© MCF.net members should always try to use Mr Nools daily 'word bollox' in one of their posts that day
XENIAL
ziːnɪəl, ziːnjəl
Adjective
1. Hospitable, especially to visiting strangers or foreigners.
2. Of the relation between a host and guest; friendly.
"Joe Bennett and the other Cardiff thugs did not give the Manchester City players a very xenial welcome."
Raheem Sterling: Man City players are being 'butchered' by bad tackles
Winger Raheem Sterling claims his Manchester City team-mates are being "butchered" by bad tackles.
His comments follow those of manager Pep Guardiola, who believes the players need more protection from referees.
Late tackles on Brahim Diaz and Kevin de Bruyne during the 3-0 win over West Brom further provoked Guardiola's ire.
Sterling said: "Some tackles have been awful. It's not what I expect in a top-flight match, especially when teams are losing and go out to kick players."
The 23-year-old added: "There are going to be challenges that are badly timed and probably not all of them are intentional.
"But at the same time if it's a dangerous tackle, it's a dangerous tackle and I think the referees and officials need to cut these tackles out because some of the players are getting butchered, butchered out there and it's sad to see."
The England international also fears that one of these challenges could result in a City player missing out on the chance to play at Russia 2018.
He said: "I do think we need to cut down on that because we've got a World Cup at the end of the year.
"The majority of the players in the top flight, and in our team, will be playing in it and it would be sad to see someone miss the tournament due to a silly tackle and someone get away with it."
His German team-mate Leroy Sane is out for seven weeks with ankle ligament damage after a tackle by Cardiff's Joe Bennett last weekend, while both Diaz and De Bruyne were fortunate to avoid injuries following challenges by Baggies pair Matt Phillips and James McClean.
Belgium midfielder De Bruyne said after that match: "A lot of teams are making a lot of fouls against us. We make a foul, we get a yellow card, I don't know how it's possible sometimes."
Boateng hails 'brilliant' Guardiola and 'beautiful' Manchester City
The World Cup winner played under Guardiola for three years at Bayern and believes the Spaniard has taken his former club to new levels
Jerome Boateng has hailed Pep Guardiola as "brilliant" and described Manchester City’s football this season as “beautiful”.
Boateng worked together with the Catalan for three seasons at Bayern Munich, winning three German league titles and two doubles between 2014 and 2016.
City are 15 points clear in the Premier League and remain on course for a quadruple with a Carabao Cup final against Arsenal looming next month, and the Germany international puts that down to the coach.
“He’s brilliant,” the World Cup winner told Goal. “For me, tactically, he is the best.
“This season City bought a lot of good players. They have a lot of money.
“Now you see more that it’s his team. They play very good football. It’s beautiful to watch.”
The 29-year-old played one season at City, the 2010-11 campaign, before moving to Bayern, where he became a treble winner in 2013. City could well rival the Bundesliga giants for the Champions League this season with the Germans safely into the draw for the last 16, where they will face Besiktas over two legs.
The European landscape is crowded with top quality sides – such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain – but Boateng believes Bundesliga teams should be doing a lot better on the continental stage.
Bayern were the only German side to make it out of the group stage, with Hoffenheim falling at the qualifiers and RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund both finishing third in their respective groups.
“Obviously, we want to go as far as we can,” Boateng said. “As a country, I think Germany can do better – much better – international wise.
“The last years before were better but now there are tough leagues. The English League, the Spanish, Italian, they have good teams but at the end of the day we have a very strong squad and we will try to win it.
“Of course it will not be easy.”
Bayern suffered a catastrophic 3-0 loss to PSG in the group stage which ultimately cost Carlo Ancelotti his job as coach before gaining revenge on the last matchday on home soil in December.
“There were different players on the pitch but at home we play always better,” Boateng said of the two games. “In Paris, we didn’t play well. We didn’t follow the game plan too well that Mr Ancelotti gave us.
“But it’s a new situation now and we are very happy and positive at the moment,” said Boateng, who also hailed the impact of returning coach Jupp Heynckes.
“You see how comfortable the team is,” he said. “He has great experience, he’s like a father figure for our team and everybody follows him. You see it in our games we play way better than before.”
Leicester made HUGE blunder by NOT selling Riyad Mahrez to Man City - Robbie Savage
MANCHESTER CITY came in with a last-minute £60m bid for Leicester star Riyad Mahrez on transfer deadline day.
The Foxes turned down the offer despite the Algerian having handed in a transfer request.
