City Vox Pops, part 6.

Was wondering if we could try and put our fingers on what people think the problem is at the minute; is it unmotivated players, a lack of tactical nous from the manager, the system, confidence, stamina/fitness, organisation, a lack of leadership, simply a case of a much-changed squad bedding in, a bit of bad luck, all of the above or something different entirely?

Danny, Bitter & Blue
The current problems - if they are that - stem more from the three drawn home games than the recent run as a whole. In all three fixtures we have lost leads to toss away points from positions of advantage, and interestingly all in the latter stages.

It is easy to target individuals - Lescott, Hughes or whoever, but the problem for me is not selection, tactics or motivation but that we lack ruthlessness; namely in being able to kill games off or close out games in the manner that Chelsea or United are able to do. As a team we have not been in the position where we are used to doing this so to some degree it is part of the learning curve we are going through.

I think we are on the right path, and the margins between a good start and a very good start are not that huge. If we had won two of the recent seven games there would still be praise being handed out.

The end of 2009 will see us reach the half-way stage and by then we will have a far clearer idea of our expectations for the season, and what (if anything) needs rectifying to get where we need to be.

Jason, This Is Our City
I believe Hughes and his team have run out of steam. Against Liverpool Hughes allowed Bellamy and Wright-Phillips to play deep in our own half, obviously fearing an under-strength Liverpool would punish us, which in my opinion shows Hughes has no confidence in Bridge or Richards. Long balls were being fed to Adebayor and when the ball was knocked down no City player was around to receive.

I do not want this to sound anti-Hughes so want to add, i'd rather Hughes succeed and get us into the Champions League next season just to wipe the smug looks from the faces of our haters than see him leave but again Hughes showed his immaturity in the world of football management against Hull; he allowed City to bow to an average club's pressure once again instead of getting in the faces of our under performing players and egging them to take the fight to the bitter end. Instead clubs are bullying us into draws and our players are hesitating and stuttering.

I believe Hughes has done a sublime job so far on and off the field but I think he has done all he can. I'd love to see him prove me wrong until the end of the season but I just can not see it happening right now. Some of our players also are to blame, Richards for his under-performances, Lescott for his stuttering start in the centre of defence and Barry for not bringing what he did for Villa to City.

As a whole I keep finding myself coming back to Hughes to ultimately take the blame, I find these players would not be a problem if he did his job right. I am not saying I think I can do a better job but merely saying Hughes can do a better job with the resources he has at his disposal. For instance, Vincent Kompany is back fit and may I add that he is one of our taller defenders. Considering Lescott's stutter in the centre of defence and knowing he's stronger at left-back, why did Hughes not played Vincent Komapny along side Toure against Hull? Why is Hughes not playing Vladimir Weiss on the left and opting to play Bellamy when Bellamy is clearly more effective behind the front man Adebayor?

I ultimately think Hughes has shown all his cards and has nothing left in his portfolio, he's riding his luck from this point on.

Lloyd, Man City Issues
Personally, I think it is very difficult to put your finger on one particular reason, there are many things that have been effecting what we do of late.

I was beginning to warm to Mark Hughes at the start of the season when we went on a winning streak but I have now seen his main frailty. He is obviously a very good man manager who works out what makes players tick and he is not afraid of punishing the likes of Robinho and Elano when necessary. However, his biggest weakness is tactically, a couple of times this season he has put out an unbalanced team with the wrong formation. The main problem, though, is his substitutions – Hughes appears to only be able to change players like for like, he appears to have no Plan B.

This was clearly illustrated when we were being over-run in the midfield on Saturday, Jimmy Bullard was running the show and we were clearly missing Gareth Barry. All of the fans around me recognised that the likes of Kompany or Johnson needed to be brought on to shore up the midfield. Instead Hughes opted for to bring on Bellamy for Robinho and Santa Cruz for Adebayor. It was obvious what he was going to do. The only challenge to this would be when Hughes brought Carlos Tevez on at Anfield after sixty minutes to replace Gareth Barry, but this was a change that even he could not ignore.

The other problems are that we cannot hold onto leads - Fulham, Burnley, Liverpool & Hull. For God's sake, we are at home and should attack teams in a ruthless manner. And this leads me onto my next point. Another thing I have noticed, this time from our recent away performances is that we have decided to wait for our opponents to attack us before trying to attack them respectively.

We certainly have the talent to go out and ruthlessly attack a team from the word off as the Top four do. The most satisfying thing for me would be for City to take a team apart away from home and comprehensively beat them by three or four goals.

Wallace, ESPN Soccernet
None of the above. The club is missing Elano and his ability to pass into space anticipating the runs of his team mates. Over two seasons when Elano started the club won 50% of the time, but when he didn't that number falls to 25%. The Brazilians departure is even more pronounced because the club bought Barry and Adebayor, two players who are at their best running onto the ball.

It is no coincidence that Ireland, who thrives on that style of play, has struggled this season. City are lacking a player with vision. That one change/addition in January would cure a multitude of ills.

Jack, The Lonesome Death of Roy Carroll
I've written before that it is too simple to blame the defense. Yes, neither Kolo Touré nor Joleon Lescott have fully justified the monies spent on them, and defensive errors have cost us points (we gave away three penalties in November, which is an embarrassment!), but the problems run wider and deeper than just the defence.

The fact is that the late equalisers we have conceded recently should never have been equalisers, we should have killed the game by the 88th minute against Burnley and by the 82nd minute against Hull. When you remember how good our home record was last year you see that this is an area in which we have regressed, which is worrying to say the least.

And saying that, I would divert at least as much of the blame on to the Carlos Tévez/Emmanuel Adebayor partnership, which is at least as overpriced and under-performing as Kolo and Lescott at the back. The fact is that Adebayor has not played well once since the Arsenal game, and that Tévez's bright sparks fades in the shadow of his abject scoring record. This, I think, has been one of Hughes' main mistakes.

In the case of both Tévez and Adebayor (but particularly the latter) he was sucked in by a few good performances in recent years while ignoring other glaring issues regarding their consistency and temperament. Maybe he thought that an arm round the shoulder and £160,000 per week would get the best out of them. But so far he hasn't and it's costing us points.

Even then I'm not sure that simply getting the best (or, at least, better) out of our two strikers would solve the biggest issue. Which is that Hughes does not seem to have any sense of our best side or system. The decision to switch from 4-2-3-1 to 4-2-4 has marginalised Stephen Ireland (who is not Xabi Alonso, as much as we might hope otherwise) and unbalanced the team. At times we have switched back to 4-2-3-1 (Arsenal at home, Liverpool away) with some success as Nigel de Jong and Gareth Barry provide a better platform for Ireland than either does on their own.

The issue with this se-up is that it only allows three of Wright-Phillips, Bellamy, Robinho, Tévez and Adebayor to play. I would have no problem with any of them spending a while out of the side, but they are among some of the manager's favourites, and dropping them would involve answering some very difficult questions about the best possible balance and make up of the side.

