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DUNNE MAKES IT 4 IN A ROW

In what has been an eventful 7 days for Manchester City fans, tonight’s Player of the Year Awards provided some welcome relief for the fans of the club.

Many were surprised when the results of the main award were announced. Although his first half of the season had many pundits saying he was better than John Terry, the 2nd half of the season has not proved to be so fruitful. However, despite his dip in form, the fans have once again voted him as their Player of the Year. Runner up for the award was the ever dependable and improving Vedran Corluka, with pacey left winger Martin Petrov in 3rd place.

There were less surprises in the Young Player of the Year category. Few would deny Goalkeeper Joe Hart his award after a string of fine displays. Surely it won’t be long before he wins his 1st Senior Cap for England. Runner up in this category was Michael Johnson with the currently injured Micah Richards in 3rd.

Ben Mee received the Academy Player of the Year award. Special awards were given to Jon Wardle for his continued boardroom input and Jim Cassell who led his Youth Team to their first Youth Cup trophy since 1986.

Liverpool vs Manchester City
Location :Anfield
Kick-off: 1600 BST
Referee: Mark Halsey

MATCH FACTS

Liverpool go into today’s match looking for the 5th home win in a row again a Manchester City side who its fair to say is in a little bit of turmoil. City’s only premiership triumph at Anfield came courtesy of Liverpool old boy Nicholas Anelka’s later double in 2003’s 2-1 win. Dietmar Hamann will be going up against his old club if selected, he made 283 appearances’ for the Reds in a 7 year stay.

SVEN ON LIVERPOOL

“It’s difficult to know how they are going to play or which team they will put out. They have been knocked out of the Champions League after two very tight games, but they can’t finish third or fifth in the league so it’s difficult to say how they might go.

“At the same time it’s their last home game so they will want to do everything they can for their own fans.

“It’s hard for them but they should have their heads high, they reached a semi final and they were two very close games. Liverpool were a bit unlucky in the home leg especially, so we will just have to see what they do, but it’s hard to know now who they will put out.

“But knowing Liverpool, they will be up for a fight against us whatever players they pick.”

Team News

There are fitness doubts over Fernando Torres and defender Martin Skrtel ahead of today’s clash.

Peter Crouch could come into the side in place of Torres but Fabio Aurelio, Daniel Agger and Harry Kewell are long-term absentees.

Richard Dunne is expected to return to the Manchester City defence for the trip following a hamstring injury.

Valeri Bojinov (knee) and Javier Garrido may also be considered, but Micah Richards is unlikely to be risked.

Liverpool (from): Reina, Arbeloa, Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Skrtel, Riise, Babel, Benayoun, Gerrard, Alonso, Mascherano, Torres, Kuyt, Crouch, Voronin, Itandje, Lucas, Pennant, Insua, Plessis

Man City (from): Hart, Elano, Corluka, Ball, Dunne, Jihai, Garrido, Vassell, Caicedo, Gelson, Johnson, Petrov, Ireland, Geovani, Benjani, Bojinov, Castillo, Logan, Isaksson.

One to Watch

Sven Goran Erikkson – The beleaguered former England supremo will likely be championed by the fans from minute one to minute 90 in protest to the ridiculous sacking he will receive from Thaksin Shinwatra. SOS – Save Our Sven.

Dangerman

Fernando Torres – The man is a goal machine, simple as that. Keeping him quiet is key if City at to get something from today’s game.

City vs. Chelsea

Chelsea are on course for a seventh Premier League double over Manchester City, and a third in successive seasons.

City were one of 8 clubs Chelsea did the double over last season and Chelsea were one of six the do the double over Manchester City.

City have only beaten Chelsea once in 19 Premiership encounters back in Jose Mourinho’s forst match in charge in 2004 at COMS thanks to current Chelsea frontman Nicolas Anelka’s goal.

LAST SEASON’S CORRESPONDING GAME

Liverpool 1-0 Manchester City
25 November 2006 - Ref: Rob Styles
Liverpool scorer: Gerrard 67

THIS SEASON’S REVERSE FIXTURE

Manchester City 0-0 Liverpool
30 December 2007 - Ref: Uriah Rennie

Prediction

Probably one of the most difficult matches I’ve ever had to make a prediction for. I have no idea about what’s going to happen. How will Liverpool cope after being ousted from European competition at the penultimate hurdle? Which City team will turn up? So I’m going to go for an enjoyable 1-1 draw in the sun.

Liverpool 1 – 1 City

By Alan D of ManCityFans.Net

The term legend is rarely spoken of about Manchester City other than in references to the past. Trautmann, Bell, Goater to name just a few players that have graced football under Manchester City. There is one other name that, although he hasn’t provided a moment of inspiration on the pitch, he has supplied the talented players who have. Four managers of the first-team have been and gone during his eleven year stay, but his continued presence has provided the consistency to which the academy now thrives on. This man goes by the name of Jim Cassell, the Manchester City Youth Academy Director.

