One In, One Out in Winger Switch

It is probably reasonable to say that Adam Johnson never totally fulfilled his potential at City, after being given countless opportunities to impress he has now been shown the exit door.  I doubt many City fans however would show any animosity to the 25 year old, whilst he may never have been a top performer he has played his hand in all of our successes in recent years and for that he should be thanked.  As with all transfers we have no real clue as to how much we got for the winger, but reports seem to suggest it is somewhere between £12M and £15M and when you consider we signed him with an outlay of only £7M I believe it is a good piece of business, and one of the very few times that we have managed to turn a profit on a player.

I hope that Johnson is more settled back in his native North East and that with more consistent appearances he can make a real impact for both club and country, and it clearly doesn't mean much but I do wish him all the best in his future career.

With Johnsons departure appearing a close certainty for most of the Summer, the name Scott Sinclair has been suggested numerous times as his replacement and according to reports this morning it is only a matter of time before that deal is completed.  Welsh media  outlets are suggesting that a deal of £6.5M had been accepted by Swansea, and on top of that he was not part of their squad that took on West Ham at the Liberty Stadium.  

Theoretically the deal could move just as quickly as the Rodwell one did; I have the distinct impression that this transfer has been in place for a while and that it was just dependent on Johnson sealing his move.  There could however still be issues to be ironed out, personal terms may still need to be agreed and then there is the medical meaning it could be Monday or Tuesday before it finally goes through.

So what do we actually know about Sinclair? Well here is a bit of a potted history of the 23 year old.  The winger began life at Bristol Rovers, but was soon snapped up by Chelsea where he first came to the attention of most football fans, in all truth he barely made an impact there and was instead loaned out to a string of different clubs, mostly in the Championship, where he did manage to improve his game.  His first sustained spell of Premier League football came during the 2009-2010 season which he spelt on loan with Wigan, he fared reasonably well and demonstrated his searing pace and dribbling ability without really setting the league alight.  The following Summer he moved to Swansea for around £500,000 and it was there that he really began to make a name for himself.  He fired the Swans to promotion in his first season scoring 27 goals in 50 appearances, a pretty impressive feat due to the fact that he played most of those games on the wing.  He was a regular last year for them in the Premier League, and although he was less prolific, he still managed to notch 8 goals.  His form saw him selected for the Team GB football team this Summer and he has also been capped numerous times at England under-21 level.  His last appearance (and goal) for Swansea came last weekend in the clubs demolition of QPR at Loftus Road, the same team he could make his City debut against next weekend.

What would the signing of Sinclair mean for us? It would mean a totally different option in the way we play and that can only be a good thing.  Many people have said to me on twitter than in terms of ability this isn't an upgrade on Johnson, but there is more at play here.  The main attribute that the 23 year old possesses is his pace, he isn't just quick, he is ridiculously quick and that isn't something that we really have in our attacking unit, so he gives us something entirely different.  He is equally comfortable playing on the left or the right, and is more than happy to run at defenders and that always causes panic amongst opposition ranks.  The other important factor is the fact that he has learnt his game mostly at Swansea, a club that play in a very similar style to us, that hopefully should limit any problems he has adapting to a new club.  

The other major fact is the fee, selling Johnson for £15M and signing Sinclair for £6.5M to me signifies a really good bit of business, but lets not get ahead of ourselves, he won't be an automatic starter, but he has a much better attitude, a better work ethic and will be more willing to fight for a place in the team than Johnson ever was, and on top of all of that, he's dating one of Corrie's finest, a match made in heaven!

One Mad Week All Wrapped Up In One Place!

Well its been a hell of a week really, who said it was going to be a quiet Summer?  In the space of 6 days we have one a trophy, signed a player, entered negotiations for 2 more, seen the end of the longest transfer saga of the year, and finally appointed a new CEO.

