Tag Archive for City

Are we getting a raw deal from the referees?

February 15, 2016 admin Matches No comments

After being on the receiving end of some unbelievable decisions I though it would be beneficial to look at the stats and facts surrounding referees decisions for and against Manchester City this season!

Table 1: Premier League 2015/2016 Tackles, Fouls and Cards

What can we interpret from this table?

Manchester City are ranked bottom for tackles and in the bottom quartile for Tackles per Card yet Arsenal rank second on this statistic highlighting the leniency offered by referees to Arsenal on this measure.

Table 2: Premier League 2012/2013 – 2015/2014 Present – Ref Rank

Table 3: Fouls For against ratio from 2014/2015 season

I then decided to review the major decisions for and against City this season and calculated we are 9 points worse off than we should be due to referee decisions which can be describes as major game changing decisions.

Interesting the same names continue to appear when you review these major decisions; Mark Clattenburg, Robert Madley, Craig Pawson and Anthony Taylor

Table 5 Tackle & Foul per player Analysis

Pre Match Thread | Sunderland v City

September 21, 2015 admin About the club, Matches No comments

Sunderland v Manchester City

Date: Tuesday 22 September 2015 19:45 BST Away
Competition: Capital One Cup

Visiting Fans|download SAFC’s Visiting Fan Guide|Contact + 44 0871 911 1200
Travel Links: AA Road watch|Rail Travel News | Metro

MCFC SQUAD NEWS

Squad(from):Caballero, Hart, Wright, Demichelis, Otamendi, Kolarov, Sagna, Fernandinho, Fernando, Zuculini, Navas, Toure, De Bruyne, Sterling, Bony, Aguero
Injuries/Doubtful / Suspensions: Clichy, Zabaleta, Kompany, Mangala! Delph, Silva / Nasri / .

Sunderland Squad News 

Squad (from): Pantilimon, Mannone, Stryjek, Jones, van Aanholt, Brown, Kaboul, O’Shea, Coates, Robson, Bridcutt, Cattermole, Larsson, Rodwell, Johnson, Jordi, Gómez, M’Vila, Buckley, Borini, Lens, Defoe, Graham, Toivonen, Gooch

Injuries / Doubtful / Suspensions: Matthews / Watmore, Fletcher / Kaboul??

KEY BATTLES

Sunderland have had a terrible start to the Premier League season and look in real danger of relegation. Their only victory has been in a 6v3 victory {match report} in the League Cup against League Two Exeter City with a Rodwell double and a Defoe hatrick.

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City will look to bounce back after defeat at home versus West Ham in a game which was heavily influenced by the referees inability to manage the game time and keep up with play. A terrible refereeing performance from an overweight referee with a bad attitude. A day when referee performances should be heavily scrutinized after the disgraceful scenes witnessed at Stamford Bridge where Costa made a mockery of the referee and rules of the game.

POTENTIAL LINE UPS

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HEAD TO HEAD FIXTURES – Last 10 games

  • 03/04/2011 Sunderland H PL 5-0 [IMG]
  • 01/01/2012 Sunderland A PL 0-1 [IMG]
  • 31/03/2012 Sunderland H PL 3-3 [IMG]
  • 06/10/2012 Sunderland H PL 3-0 [IMG]
  • 26/12/2012 Sunderland A PL 0-1 [IMG]
  • 10/11/2013 Sunderland A PL 0-1 [IMG]
  • 02/03/2014 Sunderland N LC 3-1 [IMG]
  • 16/04/2014 Sunderland H PL 2-2 [IMG]
  • 03/12/2014 Sunderland A PL 4-1 [IMG]
  • 01/01/2015 Sunderland H PL 3-2 [IMG]

Further information about the head to head can be found in the Bluemoon History section

You can find the full City team, match reports and Youtube videos here with footage from these matches

Referee Appointments

REFEREE: Roger East | referee history
ASST. REF. 1: Andrew Garratt
ASST. REF. 2: Richard West
4TH OFFICIAL: Darren Bond

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FA Premier League 2014/2015 City 3 v 2 Sunderland
I would recommend watching the the 3v2 [IMG] match in which YaYa and Jovetic scored great goals and 2 City old boys Rodwell and Johnson scored for Sunderland. Johnson scored from the spot after Roger East awarded a penalty for a foul from Zabaleta.

