Is James Milner the victim of his own reputation for England and Manchester City?
It was Kevin Keegan who famously opined that if it was a 0-0 draw in Ukraine you were after then he probably wasn’t the man for it.
Seemingly though, Roy Hodgson knew just who was the perfect foil for such a task this week: James Milner.
In the wake of Danny Welbeck’s suspension following his yellow card against Moldova there was always going to be one outcome as England, facing a tricky away trip where avoiding defeat was critical, were going to be play it safe, sacrifice an attacking threat for a solid and dependable presence to bolster the midfield.
For that role there is no player seemingly more suited than Milner. And true to form, handed the number 11 shirt and deployed on the left-hand side of midfield, Milner did just that.
A steady 6/10 performance, neither a liability nor match winner, Milner knew his role and followed his instructions to the letter.
It is a role that doesn’t come with any praise (and he is often maligned for), aside from an occasional grudging respect, yet it is one that Milner appears ready to accept. If not quite the first name on the team sheet for England then it is extremely likely he will be the first in the squad, with a succession of managers opting for Milner’s graft, energy and discipline.
It feels like Milner is far older than his 27 years, and the reality is that the best of his career is arguably still ahead of him
But is this a true reflection of Milner’s worth?
For both country and club Milner is deployed in a number of different positions, typically either on the right- or left-hand side, or brought on from the bench to preserve either a lead or a point. Milner, you feel, is not the player many managers consider to be the ‘go to guy’ to rescue a losing position.
Rarely (if ever?) has Milner had the opportunity to start in the middle for England, but at Manchester City over the past two seasons he has had phases where he has been handed a central role (both in a deep lying and more forwarded role) ergo assuming more responsibility in the City side. This replicated his role at Aston Villa, which convinced City to splash out in the region of £24million on him.
In such a position you will typically be more involved in the play – both in an attacking and defensive sense – and in this role Milner can cast the shackles aside, playing with a purpose and drive rarely seen as he is less stymied by the system and demands imposed upon him.
Because he rose to prominence so early (making his Leeds debut at 16) it feels like Milner is far older than his 27 years, and the reality is that the best of his career is arguably still ahead of him.
The difficulty for Milner will be in trying to convince those who matter that he is demanding of a greater role and responsibility that will bring out the best of the talents that he possesses; talents that are in danger of being laid to waste.
Aleksandar Kolarov: I’m up for the fight
ALEKSANDAR KOLAROV will use the next few frantic weeks to fight for his first-team future at Manchester City.
The 27-year-old admits he doesn’t know where he figures in boss Manuel Pellegrini’s plans – even though City turned down a summer bid from Juventus.
Kolarov, who started just 11 Premier League games under Roberto Mancini last season, says it’s down to him to show why he should play more often.
He said: “There was a lot in the papers about Juventus but I never said I wanted to go. I have always said I was happy at City.
“My only focus is to work hard in training and when I get the chance to play, to prove to the manager what I can do. The new manager has made some changes in the way we defend. We are working a lot on it and I feel we are improving.
“I hope that means more chances for me. We have about 24 days until the next break with the national team. In that time there are seven matches, so there will be opportunities. We have to take them.”
Serbian Kolarov bagged a 25-yard strike in the 3-0 win over Wales and believes that will help him return to City full of confidence.
He said: “We are still getting used to the new coach, trying to understand him, but we can do much better than last season.”
Samir Nasri pranked by French comedian Olivier Bourg
Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri got more than he bargained for after stopping to sign an autograph for a French comedian posing as a fan on the streets of Paris.
Olivier Bourg, whose list of over 500 celebrity victims includes president Francois Hollande, approached the 26-year-old armed with a hidden camera and proceeded to barrage him with a series of bizarre requests.
The aim was to determine just how long the French international could withstand his relentless harassment.
Watch below as Nasri squirms to avoid confrontation with the 33-year-old comic in a four-minute-40-second encounter.
[youtube]yQpS2Kum8Zw[/youtube]
Mark Hughes' time at City sparked success for Blues
Fans may not remember Mark Hughes’ time in charge with much affection, but Stuart Brennan argues that was when the seeds of City’s success were sown
Don't expect City fans to take out an advert in any Staffordshire newspapers to thank Mark Hughes for his service.
Don’t hold your breath waiting for the travelling Blues to unfurl any Welsh flags with words of gratitude, or to burst into lyrical appreciation of their former manager from the visitors’ section of the Britannia Stadium on Saturday.
When Hughes got the sack, nearly four years ago, there was none of the anguish and anxiety which greeted the departure of Roberto Mancini in May.
Indeed, City fans were more annoyed about the handling of Hughes’ dismissal than they were about the fact of it, as virtually the entire ground watched him take charge of a 4-3 win over Sunderland, knowing that his P45 was already in the post.
