Match Analysis: Pellegrini To Blame For Juventus Loss, Wrong To Drop Kelechi Iheanacho

As much as he has achieved for our club to date I have got to say I find Pellegrini tactically naive and prone to mistakes, he puts far too much trust in our players to just go out and destroy teams, he hesitates to make vital substitutions at important moments and is not animated enough on the touch line as far as I'm concerned. Yeah yeah I know he's qualified and I am not, before someone jumps on the bandwagon I don't play football games as I have a life to live. It doesn't take a qualified genius to see the mistakes made or the cracks opening up, here's where I believe it all started to go wrong.

Right from the start when Manuel Pellegrini all but destroyed Kelechi Iheanacho's perfect start to the season, I can only hope being dropped from our Champions League squad does not affect the kid negatively.

Lets face facts here we only have 3 strikers aka Sergio Aguero, Wilfried Bony and Kelechi Iheanacho, it was clearly stated by Pellegrini himself that Edin Dzeko was not replaced because we have Iheanacho, so why the hell drop Kelechi from our Champions League squad aye? We all know Sergio is carrying a knee issue and Wilfried Bony can't even hit the sky right now. I was so excited by the arrival of Bony but must say, I'm starting to get really frustrated with him right now. He was the worst player on the pitch against Juventus.

Wilfried Bony should have been replaced by Sergio Aguero immediately after half time, by bringing Aguero on for less than 10 minutes was just a complete and utter joke. Pellegrini was clearly hoping for Sergio to bag us a point, play for a bloody draw for crying out loud., either that or he was hoping for a repeat of our title winning miracle against QPR.

Taking Raheem Sterling off the field when Samir Nasri was useless, completely ended all hope of winning our opening Champions League match as far as I'm concerned. Why he isn't playing our strongest attacking lineup is baffling to say the least, there was no valid reason why we couldn't have played Kevin De Bruyne from the start? Why Nasri when he's proven he's only effective off the bench?  In my opinion our strongest attacking mid combo are Sterling, Silva, De Bruyne and all three are fit enough to play.

Yaya Toure is found wanting at times in Europe even with a solid Fernandinho backing him up, Fernando in place of Yaya would have given Silva, Sterling and De Bruyne more space in the final third.

Juventus smelt blood the moment Vincent Kompany forced an own goal against their main man Giorgio Chiellini, they felt robbed by the referee and upped the tempo. Pellegrini bottled it and substituted Kompany at the wrong time fearing he would end up injured, as great as Otamendi is, bringing him straight into the game at such a stupid time when he hasn't ever played a full game for City yet, was just asking for it and what happened? You know the rest. Otamendi should have been played from the start along side Kompany, but no Pellegrini cowards out not wanting to split up Kompany and Mangala and what happens? Mangala was to blame for Juve's equaliser after failing to pick up Mandzukic. A lot of City fans were up in arms in support of Mangala while I warned them Mangala would eventually come undone and start making big mistakes, I believe if Otamendi was started in place of Mangala and if Kompany wasn't taken off we would have won or at least drawn, Pellegrini dropping Iheanacho, his team selection and substitutions led to Juventus's second goal and victory.

On that note well done to Juventus for turning up as Chelsea, effective performance but second most utterly boring team I've ever had the privilege to have to watch. I'd rather watch Crystal Palace in the wind and rain, see you in Turin.

My team selection would have been Iheanacho, Sterling, Silva, De Bruyne, Yaya, Fernandinho, Sagna, Otamendi, Kompany, Kolarov, Hart. Substitutions: Sergio on in place of Sterling and Demichelis on in place of Kompany.

Manuel Pellegrini to blame but I hope he see's the error of his ways for City's sake.

Round Up Of The Week, De Bruyne, We Are Not Finished By A Long Shot.

Great game against West Brom last night, still a little messi at the back but as a whole great performance from our defenders. Surprisingly Mangala produced a fantastic performance as did Sagna who was a huge surprise to me on the night so well done to them. One good performance means nothing though in the long run so keep it up lads.

Kompany had a good game too so well done there, our lads just need to build their confidence up again. I believe that has been the thorn in our defensive frailty, our lads just need to kick on from here and fight to be crowned the best.

Still believe we need better left backs, sorry but Kolarov and Clichy do not cut it for me. Right wing is another area but hopefully we will plug that hole with Kevin De Bruyne soon. Then there's the ever talked about center back position, our center backs put on a good performance against West Brom but I still believe we need a proven European powerhouse center back, but honestly I just have this feeling that unless a new manager was to arrive then I just don't see us buying a new center back until Demichelis retires or leaves.

