Manchester City #1: Blue moon is rising!

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Op zaterdag 29 september 2007 16:14 schreef Sjechov het volgende:
Alles wat snel komt ... valt ook vaak weer heel hard.

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Op zaterdag 29 september 2007 16:15 schreef MaxPower het volgende:

[..]

Heeft in de league cup gespeeld afgelopen week. Scoorde de winnende vlak voor tijd.

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The Sun revealed earlier this week that Man Utd star Rooney's fiancée COLEEN had asked the OASIS (Roo's favorite band) legend Noel Gallagher to sign a guitar for his 22nd birthday.
She didn’t think that idea through.

Man City diehard Noel was rubbing his hands with glee when Coleen served up a perfect chance for a prank by sending him the instrument to sign.
And I’ve got my hands on the pictures of the finished masterpiece.



Noel and Oasis guitarist GEM ARCHER took pride in repainting the £2,000 tiger flame, cherry sunburst Gibson Les Paul Classic.
They splashed out on a tin of sky blue paint and some Tippex to spell out the chorus of City anthem Blue Moon.

I would love to have seen Roo’s face when he received his surprise present at a family dinner in Manchester on Wednesday.
The Old Trafford ace was in stitches when he peeled off the wrapping and read the birthday wishes to “Spongebob”.

But it won’t take pride of place in Roo’s home — he’s going to auction it off for charity.
She gave it to him at his birthday dinner in his fave Chinese restaurant Wings in Manchester.
I’ll bet Roo will try and get his own back. Noel will be up for that — as long as the revenge doesn’t come next time Wayne lines up against City.
A spokesman for Roo said: “Wayne thought it was a great laugh. He looks forward to catching up with Noel after Man City next play United.”
After all of Noel's efforts, it’s a shame Roo didn’t respond with a message.
He’s got a decent sense of humour, shame he hasn't used it...

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City beleeft weinig plezier aan Castillo

Voorlopig heeft de aanhang van Manchester City weinig plezier beleefd aan Nery Alberto Castillo. De huurling van Shakhtar Donetsk, dat voor één jaar huur vijf miljoen euro ontvangt, staat zeker vijf tot zes weken aan de kant met een schouderblessure.

Een botsing met Lucas Neill bleek afgelopen woensdag in het FA Cup-duel tegen West Ham United fatale gevolgen te hebben gehad. Nader onderzoek wees uit dat de Mexicaanse international een botje in zijn rechterschouder heeft gebroken.

Castillo (23) debuteerde begin deze maand in het Engelse bekertoernooi tegen West Ham (0-0), speelde vervolgens ook een klein uur mee tegen Everton (1-0 verlies) en stond in de return tegen West Ham (1-0) tot aan de blessure een half uur in het veld.

Shakhtar betaalde vorig jaar zomer nog twintig miljoen euro om Castillo over te nemen van Olympiakos Piraeus. De aanvaller slaagde er echter niet in een basisplaats te veroveren in Oekraïne.

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Geovanni is zo goed als zeker speler van Deportivo la Coruña. De Spaanse club hoopt alleen dat de Braziliaan erin slaagt om een contractontbinding bij Manchester City af te dwingen. (El Mundo Deportivo)

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Op maandag 11 februari 2008 14:01 schreef Dos37 het volgende:
Benjani vind ik wel 2 slagen beter.

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Op maandag 11 februari 2008 14:33 schreef Blight het volgende:
In de Eredivisie ja. Of 'ie dat in de Premier League ook doet moet nog blijken.

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Sven's signings - hits or misses?

During his one season at Eastlands, Sven Goran Eriksson spent more than £30m of owner Thaksin Shinawatra 's personal fortune, buying 10 players, including eight in pre-season. The tactic appeared to pay instant dividends as the City players, despite barely knowing each others' first names, won at Upton Park on the opening day of the season and then beat local rivals United.

However, as the season drew on, some of the signings appeared to struggle as the intensity of a Premiership season took its toll and the likes of Sun Jihai, Michael Ball and Darius Vassell came in from the cold to take their places. So, dipping into Sven's mixed bag of signings, we run the rule over the 10 players who came to (or in one case merely passed through) Eastlands.

