The Most Import Derby in Years

It appears, if you listen to anybody describing this weekend's fixture of 1^st vs 3^rd, that it is the most important clash between the two clubs since, well, the last one.

As the gap between red and blue begins to diminish it appears that every derby since 2008 has become more important than the last. This obviously isn't the case, last years Carling Cup Semi-Final clashes were probably the most important derby in 3 decades as the winner had a real shot at bringing home the cup from Wembley (Which United subsequently did). What people mean to say isn't the derby is more important, it's simply more equal.

Regardless of the result on Saturday, it will not determine anything. A home win might take the team that shall not be named a step closer to another domestic league title whilst an away win will put City back in the hunt for a first Premiership league title. It only does that for another week, come the results of the following fixtures and the results after that, and after that, Saturday's result becomes meaningless, especially so if neither team takes advantage of a positive result in the weeks to come.

Make the Most of It

Given our resurgence, the Manchester Derby has now become one of the premium fixtures in the Premiership's calendar, however this isn't something that's going to last forever. The wider Greater Manchester area isn't an especially large metropolitan area in either population or area ranking 3^rd and 39^th in the UK respectively. Despite this the area supports 4 Premiership teams and almost a further 3 dozen teams in the English football league pyramid. The football club per capita of population is immense, greater even than many footballing hot beds in South America and is something certainly unique in Europe.

No other area, especially one with a population of just over two and a half million inhabitants and so many teams can boast a club to population ratio of around 1:75,000. That in itself, is where the clubs are hamstringing themselves. The area has done well to support one of Europe's top dogs for so well, but is it big enough to manage two?

In my opinion it isn't sustainable. I think aggregate attendances for both Manchester clubs has a high point of around 130,000 (based on the most recent population figures) – a figure we're very close to hitting at the moment. As one team becomes more successful than the other then we'll notice support ebb from one team to another. This will obviously be a gradual process that will happen over decades and generations rather than months and years.

The coming years are showing the promise to be neck and neck, the golden years of Manchester's rivalry. We're lucky to witness the years where the disparity between the two clubs could arguably be at it's lowest. We must not take it for granted and as supporters, we must make the most of it.

The Friendly Derby

Supporters of both sets of teams, pundits, experts and journalists always like to talk about the intensity of this fixture. The truth is the rivalry is there, but there's no real intensity. The support of either club isn't based on religion, social status or political viewpoint. Sure each borough of Manchester can claim to be either red or blue, but there's little in it.

What does draw the two clubs together so well is the unspoken mutual respect people show towards each other in times of tragedy and marking respect. This was first evident in the late 19^th century when both clubs came together to play a charity match for 23 local miners who perished in an accident and the 50^th anniversary of the Munich disaster that was impeccably observed.

City have also famously allowed United to play at Maine Road for two separate periods. Firstly, when, if t-shirts are to believed, Uwe's granddad's Heinkel's payload directly hit Old Trafford during the war years and secondly whilst the reconstruction and refurbishment work took place on Old Trafford in the immediate aftermath of the war.

That's not to say the Manchester Derby is especially friendly, just friendlier than some. It certainly has it's unsavoury moments (as does every derby). Opposing fans throwing horse manure at each other outside Dry Bar is a particular low.

£, $, €

The Manchester Derby is huge in terms of the revenue of the two clubs. The combined turnover of both clubs equates to almost a quarter of that for the Premiership combined and makes it one of the top 3 footballing cities by revenue by my count, just behind London and Madrid. This is further emphasised by the TV viewing figures of last year's Carling Cup semi-final games. With an aggregate of almost 125,000 watching the tie at the grounds and an estimated audience of almost 15,000,000 watched the games on television in the UK alone.

The reason for this is simple, it's not just Mancunians that care abut the result of this derby, but arguably, due to each team's following abroad, so does a sizeable percentage of the rest of the world.

Indeed, figures released only yesterday show that this isn't just a battle between 1^st and 3^rd in the league, but it's also a contest between 3^rd and 11^th in the revenue stakes. Given City's metaphorical rise in world football's revenue table it's fair to assume that given that these figures are a throwback to last May's annual report, City may in fact already be significantly higher.

The Law of Tort

Interestingly 'The Sun' decided to run with the headline 'Untied Still Richer than Rivals City' on the 10^th of February. Unfortunately I wasn't quick enough to grab a screenshot of the typing error before Untied became United but a typing error of that magnitude says everything about the article. I find it hard to believe that a daily publication of this size employ people who do not understand the differences between revenue and wealth, however given their choice of regurgitated Tevez stories this week it's obvious they have either a very pro-United or anti-City agenda.