I suppose the best way to approach this is simply to take it one issue at a time, so first all, the trophy!  Now of course if we had lost to Chelsea last weekend I would be referring to the Community Shield as the over-glamorised friendly that it is, but we won, therefore I am claiming it is somewhat of an achievement.  There is no need to dissect the game in any great detail as you will all have seen it live or at least the highlights, but there were a few things of note.  I suspected all preseason that the 3-5-2 we deployed was just to make use of the players we had available to us at the time, but the fact we used it on Sunday does suggest to me that we may see it get a run out as the season begins.

Using wing-backs would certainly utilise some of our players well; Kolarov down the left is much more suited to playing that role as opposed to an out and out full back, and on the other side Richards would prosper in the position, as would Zabs and Milner.  My only worry is that we are a bit short on central defenders, if Kolo Toure is moved on we are left with just Lescott, Kompany, Savic and at a push Rodwell and Richards to fill in, so using 3 players in that area could be a challenge unless further reinforcements are sought over the coming weeks.  As an attacking unit we were dominant throughout and even if Ivanovic hadn't seen red for his poor challenge on Kolarov I am sure we would have come through to win the game, and if it weren't for a particularly awful miss from Aguero at the end it would have looked a more impressive margin than it actually was; 3-2 suggests it was a close game, it really wasn't.

On the same day as the blues decamped to Birmingham, we also made our first signing of the Summer and it came out of nowhere.  News broke late on the Saturday evening that we were making an approach for Jack Rodwell, and no more than 16 hours later it was all signed and sealed.  Now, Brian Marwood may have come in for some criticism recently (unfair criticism in my opinion), but the fact that noone got any wind of this deal in the previous weeks suggests to me that he is at least doing something right.

Some raised highbrows and suggested it was an uninspiring arrival, that certainly isn't something I agree with.  At £12M (with future incentives), it is a fairly low risk deal by modern standards, and one that is definitely worth taking.  The former Everton man has bags of potential and has been blighted with injuries, but with our excellent medical set up I am sure we can get him firing on all cylinders.  Whilst he may not be a regular at the moment, Gareth Barry is not getting any younger, Yaya Toure has the ACON again and it would appear De Jong is on the way, it was therefore an important area to strengthen and with Barry and Toure to learn from I am not sure he could wish for better mentors.

Last week I wrote about our potential signings, well the ones in the press, I was ambushed with news of Rodwell days later!  According to the papers, moves for 2 of those continue a pace, whilst the 3rd, well, the 3rd is Robin van Persie.  The Dutchman has this morning been confirmed as a Manchester United player, something that has seemingly been coming for weeks, from our point of view though there are a couple of interesting factors at play.  Firstly, I am not being revisionist, but I simply don't see that United need van Persie, obviously he is a top player and will score a lot of goals this season (should he stay fit), however I would have been much more concerned had they strengthened in areas that they genuinely need to improve such as their central midfield.  If they had gone out and spent that money on a Yaya Toure type I would be far more worried about the threat they will pose.  Secondly, is the fact that it seems we were never actually in for the player, refusing to meet the price that Arsenal put on his head; that clearly demonstrates that the club are viewing FFP as something they must deal with, as opposed to taking the PSG/Chelsea approach.

As for further in coming players, deals for Daniele De Rossi and Scott Sinclair are definitely in the offing.  The Italian has been high up on Mancini's shopping list for a long time, and I suspect he is the man the boss wants more than any other.  According to Sky Sports his agent flew into England yesterday to discuss a package that would tempt him to leave Roma, whilst the papers today reckon we are willing to pay around £27M to secure his signature.  Clearly that is a huge amount of money for a 29 year old, but if he helped deliver another Premier League title, and perhaps a Champions League at some point I am sure we can all turn a blind eye to the fee and wages.  Last week it was a bit of a pipe dream, but now it seems like an agreement could actually be reached, watch this space.

As for Sinclair, well that is a really strange one. It appeared to have gone very quiet until today when there are more reports, admittedly in the gutter press, that the English winger is closing in on a move to Eastlands.  With the signing of Rodwell, it does appear that we are focusing on acquiring young English talent, and the wide man definitely fits into that category.  The sun reckon £5M will convince Swansea to sell the youngster who has recently turned down a new deal in South Wales; at that price I think it is definitely worth pursuing, we would bring in at least triple that by selling Johnson who would become surplus to requirements and we'd be adding some much needed pace to the squad at the same time.

