Rolando Blooms

• Posted by The Kippax Kid at 10:46 AM | add or read comments (1)

MARTIN PETROV and Joe Hart might have been the stars of City's FA Cup victory over West Ham last night, but it was good to see Rolando Bianchi showing what he can do.
Bianchi has been told he can leave if he wants to, but Nery Castillo's injury should give him another chance to impress when the Hammers return on Sunday.
City looked much more of a threat with Bianchi on the pitch after Castillo had gone off with a suspected dislocated shoulder, and it's good to hear City fans this morning appreciating his contribution.
Okay, without Petrov we'd have got nothing out of the game as it was from his thundering runs down the wing in the second half that all our chances came.
But at least twice before Elano's goal came, Bianchi was the player who anticipated the winger's balls into the box as West Ham's bubbles began to burst.
He missed the first cross, hitting it wide after missing his timing by a split-second.
Bianchi was in a much better position for the second which was cut out brilliantly by Matthew Upson, but third time lucky he was there, right on the end of it in the six-yard box. Okay, he hit the post and Elano had to risk life and limb to head the goal, but the point is Bianchi was in exactly the right place at the exactly the right time.
Shaun Goater, anyone?
So the Hammers were nailed, and we have our revenge for the quarter-final defeat two years ago. But it has to be remembered we wouldn't now have an oh-so-glamorous fourth-round tie at Sheffield United next Sunday without Joe Hart, who keeps impressing and made a couple of great saves.
As for Castillo, luckily he won't be out for long, but he looks like he needs to adapt to the fast pace and physicality of the British game. Let's hope he doesn't turn out to be another Samaras.

Attack the best form of defence

• Posted by The Kippax Kid at 9:10 AM | add or read comments (1)

HAS Sven been reading my blog?
Yesterday he said Vedran Corluka's future lies at cente-half as that's his best position. Exactly what I said yesterday!
Corluka was probably the right choice for the midfield at Goodison on Saturday where City needed to try and stifle Everton's midfield creativity.
But Eriksson wants us to be go back to playing expansive football. So for tonight's FA Cup replay against West Ham at Eastlands - the first of two home games against the Hammers as they're back again on Sunday - why not play Charlie in defence and partner Didi Hamann with a more attacking player?
Fernandes would be one option, although if Sven was feeling really adventurous he could play Elano in the middle plus two up front. That would give us a lightweight midfield though, with Petrov not the best at helping out his full-back.
Play Charlie at centre-half with Dunne, play Micah at right-back and let him overlap with either Stevie Ireland or Daruis Vassell. That means dropping Nedum, who's played well since he's come into the side, but the kid's only young and he'll get his chance again.
Or - bear with me on this - keep Nedum at right-back and play Micah on the right of midfield. He's got pace, he can pass, he'll give some extra protection and when he attacks he can cut inside and cause a bit of havoc in the box. It's a crazy idea, but it's so crazy it just might work.
Wales international James Collins could be back in the centre of defence for West Ham - we won't beat him in the air but we might beat him for pace - which is why both Darius and Kelvin Etuhu might be able to have an effect on the game at some point.
How about this for a team?: Hart, Onuoha, Corluka, Dunne, Ball, Richards, Hamann, Ireland, Elano, Petrov, Castillo. Subs: Isakkson, Gelson, Vassell, Etuhu, Bianchi.

No defenders on the bench, but we've got five on the pitch anyway! Attacking or what?! We'd "Hammer" them...

Good Evans

• Posted by The Kippax Kid at 7:11 AM | add or read comments (0)

PERHAPS City's strikers could learn a thing or two from Ched Evans after he scored for Norwich at the weekend.
The 19-year-old Rhyl lad, on loan at Carrow Road from Eastlands, equalised at Barnsley in a game the Canaries went on to win 3-1.
Evans has been a revelation for Wales under-21s - on his debut last year he scored twice and set up another in a 4-0 thrashing of Northern Ireland, then scored a hat-trick in an astonishing victory over France, supposedly Europe's best U21 side.
He's strong, knows where the goal is and has a few tricks up his sleeve. He scored two minutes into his first start for Norwich, and although he's only scored for them twice since in 10 games, he wasn't shy at City last season with 16 goals in 23 starts for the academy side.
It's not surprising Sven apparently took a bit of persuading by Norwich manager Glenn Roeder to let Evans go back to Norfolk last week. City can recall him after February 6 and so far Sven hasn't let Roeder play him in the FA Cup. So with Mpenza struggling, Bianchi and Samaras free to leave and Valerie Bojinov and Daniel Sturridge still injured, sounds like Evans isn't too far away from the first team.
Meanwhile Micah Richards is still dithering over a new contract, apparently because his dad is trying to sort him out the best deal possible after Micah changed his representation.
Some City fans are saying we should sell him for £20m and buy new players, but if we want to be a big club again we need to keep our best players, especially players of Micah's potential. Remember that happened when Big Niall and David White left? There's no point having the best academy in the country if we're going to sell the top graduates to our rivals.
The idea that Micah should go back to right-back has some legs, though. Okay, he's developing a good partnership with the Dunney Monster at centre-back, but Vedran Corluka has impressed every time he's played there as well.
When Michael Johnson comes back, why not play Dunne and Corluka together, with Richards offering an extra attacking outlet from the right? With no right winger at City at the moment, he'd help create a few more chances, which have been in short supply recently.
Just a thought, Sven.