It doesn't particularly rile me that they have printed accusations and stories that are far over the line of libel. Anybody with any academic experience of English Tort should be able to see that 'The Sun' are being setup for an almighty fall. Libel is surprisingly difficult to prove, normally to obtain a successful conviction you must prove i) the writer/publisher published said item without adequate research; ii) the writer/publisher published said item did so knowing it was false; and lastly iii) the writer/publisher published said item to cause harm. This is difficult to prove on its own merits, but against a Newspaper things become even more complicated as the media feel they have a 'duty to report.'

Due to the nature of these articles I believe City have adopted the following strategy: (since at least the middle of last year that the majority of the rest of the industry have cottoned onto and subsequently been more impartial in their reports) – rather issuing warning, counter-warning and subsequently taking these issues to the Civil Courts where a conviction would hang in the balance they have simply stopped responding. This in itself has probably scared law departments around the country, the more astute of them have probably realised that a storm is brewing and it's only a matter of time before a publisher is taken to the civil courts with a list of offenses going back months if not years. In this case something is fundamentally clear to everybody besides 'The Sun'. The unspoken warning is something that should be headed.

'In The Sun last month, we ran a picture which showed Kolo Toure on the ground and a smiling Nigel de Jong dragging him up as a Manchester City coach raises his right arm at him following a training-ground tackle.

'We suggested De Jong was re-enacting and mocking the tackle which left Newcastle's Hatem Ben Arfa with a broken leg in a Premier League game.

'We now accept De Jong was not doing this and are happy to set the record straight.'
 

Territory

As mentioned earlier in this article neither of the clubs can claim to have a particular hot bed in the City as is usual in other footballing derbies. The reason of this is two-fold; firstly the split between teams isn't based on class (such as say Boca vs River), ideology (CSKA vs Spartak) religion (Rangers vs Celtic) or even continental (Fenerbache vs Galatasary) and secondly because neither club has remained in a particular area of the city since it's inception with both clubs now having relocated 3 times to new stadia. City have moved from East to South to North-East and United have gone from North-East to North to now just West of the city's boundaries.

There are undoubtedly areas of the city where either club has a sizeable majority but unlike other derby's there isn't a split. This is something quite unique in footballing derbies (especially among clubs of this size), however as the screw begins to turn further on United's finances and the subsequent effect this may have on their on field success it's something both clubs are fully mindful of.

I'm mildly surprised that neither club have offered some kind of postcode based discount for season ticket prices, especially for those under 12 years old. Either club could significantly reduce the presence of the other across the region within a generation or two with the right pricing strategy to entice the region's youth.

History

I can't pass comment on derby matches prior to the 1990's, simply because I'm not old enough to accurately recall anything from before this time. I wish I couldn't remember the derby games during the 90's. I hated them. We didn't take a single point at Old Trafford in the premier league years of the 90's (92-99) and only point at home, which was in '93.

It was a difficult time to support City and just so happened to coincide with my high school years. However, even though both clubs were at opposite ends of the footballing success spectrum the split between the clubs in terms of support was negligible at high school and if anything, slightly in City's favour, albeit not by a big enough margin for it to be considered a more or less even split.

That's what sets Manchester apart from the likes of London, Birmingham and other large metropolitan areas of England. Even though the success of City has been minimal and to be based so close to a club that has been the most successful in England when measured over the last 30 years, Manchester City still hold their own when it comes to their fan base, especially when looking at those from within the 'M' post-code catchment area.

Verdict

I can see the game going one of two ways. Scenario A sees City getting an early goal and we have another see-saw encounter with plenty of goal mouth action and an open game. Scenario B sees the game played with nerves and little attacking extravagance from either side. As a result the game is either won by either side by the solitary goal or remains goalless. 

Famous Belgians

It used to be a joke that you couldn’t name any. Despite the country having a somewhat modest population the country had an unfair reputation of not producing many famous sons or daughters. As we enter the 2nd decade of the 21st  century this could all be about to change.


On Paper


As it stands Belgium have, what appears to be, a very competitive first XI on paper. For one reason or another things haven’t clicked yet and the squad are producing mediocre results, particularly on foreign soil.