Well as if all of that wasn't enough, we also have a new CEO!  The man who has stepped up to replace Garry Cooke is Spaniard Ferran Soriano, who comes to City after a spell with Spanair (which went bankrupt!) but more importantly a highly successful period at Barcelona.  It seemed 12 months ago that he was ready to take on the role, but after his airline went under the club appeared to cool on him.  After further investigations though it seems he has been deemed worthy of the position, and he seems like the ideal fit to me, he saw huge success on and off the field during his time at Barca and made the club huge amounts of money, something that will be extremely useful for us with regards to FFP.  The only issue left is whether he brings in his own man to replace Brian Marwood, something that has been mooted in the press, but either way it is great to now have a permanent CEO, not to belittle John McBeath who was doing the job on a temporary basis, but it seems better to now have someone doing the job on a permanent basis.

So there we have it, its been a pretty mental week and the football hasn't even properly started yet.  Hopefully we will get off to a winning start on Sunday, personally I can't wait for the season to get underway again, and not just because it will start to put an end to the rampant rumour mongering in the newspapers, journalists up and down the country will actually have games to write about as opposed to just writing spurious claims that they hear in the back rooms of pubs up and down the country!

Besiktas V City Report

Regular readers will notice that I never did a summation of my thoughts on the Dynamo Dresden game, so here they are now:

Right, onto Besiktas.  It is pretty reasonable to say that our 3 games in Austria have hardly set the world alight, in fact quite the opposite, the only thing they have really been suitable for was curing insomnia.  As each game as passed however, City have started to look a bit more with it, there is still a clear element of ring rust, but things are improving from a technical point of view.  Fitness wise there has been an improvement as well, during the first game no player was on the pitch more than about 45 minutes where as now we are seeing players gets over an hour on the clock, and in some cases whole games.  The initial 11 that began against the Turkish giants was:

The first half was definitely at a slightly higher tempo than previous games, but it was still a half that we didn't really come close to dominating, in fact Besiktas had the better of the it and caused us some real problems.  It is never nice to say it, but as each game passes it is becoming more obvious to me that Kolo Toure is not the player that he once was.  He was again full of willing and energy, but he doesn't seem to have the mobility that a player needs if he wants to perform at the top end of the game, he was troubled repeatedly and if it weren't for Kompany and a particularly brilliant double save by Pantilimon, City would have conceded a couple of goals.  That brings me onto our 2nd keeper who played the whole game, and for the first team in a while I am starting to think that maybe we do have an adequate cover for Joe Hart, his double save was superb, and even though it could be argued the strikes weren't the best, it was still impressive reactions for a tall man.  Granted at times he still looks a bit weak on crosses (surprising for a man with that frame), but there are definitely signs of improvement and he looks a decent backup to me.

Some passes are still going astray, and at times the first touch of some players was questionable, but that is to be expected after the break, and a problem that will no doubt be eradicated over the coming month.  Adam Johnson, after recovering from illness that kept him out of the Dresden game, was sharp and worked hard both going forwards and backwards.  Abdul Razak once again demonstrated what immense potential he possesses, he still has a knack of over complicating things at times, and he tried to ping a few 40 yard passes that didn't come off, but at other times he was neat and tidy and a good presence in the midfield.  One particular thing of note was that Yaya Toure was constantly talking to the youngster, and encouraging him and clearly passing on advice, that sort of thing is always good to see.

Lopes the youngest player on the pitch was given another 45 minute run out, and to be fair, the occasion still seemed a little too big for him.  That is not a criticism, the kid has barely played at reserve and youth level, so to suddenly be thrusted into the first team picture will obviously be a massive step.  This exposure though will only be of assistance moving forwards, playing with the likes of Aguero and Tevez will clearly help his game, and hopefully we will see more of him throughout preseason and playing for the EDS this coming season in the nextgen tournament.  