The American historian Daniel Boorstin once said that “In our world of big names, our true heroes tend to be anonymous…The person of solid virtues can be admired for something more substantial than his well-knowess often proves to be the unsung hero: the hard worker.” This is a perfect quote to sum up the work and contributions of Jim Cassell to the club. While the legends on the pitch have the ability to turn a match with a flash of brilliance, the work of those behind the scenes can be often forgotten. I for one hope that every City fan knows about Jim Cassell, his desire and commitment is second-to-none and he can be credited for building an academy that is comparable with the best in the world.

Since he joined the club in 1997, the production line of talent coming from the academy every season has helped the first-team immensely and without it the future of Manchester City would be very grim indeed. He arrived from Oldham having initiated their successful youth and scouting policy and, having been born in Manchester, it was the perfect job he could not refuse. It was Cassell who created a 51-page dossier outlining the future plans for the academy, pin-pointing the exact problems at the time. The £500k investment in the reforms would turn out to be the club’s most astute piece of business. If one man deserves a job for life, there could not be a stronger case for the former local government officer. The impact he has had on the club can only be described as astounding.

The final piece of the jigsaw was complete on Wednesday night for the Youth Academy Director. That elusive piece of silverware that had always just seemed to evade the grasps of the academy, the trophy that Cassell admitted he was “desperate to win”. The opportunity to settle old scores was presented on Wednesday when City’s youth team worked themselves into a great position to win the FA Youth Cup for the first time since 1986. Modest Cassell was prepared for whatever the outcome, stating that if they were to miss out on the cup “we’ll say well done to the opposition [Chelsea] and we’ll regroup and get on with the production of players.” He needn’t worry about that though, the Youth Cup Final was won 4-2 on aggregate in fairly comfortable style. It was a side that played with pure freedom and expression, together with a solid defence and a strong work ethic that any team would crave. The proudest man at Manchester City finally had the silverware that he, the staff and the players deserved more than any other team – for the simple reason that the under 18s have constantly shown over the past few years that they have the talent and ability to beat any of their counterparts. Whilst it has been the first Youth Cup success in over two decades, Jim Cassell has overseen academy teams that have won their divisional league for six times in 10 years and produced a significant number of first-team players that would be unheard of with other clubs.

The success of the academy can be measured on more than just one level. You can look further than the actual performances of the academy, expanding the horizons to the impact past and present academy players have had on the first-team. It is safe to say that a City minus Cassell would be a fallen team playing in the Championship rather than striding upwards with European ambitions - Jim Cassell has for years built the foundations of our team, making it possible to move forward and attract quality footballers. A bottom-three finish would have been almost guaranteed last season without our then top goalscorer Joey Barton, neither would we have kept so many clean sheets in the absence of Richards. Cassell’s proven eye for talent is the reason how Shaun Wright-Phillips, released by Nottingham Forest at the time, ended up at Man City, and his goals and contributions down that right flank made him the fan favourite he became.

A different way of measuring the academy’s success is through the transfer receipts for those academy players who have moved on. ‘We’ve raised £32.5 million, so we’re about £22 million in profit over 10 years,’ Cassell says. ‘And that doesn’t include Micah, Michael Johnson, Stephen Ireland, Nedum Onuoha, Danny Sturridge and Kelvin Etuhu.’ The valuations of these latter players added onto the transfer receipts of those academy players sold and the £60 million barrier would be exceeded comfortably. The academy has substantially helped the club economically as well, with such sales like Shaun Wright-Phillips for over £20 million helping to pay off the debts and placing the club in a healthier position. Cassell has blessed the managers of Manchester City with blossoming talent from within, in an era when sub-standard players have inflated price tags. Rather than diving into the transfer market with limited funds and relying on bosmans, the solutions were found in the academy.

Even with the influx of foreign players into Manchester City, the academy players have still managed to prove themselves to Sven-Goran Eriksson and forced their way into his first eleven. Jim Cassell has catered for 25% of the footballers who have played under Sven this season, as exactly a quarter of the minutes played have been by those raised through the academy. Cassell and the academy staff have developed the youth players so that they can cope with the physical and mental demands of the Premiership, turning the raw talent into more complete and capable footballers. Ched Evans, Kelvin Etuhu and Shaleum Logan all made their first-team debuts this season, where they made positive impressions and will return from their loan-clubs ready to become the next academy star to make the breakthrough. The Youth Cup victory has signified once more the importance of Jim Cassell, as more players are expected to make it - winger Vladimir Weiss lit up the match with his trickery and skills, a fine performance capped off by an unstoppable free kick, while the performances of captain Ben Mee and all his team-mates has meant that every single player has the capabilities to make a name for themselves. The success of the academy is so great that there is no reason in the world why these expectations cannot become a reality once again.

