The Manchester City Project

Redknapp’s “ridiculous” PR stunts

When City first bought Bellamy, Redknapp claimed that City bullied Tottenham to be first to the strikers signature; "They came in and said: 'If you don't drop out of Bellamy, we'll sign Palacios as well and you won't get either of them'," Redknapp said. "So we had no choice, really. They just said: 'We'll blow you out of the water.' Did they want Palacios? Not really, I don't think, no. They were half-interested. What can you do? It's difficult. You've got a difficult decision, haven't you? And then, obviously, the money that they offered Bellamy, we couldn't compete with anyway."

Manchester City automatically contacted their lawyers and are investigating Harry’s unfounded comments as reported in the Guardian.

Lately Redknapp has indirectly associated City’s Arab owners with Saddam Hussein! "Man City fans don't care about the money being spent. Football fans don't care. The players don't care, either, because it's not down to them. Saddam Hussein could own your football club and, if he's putting millions into it, they'll be quite happy. They'll be singing 'There's only one Saddam'."

Whilst Redknapp continually attacks City and their fans he tries to use the same under hand PR tactics to sign footballers from other clubs such as Parker from West Ham, trying to turn the players head via carefully worded statements like: To be honest I like the lad, but the club is unwilling to sell, so that’s the end of it. Yeah right.

West Ham rightly accused Spurs of unsettling the player and have stuck to their guns. Karren Bradey writing in the sun wrote of Levy regarding the Parker saga: “Daniel Levy - my friend, but obviously not a very good one - once ventured to me that business was all about principles and money. I told him he had failed in both on this occasion.”

Harry continually bemoans City’s wealth in a number of conflicting reports while he clearly had no problems spending all of Portsmouth’s money, only to rape them by turning their best player’s heads when he moved to spurs. Who can forget Harry hanging out of his car window a couple of seasons ago publically licking Defoe’s anus so much that he got his man in the end.

Spur’s Fan’s make “Ridiculous” claims about City

Some spurs fans have also had their head in the clouds, such as the following article in which one spurs fan produced this rubbish:

http://www.footballtransfertavern.com/2010/07/premiership/25-million-deal-done-ireland-staying-bellamy-stock-takes-an-upswing

Spurs fans claim that City are a much smaller club than spurs and even complain about City’s spending, despite Spurs’ track recorded of being one of the highest spenders in Premier League history. The complete lack of knowledge or facts is typical of the crap spouted by spurs fans this year.

Manchester City continued to gel against Portsmouth despite not driving in full gear. City’s 1-0 win makes it three out of three in the league. City look solid at the back with new arrival Lescott and they look frightening going forward... ...there is certainly more to come.

Adebayor scored his third goal in as many games from a Gareth Barry corner after he lost his marker, the new Portsmouth captain Aaron Mokoena. City should have been 2-0 up minutes later when Bellamy crossed for Richards to slide in at the far post. However the goal was ruled offside due to Barry arriving in the six yard box, despite Barry not interfering with play.

Portsmouth put up a fight after the goal with David Nugent missing a glorious chance after scuffing his shot into the ground and Given stood tall and strong to chest the ball clear.

City could well have had a penalty in the closing moments when Belhadj brought down the impressive Wright-Phillips in the box, but replays show that Belhadj won the ball before making contact with Wright-Phillips.

Robinho was left on the bench for the game, with Bellamy taking his place on the left wing. Robinho was carrying a knock on his ankle and was not risked, especially as he will be featuring for Brazil in the important World Cup qualifier against Argentina in the next few days.

Match Facts:
Sunday 30 August 2009, 1:30PM
Fratton Park Att: 17826 Barclays Premier League

Portsmouth: Begovic,Kaboul,Vanden Borre,Belhadj,Mokoena,Mullins,Brown,Kranjcar,Hughes (Nugent 86),Smith (Utaka 68),Piquionne (Kanu 73) Unused subs: Ashdown, Hreidarsson,Ward, Basinas, Bookings: Hughes and Mokoena

Manchester City: Given,Richards (Zabaleta 60),Toure,Lescott,Bridge,Wright-Phillips,Ireland (De Jong 76),Barry,Bellamy,Adebayor,Tevez Unused subs: Taylor, Onuoha, Petrov, Weiss, Robinho Bookings: Zabaleta

Manchester City secured a place in the third round of the league cup with a comfortable win over Crystal Palace. Goals from Shaun Wright-Phillips and Carlos Tevez ensured that City did not suffer a 2nd Round embarrassing defeat – again.

