14th December 2013 and I was in the air on
my way to my first ever winter-sun holiday. Complete media blackout and,
therefore, no clue as to how the lads were progressing back home and AT home against
Arsenal.
Touch down, 45 minutes of confusion about the transfer
to the hotel; a 40 minute drive, very quick check-in & unpack and
straight to a nearby bar to hear Richard Keys
on Al Jazeera announce, during the interval (or end) of the Chelsea
game, that there had been a glut of goals at the Etihad.
I gulped – and gulped some cold lager – until
I EVENTUALLY heard the terrific news.
V Arsenal
Straight to a
predicted line-up, subs and outcome…
4-1-4-1 / 4-2-3-1:
_______________Aguero_______________
__________________Fernandinho_______
_________________Hart________________
Despite a few questionable decisions and goals conceded of
late in what looks to be a little
wobble from England’s number 1; Joe to start in net.
At home, Pellegrini has
suggested in the past that the more-attacking (well he can’t very-well much
defend and so that’s the only other quality he sometimes brings to the team) Aleks Kolarov is better suited. With
the need to defend a dangerous attacking midfield and, in particular, Alexis Sanchez…it’s Gael Clichy for me.
Martin Demichelis – the better of the two central defenders
at Everton last weekend and in general this
season – might have cause to feel a little aggrieved to see Eliaquim Mangala
get a start ahead of him tomorrow. However, similar to the Clichy
Vincent Kompany should be fit to start, it has been
suggested by our manager in the pre-match ‘presser’, and what a fillip that
will be for us! Hope so…
Zaba, surely, on the right for this one in what SHOULD be a
terrific defence.
Fernando to ‘protect’ and a good game from ‘The Octopus’
could be key in allowing the rest to do damage to Wenger’s
men.
The other ‘Fern’, therefore, is probably being given the
most complex role of the day – help [Fernando] defend a little but attack whenever
you can. That’s what I think at least…
With Samir out for 3 to 4
weeks with a calf injury it SHOULD be the boundless energy of James down the
left – can we afford to leave Milner out
with Nasri sidelined whilst we’re trying desperately to get him to ‘pen’ a new
deal?
Pace on the right in Navas and if he can improve his
crossing & finishing – a line that is
being used a little too much for my liking and for a player of his obvious
ability - this SHOULD give the visitors a headache.
Although at home and preferring 4-4-2 and two strikers most
of the time regardless; I’m sticking my neck out and trusting my gut feeling in
that he’ll pick David to support, hopefully, treadmill-pounding Sergio up
front.
A strong bench both defence and attack-wise and although my
prediction sees just one midfielder to choose from…WHAT a midfield game-changer
it is!
Result? I don’t
do predicted scores as a rule but, for some strange reason, I have been doing
just that at work this week; and so it would be wrong of me not to follow that
up in my pre-match Blog posting. Like last season’s (missed) game there are, potentially, goals aplenty once again;
it’s a home win and if not 4-2 then I think it’ll be at least a 3-1’er.
Plenty to say…
Well everyone’s entitled to their opinion of course and with
us now dining at the top table of English football I suppose we City fans have
to get used to some top sniping too.
This week has hardly been the ‘tin hat on’ time of the not-so-good old days where we pressed
the self-destruct button time and time and time again as we suffered one Club-implosion
after another.
However, the signing of Wilfried Bony and, therefore, us-DARING to spend some more of our very own money
has turned a number of heads and got some lips flapping; some of those lips
belonging to owners who forgot to engage what is contained WITHIN those turning
heads in my opinion.
First out of the blocks was a
fairly measured, as usual, Gary Neville who said, “I
worry (orrr…bless) about the purchase of Wilfried Bony, who is a very fine
centre-forward but is not certain to add the kind of intricacy and ferocious
intensity they found in the Sergio Aguero and Carlos Tevez partnership”.
Well, firstly Gary, from what I’ve seen of the Ivorian he has very quick
feet and quick-thinking ability indeed for a striker more known to be a powerhouse.
But, besides, I think ‘our Gazza’ is
missing the point here. Partnerships up front are indeed very important, of
course, and I suppose only time will tell if Gary
In Aguero, Bony, Dzeko & Jovetic we have 4 strikers who bring a very
potent ‘mixed bag’ of tricks – they’re not all alike and as much as I too [like
Gary] loved the Aguero / Tevez partnership, however many goals and game-wins they
did or didn’t rack up together; I think that combination of differing assets is
a very good thing to have in your starting 11 and squad.
But then it all
got a bit silly…
Ex-Blue - and somewhat a once-hero
of mine - Mick Channon waded in and, well…simply
embarrassed himself by sounding WAY too ‘old school’ and out of touch in his
thinking about the modern game.
