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Lovely sunny day at Carrington as Neil and I were joined by a host of Italian watchers and Noel Gallagher as a special guest.Cameras all round outside the fencing but I think the BBC were following him inside so no doubt a special feature coming your way soon. Patrick took him on a tour inside and stayed with him when they came out for some of the training session.Sharon was also snapping away and the Inside City cameras were also rolling.With a bit of luck I will have stayed off camera!

19 on show today with Micah having a little extra rest( no problems there we were assured).Plenty of new boots on display as well for Clichy,Milner,Kolarov and Edin that I noticed.The first exercise was keep ball and way away from us but still the noise and fun was evident.Hard to focus on it too closely with all the camera action going on so close.Then over they came for a quick strong passing game ,just 1 and two touch.Switching to the game scoring bewtween two poles and goals from Zaba,Nigel,Carlos,Milner and Kolarov kept Nigel in a great mood.He was keeping score and making sure everyone knew how many his team were winning by!

Then over to play with the small nets. Kolarov made a point of winding up Mario but it was a goal from Mario that clinched this game after some slick inter passing with Barry.A few more exercises before all those who played a full international finished for the day.Apart that is for Joe Hart who played assistant referee and Milner,Nigel,Barry and Vinnie just stayed to watch and barrack the players.A group of EDS players came over to make up the 2 teams. Reece W ,MJ ,Benali ,Ellabdalloui,Scapuzzi, Mancini ,Bunn ,Suarez plus Atillio to balance the teams out.

Joe Hart took a lot of my attention as he was very close and making very exaggerated gestures most of the time and with the occasional dance thrown in.Shame he lost his concentration a little when he should have been flagging off side!So much of the game today revolved around top goalkeeping:
Brilliant save from Yaya by Costel turing a drive onto the bar
MJ headed just wide from a Scapuzzi pass
Edin just wide with Nigel screaming at him from the sideline
Taylor saved at Mario's feet and sent him flying
Costel saved well from CT 2 or 3 times and was starting to look unbeatable
A great backheel from Edin in a tight situation got approval from the crowd (JM/VK and NDJ)
Edin then beat Costel but hit the bar
Kolo was urging his team to win
Bunn broke through from the left but Stu blocked at point blank range
Another Stu save from Mario
Nigel was urging the white bib team to win
More great skill from Edin got the approval of the watching players
Golden goal time was announced
Mario broke free down the right to cross for Bunn but Stu somehow saved twice from close range
another save from Mario
then a Kolarov shot was half saved and Scapuzzi knocked in the rebound...Nigel wasnt a happy man :)

That was that and CT went off with a physio to do more work as Mario and Pizarro stayed for some penalty practice.In case you didnt know but Mario is quite good at penalties!

Cheers as always Doug.

Cheers Doug. Great reading.

Did Noel Gallagher meet the players?

Also, Costel seems to have been on fire of late in a few of your reports. Seen enough to make you content that he is a quality back up for Joe?

According to the press 21 in contention for Bolton:

Provisional squad: Hart, Pantilimon, Richards, Zabaleta, Savic, Lescott, Kompany, K Toure, Kolarov, Clichy, Johnson, Milner, Nasri, Y Toure, Barry, De Jong, Pizarro, Silva, Aguero, Balotelli, Dzeko.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... eback.html?

report says Micah was missing and 19 were on show -

so who was hiding from Doug!?

johnny crossan wrote:According to the press 21 in contention for Bolton:

Provisional squad: Hart, Pantilimon, Richards, Zabaleta, Savic, Lescott, Kompany, K Toure, Kolarov, Clichy, Johnson, Milner, Nasri, Y Toure, Barry, De Jong, Pizarro, Silva, Aguero, Balotelli, Dzeko.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... eback.html?

report says Micah was missing and 19 were on show -

so who was hiding from Doug!?

Nasri and Kun?

Hi Doug, thanks as always for the time and effort. Always a good read.
Is MJ our MJ the wonderkid? how is he doing?/is he still a fat fuck? and do you know why he's back from loan?

Plain Speaking wrote:

johnny crossan wrote:According to the press 21 in contention for Bolton:

Provisional squad: Hart, Pantilimon, Richards, Zabaleta, Savic, Lescott, Kompany, K Toure, Kolarov, Clichy, Johnson, Milner, Nasri, Y Toure, Barry, De Jong, Pizarro, Silva, Aguero, Balotelli, Dzeko.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... eback.html?

report says Micah was missing and 19 were on show -

so who was hiding from Doug!?

Nasri and Kun?

I don't of course count the keepers in my 19 and it seems the Daily Fail doesnt count Carlos :)

Beanieboy wrote:Hi Doug, thanks as always for the time and effort. Always a good read.
Is MJ our MJ the wonderkid? how is he doing?/is he still a fat fuck? and do you know why he's back from loan?