November Player of the Month

Given the moribund performances we've seen over the last calender month it's virtually impossible to pick out one player who deserves special credit. Four draws, some more respectable than others, all different scorelines, three involving us throwing games away after taking leads, the positives far outweighed by some very obvious negatives.

The draw at Birmingham came on an afternoon to forget, at least the other three saw goals and came with other talking points, at St Andrews, Nigel de Jong's handball and us making 'Chucho' Benitez look like a world-beater aside, not a lot happened. The standout performer that afternoon was obviously Shay Given, which perhaps says something about how poor our defence was. Our passing was especially atrocious, Birmingham bullied us in the midfield and we struggled to even carry out the very basics expected.

On top of that, Roque Santa Cruz was completely alienated in attack, not to mention blatantly unfit, and our more creative players mooched about doing nothing bar having the odd pot-shot from distance. I'd be hard pushed to really identify anyone else as being any better than average, the odd clever pass in behind the defence from Carlos Tevez, or SWP's slightly improved second-half showing, that's about it.

The draw against Burnley was probably the most disappointing of the four, you really shouldn't be dropping points after scoring three times at home. The defence that day, particularly the left side of it, has been ripped to bits in various quarters, most notably on Match of the Day by gran's favourite Alan Hansen. Needless to say our £55m backline was poor beyond description.

Some credit has to go to the players most involved in getting us back into that game. Shaun Wright-Phillips, buoyed by his deflected first-half goal, really upped his work and for parts of the second forty-five gave former team-mate Stephen Jordan a real going over, playing a vital part in Craig Bellamy's goal. Bellamy himself, and Stevie Ireland also both improved after the break, only for us to throw the game away at the other end.

As deflating as chucking away another lead was at Anfield, there were obvious positives in both halves. Defensively, first hour at least, we were quite solid, again ultimately letting ourselves down by clocking off, especially with the second goal, which could so easily have been prevented by any one of half-a-dozen players sticking a leg in at any point. Nigel de Jong also did quite well, really putting himself about, breaking up Liverpool attacks on several different occasions.

The two players who made the difference that day, however, were Stevie Ireland and Carlos Tevez. On going behind, Ireland began to pull the strings, and it was probably the best we've seen of him so far this season. His goal was exquisite, and he once more proved he's key to us performing to our true capabilities. The workrate of Tevez also made a huge difference, no moreso when chasing a lost cause which led to that goal of Ireland's. Shaun Wright-Phillips again proved a bigger danger after the interval, several piercing runs at Insua, as well as getting around Kyrgiakos for the second.

Yesterday's drab affair was certainly lifted by the reemergence of Robinho. Though not match-fit he was involved in several nice moves and always looked a danger cutting in onto his favoured right foot from the left. I personally thought Emmanuel Adebayor had a good first half, somewhat undone by him being virtually absent during the second. Dropping deep and linking up well with Ireland, Tevez and Robinho he caused Hull problems before again going missing, eventually being replaced by Santa Cruz. Joleon Lescott was relatively solid in defence, and SWP deserves a mention for his goal and causing problems later whilst dealing with two markers.

To be perfectly honest, i don't think there's a suitable candidate for any award this month, no-one has performed consistently so i'm sure any pick would be objected by some. Joleon Lescott's began to look a bit more steady over the last two games, Nige has been good in parts, Ireland and Tevez have shown flashes of being able to change games, but you couldn't really say anyone excelled at all.

Shaun Wright-Phillips has attracted criticism over recent weeks, some of it fairly. He's beating his man far less than he used to, his end ball, which was never his strongest point, has also deteriorated, and he generally seems low on confidence. Of the seven goals we've managed in November, though, he's scored or made four, which sort of makes the decision for me. Improvements all round are a must if we're to get a decent return from a tricky December.

November: Shaun Wright-Phillips

Cook's blunder unfortunate but perspective needed

Executive Chairman Garry Cook's latest verbal ricket seems to have offended some supporters more than others; a few outraged to the point of sounding like their heads are about to explode, others deeming it unfortunate, a few really not that mithred. I personally think there has been an overreaction to the incident, though at the same time think that Garry needs to start taking a bit more care when faced with an audience, be it of fans, cameramen, or when speaking to the elements of the press that we haven't come to have fractured relations with over the past few months.

I consider Cook to be a vital asset to Manchester City. I can only speak from personal experience, but as things stand i feel closer to the club i love than at any point previously. Of course, having the resources we do now it will always be easier to invest in key areas, and by all accounts he has a young and vibrant team working under him behind the scenes, but i think he's identified ways to lessen barriers between us fans and the club itself, and for the first time in a long while we appear to have some say in those decisions that effect us most.

Ultimately, what happens on the pitch is most important, but as supporters things like the vastly improved kits, the internal rebranding of the concourses at Eastlands, regular fans forums, a new ticket office and re-designed shop, the more visible presence of ex-pro's at games, an all-singing website, enthusiastic media and marketing departments, the improvements at Carrington and Mike Summerbee's new role at the club would have to be considered positive moves. These are all things that Cook has overseen.

For all he's done at the club then, and there's much more than just those listed above; lucrative new sponsorship deals for instance, i think we can forgive him the odd case of verbal diarrhea. Not that i'm implying fans shouldn't be annoyed, but we as humans are prone to error, and whilst someone whose job is to forward the reputation of a multi-million pound business (and that's what football clubs are nowadays) might be expected to make less than most, these things will still occasionally happen.

The first person i felt for on hearing the news was Uwe himself, a modern icon of the club certainly deserves to not find himself in such a situation, and we hope that future player inductions into the Hall of Fame run smoother. Those fans at the OSC knees-up, too, some of whom will be the most loyal amongst our ranks, are correct to be let down at the club looking so unprofessional. At the same time, boos continuing through Uwe's speech and people getting overly animated can't have helped.

In a way, the most inappropriate of slips has probably grown into a bigger talking point than it needed to be amongst fans by Cook's reaction, or more so lack of one. On realising his faux-pas he could have quite easily corrected himself and apologised whilst trying to keep his sense of humour about the incident. By not doing it sounds like he's only annoyed those in attendance further.

Talk of the slip having any impact on Garry's role at the club, however, strikes me as being extremely silly. People point to his previous cases of foot-in-mouth, the only one of which i'd personally consider even remotely offensive being those regards ex-owner and exiled former Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra. Others include accusing footballing superpower AC Milan of 'bottling it' over the Kaka bid, early criticisms of the Premier League format, and comments to supporters at a recent barbecue. All of which, and others, could at worst be considered naive.

Over the last few months, and after some lashings in the dailies, most notoriously from the Guardian's Marina Hyde, Cook had seemed to be doing an excellent job of keeping a relatively low profile, certainly as far as the national media go. The managerial gobbledygook had quelled, and recently he's even attracted praise from some of the same hacks who'd slated him previously. Given that, it's disappointing he should put his foot in it once more, but no more than that.

Saying all this, people are right in suggesting that those who hold or have held similar positions at clubs we hope to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with in the future wouldn't, or at least haven't, made similar errors. It's pretty unthinkable that David Gill would ever drop clangers as such, and the same could likely have been said for Rick Parry when at Liverpool, or David Dein, formerly of Arsenal.

