Kompany could feature for Belgium
Manchester City defender Vincent Kompany could feature for Belgium in the upcoming World Cup qualifying double-header despite not featuring for his club since January.
Kompany has not played for City since sustaining a calf injury in the FA Cup win at Stoke on January 26 but he was named in the Belgium squad for the World Cup qualifiers and reported for duty over the weekend.
Belgium assistant head coach Vital Borkelmans insists no decision has been made on whether the 26-year-old will play, but he is pleased the defender has joined up with the squad ahead of the qualifiers.
“Vincent is now training with the physical coach. He also trained very hard at City,” Borkelmans told Sky Sports News.
“He is very important for the group and we are quite happy he is here. We will make a decision on Wednesday or Thursday whether he can play or not.
“We talk many times with the coach [at City] but Vincent is very important to us. He is the captain of the team.”
ROBERTO MANCINI BRANDS MANCHESTER CITY FLOPS 'GUTLESS'
ROBERTO MANCINI branded his Manchester City flops “gutless” after their tame defeat at Everton.
Mancini was left seething in the wake of the 2-0 loss.
And his temper boiled over in the dressing room at the end. Defeat saw the Blues fall 15 points behind Manchester United in the title race.
It ended their hopes of defending their crown and the hot-headed Italian laid into his stars afterwards, labelling them cowards in a blast that will cause an even bigger rift between him and his players.
Starsport can reveal Mancini’s misery was made even worse when he left Goodison Park to discover he had been hit with a parking ticket.
Mancini returned to his car to discover a fixed penalty waiting for him after he’d left it too long in a space close to the ground.
A club source said: “The manager doesn’t always talk to the players after a defeat but this time he decided to let rip.
"He told them in no uncertain terms that he was angry and disappointed.
"Roberto addressed all the players involved in the Everton game and called them yellow, gutless and bland.
“He didn’t see enough desire out there on the pitch and couldn’t believe we hadn’t created more chances against 10 men.
“The cracks in the relationship between the manager and his players appeared a long, long time ago but now it feels like the point of no return.
“He thinks they can be giving a lot more, and they see him as a poor man-manager who has run out of ideas,” he added.
“If this was indeed his last visit to Merseyside before leaving the club, the problem with his car pretty much sums up his luck in that part of the country.
“It is no secret that Roberto is a very superstitious guy and he will view the parking violation as a symbol of his bad luck up there.” STAR
City can have Cavani for £60m... but would they be 'nutty' enough to pay it?
Napoli have told Manchester City they can have Edinson Cavani for £60m.
And the club president has bizarrely claimed that City would be ‘nutters’ to pay it.
City made a bold £40m move for the Uruguay striker in January but were quickly told the fee would not be enough.
They have maintained dialogue with Napoli with the asking price - and the player’s buy-out clause - understood to be around £53m.
However, Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis says he wants that figure AFTER TAX which puts another £8m on his desired price.
De Laurentiis said: ‘We included a very high buy-out clause in his contract because we want him to stay at Napoli. The clause exists, though, and if some nutter is willing to pay €70m [£60m] for him, which would mean a net fee of €63m [£53m] for Napoli, we are ready to listen to the offer.
‘However, let it be clear that the final decision lies with Edinson.
‘He knows that he’s respected here and that the people love him. Not just for his goals, but also because he’s a serious and polite person.’
Real Madrid and Chelsea have also shown interest in 26-year-old Cavani as have Paris St Germain who have increasing doubts over Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s future.DSSC
Manchester City targets Marco Reus, 23, and Ilkay Gundogan, 22, are unlikely to want to leave Borussia Dortmund as they are both on long-term contracts, and may not see the Etihad as a step upwards in their careers. Bild
Itty-bitty City: Neymar doesn't mention Prem champions as he discusses move to one of Europe's giants
Neymar has snubbed Manchester City by stating he wants to join a “big” club, like Barcelona, Real Madrid or Chelsea.
Brazil star Neymar will leave Santos this summer, with Barca the likeliest destination for the £50million-rated forward.
City had hoped to hijack the Catalans' planned deal, but their bid looks doomed now the 21-year-old is talking up a move to the Nou Camp.
“Who wouldn’t dream about playing alongside Lionel Messi, Xavi and [Andres] Iniesta?” said Neymar. “They’re all great players.
"I dream of playing in Europe, for a big club like Barcelona, Real Madrid and Chelsea.
“Yes, Barcelona [impress me the most], they have great players like Xavi, Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas and Dani Alves.
