A "Kinky" Comeback

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Wednesday 27th January 2016 – Manchester City v Everton (Premier League)

Before the game, the two Clubs announced that City midfielder Humberto would be moving to Everton on loan for the rest of the season. He is obviously unavailable for selection today.

MCFC Starting XI – Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany, Varane, Ramon; De Rossi, Toure; El Shaarawy, Nasri, Nem; Cavani SUBS – Forster, Richards, Nastasic, Milner, Zurak, Pereyra, Aguero

Everton Starting XI – Howard, Brayford, Jagielka, Heitinga, Taylor; Coleman, Colback, Smallwood, Oviedo; Gibson, Jelavic SUBS – Taudul, Celustka, Stearman, Lallana, Mirallas, Duffy, Browning

City’s failure to put games to bed has come back to haunt them again today as a late Everton goal has cost them two points in a game they have dominated. City twice took the lead and both times were pegged back by a resolute Everton team. El Shaarawy made his debut for City and played well for 50 minutes before being substituted after picking up a slight knock.

Final Score – Manchester City 2 (Nem 47, Cavani 74) Everton 2 (Mirallas 53, Taylor 88)

MOTM – Wellington Nem

Attendance – 56.995

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Saturday 30th January 2016 – Manchester City v Sunderland (Premier League)

MCFC Starting XI – Hart, Richards, Kompany, Nastasic, Ramon; De Rossi, Milner; El Shaarawy, Aguero, Pereyra; Marcio Roberto SUBS – Forster, Zabaleta, Varane, Toure, Zurak, Nem, Cavani

Sunderland Starting XI – Mignolet, Clyne, Batth, Cahill, Kilgallon; Diakite, Huddlestone; Johnson, Dockal, Larson; Fletcher SUBS – Westwood, Lowton, Sviatchenko, Dyer, Hooper, Silvio, Diarra

City have had trouble putting games to bed recently but had no such trouble today as the game was settled inside 30 minutes. City started very brightly and could have had the lead within 40 seconds but it didn’t take them much longer as Marcio Roberto put City 1 up in 3 minutes, Aguero then doubled that lead after 8 minutes with a shot from the edge of the box. Aguero then made it 3-0 after 20 minutes when he twisted and shot inside the box, and the game was completely over when a well worked free kick led to Nastasic smashing home from 12 yards.

Final Score – Manchester City 4 (Marcio Roberto 3, Aguero 8, 21, Nastasic 32) Sunderland 0

MOTM – Sergio Aguero

Attendance – 56,839

Man this is absolutely beast! Keep up the goodd work man

Unlucky to draw against Everton but a great way to bounce back from it! Keep going strong

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Manager’s Jaunary Review

A great month for us as we won 3 and drew 1, and the game we drew we really should have won but conceded a late equaliser. A victory away at Chelsea was a high point of the month and the final game of the month against Sunderland showed the rest of the league that we can win convincingly.

In the FA Cup we played Watford in the 3rd round and the return of Edinson Cavani was a boost for the game and he wasted no time scoring on his comeback as he opened the scoring after just 2 minutes and we won 3-1. In the 4th round we played League 1 Barnsley and made hard work of it and it took two goals from Varane to send us through.

My player of the month goes to Raphael Varane. He has played in all but one of the games this month and has been impressive in both, pushing out my player of the year for the past 2 seasons Matija Nastasic in the process. He also scored two goals in the FA Cup 4th round victory over Barnsley. A special mention also goes to Juan Ramon who won the Premier League Young Player of the Month award.

I am delighted to also add that I received the Manager of the Month award for our performances this month. As always it is a team effort and I couldn’t do it without the great team that I have and the brilliant staff members at the Club, especially my assistant Colin Calderwood who has been brilliant all year after replacing Brian Kidd.

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Deadline Day/Transfer Window

Another frantic January transfer window and money has been flying around like Club’s couldn’t wait to get rid of it. Real Madrid started the crazy spending on the first day by splashing out £22.5m on Luis Suarez from Manchester City, and City weren’t going to be seen as shy during this window as they have already spent the money received by spending £21m on Stephan El Shaarawy.

Deadline Day 14:30 – Manchester City Sign Mattia Destro

Its deadline day and Manchester City manager Georgi Kinkladze can’t help but spend money again, this time completing the £32.5m signing of Italian striker Mattia Destro. After selling Luis Suarez earlier in the window City were expected to make a move for a striker and Destro has been mentioned by Kinkladze a number of times this month but it has taken until the final day for the deal to be completed.