Some fans felt Hughes was not the man to take City any further. He had been appointed as manager of a middling outfit, nearer in reality to his former club Blackburn, than to the elite sides battling for honours at the top of the Premier League.
Hughes had proved himself a decent manager at Ewood Park, making some shrewd purchases and getting a group of relatively ordinary footballers to punch above their weight as a team.
That, and a similar achievement with Wales, is what attracted City to him as a replacement for Sven-Goran Eriksson.
Some supporters were dead set against the appointment in the first place, feeling Eriksson should have been given more time. Some could not see beyond Hughes’ Red tinge, from his days as a muscular, effective striker at Old Trafford.
But within three months of the appointment, the sands had shifted beneath Hughes’ feet. The takeover by Sheikh Mansour on September 1, 2008, changed everything.
Hughes had been a manager expected to wheel and deal for competent players, and rely on team organisation and spirit to avoid relegation, as a priority, and then try to thrust the team into the top half and, with a fair wind, challenge for Europe.
In the space of 24 hours, City became the richest club on the planet, signed Real Madrid galactico Robinho while Hughes was on a golf course, and expectations suddenly went through the roof.
It was a huge ask. Hughes had money at his disposal, oodles of it. But money alone does not build a team, and does not always attract top players, as a series of fruitless chases for international superstars suddenly proved.
Hughes was handed the sticky task of bringing in players who would bring a rapid improvement, and make City believable as a destination for even bigger names.
He did that. There were a few disastrous signings along the way – he paid out big money for Jo, Roque Santa Cruz and Emmanuel Adebayor, while Wayne Bridge and Tal Ben Haim hardly set pulses racing at the City of Manchester Stadium, either.
But some of his other signings have formed the bedrock of City’s successes over the last four years and, significantly, two of them were made before he had the lure of the wad of cash to use in bargaining.
Vincent Kompany and Pablo Zabaleta were both signed during the Thaksin Shinawatra era, and Hughes’ appraisal of their playing abilities, and their characters, was impeccable.
City fans owe Hughes a debt of gratitude for those two signings alone, but he made more.
Shaun Wright-Phillips was another pre-takeover arrival and while his homecoming from Chelsea never quite matched his first spell with the Blues, few would argue that he was a bad signing. In his first transfer window, Hughes plumped for proven Premier League quality in Bridge, Craig Bellamy and Shay Given, and brought in Nigel de Jong, who was clearly equipped for English football.
Bridge did not quite live up to the billing, but the others all proved solid performers and took City up a few notches. It was the only way to proceed, with the takeover being effected right at the end of a summer transfer window, and with the season already under way. There would be no stellar signings in the January window, so everyone waited with bated breath for the first summer in which the Blues could flex their financial muscle.
Adebayor and Santa Cruz did not work out, but Gareth Barry, Joleon Lescott, Kolo Toure and Carlos Tevez, have played significant parts in City’s rise.
Blues fans awaited the start of that season wide-eyed and salivating, and they were not let down.
The Blues raced to four successive wins to sit proudly atop the table, and it soon became clear that Tevez and Barry would be key figures in the months ahead.
But Hughes’ hastily-assembled team was still a work in progress, and there had already been dark rumours that he was not the man City’s new owners wanted.
Hughes believes he was already a marked man, and that the team’s excellent start to the season simply delayed the inevitable. When the initial gloss wore off, and his team fumbled their way to a run of eight straight draws, the writing really was on the wall.
Hughes has not pulled up any trees since leaving City, with unspectacular spells in charge at Fulham and QPR, but there are signs that he might have found a club more suited to his temperament, as he has already improved Stoke as a football outfit.
Since leaving City, Hughes has almost thrown a spanner in City’s works on a couple of occasions. After the Blues spanked his Fulham side 4-1 at Craven Cottage, they pulled off a surprise draw at the Etihad in the return which helped to stymie Mancini’s title ambitions.
And, famously, his QPR team almost exacted ultimate revenge as they led 2-1 in added time on May 13, 2012, until it all unravelled for them.
Hughes made mistakes and increasingly looked like a bad fit once the takeover had occurred. But as a manager who guided the Blues through a tumultuous phase of their history and brought in players who have effected a lasting legacy, he deserves some credit.
DSSC Special
Outrageous! City fans forced to pay MASSIVE £86 to see club's Champions League tie with Viktoria Plzen... just months after boycotting £62 Arsenal clash!
Manchester City fans were left outraged on Wednesday when extra tickets for the club's Champions League away clash with Viktoria Plzen went on sale – at an astonishing £86 each!
Many supporters, desperate to see their team take on the best Europe has to offer, were left disappointed when their initial allocation of just 600 tickets, priced at £47, were quickly snapped up earlier this month.
However, when City announced that extra tickets would be available, fans were left incensed when they saw the price Plzen were charging.
