Manchester City Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours

bigstar

starting to feel the knots in my stomach for tonights game, i hope your lucky xavi, we need something to go right this season. C'MON CITEH! C'MON CITEH!

redout

Trouble in paradise. The Robinho stuff has been circulating for a few months,

Bad boys from Brazil: Boss Mark Hughes at odds with Manchester City rebels Robinho and Elano

By Ian Ladyman in Copenhagen
Last updated at 1:31 PM on 19th February 2009

Manchester City manager Mark Hughes is facing a critical battle of wills with Robinho and Elano that will go a long way to determining if he succeeds at the Barclays Premier League club this season.

With City still struggling to produce consistent performances - especially away from home - Hughes is coming under fire from a minority of the club's supporters and knows he must find a way to get the best from his team between now and the end of May.
But Sportsmail understands that his relationships with his Brazilian stars, the £34million Robinho and the temperamental Elano, are becoming increasingly difficult - a significant obstacle as he tries to impress City's owners in Abu Dhabi.

Elano has long been viewed as a troublemaker by Hughes and sources close to the 27-year-old midfielder have stated recently that the player has no love for his manager.
Hughes' relationship with Robinho is better than that and he hopes he can coax some more consistent form from the club's record signing.

But Elano's influence on his countryman would appear to be growing and that is a much greater problem.

It is understood that one of Hughes' four January signings is so unimpressed with the Brazilian pair and their approach to life at City that he has suggested somebody should 'sort them out'.

The same player also complained that the two South Americans have barely spoken a word to him since he arrived.

Evidence of Hughes' problem came last week when Robinho and Elano each scored for Brazil against Italy in London but then performed embarrassingly in City's defeat at Portsmouth four days later.


Hughes acknowledged the problem before leaving for tonight's UEFA Cup tie against FC Copenhagen in Denmark.

Asked if he had spoken to Robinho about his Portsmouth performance, Hughes said: 'We have had a brief word and we have another opportunity now that we are away.

'We will speak in depth, not only to Robinho but everyone.

'I know he took a lot of criticism but other players should come into focus as well. He hasn't had a lot of Premier League football away from home. I think that's the key to it.
'The setbacks we're having will stand him in good stead because away from home you have to understand that it requires a different mentality.'

Robinho has recovered from the thigh injury that forced him from the the field at Fratton Park and joined the City party on the plane to Denmark wearing white trainers with his club suit but no tie.

While the 25-year-old striker is not the first footballer to add his own interpretation to a formal dress code, it does perhaps provide an insight into Hughes' problem.
The manager, who has always based his success at club and international level on - among other things - organisation, discipline and professionalism, is struggling to instill these beliefs in some of his more high-profile players.

As City continue to struggle away from home, the basics of mental and physical durability continue to elude Hughes' team and there is little chance of this changing until his most important players throw their lot in with the boss.

Hughes and his players arrived here in sub-zero temperatures on Wednesday and the City manager had a frosty message for Copenhagen coach Stale Solbakken.

Probable team
MANCHESTER CITY (4-2-3-1): Given; Richards, Dunne, Onuoha, Bridge; Kompany, Zabaleta; Wright-Phillips,
Ireland, Robinho; Bellamy.

TV: BBC3 7pm. Kick-off 7.05pm.

The former Norway midfielder suggested that City's wealth was destroying football but Hughes said: 'We have had money for six months and we haven't destroyed football yet.

'But these people are not in possession of the full facts. He has had a lot to say hasn't he?'

When he was reminded that he once played against Solbakken for Wales,
Hughes said: 'I don't remember him. He can't have played very well.'
City captain Richard Dunne is expected to return tonight after suspension


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1149302/Bad-boys-Brazil-Hughes-odds-City-rebels-Robinho-Elano.html

Xavi6

Some pics from Copenhagen -

Xavi6

Great article -

Manchester City save best till last

Caught in Time: Manchester City win the Second Division playoff final in 1999 despite going two goals down



Here are a few questions. Are you a Manchester City fan? Were you at Wembley on Sunday, May 30, 1999 for the Second Division playoff final against Gillingham? Did you leave before the final whistle when Gillingham led 2-0 with two minutes to go? If so, you won’t be doing that again.