That’s not to say the home form has been particularly outstanding either, the only standout result in recent years (in competitive fixtures) is a two nil win against Turkey. Defeats against Bosnia and Herzegovina, tame performances against Germany and Spain and sharing 8 goals with Austria is not really the ideal platform to big up a national football team.


The Rote Teufel do have something on a scale that many other nations around Europe cannot boast, and that’s players under the age of 25 playing in the upper echelons of the elite European leagues.


The Future


I’m hardly the first to bandy on about this subject, it was only the other day that I saw such a discussion an internet message board, but this is how I see the Rode Duivels lining up in the years to come. It’s only when you put it down on paper you realise the stacks of potential to hand:


Goalkeepers (Starter in bold)


Simon Mignolet – Sunderland - 22


The big keeper is currently at Sunderland. Although currently playing second fiddle to Craig Gordon, on the occasions he has been called to the fore-front he’s excelled well beyond his 22 years.


Defenders


Sebastian Pocognoli – Standard Liege - 23


He doesn’t sound Belgian but he’s as Belgian as they come. Born in the country to parents of Italian stock it’s hard to believe this left back is only 23. He’s been around for what seems an eternity but is surely set for a move to a bigger stage.


Toby Alderweireld – Ajax - 21


The Ajax defender is only 21. He can play anywhere across the back line but in this hypothetical team of the futre he’s going to slot in at right back.


Vincent Kompany – Manchester City – 24 - Captain


If you have read my blog before you’ll know I already tout Kompany as being of the world-class ilk, or being very close to it. I believe world-class to be the best in the world at that current position and on current form I wouldn’t replace Kompany with any other.


Thomas Vermaelen - Arsenal - 25


The big Arsenal centre back shouldn't need any introduction at this stage. If Kompany is the brains then Thomas is the brawn.


Nicolas Lombaerts - Zenit - 25


The left sided defender offers excellent cover at either centre back or left back. He's just signed a bumper 4 year deal with Zenit so he should be staying in St Petersburg for the foreseable future.


Dedryck Boyata – Manchester City – 20


Highly rated centre back that rose to fame for his heroic performance when bumped up from the youth team during City’s defensive crisis last season. Under Kompany’s tutorship and guidance at Manchester City Boyata has all the foundations in place to develop his game to the next stage.


Midfielders:


Jan Vertonghen – Ajax – 23


Seemingly on his was to join Arsenal in the future I’ve bumped the left footed centre back into a midfield anchor role that he occasionally finds himself playing at Ajax.


Steven Defour – Standard Liege – 22


Apparently a marked man by Manchester United, and if the transfer rumour columns are to believed it’s a question of when rather than if his big money move will take place. If Vertonghen is the brawn to the midfield 3 then Defour is the brains.


Marouane Fellaini – Everton – 23


Again it’s hard to believe Fellaini is 23. Already I have had to remind myself that this is a Belgian 23 and not a 23 of a nation with questionable passport and birth certificate methods. Fellanini is much more than just an aerial threat, he uses the ball well and retains it brilliantly.


Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe – Club Brugge – 21


Some might consider the defensive midfielder a flop after his year at Hamburg but he's still only 21 and has all the potential required to play at a higher level.


Jonathan Legear – Anderlecht – 23


The pacey winger has been getting rave reviews recently for his performances with Anderlecht. Pretty much nailed on to move on to either Germany or England if his form continue into the summer.


Axel Witsel – Standard Liege – 22


Although not living up to his early promise, he's still young with his best years ahead of him. Potentially a dependable squad player who would offer something different from the bench.


Strikers


Eden Hazard - Lille - 20


Everybody knows about Hazard by now, aparently soon to be another Belgian Gooner. Although he plays in a more orthodox midfield role for Lille I'd have him as one of the wide forwards in a 4-3-3 formation in this squad.


Romelu Lukaku - Anderlecht - 17


The top teenage talent in Europe at this moment in time appears to be set to join Manchester City in the summer. He's going to have the 'New Drogba' tagline droped around him for the next 10 years of his career. The big question at this stage is, can he live up to the hype?


Moussa Dembélé - Fulham - 23


He's made a good start in his Fulham career despite injuries. He's already impressed many with his performances and if Fulham should wish to cash in there's potentially already a long line of potential suitors.