Cook, and anyone who acts as part of the face of the club, has a responsibility to make it look as professional as possible, especially when we're trying to grow so rapidly both on the pitch and off it, here and abroad, so with that in mind he might want to watch his tongue a bit in the future. What i am absolutely sure about, however, is that the club is making huge strides forward under him, and whilst he might not be the most suited to the public speaking side of things, i'd rather him be here than elsewhere.

Reactionary opinions and speculation really not helping through current sticky patch

This afternoon's disappointing draw at home to Hull City will have quite rightly been deemed unacceptable by most in attendance, both in terms of the performance we witnessed and the point ultimately gained. Confidence is low at the minute, the football poor and results below par, but that's not to mean we should consider resorting to reactionary decisions, and as supporters we have a duty to back the players and manager through the dip in form.

Sadly, some see a few dropped points as fuel to go over the top whilst venting their spleen. Not that they're not perfectly entitled to do that, as paying fans, but a bit of common sense is needed all round, and those who think us sitting in the top six isn't good enough might want to remember where we've come from in recent years. That's not being pessimistic, more pointing out that any huge improvement takes time, there will be ups and downs along the way, this run being one of the latter.

Funnily enough, those who seem most vocal against Hughes on the forums often seem to appear online within minutes of any game in which we drop points. No doubt sat waiting for the final whistle with baited breath, badly spelt and usually brief 'Hughes Out' rant already typed, their popcorn nearby, ready for some verbal jousting, no facts or real thoughts needed, just a generic provocative statement after seeing ninety minutes of buffering IraqGoals footage.

What they don't seem to understand is that there are huge expanses of middle ground. Those of us pointing out that even the suggestion of a change at the top is reactionary and daft see Hughes' flaws, that's always been the case, and we all agree that what we're getting at the minute isn't good enough. None of us blindly defend the manager for the sake of doing so, we've just seen where these sort of decisions have gotten us in the past, and believe in giving whoever is in charge a fair crack of the whip.

You absolutely do not change your gaffer a third of the way through a season having given him £120m to spend that summer, especially with them having only lost one of sixteen games. At the start of any given campaign a manager will be made aware of his targets for it. Hughes', officially, was to finish in the top six, the position we currently sit. Off the record some suspect his instructions may have been to better that and achieve Champions League football. Unless my eyes are deceiving me we look to be in quite a good position to achieve that.

My opinions on the current boss haven't changed in light of this run of draws. I see him as the man for the job at hand, if not maybe the task of leading us to where we ultimately want to be, winning the title and regularly competing for European trophies. Those targets, realistically, are some way down the line, but some progress has quite obviously been made. The current owners have done the correct and honourable thing by giving a previous regime's man time and the resources to prove himself, and i'm sure they'll go on doing the same.

Sadly, some have a ballooned idea of our club's stature. We're immensely wealthy, and cash is obviously a draw in any walk of life, but we've been an absolute calamity of a club for a number of years and those who think that were Hughes to go, the elite of the world's managers would be wanting the job, well, i think they're a touch deluded. The best managers mange the best clubs, and i believe there's a step we have to make before we can genuinely attract the biggest names, and the odd example apart i think that also to be true regards signing players.

The name that pops up most, of course, is Jose Mourinho, and a good number of the 'Hughes Out Brigade' appear certain he'd walk out of one of the biggest clubs in world football, ignore the advances of his numerous suitors, all so he can come to Eastlands and blow a small fortune. It's not going to happen, even if there was anything beyond idle gossip to the current incumbent's position being under threat.

Jose Mourinho could hand-pick his next employer, and whilst current goings-on at some Premier League sides might limit his chances of a big job in England, he'd go to a club that's already one of the established superpowers, not one with hopes of being there in five years. A bit of money doesn't make us one of the big boys, it just doesn't, to us the vast figures that could be on offer would swing it, but for the cream of managers and players leaving a legacy and competing for big shiny things is what it's all about.

The other name being bandied about is Guus Hiddink, who did an excellent job during a short stint at Chelsea last season and has a wealth of experience all over the world. Folk seem to be conveniently ignoring the fact that on several different occasions he's expressed a desire to not take a club job requiring day-to-day management, and is almost certain to accept a more hands-off role somewhere once he leaves Russia. Given his links with Roman Abramovich, it's thought he'll return to Chelsea in some capacity.

At the time of writing we are three points off being level with Arsenal in fourth, the way some of our supporters are carrying on you'd think we were bottom of the division. No-one's excusing the drab and spineless performance we saw today, or the inexcusably bad defending against Fulham or Burnley, but we need to see how things pan out rather than acting like tools and losing faith in Mark. He needs to motivate his players, and those same players need to stand up and ensure we remember how to win games again, but it's a wobble more than a crisis.

Whatever your thoughts, and it is only a minority who absolutely don't think Hughes is the man for the job, in real life it seems that way anyhow, the anonymity of forums mean we're never really sure whose opinions are worth taking notice of, i'm sure we'll all agree that the next game is huge for several reasons. I'd encourage those who seem to be almost taking delight from our current results in order to be seen to be proven right about Hughes to go and scream their hearts out against Arsenal. We're all in it together; fans, players and manager, now's not the time to be losing faith.

Flat Blues surrender another lead

A Hull side who rarely threatened to breach our defence this afternoon escaped with a point from a generally lacklustre game at Eastlands. The odd moment of flowing football couldn't mask an otherwise poor and blunt performance. A deflected Shaun Wright-Phillips strike as most fans were looking forward to half-time was cancelled out by a Jimmy Bullard penalty.

Robinho, whose last appearance came in the League Cup win at Crystal Palace, came in for Craig Bellamy. Gareth Barry didn't make the matchday squad, Carlos Tevez stepping up from the bench. Micah Richards replaced Pablo Zabaleta at right-back, but otherwise we were unchanged. For Hull, Bullard replaced George Boateng, otherwise it was the side that beat Everton midweek, with former Blue Geovanni taking his place in a five-man midfield.

The opening twenty minutes were especially drab, moves leading to corners which were inevitably wasted, rarely beating the first man, about as close as we got, whilst at the other end defending was at a minimum, Micah Richards falling asleep when he might've been better advised dealing with a Richard Garcia cross. The odd stepover by Robinho not leading anywhere fast, and a Richards cross clipping off Stevie Ireland and going over the bar the only thing we could technically deem a chance.

From then until the break we did at least up the tempo, Robinho sending McShane one way and the other before curling a right-footed effort just wide of Duke's far post. Shortly after Carlos Tevez tested the former Burton 'keeper, forcing him into a save with his feet following a throughball from Emmanuel Adebayor. Robinho also put a speculative overhead kick over the bar.

A busy couple of minutes for full-back Richards followed, making an important last-ditch challenge to stop Hunt getting a shot away, then looping a header onto the top of the net from a SWP corner at the other end. On the half-hour a tremendous move almost resulted in a Goal of the Season contender, Robinho turning and finding Tevez who sprayed the ball out to Adebayor on the left, his dink infield ran to Ireland who spotted SWP in space on the right, but the flowing move sadly didn't come with a suitable finish.