ROLANDO BIANCHI
Having decided that Georgios Samaras and Darius Vassell were unlikely to fire City into Europe, Eriksson made a centre forward his priority and quickly brought in Bianchi from Reggina for £8.8m. A former Italy under-21 international, Bianchi came with a proven pedigree having scored 18 times in Serie A the previous season. And he got his own and City's season off to the perfect start, scoring 18 minutes into his debut as the Blues won 2-0 at West Ham. However, that was to prove a false dawn and the Italian didn't score again in the league until almost four months later having fallen out of favour and seen his starting appearances severely restricted. Two more league goals followed, but then he went seven matches without scoring and found himself shipped out on loan to Lazio.

VERDICT: MISS

GEOVANNI
A free signing, Brazilian midfielder Geovanni had a great pedigree, having once been an £11m signing for Barcelona. Like Bianchi, the 28-year-old got off to the perfect start by scoring in City's opening day win. When he followed that up with the only goal as City won August's Manchester derby, cult hero status seemed assured. And although it is unfair to judge him purely on his goal output, the fact that he followed up two in three with just one strike in his next 20 matches is perhaps indicitive of how his season faded after so promising a start.

VERDICT: MISS

ELANO
In the heady days of August, with City playing attacking football and city rivals United slain, Elano was a blue god. Fanciful as it seems now, there was a real sense that the Brazilian playmaker might just manage to achieve the impossible and lead City into the Premiership's promised land of the top four.

But like so many City players, his form seemingly went on a downwards curve, though Eriksson's increasingly negative tactics - often brought on by lack of squad depth - hardly helped. Elano also admitted to struggling on the heavy winter pitches, but the advent of spring brought an upturn in form. He also showed his versatility by filling in and excelling at right back, a position he has played for Brazil, to help the Blues out of their defensive crisis.

VERDICT: MORE HIT THAN MISS

GELSON FERNANDES
The young Swiss midfielder has played in both defence and midfield and is becoming an increasingly integral member of the squad. Already a full international, the 22-year-old has the potential to become a top quality Premiership player, but if a raft of new players were to arrive he could find himself squeezed out at City. Could perhaps do with slightly more composure on the ball, but in a midfield boasting the mercurial talents of Elano and Petrov his workrate is a key ingredient.

VERDICT: HIT

MARTIN PETROV
A talented left winger, Petrov arrived from Athletico Madrid in a £4.7m deal. Having already established himself as a first team regular thanks to his passing and vision, Petrov showed his finishing quality with three goals in a week in late September. As the season has progressed, his defensive frailties have been exposed at times, but he remains one of the first names on the City teamsheet.

VERDICT: HIT

JAVIER GARRIDO
Garrido, like City, has enjoyed a season of two distinct halves. Up until mid December he was a virtual regular at left back. But, in 2008, he has found himself playing second fiddle to former England international Michael Ball. However, Garrido was a relative snip at £1.5m and aged just 23 can be allowed time to settle into the Premiership, though he needs to learn to match attacking flair with defensive endeavour.

VERDICT: HIT (JUST ABOUT)

VEDRAN CORLUKA
Like Garrido, Corluka has a bright future in front of him, but unlike the Spaniard there is no need to use the word 'qualified' in describing his success. Decent at centre back, excellent at right back, Corluka has been a key component in a City defence which has improved markedly from previous seasons' vintages. Already an experienced Croatian international, Corluka is what can best be described as solid. He doesn't score goals, he doesn't set up too many, but he can certainly tackle.

VERDICT: HIT

VALERI BOJINOV
Bojinov might just have been the man who would have fired City into Europe - sadly we'll never know as his season was curtailed by injury after just three games. Aged 23 he has plenty of time in the future to show City fans his quality.

VERDICT: IMPOSSIBLE TO JUDGE

FELIPE CAICEDO
The 19-year-old Ecuadorian striker is clearly one for the future having signed from Basle for £5.2m in January. To date he has only made brief substitute appearances, but has shown flashes of quality. However, he finds vying with academy product Daniel Sturridge for valuable first team experience.

VERDICT: HIT. NO, MISS, ERR, HIT

BENJANI
Benjani very nearly didn't sign after reportedly falling asleep at the airport, missing his flight and subsequent medical. Fortunately for City, he has looked more awake on the pitch, with his derby winner at Old Trafford making him an instant fans' favourite. Had a slow start to life at Eastlands, but goals in his last two matches suggest he is finding his feet. A proven goalscorer in the Premiership, he should spearhead City's attack next season.