League Cup 2013/2014 Leicester 1 v 3 City 

BETTING ODDS - Oddchecker

Sunderland Away was one of the most dreaded fixtures on the calendar for the Citizens; with City going down 1v0 three times consecutively in the last 4 away games. Last seasons 4v1 victory should bring more hope.

For the pessimistic – you can get odds of 19/1 for a Sunderland 1v0 scoreline!

CITY V JUVENTUS by Dave Wood

September 17, 2015 admin About the club, Matches No comments

CITY V JUVENTUS

 

Early set of for myself in my Scottish Borders base, caught the 11-12 from Berwick Upon Tweed, change at York with enough time to visit their bar, the least said about the pint that was placed in front of me the better, still onwards with the journey, arriving into Manchester at 14-44.

Having made arrangements to meet fellow NES member Mikie Garry, as well as a mate Dougie, who shall be joining up shortly , I popped up to the Bar in the station upon where another NES member Ian Dickson arrived to get a ticket from Mikie, a couple of pints and Ian and Mikie left to go watch the EDS game, me and Dougie went and checked into our Travelodge at Ancoats (Very central and prices you cannot grumble at).

A few pubs visited before the game whilst meeting up with a few other City mates and it was time to jump in a taxi to the stadium.

Arrived at Stadium around 7-20 and the queues were not bad, at our point (Section P) They had 1 turnstile for  paper tickets and another for season cards, made entering very quick, atmosphere was nonexistent at this point but I made my way to my seat (After going down wrong set of steps and squeezing past a full row of fans), Seeing all the laid out scarves over the seats in South Stand was brilliant and thought we were in for a spectacle(If only fans where more clued up what was happening), it was filling up nicely and a few chants where had but very sparse, still it has not kicked off yet so no worries.

The players appear in the tunnel and scarves are held aloft by most and cry’s off City, City, City revered around the ground, followed by lots of Boos as the Champions League anthem kicked in.

Under way now and City very quickly on the attack, Ball played through from Dino(Absolute Rock for City) for Sterling and great chance to go 1 up but a very weak attempt is saved by Buffon, City fans get going and it looks like we could be in for a great night. Not much to choose between both teams and The South Stand are trying to lift the crowd but is soon diminished which is very frustrating, why fans don’t want to sing is beyond me but heh ho each to their own, still nothing much happening with Sterling being marked tighter than a Celtic Fan inside the Rangers End at Ibrox ;-) . Half time and time for a seat seeing as we cannot get a beer.

2nd half gets under way and the place erupts as Sergio, KDB and Navas appear in the South Stand corner, pretty sure they had more eyes on them than the players on the pitch, obviously I was the same otherwise I wouldn’t be commenting on it, lol, Juventus have more of the ball but City get a break culminating in a Goal from Kompany(Well that was initial thoughts), thankfully it was allowed to stand which brings the fans to life, We could have doubled our lead quickly but Sterling is stopped again, 10 minutes later and it is all level, Manuel brings on KDB for Sterling and it sees a cheer from the crowd which is quickly followed by another that sees our Captain replaced by Otamendi ( We have now got Nicolas Otamendi, as well as kun n zabba ;-)   ). He initially looks to be struggling to hold the line with his fellow defenders, minutes later and we are doomed, curling shot flys past Joe and that was that, for me it was time to go and have a refreshment.

Summary for me was that Bony is a great hold up player but struggled to lead the line, don’t want to jump on his back just yet, Nasri was poor, slowing the play down too much which seen Sterling receive fewer cutting balls and in all the intensity was just not there, whilst Navas receives stick for his final ball he does offer us up true width and pace, this surely helps ease the congestion in the middle, just my opinion which may be nonsense..

