa.
"No, that is not the case," he said.
"I put my trust in him before the season and I have just as much trust in him now. It is very important for this club to have a good squad.
"We have a lot of games to play from now until April and if we want to win trophies we need important players. Maybe at the moment he is not playing as much as he would like but he remains an important part of the squad."
Pellegrini did not talk about the goalkeeper situation as club officials ensured that the topic of Joe Hart was off-limits to the interviewer.
Manchester City see Sergio Ramos as answer to their defensive woes after Real Madrid refuse his pay demands
Spanish superstar has a huge buyout clause of £41million, but Manchester City want to capitalise on friction between player and club
Manchester City are trying to lure Real Madrid and Spain superstar Sergio Ramos to the Premier League next summer, report Tom Hopkinson and Dave Kidd of the Sunday People
And City boss Manuel Pellegrini is stepping up his pursuit of Brazil No.1 Julio Cesar with doubts growing about Joe Hart.
Real, aware of the Etihad interest in Ramos, are for now refusing to bow to his pay demands. His current deal is worth around £4.6million a year but the 27-year-old wants parity with the £6.2m Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale are paid and that has opened the door to City.
The title favourites, who face competition from mega-rich French side Paris Saint-Germain, will offer Ramos wages of around £7.2m a year.
New Real boss Carlo Ancelotti has used Ramos either at right-back or as midfield anchorman but the 27-year-old, who moved to the Bernabeu for £20m at the start of the 2005-06 season, wants to play in central defence.
Ramos has a release clause of around £41m in his contract and City, struggling at centre-back in the absence of the injured Vincent Kompany, are ready to make an opening offer of £32.5m.
City, whose interest in Real midfielder Sami Khedira may have cooled following news that the German international faces six months on the sidelines with a knee injury, want to bring in Cesar from QPR in January.
Pellegrini has finally run out of patience with No.1 Hart and, as Sunday People Sport revealed last week, is looking for a world-class replacement.
Barcelona keeper Victor Valdes remains the top target, but if City fail to bring him to the Etihad then they will look elsewhere. Cesar fits the bill and Loftus Road boss Harry Redknapp will let the out-of-favour stopper leave in January
Corrigan: England crowd will jump on Hart if he makes error
Joe Hart could end up being roundly booed at Wembley should he make a mistake in England's friendly with Germany, according to former Three Lions goalkeeper Joe Corrigan.
The Manchester City custodian has struggled this season and a series of high profile errors has led to him being dropped by boss Manuel Pellegrini.
On the international front Roy Hodgson has given the beleaguered keeper his backing but Corrigan says the pressure is on now.
"Joe is by far the best goalkeeper England have got at this moment in time," Corrigan told The Press Pass.
"The two lads [Joe Ruddy and Fraser Forster] behind him are very new to international football. Joe is a tried and trusted person who’s a fantastic goalkeeper.
"I’m sure he’ll cope well [with the pressure] but the problem you’ve got is if he makes a mistake the crowd are going to jump on him."
The former Citizens goalkeeper added that should Hart fail to win his spot back in the City side and Pellegrini opts to bring in a new man in January then he will have to consider a move.
Man City Not Taking Full Saints Allocation
Perhaps a sign of the times as rising ticket prices put off travelling supporters from watching their team away in as large numbers as they used to. Manchester City have always had good away support, so its a big surprise to find out that they have not taken their full allocation for their forthcoming trip to St Mary's on 7th December, they have sent back a batch of around 600 tickets which are now on sale to Saints supporters and are sure to go fairly quickly given that most other areas only have odd seats available. So why are Manchester City supporters not filling up the away section as they have done on previous visits, it could be that it comes on the back of a trip to West Bromwich Albion a few days earlier in an evening fixture, but probably one of the big reasons is cost or at least perception of the cost. - See more at: http://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/s ... hpGpk.dpuf
Manchester City's Aguero says he wants Barcelona move
If Lionel Messi pushing for Barcelona to sign Sergio Aguero wasn't enough to worry Manchester City fans, the player himself has now said that he'd like the move to happen... according to Catalan newspaper Sport. They quote Aguero, when asked if he'd like Messi to take him to Barcelona, "I want him to take me, but it's a matter of waiting for what the leaders decide."
Aguero has often been linked with a move to Real Madrid but Atletico wouldn't sell him directly there, similar to what happened with Radamel Falcao last summer. Barcelona would love to get one over on Real Madrid and Aguero would be a good addition to their their team. The Manchester City player is rated very highly but perhaps not highly enough, he's proved himself to be one of the best forwards in the world consistently and is very important to the Premier League club.