“But there’s no point in speculating when I’ll leave Santos. I’ll leave when I want to.
“I don’t know where I would fit in if I joined Barca, but I know my place is at Santos right now.”
Meanwhile, with their Premier League title all but lost, the Eastlands club's hierarchy are planning a summer clear-out involving up to 10 players.
Wayne Bridge and Roque Santa Cruz, currently on loan at Brighton and Malaga respectively, will be released and Kolo Toure, out of contract, will also be allowed to leave for free.
Samir Nasri, Edin Dzeko, Scott Sinclair, Maicon, Gareth Barry, Dedryck Boyata and John Guidetti could also be moved on at the end of the season. MIRROR
Balotelli can't stop scoring - but move was right for City
Mario Balotelli has scored seven goals in six games for AC Milan. Here MEN Sport's Stuart Brennan explains why he still thinks it was right for City to sell him.
Football history is full of players whose sale haunted a manager for the rest of his life.
You think about Manchester United letting Peter Beardsley go for a cut-price £150,000 because he didn’t look like making the grade at Old Trafford.
Within seven years he had won two titles with Liverpool and become a World Cup star.
Closer to home, former Stockport County boss Danny Bergara turned his nose up at the offer of a teenage Liverpool player on loan, as his hair was too long. That was Steve McManaman.
Roberto Mancini is not the type to dwell too long on regrets and the decision to sell Mario Balotelli was, by almost universal agreement, the right one.
But Mancini must be casting a few rueful glances at Balotelli’s exploits in Serie A since joining AC Milan in the transfer window.
Seven goals in six games is a phenomenal return, especially in the strait-jacketed confines of Italian football.
Super Mario grabbed a double to earn Milan a 2-0 win over Palermo on Sunday and keep them on course for a Champions League spot.
Contrast that form with his record for City this season, of just three goals in 20 appearances.
The headlines have all been made on the field since he returned to his homeland and Mancini – whose team has almost certainly lost the Premier League title due to their shortage of goals – must be wondering how he could have extracted such focus from the prodigy.
Mancini should not spend too long thinking about it, because the simple answer is that Balotelli would probably never have settled to life in Manchester.
His haphazard personal life and wacky public persona meant that the attention was never going to be solely on his football.
Balotelli is likely to fulfil his huge potential for Milan and Italy and as time dims the memory, he will be viewed as one that got away.
But the truth should remain – if he had stayed at City, that potential would probably have stayed untapped.
Boca Juniors Look To Bring Carlos Tevez Home
Argentine side keen on re-signing Etihad Stadium forward.
Boca Juniors are hopeful of convincing former striker, Carlos Tevez, to return to Argentina, the Express reports.
The 29-year-old began his career with the Argentine giants, graduating from the youth academy to make his debut in 2001 where he stayed until 2004, scoring 38 goals in 104 appearances.
The 62 cap international has endured a turbulent tenure at The City Of Manchester Stadium. Last season he publicly fell out with manager Roberto Mancini during a Champions League tie with Bayern Munich, but he redeemed himself by helping the club to their first Premier League title.
So far this season he has been cautioned by police for driving whilst disqualified and he’s seen City’s challenge for a successive title slip away with eight games remaining, as well as stuttering through a limp Champions League campaign, crashing out at the group stage.
Reports in Spain suggest that he’s a target for his former club as City look to clear out a number of their current squad.
Tevez has suggested before that he would like to return to Boca, having grown up in the Fuerte Apache district close to the stadium. In January he said; ”It is my desire to return to Boca, but it’s very difficult. I’m dying to wear the shirt of Boca again, but with the contract that I have here it’s very difficult for me to leave.”
He has scored 15 goals in 35 appearances this season across all competitions.
UAE fans offered chance to win famous Mancini scarf
UAE football fans have the chance to win a unique prize with one of Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini’s famous scarves up for grabs.
This one, though, bears the signature of the popular City boss. Anyone can enter by simply heading to CityStore in Abu Dhabi’s Marina Mall with the winner being chosen through a random draw at the end of the season.
Local Manchester City fan Faisal Al Junaibi was the first to enter the competition.
“Everyone has seen Mancini on the touchline in this scarf so it is great he has signed and sent one over to us in Abu Dhabi,” he said. “The weather is not exactly cold enough to wear it but it will look great on the wall as a souvenir and I am sure all the City fans here will want to enter.
“We are coming to the end of another big season for the club and hopefully it will end well for the team and Mancini.”
