Monday's B*l**x

[Chinners]

City to pip United again
City are reportedly set to pip rivals Manchester United again by snapping up Athletic Bilbao defender Javi Martinez.
City boss Roberto Martinez continues to be linked with a myriad of defenders this summer as he looks to strengthen his backline for an assault on the Champions League next season, while defending their Premier League crown which they won on goal difference ahead of United.
And, 23-year-old Martinez is thought to be high on his list of targets having been keeping tabs on the player since the turn of this year following some impressive performances in the Europa League where he helped the Basque outfit reach the final.
However Red Devils chief Sir Alex Ferguson is also interested in the £25million-rated stopper after seeing him at first hand when Bilbao comfortably dumped his United side out of Europe over two legs this past season.
The Scot sent his brother and European scout, Martin to watch Martinez play for Athletic Bilbao in April and was thought to be pondering a summer swoop, while Spanish giants Barcelona are also said to be interested.
But, reports claim Mancini will move quickly to try and sign the player having already been priced out of a deal to sign AC Milan defender Thiago Silva. Setanta

Mancini eyes Premier League defenders Coloccini, Agger or Luiz to bolster back line
Roberto Mancini is ready to start Manchester City's summer spending spree, and is in pursuit of a number of Premier League stars.
Mancini, who wants to tie up the signing of Athletic Bilbao's Javier Martinez before the Euros start on Friday, is following a number of other targets.
According to the Mirror, a primary target is Newcastle captain Fabricio Coloccini.
The Argentinian has just signed a new four-year contract, but Mancini will be hoping that a pay-rise and the lure of Champions League football will be sufficient to tempt him to the Etihad.
Strengthening: Roberto Mancini wants to strengthen his back line this summer
If the bid to sign Coloccini falls through, Mancini will turn his attention to either Liverpool's Daniel Agger, or Chelsea's David Luiz.
City were linked with a move for Luiz before he left Benfica for Chelsea in January last year.
It is not just a centre-half Mancini is after. The City boss is monitoring Spurs winger Gareth Bale as he mulls over the prospect of leaving White Hart Lane.
Mancini is hoping to add to his Argentine-laden squad further, with a move for Matias Rodriguez.
Rodriguez helped Chilean side Universidad de Chile win the Copa Sudamericana, the South American equivalent to the Europa League.
The 26-year-old winger, rated at £7million, would be joining an array of Argentinians, with Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero and Pablo Zabaleta already plying their trade at the Etihad.
He could also be joining Coloccini, should both players decide on a move to Manchester. Mail

Wanted man: City lead race ahead of Spurs and Arsenal to land Butland
This summer keeps getting better for Jack Butland.
First the 19-year-old goalkeeper receives an England call-up for Euro 2012 following the injury to Norwich's John Ruddy, and now the Premier League champions have joined the race for his signature.
Manchester City already have England No 1 Joe Hart between the sticks, and it appears they want another English keeper to be his understudy.
Sportsmail reported on Saturday that Southampton had been the first top-flight team to inquire about the youngster, and City, Spurs and Arsenal have since been on alert.
Butland, who is contracted to cash-strapped Birmingham City, played much of last season on loan at League Two side Cheltenham.
Now the Premier League champions, as well other leading top-flight sides, are queuing up to sign the young stopper.
Birmingham are likely to sell Butland if the price is right, meaning he could be taking another huge step in his career once he returns from Poland and Ukraine.

OTHER BOLLOX
London 2012: Craig Bellamy set to feature for Team GB
Liverpool striker Craig Bellamy says he has been included in the Team GB squad for the Olympics.
Coach Stuart Pearce is allowed to name three players over the age of 23 in his 18-man squad - and Wales international Bellamy, 32, has been widely quoted claiming he has been included.
"I am in the Olympic squad but I was supposed to keep it quiet," he said.
"It's a different challenge. I had a difficult season with Liverpool but the Olympics is a one-off."
Pearce is expected to name his squad for the games later in June.
Former England captain David Beckham, 37, has made no secret of his desire to be included and Manchester United will allow former Wales skipper Ryan Giggs, 38, to feature.
England international Joe Cole, Scotland striker Steven Fletcher and Northern Ireland midfielder Chris Brunt have also been touted as potential over-age players.
Team GB's first fixture is against Senegal at Old Trafford on 29 July.