On that note I feel the need to highlight one big issue, right now Manchester City are still not the finished article. To be the finished article we have to have two world class or potentially world class players in every position, for that to happen time and patience is required. A large piece of that puzzle is our World Class academy to be, a regular injection of talent is required year in and year out into our first team just like Barcelona and Real Madrid etc. Two or three youth players per season capable of stepping up is sustainability, once Manchester City achieve that we will be on our way to being unstoppable.

But more pressing matters are at the forefront of my thinking, at left back we have two OK players who are clearly giving us all they have which isn't enough in the long run. They have to be thanked for their contribution and I believe they have been thanked and appreciated by our fans and club to date, been given the chance to play for City, the opportunity for great success in their careers with City and made a good living out of Manchester City. But I feel it's time for them to move on and make way for a proven world class left back and for Angelino to step up when he's done at NYCFC.

On that note and despite the good performance from Mangala last night, I feel we still need a solid world class center back. Our Captain Kompany is 29 so we're looking at roughly 4 or 5 more years, Demichelis is 34 years old. We're ok with Mangala and Denayer but we need an already established senior like Nicolas Otamendi or Diego Godin to plug the incoming hole.

With a bit of luck our right wing position will be solved by the hopeful capture of Kevin De Bruyne, I think all the news that have come out of Wolfsburg lately is nothing more than a club protecting their own interests. They've been playing this one down and denying reports left, right and center, but the media have never let go to date. I never believed a word Wolfsburg said, they claimed there were no bids from City, but they failed to mention whether or not there were any communication between the two clubs. Here's how I think it went down.

Manchester City contacted Wolfsburg inquiring about Kevin
Wolfsburg said no he's not for sale
The Media hype up the potential transfer
Word gets out to Kevin and his head is turned
The Media claim City have made a bid with no evidence
Wolfsburg denied a bid existed
Wolfsburg fail to state they had any communication with City
Kevin has to push for a move so Manchester City can come back to the table with a bid
Not forgetting that there's a player agent counting the cookies who's probably been secretly baiting the media.

So after highlighting this it's quite scary how much of an unfinished article we really are, scary that we have the best attacking force in the English Barclay's Premier League and there's still huge room for improvement. We are a heck of a long way off Barcelona and Real Madrid but we can still mix with the best of them, everyone looks at our current progress in Europe as a failure, to me it's been nothing but a success.

Raheem Sterling will come good and only get better, he will make our left wing his own over the coming years, IF we manage to prize De Bruyne away we could well see him on our right flank interchanging with Sterling and our very own Magician David Silva playing in his preferred position behind the main striker, the same position he plays for Spain to most effect. He was at his best last night, so much so that the dirty West Brom player Yakob had to take a swipe at Silva twice and commit foul after foul on Merlin to try stop him. Merlin set up Kompany's goal and flicked on Yaya Toure's first shot on target. How Yakob never received a red card is beyond me, i'd say if I didn't know better and know match officials show more favour to the weaker team. Match referee Mike Dean is a disgrace to his profession, as are all referee's that do not show impartiality. In fact two of West Brom's players should have seen red.

Great game lads, keep up the good work and keep proving our haters and critics wrong.

The Future Is Blue

Give Pellegrini A Break?, Burnley Match Had It's Positives, Time To Move On

OK last week I was anchoring for Pellegrini's sack but after deeply emotional contemplation, I actually found myself questioning whether or not I was right to want the guy out. Despite the most recent facts and statistics stacked against Pellegrini, I had to remind myself how facts and statistics don't always tell the entire story.

Listening too and reading what other City fans had to say was interesting, I found seasoned fans were almost equally torn between keeping and sacking Pellegrini, interestingly enough though there were quite a few younger generation and newly acquired City fans in support of Pellegrini. So Walter Smith a City fan on BluemoonRising TV answered a few City fan tweets.



Walter makes some interesting and valid points but one thing I disagree with is questioning a fans loyalty and support just because you don't agree with their opinion.

Right now I believe Manuel Pellegrini to be the wrong man for City based on the fact we have been knocked out of the League Cup, FA Cup, Champions League and threw away not one but two great opportunities to catch up, even over take Chelsea and we blew it in Typical City style.

Pellegrini's timing and choice of substitutions have been very questionable this season and his inability to drop certain under performing players has been over whelming. When it was clear Vinny was not quite ready after coming back from injury Pellegrini threw him to the wolves, he even persisted with Edin Dzeko, a player who barely ever tracks back and can't defend to save his own skin. While we had a much better forward in Wilfried Bony unfairly rotting on the bench, Frank Lampards loan extension and all Pellegrini did was leave him on the bench?