I can only assume,if the loan was originally a season long one,that they didnt fancy him anymore but I have no inside info.Seems to be doing ok back with us but nowt special.

Douglas Higginbottom wrote:

Beanieboy wrote:Hi Doug, thanks as always for the time and effort. Always a good read.
Is MJ our MJ the wonderkid? how is he doing?/is he still a fat fuck? and do you know why he's back from loan?

I can only assume,if the loan was originally a season long one,that they didnt fancy him anymore but I have no inside info.Seems to be doing ok back with us but nowt special.

I'm also wondering about Bunn. Is he back from Preston? How did he do there? Anyone knows?

Douglas Higginbottom wrote:

Plain Speaking wrote:

johnny crossan wrote:According to the press 21 in contention for Bolton:

Provisional squad: Hart, Pantilimon, Richards, Zabaleta, Savic, Lescott, Kompany, K Toure, Kolarov, Clichy, Johnson, Milner, Nasri, Y Toure, Barry, De Jong, Pizarro, Silva, Aguero, Balotelli, Dzeko.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... eback.html?

report says Micah was missing and 19 were on show -

so who was hiding from Doug!?

Nasri and Kun?

I don't of course count the keepers in my 19 and it seems the Daily Fail doesnt count Carlos :)

right - I'm running out of fingers and toes now - you don't count Pants & Joe from their list and Carlos was never in it, Taylor doesn't appear in either (+ Gunnar & Hargo) and Micah was resting. So nobody else was missing - that's a relief!!

Douglas Higginbottom wrote:

Beanieboy wrote:Hi Doug, thanks as always for the time and effort. Always a good read.
Is MJ our MJ the wonderkid? how is he doing?/is he still a fat fuck? and do you know why he's back from loan?

I can only assume,if the loan was originally a season long one,that they didnt fancy him anymore but I have no inside info.Seems to be doing ok back with us but nowt special.

Ok, cheers. I can't help but think/hope he could still come good....

CityGer wrote:Cheers Doug. Great reading.

Did Noel Gallagher meet the players?

Also, Costel seems to have been on fire of late in a few of your reports. Seen enough to make you content that he is a quality back up for Joe?

I am sure he didn't meet the players before training but don't have a clue about afterwards.

As for Costel I think it's quite right and proper that City have offered him a full contract.IMO he has improved a lot since he came.He is better a getting to the low shots,better positionally, getting more vocal by the week and I am sure could do a job for us if needed.Not saying he is as good as Shay Given but I would have him in front of plenty of the current prem keepers.

Douglas Higginbottom wrote:Lovely sunny day at Carrington as Neil and I were joined by a host of Italian watchers and Noel Gallagher as a special guest.Cameras all round outside the fencing but I think the BBC were following him inside so no doubt a special feature coming your way soon. Patrick took him on a tour inside and stayed with him when they came out for some of the training session.Sharon was also snapping away and the Inside City cameras were also rolling.With a bit of luck I will have stayed off camera!

Inside City No 25 8 mins in, is that thee next to NMT from Blue Moon

shortagain wrote:

Douglas Higginbottom wrote:Lovely sunny day at Carrington as Neil and I were joined by a host of Italian watchers and Noel Gallagher as a special guest.Cameras all round outside the fencing but I think the BBC were following him inside so no doubt a special feature coming your way soon. Patrick took him on a tour inside and stayed with him when they came out for some of the training session.Sharon was also snapping away and the Inside City cameras were also rolling.With a bit of luck I will have stayed off camera!

Inside City No 25 8 mins in, is that thee next to NMT from Blue Moon

relaxed, cheerful and inconspicuous!

shortagain wrote:

Douglas Higginbottom wrote:Lovely sunny day at Carrington as Neil and I were joined by a host of Italian watchers and Noel Gallagher as a special guest.Cameras all round outside the fencing but I think the BBC were following him inside so no doubt a special feature coming your way soon. Patrick took him on a tour inside and stayed with him when they came out for some of the training session.Sharon was also snapping away and the Inside City cameras were also rolling.With a bit of luck I will have stayed off camera!

Inside City No 25 8 mins in, is that thee next to NMT from Blue Moon

Tis indeed me next to Neil.We couldnt get into the dugout as it was full of Italians :)

...and just a week too late for the Oscars Doug...

Douglas Higginbottom wrote:Lovely sunny day at Carrington as Neil and I were joined by a host of Italian watchers and Noel Gallagher as a special guest.Cameras all round outside the fencing but I think the BBC were following him inside so no doubt a special feature coming your way soon. Patrick took him on a tour inside and stayed with him when they came out for some of the training session.Sharon was also snapping away and the Inside City cameras were also rolling.With a bit of luck I will have stayed off camera!

Possibly something to do with this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17256622