Destro has been in great form for Fiorentina this season, following on from his great year last season, scoring 7 goals in 15 games. Destro leaves Fiorentina after 2 and half years, having scored 41 goals in 79 appearances for the Serie A side.

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Deadline Day 15:15 – Marcio Roberto Moves To AC Milan On Loan

Following the signing of Mattia Destro, Manchester City’s 18 year old Brazilian striker Marcio Roberto has moved to Serie A giants AC Milan on loan for the rest of the season. Marcio Roberto has appeared 8 times in the Premier League this year and has scored 2 goals, and both him and City will be hoping he gets a few games in Italy to improve his football even more.

Transfer Window Review

The two Manchester Club’s made massive moves in this January transfer window, firstly City made two massive signings by splashing out £21m on Stephan El Shaarawy and then following it up with the £32.5m transfer of Mattia Destro on deadline day. For United they made one big move and spent £43.5m on Porto striker Victor Ibarbo, on signing Ibarbo, Manchester United released 32 year old Dutch striker Robin van Persie.

While in Europe, Real Madrid splashed out £22.5m on Manchester City man Luis Suarez and former Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini raded Ajax by signing 4 of their players for a combined total of £27.5m, the players are Serero, Sulejmani, Sigborsson and Siem de Jong.

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Destro should prove a great signing

Great signing and well done getting Manager of The Month

EDIT: My 1300th Post

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Tuesday 2nd February 2016 – West Bromwich Albion v Manchester City (Premier League)

MCFC Starting XI – Hart, Richards, Kompany, Varane, Fanchone; Milner, Gaimaro; Nasri, Aguero, Nem; Cavani SUBS – Forster, Zabaleta, Charles, Toure, Silva, El Shaarawy, Destro

WBA Starting XI – Foster, Simpson, Pearce, Stepanenko, Jakobsen; Yacob, Denilson, Mulumbu; Brunt, McGeady; Torje SUBS – Amos, Almeback, Rangel, Diskerud, Kadrii, Daniels, Ridgewell

Manchester City just knew it wasn’t going to be there day from the 14th minute. They completely dominated the game but couldn’t manage the breakthrough, and the day was made difficult after 14 minutes when both Richards and Gaimaro were forced off injured. City pushed for the goal and when Aguero had to go off with 10 minutes to go and they had no subs left they just knew it wasn’t going to be there day. It was made even worse when with 2 minutes to go new signing Destro thought he’d scored the winner but it was unfairly ruled out for offside. Both Richards and Aguero will only be out for few days, but Gaimaro will miss around 3 weeks with a twisted ankle.

Final Score – West Bromwich Albion 0 Manchester City 0

MOTM – James Milner

Attendance – 31,020

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Sunday 7th February 2016 – Arsenal v Manchester City (Premier League)

MCFC Starting XI – Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany, Nastasic, Ramon; De Rossi, Toure; Nasri, Silva, Nem; Cavani SUBS – Forster, Varane, Fanchone, Milner, El Shaarawy, Aguero, Destro

Arsenal Starting XI – Szczesny, Corchia, Koscielny, Dragovic, Marcelo; M’Vila, Lucas; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Wilshere, Cazorla; Llorente SUBS – Fabianski, Armero, Gustavo, Giroud, Mertesacker, Coquelin, Henderson

City came to the Emirates hoping to heap even more misery on Rafa Benitez and Arsenal and they did just that. Twice taking the lead and being pegged back, it took a third goal from Edinson Cavani to secure the three points for City and keep them in touch with league leaders Manchester United. Arsenal however are struggling in mid-table and Benitez can’t have much longer left at the Emirates.

Final Score – Arsenal 2 (Llorente 27, Oxlade-Chamberlain 68) Manchester City 3 (Nastasic 8, De Rossi 65, Cavani 75)

MOTM – Matija Nastasic

Attendance – 60,361

Nice result at the Emirates! You're doing very well

2013-05-23 21:45#104366 Justice : Nice result at the Emirates! You're doing very well

Cheers mate, unfortunately for me, so are United lol

Benitez at Arsenal? Well done for beating them, but unlucky against West Brom

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Saturday 13th February 2016 – Manchester City v Newcastle United (FA Cup 5th Round)

MCFC Starting XI – Forster, Richards, Charles, Nastasic, Fanchone; Barry, Milner; El Shaarawy, Zurak, Bale; Destro SUBS – Hart, Ramon, Kompany, Toure, Nem, Nasri, Aguero

Newcastle Starting XI – Krul, Montoya, Caulker, Taylor, Bertrand; Lennon, McCarthy, Mavuba, Gutierrez; Ayew, Ba SUBS – Sifakis, Olsson, Santon, Cabaye, Cisse, Harnik, Dawson

Manchester City cruised comfortably into the Quarter-finals with a brilliant performance and a 3-0 win over Newcastle. It took just 20 minutes of his first start for Mattia Destro to score his first goal for City and you could see the delight on his face. Zurak doubled the lead 10 minutes later and the game was completely over with 10 minutes to go when substitute Samir Nasri scored the third. Disappointing news for City is that Gareth Bale will miss the rest of the season with a torn calf muscle.