OK a lot of our stars were under performing big time but the buck lies with Pellegrini at the end of the day.

Now so why am I questioning myself if I believe Pellegrini's not the man?, well a few factors spring to mind. The first being who could possibly replace him that would be a step up and not step down?

My two choices were Ancelotti and Simeone but both would be very hard to price away from their clubs right now without having to spend a lot of cash to acquire their services.

Then there's our players that have come out in support of Pellegrini, we can't ignore that vote of confidence.

Other factors are that Pellegrini doesn't have long left on his contract and we could be doing a lot worse so with that said, it makes sense to give Pellegrini a chance to right his wrongs and learn from his mistakes. Let him see out his contract and earn himself an extension but ultimately, if we lose the title this season to Chelsea then I probably won't be changing my mind.

Thus saving ourselves from having to pay out huge amounts of cash in compensation and a pay off.

TIOC supports you for now Mr Manuel Pellegrini and wishes you all the best in turning things around for City's sake and your own. Rome wasn't built in a day but then City aren't a day old.

P.s. bring some of our young lads through to the first team please, bring back Denayer, Iheanacho and Lopes and give them a good chance in the first team.

Wilfried Bony's First Start Was Unlucky, Real Reason Why Kompany Isn't The Kompany We Know

Anyone reading our blog will be well aware I'm not a huge fan of Edin Dzeko and Wilfried Bony's first start and performance for City against Leicester City, his positioning was almost perfection and he was lucky not to score as Schwarzer put in a very strong performance.

I strongly believe starting the match gave him time to settle in finally and find his feet and scoring touch. I'm in no doubt what so ever that given more starts he will get on the score sheet sooner rather than later, he made more goal scoring chances for himself in that one match than Dzeko ever does in five combined matches.

Unlike Dzeko who prefers to run the left channel, Bony runs both left and right channels and patrol the 18 yard area. Here's some statistics comparing both players.

2014/15

Appearances:           Bony 26  Dzeko 28
Minuted played:      Bony 1.462  Dzeko 1.412
Minutes per goal:    Bony 162'  Dzeko 235'
Assists:                    Bony 3  Dzeko 4
Goals:                      Bony 9  Dzeko 6

These statistics clearly show that Wilfried Bony is a better Center Forward than Edin Dzeko without any doubt what so ever. Add to that that Bony achieved these statistics with Swansea City, as opposed to Dzeko being surrounded by the likes of Silva, Aguero, Toure and co. Don't get me wrong Dzeko is a good forward but in my opinion not as good as Bony who also defends better than Dzeko, I just don't believe Dzeko is the right man for City anymore. Compared to Bony, Dzeko is defensively lazy, an opinion shared by many of our City fan readers. I only hope Pellegrini now continues to start Bony and surprise me enough to gain my support back, but that's also only going to happen if he also learns from his mistakes of playing a forward that can't defend against the likes of clubs like Barcelona and Liverpool and instead either play Bony who can defend playing in the hole behind Aguero or an extra man in midfield.

Well done to Leicester City for keeping the score low, they did themselves credit and I hope they can kick on and survive the drop if they keep playing like they did against us. I'm not completely convinced Pellegrini's the man for City, if he continues to refuse to balance attack with defense, continues to play 442 against big clubs and continues to rely on the unreliable Dzeko and continues to fail to come up with a plan B and C then he has to go.

Vincent Kompany, now why exactly is he struggling?

Although I am not a fan of Roberto Mancini anymore, under Bobby we had the best defense in England. I truly believe one reason why Kompany is suffering is because Pellegrini continues to do nothing but attack and play in the opponents half. Now Left Back is our weakest position and it seems every club we play attacks us more down the left than down the right. So Pellegrini has us playing high up the field which exposes Kompany and his defenders to counter attacks, our midfielders are left back tracking all the time against the fast teams like Barcelona and Liverpool.

While Pellegrini insists on sticking to just one style of play, our defenders will continue to struggle and suffer, especially when they only have back up in the form of just one defensive midfielder in favor of two forwards against dangerous opposition. Everyone's figured us out and parks the bus playing counter attacking football and quite frankly, Pellegrini is looking naive, ignorant and arrogant.

Being out injured did Kompany no favors either, so it was inevitable that he would struggle especially by being exposed by his manager. I don't blame Kompany for the situation we find ourselves in, although a lot of our players have under performed, I strongly believe it's because Pellegrini has been running them into the ground by forcing them to play high up the field attacking at pace for 90 odd minutes all the time, the only time our lads get a break and slow down is when we are on the back foot and under pressure.