Manchester City would be totally against selling the player and are under no pressure to do so unless Aguero starts pushing for a move repeatedly. The words printed by Sport are very worrying for the club and fans but it's worth noting that Sport will spin anything to be as pro-Barcelona as possible.
Manchester City’s Samir Nasri happier under new boss Pellegini than Mancini
According to English media reports Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri claims he is much happier under new boss Manuel Pellegini than he was under former Roberto Mancini.
The 26-year-old player gave an impressive performance this season after enduring a disappointing campaign last year.
Nasri, who got in a tussle with the former city boss, was given a three-match ban by French Football Federation for misconduct during Euro 2012.
"Last year was a bit difficult for me personally because of the problem I had in the Euros and other stuff," Nasri said in a statement.
"So this summer, I cleared my head and came back with determination to have a great season. But right now everything is fine. I'm in a better place and that's what I want."
The midfielder compared Pellegrini management style to Arsene Wenger, under whom he played for three years at Arsenal.
"He does remind me of Arsene in respect of the way he works," he added.
"He has the same approach in the way he talks to players and tells them when things are good and when they are bad.”
"But it's always constructive and you always know what he wants form you, and what you to bring to the team.”
"I feel that he trusts me and that he gives me responsibilities on the pitch. When you have a manager like that, you want to repay that sort of faith - and that's what I'm trying to do."
ROSLER EXCLUSIVE: Secret police told me to spy on my team-mates! Uwe's amazing story that took him from East Germany to Griffin Park
Uwe Rosler sat at the only desk in a large room with a high ceiling and one small window staring into the eyes of an officer of the dreaded East German secret police, the Stasi.
He was somewhere in the depths of Leipzig’s famed Academy of Physical Culture having been collected from school, driven through the city streets in a Wartburg 311, switched into a different car and driven off again.
Two Stasi officers were with him. One circled the desk offering coffee and comfort and the other launched an interrogation about Lokomotive Leipzig’s recent games in France and Sweden.
Rosler, young and vulnerable, had only recently made his first-team debut and here he was being encouraged to spy on his team-mates and those westernised East Germans he met when abroad.
'So things are going well for you?' said his chief inquisitor. 'You are playing for Lokomotive? And do you want to continue playing for them? Then you must work with us.
'You are either with us or against us and if you’re against us, you are finished. You will not play for the national team, you will not play for Lokomotive again and your career will be over.
'What is your decision? Be somebody or nobody. We have your destiny in this hand.' With that, the Stasi officer squeezed a fist as he might crush a teenage Rosler, who was only released once he had signed a document saying none of the above had ever happened.
Nearly three decades on and the Brentford manager reveals the shady episode in his autobiography: 'Knocking Down Walls'. He recalls it with a wry smile; he gets the black humour looking back on this age but it was a terrifying ordeal.
'The secret police in East Germany had informants in all levels of life,' said Rosler. 'It was all about control and stopping people leaving the country illegally, especially the elite sportspeople who they had invested such money and resources in.
'They could have said one thing and my career would have been dead. All the hard work I put in since I was seven could have been undone for political reasons.
'They had the power to send me to serve 18 months in the army and not be allowed to train. My future was totally in their hands.'
After reunification, Rosler asked to see his files. 'I went to this centre and had three hours to read through them,' he said. 'There were 25 pages missing from exactly this time. Chronologically, everything else was all there.
'I was so curious. What had they decided about me? Who had told them to come for me? How did I come out of this? Officially, it was because I spoke to my manager at the club, he spoke to the chief executive and he spoke to the boss of the Stasi and then I was out. But these 25 pages were missing.'
The missing pages coincide with a time when he started to travel and play abroad for the youth teams of Lokomotive Leipzig and East Germany.
In Sweden, he shocked his Lokomotive team-mates and the club’s Stasi spies by accepting an invitation to take a Harley Davidson for a spin and then getting lost.
'All the houses in East Germany were grey,' said Rosler. 'But in that little village in Sweden there were white houses, blue houses, red houses, gardens, flowers and I was riding a Harley Davidson.
'I was thinking like: “Why am I here?” and I got lost a little bit on the way back, genuinely lost, not for two hours but for 10 or 20 minutes. They all screamed at me when I got back.
'A trip outside the walls was the highlight of the year. You saw a different world from what people tried to tell you in ideology lessons.