Mahrez joined Leicester for just £460,000 in 2014 and helped them to a historic Premier League triumph in 2016.
But the club refused to grant the winger his dream move to Pep Guardiola’s side, leaving him reportedly distraught.
The 26-year-old has failed to report for training for the past four days and been fined £200,000 as a result.
Former Leicester midfielder turned pundit Robbie Savage thinks his former club will live to regret not cashing in on the former PFA Player ref the Year.
“Do they have much to gain from keeping a disaffected player at the club? Not in my opinion,” Savage wrote in The Mirror.
“No disrespect to Leicester, who are perfectly entitled to hold Mahrez to his contract, but he has outgrown them.
“Are they ever going to offer him Champions League football again? Probably not.
“He’s seen other star players being allowed to fly the nest for good money – so why are Leicester demanding a king’s ransom for Mahrez?
“A move to City would almost guarantee him winning more trophies, possibly including the Champions League, and a chance to play for Pep Guardiola, arguably the best coach on the planet.
“After everything he has done for Leicester – a £460,000 snip who is now worth more than 100 times as much – surely there comes a point where it is churlish to stand in the way of his ambition.”
GOLDEN BOLLOX 3-2-2009
Arsenal completed the signing of Zenit St Petersburg forward Andrei Arshavin only minutes before the transfer window slammed shut. (Various)
Arshavin has signed a deal worth £70,000 a week, which ties him to the Emirates Stadium until 2012. (Various)
So keen was Arshavin to complete his move to Arsenal that he hires a private jet to fly him into London on Sunday night. (Various)
AC Milan are ready to make a £14m bid to sign midfielder David Beckham on a permanent contract when his loan deal at the San Siro comes to an end. (The Sun)
Sunderland striker Michael Chopra's move to Cardiff beat the transfer deadline by one minute. (The Sun)
Portsmouth manager Tony Adams has been given three games to save his job at Fratton Park following a string of poor results since taking over from Harry Redknapp. (The Sun)
Dennis Wise is set to leave his post as Newcastle's director of football. (The Sun)
Premier League clubs splashed a record £178m in the January transfer window, compared with £146m in 2008, £63m in 2007 and only £35m when the system was introduced in 2003. Who says there's a credit crunch? (The Sun)
Arsenal's Togolese striker Emmanuel Adebayor has revealed he was unable to walk for the first four years of his life. His mother Alica carried him all over Africa in search of a cure before being told to spend a week praying in church. On the seventh day, Adebayor heard children playing outside, somebody kicked a ball into the church and he was the first to get up, run and collect the ball. (The Sun)
Guardiola yet to make Toure future call as free agency beckons
While the likes of Benjamin Mendy and Raheem Sterling are part of a long-term project, time is running out for a long-serving Ivorian midfielder
Pep Guardiola believes Yaya Toure still has a role to play in Manchester City's fight for honours on multiple fronts ahead of his expected departure in June.
Toure left Guardiola's Barcelona to join City in 2010 and has been one of the most influential players in the club's modern history, scoring in Wembley final wins over Stoke City and Sunderland and serving as a star performer in the Premier League title triumphs of 2011-12 and 2013-14.
After initially being out of favour, the veteran Ivory Coast midfielder became central to Guardiola's plans last term but, with City dominating the Premier League title race, it has been a different story this time around.
The 34-year-old's five Premier League appearances have all come from the bench, comprising a mere 89 minutes.
Toure's two Champions League starts against Feyenoord and Shakhtar Donetsk came with qualification for the knockout stages already secured, while he lost his ever-present status in the Carabao Cup when Guardiola named a strong side to see off Bristol City in the second leg of last month's semi-final.
Asked about whether an eight-season association with the club will end this term, Guardiola spoke respectfully of a player he rewarded with a one-year contract extension.
"It is not the time to talk about that. Yaya helped us a lot last season and this season played less than the year before but we are going to decide," he told reporters ahead of Saturday's trip to Burnley, where City will kick off 15 points clear at the Premier League summit.
"There are still a lot of games. If I believe and he believes he can play he will have his minutes.
"It depends on him. Last season he was so important for us. Yaya was the only guy whose contract we renewed because he played top.
"Hopefully he can help us until the end of the season because I think we need him."
Guardiola will also look to call upon France left-back Benjamin Mendy before the end of the campaign, with a return to training tentatively pencilled in for next month following rehabilitation from cruciate knee ligament surgery.