Man United and Man City target Mats Hummels, 23, has committed his future to Borussia Dortmund by signing a new-five-year contract. talkShit

Spurs star Gareth Bale, 22, has gone on holiday to consider his Tottenham future as speculation continues to mount over the future of manager Harry Redknapp. Daily Mirror

Chelsea have prepared a £7m-a-year package for Porto striker Hulk, 25, and they are ready to pay as much as £30m for the Brazilian. The Times

Blackburn winger Junior Hoilett, 21, whose contract expires this summer, looks set to join German side Borussia Monchengladbach. The Times

QPR, West Brom and Malaga are all interested in signing West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green, 32, after Hammers chairman David Gold confirmed the England stopper would be leaving the club. The Telegraph

Tottenham midfielder Steven Pienaar, 30, fears Spurs will price him out of a move back to Everton, where he spent the end of the season on loan. The Sun

Tottenham, QPR and West Ham are all interested in signing former Chelsea and Arsenal striker Nicolas Anelka, 33, who is currently with Shanghai Shenhua. Daily Mail

Phil Jagielka is concerned that Everton team-mate Marouane Fellaini, 24, could be lured away from Goodison Park this summer. Daily Mail

West Ham have been told they will have to pay £6m if they want to sign Norwich striker Grant Holt, 31. Daily Mirror

Chelsea want to follow up the signings of Eden Hazard and Marko Marin with a move for Arsenal duo Bacary Sagna, 29, and Theo Walcott, 23. Caught Offside

Swansea are targeting Blackpool manager Ian Holloway as they look set to miss out on Wigan assistant Graeme Jones. Daily Star

Cardiff are confident of keeping manager Malky Mackay despite interest from Norwich. Daily Star

Liverpool striker Craig Bellamy has revealed he is in the Team GB squad for the Olympics. The Sun

Norwich defender Russell Martin, 26, believes a new manager could prevent "second season syndrome" striking at the Premier League club. talkShit

England's kit could hinder them at Euro 2012, according to Swedish research. Daily Mail

Argentina and Barcelona star Lionel Messi further fuelled speculation that his girlfriend is pregnant with their first child with his goal celebration against Ecuador. The 24-year-old put the ball up his shirt and gestured to the crowd. The Metro

Joey Barton 'attacked outside a Liverpool nightclub', say reports
Barton believed to have been punched in the face • Police are holding two 21-year-olds in custody
Joey Barton was attacked outside a nightclub in Liverpool in the early hours of Monday morning, police have confirmed.
The Queens Park Rangers midfielder is believed to have been punched in the face during the incident outside Garlands nightclub in Liverpool city centre.
Merseyside police were called to Eberle Street at 5.30am following reports of an altercation outside the club. A 29-year-old man, believed to be Barton, suffered injuries to his face and voluntarily left the scene.
Police are currently holding two 21-year-olds in custody on suspicion of a public order offence.
Barton was recently banned for 12 matches after being sent off on the last day of the Premier League season during QPR's defeat at Manchester City.

[PeterParker]

I think we must have a go on Hoilett. He with Yakubu were the best players at Rovers last season.

Give him a one year contract and let see if he can deliver.

[CTID Hants]

I know I had a few beers lastnight, but would remembered us getting a new manager ;) is this roberto martinez any good? ;)

[Chinners]

Its funny isn't it, it happens at least every couple of days ... I can't be arsed corrected them anymore

[CTID Hants]

Its funny isn't it, it happens at least every couple of days ... I can't be arsed corrected them anymore

Ha ha, such bad reporting that you didn't say which paper, mirror or star would be my guess?

[Chinners]

Setanta!

[Mase]

I think we must have a go on Hoilett. He with Yakubu were the best players at Rovers last season.

Give him a one year contract and let see if he can deliver.

I've said it before, my mates a Rovers season ticket holder and has said Hoilett won't make it at a top club. He'll end up being top dog at a Sunderland Everton. Apparently he's your typical match of the day player and also quite big headed.

[Patrick]

From bitter and blue today.....

[youtube]hkchDf3doW8[/youtube]

[1950]

I think we must have a go on Hoilett. He with Yakubu were the best players at Rovers last season.

Give him a one year contract and let see if he can deliver.

I've said it before, my mates a Rovers season ticket holder and has said Hoilett won't make it at a top club. He'll end up being top dog at a Sunderland Everton. Apparently he's your typical match of the day player and also quite big headed.