If the price of the tickets wasn’t infuriating enough, the club also had to point out that there would be no concessions for the ‘category 1’ game and that fans who purchase the extra tickets will have to sit in the home end of the stadium.
City travel to the Czech Republic next Tuesday to kick off their latest Champions League campaign and it seems that Plzen are looking to cash in on their European adventure.
Manuel Pellegrini's men also take on Bundesliga powerhouse Bayern Munich and Russia's CSKA Moscow in this year's elite club competition.
Czech champions Plzen qualified for the Champions League having won the Gambrinus Liga for only the second time in their history last season.
The club's home ground, the Doosan Arena, only has a capacity of 11,700 and will be one of the smallest stadiums to host European football this term.
It’s not the first time City fans have had to fork out an obscene amount of money to see their side in action.
In January of this year, a number of supporters boycotted City's game with Arsenal as they refused to pay £62 to watch the match at the Emirates Stadium.
A total of 912 tickets in the City end went unsold for the Premier League fixture.
After the match, linesman John Brooks was heard saying to City players Joe Hart and Joleon Lescott ‘they’ve paid 62 quid over there, go and see them' as he exchanged handshakes with the pair following the final whistle.
Another partnership Bollox
Manchester City Bank On Success With First Gulf Bank Partnership
Manchester City have announced First Gulf Bank will become the club’s official Affinity Credit Card Bank Partner in the UAE.
The three-year deal will see one of the leading banks in the UAE launch the first-ever Manchester City credit card in the region.
Created to cater for City’s ever-growing fan base in the Middle East, the card will also provide a host of local benefits and experiences to cardholders and their families within the UAE.
Commenting on the partnership, Chief Commercial & Operating Officer for Manchester City Football Club, Tom Glick, said, “First Gulf Bank’s expertise in financial services including corporate, merchant and retail banking has made them the fastest growing bank in the Middle East, and we are pleased and proud to become their partner in the UAE.
“Manchester City enjoys a terrific fan base in the UAE, and it is a privilege for the Club to be able to give something back to our fans for their amazing support, and provide them with such a wide range of benefits and room for personal choices.
“The new Manchester City credit card will deliver real value to customers and fans through a combination of lifestyle benefits, discounts and experiences spanning sport, retail, travel, hospitality and entertainment.”
This sentiment was shared by First Gulf Bank’s Head of Cards, Personal Loans & Bancassurance, Girish Advani, who added, “We are proud to partner with Manchester City Football Club, one of the leading English clubs with a huge fan base.
“Through launching this first-of-its-kind credit card in the market place, we hope to bring our passionate fans closer to the sport they love and enable them to cheer on their favourite team in person.”
As part of the partnership, First Gulf Bank will be permitted to use City players and the Club crest in advertising and marketing collateral throughout their vast customer networks across the UAE.
Price of Football: Manchester City want to keep prices affordable
When asked to guess which club charges the most to watch Premier League football, Manchester City's name is never far from people's lips.
After all, the blue half of Manchester continued to spend big in the summer transfer window as they attempt to wrest the title back from neighbours United having won it for the first time in 44 years in 2012.
Success costs, surely?
Not necessarily. In fact BBC Sport Price of Football shows City offer the cheapest season ticket in the top flight, at £299.
City's summer spending
•Fernandinho - Shakhtar Donetsk, £30m
•Stevan Jovetic - Fiorentina, £22m
•Jesus Navas - Sevilla, £17m
•Alvaro Negredo - Sevilla, £16.4m (pictured)
•Martin Demichelis - Atletico Madrid, £3.5m
Their value gold season card, which gives no guarantee of a specific seat when purchased, is cheaper than the most affordable season ticket of three Conference Premier clubs.
The ticket is available on a limited, first-come, first-served basis but the intention at the Etihad Stadium is to bring affordable football to more of their supporters - with plans for a stadium development to take their capacity from just over 47,000 to as much as 60,000 in the pipeline.
"We are looking at the project in two phases - introduce 6,000 new seats in the South Stand as the first phase and then introduce another 6,000 seats in the North Stand as phase two. We are also keeping our options open that we may bring those together as one project," said head of infrastructure Peter Bradshaw.
"The season tickets we are looking at, the extra seats in each end, will start at £299. That is where we are targeting, to introduce more affordable seats to more fans. That is the intention of this and to provide a stadium with an incredible atmosphere that people who want to watch Manchester City can afford to come and watch."
The club are currently consulting with fans and the local community before making a formal planning application to Manchester City Council.
As well as offering the most affordable season ticket, City are also prominent in the match-day table, with their cheapest offering of £20 matched by Cardiff and only bettered by Newcastle, who sell a £15 ticket.
They do have a premium season ticket, priced at £780, while their most expensive match-day ticket costs £58, lower than only five other Premier League clubs.