Into town anyway and on the lash it was, bed after midnight and up sharp and grabbed the 5-47am train home, arrived back into Berwick just before 10am, 24 hours gone and plenty happy minutes alongside 20 sad and angry minutes, but heh ho its City and its what we have come to expect, onwards and upwards for the next journey.

Dave Wood

 

Pre Match – Man City v West Ham

September 15, 2015 admin About the club, Matches No comments

Manchester City v West Ham

Date: Saturday 19th September 2015 17:30 BST
Competition: Barclays Premier League

Visit the club|Etihad Stadium|Parking| Contact + 44 161 444 1894
Travel Links: AA Road watch|Rail Travel News|Flight Information|Metrolink service

MCFC SQUAD NEWS

Squad (from):Caballero, Hart, Wright, Demichelis, Kolarov, Kompany (lets hope he is OK and no calf injury), Mangala, Sagna, Fernandinho, Nasri, Navas, Toure, De Bruyne, Silva, Sterling, Bony, Aguero
Injuries/Suspensions: Clichy, Zabaleta, Fernando, Delph

West Ham Squad News 

Squad (from): Randolph, Adrián, Spiegel, Reid, Cresswell, Tomkins, Jenkinson, Collins, Oxford, Knoyle, Kouyaté, Obiang, Noble, Amalfitano, Moses, Payet, Lanzini, Antonio, Cullen, Samuelsen, Carroll, Sakho, Jelavic, Lee
Injuries /Suspensions: Ogbonna, Song, Zárate, Valencia, O’Brien

KEY BATTLES

After plummeting out of the Europa League West Ham have started the Premier League season very well. The Hammers have picked up victories away from home against Arsenal and Liverpool and look very dangerous playing away. Central to their positive start has been Payet who has impressed with his strength, skill, power, passing range and shooting ability. The commentator during the Newcastle game likened him to Carlos Tevez which is a fairly decent comparison when you consider his strengths and style of play. Payet would appear to be an absolute steal at £10M; Payet appears in the Top European league player stats of the 2014-15 season numerous times. Dimitri Payet (Marseille) had 17 assists only bettered by Fabregas (Chelsea) 18, Messi (Barcelona) 18 and De Bruyne (Wolfsburg) 20. Dimitri Payet (Marseille) 133 was top man for most chances created finishing just above second best Kevin De Bruyne (Wolfsburg) 111. Dimitri Payet (Marseille) 86 was second best statistically for Most crosses completed behind Kieran Trippier (Burnley) 91. Dimitri Payet (Marseille) 21 was also second for Most through-balls completed behind Lionel Messi (Barcelona) 33 with Silva 4th 18. All that considered it’s a huge surprise that West Ham managed to secure his signature firstly at such a modest price and secondly with no real competition for the 28 year old attacking midfielders signature.

I Expect Slaven Bilić will rest one of his forward 3; Carroll will possibly make way for the additional player in central midfield. West Ham had to fend off interest from three top Premier League clubs to keep hold of 16-year-old Reece Oxford and I expect that after a very established debut in the 3v0 win against Liverpool he will be given the opportunity to face Man City. Adrian is likely to return on goals after suspension despite strong performances from Randolph, either keeper should expect to be very busy defending the barrage of City attacks. I hope that we continue with the same back 7 and go for the front 4 that all City fans are desperate to see; Silva, Sterling, De Bruyne and Aguero. Chelsea v Arsenal is the early kick-off and if Chelsea secure the home win and City get a victory that would place them 8 points ahead of Arsenal and 11 ahead of Chelsea before United play a tough match away at Southampton. What I would give for keeping the current logic going 3v0, 3v0, 2v0, 2v0, 1v0, 1v0. Has any team ever won the first 6 without conceding in the Premier League?

City are currently in good Kompany with 100% records in top tier football leagues; they share this accolade with Barcelona (3), Inter Milan (3), Dortmund (4), Bayern (4) and Aberdeen (7) in their respective leagues. After a disappointing performance in Europe City must bounce back with 3 points!!