Andy Morrison was one of those who didn’t miss a moment of the game. Hired eight months before to haul the club kicking and screaming out of third-tier football - their lowest level in an esteemed history - Morrison didn’t quite get the job done. The Manchester City captain’s knees lasted an hour of the final, courtesy of painkilling injections, and he then had to sit on the bench to watch the rollercoaster ride.

Gillingham, under manager Tony Pulis, went ahead in the 81st minute when Carl Asaba pierced the City defence. Rob Taylor made it 2-0 with four minutes to go. Game over?

“I honestly thought that was it,” says Morrison. “It was a case of heading off for our summer holidays without the match bonus for winning and preparing to play in the Second Division again the next season.”

With a minute remaining of the 90, Kevin Horlock latched onto a loose ball and drove it into the Gillingham goal to give City some hope at 2-1. The Gills fans began whistling for full-time when five minutes of stoppage time began, but the drama was not over. With the clock ticking, the ball fell to Paul Dickov, who blasted it into the top corner of the net past his friend and best man Vince Bartram in the Gillingham goal for 2-2. There was delirium among the Manchester City supporters, disbelief for the Gillingham fans. “The equaliser was surreal,” says Morrison. “It was as if it all happened in slow motion. We had the momentum in extra-time and Gillingham had substituted their striker when trying to protect their lead.”

However, neither side scored and the match went to a penalty shootout, Nicky Weaver in the City goal saving a spot-kick from Guy Butters to give City a 3-1 win and a place in the First Division. “It was a fantastic feeling,” says Morrison. “We had put in so much effort and needed to win because we didn’t have a Plan B. Every game during the season felt like a cup final for the teams we were playing. There were 26,000 fans for my debut and we filled our allocation of away supporters wherever we played. You have to give credit to them; they followed the team everywhere even though we were in the Second Division. They can never be accused of jumping on the band-wagon.”

There was added pressure on City to win something that season because four days earlier the thorn in their side, Manchester United, had come from behind to beat Bayern Munich in Barcelona and win the European Cup.

“We were a million miles from Manchester United at that time,” says Morrison, “but the gap has been closed a bit since then.”

1 Tony Vaughan A Manchester-born left-sided defender, he was a trainee at Maine Road before joining Ipswich. Vaughan returned to his home town in the summer of 1997. A substitute for Morrison in the playoff final, he moved to Nottingham Forest a year later and finished at Barnsley two seasons ago. Lives in the Nottingham area

2 Jeff Whitley A Northern Ireland international who won 20 caps for his country, Whitley began his career with City and played 123 league matches. He was dropped by Northern Ireland on the eve of a game in 2005 after going on a drinking binge and has successfully fought drink and drug addictions. He signed for non-league Woodley Sports last month

3 Richard Edghill A fast and strong-tackling full-back, he began his career at City and played in 181 league matches in eight years, scoring one goal. He also represented England at U21 and “B" level. At Macclesfield last season, he was released in the summer

4 Ian Bishop Enjoying his second spell at Maine Road, the talented midfielder came on as a substitute in the final. Bishop had signed the previous season from West Ham, where he played 254 league games. He ran his own pub in Birkdale and now lives in Florida

5 Gareth Taylor Signed the previous November from Sheffield United to help City’s promotion push, the striker was a substitute for Lee Crooks in the final. Taylor won 14 caps for Wales and after a much-travelled career now plays for Doncaster

6 Terry Cooke A loan signing from rivals Manchester United in January 1999, he impressed enough on the right wing to become a permanent signing in April. A month later, he scored a penalty at Wembley. He was with Sheffield Wednesday until 2004 and now plays for Colorado Rapids in the States