'We were taught the West was about unemployment and drug abuse and capitalism was about not looking after the poor, homelessness and people living on the streets with no food. When you travelled out you saw a totally different picture.'
This interview takes place in the more homely and comfortable surroundings of Brentford’s Griffin Park. Rosler sits at a small round, old-fashioned pub-style table and rocks gently back on the legs of his chair, the way you’re told not to at school.
He remains ever-so-slightly anti-establishment, even as a manager.
Have his players read the book? 'I hope not,' he grins. 'I did a lot of bad things.' These include an attack on Gunter Bohme, the assistant coach at Lokomotive who had reduced a young Rosler to tears as he introduced him to the first team.
'By the way, this is Uwe Rosler but don’t worry, he’ll never make it,' said Bohme and Rosler took revenge with a tackle in training which left the coach with blood pouring from a knee wound.
A few years later, he celebrated a winning goal for Magdeburg against Lokomotive by sprinting across the pitch to give Bohme the finger, an incident promptly erased from history by East German censors.
It has been an extraordinary journey from there to Griffin Park, via Manchester City and a near-death experience and recovery from cancer.
Rosler grew up watching Bundesliga football “over the wall” on an illegal TV aerial and listening to stories of the time East beat West in the World Cup in Hamburg in 1974.
'I always felt German,' said Rosler. 'My Dad raised me as a German. I was proud to play for East Germany. I’m not a communist. I was never in the Communist Party when 80% of players were but I was proud to play for the country I grew up in.
'When East Germany wasn’t at the World Cup, we were dying for West Germany to win. I stayed up all night to watch the World Cup from Argentina. I can’t remember the game in ‘74, I was six, but people talked about it, especially as East Germany won and the two countries never played again, so we had a 100 per cent record.'
Some footballers fled in search of a better life. Lutz Eigendorf defected from the Stasi-sponsored Dynamo Berlin to join Kaiserslautern and later died suspiciously in a car accident.
'I don’t think he died in a normal way,' said Rosler, who was never tempted to flee.
'I was very thankful to my parents,' he said. 'I had a happy childhood and was able to live my dream, to play football every day. They let their only child go at 11 for football. That was unselfish and if I left, it would be bad for them.'
Rosler played five times for East Germany, including their final game against Belgium in 1990 and believes the state system was '30 years ahead of its time' when it came to producing elite athletes.
When German football overhauled its development programme at the turn of the century they pulled on key elements of the old East German model, and sea change credited with producing the players in Joachim Low’s team, which will be at Wembley on Tuesday, for the tenth clash since reunification.
It comes at a time when FA chairman Greg Dyke is searching for ways to create better English footballers and the East German model may yet have more influence.
When they were at Brentford, Dyke and Rosler would dine together every six weeks, to storm ideas and plot the future and listen to his manager talking about his East German upbringing.
'This small nation produced so many world champions, Olympic champions, European champions and that not only came through doping, no way,' said Rosler. 'The structure, the scouting, the development was miles ahead.
'It was a little bit military. You had to clean your room and your toilets and wash your things at 11 or 12. We trained every day apart from Saturday and played on Sunday and I was seven years in this environment.
'There was pressure. You could get thrown out. They were ruthless. Competition was strong. If you were at that school, you knew you had a great chance to make a good living in the East.
'Football was a great career but you also got an education and status. You were aware of that opportunity. No-one wanted to be eliminated from that school.'
English clubs are moving towards this. Rosler has a son involved at Manchester City’s Academy, which struck a partnership with St Bedes College to maximise training time for their elite players.
'They are doing exactly what I was doing,' said Rosler. 'They have small school classes so they can work intensively on their education, but they also get more time on the training field in the 'golden years'.
'The only difference is that the kids sleep at home, or with foster families. Where I grew up we all lived in one place and that was part of the education.'
It is a challenge for Dyke but Rosler thinks he is up to it. 'He is not afraid,' he said. 'He doesn’t do it to create headlines. He does it because he believes in it, if people like it or not. For me he is the fresh air the FA needed and I wish him all the best.'
And perhaps, like Germany, Dyke will find some inspiration in the East. Just like Germany and Rosler, the Premier League’s first German footballer and the tinker tailor soldier striker.
England's most successful German imports - by Uwe Rosler
Uwe Rosler was at the vanguard of German footballers in England nearly 20 years ago. Today there are Mesut Ozil, Andre Schurrle and Lukas Podolski among others, but he was the first to play in the Premier League when he joined Manchester City from Nurnberg, initially on loan, in March 1994.