2016


The European Championships in 2016 come at a good time for Belgium in more than one way. Firstly, the tournament will be expanded to 24 teams – so expect Belgium to qualify with relative ease.  Secondly it’s held in France, Belgium’s back yard – so expect a sizeable contingent of Belgian fans to cheer the team on. Lastly, of the squad listed above, Kompany will be the oldest at only 29.


They may not necessarily win the tournament but they’ve got a far better chance than their provisional odds of 150/1 suggest.


Experience


Although this squad has bags of youth it’s easy to dismiss any aspirations to falter due to a lack of experience. Unfortunately this age-old excuse doesn’t hold up in this case. It’s not unfeasible that 5 or more of the squad will have tasted Europa league or Champions league success by this time as they’re already at clubs challenging or on the brink of joining teams with realistic views of competing. The bulk of the first XI will have also played in a top flight league for the majority of their senior careers by this point too.


Experience doesn’t necessarily equal age as many football fans equate it to.


The Coach


One thing Belgium does desperately need is a manager that can not only guide these prodigious talents and nurture them into a group of winners but somebody that commands the respect of what will be a squad of multi-millionaires that will have undoubtedly won more as individuals than any Belgian coach that leads them.


If they get the right man, Belgium could have many famous sons come 2016.

Villa vs City: Reaction

Performance

Playing so well and still tasting defeat is always a bitter pill to swallow. I’d argue that our performance on Saturday evening was better than the one that recently saw us win handsomely against the same opposition by four goals to nil.

In many ways it was reminiscent of watching Arsenal. Crisp passing in the final 3^rd of the pitch without it actually going anywhere. There was a real hesitancy to shoot when the opportunity presented itself. I wish somebody would sit down and take the effort to work out how many goals are a result of a tame shot that is either deflected directly in or the deflection falls kindly to somebody in space closer to goal – see Villa’s goal as a prime example of this. Mancini isn’t daft and he saw the same game as everybody else. I hope that’s one thing he drills into the squad this week is that we have to sometimes force the issue instead of taking a pass or touch too many.

Bent

In a previous article in the build up to the game I simply put ‘will score’, unfortunately this proved true, although the goals was easily preventable. Unlike just about everybody else I'm not laying the blame with Hart. As far as I’m concerned Hart did everything that could be asked of him. He got a strong hand to the ball and pushed it away from the six yard box. Bent, however, was much quicker to react than Kolarov (who, in my opinion, had his best game in a City shirt yet) and finished with aplomb.

Dunne

Dunne, along with Collins, were my man of the match. Both were absolutely stellar in an otherwise ordinary Villa team and kept us at bay for the majority of the game. I’d like to have seen more balls whipped into the box in the final 3^rd though, instead of trying to walk it in as that was one area I thought we could have really hurt Villa; especially with Yaya and Barry running from deep as Dzeko’s aerial prowess showed glimpses of causing Villa trouble. Alas, Johnson was shown onto his right all night though, Villa had his number.

Dzeko

I was impressed by Edin once again and I’m confident that he’ll have at least one goal to his name before the 12^th of February. If Cuellar had not been playing at right back I think he’d have taken his chance at the far post against a right back of lesser aerial and physical ability. Alas, it was not too be. He’s still a couple of yards off full match fitness which is evident in his acceleration, hopefully with another weeks training under his bet he should be well up-to-speed come the game against Notts County on Sunday.

Frustratingly his partnership with Tevez seems well off the boil, far too often it was Dzeko who found himself in the channels when it should have been Tevez making that run. It does make much more sense for Tevez trying to pick Dzeko out with a cross than the other way round but continually that’s where Dzeko found himself.

The Ref

The age-old barometer of whether or not a referee has had a game or not is simple; if you’ve mentioned his name throughout the game he’s had a bad one, if you haven’t he’s done well. I didn’t mention Howard Webb’s name once during the game and that’s a good sign as I see it. I can’t remember any incidents of note but Webb appeared to keep the game flowing and didn’t create any talking points of note.

ESPN

Being in the UK I watched the match on ESPN, paying an extra subscription for the privilege. There’s times I wish I didn’t as their coverage is beyond appalling. Without stepping into the remits of libel Chris Waddell sounded intoxicated. I hope he was, as it would go someway to explain his unusual commentary, the best of which was his suggestion to keep the full backs in our own half whilst chasing a goal.

Another thing that really irks me is why the production editor at ESPN thinks it’s appropriate to switch up the volume of opposition fans singing crude songs that invariably contain an amount of profanity (which is obviously the norm) but why does this individual insist on doing this?