Mancini’s signed scarf is now on display at CityStore, the club’s official shop and the only place to buy the new range of UAE merchandise.
In addition to CityStore, the club also runs a UAE fan club called Sky Blue which has a range of benefits such as deals on flight and ticket packages to matches.
School of Football is City’s official soccer school and is run by a team of professional coaches from the Premier League champions at Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi.
Yaya migraine problem is a headache for Mancini
The Blues can’t predict when Yaya Toure – or Samir Nasri – will be struck down again by debilitating pain and it has cost them dearly.
Yaya Toure’s migraine problem gave City a serious headache on Saturday – and there is nothing the Blues can do to stop the problem striking again.
Just to make it worse, Samir Nasri also suffers from the debilitating disorder which forced Yaya to miss Saturday’s defeat at Everton.
It was only the second time in three seasons that Yaya has had to miss a match due to the problem – which brings on a severe headache, plus blurred vision and fatigue – but both times have proved costly.
In December 2010, he was ruled out of City’s trip to Stoke and the Blues were held to a 1-1 draw. He was also deemed unfit to play a Europa League tie with Salzburg four days later.
But the migraine which struck him last Friday, just before the Blues were due to travel to their team hotel, ripped the spine from City with skipper Vincent Kompany and top striker Sergio Aguero already out injured.
Nasri also suffers from the problem and has been laid low for up to three days, his last attack coming in the run-up to City’s match at Newcastle in December. He was passed fit to play on the morning of the match – and promptly suffered a groin injury in the first half.
City’s medical staff are unable to offer any prevention or cure to Yaya and Nasri – and the occurrence of the migraine attacks is unpredictable.
Yaya is expected to be well enough to play for Ivory Coast in their World Cup qualifier against Gambia on Saturday, but the illness could strike again at any time.
“Unfortunately he suffers from these things and it wasn’t during the week, when he might have had time to recover, but on the eve of the game,” said assistant manager David Platt.
“Last time it happened it was a two or three-day thing but we have the international break now and hopefully by the time we get back we will have several of those players back on the training pitch.
“It doesn’t help when you lose someone overnight but you have to get on with it. We lost Sergio Aguero in the last minute of the last training session before we played against Aston Villa.
“These kind of things happen – people take ill overnight and there’s not a great deal you can do about it. That is why you carry your squad. People sometimes get injured in warm-ups.
“It doesn’t help missing Yaya, especially when you are against a team down to ten men. Maybe he has that ability to keep the ball and pick the right pass.
“I don’t think there is anything you can do – Nasri suffers from them as well.”
Now the Blues hope that by the time they face Newcastle on March 30, they will have Yaya, Kompany and Aguero all back in action.
Kompany is rated 50-50 by Belgium coach Marc Wilmots to play in his team’s World Cup qualifying double-header against Macedonia, after more than seven weeks out with two calf strains.
Aguero has been named in the Argentina squad after travelling to Buenos Aires a week ago to continue his recovery from a knee ligament problem which has kept him out of the last three City games.
Meanwhile, Platt has refused to accept that the failure of referee Lee Probert to give the Blues a penalty for a handball inside the area by Marouane Fellaini, was an excuse for his team’s defeat.
“It was very disappointing and frustrating,” he said. “We didn’t really get any play going to dominate possession and take advantage, when they were down to ten men.
“From the dugout you don’t know whether it should be given or not, as it’s a flash thing, but having given the handball it was a good way inside the box. It wasn’t even borderline, and that’s the disappointing thing,” he said. “You still have to isolate that because our performance wasn’t good enough to get us back into the game.
“We didn’t create enough when we had the numerical advantage but we should be getting those decisions.”
RAG VIEW
Article posted by a rag but uses terms like we & us .... maybe its one of the posters on here ;)
The TEN players who could leave Manchester City this summer
This summer looks set to be the most interesting in Manchester City’s recent history. With our relative failure on the pitch, a number of big-earners set to leave, and Txiki Begiristain overseeing his first summer recruitment drive at the club, there appears to be a perfect storm gathering that should see a squad overhaul take shape. Recent lacklustre performances have suggested a number of City players already know they’re leaving this summer, so I’ve listed ten players who I feel could realistically be heading out, from big-names like Carlos Tevez, to forgotten loanees like Wayne Bridge. Mario Balotelli has already gone, with City banking £20m in January. If the players listed here follow him out of the Etihad exit door, the club should have considerable room to manouvre in this summer’s market.