7 Kevin Horlock One of several players to experience the ups and down of life at City with three promotions and three relegations, the left-sided defender and midfielder signed from Swindon for £1.5m. A dead-ball expert, he scored 37 league goals in 204 games. He was on the books at Scunthorpe until the end of last season

8 Gerard Wiekens The Dutch central defender was a first-team regular after signing for City in August 1997. He helped the club back into the Premier League, playing in 182 league games. Wiekens returned to his native Holland in 2004 and plays for Veendam in the First Division

9 Shaun Goater He failed at Manchester United but flourished at Manchester City, where they sang “Feed The Goat And He Will Score”. The Bermuda-born striker scored 84 league goals in 184 games. He now lives in Bermuda, where he is the business development officer for a company building tennis courts and fences

10 Andy Morrison The Inverness-born central defender was lent to City in October 1998 from Huddersfield and then permanently signed a month later. Manager Joe Royle made him captain. He later moved into management and was assistant manager to Andy Preece at Worcester City in the Conference North. Now a personal trainer

Not pictured -

Nicky Weaver The City goalkeeper went on a sprint around Wembley after pulling off the save to secure the playoff win. After making his debut at the start of the season, he kept a club record 23 clean sheets on the way to the playoffs. He moved to Charlton Athletic in June 2007 and still plays for them

Paul Dickov Signed from Arsenal, where he had failed to become a first-team regular, the Scottish striker scored 33 league goals in six years at Maine Road. He also played 10 games for Scotland. He is currently in his second spell at Leicester City

Lee Crooks A versatile defender and midfielder who progressed through the youth ranks at Maine Road, Crooks had his most productive season in helping City win promotion. He also played for Barnsley and Notts County and was released by Rochdale at the end of last season

Michael Brown An aggressive and talented midfielder, Brown was another product of the City youth scheme. He played 89 league games for the club and represented England in the U21s. Brown had spells with Sheffield United, Tottenham and Fulham and now plays for Wigan

bigstar

i was there, me and my dad got seperate tickets in the gillingham end, he left before the final whistle to meet me but got back in time for extra time. i never left my seat till we won. best game ever and it'll be ten years this year, thank god for horlock and dickov.

bigstar

feeling a bit optimistic after the copenhagen and liverpool games. i thought we were great in both except defensively in copenhagen, but in terms of controlling the game we were the better team in both matches. first time in a while the midfield looked solid. we should have scored more in both games and i think goals will come again, but really pleased to see us more solid. hopefully we beat the danes well at home and continue to improve at the hammers.

redout

City sign Faroese keeper

Manchester City have announced the signing of 22-year-old goalkeeper Gunnar Nielsen.

Free agent Nielsen, from the Faroe Islands, has previously had spells with Blackburn Rovers and Motherwell on loan.

Nielsen has penned a two-and-a-half-year deal with City and joins fellow shot-stoppers Shay Given, Joe Hart and Kasper Schmeichel at Eastlands.

Meanwhile, City boss Mark Hughes has stressed his desire to reach the last 16 of the Uefa Cup.

Hughes' men drew their first leg clash at FC Copenhagen 2-2, and the Welshman has confirmed he intends to field a strong starting XI for the return fixture on Thursday.

He said: "When you are in Europe and you are playing Thursday and then Sunday in the Premier League sometimes you think it is more trouble than it is worth.

"But when you actually go out of a competition such as the UEFA Cup then there is a gap in your programme and a feeling of loss.

"I do not want that to happen at City, especially as they have not made that many excursions into Europe.

"From a development point of view we need to stay in the competition as long as we can."

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_4972894,00.html

Xavi6

Could be the end of Kasper.

bigstar

just watching a clip on youtube of the 1970 cup winners cup final. has me dreaming of the uefa cup, were favourites to win, i know that means fcuk all especially being city, but still, it would be great to actually see us win something. i know ive fcuked it all up now by saying that.