Some of you will probably see me as a Pellegrini hater but that couldn't be further from the truth. When he arrived I was excited, it's only this season that I've seen a side of him I don't like. His reluctance to get us playing like a world beater, As I said we have no plan B or C, we never play on the counter attack. I find nothing more frustrating than watching us counter attack as slow as we do, allowing even the weaker of teams plenty of time to get back into position and it's quite frankly sad with the players we have.

I would much rather we play a balanced game than attack attack attack, winning trophies and titles is a bonus and should come second. If Pellegrini woke up this morning and said to himself  'I'm going to learn from my mistakes, get my team back on track and create a plan B. Get my players playing a few different styles and make us Champions of Europe' then I'd back him to the hilt and he will have won my support back. Unfortunately I don't see that happening, but it's up to him to prove me wrong.

Right now I'm a big fan of Diego Simeone of Athletico Madrid, what he's done makes that grey haired muppet at Chelsea look average. I've watched and studied him closely over the past 6 odd months and I see no weakness in his armoury. OK his English isn't great to my knowledge but it's not like he can't learn from the best, half of our players speak Spanish, Portuguese or Brazilian anyway.

If Pellegrini does end up messing up completely and find himself sacked, then I sincerely hope Simeone is the man to replace him. Either way I'd be happy with a reformed Pellegrini or Simeone.

One thing I am in know doubt about though is, I'm not a fan of Edin Dzeko.

Drop Dzeko Now, Start Bony Or I'm Calling For Your Head If We Lose Our Title Pellegrini

I'VE HAD ENOUGH Mr Manuel Pellegrini, prior to your arrival we had one Roberto Mancini who failed to do anything but concentrate on defending. Now we have you concentrating on only attacking and quite frankly, I'm sick to death of it and your inept ability to not learn from humiliating lessons and losing. Who suffers more for these pathetic and avoidable losses, we do the fans and I'll be calling for your head if we fail in both the Champions League and fail to retain our title.

 My pro Mancini season card holding aunt was against you joining us because she was against Mancini leaving, but I wasn't so forgiving of Mancini and truly believed you would bring balance to Manchester City. However you have failed to do that and right now I'm more humiliated and depressed than I was when Mancini lost the FA Cup and League title, we haven't even lost anything yet other than a morale sapping humiliation at the hands of Liverpool and an embarrassing performance and loss at the hands of Barcelona.

 I haven't forgotten my roots, our clubs roots and where we were when we were shit, but that should have no impact on my way of thinking right now. Our football club is now one of the biggest in Europe, the world even and we should expect more considering the facts. We have a multi million pound first team squad and we pull in well over 40 thousand fans on match day which is due to rise. It Wouldn't be fair to add our multi million pound academy in to the equation, due to not reaping the rewards as of yet. But City fans have a right to expect more than just humiliation, after all it is us fans that pay the clubs wages along side sponsors, some of who also end up being fans.

 Let me get a few things straight, like many of our fan base I am more than capable of accepting loss. So long as we fought with pride in battle, so long as we gave our all and can hold our heads up high. We don't need titles and trophies, all we need is our pride and dignity preserved, our clubs pride and dignity preserved. It's blatantly obvious that you Mr Pellegrini have failed me and many other City fans by being ignorant and closed minded, you seem to think we can arrogantly stand up to any club in Europe playing nothing but attacking football with two forwards. ARROGANTLY, that is not who Manchester City are, that is not in the blood of us seasoned City fans.

 A few City fans may point to the fact we are still in the title hunt, the Champions League and still have a chance, but I'm not one to ignore our failings based on just optimism and hope. Lets be honest while we are at it, I highly doubt there are many seasoned City fans like me believing we can win the Champions League at this rate, so we honestly only see the Premier League as our last chance saloon. So when you Mr Pellegrini and our multi million pound first team continue to put in pathetic performances like against Barcelona and Liverpool it just makes me soooooooooooooooo frustrated and deflated.

 Playing two forwards against Barcelona, what the bloody hell were you thinking, continuing to play Edin Dzeko who has zero ability to successfully defend and tackle, what were you thinking? I have to blame our fan base partly for this, they constantly sing Dzeko's name like he's some legend, how often does he come up with the goods? This season he has been useless, yes useless and it wasn't until we purchased Wilfried Bony that Dzeko started putting more effort in. Lets face it Dzeko had no worries with the constantly injured Jovetic as competition, there was no pressure to up his game at all. We're sitting on a new £30 odd million striker who scores far more goals than Dzeko and you Mr Pellegrini keep choosing Edin bloody Dzeko. In fact I'll be calling for your sacking Mr Pellegrini and Mr Dzeko's sacking if this continues.