The first half goal came from the weaker left foot of Sergio Aguero, a drilled Tevez pass was cleverly dummied by Razak, allowing it to run to Aguero who calmly and cooly slotted it into the back of the net.  As I say, it was really against the run of play, and came not long after the Pantilimon double save heroics, but it was a nice move and showed that key players are starting to get back to what we know they are capable of.

The second half kicked off with only one change, Vladimir Weiss with a point to prove replacing the ineffective Lopes.  Weiss is a player that really divides opinion amongst City fans, there are some that think he should definitely be involved, and there are more sceptical people who think that he is a bit of a one trick pony, I firmly fit in the second category.  I admit that over the course of the 3 friendlies, he has been one of our better players, but I just see him as a second rate Adam Johnson.  When AJ first arrived, we were blinded to the inadequacies in his game because of his tricky feet, and I think it is the same with Weiss.  He is by no means a bad players, but I genuinely don't believe he has what it takes to be a decent player at a team with title aspirations.  He was lively again, and worked hard, but I am still not sold.

The second half was overall similar to the first, Besiktas were perhaps the better team again, but it was City that increased their lead.  Just before the hour mark, Adam Johnson played a truly superb through ball that split the defence and found the forward run of a marauding Vincent Kompany who beautifully chipped the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper, it was a brilliant goal and if it had been scored in the Premier League we'd be seeing it for years to come.

That goal signalled whole sale changes, and to be honest that killed the game.  They didn't occur in one go, but between then and the final whistle Savic, Rekik, Boyata, Helan, Mancini, Evans, Jelavic and Scapuzzi were all introduced.  Of the substitutes it was Karim Rekik that again stole the show; this youngster looks absolute class and for me he has to be involved this season, I said it after the Al-Hilal game and I say it again now, he looks twice the player Savic is and yet hes much much younger.  The 'Scapuzzi Experiment' continued and still mystifies me, I hate to criticise a young player, but I just don't know what Mancini sees in this kid, he barely touched the ball and didn't really contribute anything in the 25 minutes he was on the field.  

The only other event in the second half worth noting was an altercation between both teams towards the end of the game.  Youngster George Evans committed, what was to be fair a pretty woeful challenge/lunge on former Everton man Manuel Fernandes, the Portuguese man jumped to his feet and initiated an altercation with the City academy player that in a competitive game would have resulted in him seeing red (although the initial challenge would almost certainly have resulted in dismissal as well).  It was Aleks Kolarov that jumped in to defend his young team mate, and although we don't like to see these incidents in the game, it was good to see a senior player defending one of his young team mates, further goes to demonstrate the idiocy of people that claim there is no team spirit within the City camp.

For me it was Adam Johnson and Abdul Razak that deserve the most credit.  The Englishman was not at his scintillating best, but he got a superb assist for the 2nd and really worked hard to impress his manager.  Razak as I said earlier was at his best when he was keeping it simple, it is wrong to compare him to the imperious Yaya Toure at such a young age, but he has great potential, and if he is willing to listen to those trying to help him, he could go along way in the game.

With that our preseason in Austria comes to an end, next stop China, the Birds Nest Stadium and possibly a couple of new signings, exciting times.

Zabs and AJ Sign on For A Few More Years

In recent weeks the press machine has been in over drive linking Adam Johnson with more clubs than ever, quite what these rumours were based on remains somewhat of a mystery, especially when you consider that it now appears that during that period negotiations were well under way over a new contract.


When Johnson got the hook 25mins into the Champions League game with Villareal pundits all over the country attempted to conjure a crisis, the insubordination of Carlos Tevez had lit the touch paper and according to the papers the end was nigh at City, Johnson being removed was supposed to be the next stage of a spiral into turmoil.  Team spirit was questioned and once again as supporters we had to read the same old rubbish about being a collection of talented individuals as opposed to a team.  I think the celebrations that ensued after the 93rd minute winner against Villareal coupled with the scenes of delight and team celebration in the derby put those rumours to bed.

Johnson we were told though still remained an outcast, he was left out of the squad for the derby, and he supposedly refused to board the bus after the Wolves league cup game (a ridiculous claim that literally seemed to be based on nothing), one day he was going to Liverpool, then Chelsea, he was unhappy and on the way out despite Roberto Mancini stating on numerous occasions he was going nowhere, the end for Johnson at City was coming....except it wasn't, it was just another example of the media picking up on nothing, or dare I say, trying to destabilise the ship?