Joleon Lescott was thrust into the starting line-up after completing his move from Everton on Wednesday and helped City keep a third consecutive clean sheet. Palace threatened City’s goal in the first half with Moses very effective down the left and Sears coming close three times. Given was again on top form to prevent Palace gaining the lead.

City should have been ahead after 18 minutes when Robinho was ruled offside despite actually starting his run in his own half. This was one of a number of wrong desicisons by an inept linesman.

In the second half City completely dominated. They started the half with a goal when Ireland fed the ball through to Wright-Phillips on the edge of the area. Wright-Phillips smashed the ball – beating Speroni at his near post.

With 20 minutes remaining Carlos Tevez put the game beyond Palace with a header from six yards out after being left unmarked from a corner.

The strong starting line-up was necessary in order to ensure victory but also to help the new team gel together, which they are doing with every minute of play. Manager Mark Hughes was pleased with Carlos Tevez getting on the team sheet: "I was hoping that by playing Carlos that it would be an opportunity for him to get off the mark and was delighted that he did so.

"Carlos is a quality player with great intelligence. He makes the right runs time and time again.

"He is working very nicely with Emmanuel Adebayor."

Match Facts:
Crystal Palace 0
Manchester City 2 (Wright-Phillips 50, Tevez 72)
Thursday 27 August 2009, 8:00PM
Selhurst Park Att: 14725 Carling Cup


Crystal Palace: Speroni; Clyne, Fonte, McCarthy, Hill; Ambrose (Smith, 71), Danns, Derry, Moses (Carle, 79); N'Diaye, Sears (Scannell, 71). Unused subs: Flahavan, Lawrence, Lee, Butterfield

Bookings:

Manchester City: Given; Richards, Toure, Lescott, Bridge; Wright-Phillips, Ireland, Barry; Tevez (De Jong, 86), Adebayor, Robinho (Bellamy, 72). Unused subs: Taylor, Onuoha, Zabaleta, Petrov, Weiss

Bookings: Richards (10)

Manchester City won their second game of the season with chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak watching from the stands. The City fans produced a number of new banners for the game including one from bluemoon forums that thanked Sheikh Mansour.

Other banners featured were “Ireland is Superman” and “We’re Not Really Here”.

Before the game Mike Summerbee was introduced as the clubs new ambassador infront of the fans with Garry Cook and Mark Hughes.

Mark Hughes made one change from the side that won at Blackburn, replacing Craig Bellamy with Carlos Tevez, giving a three pronged attack of Robihno, Adebayor and Tevez.

City completely dominated the first half. Wolves placed 10 men behind the ball and frustrated City until the 18th minute. Bridge passed to Robinho who worked his way down the left wing before passing back to Bridge who hit a ball across the face of the 18 yard box. Tevez deftly cushioned the ball into the path of Adebayor who turned and shot low and hard into the bottom of the net. That was Adebayor’s second goal of the season. (See video below).

It wasn’t until the 40th minute that Shay Given was called into action. Matthew Jarvis broke through the centre of the pitch and sent a powerful drive heading for the top right hand corner of the net. Given matched it – diving high he pushed it around the upright.

City lost a little composure in the second half and failed to close down the opposition who had decided to make a fight of the match. Wolves came close on 69 minutes when Andy Keogh smashed the crossbar with a drive that should have resulted in a goal. However Ireland should have put the game beyond Wolves on the 57th minute when he miss hit the ball with the goal at his mercy.

Overall City deserved to win the game on chances created, they had 11 shots on target compared to Wolves 2 and dominated possession with 65% of the play.

After the game during an interview Mark Hughes acknowledged that City and Everton were now in dialogue over the transfer of Joleon Lescott (see interview below).

Match Facts:
Manchester City 1 (Adebayor, 18)
Wolves 0
Att: 47,287

Manchester City: Given,Richards,Dunne,Toure,Bridge,Wright-Phillips,Ireland,Barry,Robinho (De Jong 83),Tevez (Bellamy 72), Adebayor Unused subs: Taylor, Zabaleta, Onuoha, Petrov, and Weiss

Wolves: Hennessey,Edwards,Stearman,Craddock,Henry,Keogh,Ward(Vokes74,Halford(Elokobi46)Jarvis,Milijas(Doyle46,Mancienne Unused subs: Surman,Hahnemann,Jones,and Berra

Bookings: Stearman

Stephen Ireland - Homegrown Superman

Stephen Ireland was to finish any hope for Blackburn fan’s in the last moments of the game. After another inspired break away Ireland found himself confronted by Robinson in the area after another pass from Wright-Phillips – he looked up and feigned to pass to Adebayor before coolly passing the ball into the net past Robinson. Ireland topped off another fine display with a cool finish, leaving the pitch to the sound of the 7,000 strong City travelling fans... “Ireland is Superman”.