At least in Wilfried Bony, the man can track back and tackle successfully, at least he can slot in to midfield when needed and score more goals than Edin Dzeko. The rot is setting in and too many of our best players are going missing, Vincent Kompany is a shadow of himself ignoring criticism like he's just having a bloody off day when we're losing the title race. Yaya Toure has clearly left himself back in Africa with his trophy, poor display against Liverpool. I can point to so many things wrong at City right now that it's soul destroying, watching the Liverpool game was like watching us back in the Championship 'typical City'. And we thought we got the monkey off our back? My mind is saying Pellegrini out, the first thoughts that come to the forefront are why have we just purchased Wilfried Bony to sit on a bench?', why can't Pellegrini see that playing the likes of Dzeko against strong teams is quite frankly suicidal.

In fact while I'm at it I think Edin Dzeko is far too over rated, he only ever turns up at important moments to score goals and half the time fails to score anyway. Mancini used him as a super sub to great effect, now Pellegrini is using him as a starter to extremely little effect. I'd much rather have a 20 goal striker like Wilfried Bony who can tackle over Edin Dzeko any day. My aunt also says Dzeko deserves slack because he's come up with the goods in the past just like Mancini, sorry but I see the bigger picture and Edin Dzeko doesn't even fit in with our philosophy or style of play.

 If you Mr Pellegrini do not adapt and come up with a plan B and C, if we fail to win the title, well I'm sorry but I'm calling for your sacking and for Edin Dzeko's sacking without a second thought. It may fall on deaf ears but I will be happy for doing so non the less. Right now I'd say Diego Simeone for Manchester City, now he's a man who knows about balance. Proven track record at a big club and stuck it too the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona. He may have just signed a new contract but every man and club has a price, no one is untouchable, not even Lionel Messi.

TIOC's Lineup Vs Liverpool FC, Opinion And Prediction

My thoughts behind this 451 formation is that when we defend, Wilfried Bony and Yaya Toure would slot back in, either side of Fernandinho. Pushing Liverpool out wide, while Nasri, Aguero and Silva roam in front and out wide thus suffocating Liverpool becoming effectively a 433. When we attack we quickly become a 451 or 442, this is how I believe we should play in all matches and this in my opinion is our strongest current line up with the exception of left back. I believe our weakest position is left back and I see no reason to drop Kompany because it would only effect us badly, he will eventually come good and he now realizes he's on the ropes and needs to up his game now before it's too late. The more criticism he gets the more he will push on, criticism should always be used as extra motivation in all walks of life. My prediction for the Liverpool game is Liverpool 1 Manchester City 3, Aguero, Bony and Yaya to score.

Why Couldn't City Win Without Yaya, Fortune Is Finally Shining Bright At City

Why have Manchester City struggled to win without Yaya Toure present, although we got our first win without Yaya Toure this season against Stoke. The past games have been disappointing with Fernando and Fernandinho in midfield, as of yet Fernando has achieved nothing to justify why we bought him. Fernandinho is a shadow of the player he was last year, Nasri being out injured has clearly been one factor that added to Yaya's absence and our struggles, David Silva has also been out injured so justifiably hasn't been anywhere near his magical form until now, Lampard is another question, why loan him if we aren't going to use him in the absence of Yaya Toure?  Navas is finally finding good form but until now had been appalling, James Milner has been a shining light in an otherwise dark moment for City and pretty much single-handedly kept us in the title ace for sure.

Sergio is back from injury and only just finding his form which is also understandable, Dzeko has barely started one match since October. Stevan Jovetic has been injured a fair bit but has also disappointed, being dropped from the Champions League was harsh but someone had to make way. It was only ever going to be Jovetic or Dzeko, Jovetic's injury record evidently came back to haunt him.

Vinnie has been poor by his very high standards to date, One definitive reason why we have struggled. Luckily for City and us City fans we've weathered the worst of the season, finally our players are starting to find form at the right time and pull it together, with Yaya Toure back and the exciting addition of Wilfried Bony finally arriving we are well on our way to take the fight to Chelsea.

Yaya has the uncanny ability to thread thread perfect passes through to the likes of Silva in the hole, he also links up well with Zabba making those runs in behind the full back. Fernandinho has attempted to take on this roll since Yaya has been away but he's struggled to find the right pass.