"When you have an injury like he had it is always five or six months. And then after six months, immediately you can't play like [your best].
"Hopefully he can play some games and he will be good. But the real Mendy, we will be able to see him next season."
One player who has assumed the type of importance once enjoyed by Toure at City is Raheem Sterling.
The England winger has 19 goals to his name this term but, like his team-mates, had his momentum checked by last month's gripping 4-3 defeat at Liverpool.
Animosity still simmers towards Sterling at Anfield and he was roundly booed throughout an uneven showing before being substituted.
A pair of assists during Wednesday's 3-0 win over West Brom underlined the 23-year-old's worth, although Guardiola saw fit to embrace Sterling after a dreadful miss during the second half.
At Turf Moor last season, Sterling found himself barracked throughout by a section of the Burnley supporter but his manager insists there should be no doubts about his temperament.
"Away, every single game in the Premier League is tough and every player can play not good. It's not a problem," he added.
"At Anfield I understand – emotional things and he is a young player.
"He's shown amazing things on difficult stages this season, home and away. I don't think he is a guy who is scared to take responsibility. He showed many, many good things in those terms."
RANDON ARCHIVE BOLLOX
Re: Kolo Toure will join Man City and Adebayor this week
by Vhero » Mon Jul 20, 2009 11:04 amSlim wrote:Esky wrote:
Not to slam Hughes out of sight, but I wish he'd look outside the Premiership for players. Eto'o seems the exception to the rule and the signings Hughes has made from abroad have generally been very good (Kompany, Zabaleta et al.)
Hangeland and Toure would probably be the 3rd and 4th options I'd look to in England (based on viability/quality) but there are players that are as good, if not better, out on the continent. We could probably get better deals out there too.
I don't think this is a bad idea, we buy a player that strengthens us and weakens the opposition, is used to the league and its pace/physicality and won't have settling issues, there are a lot of pluses for signing players closer to home.
I agree with Esky and been saying it for weeks I get what your saying about weakening opposition but the top 4 are not likely to give up there best players and the Terry thing is unlikely to come off so we are really pushing it if we are seriously going for top 4. He is repeating what he did in January and in the last week hes gonna do a rush job abroad and end up with players he didn't really want because theirs nobody else available. I get why he is doing it and that's because he want's prem proven players but top 4 prem proven players are all in the top 4 teams minus a couple of players who are in Villa and Everton who refuse to sell no matter how much we throw at them so lets move abroad.
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Finding a way to win is all that matters for Sean Dyche and Burnley
SEAN Dyche insists winning is all that matters to him and Burnley as he seeks a way to stop the Manchester City juggernaut at Turf Moor today.
Pep Guardiola's side have been beaten just once in the Premier League this season and they sit 15 points clear at the top.
There has been plenty of discussion recently over styles of play and the physicality with which some of City's opponents have approached the task, but Dyche believes the art of tackling has to remain part of the game and part of an armoury to try and find the path to three points.
Guardiola has been angry at tackles from Cardiff City's Joe Bennett and West Brom's Matt Phillips on Leroy Sane and Brahim Diaz this week, but Dyche won't be telling his players to tread carefully.
"I think just play the game, the idea is to play the game properly and appropriately," he said. "Some of the challenges are down to the skill level of the player and how fast they are, how quick their mind works.
"I think tackling is still part of the game, and it’s a very difficult skill. Much more difficult than people make it out to be.
"There’s less malice in the game compared to when I was playing. There is way less physical contact. So that’s something that has changed, not for better or worse, but it’s a lot less physical."
Dyche also disputes claims that players need more protection from bad tackles, adding: "They get protection for the oddest things. They get protection if someone touches them on the shoulder. Where else do you want?
"Protection is a strange word – it’s a game of football. It’s two sides trying to win a game of football. You are trying to win the ball back for your team. I don’t think protection is the right word. I think it’s more management of the game, referees managing the game."
The challenge of finding a way to win is certainly a tough one against City, with Dyche admitting the title race is already over.
But he cites Atletico Madrid's approach under Diego Simeone as a team doing what they have to do to claim victory.
"The actual job of a manager and a team is to win and to find a way to win," said Dyche.
"The one obvious one is Atletico Madrid. When they first started doing it everyone said ‘that’s not the way’ but because they have been successful everyone says ‘it’s fantastic what they do’.
"They are good it. That wasn’t the standard brand for Spanish football. That’s innovation.
"The job is to win. Operate in whatever way you need to. Man City don’t need to change much. For the rest of us, it’s what can we do to win. That’s what it is for me.