In the Quarter-final City will face Wolves at the Al Mubarak Arena.

Final Score – Manchester City 3 (Destro 20, Zurak 32, Nasri 80) Newcastle United 0

MOTM – Andy Charles

Attendance – 44,554

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Wednesday 17th February 2016 – Manchester City v Juventus (Champions League 1st Knock-out stage 1st Leg)

MCFC Starting XI – Hart, Richards, Kompany, Nastasic, Ramon, De Rossi, Toure; Nasri, Aguero, Nem; Cavani SUBS – Forster, Zabaleta, Varane, Barry, Milner, El Shaarawy, Silva

Juventus Starting XI – Zieler, Anita, Bonucci, Papadopoulos, Chiellini; Marchisio, Vidal, Asamoah, Giovinco; Tevez, Falcao SUBS – Branescu, Masi, Albiol, Moutinho, Vucinic, Caceres, Giandonato

Manchester City dominated proceedings at the Al Mubarak Arena but will only take a small lead into the second leg in Turin. City at one stage had a 2 goal lead thanks to Aguero and El Shaaraway but a rare mistake from captain Vincent Kompany gave Falcao an opportunity he couldn’t turn down and meant Juventus scored a vital away goal.

Final Score – Manchester City 2 (Aguero 56, El Shaarawy 71) Juventus 1 (Falcao 79)

MOTM – Sergio Aguero

Attendance – 63,850

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Saturday 27th February 2016 – Manchester City v Wolverhampton Wanderers (Premier League)

MCFC Starting XI – Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany, Nastasic, Ramon; Milner, Toure; El Shaarawy, Aguero, Nem; Destro SUBS – Forster, Richards, Varane, De Rossi, Nasri, Silva, Cavani

Wolves Starting XI – Hennessey, Jovic, Berra, Dunk, Rodriguez; Chipclu, Henry, Karacan, Sako; Chamakh, Boakye SUBS – Frei, Hovland, Odoi, Schonbachler, Lambert, Simunovic, Johnson

Another game completely dominated by City, but again they could only manage one goal. Having stopped Wolves having a single shot on target it was just a waiting game to see if they could find the net and it took until the 65th minute for Stephan El Shaarawy to slot home the winner. Left back Juan Ramon will miss the next 3 weeks with a twisted ankle.

Final Score – Manchester City 1 (El Shaarawy 65) Wolverhampton Wanderers 0

MOTM – James Milner

Attendance – 56,493

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Manager’s February Review

With only 3 Premier League games this month it was important to pick up as many points as possible, and despite a 0-0 draw to start the month we have won our next two games. We are having trouble scoring goals which is a little disappointing and could be our downfall in the remaining months but hopefully we can improve and start putting games to bed earlier on.

In the FA Cup we cruised into the Quarter-finals with a very convincing 3-0 win over Newcastle at home and we will face Wolves in the next round with a chance of playing at Wembley in the Semi’s if we win. The Champions League also returned and we faced Juventus, who knocked us out last year, in the first leg at home and despite a strong performance we will only take a one goal lead to Turin which isn’t a great advantage.

My player of the month goes to Vincent Kompany. Despite a mistake in the Champions League game which led to their goal, he has been as commanding as ever at the back and continues to put in brilliant performances every time he pulls on a City shirt. He is a born leader and he will continue to lead the team into every game possible.

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Saturday 5th March 2016 – Manchester City v Burnley (Premier League)

MCFC Starting XI – Hart, Richards, Varane, Charles, Fanchone; Milner, Toure; Nasri, Silva, Nem; Destro SUBS – Forster, Zabaleta, Kompany, De Rossi, El Shaarawy, Aguero, Cavani

Burnley Starting XI – Ben Chrifia, Trippier, Barnett, Shackell, Lumb; Albrighton, McCann, Edgar, Hosny, Kusk; Austin SUBS – Grant, Hughes, Pereira, Marney, Ebanks-Blake, O’Neill, Dummigan

Another convincing performance from City sees them go level at the top with United, who lost 2-0 against Wolves earlier in the day. Despite taking the lead City were pegged back straight away after an error at the back, and it took a complete fluke in the second half from Nem when his cross curled into the far corner to give City the lead. Aguero then wrapped up the three points with a goal in the last 5 minutes.