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POTENTIAL LINE UPS

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HEAD TO HEAD FIXTURES – Last 10 games

  • 11/12/2010 West Ham United A PL 3-1 [IMG]
  • 01/05/2011 West Ham United H PL 2-1 [IMG]
  • 03/11/2012 West Ham United A PL 0-0 [IMG]
  • 27/04/2013 West Ham United H PL 2-1 [IMG]
  • 19/10/2013 West Ham United A PL 3-1 [IMG]
  • 08/01/2014 West Ham United H LC 6-0 [IMG]
  • 21/01/2014 West Ham United A LC 3-0 [IMG]
  • 11/05/2014 West Ham United H PL 2-0 [IMG]
  • 25/10/2014 West Ham United A PL 1-2 [IMG]
  • 19/04/2015 West Ham United H PL 2-0 [IMG]

Manchester City have scored 24 goals in the last ten games against West Ham, Aguero has 5, ______ has 5, YaYa has 4, Silva and Dzeko both scored 2, 1 own goal but which other 5 players scored once?

Further information about the head to head can be found in the Bluemoon History section

You can find the full City team, match reports and Youtube videos here with footage from these matches

Referee Appointments

REFEREE: Robert Madley 
ASST. REF. 1: M McDonough
ASST. REF. 2: M Perry
4TH OFFICIAL: C Pawson

Robert Madley has only refereed 20 to flight matches as you can see with his Match History, he has only refereed a Man City match once versus Leicester in a fairly uneventful match from a card perspective (only 1 booking) – interestingly City were only awarded 6 fouls to the 13 of Leicester.
Sent off Behrami (Watford) in last match which was a deserved red and once sent off 3 player in match between Southmptn 0:3 West Brom. I think we need to be careful in this match and ensure we don’t give the referee the opportunity to influence the game!

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BETTING ODDS - Oddchecker

If you think that City could equal the 6v0 victory from the 2014 season you can get odds of 55-1
I think this will be a tight game, I can see us conceding as it’s inevitable it will happen eventually in the Premier League. I also think we will score and win therefore a more reasonable bet would be a City 2v1 (19/2), 3v1 (17/2), 3v2(26/1), 4v1 (16/1) victories. Manchester City haven’t been involved in a 0 v 0 draw for 76 consecutive games since Norwich February 2014; but if you believe this scenario will occur you can get odds of 27/1 for 0v0

Pre Match Thread – City v Juventus

September 13, 2015 admin About the club, Matches No comments

Manchester City v Juventus

Date: Tuesday 15 September 2015 19:45
Visit the club|Etihad Stadium|Parking| Contact + 44 161 444 1894
Travel Links:AA Road watch|Rail Travel News|Flight Information|Metrolink service

MCFC SQUAD NEWS

Squad Information -Injuries/Suspensions

Squad (from):Caballero, Hart, Wright, Demichelis, Denayer, Kolarov, Kompany, Mangala, Sagna, Fernandinho, Nasri, Navas, Toure, De Bruyne, Bony

Injured: Clichy, Zabaleta, Fernando, Delph, Silva, Sterling, Aguero

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Juventus SQUAD NEWS

Squad Information – Injuries

Squad (from): Buffon, Neto, Rubinho, Audero, Chiellini, Cáceres, Sandro, Barzagli, Bonucci, Rugani, Lichtsteiner, Parodi, Pogba, Hernanes, Lemina, Padoin, Sturaro, Pereyra, Vitale, Zaza, Cuadrado, Mandžukić, Dybala, Vadalá,

Injured: Morata, Evra, Asamoah, Marchisio, Khedira

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KEY BATTLES

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Champions League 2015-16: team-by-team guide to the group stage

Tuesday game will be a tough match-up between the pot one and pot two teams and could have a huge influence on who tops the group. Manchester City are 5th favourites to win the Champions league outright with Juventus 10th favourites. The City faithful will be keen to get off to a strong start at home and will have to make several changes to the forward line. I expect De Bruyne will start the match in a central position and will be the difference between the 2 teams. I expect Aguero, Silva and Sterling wont be risked which will eave us with only Bony as a recognized striker

Mandžukić will be the main threat leading the line for Juventus; stemming the flow from Cuardado and Pereyra could be key to ensuring a City victory and much desired clean sheet.
Pogba was linked strongly with City over the transfer window but has failed to show his promise at the start of the season. The YaYa v Pogba match up will be one of the most interesting talking points in the Matchday 1 fixtures with Pogba being touted as one of the best young talents in World football and a potential successor to YaYa Toure in the City central midfield.