I’ve watched every televised game this season on ESPN and there’s only three occasions I can recall this happening, and on each occasion the songs have been aimed at Manchester City. I hope OFCOM review this and take appropriate action, I don’t appreciate paying for a television channel only for a mong that resides in the Kent that wears a Salford Reds top and an ESPN gimp mask to ‘pump up the volume’ at every opportunity to wind up those viewing at home whilst screaming “I’m beeeingg pawper nawwwty Citeh! United, United, United!”.

The Future

The next two games will shape the rest of our season, or could at least lead to the season’s final targets being set. Should we pick up maximum points away to Birmingham and then follow that up at home against West Brom we going into the Derby with an outside shot of still being able to challenge for the title. Less than 6 points and I think the title is beyond us but we then have to consolidate an ensure we keep a significant gap between ourselves Chelsea and Spurs.

Hopefully things will go our way tonight and Bolton will get back on track with a result of some kind against a Lampard-less Chelsea at the Reebok. Should that happen we have a good a chance as we’re ever likely to get to finish in the top 3 of the league and guarantee ourselves a spot in next years Champion’s League group stage.

De Terriër

De Jong

I am of the belief that there is not single player currently in the Manchester City squad that is of more importance that this man. Given the way he’s used sparingly in cup competitions or when he’s close to picking up a suspension for yellow cards I think Mancini agrees!

This is quite a bold statement given that De Jong’s role in the team can polarise opinion even amongst fellow City fans (should such a defensive player still be on the pitch when we’re chasing a goal was one such comment the ill informed Chris Waddle threw in his direction).

Had Mr Waddle watched City with any intensive purpose this season (or indeed, during our defeat to Villa) he would have realised that De Jong is much more than just a ball winning midfielder, he’s the anchor that keeps some form of semblance and structure to our midfield. This is a man that has much more in his locker than winning the ball and in this man’s opinion is only bested by Silva and Tevez in his ability to retain it.

De Voorbijganger

Due to the position De Jong plays in the City midfield it’s easy to think of him as just a tackler, somebody to ruffle to the feathers of the opposition, somebody to get the ball back and quickly make a 5 yard pass to somebody more comfortable in possession.

That’s quite a stereotypical view of defensive midfielders in general though and is far removed from the truth in the De Jong. For all his snarling, bone-crunching tackling and aggression there’s something much more to De Jong’s game that isn’t picked up on in the media and it’s this weapon in his armoury that makes him such a vital cog in the City machine.

De Jong has a wonderful range of passing, he isn’t just a player that gives the short easy ball but is quite comfortable at switching the ball from flank to flank, playing the side rule ball to slip in the overlapping full back and having as close to humanely possibly to 100% pass completion ratio in the 15 yard pass to David Silva.

De Misdadiger

As De Jong is one of my favourite players, I find it quite annoying that De Jong is lucked upon as a violent thug. Sure, he has characteristics that could make him a thug (short, stocky, skin, head, Dutch – he’s sounding like the medical dictionary definition of somebody with short-man syndrome) but that’s just not the case. It’s obvious, in my eyes, that De Jong loves playing football, he always plays with a smile and you’re more likely to find him playing peace maker than agitator.

His tackle on Ben Arfa earlier this season caused much controversy, but it was obviously unintended. Not even a yellow card was produced and sitting in the 1^st tier of the East Stand there was debate at the time as to whether or not it was even a free-kick! If anything the only thing De Jong can be found guilty of is over-enthusiasm rather than anything sinister. He is the benchmark for how to channel aggression in all the right ways in my mind.

It’s obviously sad that such a talented player is missing for the best part of the whole season, however I’m still very much of the opinion that it wasn’t De Jong’s tackle that caused Ben Arfa’s injury, it was Ben Arfa’s hesitance to challenge for the ball that caused Ben Arfa’s injury.

De Doel

When De Jong finally does score for City I hope it’s a home game. If it’s at CoMS that his goal eventually comes then the roof will come off. He’s come pretty close in recent weeks to breaking his duck; firstly the 1 on 1 chance that was spurned against Leicester in the cup and then the 25 yard shot against Villa that was somehow deflected onto the post.

Our stocky midfield dynamo will score soon, and when he does it’s likely to set a new benchmark on the decibel counter.