Gladbach are a good destination for him. Large fanbase, Champions League Play Offs, young, talented team, very good manager who knows how to get the best out of his players & mostly likely a starting place (if he doesn't bomb, which I don't think he will). Give me a club with the potential to make it into top 4 ish (= CL) in the Bundesliga on a regular basis over PL midtable any day of the week.

And apparently they are paying about 800k compensation for him, which is a bargain imo.

[Chinners]

EVENING BOLLOX
Vieira: Richards can be a key player for England in the future
Manchester City’s football development executive, Patrick Vieira, has told talkSPORT that Micah Richards can go on to be a key part of England’s future despite his Euro 2012 snub.
Roy Hodgson left the 23-year-old right-back out of his original 23-man squad for the tournament in Poland and Ukraine.
And Vieira admits that the decision not to pick the defender puzzled him, especially as Richards had played well during Man City’s Premier League title winning campaign.
He told Drive Time: “We don’t have all the answers in our hands to make a comment but not calling Rio Ferdinand or Micah Richards is a surprise, but at the end of the day it is the manager’s choice and we don’t know what is going on behind closed doors.
“I don’t know any players who don’t want to play for their country. I haven’t spoken to Micah since the last game of the season and I know that he was quite disappointed not to be part of the squad and I can understand that because that was his target. He was working really hard for it.
“He’s still young and I believe that in the future he can one of the key players for England.”
AUDIO: http://www.talksport.co.uk/sports-news/ ... ure-173665

View from a blue has compiled its pick of the season in all aspects of City. Bollox Towers previews 3 key picks ...

Game of the Season – In any other season, this would have undoubtedly been the 6-1 humiliation of Manchester United at Old Trafford. It’s a ground where they rarely suffer defeat, but we went there and produced a quite remarkable display, embarrassing them in the process. But as much enjoyment and pleasure as that provided to City fans, it could not possibly top May 13th and the QPR match.
Heading into the game, there was a feeling of cautious optimism. Pablo Zabaleta’s goal should have settled us down but then Djibril Cissé scored. And then Jamie Mackie scored. And then there was deathly silence. The title was in our grasp but we had thrown it away. Typical City sprung to mind. But Dzeko’s header gave us a glimmer of hope and Aguero then scored to turn dreams into reality. Pandemonium, rare emotion, pure joy and ecstasy. It was a feeling that will never be replicated at a City game again.

Signing of the Season – Naturally, and with just reason, it would be easy to look in Aguero’s direction at this moment. A debut season in which he scored 30 goals, displayed his enormous talent and settled in well to Manchester ought to be recognised, but since he features in plenty of other categories, I’ll award this one to Gael Clichy.
The Frenchman joined from Arsenal for around £7million at the start of the season and impressed everyone with his consistently strong performances. There were some doubts about his defensive nous when he signed but he’s solid at the back, denying the opposition winger space to cross the ball and proving reliable with regards to his positioning. Going forward, he’s a ball of energy, someone who is just as happy bombing down the left in injury time as he is in the first minute. He’s been a bargain signing and will only improve.

Disappointment of the Season – For the first few months of the season, I felt hugely underwhelmed with Samir Nasri. He seemed to shirk responsibility, let games pass him by and was largely uninspiring. He did, however, improve as the season wore on and was a threat in the final few games. Stefan Savic would be the easy target but it’s worth remembering he’s only 21 and has shown enough potential, in my opinion, to persevere with. Interestingly, only one of his 19 appearances was in partnership with Vincent Kompany, a leader and talker in defence who would have guided him through a game.
Instead, I’ll choose Aleks Kolarov as the most disappointing player. His fans will point to freekicks against United and Napoli, as well as the equaliser at home to Sunderland, as signs of his positives but you need more attributes than being able to kick a ball hard. He’s a liability in defence, has no pace or positional awareness and is nowhere near the level we require. He will hopefully be moved on in the summer.

