City chief executive, Ferran Soriano, embroiled in Barcelona 'spy' row
Manchester City chief executive allegedly used intelligence company to monitor staff emailsThe Manchester City chief executive, Ferran Soriano, has become embroiled in allegations that he spied on the internal emails of Barcelona employees.
It is believed that the 45-year-old, who took over from Garry Cook last August, may be the subject of a campaign emanating from Barcelona, where some are seeking to destablise him and the club's former sporting director Txiki Begiristain. Both men left the club when Juan Laporta – a Soriano ally – was ousted as president by Sandro Rosell.
Under Spanish law, virtually anyone can trigger an investigation by lodging a complaint against the administrators of a football club. As of Tuesday night, there had been no contact between prosecutors and Soriano since their initial fact-finding investigation which started three years ago. Cook left City after it was discovered he had sent an offensive email.
Catalonia's senior prosecutor has found that when Soriano was a vice-president of the club he ordered a cyber intelligence company, Cybex Experience, to embed a device in the server of the club's internal computer, enabling all internal emails containing any one of 100 keywords to be monitored, on a total of 20 computers across every department of the club, between mid 2005 and 2008. The senior prosecutor said that "stopping leaks to the press" was the motivation behind the installation of the surveillance software – called Encase Enterprise – but eventually Cyber Experience recommended covering the whole internal network.
City declined to discuss the prosecutor's findings, which have surfaced in the Catalan media after the conclusion of her investigation. But the club's view that there is a deliberate campaign to destabilise Soriano is supported by a sequence of reports claiming that Soriano has gone back on an "honourable" pledge not to take players from Barcelona, by trying to sign Cesc Fabregas, Sergio Busquets and Pedro Rodriguez – which they have not.
There have also been reports that City are trying to gazump Barcelona for the services of Neymar. The Premier League champions are monitoring his situation, like most clubs who are capable of signing him, but have accepted that the 21-year-old will become a Barcelona player this summer.
The prosecutor found that Soriano signed off the invoices to Cybex Experience. The suggestion is that there were enough monitored words to fill a 15-page report, with a copy of each email subsequently sent to a mailbox. Cybex analysed them and passed their findings back to the executives who hired them. Anyone with an fcbarcelona.cat email address was monitored, though probably not the players.
Another company, M3, is understood to have been brought in to establish where a number of leaks were coming from in 2009.
The prosecutor also concluded that Barcelona paid a private detective agency to compile files on four presidential candidates at a cost of €16,240 each, without their knowing, at a time when Rossell was seeking to replace Laporta. There is no suggestion this is linked directly with Soriano.
Fit-again Rodwell out to impress
Jack Rodwell hopes he has put his injury-plagued start to life at Manchester City behind him and is ready to play a more major role for Roberto Mancini's side.
The England midfielder cost City £12 million ($17.8 million) when he signed from Everton last northern summer but he has made only nine appearances, two of them starts.
Hamstring problems have been the main source of Rodwell's frustration and he was out for more than three months between October and January.
Since returning to fitness he has made three substitute appearances, including playing the final half-hour of the FA Cup fifth-round victory over Leeds United on Monday (AEDT).
The 21-year-old said: "I have been working really hard, keeping up my work and feeling as fit as ever. There is great competition, and I knew that when I joined, so I have to be patient, keep working, and see what happens.
"The manager knows how versatile I can be - I can play along the back as well, so I hope that is to my benefit in getting a few more games.
"My main aim now is to stay fit. That has been my main problem for the last year or so, an inability to stay fit and shrug off little injuries. That has held me back and I think, if I can stay fit, the games will come."
Rodwell has left no stone unturned in attempting to solve his hamstring issues, including changing his car, and he is putting in an extra hour and a half's work every day to try to ensure they are a thing of the past.
He said: "You have to rule out everything and then nothing can be a problem. I think it has worked, but it is more to do with the gym work I have been doing with City.
"The physios have highlighted that and done a really good job. I have stuck to a six or seven-week programme where I have not had a day off.
"I have hammered the work, done a lot of hamstring work and luckily, touch wood, it has worked. I intend to keep that up for the rest of my career. Hopefully I will stay fit and strong."
Rodwell, twice capped by England, has played most of his football in midfield but believes his future could lie in central defence and has his eye on a similar career progression to City captain Vincent Kompany.
"Any player at City is prepared to play anywhere, and I'm no different," said Rodwell. "Midfield, defence, I have even played out wide for Everton, so I will do a job anywhere and give 100 percent.
"Vinny is a good player, and I look up to him, watch his game and would definitely take the same path as him. He started out in midfield and is now one of the best centre-halves in the world."
Barnsley: David Flitcroft wants to beat City for father
BARSNLEY boss David Flitcroft wants the club to beat Manchester City in the FA Cup quarter-finals as a tribute to his late father John.
Flitcroft’s father died in July 2008 and he started the John Flitcroft Football Foundation in his honour.
“I’ll be certainly doing it for dad and my family,” said Flitcroft. “We’re a footballing family and he used to come down quite a lot to watch us.
“I’m sure he’ll be looking down on us and looking for an inspired performance.
“I’m looking forward to the game, the occasion and pitting our wits against some of the best people.
“We’re going up against the champions of this country, so it’s going to be good.”
Flitcroft’s older brother Garry played over 100 times for Manchester City between 1991 and 1996.
Manchester City is a graveyard for young home grown players
Adam Johnson said last year when he returned to Manchester City to play against them for Sunderland that young players should think twice before joining them.
City have assembled a star studded squad with lots of foreign internationals in the team but one thing that is really surprising is young home grown talents are getting wasted with their project.
Though the club is trying to bring talents from the academy and that’s why planning has been made for that, but that is a long future story for now.
Johnson joined City with lots of potential and was touted as the next big thing in English football. However, with plenty of foreign imports, talents like him have gone unnoticed and after getting frustrated with lack of first team opportunities they move elsewhere, just like Johnson moved to Wear side to resurrect his career.
But he is not an isolated example at City. Anybody remember Scott Sinclair? He was also touted as the next bright future for England and was a star performer was Swansea. He had lofty ambitions and now doesn’t get games at all for his club. Likewise, the case with Rodwell is equally frustrating too, considering his injury problems.
Unlike clubs like Arsenal, Manchester United, Everton and Liverpool where home grown talents are given enough importance, the case is bit opposite with City. It is a graveyard for new young English footballers.
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