'I was very proud and felt like I was the door opener,' said Rosler, who has selected for Sportsmail those he considers the best of those who followed in his path.
Michael Ballack - Chelsea 2006-10
Germany’s captain arrived at Chelsea from Bayern Munich at the peak of his powers. He won the Double in his final year but was unable to satisfy his quest for the Champions League. He was a losing finalist in 2008 despite scoring his penalty in the shoot-out. Released in 2010, he returned to Bayer Leverkusen and has since retired.
Steffen Freund - Tottenham & Leicester 1998-04
Played more than one hundred times for Spurs and acquired cult status due to his aggressive midfield displays and the fact he never scored a goal. Left White Hart Land in 2003 to join Kaiserslautern and returned to England for a loan spell at Leicester in 2004. Now back at Spurs as AVB’s assistant.
Dietmar Hamann - Newcastle, Liverpool, Manchester City & MK Dons 1998-11
Best remembered for his seven years at Liverpool and his role in the 2005 Champions League final when he helped inspired the famous comeback against AC Milan. Also played for Newcastle, Manchester City and had brief spells as player-coach at MK Dons and manager of Stockport. Now a media pundit.
Robert Huth - Chelsea, Middlesbrough, Stoke 2001 - current
Signed by Chelsea from Union Berlin as a teenager he went into the Academy and played several times for the first team but was unable to establish his place during four years at Stamford Bridge. He has since forged a career as an uncompromising central defender and is in his fifth season at Stoke.
Jurgen Klinsmann - Tottenham 1994-95 & 97-98
Well-travelled striker who made an enormous impression on the English game in his only full season at Spurs. Arrived from Monaco, scored on his debut, ended the season with 21 goals and won Footballer of the Year before leaving for Bayern Munich. Returned for a successful loan from Sampdoria three years later. Now manager of the USA
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho is willing to sell striker Fernando Torres, 29, in an attempt to lure Monaco's £52m forward Radamel Falcao to the west London club. Mourinho watched the 27-year-old Colombian play for his country this week. Express
Arsenal are rivals with Manchester United to sign 26-year-old Torino and Italy winger Alessio Cerci, valued at £16m by his Serie A club. Daily Star
The Gunners have been given clearance to sign Corinthians and former AC Milan striker Pato in January. The 24-year-old is thought to be available for £10m. Express
Manchester United want Dundee United attacking midfielder Ryan Gauld, 17, who has been compared to Lionel Messi and is valued by his club at £5m. People
Real Madrid midfielder Sami Khedira's anterior cruciate ligament injury, which he suffered on international duty for Germany against Italy and which could rule him out for up to six months, has also scuppered the 26-year-old's chances of a January move to either Chelsea or Manchester United. TalkSHIT
Newcastle United want to sign Manchester United winger Wilfried Zaha, 21, on loan for the rest of the season. DSSC
Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney, 28, is likely to accept a new contract worth over £250,000 per week because former manager Alex Ferguson's influence at the club since his retirement is not as big as he had expected. Mirror
Meanwhile, United are willing to give striker Javier Hernandez, 25, a pay rise from his £60,000-a-week deal in order to keep him at the club. Goal.com
And Chelsea winger Andre Schurrle, 23, says Rooney would not get into the Germany team. Sun
Also at Chelsea, attacking midfielder Kevin De Bruyne, 22, says he does not regret staying at the club over the summer but admits he may go out on loan in January. Metro
Germany boss Joachim Loew will send a weakened team to Wembley for the friendly against England on Tuesday. He plans to rest Arsenal's Mesut Ozil, and Bayern Munich players Philipp Lahm and Manuel Neuer. Mirror
QPR could be fined £60m under Financial Fair Play rules for spending so much money in the past year. DSSC
Tottenham winger Andros Townsend, 22, who has broken into the Spurs and England team in recent months, says he was aware this season would be "last chance saloon" for him at White Hart Lane. Daily Telegraph
David Beckham is planning to sign NBA basketball star Lebron James to his Miami Major League Soccer franchise. The former England midfielder thinks James can help develop his franchise's brand. DSSC
Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o says there was a "plot" by his team-mates not to pass him the ball in the first leg of their World Cup play-off against Tunisia, which they drew 0-0. Metro
Newcastle and Aston Villa are among the teams interested in signing Tottenham Hotspur's unsettled former Fulham midfielder Mousa Dembele, 26. Daily Express
Liverpool have beaten Arsenal to the signing of Derby midfielder Will Hughes and will sign the 18-year-old in a £12m deal during the January transfer window. Sun