Andy Dawson was booked for a tackle on SWP, winning the ball but having challenged from behind. Minutes later Micah Richards picked up a knock in a coming-together with Hunt, possibly his right knee. It looked like it might be the end of his day but with Nedum Onuoha stripped and ready to come on he returned to action. A half-hearted long-range attempt from Geovanni was the only other notable thing that happened as the half was set to end goalless.

Halfway through two additional injury time minutes, however, we nosed infront, with Wright-Phillips, as with the last home fixture, getting a goal with the help of a deflection. Tevez had picked the ball up in the centre circle, running at Hull and knocking out to the little England winger. Running past Hunt, who along with Garcia on the right had generally been doing a really good job of helping his full-back out, Shaun unleashed a shot which brushed Anthony Gardner's head and looped past Duke.

Within minutes of the restart Hull could have been on level terms, Hunt's hopeful hook over the defence led to Altidore outmuscling Richards and squaring for Garcia at the far post. Looking certain to score, it was only a goal line clearance from Joleon Lescott that kept us ahead, whilst at the other end Wright-Phillips had an appeal for a penalty turned down by referee Lee Probert, taking on two defenders before Hunt got his challenge in, just about fairly.

Adebayor and Kamil Zayette were both lucky to not get at least booked for stamps soon after. The Togolese forward raking McShane, then the Hull centre-half appearing to be looking for some retribution. The £25m signing from Arsenal also almost got an assist to his name, finding SWP after another silky move involving Tevez but him having his shot blocked. Nigel de Jong picked up his customary yellow card for a lunge on Dean Marney.

Wright-Phillips, who again seemed to improve after the break, was making more of an impression. He again forced Hunt into a challenge, which also seemed fair but we'll take them, Robinho not able to hit the target with the resulting free-kick. Roque Santa Cruz was then introduced, making his fourth appearance from the bench so far this season, Emmanuel Adebayor making way.

Zayette was finally booked after pushing the officials all afternoon, and Robinho went close with an attempt similar to the one in the first half, picking up the ball to the left of goal, turning onto his preferred right peg and curling wide of the upright. He was replaced by Craig Bellamy a couple of minutes later, but had shown glimpses of being his usual lively self.

Hull, having done relatively little all afternoon, did start to pressure us during the final fifteen minutes. Firstly, though McShane's effort was high, wide and not so handsome, him and Hunt had been afforded far too much space. Bullard also drove at our defence a couple of times but couldn't finish. In the 81st minute Kolo Toure, who had just galloped the full length of the pitch in search of a second, dragged Garcia down in the box and the referee awarded a penalty. Not sure it was that dubious, really, some refs will give them, some won't, no real complaints.

Bullard, who had looked their most likely to make a difference all day, and whose return has inspired their mini undefeated run, made no mistake from the spot, smashing high into Given's net. Small chuckle of the afternoon, afterwards anyway, maybe not at the time, as the former Fulham midfielder mimicked Phill Brown's half-time team-talk from last season's fixture. As disappointing as the goal was to concede, we've got to have a sense of humour about these things, eh?

Though we did get a couple of chances late on; Micah Richards well wide with a free header, and Carlos Tevez hitting the wall with a free-kick after Ireland was felled in a promising position, we knew we were heading for a seventh successive draw, and although we were the better side for pretty much all of the match, a lack of real penetration in the final third meant that we had no real excuses. Another gloomy day at the office, it'll take a big improvement to beat Arsenal, even if they put their kids out.

Team:
Given, Richards, Bridge, Toure, Lescott, de Jong, Wright-Phillips, Ireland, Tevez, Adebayor (Santa Cruz '68), Robinho (Bellamy '76)

Friday mp3: Interpol

Interpol formed in New York around 1998, and led by British-born duo vocalist Paul Banks and lead-guitarist Daniel Kessler, have gone on to be one of the biggest bands in America. After self-releasing several EP's between '98 and 2001, the band signed to indie label Matador Records.

Debut album Turn on the Bright Lights was released in 2002, their dark, post-punk style drawing comparisons to Joy Division and The Chameleons. To date it's sold almost a million copies and is certainly one of the best albums i've heard. Follow-up Antics was released two years later and featured hit singles 'Slow Hands' and 'Evil'. They moved to Capitol Records to release 2007's Our Love to Admire. A new LP is due next summer.

This track's from the debut, and is probably their best to date. That LP's well worth investigating.

MP3: Say Hello To The Angels
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Preview: City v Hull

Hull visit Eastlands again on Saturday, with last season's Boxing Day fixture, complete with comedy scenes of manager Phil Brown sitting his players down on the pitch for a half-time rollicking still fresh in the memory. Widely derided for it, the general consensus was that the incident led to him losing the dressing room at the KC.

Hull never really recovered, winning only one of nineteen league games afterwards. Somehow the orange one kept his job despite a criminal moustache and some badly-timed karaoke, but to be fair to him they have been picking up results of late when most people had written him off as being a dead man walking, particularly after ally and chairman Paul Duffen left the club last month after fibbing about the finances.

Having only won once on the road in their last twenty-one attempts since last October's victory at West Brom, earning a grand total of nine points from a possible sixty-three, we should rightly be expecting to beat them. That coupled with our excellent home record, just seven points dropped in a year, and the bookies predictions of a comfortable home victory might appear on the money.

Given the way we've been defending of late, however, we know there's always a chance we could make things not so easy on ourselves. The game at Anfield had looked like a turning point, a real solid defensively display was encouraging, only for us to revert to type later on with some woeful positioning, aimless distribution, topped off with conceding one of the softest goals you'll ever see at any level of the game.

With Jimmy Bullard in their side, Hull will always have half a chance. He's a player who is undoubtedly capable of changing a game, even against top clubs. Geovanni, too, as we know from his time here, is equally liable to do something unexpected, and in everyone's favourite dickhead Stephen Hunt, and the lively Jozy Altidore, they've certainly got players who, if we clock off as we have been doing, could cause us problems.

The game might especially represent a good chance for our wingers to do what they do best against a defence that was the poorest in the league until Wigan's spineless showing at Spurs last week. If Robinho does return, he and Shaun Wright-Phillips, who hasn't been performing as regularly of late, could find themselves in their element against Andy Dawson, and unless Brown sticks with a winning team, the erratic Bernard Mendy.

As covered in a previous post, i'm expecting a good performance and result, as most of us are by the sounds of things. The recent home draws have let down what would otherwise have been a terrific unbeaten run, and we must send out a statement that those performances were only a blip, and in saying that nothing less than three points will be acceptable. Though we must show Hull respect, we should equally be capable of giving them a bit of a hiding.

The most interesting battle of the day could be between Pablo Zabaleta and Stephen Hunt. The former Reading man is perhaps underrated as a player due to his niggly nature. In Pablo he'll be facing a defender not afraid to give someone a kick up the arse if he feels it's needed. Though appearing quite mild-mannered in person, Zab's certainly got that fiery South American streak to him, and with two such highly-strung characters there's the chance we might see fireworks.