Xavi6

Saw this today and thought it was very good -

Choose not knowing the history of your club. Choose Busby the Blue. Choose Dennis Law’s backheel. Choose Sir Bobby Ticket Tout. Choose staging the World Cup in '66 and being handed a huge sum from the FA to develop your stadium but continue to bang on about City’s ground. Choose opening the gates at Old Trafford in the 60s after kick off to let people in for free. Choose forgetting you went 41 years without winning a trophy. Choose your highest ever attendance being at Maine Road. Choose that attendance still being lower than City's. Choose United’s globalism and domination since the late '90s whilst forgetting the past. Choose an air disaster as a marketing tool. Choose forgetting about the survivors of Munich and kicking them out of their houses (which you owned) because they could no longer play football. Choose waiting 22 years to set up a charity match for the families of Munich. Choose milking Munich for 50 years and then getting beat by ickle ciddy on your own soil. Choose asking AIG to sponsor the Munich memorial.

Choose having statues of two City players outside your ground. Choose being so obsessed with City that you have a permanent banner dedicated to us on the Stretford End. Choose paying £28 million for Veron. Choose 19,000 fans at Old Trafford to watch you play Middlesbrough when you were in Division One but pretend you have loyal support. Choose the have-to-go-to-all-cup-games-because-you're-forced-to ticket policy. Choose the USA. Choose debt. Choose pricing out your own fans in favour of corporate Londoners. Choose having your own manager and players criticise your fans. Choose prawn sandwiches. Choose not being able to stand. Choose being outsung by 3,000 travelling away fans each game. Choose having Mick Hucknall and Eamon Holmes as your celebrity fans. Choose FC United…if they become successful. Choose Trafford. Choose United.

Sherifu

Controversial :pac:

Xavi6

Wonder would Sigpo approve if I were to adopt it!

Sherifu

Xavi6 wrote: »

Wonder would Sigpo approve if I were to adopt it!

Does a bear **** in the woods?

Pighead

Unintentionally funny commentary from Fox during last weeks City match.

"Stephen Ireland's on his own. He's looking for Kompany."

Boggles

Choose not knowing the history of your club. Choose Busby the Blue. Choose Dennis Law’s backheel. Choose Sir Bobby Ticket Tout. Choose staging the World Cup in '66 and being handed a huge sum from the FA to develop your stadium but continue to bang on about City’s ground. Choose opening the gates at Old Trafford in the 60s after kick off to let people in for free. Choose forgetting you went 41 years without winning a trophy. Choose your highest ever attendance being at Maine Road. Choose that attendance still being lower than City's. Choose United’s globalism and domination since the late '90s whilst forgetting the past. Choose an air disaster as a marketing tool. Choose forgetting about the survivors of Munich and kicking them out of their houses (which you owned) because they could no longer play football. Choose waiting 22 years to set up a charity match for the families of Munich. Choose milking Munich for 50 years and then getting beat by ickle ciddy on your own soil. Choose asking AIG to sponsor the Munich memorial.

Choose having statues of two City players outside your ground. Choose being so obsessed with City that you have a permanent banner dedicated to us on the Stretford End. Choose paying £28 million for Veron. Choose 19,000 fans at Old Trafford to watch you play Middlesbrough when you were in Division One but pretend you have loyal support. Choose the have-to-go-to-all-cup-games-because-you're-forced-to ticket policy. Choose the USA. Choose debt. Choose pricing out your own fans in favour of corporate Londoners. Choose having your own manager and players criticise your fans. Choose prawn sandwiches. Choose not being able to stand. Choose being outsung by 3,000 travelling away fans each game. Choose having Mick Hucknall and Eamon Holmes as your celebrity fans. Choose FC United…if they become successful. Choose Trafford. Choose United.

I'd choose that and more over being a fúckíng City Supporter any day.

Xavi6

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1159208/Dont-Look-Back-In-Anger-Noel-Liam-lose-Doves-beat-Oasis-Manchester-City-song.html?ITO=1490http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1159208/Dont-Look-Back-In-Anger-Noel-Liam-lose-Doves-beat-Oasis-Manchester-City-song.html?ITO=1490

Don't Look Back In Anger! Noel and Liam lose out as Doves beat Oasis to Manchester City song


Oasis have suffered a shock defeat after Doves won the race to record a Manchester City anthem.