POTENTIAL LINE UPS

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HEAD TO HEAD FIXTURES

City and Juventus have only met 4 times with 1 win each and 2 draws.
Many think that the team that comes out on top of this head to head will top the table

Further information about the head to head can be found in the Bluemoon History section

You can find the full City team, match reports and Youtube videos here with footage from the match like this goal from our very own Brian Kidd {who interestingly played his last game for City against Borussia Monchengladbach, H, 07/03/1979}

Referee Appointments

Referee: Damir Skomina (SVN)
Assistant Referee 1: Jure Praprotnik (SVN)
Assistant Referee 2: Robert Vukan (SVN)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Matej Jug (SVN)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Slavko Vinčič (SVN)
Fourth Official: Manuel Vidali (SVN)
UEFA Referee Observer: Hugh Dallas (SCO)
UEFA Delegate: Jean-Louis Piette (FRA)

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BETTING ODDS

Oddchecker

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Pre Match Thread | Palace v City

September 13, 2015 admin About the club, Matches No comments

Crystal Palace v Manchester City

Date: Sat 12 September 2015 15:00 BST Guide for visiting supporters |Contact + 44 208 768 6000
Travel Links: AA Road watch Manchester | AA Road watch London| Rail Travel News | London Underground Status & Map

MCFC SQUAD NEWS Squad Information -Injuries/Suspensions

Squad (from): Caballero, Hart, Wright, Demichelis, Otamendi, Kolarov, Kompany, Mangala, Fernandinho, De Bruyne, Nasri, Navas, Silva, Toure, Aguero, Iheanacho
Injured: Zabaleta, Clichy, Delph/ Sagna, Fernando, Bony

Palace SQUAD NEWS Squad Information -Injuries/Suspensions

Squad (from): Ward, Mariappa, Hangeland, McCarthy, Dann, Bamford, Bolasie, Zaha, McCarthy, Hennessey, Chung-yong, Gayle, McArthur, Fryers, Williams, Wickham, Mutch, Souaré, Delaney, Kelly, Puncheon, Sako, Kaikai
Injured/Doubtful: Ledley, Appiah, Chamakh, Campbell/ Cabaye, Jedinak, Speroni, 

PREDICTED LINE UPS

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KEY BATTLES AND MATCH ANALYSIS

After the International Break which has seen Aguero, Silva and De Bruyne star for their individual countries excitement builds for a top of the table clash with Crystal Palace. Man City will look to dominate possession and attack with pace, Palace are known for conceding possession and attacking with pace. If ever I was shocked a match wasn’t televised it was this game, as I expect both teams to score and more than 5 goals in the game. There are rumours that Sagna picked up a knock in International duty could lead to a debut for Otamendi at right back. There is mass excitement surrounding Kevin De Bruyne signing and many fans will hope he starts this game. After two games international I expect he will come on off the bench around the 60 minute mark. I expect his debut will be in the home match against Juventus. I am selecting Delph for this match over Ferandinho as he will be tired after 2 matches in USA, I’m unsure if Nasri or Navas will start, Navas may due to his defensive capabilities and in an attempt to counter the pace of Bolasie.

Chelsea are the early kick off away at Everton, so if results go our way then we will be buzzing again going into this game. Add to that United v Liverpool match at 17:30, great to have a 3 O’ Clock Kick off.