Kolo Toure is expected to be okay following treatment on the back injury which forced him off at half-time at Anfield. Robinho could make his first start in three months, reports from training indicate he's looking sharp. Carlos Tevez's performance from the bench on Saturday and subsequent comments from Mark Hughes mean he's likely to return. Craig Bellamy and Gareth Barry could be the two to make way. Martin Petrov will be the only senior absentee, but should be back next week once over a knee strain.

For Hull, Bernard Mendy has completed a one-match ban for his red card against West Ham and may replace Paul McShane, who perhaps put in the worst display i've ever seen from an opposition player during last season's fixture, at right-back. Jimmy Bullard should return after being rested for the recent game with Everton. American forward Altidore is likely to start upfront. Seyi Olofinjana is doubtful with a pulled hamstring and captain Ian Ashbee is out for the season.

Probable teams:
City: Given, Zabaleta, Bridge, Toure, Lescott, de Jong, Wright-Phillips, Ireland, Tevez, Adebayor, Robinho

Hull: Duke, Mendy, Dawson, Zayette, Gardner, Boateng, Marney, Bullard, Geovanni, Altidore, Hunt

Prediction: City 3 Hull 1

Steve Kay

I just wanted to further the tributes made on forums and blogs over the last day or so regards the sad passing of Steve Kay of MCFC Stats. I never met him personally, but have used his site with regularity over the years, not least when writing reports of old games for this blog.

You can tell that a huge amount of both hours and love have gone in to building and maintaining the site, one which i'm sure has proved a valuable tool to most City fans at some point. The kind words by so many since the news, those who knew him but also others simply grateful for the hard work he's put in, speak volumes about the appreciation for him.

Every Blue's thoughts are with his family and close friends.

Three points a must on Saturday?

Hull will arrive at Eastlands this coming Saturday having won only once in their last twenty away Premier League attempts. So far this term they've picked up just a single point from six games on the road, though given Burnley's record on their travels before coming here a fortnight ago we should possibly not take that lightly. The occasion marks the first of three successive home fixtures in just over a week. How we perform and what results we gain against Phil Brown's side, Arsenal, and Chelsea will perhaps give us the clearest suggestion yet of how the season might pan out.

Though our main problem has been conceding goals, i'm not sure that paints the whole picture. The tempo of a side is often set by its attack, and without Robinho we've certainly looked more pedestrian. As hard-working as several have been, they're not all capable of that moment of magic, something out of the ordinary to change a game in the blink of an eye. For all the stories about him wanting to be elsewhere, he'll rightly come back into the side when fit, and though questions still remain about his consistency over a season, i can't think of anyone better to boost confidence ahead of the tricky run.

Without going as far as saying Saturday's game is must win it represents the best possible chance to snap out of this sequence of draws. Anything less than three points against Hull, and qualification for the semi-finals of the League Cup against an Arsenal side likely to be weakened, and the few asking questions might see their ranks swelled. It's been a terrific start to the season, but this, the trio of home ties then away games at Spurs and Bolton, is our trickiest run so far, and will provide an early sign of how serious or capable we are of making progress.

Quite simply, teams with serious hopes of breaking into the top four, or at least giving them a good run for their money, have to win their home games, and certainly those against opposition outside of the big four. Coming away with a draw against Fulham in itself wasn't massively disappointing, moreso the manner in which we blew the lead. They're a very good side, who always give us a good game and given our recent record against them a point wasn't an awful result. The Burnley draw however was, neither the outcome nor the performance were what we now have to expect.

The negative feeling about this run of stalemates, for me at least, is mainly down to that one result. The draws at Villa and Liverpool are respectable, even if we were the stronger side in the second half of both games. The point at Wigan has to be seen as one gained in the circumstances, and whilst Birmingham might struggle to stay up, they're no pushovers on their own patch, and given the host of chances they had we were perhaps lucky to come away with a share of the spoils.

Burnley at home, however, all respect to them, they outplayed us, should never result in anything other than three points; two goals scored and nothing on the board away from Turf Moor beforehand says as much. What we have to do now, though, is get back to normal as soon as possible, our excellent home record up and going again and not let a couple of wobbles put us off our stride. Everyone seems a touch nervous at the minute, expecting further disappointments to come, we must make as big a statement as possible, and the upcoming games give us a real chance to do that.

There can be no mistakes or excuses on Saturday, we have to go out and beat Hull and preferably beat them well. We should be able to do that with any eleven we put out, but the return of the little Brazilian would come as an added boost. Just his presence in the team, at home at least, raises expectations and confidence, not just in the stands but amongst his colleagues. We've missed him, and even if not 100% fit i'd play him, providing the risk of a recurrence isn't too great, of course.

If we could win on the weekend, get past Arsenal, and pick up something against likely champions Chelsea, we'd be in a great position, and confidence raised hugely, but the failure to get back to winning ways, or progress into the semi-finals of the League Cup, or both, will no doubt lead to more silly speculation in the press and chins down on the pitch.

I can imagine there may be some sort of domino effect over those fixtures, with them being in such quick succession and all, and infront of probable sell-outs of mostly Blues. A good result against the East Yorkshiremen and we'll fancy our chances of making our first semi-final in nearly thirty years. Anything less than three points and the mood around Eastlands a week on Wednesday could well be a bit more downcast.

Good point at Anfield, but could so easily have been all three

City this lunchtime kept up their run of successive draws to earn what would usually be considered a very good result away at Liverpool. Four second half goals might make what was in essence a poor game sound better than it was, but on the final whistle there's no doubt it was our players less content with the point, coming from behind to again let a lead slip.

It was Carlos Tevez who surprisingly made way to accommodate the three-man midfield most of us had predicted. There were no other changes to the starting eleven. For Liverpool, Stevie Gerrard was the only one of their recent injuries deemed fit enough to start. Jamie Carragher moved to right-back, Agger and Skrtel starting in the middle. Ryan Babel came in on the left, with David N'Gog upfront alone.

In truth the entire first period was instantly forgettable. Played at a lacklustre pace, neither team really did too much in the final third. The first chance fell to the home side, Skrtel forcing Given to make a good save with a header following a Gerrard free-kick. Central defensive partner Daniel Agger suffered a clash of heads with Joleon Lescott during the move, being stretchered off and later requiring stitches.

A Gareth Barry header on ten minutes was our first real effort. A ball dinked over the top by Kolo Toure saw the England man free in acres of space, a looping header resulting in a stop from Reina, definitely one for the cameras. Moments later and Liverpool's injury problems got worse, a brilliant saving challenge from midfield workhorse Nige de Jong led to his compatriot Ryan Babel being replaced due to an ankle injury. Israeli playmaker Yossi Benayoun was the man to come on.

The forced changes seemed to give us a bit of a confidence boost, and we grew more into the half as it progressed. Stephen Ireland threaded a delightful ball through to Emmanuel Adebayor who would have been free to get a shot off had the linesman not had his flag up. Another nice move saw a low pass infield from Wayne Bridge find SWP by way of an Ireland stepover, but his attempt from the edge of the box was always curling the wrong way wide of goal.