Noel and Liam Gallagher, who have performed at City's former stadium Maine Road and current home Eastlands, are believed to have been sounded out about doing a version of club song Blue Moon.

But fellow Manchester rockers Doves' nipped in and their version will be played before the match with Aston Villa tonight (Wednesday).

Doves singer Jimi Goodwin said: 'I'll occasionally hear, "All right Jimi," but it's not like Noel and Liam when they go to a game. We just haven't got that kind of profile.'

And drummer Andy Williams told The Sun: 'It's going to be interesting to see how it goes down. It was flattering to be asked and I hope the City fans like it.'

Doves are such a feckin great band. Lookin forward to hearing this.

Savman

Bastards.

Best team won tonight and your lot played us off the park. Why oh why didn't we break the bank for SWP :rolleyes:

Anyway, well done, sorry cant give more compliments but this one hurts...

Frisbee

Thankyou

So very very much

Xavi6

Absolutely fantastic win! And we did it with headless chicken Fernandes on for 45 minutes!

bigstar

slowly moving up the league, the season looks better every week. best finish since reid and a european run/trophy, could it be?, of course not. (could it?)
whats the story with the away form? villa are exactly the type of team weve struggled with all season, solid and strong defensively, not too attacking. at home we piss all over them, away, they take the ball of us and tell us were not allowed play. two different teams.

that choose united thing is great. thanks xavi

Xavi6

From MCFC.co.uk -

Club statement

Following an article in The Sun newspaper which claimed that Manchester City are preparing a £100m bid for Lionel Messi, the Club would like to make the following information clear.

The story is untrue and this fact has been accepted by the newspaper in question. General comments about Lionel Messi, made by Dr Sulaiman Al Fahim, who holds no position at the Club, were mistakenly linked to Manchester City.

The article was printed in error and an apology to His Highness Sheikh Mansour, Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak and Dr Sulaiman Al Fahim and a correction in Saturday's edition of the newspaper will follow.

Good to see the club biting back.

bigstar

youths in the semis of the youth cup against arsenal. should be a decent game considering the role of the academy in both clubs.

Mr Alan

the sun, making up their own stories?!

who would've thought it :rolleyes:

*****.

bigstar

whats the verdict for thursdays match and the tie in general. weve been a bit better lately, hopefully we play like we did against villa and score a few more. whats the skinny on aalborg. they hockeyed deportivo but theyre only 5th in the league with copenhagen 1st. not sure what to make of them.

Xavi6

Well Robby is back from Brazil 100% fit and looking good apparently in training so that's good. Only really missing Bellamy and a cup toed De Jong, though Kompany is a doubt with a persistant toe injury.

Would love a 2-0 win.

redout

They played United twice in the group of this seasons Champions league and lost one and drew the other.

bigstar

tbh id love more than 2-0, they seem pretty good at home and we are anything but away. 4-0 ftw. no kompany would be a big blow. you going to this one xavi or are you back in oz

Xavi6

Nah I'm back in Oz so it's a dodgy stream at 4.30am for me :rolleyes:

Xavi6

Superman's website has gotten a revamp and looks quality. Some match worn shirts up for grabs (worn by Robinho, C. Ronaldo and.....Danny Mills amongst others), proceeds going to charity of of course. Well worth a look -

http://www.stephenireland.com/charity

Crackin video as well -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdRThyK4G7k

bigstar

i read that zab is improving his english but he still finds it hard to understand ireland, bloody cork accent :pac:

shayser

City and Valencia are in talks over transfer of David Villa. Sky Sports News. Valencia reckon they have to sell for financial reasons.

bigstar

oh yeah, i wouldnt mind a bit of that, maybe villa could persuade torres to come too, the mersey would overflow with all the tears :pac:

redout

Stephen Ireland seems like a sound bloke with this charity gig, no.

keane2097

redout wrote: »

Stephen Ireland seems like a sound bloke with this charity gig, no.

