Archive for the ‘Manchester City’ Category

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Ah, the wonderful art of mathematics! Or should that be the wonderful science of mathematics?

Whichever it is, next season will see the Premier League’s top teams set about proving what every five year old already knows, that eight into four does not go. Higher up the title-chasing ladder and Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United will prove that three into one does not go either.

In other words it is widely expected that the title will be a three horse race but the top four will be an eight horse race. (more…)

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Due to a shortage of actual, interesting transfers, Sky Sports News are treating the transfer of Neymar from Barcelona to PSG as though it was important to anybody not from one of the three locations directly affected. It isn’t, but we will now devote almost an entire article to that very subject.

Yes, there is a knock-on effect with the fee that PSG are paying for someone generally  regarded as being only the THIRD best player in the world because it will certainly drive up the fees for average players. But that alone does not make this particular transfer any more interesting to the average fan.

The average fan does not really care about how much a player is bought or sold for, he/she just cares about whether or not they can play football. (more…)

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In order not to be accused of sinking quite so low as some of our competitors the rumours we present to you in this article are actually all true but are most certainly offered tongue-in-cheek and should be taken with a pinch of salt, if those two things are possible simultaneously.

We have decided to expand on a theme started a while ago now and perpetuated by Sky Sports News when they have nothing better to report, which is 95% of the time.

It was their “Breaking News” banner which informed us that a particular player was “not for sale” and was “going nowhere” that inspired this article, on the basis that 95% of players around the world will not move during this transfer window. We just hope Sky don’t figure out the space they could fill by reporting every one of them! (more…)

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What do the following have in common;-

Arséne Wenger, David Moyes, Sam Allardyce, Marouane Fellaini and Claudio Bravo?

The answer is that they were all, at one stage or another, unwanted by the supporters of their club and some still are.

There are others too numerous to mention but these five are probably of the highest profile at present.

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Arséne Wenger is now at the point where he is tolerated by the fans and this only because he awarded himself a new two year contract recently. Most Arsenal fans would have preferred if he had left or moved upstairs at the end of last season but not Arséne. He is deluded enough to place his own self -importance above the wishes of the majority of the supporters and stay where he is. (more…)

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At last! We are now officially in the same month as the start of the new Premier League season.

It may have seemed like a long time coming but, in fact, it has only been three months during which time some clubs have spent a fortune, others not so much and some nothing at all.

Friendly games have been played around the globe to ensure that the wider audience got to see their heroes, warts and all, by attending games in places as diverse as Tanzania, America, China and Norway. (more…)

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It is still too early to judge the success or otherwise of this transfer window as far as City, United and Chelsea are concerned.

Chelsea fans will argue that they have strengthened in positions where strengthening was required and Manchester City fans will say exactly the same about their club.

In Chelsea’s case, and depending upon who you choose to believe, either Diego Costa had already decided he was going to leave, or Antonio Conte had already decided Diego Costa was going to leave. Either way a striker was a pre-requisite in this window. (more…)

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At Manchester City it is Txiki Begiristain, at Chelsea it is Michael Emenalo, at Liverpool it is Michael Edwards and at Arsenal it is Arséne the Omnipotent.

These are the Directors of Football or Sporting Directors or Technical Directors or whatever other fancy name they have been given to justify a very large salary. A salary nobody would begrudge them providing they serve the club and the supporters well.

The two stand-out names here are the ones at Chelsea and City who have been responsible for some excellent signings at the two clubs. They seem to have adopted the attitude that if the manager wants the player enough, then they will pay the price. (more…)

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This question, of course, assumes that one of the three will be triumphant come next May and that the challenging pack, which may very well include Everton and West Ham, will remain exactly that, the challenging pack.

Arsenal, as we are used to saying by now, will do nothing as long as Wenger is performing his Dorian Gray impression. Having no Champion’s League football will be of no assistance as they will compete in the Europa League. Consequently, a top four place will be difficult for them to achieve next season, even if they manage to keep Alexis Sánchez. (more…)

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Once again, José Mourinho is using his press conferences to try and shame Ed Woodward into action.

Obviously the two don’t speak very often or this tactic would be unnecessary.

Mourinho has expressed his desire to add at least another player, preferably two, to his squad in at least three press conferences to date.

As the CEO or MD or whatever he is nowadays, Woodward will keep an eye on the goings-on with the media so that he is up-to-date with what his manager is saying, so it is a reasonably sure-fire way of getting his attention. (more…)

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Ed Woodward, apart from having the same name as a late actor who used to portray, amongst others, a character known as “The Equalizer“, (yes, it was an American series, although the actor was English), has nothing else whatsoever in common with that persona.

A man who spent his waking hours righting wrongs, looking after the poor people who couldn’t afford protection and didn’t trust the police, he was a mixture of Robin Hood and the A-Team and always came out on top. (more…)