"Too many managers are going out the game losing their jobs trying to make players play a way they are not capable of.
"For the greater good of football, but then six months later they are out of a job. You have to be careful.
"Two things will never go out of fashion – a team that works hard. Fans love to see that, whatever level of fan you are. Players with a shirt on working really hard. The other thing is winning."
OLD SKOOL AVATARS & BANNERS
TheKampreto
Manchester City starlet Tosin Adarabioyo at centre of tug-of-war between England and Nigeria
Manchester City starlet Tosin Adarabioyo is at the centre of an international tug-of-war between England and Nigeria.
The highly-rated central defender has been tipped for senior international honours and represented England juniors all the way up to Under-19 level.
However, the 20-year-old is being targeted by Nigeria, his country of heritage.
Adarabioyo was made available for loan by City during the final 48 hours of the transfer window following the signing of Aymeric Laporte.
e with the youngster named on the bench by Pep Guardiola for City’s win over West Brom on Wednesday night.
The Super Eagles had planned to watch Adarabioyo play sustained senior football before deciding whether to tempt him with a place in their World Cup squad.
Nevertheless, Nigeria’s concrete interest in Adarabioyo remains, leaving the Football Association in a fight to keep hold of the defender, who has made seven first-team appearances for City.
Nigeria have successfully persuaded Victor Moses and Alex Iwobi, who have both played for England at junior level, to change their international allegiance in recent years.
Players are only fully committed to a nation once they’ve played a competitive fixture.
MAHREZ ANALYSIS BOLLOX
BBC Radio Leicester's Ian Stringer
A resolution needs to be found and quickly as the bank of love on the streets of Leicester will quickly empty unless one of their greatest players returns to his best.
The rights or wrongs are gone. Mahrez needs to lace his boots back up and try to push the Foxes towards a seventh-place finish and an FA Cup run.
The game following this weekend, you ask? Manchester City, away.
Pep Guardiola gives Man City players holiday to forget about football
Manchester City have a week between their Premier League fixtures with Burnley and Leicester.
Manchester City will get four days off to rest up for their assault on four competitions.
While Liverpool and United have jetted off to Dubai this year to recharge their batteries, City's success in the domestic cups has created a relentless schedule that has left little time to relax between games.
The last time the Blues had a full week between games was in August. But their FA Cup win over Cardiff has created a free midweek, and they do not play Leicester until Saturday evening.
With more than seven days between games, Pep Guardiola has given his players four off to spend however they please before regrouping for an intense run that involves four games in four competitions before the end of the month.
"From Saturday afternoon until Wednesday afternoon the doors of the CFA will be closed," he said.
"We need to not see each other.
"They can travel, they can do whatever they want. If they want to go out to look for sunny days like yesterday, but maybe they consider it and if it’s like [yesterday] they stay here. I don’t know.
"They are free. For three days they have to forget a little bit about football, be with their families and friends and move on.
"Wednesday afternoon we have to prepare here, three training sessions for Leicester and Basel, and we have to move on, but we need a break a little bit, everybody. "Not just the players, the staff, the physios, everybody.
"It was a tough, tough period in winter time. We have that chance for three or four days and we give it to them."