The other problem this season is that teams were finding a way to frustrate us by getting well organised and defending deeper by parking the bus, leaving us very little space to get in behind between the defenders and the goalkeeper. I know this is a dangerous game plan but it's making it difficult to get our attacking players goal side which is our strength. On many occasions we were limited to shooting from outside the box,which Yaya does best. We need to find a way to draw opponents out since they park the bus against us at home and sometimes away. Cough,Cough Chelsea.

I and CiTyBlUe are in agreement that we desperately need a plan B and C, CiTyBlUe is of the mind that Wilfried Bony will give us a plan B. We are also in agreement that our failings have not just been down to Yaya Toure being absent, but more that our players have been out of form and we have been dealt a few too many very bad decisions by match officials.

What's your opinion?, have your say.

Karma's A Bitch, A.S.Roma And CSKA Moscow Pay For It, Manchester City Show There's No I In Team

First of all I'd like to say to my readers, apologies for the inactivity due to personal reasons but if any City fans wish to contribute then get in contact via thisxisxourxcity@gmail.com.

I seem to recall our official City tweeter tempting fate by highlighting Totti's lack of goals on English soil, well that came back to haunt us but then Roma's arrogance fired back and boy did it back fire on a big scale being knocked out of the Champions League by liccle old City.

Roma tweeted in return "Thanks for the hospitality last night @mcfc. Looking forward to seeing you in Rome. You've never won a European game in Italy, have you?"

No we hadn't and might I add especially not without our Captain Kompany, not without our Silva Wizard, not without our star striker Sergio Sergio and not without our Midfield Titan Yaya Toure.

Wait a minute didn't we just knock out Roma without the spine of our team, so no more A.S. Roma and see you next season if you qualify.

The next one is just sheer golden satisfaction at it's best, the one and only CSKA Moscow well well well.

I seem to recall them showing our club and players nothing but utter contempt and disrespect, I seem to remember Uefa reducing their punishment for RACISM. I also seem to recall Uefa allowing them to allow fans into the home game against Manchester City despite having a stadium wide ban.

There were also reports that they failed to provide adequate sustenance for our players after the match, after Yaya Toure reported CSKA fans for racism their club decided to deny the racism and support their blatantly guilty fan base.

In a way Sergio being out of action worked in our favour, it gave our lads the opportunity to finally face palm all our critics and shut up the anti City brigade once and for all.

Branding us a one man team, claiming all we have is a team of money grabbing mercenaries who don't play for the shirt. We have no soul and will never be as big as the rags, well they may be right with the later one. We have the potential to eventually be even bigger, our critics and opponents are either in awe of our new academy facilities or completely jealous and dismissive aka Jose Moronho who thinks Chelsea are the only club to produce successful youth players, apparently we don't?

I could go on and on but I'll leave it there as you get my drift, our lads really did do themselves, our club proud tonight. Tonight has to be up there with our title wins and cup wins, may not be as dramatic a feel but up there non the less. Pablo Zabaleta you never let us down and just keep on getting better and better, already a City Legend. Those 1500ish City fans were fantastic again as usual, for most of the match all I could hear were our fans in full voice, in not exactly a small stadium might I add.

If anyone fails to take us seriously now, they are either stupid or both stupid and bitter. Either way we don't care cos we're not really here. Special thanks to Samir Nasri, you rarely get the credit you deserve and have put those loud mouth Arsenal fans right in their place tonight.

Rat Face Gary Neville had us down for a 1-1 draw and possibly out of the Champions League, looking forward to his post match opinion.

Onwards and upwards, Comon City.

Is Dani Alves Naive And Reckless?, City Have To Avoid Last Three Huge Banana Skins

First of all before I embark on Brazilian International Defender Dani Alves, it must be stressed that I am in no way racist and I support Kick It Out 100%. So lets talk about what I believe is both naive and reckless, a Banana was recently thrown in the direction of FC Barcelona's Dani Alves. His response was to pick up the Banana, peel back the skin and start eating it, what message he was trying to send is any ones guess.

Vincent Kompany's wife and a radio presenter as far as I'm aware, praised Alves for what she believes was a positive action against Racism?. I don't believe eating the Banana proves anything or makes any kind of statement against Racism.

All this does is open up the opportunity for some low life scum bag to cause serious harm, Alves was lucky that Banana wasn't laced with drugs or poison. Lets not believe that every football player on the planet has intelligence and an education, I sincerely hope that no other player ever attempts the same level of stupidity that Alves performed.

Yes I do have a hidden agenda here, after Alves insulted our club in the run up to our first leg against FC Barcelona not so long ago. But that doesn't mean I'm wrong, and he certainly does deserve criticism for his actions.