Sunderland are rumoured to be looking at signing Swedish 17-year-old Valmir Berisha after the Halmstads striker scored a hat-trick against Argentina in last month's Under-17 World Cup in Abu Dhabi. Shields Gazette
Roma's Bosnian midfielder Miralem Pjanic, 23, has played down a potential move to the Premier League by claiming he wants to stay at the Italian side. Daily Star
Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner, 25, has bizarrely tipped himself for a move to either Barcelona or Real Madrid when the transfer window reopens in January. Metro
Hodgson also says Germany are 'no better' than his team before the two countries square up at Wembley on Tuesday. Daily Telegraph
Former Germany and Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack believes England are still 'a bit behind' the likes of his home nation and Spain on the football front. Daily Star
Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere, 21, says England could learn from the defeat by Chile and the type of 'little fouls' South American teams use to break up a game. Daily Express
Gareth Bale may miss some Wales games, even when he is fit, as manager Chris Coleman aims to strike a deal with his club Real Madrid over the use of the 24-year-old world-record signing. Telegraph
Brazil manager Luiz Felipe Scolari says he is open to a return to managing in the Premier League after the 2014 World Cup and would even go back to Chelsea, who sacked him in 2009. Guardian
Former Stoke manager Tony Pulis has pulled out of the running to become the next Crystal Palace manager. Daily Star
Blackburn manager Gary Bowyer has been told he will have to move out players before club owners Venky's let him make any more signings. Daily Mirror
Lying Bollox Revealed : Alex Ferguson's book contains 45 inaccuracies prompting publishers to offer refund
One customer has been offered his money back after pointing out multiple factual errors in Fergie's tell-all autobiography
Publishers of Alex Ferguson’s autobiography have agreed to refund a customer – after multiple inaccuracies were found in the book.
Fergie’s second account of his life, entitled My Autobiography, became the UK’s fastest-selling non-fiction book since records began, shifting 115,547 copies in its first week on sale.
But eagle-eyed readers have spotted as many as 45 factual errors in the 402-page account, which has prompted publishers Hodder and Stoughton to offer to reimburse one disgruntled customer.
Hodder and Stoughton CEO Jamie Hodder-Williams is said to have replied by email to the customer in question, offering a full refund in exchange for the return of Ferguson’s autobiography.
Mr Hodder-Williams wrote: “We did in fact go through several stages of fact-checking with this book, with a reading from within Manchester United as well as from a specialist football fact-checker.
“Although a very large number of corrections were made we plainly did not pick up everything.
“Possible corrections that have so far been helpfully pointed out are being checked and will be included in future reprints.
“I am sorry that you feel that your expenditure on the book was not worthwhile. If you would like to send the book to me at our head office address, stating where you bought the book and at what price, we will refund your expenditure and postage.”
Among the inaccuracies in Ferguson’s account of the latter half of his 26-year Old Trafford reign are his claim United had 11 years out of former captain Roy Keane, when it was actually 12.
Ferguson also claims “Rio Ferdinand excelled against Manchester City in the semi-final second leg [of the Carling Cup] in 2009 at Old Trafford” when the year in question was 2010.
The former United boss even managed to get wrong the date he had a pacemaker fitted, stating the procedure was done in April 2002, when it was actually carried out in March 2004.
The book also states United legend Ryan Giggs made his debut for the club aged 16, when the midfielder was actually 17 when he first appeared for them.
A spokeswoman for Hodder and Stoughton said: “A member of the public did write in saying that he had found errors in the book and was not happy. He didn’t say what the errors were.
“We have written to him and said that if he is not happy with his purchase he should send in the book and we will refund the purchase price.”
City special: When it was all White on the night!
Manchester City icon David White recalls the time he hit Aston Villa for four - and how injury cut short his career.
David White had been there a thousand times, the ball at his feet, and the target the top corner of a garage door near his Eccles home.
Only this time, he was at a packed Villa Park, with England international goalkeeper Nigel Spink hulking between him and his hat-trick, with the chance to ensure the Blues walked away with three points.
It made no difference. White had been here so many times before that he did not even have to think about his next move.