Confirmation has come today that the England wideman has signed a new 4 year deal that will see him remain at the club until 2016.  I am particularly pleased with this news, I sort of fall in the middle ground with Johnson, there seem to be some supporters who think he is brilliant and some that think he will amount to nothing.  I personally think he has all the potential to be one of the best wingers in Europe, if not the world, but he has to apply himself more.  Mancini knows all about that particular position and if Johnson is prepared to listen to his manager and learn from him I think he can make the most of his ability. If however he is not prepared to take on board that advice and work on the defensive side of his game I can see him wasting the talent that he has.

It may not be as high profile, but the news that Pablo Zabaleta has extended his contract is something that I am just as pleased about.  It is strange that a player who only appears in every third game could be so loved by the City faithful, but Zabs is just one of those players.  As supporters we love someone that always gives everything they have to the cause, and the sentiment is encapsulated by the Argentine, he isn't the most technically gifted player but he never stops fighting.  His versatility is also a massive asset and to have him tied down until 2015 is fantastic.  It may seem strange but he is now one of our longest serving players, and I genuinely believe he could become a legend if he continues as he currently is.

It is good to see that contracts are now being sorted out, I still fear for the future of Nigel De Jong, if nothing is tied up by the end of the season I suspect he will be shown the door.  The suggestion is that he rejected our last offer and there has been no movement since, he is hardly looking content with life, and you do wonder if he may have shot himself in the foot by choosing Kia Joorabchian to represent him.

When Will The Media Realise Adam Johnson Is Not Ignored By Roberto Mancini?

It is clearly the done thing to knock Manchester City, it is impossible for some sections of the press to be entirely positive about the club.  Whilst things on the pitch are going pretty well at the moment, various people feel the need to find some dirt and they aren't shy in flinging it.


City crushed Wolves last night 5-2, defensively we were a bit shambolic at times but as an attacking unit things were pretty impressive, the personel may have been different but the offensive fluidity demonstrated on numerous occasions so far this season was still present.  Man of the match for me was Adam Johnson, a player that can thrill and frustrate in equal measure, last night he was good, I would go as far as to say very good, but rather than focus on this the Sky commentators and pitchline reporter felt the need to find drama and negativity, and to be honest I am getting pretty sick of it.

Johnson is a very good footballer, but he is not as great as the media make him out to be, he is certainly worthy of a place in the squad and he has a massive part to play, but this attitude that he is undroppable I do not understand.  I am a fan of the player perhaps a bigger fan than other fans of the club, but I can still recognise his weaknesses as can Roberto Mancini, pundits in the press however can not.  Commentators, football writers, former players and managers are wowed by his tricky feet, his excellent passing, his precision shooting, but they ignore his occasional lack of willingness to track back or the fact that sometimes he can be a touch too selfish, or that sometimes he overcomplicates situations as opposed to taking the simpler option.

Clearly in this day of modern football, not all players will be running the length of the pitch to attack and then defend, and some players do struggle tackling, but that isn't to say players can't try to improve that side of their game.  That is something that Roberto Mancini is trying to instill in the player, and for me there has definitely been improvements in that side of his game over the last 12 months, the player is working hard to learn but that is being ignored.


If you were to believe what you read in the papers however, you would be lead to believe that Johnson is not rated by Mancini and that the player is heading for the exit, this despite the Italian saying in numerous interviews that AJ is going nowhere and that he personally believes the winger has the potential to be one of the best players in the world in that position.  The general attitude coming from the media is that Johnson is ignored and underused, but the statistics tell an entirely different story.

This season Johnson has started 10 games in all competitions, hardly a bit part player, and last term he appeared in 43 games across all of the teams competitions, these are not the sort of figures being racked up by a player who is supposedly ignored by the manager.