To back him up oh-so-very-slightly and briefly I will say,
is the modern game perfect? Is it ‘eckers like. Are players transfer fees and
wages enough to make the common man & women retch at the mere thought of
the astronomical figures that we’re talking about? Of course they are; no-one
kicking a bag of wind (to quote Jimmy Wagg) around a patch of grass for often 90 minutes or less at a
time is worth anything LIKE the numbers we’re talking about.
Mick said, when asked about his
old club’s purchase of the striker from Swansea City
“Football is getting a bit sad. He is not a bad player,
Bony, but for God’s sake, £30m or whatever it was?
“They are like spoilt kids – they have got to have all
the candies in the shop. They want all the players.
“The FA
have got to say ‘Come on’. Once you have got your team together, I think it is
ridiculous that these big clubs can go and spend, and bring Messi in and win the
championship – big deal.
“Someone has got to stand up and say something about it
one day. If you are a signed player, that is your team for a couple of years or
until your contract runs out.”
£30M or whatever it was.
It was £25M eventually going to £28M Mick. Petty of me to point that out?
No…not unless 2 to £5M is nothing to the now-renowned horse trainer.
Spoilt kids wanting all the candies in the shop? Really? When most top football pundits quite-righty
recognise that to compete at the VERY top level in 4 competitions, as we are
trying to do, often amounting to 60-odd games a season you need 4 strikers; and
in purchasing Bony we’ve simply gone from 3 to…4. … all the candies? Has he seen
Chelsea
The F.A. has to step in? Really?
What, like…we’ve not already been slapped with enough sanctions by a
footballing body; a football club who is POURING money into youth development
and the re-development of the local area but, regardless, get’s beaten with a
stick for their efforts while other debt-riddled clubs get away with spending
and spending and spending without punishments? Really Mick?
…bring Messi
in?
Have we? No…not yet anyway. And if we
do sign the Barcelona
And as for his comments on a player not moving because
he’s in contract and should stay until the very end and THEN be allowed to
move, well…if Mick’s out-dated thinking needed to be underlined then it was at
that point of the conversation. Deary me…
And then, of course…TA-DAAA! Ladies & gentleman…Jose Mourinho! Yaaaaay! Oh where would we be without him.
Still here.
In questioning how we’ve managed to fund the purchase of
Bony the easily an’ often irritated one spewed out,
“If they have the money, can
spend the money, if they have no problems with the FFP, well done.
But in
continuing he added,
“It looks like the rules are different for them
in some aspects, but not in this.
And when
asked what he meant by that he simply replied,
“You know…”
Now for
THOSE last comments I think he should be punished; I think City, in fact, have
the right to ask him to explain what he meant by his words and if he doesn’t
offer up a good enough explanation then we should take legal action.
Of course, when asked [by a journo] if our recent purchase was, get this, “Ethical”, Arsene Wenger added his French Euro’s worth by saying,
“I hope
so. They must have the availability and the Financial Fair Play allows them to
do it. I don’t know. It was a surprise, yes”.
He went on to say that it’s not
down to him to control it nor his job to judge. But assuming, for a moment, that he did want to take
an interest into whether we’ve broken any rules; just what is it with these
people [Jose included]?! Is it just me? As recently posted…don’t you just need half a brain and a calculator to see
that we ARE spending within our means and under the restrictions set out by UEFA under the F(not-so)FP
imposed sanctions? Hello?
The only thing in mid-week that I read which muddied the
waters and sounded a little cloak ‘n’ dagger to me – albeit, crucially,
approved by UEFA – was the news that we have somehow and for some REASON spread the fee over the length of
Bony’s contract; essentially meaning it is stretched over the accounts for the
next five years. Hey? What? Why?
Other than in his column that he
writes for the Independent, at least we haven’t heard any senseless rambles from the newly
found voice of Paul Scholes. Slightly irritating
isn’t it; of the afore mentioned opinions that we’ve heard regarding the Bony
deal the more considered and sensible ones came from ex-Manyoo players?
And what does Manager of the Month Manuel Pellegrini say when asked to comment on Jose & Co.'s opinions on our spending? He wouldn't be drawn on it of course and remains a class act.
And what does Manager of the Month Manuel Pellegrini say when asked to comment on Jose & Co.'s opinions on our spending? He wouldn't be drawn on it of course and remains a class act.
And it’s already begun…
As predicted under the second sub-heading in my last piece - Yaya leaves the country, Yaya gets
interviewed by some foreign paper / magazine / TV channel; Yaya is
none-committal about his Manchester
City