Seems like a plank with his pink Range Rover though...

redout

keane2097 wrote: »

Seems like a plank with his pink Range Rover though...

Its not our business what car he drives. He is hardly living it up like some rich skanger whilst doing a charity on the side.

Craft25

gotta like the look of this lads

http://www.teamtalk.com/football/story/0,16368,2483_5040559,00.html

Race ya for him!!

keane2097

redout wrote: »

Its not our business what car he drives. He is hardly living it up like some rich skanger whilst doing a charity on the side.

I was joking.

EDIT: Although if it's not our business what car he drives it's hardly our business whether he does charity work or not tbh

Xavi6

keane2097 wrote: »

I was joking.

EDIT: Although if it's not our business what car he drives it's hardly our business whether he does charity work or not tbh

Well it wasn't funny, just like it wasn't the ten times someone has used it before.

Xavi6

And so it begins......

......a rumoured mock up of next season's shirt -



Horrible lookin yoke, though it's probably a fake thankfully.

bigstar

any news on the old crest being brought back, there was some news about it before xmas. nasty looking jersey.

Xavi6

AFAIK Peter Swales still owns all the rights to the the old crest and that, which is why we had to change to the current one in the first place. There have been rumours that his family may be willing to sell however.

mayordenis

Anyone other than bellamy back at the weekend?

bigstar

dont think so, but could be a few out with bridge ireland and kompany all picking up/carrying injuries from last nights dire game.

bigstar

disgusted by last night, losing patience very quickly with robihno, he makes no effort at all, lazy fcuk.

at least we have some decent peno takers, 3 times the keeper guessed right and couldnt get near the ball.

Xavi6

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/manchester_city/s/1103895_superman_ireland_is_flying

Superman Ireland is flying

Chris Bailey

March 21, 2009

IF matters had taken a different turn Stephen Ireland might have been turning out against City on Sunday rather than for them.

Former Sunderland boss Roy Keane reportedly wanted to take the midfielder to the Stadium of Light for a knockdown fee.

At the time, Eastlands was in upheaval with former owner Thaksin Shinawatra looking to cut costs and raise funds.

Thankfully for City fans, common sense prevailed. Mark Hughes put his foot down and Superman went on to lay claim to Player of the Season honours not just for his own club but in the Premier League as a whole.

Travesty

If the 22-year-old does not feature in the top six in the country then it is a travesty and, even after reaching double figures in goals for the season, he believes that there is still much more to come.

"There was some talk about Sunderland in the summer but that was because of the Roy Keane thing," Ireland insisted.

"If Roy went to Fulham I'd be linked with them in the morning. It was all because of that.

"There was no bid for me. It was mainly little whispers. People said I was having a medical there because I was late for the AC Milan game. That wasn't it at all. I just turned up late because I didn't realise I was in the squad.

"We were meant to be there at 2.30pm and I turned up at 4pm and people presumed I was at Sunderland.

"I admit I did a bit of soul searching at that time and after the new gaffer had come in. We had a lot of games, went to Germany on pre-season and I didn't participate in some games, which I thought I would have, and played in ones I didn't think I would.

"I wasn't sure where I stood - it was such a big squad. I didn't start in the first game of the season against Aston Villa so I didn't know what was going to happen.

"Then I came in for the next game against West Ham, took my chance and I've been in ever since.

"Of course I feel I've made the right decision to stay. I'm really buzzing, it's been a good season for me and a good season for the club. Hopefully, we will look back and be able to look back on some achievement for myself and the club whether it's a UEFA Cup final or finishing well in the league.

"I'm not really happy with my game. I should have scored a lot more than I have and I should have more assists than I have.

"I've already set goals for next season - what I want to do and what I want to achieve. But I hope I can nick one or two more before the season is out."

Prospect

That looked an unlikely prospect when he limped onto the team plane on crutches in the early hours of Friday morning after an accidental clash.