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LAST 10 FIXTURES

REFEREE Referee Appointments:

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Has previous with Aguero


BETTING ODDS Oddchecker

I think we will need to score 3 to win this one but would love a scrappy 1v0 victory

so far it’s been 3-3-2-2 goals scored for us

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Pre Match Thread | City v Chelsea

September 13, 2015 admin About the club, Matches No comments

Manchester City V Chelsea FC

Date: 16.00pm, Sunday 16th August 2015
Visit the club| Etihad Stadium | Parking | Contact + 44 161 444 1894
Travel Links: AA Road watch | Rail Travel News | Flight Information | Metrolink service

Manchester City (2nd 2014/15) welcome Chelsea FC (Champions 2014/15) to the expanded Etihad stadium.
This will be the first home match of the season and the first match played in front of the new level 3 South Stand, extended singing section and an expected record Etihad attendance of just under 55,000. Exciting how quickly things have changed on and off the pitch with the state of the art Etihad Campus and the expansion; makes you proud to be a blue! Astounding really when you contemplate the progress and realize it’s only just over 12 years from the day City beat Barcelona in the first game at the City of Manchester Stadium.

The stadium will surely be buzzing with excitement and should be an important influence in motivating our players, let’s continue to make the Etihad an imposing fortress!

MCFC SQUAD NEWS

Squad Information - Injuries / Suspensions

Squad (from): Caballero, Hart, Wright, Demichelis, Denayer, Kolarov, Kompany, Mangala, Sagna, Zabaleta, Fernandinho, Lopes, Nasri, Navas, Silva, Toure, Aguero, Bony, Iheanacho

Injured: Fernando, Delph, Clichy

CHELSEA SQUAD NEWS

Squad Information - Injuries / Suspensions

Squad (from): Begovic, Blackman, Terry, Cahill, Ivanovic, Azpilicueta, Zouma, Ake, Hazard, Fabregas, Matic, Willian, Mikel, Ramires, Cuadrado, Loftus-Cheek, Moses, Traore, Costa, Remy ,Falcao

Chelsea have a clean bill of health although Oscar is doubtful, Chelsea will be missing Courtois for 1 match after seeing red vs Swansea despite appealing the decision.

POTENTIAL LINE UPS

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I anticipate Mourinho will play Zouma before Oscar. The selection of Fernando could be critical in defending set pieces; playing without his added height could be a huge risk as Chelsea are clearly dominant aerially.

We could use this perceived weakness as a strength by restricting the number of players Chelsea can commit forward leaving Sterling and Aguero forward on the last man with Silva on the edge of the box ready to pounce for a fast fluid counter attack.

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KEY BATTLES

Reading between the lines, I expect Mourinho to push Fabregas further forward for this match in hope that he can control the offensive play from this position. I believe Fabregas is much stronger than Oscar in this position and would have more impact dictating the Chelsea offensive play. Azpilicueta will be a defensive anchor on the Chelsea left allowing Hazard free reign to exploit the spaces that Fabregas will create in behind Zabaleta and between Zabaleta and Kompany. If Fernandinho and Fernando can limit the control Fabregas has and dominate this zone then this will greatly diminish the threat from Hazard and Costa.

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Silva and YaYa will be the creative stars for City supplying Sterling and Aguero.
Nasri with 4 goals in last 10 appearances will be unfortunate to miss out but think he will on this occasion; what odds for a Nasri winner from off the bench!?
The referee will require a strong performance as Matic is a very dirty player who for reasons unbeknownst to most is given freedom to kick lumps out of his opponents. The Sterling v Azpilicueta battle will be very interesting; Azpilicueta is rated one of the best defensive full backs in the league but Sterling has the speed and technical ability to devastate many defenders this season. The Chelsea defensive line tend to sit deep with Matic covering the zone directly in front of Terry but there should be space to be found by Sterling if he can utilize the switch of wings to exploit the gap that Ivanovic leaves as the more offensive full back.

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Defending with high intensity and the will to win the ball at set-pieces could be the difference between obtaining a key result in such an important fixture. We need Hart, Kompany and Mangala to be a dominant force attacking each set-piece delivery into our box. More than 35 % of goals conceded were from set-pieces last season and with this being one of Chelsea strongest attributes we must remain focused and ensure that we address this.