Sticky Toffees

• Posted by The Kippax Kid at 7:01 AM | add or read comments (0)

CAN'T we go back to the days when we used to score five past Everton?
On the face of it, there's no shame in a 1-0 defeat at Goodison. David Moyes' side have become a genuine force in both the Premier League and in Europe, and only Arsenal, Stretford Red Sox and Liverpool have won as visitors there this season.
And okay, we've managed to stay in the top four most of the season despite not being able to land the killer blow away from home.
But on Saturday we lost to a badly defended set-piece in a game we could have won.
And while Liverpool squeaked up into fourth place, the Anfield men are being found out and it's their cousins from across Stanley Park who are the real threat to City's ambitions of Champions League football next season.
Some City fans will say I shouldn't even be talking about the Champions League when we've dropped to seventh and can't win a game on the road.
But it's that sort of attitude, Sven will tell you, that lost us the game on Saturday.
The super-cool Swede came as close as he ever does to losing his rag (sorry, poor choice of word) after the match, letting rip with the fiercest criticism we've heard from him this season -the Chelsea game apart.
City were too negative at Goodison, they played long balls and should have had the confidence to try and take Everton apart with the great football we all know they can play.
The Liverpool game springs to mind, when City stifled the game and barely created a chance. Okay, we got the point and kept our unbeaten league record at Eastlands intact, but could we have won the game if we'd been a bit more positive?
We certainly could have beaten Everton, although the need for us to have our forwards firing is becoming ever more pressing as the rest of the league learns to take Elano and Martin Petrov out of the game.
But let's keep this in perspective - we've lost 1-0 at the fortress of one of the best sides in the country, and we're talking about that as a bad result. That shows the huge strides we've made since last season.
Remember last season? No, it wasn't just a bad dream.
And at least we have the chanceto get our own back on Everton when they come to our fortress - where nobody apart from us has taken three points - in six weeks' time.

The big day

• Posted by The Kippax Kid at 7:00 AM | add or read comments (0)

THE big day has arrived - the first of two games which could have a huge bearing on who finishes in the fourth Champions League place.
Last season if you'd said City and Everton would have been battling to break the supremacy of the Big Four you'd have been laughed out of the Colin Bell Stand. Well, Everton maybe, but certainly not a City team who couldn't score a goal at home for nearly five months.
But today's game at Goodison will be the most crucial test so far of City's desire to prove we're finally back among the big clubs - and in six weeks' time the return game at Eastlands could have even more riding on it.
Captain Dunney Monster reckons we're good enough to beat Liverpool to a Champions League place, so let's look at the evidence: so far we've beaten Stretford Red Sox, narrowly lost at Arsenal in a game we deserved to win, and held Rafa Benitez's rapidly imploding Reds to a goalless draw. Oh, and er, got hammered 6-0 at Chelsea.
Our new-found capability of coping with the big sides (Stamford Bridge aside) - together with our awesome home record - is why we're in still fourth place.
But Everton are fast on our heels and despite their recent cup defeats are the form team of the league at the moment.
They've only lost three times at Goodison this season - to Manure Knighted, Liverpool and Arsenal, which shows what it takes to overcome David Moyes' side these days.
Luckily the African Cup of Nations means Everton will be without Ayegbeni Yakubu, the man who's replaced likely starter Andrew Johnson as their goal machine this season, as well as Steven Pienaar and Jospeh Yobo.
But Micah Richards and Dunney will still have their work cut out trying to keep Tim Cahill and Victor Anichebe quiet, while Nedum Onuoha and Michael Ball will have to keep a tight rein on Mikel Arteta and Leon Osman.
Hopefully Gelson Fernandes will get a chance to continue to impress. He's looked solid whenever he's played, and he and Didi Hamann will be needed to stem the flow of creativity from Everton's talented midfield.
Good news is Elano's back, and hopefully he can show the sort of form Sven-Goran Eriksson promised us a couple of weeks ago he was close to recapturing. With Darius Vassell as a lone striker, Blumer's going to have to be on the ball if we're going to pose any threat.
On another note, my mate's been saying for weeks we need Nic Anelka up front, but I for one was pleased he signed for Chelsea yesterday.
When the Incredible Sulk was at Eastlands he was no good for team spirit and spent most of his time on the pitch giving his team-mates evils for not being on the same wavelength. Maybe that would be different if he was playing with Elano, Martin Petrov and Michael Johnson rather than Chris Musampa and Trevor Sinclair, but I'm sure Sven's shrewd enough to bring in another striker who can do just as good a job with less of the baggage.
Here's my team for today: Hart, Onuoha, Richards, Dunne, Ball, Corluka, Hamann, Gelson, Ireland, Elano, Vassell.