Instinct honed on the training pitch, and in front of that garage, kicked in, and eye, brain and muscle coordinated perfectly to arc the ball around the six ft two ins frame of Spink, and into the goal, to send the masses of City fans behind the goal into raptures.
“My career could have ended right there, for me,” says White, who scored four times on that memorable night, and set one up for Mark Brennan in a 5-1 victory.
“All I did as a kid was hit that shot against the side of a garage. So when the chance came, it was second nature, and for it to be my hat-trick goal and 50th goal for the club made it special.”
White was one of the graduates of the City FA Youth Cup-winning side which last week had a reunion to mark the launch of “Teenage Kicks”, a book chronicling their stories.
White was one of the two members of that team who went on to play for England, the other being Andy Hinchcliffe, although it is almost certain Paul Lake would have made it a trio had he not suffered such appalling luck with injury.
Lightning fast and direct, White could also be a deadly finisher, as he showed that night at Villa Park. His goals record of 96 in 341 City appearances is extremely good for a wide player.
But as he casts his mind back to those heady days, what makes him proudest of all is the fact that he worked so hard for everything he achieved.
That work ethic has stood him in good stead since and he now applies the same principles to running his own Eccles-based waste management company.
“It meant more to me that I had to work for everything,” said White. “I was obviously very fast, but everything I did in football I could pin onto things I worked hard on – I worked hard on finishing and other things in my game, and it’s nice to be able to look back and see that was the reason.”
In the end, he moved to Leeds, who were then chasing United at the top of the Premier League, in a £1.2million-rated swap for David Rocastle and also went on to play for Sheffield United.
He never again quite hit the heights of his youth, plagued by injury troubles and constantly nagged by an arthritic ankle.
That note brings the only hint of regret from White, as he sees the way modern players have access to the latest medical technology, and benefit from the science of rest and recuperation: “You wonder how it might have been if you could benefit from all the latest nutrition, training techniques, and in particular medical knowledge,” he said.
“I know now that I permanently played with an injury. I can hardly walk on it now, as the ankle is arthritic. That is what you did in that day and age, you just got on with it. Later on, when I was at Sheffield I saw players pulling out of games for no reason, and that was the game changing – most of them went on to play well into their 30s.”
Manchester City's team of the 80s
Of course, City are at the cutting edge in that regard these days, and the new training facilities at the Etihad Campus will have a state-of-the art medical set-up.
It will also boast academy facilities which the Blues feel will be second to none on the planet, so the young lads coming through the youth ranks at the club, as White, Lake, Hinchcliffe, Steve Redmond and the rest did 27 years ago, have a great opportunity.
But White stresses the importance of having the right men in place, to enrich the infrastructure, just as the ‘86 youth team had in Tony “Skip” Book and Glyn Pardoe.
“There has been a lot said this week about the success Southampton have been having, and it comes down to people,” he said.
“We were schooled by two very, very special people in Tony and Glyn. I don’t think they were FA qualified coaches, but at that age we needed to grow up very quickly, and in those two years, as much as we had amazing success, we had to mature.
“Some of the games, especially the Saturday morning games, we might beat teams 6-0 or 7-0 and go in to receive a rollicking. If it should have been ten, they would tell us it should have been ten, or that we shouldn’t have conceded that goal.
“Skip wasn’t being nasty, he just knew what had to happen, that we had to develop and become men very quickly.
“I can remember a number of games where I would be playing on the wing and he would literally almost forget the rest of the team, and walk up and down the pitch with me.
“He would tell me ‘This is your position’ or ‘That’s your position’, and congratulate you if you did something well. It was incredible pressure, but that is where you learn the game.
“It was not just about the number of games the lads who made the first team went on to play, but also the number that players like John Beresford, Darren Beckford and Earl Barrett played. The previous season we were beaten by Newcastle and those three made up the rest of the team.
“We maybe should have won it that season, rather than the second season, but those three have maybe another thousand games between them.
“For whatever reason John had to go elsewhere and was as good as anybody in terms of his career.
“Then there was Ashley Ward, Mike Sheron, Neil Lennon, Andy Thackeray and George O’Boyle who went on to play international football.
“That was the target and in preparing for that we won pretty much everything in sight.
“Maybe we shouldn’t have celebrated that night, but celebrated the fact that two former players who sit right at the top table in the Hall of Fame at City, who played in the club’s golden era, dedicated themselves to developing that group of people.”
OLD SKOOL ADVATARS & BANNERS
NQDP
MORE BOLLOX A BIT LATER
at least he’s honest!