LAST 10 FIXTURES

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MANAGER HEAD TO HEAD

There has been vast media coverage about the Pellegrini - Mourinho head to head.
Managerial strategy, tactical knowledge, player management, mind games and media handling are key attributes when considering a manager. However the most important factor is team performance, team morale and being a good man; Pellegrin excels at this, let’s take a closer look at the history, similarities and how they differ in their approach to pursuing the title.

Both managers are well respected in football circles for their successes; it is clear Mourniho edges it from a trophy haul perspective. Both have managed Real Madrid; Pellegrini lead Madrid achieved 96 points, a club record until it was surpassed by Jose Mourinho in 2011–12 season after replacing Manuel.

The two managers have gone head to head as managers on 11 occasions, Mourinho amassed 7 wins, 3 draws and Pellegrini has achieved 1 win whilst manager of Malaga back in 2012. Mourinho teams have scored 29 goals compared to Pellegrini teams have scored 11 goals. So on the face of it that would appear that Mourinho has a clear edge over his rival.

This isn’t a shut case though when we consider the Chelsea to Manchester City head-to-head under these managers in which Chelsea lead 5 goals to the 3 of City. The fixture is usually a very tight affair, average 2 goals per game and has often been decided by an individual error or a moment of brilliance.

Mourinho has been very quiet on challenge expected from Manchester City thus far choosing a battle of words with Arsene Wenger. The lack of conflict has prompted many to question if Mourinho believes Manchester City aren’t a real danger to Chelsea title credentials.

Pellegrini is a honorable, honest, respected manager who applies integrity and ensures his main focus is improving his team not manipulating the media, referees or opposition players.
I’m sure this is one of the key reasons he is respected by his peers!
Don’t get me wrong i’m sure Mourinho is respected by other managers for his winning mentality.

I believe the charming man will engineer a clinical blow in this mental battle against Mourinho!

Madrid 7-0 Malaga | Malaga 0-4 Madrid | Madrid 3-2 Malaga | Malaga 0-1 Madrid |
Madrid 1-1 Malaga | Malaga 3-2 Madrid | Madrid 6-2 Malaga

Chelsea 2-1 Man City | Man City 0 – 1 Chelsea | Man City 1 – 1 Chelsea | Man City 1 – 1 Chelsea

SEASON EXPECTATIONS

It seems pre-season that all the talk is of Another Title For Chelsea? 
EPL Preview 2015-16 provides an interesting insight into the Chelsea title defense.
The majority of pundits have them as favourites which is hard to question due to the stability of the playing squad and ease in which they won the title last season.
That’s 4 out of 5 pundits of the 53 polled that think Chelsea will win the league this season !

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The squad stability was very apparent when selecting the best 11, I think most people could predict the majority of starters in the Chelsea line-up. On the contrary ask 10 City fans and they would all provide you a different starting 11; that’s not a knock, to me it highlights the strength of the City squad, element of surprise and that we don’t actually know our strongest starting 11. There is not a definitive answer though as there will be plenty of opportunity for all to impress, the one area perhaps we would benefit from improved stability and less rotation is in defense.

It appears Manchester City are currently flying under the radar with very few pundits predicting a title challenge and some that we will miss out on top 4!
The EPL 2015-16 Season Preview – Manchester City makes for interesting reading with City seen as somewhat an unknown. City finished trophy-less and second after what many described as a disappointing season but their were positives; many of the statistical analysis was positive, Aguero winning golden boot and Hart the golden glove (his 4th). The real damage was done mid-season when we seen a return of 15 points in 12 games, I expect that come the end of the season Manchester City will be challenging for the title with Chelsea. Let’s hope City can take the positives out of last season and learn from the mistakes.

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REFEREE
Referee Appointments: REFEREE: Martin Atkinson Bradford

Positives: Referee for our 2011 FA Cup final / 2014 Football League Cup final wins.
His First Premier league game was an away victory for Manchester City against Crystal Palace in a game where he awarded 2 penalties converted by Anelka and Andrew Johnson.

Negative: Poor time keeping lead to Michael Owen 96th-minute goal in the derby.

Atkinson has never refereed a match between the two teams so no previous history for this fixture.