FULL AWARDS: http://www.viewfromablue.com/2012/06/04 ... on-awards/

Ped's Close Season Musings - England

It must be official that West London's finest tactics are the white print for England's bid in Euro 2012.
Against a lively looking Belgian team shorn of its best player, England produced a performance designed to end 'visiting team - nil' rather than set the world alight with the kind of football that its leading teams play.
No wonder Roy Hodgson admits that Belgium would probably cost more on the transfer market than England.
That view was enhanced when, with Cahill heading for the exit with a double jaw fracture, he calls upon the experience, knowledge and skill of.... Martin Kelly of...you guessed it, Liverpool. No wonder furious Ferdinand is asking 'Why?'. I am not a fan of Stretford's most famous tweeter, but do you know what? I have to confess I have never heard of Kelly, but he must be the man. A no-mark from a poor team that finished eighth in the Premier League but surely he's in it for the tactics rather than an albeit ageing but experienced seasoned campaigner or even a Champion in the form of Micah Richards.
At least we see the true reason that Ferdy was hoisted out of the squad. It was nothing to do with football, but was everything to do with the master of West London Tactics, John Terry. Always a liability, seemingly always injured and always likely to tug someone's shirt and give away a penalty, but yes a must at international level.
If Europe's top keeper wasn't guarding the sticks I would sincerely be hoping England came home with 'nul points' and a huge goals against column. We can see that Joe will have to do more work per match than he has done all season behind quality defenders, and that will only be in a bid to stop England being over run. Unless of course the West London Way rushes to the fore again and they bore their and our way to an unlikely outcome.
I have said in other musings that Richards has much to offer the National Team. His tactical ability has seriously improved over the last eighteen months especially when Milner is ahead of him. If Richards twists then Milner sticks. It is not difficult.
Although not necessarily at his best at centre half he can hold down the right hand side of a back three should different tactics need to deployed and can also rampage from wide out or midfield if we need an athletic runner in a way that even Walcott cannot.
So what of Mertens in his pleas of innocence in injuring Cahill? He didn't do it on purpose? Behave! You could clearly see it in his eyes that he had weighed up the opportunity of 'doing' two England players, almost buy-on-get-one-free, as he venomously shoved Cahill into Hart. The look on his face was almost Barton-esque. And to do that to an extent that a young footballer loses his dream to play in a major international tournament is not acceptable to me.
I have long since wondered how behaviour on a football field is overlooked when identical behaviour out in public streets would command a prison sentence, and for me this is another example.
That said I don't think Cahill needed to get between player and ball, because Hart would have been out a lot sooner and would have simply got between player and ball himself to shield it out for a goal kick.
It probably grieves me to say that Welbeck took his goal well. He did add some speed to the front row and his play is not as predictable as Carroll. For me though the only two than can be said to be truly classy in the outfield department are the usual stalwarts Gerrard, the sponsor's MoTM and Cole.
Milner was functional, essentially doing his City job of discipline and hard work. Parker, Terry and Johnson were poor, the Ox looked interesting doing odd things and Young as expected spent an inordinate amount of time inspecting the grass, despite measuring an excellent ball through to his Stretford colleague to open and close the scoring.
I suspect the Euro 2012 will not be a great time for England, so for me the sooner Hart and Milner get home healthy and for a rest before next season the better. http://www.manchestercity.vitalfootball ... p?a=283984

Silva will not leave Manchester City, says agent
The former Valencia star has been linked with a switch to the Santiago Bernabeu but he is content at the English club, according to his representative
Manchester City midfielder David Silva will not leave the Premier League champions in the summer, one of his agents has intimated.
A return to Spain has been suggested as a possibility for the 26-year-old, who played a leading role in City's title-winning campaign in the Premier League.
It has been suggested that Real Madrid are lining up Silva as a replacement for Kaka if the Brazilian playmaker leaves the Santiago Bernabeu, but the former Valencia star's representative has seemingly ruled out a transfer.
"Silva has a long contract with Manchester City and he is held in high regard there," Julio Llorente told laSexta.
"I do not know what could happen in the future, but Silva wants to remain at City."
The Spain international scored eight goals in 49 appearances for the club in 2011-12.

[bluebananamilksheikh]

Its funny isn't it, it happens at least every couple of days ... I can't be arsed corrected them anymore

The quality control is not the only thing you can't be arsed with it seems, no wag again!!!

[Wooders]

haha Real Madrid - neither sergio or silva want you - so feck aff !

[Chinners]

Its funny isn't it, it happens at least every couple of days ... I can't be arsed corrected them anymore

The quality control is not the only thing you can't be arsed with it seems, no wag again!!!

The WagWindow doesn't open until the start of the Euro's .... it sounds bollox but its true!

[bluebananamilksheikh]

Its funny isn't it, it happens at least every couple of days ... I can't be arsed corrected them anymore

The quality control is not the only thing you can't be arsed with it seems, no wag again!!!

[highlight]The WagWindow doesn't open until the start of the Euro's[/highlight] .... it sounds bollox but its true!

That's Sunday Sport sized Bollox, with Knobs on !!!!!!!!

[Chinners]

Rumbled <grumbles>