Oakland is a good ground with decent fans, however after getting off the train in Barnsley I did feel as though I’d just entered an episode of Life on Mars or Boys From The Blackstuff. If any where needs investment then it’s Barnsley City Centre.



There was a good atmosphere at Oakwell on Saturday for the preseason friendly between Barnsley and Manchester City. Both sets of fans honoured the late Bobby Robson with a minute’s applause before the game along with chants of “There’s only one Bobby Robson” and “England”. At half time both sets of fans roundly applauded Barnsley’s Academy player’s as they paraded their trophy from the final of the Swedish International Tournament.

The only complaint must be against the stadium announcer. Surely there are two skills required in order to be an announcer – first you must be able to pronounce the names of the players, and secondly announce the details of the subs correctly. This guy couldn’t do either – I mean if that was my job I’d at least try and practice the player names the night before. Instead of practising the Barnsley announcer simply miss-pronounced “Adebayor” and then giggled and sighed.

City dominated the game even though many of the players were under par since they are preparing for the start of the premiership campaign. Shaun Wright-Phillips, Robinho and Ireland showed some good moments but never really went 100% in essentially a training match. A major positive was the pairing of Adebayor and Bellamy upfront. Despite both players missing chances from inside the box – it was obvious the two strikers could develop a promising partnership (however Tevez will have a lot to say about that).

Former Man City player Jon Macken caused numerous problems for City’s defence and almost scored after 16 minutes but his six yard header sailed over the bar. City responded on 22 minutes with Bellamy forcing Luke Steele to palm away a shot before Steele completed a double save from Adebayor’s follow-up.

In the second half Macken almost scored again after a (typical city) slip from new man Kolo Toure, but he failed to capitalise.

Toure came off the pitch injured after a clash in the six-yard-box. However Hughes later confirmed that Kolo was removed as he was suffering from cramp and removed him as a precaution.

Adebayor could have scored after lobbing the keeper but saw his effort hit the bar and he couldn’t convert the rebound. Moments later Robinho hit the bar after a cut back from Zabletta.
After 74 minutes City broke from a Barnsley corner, Adebayor slipped Bellamy through on goal – however the Welshman failed to hit the target from 10 yards, hitting the side netting.

Bogdanovic put the homeside ahead on 84 minutes after an impressive counter attack. Five minutes later Stephen Ireland and Vlad Wiess combined on the right wing to set up Martin Petrov for a close range finish to end the game 1-1.



Mark Hughes was pleased with the run out against Barnsley, he told the official Man City website:

“We played some good stuff and in the second half I thought our interplay was excellent,

“The final ball was lacking on occasions but we created enough chances to have won quite comfortably. The finishing will come as we get nearer the start of the season. It is just a matter of the timing being off here and there.

“Overall I was pleased with the test and both teams benefitted from the run out. It will have brought us on a lot. On another day we would have won quite comfortably.

“I am happy with what I am seeing. It was good for Kolo (Toure) to get his debut behind him. He gives us comfort on the ball and his ability with it at his feet was there for everyone to see.

“Once he starts to understand those in front of him and the qualities they have and the best way to bring out those qualities the bigger the impact he will have. I was pleased with his debut and he came off early because of a bit of cramp. He has integrated well into the dressing room. He is a great guy and we are delighted to have him at the club.”

Full Time: Barnsley 1 (Bogdanovic, 84) – Manchester City 1 (Petrov, 87)

Barnsley Team: Steele, Hassell, Kozluk, Moore, Foster, Campbell-Ryce, Thompson, Devaney, Butterfield, Odejayi, Macken. Subs: Preece, Sodje, Hibbert, Bogdanovic, Noble-Lazarus, El Haimour, Coulson, Hume.