The 24 year old is still learning about the game and he is still developing and this will continue to happen, many have compared him with Joe Cole at Chelsea who played far more games for the Stamford Bridge club than people realised.  Many said he was ignored by the hierarchy at the and that he should move on, he eventually did move, it didn't exactly pan out for him did it....


Johnson is at the right club, with the right manager, he is an important part of the team and will play a massive part this season, maybe someday soon journalists and football reporters will actually do some research and notice how often he appears for the club.

Rumour Mill: Sunday Round Up

It seems that you can't keep City off the back pages, sadly today it is still just one story that those on Fleet Street are focussing on, that is the situation with want-away irritant Carlos Tevez.  Yesterday may have brought a thumping good victory and an exceptional performance from everyones favourite bad boy Mario Balotelli but there is still only one story in town.


I was hoping to have some different topics to bring together, but sadly they are relatively thin on the ground, you can normally count on the Sunday papers for some ridiculous rumours but there is really not a lot going on, so if you are sick of reading about Carlos Tevez, I suggest you move along after the first story.

Let's start with the only non-Tevez story then, and it is back to an old favourite, the future of Adam Johnson.  Despite Roberto Mancini making it abundantly clear in preseason that the young winger is going nowhere, there are still murmurings about his future at the club, and it seems to be Liverpool that he is constantly linked with.  To be fair this story does come from CaughtOffside.com so any shreds of credibility die right there but it's still worth having a (quick) look at.  As far as I know, the website in question is essentially a blogging site for people who are 'in the know' and they really do churn out some rubbish.  The moment this story loses all credibility comes when the writer claims that Johnson has been left out in the cold by Mancini, ignoring the fact that he has been injured for a few weeks and returned to the starting 11 as soon as he was deemed fit enough, quality research right there.  For what its worth, the website report that Liverpool would be prepared to pay around £18million for the England international, it wouldn't be bad money because AJ isn't as good as the media hype machine would lead you to believe, but we won't sell him to Liverpool in January and nor should we.

Right, OK, Tevez then, where to begin?  First up is a story from the Sunday Mirror who are reporting that he will be on the way in January with PSG and Inter Milan the most likely destinations.  There is nothing particularly interesting in that but there is also a transfer fee mentioned, quite where it comes from is unclear, plucked out of the sky I would suggest, but that doesn't mean it isn't hard to agree with.  They are reporting that the bids coming from Italy and/or France would be around £25million, someway short of the £40million that the club was holding out for this Summer.  I think really we would be foolish to expect any more than that, and I also think they are the most likely destinations as well, throw Malaga into the ring and they may not be far off.  The players temperament has ensured we will make a loss on the player but to be honest I just want rid by this point.

In the same newspaper everyone's favourite imbecile has also been talking about City, Joey Barton has branded the club that gave him more opportunities than many would and gave him the career he has today a 'soap opera', sorry Joey, are those grapes a bit too sour for you?  He goes on to claim that the Tevez situation was 'only a matter of time', just like it is 'only a matter of time' before you smack a teenager again Joey?

To continue on Tevez it is perhaps strange to see the Daily Star on Sunday so firmly behind City.  They reveal that the club have stopped the Argentine flying back to his home country this weekend as they prepare for a high level meeting on Monday.  They go on to debunk any myths that the City squad might side with Tevez, and in particular Pablo Zabaleta, they claim these rumours are untrue and nothing more than a smear campaign being put about by certain people in the media as well as the players camp.  Encouragingly they also state that the clubs owners are believed to be firmly behind the manager and disgusted with the actions of the players, lets hope that is the case.

Last by by no means least is Micah Richards who has given an interview to The People stating quite simply that Tevez was in the wrong.  It has become plain to see this week that some sections of the media have struck up some sort of agenda against Mancini and been claiming that the players weren't supporting him, well these quotes from Richards certainly begin to prove that to be the fabrication that it quite clearly is.  The same paper also reckon that Tevez will infact be suspended for 6 weeks and fined upto £1.5million, hearsay, but lets hope its true!


Hopefully next Sunday we will have something other than Tevez, but I expect this one to run on a little bit yet, anyway enjoy your Sunday Roasts and don't forget to check back in the week for more.