De Kapitein

In my opinion Carlos Tevez should not be captain of Manchester City. For all the traits Carlos does have that would other wise make him an enamoured leader, speaking English doesn’t appear to be one of them. Communication is the pivotal attribute that’s needed to be an effective leader and I’m not sure Carlos can communicate effectively if at all with the majority of his colleagues.

If we remove Carlos from the captaincy that only leaves two (three at a push) candidates in my eyes. The ‘push’ is actually the most obvious in many peoples views and that’s Kolo Toure. Toure is not an option for me, if Mancini strips Tevez of the captaincy and gives it back to Kolo then that’s a major step back, it also means he’s hamstringing himself by having to play a centre half that was has had a major resurgence in form after losing the additional pressures of that accompany the role.

Kompany is real candidate #1. Probably the most intelligent, articulate and respected member of the City dressing room (it’s hard for anybody to say a bad word about something that spends their free time playing Pro Evo and Football Manager though) many have already touted Kompany as captain of the future. I don’t agree with that, Kompany should be captain of the here and now. I wonder if Clark Carlisle would still feel quite intelligent after a game of scrabble with our Vincent? I’ve always been a lateral thinker, I don’t just see Vincent as a future captain, that’s the obvious, I think there’s a real chance Kompany could be manager of our club in the future if he so wishes.

De Jong is candidate #2. If Tevez does indeed leave in the summer as many expect; then these are the two players Mancini needs to deliberate between when deciding who is the captain for next year’s campaign. Regardless of which one of the two he chooses, I think we’re in good hands.

Midnight in the Garden of Edin

Edin Džeko. City’s new Bosnian hitman (can you apply such a nickname to a man from the Balkans without causing eyebrows being raised?) Previously a laughing stock at Željezničar in Bosnia (a board member declared they had won the lottery when selling him for €25,000), then a laughing stock at Teplice and then during his loan spell at Ústí nad Labem in the Czech Republic. 6 years ago he cost €25,000. Manchester City have recently paid in the region of €30,600,000 for his services from Wolfsburg.

Has a players stock risen quite as sharply as this young Bosnians in footballing history?

Bambi on Ice

A rough translation of Edin’s debut performance for Teplice, was he really that bad? Surely the press would not write off a young player quite so soon into his new career in a new country, especially given the paltry transfer fee? Well, they did.

One man didn’t. Step forward Jiri Plišek. This man was Edin’s coach and mentor for Željezničar and upon taking The Teplice job made Džeko his first signing. At this time he was seen as a midfield anchor man, played in a position more akin to stopping goals than scoring them. It’s fair to say that the first months in Edin’s Teplice career were an unmitigated disaster. He had difficulty settling in at his new club and many said he lacked the technical ability to play as a ball winning midfielder.

As Edin lost his place in the Teplice starting line up, Ústí nad Labem made an ambitious approach to bring him in on loan. This was a no brainer as Plišek saw it. Not only did it allow Edin to keep his match fitness but it also gave him the opportunity to build up his confidence at a lower grade of football in the Druha liga, the 2^nd tier in the Czech Republic.

Bosnian Coal

The transition to Ústí nad Labem wasn’t an immediate success, although Edin was now played as an out and out striker, he did not quite have his goal scoring touch. Chances were missed but things were looking up. A good striker scores chances, but that’s the easy part of his job. Getting into the positions is the hard part and that’s what Edin was now doing with ease.

His height, his ever increasing technical ability, acceleration and increasing upper body strength soon made Edin a force to be reckoned with, much in the same way Emile Heskey is viewed in England. The goals were not flowing, in fact they hadn’t started 7 games into the loan agreement, but he was proving to be more than a handful for opposition defenders.

Bosnian Diamond

Something clicked, 6 goals in 8 games came after getting his first from a goal mouth scramble for Ústí nad Labem and this saw his loan spell cut short and he was recalled to Teplice. The gangly defensive midfielder had returned from his loan spell as a goal scorer with a growing reputation in the media and a mutual respect from his fellow professionals.

13 goals in his first full season for Teplice saw him finish as the Gambrinus liga’s top goal scorer. Teplice knew they had something very special. Unfortunately for them, Magath, then coach of Wolfsburg knew it too and was quick to wrap up a deal that saw Edin join the Bundesliga club for €4,000,00. This in itself was a rise of metaphoric proportions.

Bosnian Legend

Since the UNICEF ambassador’s transfer to Wolfsburg he simply hasn’t looked back. He has quite simply become the most natural goal scorer of his generation in Europe with the strike rate to back it up.