"Midway through the second half, I cleared the ball and their player landed on my standing foot," Ireland added.

"I heard a crack and I thought it was bad news. But I just strapped it up for the rest of the game and it wasn't too bad. It's a bit sore now, but in a few days it will be fine.

"After the game it stiffened up and it's a bit sore, but by tomorrow I'm sure I'll be OK.

"It was a crazy night and I just thought `how have we got ourselves in this situation?'

"I remember thinking to myself at 70 minutes `this is so easy, it's so comfortable'. We were just flowing through the game so easily and then it all became a bit of a blur. It was like we weren't in control and it was going to happen no matter what.

"When it went to penalties, I thought `this is one of these games you hear about when you're younger, one of these cup classics'. Luckily we got through and thank goodness Shay was brilliant.

"We have a way of making things hard for ourselves. When we play against the best teams we always play well. But when we play against the lesser teams we make it hard for ourselves, which is stupid. We should do a professional job and then leave. Halfway through the second half it just felt so cushy. Their first shot didn't come until the 60th or 70th minute."

Now Ireland believes the Blues can get past Hamburg and the winners of the Werder Bremen-Udinese tie and go all the way to the final in Istanbul.

"We're always good against the good teams and I'm hoping we can go as far as the final and see what happens. I don't see why we can't, we've got the team spirit," he said.

But for now the midfielder is intent on helping the Blues climb the Premier League and possibly repeat last season's scoring feat against Sunderland which led to the revealing of some exotic underwear and the new nickname Superman.

Celebration

"I scored against them last season and had my Superman celebration," smiled Ireland.

"Hopefully if we get to the UEFA Cup final, I can do my Superman again. I have something in the pipeline ready to do quite soon. It's got to be the right occasion - you can't do it in the first 15 minutes and then lose 3-1.

"We need to finish strongly. Maybe a month ago we had a chance to secure seventh and we didn't take it. Then we could have pushed for sixth. We've kind of taken one step forward and two steps back. If we can finish seventh and have a good run in the UEFA Cup, I think that will be a good season and we can pat ourselves on the back and say we've made some good progress."

Can't wait to see what he has lined up!

Mgoraf

Manchester City manager Mark Hughes has revealed that he has entered discussions about a contract extension at Eastlands.

The Welshman replaced Sven Goran Eriksson at the helm last June and, despite being less than a third of the way into his current contract, has admitted that talks about his postition have already begun.

"I've got two years left on my contact, but there have been talks about a new one,” the City boss told the Sunday Express.

“But you will have to speak to the owners about that.”

Hughes has endured an inconsistent term in his first season in charge of the Sky Blues with many observers wondering if he will still be in charge after the summer.

The Eastlands outfit have lifted themselves into the relative safety of the mid-table lately, whilst also qualifying for the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup.

And with things looking up, Hughes revealed he would be delighted to be offered a new deal.

“I hope something comes of this and, if a new contract is a possibility, then obviously I'll be very pleased,” he explained.

“I believe that where the club is now, they have the best people in place, myself included.

“I have a lot of support from the owner and everybody. They understand what we are trying to do.”

Manchester City take on Sunderland at Eastlands this afternoon, hoping to do the double over the Black Cats after beating them 3-0 at the Stadium of Light back in August.

redout

Man City cut Uefa ticket prices

Manchester City have cut ticket prices for the home leg of the Uefa Cup quarter-final with Hamburg on 16 April.

City have averaged 43,000 in the Premier League this season but have failed to attract more than 26,000 during their European campaign.

Tickets will be £5 if bought within five days of going on sale on Wednesday and children can watch for £1.

"These prices are our way of saying thank you to all our supporters," said executive chairman Garry Cook.

"It's been a long time since we were in a position to perhaps win silverware and we want to make this game accessible to all."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/m/man_city/7959550.stm

ShoulderChip

thats cute.

itsjaybud

Bit of a crazy story regarding yer superstar!:)


http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11095_5094119,00.html

Mr Alan

Robinho is dead right.