Manchester City's prices
•Cheapest season ticket: £299
•Most expensive season ticket: £780
•Cheapest match-day ticket: £20
•Most expensive match-day ticket: £58
•Cheapest day out: £28.60
•Programme: £3
•Pie: £3.80
•Tea: £1.80
The club insist they try to listen, though. Having sold the joint-most expensive cup of tea in last year's BBC Price of Football, they have cut the price by 70p to £1.80, only bettered by newly promoted Cardiff.
The price of a pie, however, has risen from £3.50 to £3.80.
"We are looking at a whole range of offers, new entry-level premium seating, new entry-level hospitality, but lots and lots of affordable season tickets," said Bradshaw.
"The affordability is incredibly important because we want to fill our stadium, we want the fans to be enthused and excited about watching the best team in the Premier League.
"What we can't do is price people out. We have to really think about the commercial nature of this. Having affordable tickets is what works - making sure that local people can come and watch football week in and week out and it doesn't drain their pockets. Times are hard, we accept that, and we want to be sure they are getting a quality product, are incredibly well entertained and at an affordable price."
Ticket prices are a key factor for supporters, especially in an economic climate that has been far from certain in recent years.
But City believe value for money is determined by more than just cost.
"For us, as a club, it is very much about extending the match-day experience," said marketing manager Justice Ellis.
"We recognise, as a club founded by a family in the local area, how important value for money is.
"By having everything from enhanced experiences inside the stadium to a new catering partnership with Jamie Oliver adding choice, value and credibility, it is about extending those experiences beyond the 90 minutes, which is as important as what is happening on the pitch itself."
So what would the club say to those who point to their billionaire owner, Sheikh Mansour, and say with the money they have they can afford to do more with ticket prices?
"We have to be mindful of our own pricing structure and ultimately getting stability in our own right and becoming self sufficient as a football club," said director of sales, service and operations Danny Wilson.
"So all the different revenues contribute to that. While the TV revenues have gone up and we are doing pretty well with some of our sponsorship revenues, you have retail, ticketing and all these factors contribute to it. You have to find the sweet spot, the balance. We want a full stadium with people getting behind the team, to take us to where we want to be on the pitch.
"Obviously last year's study showed we were charging one of the highest amounts for a cup of tea and I think it shows we are listening to our supporters. It created a bit of a storm, being the most expensive, and we decided to look at that and bring it down to the price we have.
"There are a lot of things coming, which will be rolled out over the months. A key thing we focused on over the summer was City Square and making it bigger and better. We have a bigger stage and are really focusing on the live acts.
[spoiler]
[/spoiler]Liverpool are set to make a new approach to sign Derby County's highly rated 18-year-old midfielder Will Hughes during the January transfer window. Metro
Sochaux defender Sebastien Corchia, 23, has refused to rule out the possibility of leaving the French club for Arsenal this winter. talkSHIT
West Brom manager Steve Clarke is keen to see his Republic of Ireland striker Shane Long, 26, pledge his future to the club and sign a new contract - little more than a week after trying to sell him. Daily Mirror
Barcelona want to bring Juan Mata back to Spain. But even though the 25-year-old playmaker has only made one appearance so far this season for Chelsea, ex-Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho may be unwilling to sell to the Catalans. Daily Express
Wayne Rooney, 27, is yet to resume full training with Manchester United but is aiming to recover from a head injury in time for the derby against City on 22 September. DSSC
Argentina defender Nicolas Spolli, 30, says he rejected interest from Tottenham to remain at Italian side Catania. talkSHIT
Former Anzhi Makhachkala team director Roberto Carlos has warned Chelsea that new striker Samuel Eto'o can have a "damaging" influence on the dressing room. DSSC
Manchester United defender Phil Jones, 21, wants a written apology from Stuart Pearce after the former England Under 21 manager questioned the his commitment. Daily Telegraph
Striker Daniel Sturridge, 24, is set to start for Liverpool at Swansea despite pulling out of England's World Cup qualifiers with a thigh injury. Daily Star
FAI chief executive John Delaney says former manager Mick McCarthy would be perfect for the Republic of Ireland job after the departure of Giovanni Trapattoni. Metro
But Brian McDermott would be willing to leave his post at Leeds United in order to take over from the veteran Italian. Daily Mirror
Republic of Ireland midfielder James McCarthy, 22, wants Roy Keane to succeed Trapattoni, however. Daily Mirror
Former Republic goalkeeper Shay Given, 37, has not given up on his Aston Villa career despite falling behind Brad Guzan and Jed Steer in the Villa Park pecking order. Sun
Sunderland manager Paolo Di Canio was clattered by Joey Barton but had the last laugh when he scored in a penalty shootout against a Newcastle XI as a Milan XI emerged victorious from Steve Harper's testimonial. The Guardian
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