On that note Alves has been linked with a move to Manchester City on too many occasions for my liking, I sincerely hope he never arrives and gets the opportunity to play for us. Long gone are the days when we bought in over the hill veterans, I do not want to see this happen for City any more.

Sooooo EVERTON, Aston Villa and West Ham? Lets face the fact that they are all good teams able to throw a spanner in the works. Three Banana skins we need to avoid, but who poses the biggest threat?

Despite Everton being our bogey team I'd say Aston Villa is the biggest of the three remaining matches for us. Followed by West Ham United purely based on the fact they are both still not safe from relegation just yet, but all that may change. Everton however are in a tricky situation, as on the one hand they are trying to pinch the last Champions League spot from Arsenal. On the other hand they would have to do Liverpool a huge favour in the title race and be credited by Liverpool should they win the title, that would hurt any clubs fans. This has to be the most competitive title race in my 38 year life time, if City win this seasons title it has to go down as the greatest ever title win in Premier League history.

So I don't think we have any easy games at all, but we have a squad more than capable of winning all three without any doubt and our lads are well up for it.

Keep the Faith!

Our Season Still A Success Despite Loss to Clattenburg FC And Possibly No Title

It doesn't get any more simple than the fact luck ran out on us, unlucky that Micah Richards would clash with our captain Kompany in training. Unlucky that Yaya would depart with an injury at the most important point in our title chasing campaign, Unlucky that we had our top goal scorer out for most of the season, I honestly believe that if Aguero never got injured he would have blown Sturridge and Suarez away and we may have well have already wrapped up the title.

Come the end of the season if it wasn't to be then we can thank one person for that, his name is Mark Clattenburg who has to be the worst referee to ever officiate for the English top flight. If anyone it was Clattenburg that beat Manchester City and not Liverpool, if they win the title Liverpool can thank their lucky stars Clattenburg helped them win it. 

Keys decisions that went against Manchester City were the failed sending off of Luis Suarez for diving, after an initial yellow card for a prior offence. The failed booking of Sakho for his dangerous tackle on Dzeko, resulting in no penalty despite the fact Dzeko went down easy to avoid an injury.

Then there was Henderson's two footed challenge on Milner which was absolutely disgraceful despite Henderson making contact with the ball. It was clear to see Henderson was intending to follow through on Milner, as he quietly fist punched the air with a 'take that' expression.  This is one reason why the likes of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales will never achieve anything, English, British players have no respect for each other's well being and allow loyalty to their club to cloud their better judgement.

And last but not least the dirtiest player currently plying his trade in the top flight, step up to the plate Mr Skrtel. How he gets away with it all the time is beyond baffling, it's like watching UFC and football at the same time. Then came the blatant hand ball incident where he punched the ball away from Garcia if I recall correctly, thus resulting in a second penalty call that Clattenburg failed to officiate correctly.

But at the end of the day apparently these things even themselves out during the course of a season, something I'm not quite sure is true when at times it can cost a club a title or survival but hey ho there you go.

On the upside we're about to smash Man  United's 51 year old record set by the Busby Babes, all we need is two more goals and we enter the record book as the club who scored the most goals in a single season.

We have some promising young players about to try break into the first team over the next season or two, most notably Dutch Left Central Defender Karim Rekik,  should Clichy or Kolarov depart, or if Lescott leaves and we don't replace him then Rekik will do just fine. Welsh Midfielder Emyr Huws also, Huws will count towards our home grown quota and has impressed of late and looks a promising young player indeed.

Poor officiating continues to be something that is top of my agenda to date, but I'm not going to let them ruin the entire season for me and I'll look on the bright side instead as should you. I just hope our club can weed out the weak ones and replace with competent, name no names and excluding those who have had horrid times with injury.

Mistakes were made and our luck ran out but the title fight is not over yet and there's still hope, so I'll prepare myself for next season while I watch the end of the show but should we fail to top the league there's always next season.

With that covered I must say Brendan  Rodgers claims that Liverpool are doing it the right way are both naive, ignorant and unintelligent to say the least. Liverpool have spent millions over the last so many seasons under the radar of Chelsea, Manchester City & Man United. IF they win the title then to suggest they won it the right way, would be ludicrously incorrect and ignorant. In fact once they qualify for the Champions League, I'll be watching how they cope with the FFP considering the financial mess they are in off the field.

Until then lets enjoy the fact our owner has helped us take yet another step towards financial sustainability with the development of our EDS and Under 18's teams flourishing with top young talent.