City fans may expect this to continue, but don’t be alarmed if it doesn’t. Whilst Edin has a worthy strike partner (and he should never be short of that whilst in Manchester) he’ll offer more to the team than just goals as his sublime pass to Yaya Toure proved in the recent game against Wolves.

Mancini’s press conferences suggest he will start against Villa tomorrow, a game that undoubtedly thousands of City fans will watch on ESPN. Unusually for a game involving these two sides, a large number of Bosniaks will also be watching and cheering on their hero. In this signing City have captured one player, but thousands of fans.

(225) Days of Summer

Why a Summer Calendar Makes Sense

Various news agencies have recently reported that FIFA are investigating the implementation of a summer calendar in football worldwide. People have looked at this with aghast and put two and two together and come to the answer of 22. 2022. Qatar.

People, unsurprisingly, feel that this change is being brought into effect to compliment their proposals (by their I mean FIFA’s, Qatar has continually insisted it can host a summer tournament) to move the 2022 world cup to January/February where the weather conditions are less likely to relate in a tragedy of some sort, clubs refusing to release players or players refusing to travel.

In this man’s humble opinion, this is wrong. This change to the calendar is based on predictive weather patterns that seem to be suggesting that Western Europe’s prevailing westerlies are coming to an end. It’s these anti-trade winds that have, for at least 3 centuries, kept Western Europe especially mild in the winter months.

I’m not saying the end is nigh, so no looting please. But our ‘big freezes’ will become bigger and more prolonged if this hypothesis holds up to be true. Man up I hear somebody from the back shout. Well, attending a football match in conditions of -15c is fun once in a while (see Manchester City vs Everton in December of 2010) but that’s the kind of weather where people can die of exposure in minutes rather than hours. Had an unexpected heavy snow fall taken place during that match I fear people would have perished in the 2 mile hike back to the city centre. I’d also like to take this opportunity to bring to people’s attention Nathan Tomlinson, a young man who went missing recently in Manchester due to such a snow storm and who I’m sure we all hope will turn up safe and well.

Safety

In a country that’s becoming particularly health and safety crazy it’s easy to dismiss the games that are postponed in the winter period as an extension of this. It’s not. These games are cancelled as people’s lives are genuinely in danger when not just attending games but when travelling to and from the stadium.

Cost

Under soil heating is expensive to install and maintain. During cold-snaps unfortunately it’s a necessity to keep games being played, which is why so many games in the lower leagues fall victim to the weather as they cannot afford the costs associated with having any under-soil heating facilities. By moving the footballing calendar to the spring, summer and early autumn months it negates the need for clubs to have this and we will no longer see weeks of Soccer Saturday where Geoff and the boys talk about Countdown rather than the games being played.

Synchronisation

It’s been apparent for the past 20 years that as globalisation of the game has grown then the whole world needs to work from the same calendar. As it stands teams lose important players at a crunch time of the season due to the African Cup of Nations taking place in January. People say why isn’t held in June or July? Well hold it during those months and it would have to be pretty much hosted exclusively in Southern Africa, it’s not feasible to exclude the majority of the continent from ever being able to host the tournament to suit Europe’s calendar.

The reaction of the FA and it’s German counterpart have so far been battles as to who can outdo each other in terms of arrogance. ‘You can’t change 140 years of tradition’ one unnamed fellow bellowed. Now it might just be me, but if you can’t change football should we go back to playing without the offside rule, allowing pass-backs, playing without nets and not being able to use substitutions? What a load of nonsense. The game is constantly evolving and in this blues eyes, if the next step of evolution means I get to attend games with the sun on my back rather than having to wear 7 layers to keep the frost bite at bay then that makes perfect sense.

Conclusion

We’ll see a March-October domestic calendar sooner rather than later; and when it comes people will be grateful for it. Hopefully tragedy will not be the driving force of this change.

Sheikh, Rattle and Roll

In the past two and a bit years I’ve tried numerous times to quantify the Sheikh’s reasoning in purchasing Manchester City. A snippet of my ideas range from:

The Good Old Days:

The good boy from the UAE was just about old enough to appreciate City in their hay day. He was hooked at an early age by the grace of Bell and the elegancy of Summerbee and has never been able to let go. This is obviously flawed on so many levels but it’s the one I want to be most true.