Carlos Tevez
Tevez is rumoured to be earning £200k-a-week. It’s a colossal amount to be paying anyone but then again Tevez isn’t just anyone. He’s a fantastic player with a first-class attitude on the pitch. However, this summer the club must do all they can to find a buyer for him. There are two huge problems with Tevez: his desire to leave and his ability to stir up trouble.
With less than 18 months of his contract left, he’s expressed his desire to run his contract down before leaving for Argentina on a free. It’s a risk we cannot take. Add to that his propensity for throwing his toys out the pram, and a sale is definitely better for the club. It would certainly free up enough wage space for a new world-class striker to come in, with Edinson Cavani topping Mancini’s summer wish list.
Although I respect Tevez’s approach on the pitch, I’ve never forgiven him for last season. In truth, I’ll be glad to see the back of him if he does leave.
Kolo Toure
The situation with Kolo Toure is strange. Written off by many after his shaky performances last season, he was expected to leave us in the summer when his contract expires to free up his mammoth £120k-a-week wages, but his brilliant performances this season have now made the picture less clear. Pretty much every time he’s been called upon he’s been excellent.
It may now be in the club’s interest to try to offer him a new deal before the 1st of July when he becomes a free agent, although, there would have to be a significant reduction in salary. It’s unclear at this stage whether the club are considering that, or, indeed, whether the player would accept reduced terms, but the way he’s played suggests he still has the ability to be a quality reserve centre-back. My guess is he’ll leave.
Edin Dzeko
Edin Dzeko seems to confuse people outside of City. With his decent goal record and his ability to score important goals, neutrals are often fooled into thinking he’s a class player that just isn’t shown enough love by Mancini. All of that is nonsense. He seems like a great guy and a decent professional, but he is staggeringly inconsistent and frustrating. When he starts for us he’s often a complete non-entity, failing to impose himself on the game to any degree. He doesn’t bully opposition defenders and allows our supporting cast of forwards time and space, nor does he bring enough ability to the table to play the passing game favoured by Silva, Aguero et al.
There have been strong suggestions Borussia Dortmund are ready to offer £20m to sign him. If that turns out to be true, my message to the City board is simple: snap their hand off.
Samir Nasri
The City fans can’t stand Nasri, and even Mancini reserved special criticism for him during his recent interview with Daniel Taylor in the Guardian. Closing his eyes and jumping out-of-the-way for the van Persie free-kick during the 3-2 derby defeat at the Etihad was the tip of the iceberg; his general lack of fight and his tendency to drift in and out of games had already worn the City fans’ patience thin before then. He’s now very much a substitute.
What makes this situation so frustrating is that, unlike other players, Nasri has outstanding technical ability. He has a footballing brain and a talent which, when used properly (like it was during his last season at Arsenal), makes him an outstanding player. Mancini, quite rightly, believes he could be one of the finest in Europe, but he questions his attitude.
“I think Samir has fantastic qualities. With his quality, he should always play well. Every game he could be the difference. A player of this quality could be one of the best players in Europe. But it’s not happening. Sometimes a player thinks it’s enough what they did the year before and doesn’t understand that every day they should improve. If you are a top player you know you can improve until the last day of your career but sometimes you get players who think it is not important to work and this is their worst mistake. Samir can do better than this year. He is a top player but he has not been playing at his level.”
Comments like that suggest the fans’ desire to see him leave may well come to fruition.
Aleksander Kolarov
Signed for £17m, Kolarov represents Mancini’s worst piece of transfer business: a player with no discernible value, a frustrating greedy streak, and an inability to defend. When a side forks out so much for a full-back, you’d expect to sign one of the finest in the world. To say City overpaid is an understatement; it’s a no-brainer that he must be sold.
The problem with this is it’s extremely unlikely anyone will take on his wages. Reports at the time of signing him suggested we gave him a £100k-a-week contract, and I’d be shocked if there’s a club in the world who would match that for such a poor player. The one saving grace is the fact that he does have a good reputation in Italy. If he is prepared to take a pay-cut, we may be able to find him a move.
Scott Sinclair
If Kolarov is Mancini’s worst signing, Sinclair is his strangest. There were very few observers who saw this as a good deal for City. He wasn’t even guaranteed his place at Swansea, and Pablo Hernandez, his replacement at the Liberty Stadium, is a better player. Mancini has claimed that it’s his fault Sinclair has struggled since he hasn’t played him much, but the truth is, when he has played, he’s looked like a deer in the headlights, completely out of his depth.
For the sake of his career I’d look to move him on.