Improved progression in Europe, yet another season of Champions League football. A League Cup in the cabinet, A good manager in Mr Pellegrini who has had a full season to work out who does and who doesn't cut the mustard. Two competent men at the helm who know what they're doing and continue to improve us, as well as our stadium being built larger to accommodate growing demand for season cards and still our fans get more value for money than any other club in the country.

It's only a matter of time before we get it right without the help of luck and with the ability to beat official's like Clattenburg and Co on a regular basis.

P.s. If you think Sturridge is good, wait until you see who else we've produced at youth level.

#askvincent, Q&A Time For Kompany After Saturdays Game Against Blackburn Rovers

For the first time City fans will be able to ask defencive talisman Vincent Kompany any question.

At approximately 8pm, after our home game against Blackburn on Saturday, Vincent will be holding a live interview with all of the questions coming from his TWITTER followers.

What you have to do?

Follow @VincentKompany & @mcfc on Twitter once the game has kicked off, tweet your questions on either twitter by adding #askvincent before your question.

Alternatively post your questions on the official MCFC Facebook page Here not forgeting to add #askvincent, after the game Vincent Kompany will pick the best ones to answer so make it count.

Tune into the #askvincent live tab on the official MCFC Facebook Fan page.

You can also tune into live.mcfc.co.uk or youtube.com/mcfcofficial

What will you #askvincent?

Northern Sports Awards 2011: Vote For Kompany, Mancini And Manchester City FC

Manchester City's FA Cup winning team, Roberto Mancini and Vincent Kompany are all nominated for the Northern Sports Award, without a shadow of any doubt they all deserve to beat ex lax Ferguson and his rag tag bunch of over rated ego's.

Have your vote and support the lads HERE

Rosler On The Ball, Kompany For Captain, Kia Blaming City And Dzeko Wants In

City legend Uwe Rosler has joined us in stating Carlos Tevez should be stripped of his captaincy.

Stunned by Tevez's behaviour Rosler told Radio Manchester: "I like players who want to play for the manager. I would let him go as long as the price is right. City have to get the money back for him.

"They are fortunately in a very good position regarding the owners and replacing Tevez. In the long term it is important that every player is totally committed to City.

Who better to take the captaincy than Vincent Kompany, some are and were calling for Nigel Dejong to be named captain including me but I have had a change of opinion and think Vincent Kompany is the ideal choice.

Dejong has enough pressure already without handing him the captaincy, being our brick wall he is front of the queue and first in the firing line for the famous red card. A captain should command from the back and have a clear view of what is going on in the game, this only strengthens the choice of making a center back the capitan and we have no better candidate than Vincent Kompany.

The Carlos Tevez saga rumbles on and now his agent, Kia Joorabchain has chosen to blame City for the situation. According to Kia, Carlos Tevez was promised certain things that have not been delivered by the club, Carlos has been paid his wages and been allowed to jet off and visit his family when requested so what more could have been promised exactly?

As far as I am concerned the only possible promise that has not been delivered to date is the fact that we missed out on the Champions League last season, Tevez has done nothing since then but promise us that he is happy and not going anywhere. If promises have been broken then it is Carlos that has broke them, as far as I am concerned City have done nothing but help Tevez all we can.

City need to start kicking agents to the curb and I for one will be happy to see Carlos Tevez leave City, after all he is not the only world class striker out there.

If this rumour is to be believed and its not far from believable then we are in luck, for one striker is crying out to play for us.

Step up one Edin Dzeko, it has been revealed that Wolfsburg striker Dzeko sent a letter to senior executives at Manchester City FC, expressing his admiration for City and his gratitude for their efforts to buy him in the last transfer window.

Lets hope City do what it takes to bring Dzeko to Manchester, with that said Vincent Kompany has confirmed there is no disharmony at Manchester City FC.

We need all players on board and willing to play for City rather than players throwing demands around and having strops, It is time to up root the rot and replace with fresh seeds before it ruins our season.

Vincent Kompany Is The Answer To Manchester City's Dilemma, The Perfect Partner For Kolo Toure

With Nigel De Jong showing strong performances and Lescott struggling to make his place along side Toure his own, Vincent Kompany is back from injury putting in a good 90 minutes for City's reserves along side Michael Johnson.

What better partner in the centre of defence along side Toure than Vinnie Kompany, will Mark Hughes be blind to such a logical move or will he push Joleon Lescott into his prefered position at left-back and surprise us?

A back four of Zabaleta, Toure, Kompany and Lescott supported by De Jong is surely to work well and solve our wobbly defending. Kompany being 6ft4 would be a most welcomed addition to Shay Given.

What are your opinions on this?