Final Score – Manchester City 3 (Nasri 11, Nem 60, Aguero 87) Burnley 1 (Austin 14)

MOTM – Raphael Varane

Attendance – 57,141

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Tuesday 8th March 2016 – Juventus v Manchester City (Champions League 1st Knock-out Stage 2nd Leg)

MCFC Starting XI – Hart, Richards, Kompany, Nastasic, Zabaleta; De Rossi, Toure; El Shaarawy, Aguero, Nem; Cavani SUBS – Forster, Varane, Fanchone, Milner, Nasri, Blanco, Silva

Juventus Starting XI – Zieler, Anita, Bonucci, Papadopoulos, Chiellini; Asamoah, Marchisio, Moutinho; Giovinco; Falcao, Tevez SUBS – Leali, Quagliarella, Vucinic, Giandonato, Albiol, Ninis, Pogba

An unbelievable game in Turin. City took an early lead through Nem and held firm for the rest of the first half, but as the second half began it became more of a struggle for City as Juventus created more and more chances. With 65 minutes gone, former City man Carlos Tevez broke free and got Juventus back into it and City began to look tired and stretched all over the pitch and just when City thought they might get through Chiellini smashed home from a corner after a Richards error and the game was heading for extra time.

As extra time began there seemed like there was only one team with energy and all the momentum and that was Juventus, so it was no surprise when Vucinic curled home from 25 yards to put Juventus infront 5 minutes into extra time. Things got worse for City when just before half time a scramble in the box was eventually poked home by Giovinco and City had to go for it. With Richards up front and three at the back City pushed forward, El Shaarawy gave them hope with 10 minutes left when he made it 3-2 but City failed to create much more of a chance and go out in the 1st knock-out round.

Final Score – Juventus 4 (Tevez 65, Chiellini 86, Vucinic 95, Giovinco 101) Manchester City 2 (Nem 11, El Shaarawy 110) AET
Juventus win 5-4 on aggregate

MOTM – Sebastian Giovinco

Attendance – 41,000

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Sunday 13th March 2016 – Manchester City v Wigan Athletic (Premier League)

MCFC Starting XI – Hart, Richards, Varane, Charles, Nastasic; Milner, Zurak; Nasri, Silva, El Shaarawy; Aguero SUBS – Forster, Kompany, Renard, Toure, Nem, Blanco, Destro

Wigan Starting XI – Stech, Jenkinson, Hegazy, Ramis, Figueroa; Watson, Bryson; Routledge, Petrucci, Piazon; Morison SUBS – Al-Habsi, Perch, Golobart, Falk, Dicko, Fox, Fyvie

A magical performance from City’s “Merlin” David Silva sees them ease there way past Wigan today, and with United drawing 0-0 at Stoke, City move 2 points ahead in the title race. Silva was on form today and bagged his first ever hat-trick for City and was always on the ball for the whole time he was on the pitch. City can also credit Matija Nastasic for his great performance at left back as they were without Ramon, Zabaleta and Fanchone all through injury.

Final Score – Manchester City 4 (Silva 17, 47, 57, Nasri 54) Wigan Athletic 0

MOTM – David Silva

Attendance – 58,334

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Wednesday 16th March 2016 – Bristol City v Manchester City (Premier League)

In the Champions League game the night before, former Man City striker Edin Dzeko scored a hat-trick as Bayern Munich turned around a three goal deficit to knock Real Madrid out of the competition.

MCFC Starting XI – Hart, Richards, Kompany, Charles, Barry; De Rossi, Toure; El Shaarawy, Silva, Nem; Destro SUBS – Forster, Nastasic, Varane, Milner, Blanco, Aguero, Cavani

Bristol C Starting XI – Lillis, Tate, Andersen, Fontaine, Cunningham; Adomah, Skuse, Elliott, Yilmaz; Freeman, Sutton SUBS – Fraser, Kane, McGivern, Zugaj, Luongo, Debreceni, Adeyemi

For the third league game in a row City have stopped their opposition from having a single shot on target and again City secured another 3 points with an easy 2-0 victory over Bristol City. Another goal from Wellington Nem gave City the lead before January’s big money signing Destro curled in a stunning effort from the edge of the box to make it two.

Final Score – Bristol City 0 Manchester City 2 (Nem 23, Destro 39)

MOTM – Vincent Kompany

Attendance – 21,793