Joleon Lescott
Of all the players I’ve mentioned, Lescott is the one I’d most like to keep. A superb defender with a perfect attitude, there’s nothing not to like about him. The graceful way he’s accepted Nastasic deserves his place in the side is just the latest reason to love Lescott, a player who was brilliant for us in our title-winning season.
The reason I include him here is because a player of his ability whose career is entering its latter stages needs to be playing more. I think there could well be a desire on the part of the player to leave and, if that turns out to be the case, he will go with the best wishes of all the City fans. A player that was struggling for form under the shaky stewardship of Mark Hughes has flourished under Mancini. I’ll never forget the contribution he made to our success if he does decide to go.
Maicon
It just hasn’t worked out, has it? We didn’t need him and he’s past it anyway.
Wayne Bridge & Roque Santa Cruz
Yes, amazingly, these two players are still officially on City’s payroll until their contracts end in the summer. Bridge in on £90-a-week, with Santa Cruz rumoured to be on something similar, and the fact that their last touches of a ball in a City shirt is a distant memory is a sad indictment of the Hughes-era recruitment policy. I cannot wait to get them off the books.
Scott is a Manchester United fan who owns The Republik of Mancunia.
[spoiler]
[/spoiler]Stoke are ready to demand £15m for goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, 25, with the Bosnia international a target for Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea. Daily Telegraph
Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech, 30, is the surprise name on Arsenal's six-man shortlist to replace Wojciech Szczesny next season. DSSC
Paris St-Germain are favourites to beat English clubs Chelsea, Arsenal and Newcastle to the signing of highly rated Gabon forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, 23. Metro
Newcastle and West Ham are ready to battle Barcelona in their attempts to sign Toulouse defender Aymen Abdennour, 23. talkSHIT
Wigan manager Roberto Martinez says he wants Arsenal's Japanese winger Ryo Miyaichi to stay on next season despite a limited number of opportunities for the 20-year-old. Daily Express
Former Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo, 28, has refused to comment on whether he will remain with Real Madrid. Manchester Evening News
Schalke 04 are determined to keep 19-year-old German midfielder Julian Draxler despite interest from Chelsea and Manchester United. SkySports
Former Spain star Luis Enrique, 42, has emerged as a shock contender to become Reading's new manager. Daily Mirror
Liverpool midfielder Joe Allen, 23, is scheduled to have surgery this week on a shoulder injury that will sideline the Wales international for the rest of the season. Guardian
Allen's team-mate Jordan Henderson, 22, insists Liverpool can still land a place in Europe. Liverpool Echo
Tony Pulis will consider his position as Stoke manager in the summer following a disappointing season that has seen him come under fire from angry fans. DSSC
Wolves goalkeeper Carl Ikeme, 26, could miss the rest of the season after breaking his hand during a dressing-room confrontation with manager Dean Saunders. Daily Telegraph
Former referee Graham Poll has urged 51-year-old official Mark Halsey to consider hanging up his whistle after his performance in Wigan's win over Newcastle. talkSHIT
England coach Gary Neville believes the national team's strikeforce is the envy of a host of countries across the world. Sun
Tottenham's Icelandic midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson, 23, says he is still confident that Tottenham can claim a top-four Premier League finish despite back-to-back defeats. ESPN
Paris St-Germain midfielder David Beckham, 37, is the highest-paid player in world football, ahead of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. France Football
Newcastle's Mathieu Debuchy, 27, has withdrawn from the French squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Georgia and Spain following the injury he picked up in the defeat by Wigan on Sunday. He will be replaced by Rod Fanni, 31, of Marseille. Le Monde
Italian coach Cesare Prandelli says that Francesco Totti, 36, and Antonio Cassano, 30, could play in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil if they maintain their form. Corriere della Sera
Former Inter Milan midfielder Wesley Sneijder could not hide his delight at seeing former manager Jose Mourinho for the first since their Champions League in the crowd at a recent Galatasaray game. 606 Newsletter
Barnet player-manager Edgar Davids rescued 36 Bees fans stranded on the hard shoulder of the M6 after their coach broke down on their way home from watching a defeat at Accrington. Daily Telegraph
Former Real Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano says he may have played street football with the new Pope, Francis, when they were youngsters growing up in Argentina. Independent
A 10-year-old schoolgirl is being tipped as the next England football star after scoring 101 goals in just 31 games. Hannah Jamieson's success came in her first season playing the game, in midfield, for Stoke Town Ladies Under-10s. Sun
more bolox later ...