At the other end Gerrard, despite not looking his typically sharp self, was trudging on, creating a half-chance for Dirk Kuyt whose shot was blocked, and putting the rebound just over. Skrtel again threatened in the air, but couldn't get his header on target. A tentative blast from distance by Mascherano was easily rounded up by Given, and Joleon Lescott did well to ease N'Gog off the ball when the Frenchman appeared through.

Neither side had done enough to deserve to be in the lead by the interval, both blunt in attack and lacking that real spark. Kolo Toure, who had looked to have injured his back or hip earlier on, was replaced by Nedum Onuoha, allegedly a hamstring strain. At this point it was difficult to imagine any goals arriving at all.

Despite us looking better from the restart, and for most of the half, it was Liverpool who struck first, but it might have been a very different story had we converted a great early chance; Adebayor got the ball to SWP down the right who beat his man and found Ireland in the centre, with a shot appearing on he tried to hook a ball through to Barry. A chance wasted but the early signs were that we had the bit between our teeth.

Liverpool broke the deadlock in the 50th minute, another poor goal to concede. Pablo Zabaleta's arms were all over David N'Gog and he gave away a needless free-kick. Gerrard curled a dangerous ball into the area, and Skrtel nipped in to beat his marker at the near post and shin in the opener. Set-pieces from those sort of positions are always hard to defend, but we should've done a lot better.

The goal, though, as disappointing as it was to concede, lit up the game, and forced us to go in search of a reply. We started passing the ball around nicely and remained on the offensive for almost the entirety of the half. The introduction of Carlos Tevez on the hour really had a positive impact, we were keeping possession better and outplaying the opposition.

The first sign of the Argentinian causing them problems was as we broke out of defence, Nigel de Jong getting away with a handball and as we sprang forward Lucas earned himself a booking for a cynical professional foul on the former Boca striker. Wright-Phillips, poor first half, drove at the Liverpool defence, taking on three or four but being snuffed out just as he was wheeling back his leg to shoot.

Minutes later Yossi Benayoun saved his side from conceding. A sweeping move involving Ireland, Tevez and Zabaleta needed a last-ditch interception. We were bursting forward in waves, and Liverpool struggled to stop us. The leveller came from a set-piece on 69 minutes. Craig Bellamy whipped a corner in from our left and Adebayor made the most of the home side's zonal marking, stepping back towards the penalty spot to head low and hard, the bounce having too much on it for Pepe Reina.

Seven minutes later the Blues were ahead. Tevez chasing what looked like a lost cause down the flank, pulling Skrtel out of defence and picking out SWP inside the area. Surprisingly the little fella opted to go to his left, rolling substitute Krygiakos and crossing. Completely unmarked and just about onside Ireland opened up his body beautifully to place a delightful effort inside the Spanish goalkeeper's far post. Fully deserved, and at this point three points seemed a formality.

Within a minute of the restart however, and with the defence having been excellent until then, in typical City style we ballsed up. Straight from the kick-off, and by the looks of it without one of our players even touching the ball, Liverpool were level, lots of untidy play leading to a cross/shot from the right by N'Gog, deflecting off Lescott's arse straight across goal for Benayoun to slide in and score. Lots of questions can be asked about that one, no pressure on the opposition at all, and Zabaleta might have been quicker off the mark to prevent the strike, too.

Disappointed at letting another lead slip at least we managed to not go on and concede again, and it was more us looking for a winner than the home side. Wright-Phillips tested Reina with a strike from outside the area, and again went close moments later, having a shot blocked before Tevez got another away. Bellamy also fired over when he could have perhaps done better.

Despite some late wobbles, Krygiakos and Lucas both putting headers wide, we stood tall. Coming away from the game without anything at all would have been a travesty, but you have to question some of the late defending. Though we got by we became extremely panicky, and as happened later on at Old Trafford we were inviting a goal. Several times we gave possession straight back to their 'keeper or defence with aimless punts upfield, on other occasions that could cost us.

Overall, we did reasonably well, but again demonstrated the best and worst we have to offer. When we get the ball down on the deck and pass it around we can unlock most sides, our movement can be excellent and we'll always score goals, but beforehand we were trundling along, long balls out of defence our main tactic and we still at times lack confidence. The second half, however, was very good, more disciplined and able to switch defence to attack.

I thought Joleon Lescott in particular stood out, a quietly solid display after errors in recent weeks. The more of those he can get under his belt the better. Nothing he could personally do about either goal, and he looked pretty composed all afternoon. Toure and Onuoha also did quite well, admittedly against a weakened strikeforce. Nigel de Jong, too, really put himself about and made some fantastically-timed challenges.

As we say time and time again, though, Ireland's the man that makes us really tick, and today we saw glimpses of him at his best. There aren't many players in the division who can spot and execute a pass as early and accurately as he can, and he was full of ideas all afternoon. Tevez, as well, as mentioned, was equally proactive, they're the two who can provide that game-changing ball, and though there have been doubts about them both playing, we need as many capable of doing that as possible.

A draw at Anfield has to be considered a good result, if slightly let down by the Burnley result last time round. Liverpool will point to injuries, and they weren't helped in that respect today, but we have to take positives in that were were fantastic defensively first half, and by far the most positive during the second. With chins up a bit we can outplay anyone, home or away, we just need that belief back, and to cut out sloppy errors that undo otherwise hard work. We'd have taken a point, but we could be sat here with three.

Team:
Given, Zabaleta, Bridge, Toure (Onuoha '45), Lescott, de Jong, Ireland, Barry (Tevez '61), Wright-Phillips, Adebayor, Bellamy

Friday mp3: The National

The National formed in Ohio ten years ago, a five-piece led by baritone frontman Matt Berninger, and featuring two sets of brothers. Influenced by the likes of Tindersticks and Springsteen, they released their first LP themselves. A second album and EP would follow before their big break, a move to respected indie label Beggars Banquet.

By now a full-time band they'd release two critically-acclaimed records in three years, Alligator and Boxer, both of which seem to be popping up in several of the as-to-be-expected as we stumble into 2010, 'best of the decade' discussions. Both are pretty special. A fifth record is expected early in the new year.

This track is taken from Boxer.

MP3: Mistaken For Strangers
Buy the records
Website
Myspace
Last.fm

Everton's younger Munster brother breaks City hearts!

Today's proved a sad day, and one i'm sure none of us will ever forget. Certain moments in life stay ingrained on your mind until you're under soil; where you met your first love, tying the knot, losing one of your nearest and dearest, where you were when you heard the news of someone cataclysmically famous popping their clogs. November 20th 2009 will go down in history as being the day the world learned that one of football's modern elite ruled out joining God's own club, Manchester City.

Phyllis Neville, it should be pointed out somewhere in the oncoming adulating prose to such a great man, has got the odd medal. During over a decade across the road Neville won ten major honours. He also, somehow, won 59 caps for his country. During those years his main competition came from the likes of Michael Gray, Steve Guppy and Chris Powell, that's not the point, he was amongst the best in his position, or at least England managerial greats like Glenn Hoddle and Kevin Keegan thought so.