VERDICT: A HIT (JUST ABOUT)

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Statement from BRFC
Posted on: Mon 02 Jun 2008

Blackburn Rovers can confirm that they have received an approach from Manchester City for permission to talk to Mark Hughes with regard to him becoming their manager.


Mark has made it clear to the Board he would like the opportunity to talk to Manchester City.


In view of this the Board have decided reluctantly to give permission subject to terms and conditions acceptable to Blackburn Rovers being agreed with Manchester City in advance.


The club will not be making any further comment at this stage.
http://www.rovers.premium(...)0303~1322185,00.html

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Op maandag 2 juni 2008 13:11 schreef sjimz het volgende:
Jammer dat ze nog zo twijfelachtig over Elano spreken.
Men kan nog niet verwachten dat hij in het eerste seizoen de spelverdeler wordt die Manchester City aan het succes brengt.
Toch heeft hij dit jaar echt veel goede wedstrijden gespeeld ondanks dat zijn ploeg hem in de steek liet.
Vooral zijn geweldige afstandschoten en vrije trappen.
Ik heb van hem genoten!

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Hughes sets high Man City targets

Manchester City's new manager Mark Hughes has targeted making the club a major force in the Premier League and across Europe. Hughes was unveiled as City boss on Thursday after leaving Blackburn to become Sven-Goran Eriksson's successor. "The ambition of the club is to challenge at the top table - not only in this country but in Europe," said ex-Manchester United striker Hughes. "If we get the right players in right positions it is more than realistic."

Hughes said he left Blackburn in an attempt to achieve his ambitions of being at a club capable of challenging in the higher echelons, and he denied City were a route to a higher profile job for him. "If I'm successful here I don't need any stepping stones," said the 44-year-old. He is expected to bring some of his backroom team with him from Ewood Park and said he believed they can turn City into a force in England and Europe.

"I had a fantastic time at Blackburn," said Hughes. "It was difficult on occasions with the amount of finance available. There was a limit to how far I could take the club and it's a case now that I'm at club that can match my ambitions."

Hughes had been linked with taking over as Chelsea boss but insists that was never an option after talks began with City. "Once Manchester City made their intentions known I was very focused on getting the opportunity to come to the club," he said. "From the time their intention was shown, I had the opportunity to speak to Garry (Cook, executive chairman) and members of the board. And it's been very quick and very clear to me that there is a huge project here that I want to be part of, so it was an easy decision (to leave Blackburn)."

Hughes has briefly spoken to club owner Thaksin Shinawatra and added: "He wished me well. I had a brief conversation with him and he's very excited by his ambition for the club." It was feared there would be an exodus of players from City following the exit of Eriksson and that is a situation Hughes said he would be addressing. The former Wales boss warned his new players that he would be expecting them to show the necessary passion and drive to be a part of his plans.

"I'll back my ability against most managers in the Premier League and I think my management team is one of the best in the Premier League, and I think we can make an impact here," he said. "If I didn't think that I wouldn't have come here. I'm very demanding (with players) on a day-to-day basis and I expect a certain level to be attained. I'm consistent with players, they know exactly how far they can go. Once they understand my philosophy, if they embrace that they will thrive."

Hughes straight-batted any questions about the club's interest in signing Barcelona playmaker Ronaldinho and his Brazilian countryman Jo, who is a striker at CSKA Moscow. But Shinawatra told the Daily Mail: "Ronaldinho - you know, he is a great player. Whatever the club in your heart, you would want to see this player in England, wouldn't you? It is not a risk. Sponsors will contribute. It will not damage our wage structure. Garry and Pairoj, my chief advisor, they are taking care of this transfer. I am very excited. I am 59 next birthday, so I am not a man who can wait for many years to see my dreams come true."

He added: "I am hearing good things about his hunger. I have spoken to his brother (and agent). Ronaldinho wants the new challenge, the chance to play his best football again, to return to the days when he was really, really famous. The magic is still in his boots. Let us hope we can bring him."

Executive chairman, Cook, also said the arrival of Jo was close. He said: "We have had a conversation with Mark Hughes about this because we wanted to see what he felt but it would be fair to say we expect to see Jo at Manchester City."