Havin' a Ball

• Posted by The Kippax Kid at 11:38 AM | add or read comments (0)

TOMORROW brings a game City fans have been eyeing for some time - a trip to Goodison for the battle to break the Big Four's stranglehold.
If any Premier League side is going to beat one of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Stretford United to the Champions League places, it looks like being City or Everton.
And I have to admit, as a City fan I'm much more nervous about tomorrow's game than I was about the Blues facing crisis club Liverpool at Eastlands before Christmas.
Luckily Everton's astonishing run of form has come to an end in the last week with cup defeats to Chelski and the mighty Oldham - although Sven Goran-Eriksson has rightly warned his players to expect a backlash from the Blue half of Merseyside.
Tomorrow, two of City's starting line-up will be former Everton players - and Richard Dunne and Michael Ball are both good reasons why we can feel optimistic about getting the result we need against a side just one victory behind us in the race for fourth place.
We all know how great a player the Dunney Monster has become since he left Goodison for Maine Road as a chubby youngster all those years ago.
But I for one am really glad to see Bally back in the first XI after playing second fiddle to Javier Garrido for the best part of five months this season.
And not just because of Garrido's dodgy defending. Sir Sven has declared his new first-choice left-back good enough to play for England again, and while Cashley Cole might have something to say about that, I've been a huge fan of Ball's (so to speak) ever since the derby at Eastlands last May.
Dirty Devils winger Cristiano Ronaldo had torn teams apart all season leading up to that game, but Ball had the Portuguese pilferer in his pocket for most of the game.
I know I shouldn't condone violence, but I managed a titter when the referee failed to spot Ball's stamp on Ronaldoin the first half. It's not as if Ron hasn't got away with a few decisions himself, is it now?
Ball made just one mistake after that when he fouled the winger in the area - unfortunately Ronaldo usually only needs one chance to punish a mistake, which he did by scoring the winner from the spot.
Ever since then, though, I've never seen Ball give anything less than 100% for City. He's waited patiently for his chance under Eriksson - and now he's got it, hopefully the footballing namesake of everyone's mum's favourite singer will be one of the stars of the show tomorrow.

Who are we?

• Posted by The Kippax Kid at 5:10 PM | add or read comments (0)

THEY say the league table doesn't matter until Christmas, and surely City have proved now they're real contenders for a Champions League place next season.
Just three days into the new year the Blues are back in the top four, after a tough run of games over the festive period that could have burst the bubble on our season.
All season, fans of other football clubs - mainly Liverpool fans who still think it's the 1980s - have refused to believe we're no longer a laughing stock, and that any minute we'd be found out and would start plummeting down the league to mid-table obscurity.
Well, after finally winning away from home to complete the double over Newcastle last night we're back to where we've been for most of the season - in the Champions League places.
Okay, so Liverpool still hve a game in hand, but that's not so much of a threat when the side who started the season thinking they could win the title can't even beat relegation-threatened Wigan in front of the once-intimidating Kop.
After crashing out of the League Cup to our bogey side Tottenham (my Spurs-supporting mate texted me the next morning to say they'd win the league if they played us every week), we played three of our rivals for a European place - Aston Villa, Blackburn and Liverpool - and didn't lose to any of them.
And going into the second half of the season, we're still unbeaten at fortress Eastlands.
Elano had lost form, they said. The rest of the Premier League had figured out how to play him, they said. We had lost the one man in our one-man team.
Scored last night, didn't he?
Then, the second goal last night showed we've got a manager who can influence a game with his tactical nous, unlike when Psycho was in charge. Kelvin Etuhu and Gelson Fernandes combined to make the game safe - both substitutions, both young talents, one hand-picked by Sven-Goran Eriksson and the other given his first-team chance by the Swede.
We were kept in the game by Joe Hart's save from Michael Owen - which again is credit to Svennis after he rightly stuck with the future England keeper over the undoubtedly talented Andreas Isaksson.
Our second away win of the season couldn't have come at a better time, either. The last side we beat on the road was West Ham on the first day back in August, and we play them again at Upton Park in the FA Cup on Saturday.
Want proof City are now a big club? Look at how Joey Barton's career has nosedived since he left. Barton, often amusingly described in the media as an "England" midfielder, might be out of jail for the time being, but Michael Johnson will play for his country before Mad Joey ever dons the Three Lions shirt again.
One last point - good to see Sir Taggart has finally woken up (is that the right term to use?) to the fact that the Theatre of Dreamzzz is as quiet as a funeral. We've known that for years!