WAG OF THE DAY
OTHER BOLLOX
Tottenham are prepared to sell England striker Harry Kane, 24, to Real Madrid as long as it is done with little fuss and they receive 200m euros (£176m). (Mundo Deportivo - in Spanish)
Former Everton and Southampton manager Ronald Koeman will be named the new coach of the Netherlands next Friday. The 54-year-old Dutchman has been out of work since he was sacked by Everton in October. (De Telegraaf - in Dutch)
Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho will only sell Spain goalkeeper David De Gea, 27, to Real Madrid if Wales forward Gareth Bale, 28, travels in the opposite direction. (Daily Express via Diario Gol)
De Gea is one of four goalkeepers under consideration at Real Madrid. Chelsea's 25-year-old Belgian Thibaut Courtois, Atletico Madrid and Slovenia stopper
Jan Oblak, 25, and AC Milan's 18-year-old Italy international Gianluigi Donnarumma are seen as potential alternatives to David De Gea. (Goal.com)
Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone does not want to become the manager of Chelsea because he wants to see out the the remaining two and a half years of his contract, although he would consider an approach from Manchester United. (Times)
Wigan manager Paul Cook has joked he hid former Manchester United striker Nick Powell's phone on transfer deadline day in order to keep him at the club. The 23-year-old Englishman was the subject of two bids from Brighton. (Wigan Today
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger believes keeping Mesut Ozil on a £350,000-per-week deal was the cheapest option for the club. (Telegraph)
Wenger also says he made a mistake in not selling Alexis Sanchez for £60m to Manchester City last summer and suggested that the 29-year-old Chile international is on a contract worth more than £600,000-a-week at Manchester United. (Mirror)
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher says players consider "ambition, geography and finances" when thinking about moving to a club and Newcastle do not tick any of those boxes. (Telegraph)
West Ham fans are planning are a protest march against the club's owners before the game against Burnley next month. (Sun)
Former Rangers striker Steven Thompson says his old club should have sold Colombian striker Alfredo Morelos, 21, following reports they turned down an £8m bid from Chinese club Beijing Renhe. (BBC Sportscene)
Roma and Belgium midfielder Radja Nainggolan, 29, says he could spend his entire career at the club. He has been linked with Chelsea in the past. (Sky Sports Italia via Football Italia)
Crystal Palace intend to keep their pre-match cheerleaders despite Formula 1 and the Professional Darts Corporation deciding to end their relationship with 'grid girls' and 'walk-on girls'. (Daily Mail)
West Brom have asked supporters to arrive early ahead of their game against Southampton on Saturday because they plan to pay tribute to Cyrille Regis from 14:00 GMT. (West Brom official website)
Argentina legend Diego Maradona has been denied entry to the USA after he insulted president Donald Trump. (Daily Mail)
Former Swansea manager Paul Clement says the sale of Gylfi Sigurdsson to Everton last summer "was a mistake" and meant "potential targets" were not signed. (Times - subscription required)
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has laughed off suggestions the club's record £75m signing Virgil van Dijk, 26, is overweight. (Express)
West Ham striker Javier Hernandez, 29, says he asked to leave the club in January because he wanted more first-team football. (Mirror)
West Ham midfielder Michail Antonio, 27, says manager David Moyes was right to drop him for being late to a team meeting but says he went to a hotel where ex-manager Slevn Bilic used to hold his talks rather than the club's stadium. (Sun)
The Sun lead with David Moyes' denial that he was involved in West Ham's reported policy of not signing players from Africa
West Ham missed out on Algeria striker Islam Slimani, 29, because Leicester refused to deal with Karren Brady after the Hammers vice-chair made comments in a newspaper about the Foxes' sacking of former manager Claudio Ranieri. Slimani has gone on loan to Newcastle. (Guardian)
Manchester United will prioritise signing a midfielder this summer to help get the best out of France international Paul Pogba, 24. (Mail)
Arsenal will revisit a deal for Brazilian forward Malcom, 20, from Bordeaux in the summer, and could target Atletico Madrid and Slovenia keeper Jan Oblak, 25, as a replacement for 35-year-old Czech Petr Cech. (Evening Standard)
Manchester United want Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino to take over once Jose Mourinho leaves Old Trafford. (Manchester Evening News)
Celtic rejected a late enquiry from Crystal Palace on deadline day about the availability of French striker Moussa Dembele, 21. (Scottish Sun)
Premier League's 10,000th game
From Sergio Aguero's last-gasp heroics to Kevin Keegan slumped over the hoardings, we look back at the Premier League's greatest games.
The Premier League has countless memorable matches to look back upon over the course of almost 10,000 games.
Saturday's top-flight fixtures will take the competition into five figures in terms of matches.
If any of them are half as entertaining as our favourites below then we're in for a treat.
COLLYMORE LEAVES KEEGAN SLUMPED
Stan Collymore largely failed to deliver on Merseyside but an image of the former Nottingham Forest striker celebrating wildly in the red of Liverpool after thrashing home at the back post is etched on the consciousness of every football fan of a certain age, unhappily so for those of a Newcastle United persuasion.
The striker scored Liverpool's second equaliser and a 92nd-minute winner in the glorious, haphazard 4-3 win at home to Kevin Keegan's title-chasing team, who had cancelled out Robbie Fowler's early opener through Les Ferdinand and then led twice thanks to goals from David Ginola and Faustino Asprilla either side of Fowler's second.
While the contest at Anfield delivered thrills and spills aplenty, the campaign ended in disappointment for both teams, as Liverpool lost the FA Cup final to Eric Cantona's late winner and Newcastle infamously failed to recover from surrendering their 12-point advantage over eventual double winners Manchester United.