Manchester City Team: Give, Richards, Toure, Onuoha, Garrido, Wright-Phillips, De Jong, Robinho, Bellamy, Ireland, Adebayor. Subs: Taylor, Zabaleta, Ben Haim, McGiven, Vidal, Petrov, Weiss, Etuhu.

Footage Taken From Oakwell 01/08/2009

The Kaizer Chiefs have won the Vodacom Challenge after beating Manchester City 1-0 infront of over 30,000 fans at the Lofus Versfeld Stadium.

Towards the end of the first half Ntuka fired home from close range during a mix up in the penalty area from a corner. There was a suspicion of hand ball as Ntuka controlled the ball, however the Chiefs deserved to win the match following a below standard performance from Manchester City.

Gareth Barry and Emmanuel Adebayor played well, Barry’s defensive qualities will be much needed in the forth coming campaign and Adebayor’s all round team play can give Man City fans something to look forward to next season.

There were a number of injury worries for City with Dunne, Onuoha and Vidal all having to be replaced. City struggled against the pace and fitness of the Kaizer Chiefs. The Chiefs goalkeeper denied Craig Bellamy on 24 minutes and on 29 minutes both Wright-Phillips and Bellamy failed to convert a Martin Petrov cross. A minute after the break Ben Haim went close with a header from a Petrov corner. Adebayor almost scored in the 55th minute but watched his shot sail narrowly over the cross bar. Robinho came on the field towards the end of the game and almost equalized in the final moments of the game as his shot skimmed past the upright after fine work on the wing from Vlad Wiess.

Clearly City need to strengthen at the back and must surely dip into the transfer market once more for one or two defenders before the start of the season. Manchester City’s performance clearly showed that the majority of the players are not match fit, once City arrive back in England tonight this will be one of the main focuses in order to have the team ready for the opening fixture of the Premier League.

KAIZER CHIEFS 1 (Ntuka, 42)
MANCHESTER CITY 0

KAIZER CHIEFS: Khune, Mmbooi, Rooi, Jambo, Ntuka, Lebese, Bulu, Yende, Masenamala, Mathebula, Nhleko.

MANCHESTER CITY: Given, Vidal, Bridge, Dunne, Petrov, De Jong, Ben Haim, Barry, Wright-Phillips, Adebayor, Bellamy.

Manchester City made several changes to the side that were beaten 2-0 against the Orlando Pirates on Saturday for the trip to play the Kaizer Chiefs on Tuesday night. Shaun Wright-Phillips, Wayne Bridge, Stephen Ireland and Gareth Barry all played a part in the match. Stephen Ireland was named captain in the first half.

The Kaizer chiefs were largely depending upon long range efforts, their first came after 2 minutes when Mathebula’s effort flew over Taylor’s crossbar. City had the better of the half however; Shaun Wright-Phillips was excellent in the opening stages and created a number of chances and attacking moves. Gareth Barry gave a fine display – athletically reinforcing the defence when required and troubling the Chief’s defence with several runs. One of which came on the half hour when Caicedo put the England player through on goal, only to be thwarted by Khune the Chief’s goalkeeper. The move however turned into a counter attack that resulted in a good move ending with Motaung Junior hitting the side netting. Just before the break Ireland converted a low cross to take a 1-0 lead at half time. There were few chances in the closing stages but City had a let-off with nine minutes to go when Kaizer Motaung Jr failed to find the target from 15 yards. The home side continued to apply the pressure in the final 10 minutes with several shots going astray as City's young defense tired.

Gareth Barry was pleased with his first performance in City blue: "I was delighted to get out and feel good. Training is different but I'm getting used to it... ...I signed a five-year deal and think I'll play in the Champions League with City."

Kaizer Chiefs coach Vladimir Vermezovic was disappointed with the result and the Chiefs performance in front of goal but he did gain some positives from the match: “It is true that Man City were too strong for us, but we had some opportunities to score and that is good... ...Overall I would say we did not play so good, but I am satisfied with some things and other things I know we can be better. But it is a long road ahead and this is just part of the journey.”

City manager Hughes was pleased with another tough work out in the Vodacom Challenge: “It was another good workout for us and once again we came up against good opposition. It was a great atmosphere in the stadium and we were delighted to be able to give more players some game-time and see them all come through unscathed.”

“We have actually all been commenting on the atmosphere that the South African crowds can generate. It is stimulating for the players. Games at this stage of the season can sometimes have no energy, but that doesn’t happen in South Africa, there is huge enthusiasm for the game in this country and that has been recognised by us.”