The Promise of Manchester:

HRH is a philanthropist to the greatest degree. His idea of Manchester City is more than the football club but as a means to fully ride the wave of the next phase of human societal revolution from the very same city that has already provided two in the last two centuries. He’s obviously edging his bets we’re going to be centre stage for a third…

The Blueprint…:

See what I did there? Never mind. Unfortunately I think it is driven by what that other team have achieved. Not just on the pitch but off it too. I think there’s a certain realisation that to best the industries top dogs you need to be based close to them. The reasoning is simple. When they vanish from the market place you’re there, already in roughly the same geographical area and in prime position to pick up from where they flailed, failed and faltered.

I hope the reasoning is more sentimental. I wish our leader saw the opportunity for a perennial underdog to finally be set loose, to be unleashed and to battle on a level footing with the more sinister villain of the piece. I wish.

Digression

It’s an unsolvable conundrum and, happily, really doesn’t matter. The man is here and for the foreseeable future has done enough to ease the nagging doubts as to exactly how long he’s going to be here. I am happy. My fellow blues are happy. Hopefully the top dog is happy.

Give it to Gordon!

Carlos Tevez is a world class footballer. His goal ratio is world class. His technique is world class. His work-rate is world class. Unfortunately, despite being the most gifted player I’ve seen wear the sky blue of my city, he can also be the most frustrating player to watch.

Carlitos has dragged this club through more games than I’d care to mention, and more than I want to remember. He has the ability to make something happen out of nothing. To beat 3 defenders with an exquisite piece of skill or to simply bulldoze his way through them with that abnormally low centre of gravity he has. Only to then place the ball into row z of the 2^nd tier of the family stand when a better ball was on.

Perhaps I’m being greedy I’ll readily admit I’m being unfair. I’ve not done anywhere near enough analysis to vindicate or validate this opinion fully. Perhaps I’m remember occasions where we’re two or more to the good and had the score been closer the little Argentinean hitman would have played the simple square ball.

There’s obviously some nagging doubt at the back of my mind that’s called on me to put these thoughts down to words. As it stands, this haphazard opinion is Tevez can do less for Tevez and more for the team. Let’s see what happens during the Villa game.

Dunne and Dusted

Richard Patrick Dunne. The Dunney Monster. Dunney. FFS Own Goal.

My favourite City player of teams gone by. He scored against us last season. I fear he’ll score against us again this season should he play. Kompany and Dunne. Dunne and Kompany. It should have been. Hopefully Dunne will not feature for two very different reasons:

i)                    He’ll score and subsequently put in a man of the match performance that stifles every attack we launch and Villa inevitably win.

OR

ii)                   He’ll play like a player does when they’ve had their confidence amputated in such a way that only Houllier can. He’ll fall down in my estimations faster than Stephen ‘Superman’ Ireland did and I’ll lose respect for a player that was once my hero.

Ireland was Superman

I toyed with the idea of just putting ‘will not play’. However, please see the section labelled ‘Typical City’ in my previous  post. If he’s ever going to have a game that reignites his career, it will come against us. I sincerely hope the young man resolves whatever issues has caused his oh-so-quick fall from grace as he’s an insanely talented footballer and a top athlete to boot. It’s just a pitty he’s a bit of a loon. Now how true this is I don’t know, but I’ve heard; from more than one source that a selection of his nicknames are mongo (plausibly affectionate), crunchy (as in nut) and lastly Dougal. (For you Father Ted fans.)

Sort it out Steve and get back to being the footballer we all know you can be. But have a rest this weekend mate and start the master plan and resurrection from next weekend. Cheers.

Gerard Houllier

Even though I’ve got this awesome veil of anonymity I’m not going to pretend to have knowledge or ideas above my station. I do not have the experience of managing a top flight club… yet. However I’m 100% super confident I could do it better than this man. There’s very few managers that I don’t like. Houllier is #2 on that list. He’s a fraud. A pretender. He’s achieved success through shear blind luck and by wasting more money in the transfer market than Souness. (#1 in the list). Yes he’s won trophies at both Lyon and Liverpool, I’ll counter that and say Souness could have won trophies at both of these clubs if given the same financial backing.

I like Villa, despite the antics and treatment of both Barry and Milner I really don’t mind them. They were good to watch in the mid 90s and are premiership ever presents. They’ll do down this season though if this man is allowed to remain in charge until May.

Darren Bent

Will score.

I think we're going to see a score draw in this one folks. My money's on 2-2.

Until next time.

JB