Sadly for the lad, almost 400 appearances for The World's Greatest Football Club(TM), including a European Cup win (didn't play, like, but let's not clutch at straws), his career is probably best summed up by his distinguished international record; untried during Euro '96, dropped for the World Cup in France in '98, responsible for England's exit against Romania at Euro 2000, dropped again for the '02 trip to Japan & Korea, roughly half an hour in Portugal '04, again 'rested' in 2006, and now unable to get a game at all.

Struggling to budge greats like Quinton Fortune, Wesley Brown and John 'The Cat' O'Shea from the United line-up, and with funds needed to be raised after their selling out to the much-loved American Glazer dynasty, young Phil found himself having to leave Old Trafford. When 'The People's Club' came calling, and knowing his only real competition would be ponies like Tony Hibbert, Lee Carsley and Nuno Valente, he moved for a staggering £4m.

His career at Blue Scouse started fantastically well; eliminated from the Champions League at the earliest possible opportunity having snook 4th place the season prior, they'd win just two of his first dozen games. His season wouldn't get much better, his new club finishing 11th, and Nev spending most of the year wearing down the pencils of referees and being described by pundits as 'hard-working', as players of such limited ability often are.

During the three years that followed Neville did, to be fair to the pug-faced freak, become a key component of an Everton side that relies, and still does, heavily on a couple of cloggers 'putting themselves about' in the middle of the park. Three successive top six finishes under Gollum can't be sniffed at, but as we're seeing with their results so far this season, the main reason for that was the Franco Baresi-like defensive consistency of Joleon Lescott.

Phil's public statement, then, that he wouldn't play for or manage Manchester City would have to be deemed somewhat fanciful. Even with our sometime problems at full-back he'd be lucky, and turning 33 in January the odds of one of the big five snapping him up are absolutely nil. The days of us signing tinpot, over-the-hill ratters are long gone, and the best hope Nev Mark II has got to fall into management would be if Moyes' men continue to wobble and he's offered some sort of caretaker role.

As a City supporter, though, and obviously not the biggest fan of either brother, i'm quite glad that they, and other players who are or have been associated with our humble neighbours, continue to talk about us. We'll just bob along, quietly improving, leaving the likes of the Brothers Grimm and other poor deluded souls to make their continued noise. We're not a threat, to any of them, remember that.

Look Back: Oldham 2 City 5, First Division, 02/05/92

City made the short trip to Boundary Park for our final game of an eventful 1991/92 season. A strong home record had seen us threaten to finish in the top three, only derailed by a four-game winless run through March, including defeats at QPR and Nottingham Forest. With finishing positions all pretty much decided there was little to play for. Leeds had already been declared champions, with United secure in second. The biggest game of the day was at Kenilworth Road as troubled Luton took on fellow relegation candidates Notts County.

Wearing a classic maroon strip, and with the Rochdale Road End terraces crammed with an army of travelling supporters, City fielded an extremely attacking line-up, with Niall Quinn, David White, Mike Sheron and youth team product Adie Mike all starting, with the young forward, who'd go on to carve out a career in the non-leagues, making his debut aged nineteen.

A battered Boundary Park pitch, only installed for a year once promotion had been secured the previous May, didn't have too much effect on what turned out to be an excellent game. After much of the early exchanges the home side took the lead through midfielder Nick Henry after a cross from the left by winger Rick Holden, the player would coincidentally sign for City that summer to replace Michael Hughes who moved to French side Strasbourg. Rick's cross tricked through bodies evading most before a poor prod out by Ian Brightwell, playing at left-back, fell at Henry's feet who lashed home.

The leveller came through the young debutant Mike, and would prove one of only two goals he'd score for the senior team before joining Stockport three seasons later after loan spells at Bury and in Sweden with Linköpings. Picking up a lofted ball from centre-half Keith Curle, Mike controlled well, turning his man one way and the other and getting his effort away which trickled under the body of Latics goalkeeper 'Lucky' John Keeley, nicknamed so due to injuries and him running over the cat of teammate Ian Marshall!

By the time the interval had arrived we'd managed to edge into a lead. A corner from Fitzroy Simpson, making only his tenth appearance in a City shirt after arriving from Swindon, eventually fell to David White. His poke towards goal taking a couple of deflections and trickling across the line despite the presence of left-back Andy Barlow on the post. They all count!

The second-half saw a further four goals of varying quality. Firstly, White grabbed his second and City's third with another scrappy strike. Curle had knocked another searching ball for Quinn, the Irishman heading down into the path of White who completely missed his kick, luckily sending Barlow the wrong way. With Keeley bearing down on him the winger-turned-striker prodded home with his right foot.

The fourth and fifth goals were more ones to saviour. Firstly, Mike Sheron, another nineteen-year-old youth team striker with an eye for goal, who had made his debut earlier that season, cut in from the left wing before lashing a curling effort into Keeley's far corner. The cheeky Scouser would go on to make over a century of appearances for the club before a £1m bid was deemed enough to take him to Norwich in 1994.

White went on to grab his hat-trick, then his third for the Blues, collecting the ball from Simpson, marauding through two Oldham defenders, taking the ball wide, then similarly to Sheron's strike, cutting in and curling a cracking shot into the far post. Former City striker Paul Moulden grabbed a late second for Oldham, pouncing onto a ball from all of a yard after Coton spilled a Milligan attempt.

With Arsenal beating Southampton convincingly at Highbury, City had to make do with 5th place, Sheffield Wednesday grabbing third. Luton's victory over Notts County ensured relegation for both, Coventry and Norwich surviving despite both being beaten. Ipswich, Middlesbrough and big-spending Blackburn won promotion from the Second Division.

The likes of Megson, Pointon, Brennan and Redmond would leave the club that summer, the latter three all actually to that day's opposition, as both clubs geared up for their first campaigns in the newly-formed Premiership. 91/92 would probably be best remembered for a handsome 4-0 mauling of title-winners Leeds at Maine Road.

Team:
Coton, Hill, I.Brightwell, Vonk, Curle, McMahon, White, Simpson, Quinn, Mike, Sheron

Preview: Liverpool (Away)

An early start this weekend sees us make the short trip along the M62 to 'crisis club' Liverpool. Often an away day we return from potless, a run of just one win in nine games, including six defeats, means a good number of our supporters are quietly fancying us to end our sequence of five successive draws and get back to winning ways.

The Anfield side's struggles over the last couple of months couldn't have escaped the attention of anyone. Their fans point to injuries and the owners, in truth they've had no more players missing than most, simply they're reliant on two or three whereas their rivals, not just those who are/were part of the established 'big four', but the clubs in the race for the Europa League places, have better overall squads. Their owners, contrary to popular belief, have backed their manager in the transfer market only for him to fritter away around £200m, largely on pap.

The fact that they struggle to win games when Torres or Gerrard are missing doesn't point to mismanagement at board level, it highlights that Benitez has spent a small fortune cobbling together a squad that's no better than when he arrived. Whilst the likes of us, indeed most, might lack the couple of proven and undeniable world-beaters they have, we can bring in players in most positions of roughly the same ability as the preferred choices. Liverpool have David N'Gog.