The work of Jim Cassell puts to shame any of the comments by Premier League managers who bemoan the cost of academies, with Rafa Benitez saying “The academy system is not working and that is worrying - there will be long-term effects”. More faith from high-profile managers could be the key difference, the belief is not there so any chance of a successful academy is immediately setback. “You have to work hard at something, and believe in it, to have a chance of being successful - youth development is no different.” Jim Cassell had the morals and the vision to make the City academy a success and the hard work has certainly paid off. City’s youth programme cost a mere £1.6m last year - The academy staff have worked with pennies in comparison to other clubs, yet have produced the riches and the gold that they desire. The character of Cassell could not be more appropriate for the job, his realisation that consistency is the key to success. The best coaches and facilities are meaningless unless academies are built on stable foundations. “”When I look for reasons why we’ve done well, I think we have probably only had one physio leave since we started. The coaches are all the same.”

Of course the success of the academy cannot be solely down to Cassell and the work of the coaching staff cannot be ignored. Alex Gibson has a proven record of coaching young players at the highest level, having won the European Youth Championship with England back in 1993 and was recruited from the Football Association. Former City captain Paul Power, previously Director of Youth Coaching at the PFA, and Steve Eyre are both valued members of the team. From the Youth Academy Director to the Head of Recruitment Barry Poynton to those involved in the education department, they are all responsible for guiding Manchester City to Youth Cup glory and hopefully the start of many more trophies for the academy.

He may claim he is just doing his job, carrying out the tasks which are being asked of him…the truth is that Jim Cassell has been a godsend to Manchester City in more reasons than what meet the eye. So here’s to the great man at the centre of one of the world‘s best academies. Jim Cassell - The Gent, the Legend, the Unsung Hero.

Manchester City vs Fulham

So, here we are, the last home game of the season. A whole 8 months has flown by since our first home win, with Michael Johnson bagging the winner at Derby. The real derby followed that and we all know what happened there.
Many people forget that the first 9 home games were all wins, and the first 12 were without defeat. This being said, it’s surprising our average attendance is only 41994, with Eastlands overall capacity being a good 6000 more. So, on to Saturday’s game against Fulham
A team that were expected to struggle, and to be perfectly honest, are doing. If results go the wrong way for them on Saturday, they will be relegated into the depths of the Championship. However, a win for the Whites, will send them straight back into the fight to stay up. Don’t expect too much though, Fulham have won only 1 of their 17 away games this season, recently away at Reading.

Recent Form
Fulham have one of the worst recent records in the Premiership, winning 2 of their last 8, and gaining just 8 points overall. City, although, have not faired much better, and have gained 11 from their last 8. Also, worryingly for the Blues, they have only gained 7 points from their last 5 home games. The win against Portsmouth on Saturday though, has sparked ambitions of Europe again.

What Does Sven Think?
“If you don’t have a target for the last games and the sun comes out, then everything becomes heavy, but now it’s just to go on fighting and try to beat Fulham.
“I hope that we can play good football in the last three games and that we can take many points.”
When asked about his captain’s availability for the weekend, the Blues boss added: “Richard Dunne has a 50/50 chance to play against Fulham, but if he doesn’t play against Fulham, he will be ready for the last two away games.
“It would be very good to have him on the pitch.”

Team News
City have recalled Shaleum Logan from a loan spell at Stockport due to the defensive injury crisis, and he could be handed his league debut if Richard Dunne fails to recover from a hamstring injury. City are already without Onuoha, Richards and Javier Garrido.
Fulham striker Jari Litmanen has sustained an ear injury and will miss the clash. Goalkeeper Antti Niemi has trained all week after completing rehabilitation from a shoulder injury but Kasey Keller will continue in goal.

Key Men
Manchester City
Benjani
Opened his Eastlands account on Saturday, after a great game against his former club. With both clubs struggling to find the net this season, the difference in this game could be 1 chance. After previously scoring down at Craven Cottage with Portsmouth, he’ll fancy his chances again.
Fulham
Simon Davies
The former Everton winger has been central to everything Fulham have created this season, his pace, along with his high work rate have made him a crowd favourite down at the Cottage, and he will need to be closed down quickly.

Last Time
Fulham 3 – 3 Manchester City
A brace from Martin Petrov, and a Emile Mpenza goal saw City take a 3-2 lead, before Danny Murphy hit a 75th minute equalizer. If the game on Saturday is half as exciting as this one, we could be in for a treat.

Prediction
With both teams wanting to end the season with a bang, for much different reasons, this could be a cracker. I think City have the quality to edge it here though, with a 2-1 win.