There seems to be different stories leaking from their camp about who will be available for the game, and how fit they'll be. Of their three real match-winners; Torres, Gerrard and Benayoun, only the squeaky one who occasionally turns up for England was expected to start. Over the last couple of days rumours that Torres and even Benayoun may figure have surfaced, possibly just a bit of propaganda from the under fire Spanish waiter. With a must-win game at Debrecen on Tuesday, i'd be surprised is they all took part.

It's been a few years since we've been tonked at Anfield (the ten goals conceded in a week there during 95/96 stands out as particularly disappointing), generally going down by the odd goal or very occasionally grabbing a point. With everything that's going on, though, their recent poor form, their big game in midweek, rumblings at board and managerial level, and given our hugely-improved squad, it's perhaps not completely ridiculous to secretly fancy our chances. Anfield will always be a difficult place to go, and they can be at their best when the chips are down, but there's probably never been a better time to play them.

The only change i can see us making to the side which started the disappointing 3-3 draw with Burnley would be the reintroduction of Nigel de Jong in central midfield. We're not going to go to Anfield and dominate play, even if their team is weakened, odds are we'll have to soak up possession, maybe even ride our luck as we did last year, and hit them on the counter. To do that we need players who can put themselves about and null the waves of attacks; de Jong and Barry, and someone to turn defence into attack; Ireland. That three-man midfield is almost certain, i'd have thought.

That of course means that someone has to lose out, and i imagine that's most likely to be Shaun Wright-Phillips, despite him having a good second-half last time. Emmanuel Adebayor and Craig Bellamy should start, with Carlos Tevez making up a three. With Liverpool lacking natural width in their attacking half, Bellamy and Carlos might get a bit of change out of Johnson and Insua. The defence will most probably stay as is, though obviously all isn't well in that department.

I suspect they'll probably start with a patched-up Gerrard playing off either the prolific Andrei Voronin or the latest rule-bending Frenchman N'Gog. Short of other attacking options in midfield Aurelio and Kuyt should start either side of shot-shy South American duo Lucas and Javier Mascherano. Skrtel will prop up the wobbly and past-it Jamie Carragher, with the scandalously-overpriced Glen Johnson and quietly impressive Insua in the full-back roles.

The main reason i fancy us to get at least a draw isn't blind optimism, just the fact that all the pressure's on them. They have to win on Saturday, and they have to win on Tuesday, we're not expected to get anything, though the habit of winning single points instead of three will have to end sooner rather than later. We should be able to go there and enjoy it, play as we know we can, for them it will be win at all costs, and should they go a goal down, or pick up another knock, or even just start the game a bit negatively, the crowd will be on their backs.

We've got the players to hurt them on the counter, and i can't see us not scoring. If our defence can stay solid, and that's a big if given our showings in recent weeks, then we've got a real chance of getting back to winning ways, and hurting our main rivals for 4th. We won't get many chances to make a bigger statement. It's not underestimating them, they're well capable of beating anyone, as we saw against United, but i've just got a hunch it'll be a good day at the office.

Probable teams:
Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Insua, Carragher, Skrtel, Mascherano, Kuyt, Lucas, Gerrard, N'Gog, Aurelio

City: Given, Zabaleta, Bridge, Toure, Lescott, de Jong, Ireland, Barry, Tevez, Adebayor, Bellamy

Prediction: Liverpool 1 City 2

Where are they now? Part 2

Paul Moulden
Born in Farnworth, the young striker would earn a credit in the Guinness Book of Records whilst playing local football, scoring an amazing 340 goals in a single season for Bolton Lads Club under-15s. Signing for City at the age of seventeen he continued to be prolific, and played in the side who won the FA Youth Cup in 1986, making his first-team debut on New Year's Day of the same year. He'd come back from a broken leg to be the club's top scorer during the 88/89 promotion season, before being used as a makeweight in the deal that brought Ian Bishop to Maine Road.

Regularly on the scoresheet at Bournemouth he was surprisingly sold to Oldham the following March. His three injury-prone years there would see him make less than twenty starts, and over the course of his career he'd break his leg on a further three occasions. Short spells at Birmingham, Huddersfield and Rochdale proved unsucessful and he dropped out of League football in 1996, playing for Accrington Stanley and Bacup. Last known to be coaching back at his childhood club, and runs two chippies in the Bolton area.

Lee Crooks
The Wakefield-born right-back made over ninety appearences for City between 1996 & 2000, being most active during the 98/99 Play-Off season. Made his debut as a late substitute for Michael Brown during a 2-0 win at Vale Park. He'd go on to prove himself relatively versitile, playing in both full-back positions and midfield.

He left City for Barnsley for £190k in March of 2001 after a spell on loan at Northampton, spending three years at Oakwell before spending two seasons at Braford City and Rochdale, respectively. After leaving Spotland he raised over £6,000 for MacMillan Cancer Support climing Mount Kilimanjaro. Last seen on the books of Ossett Town last season, but would now appear to be without a club.

Matías Vuoso
Argentinian 'wonderkid' who Kevin Keegan spunked £3.5m on in the summer of 2002, likening him to a young Kenny Dalglish, if i'm not mistaken, though i may've made that bit up. One of a number of, erm, 'questionable' KK purchases, he'd never play a senior game for the club, joining Mexican side Santos Laguna on loan, and later permanently, replacing South American legend Jared Borgetti and eventually finding his shooting boots.

In two years at Santos he'd score over fifty goals, moving to Club America for the 2006 Clausura. One season spent in the capital led to a return to Torreón, where after an iffy start he once again started putting them away. After five years in Mexico he became a neutralised citizen and now represents their national side, earning his first caps under Sven-Göran Eriksson, sacked by City only four months previously.

City player lifts World Cup!

Our academy prospect Frédéric Veseli this evening captained Switzerland to the FIFA Under-17's World Cup in Nigeria after they beat the hosts by one goal to nil infront of over 60,000 people at the Abuja National Stadium. Described as 'a steely defensive effort' it marks the Swiss' first major world tournament victory at any age-group.

The centre-half, signed from Lausanne Sport in 2006, had a lively tournament, missing the semi-final victory over Columbia after a red card in the previous round's win against the Italians. Picking up a booking in every other game bar one it certainly sounds like he puts himself about!

The Swiss squad, also featuring players from Aston Villa and Arsenal in goalkeeper Benjamin Siegrist and Freddie's defensive colleague Sead Hajrović, beat Brazil, Germany, and as mentioned, the Italians en route to picking up the trophy. They were also involved in two seven-goal thrillers.

Other English-based players to take part were adopted Merseysiders Shkodran Mustafi (Everton) and Christopher Buchtmann (Liverpool), both of Germany, Dutch captain Oguzhan Özyakup (Arsenal), Turkish duo Deniz Mehmet (West Ham) and Kamil Çörekçi (Millwall), Northampton's Kiwi midfielder Michael Built, his compatriot Cameron Lindsay (Blackburn), and Will Packwood of Birmingham and the USA.

Let's hope this idea of our players holding shiny pots aloft becomes a bit more common!