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ASST. REF. 1: Stephen Child Kent
ASST. REF. 2: Mike Mullarkey Devon
4TH OFFICIAL: Jon Moss Leeds

BETTING ODDS
Oddchecker

Capital One Cup Final Tickets

February 24, 2014 admin About the club, Committee, Matches, Tickets No comments

Tickets sent out, if you haven’t paid yet then please do ASAP!!!

remember to email myself and Barry when payment completed

david.ramsay@mcfc.ws
bazmac21@sky.com

Cheers,
Dave

Outlook for the new season!

August 8, 2013 admin About the club No comments

After a long pre-season with just a handful of friendly matches to feed the appetite the season is almost upon us. The excitement grows; so many questions, so much change, huge opportunities and the chance to see a handful of top players live for the first time.

I’ll have to admit to being very sad to seeing Mancini leave and was pessimistic that this was the correct approach to follow. I think it was partially the manner in which he was sacked and the grey cloud it put over the FA Cup Final and that he was the most successful manager in our recent history and I’m a believer that change is not always the best answer.

When Pelligrini was announced as manager I was unsure that this was the correct acquisition and the man to lead us to future victory. So I decided to investigate more about the man; watching his press releases, watching coaching videos, YouTube videos of Malaga and Villarreal and tactical methodologies. Now I’m sure he is the man for the job and I am thrilled that he is our new manager.

I will miss the blasts of Mancini around the grounds but it’s time for City fans to take heed of the following aphorism “The king is dead, long live the king!”

There have been summer transfers to ponder, there was the prolonged saga surrounding the Isco signing, reading 10002 of pages on the Bluemoon Forum and watching all his YouTube super skills videos. Isco was marked as Pellegrini apprentice and most fans thought we were nailed on to sign him. I think unfortunately for us he had an amazing U20 World Cup for Spain, his stock grew and interest from Madrid increased. After the Initial disappointment when we missed out on him to Real Madrid (but we must not be disheartened) which we shouldn’t be surprised about; he is Spanish, they are one of the top teams in the world and they were willing to pay his Dad 4 million for agent fees . I think the concern was we missed another top target and it reminded many of the previous year’s sagas with Eden Hazard and Alexis Sanchez

Some of our bets business has been signing our stars up to longer contracts, YaYa, Silva, Kompany and Aguero all signing new deals. Sad we can’t sign the YaYa Kolo song, let’s hope Liverpool fans return the banter twice a season as this would be class!!!

We have made some fantastic signings to boot, rather than signing players to mould into a team we look to have assessed the squad and sought to fix the issues which were clear to most fans, notable pace out wide and pace and bite in the centre of the pitch. Fernandinho and Navas have pace and bags of it, Fernandinho has the ability to break out of midfield with devastating pace and skip past a few challenges rapidly turning Defence into attack. Navas is just the player we have been missing out wide since Adam Johnson left, Navas though is a World cup winner and a level or two above the ability of Johnson, Navas; the type of player that makes you stand at matches and you eagerly anticipate him skipping past players and stretching play. If played consistently Navas could be top of the charts in assists for the Premier League this season. Losing Tevez and Balotelli were hard for me to swallow. I’m a bit of as romantic when it comes to football and I had visions of Balotelli becoming a true world great, I will always remember fondly him ripping United a new one at Old Trafford in the 1v6 J

But we must move on and that we have, Jovetic and Negredo look good signings and we haven’t spent crazy money in getting these players signed, most importantly the view from the board is that wages are now staggered performance based and these signings have fallen into this category. Initial performances in friendlies have been promising, Jovetic looks to be direct, have a nice touch, technically astute, capable of picking the correct pass and splitting defences. Negredo has 2 excellent feet, is big and strong, can pick a pass and looks to be able to get on the end of chances which is so important for a striker.  I commented in the last match that I hope he isn’t an unlucky striker after the keep made numerous saves, he hit the woodwork and narrowly missed; no longer than the words came out my mouth and he got his first City goal, Yaaaas!

To sum it up, Overall I think we have done fantastic this season in the transfer window, this is obviously just an opinion and only time will tell if these players will fulfil their potential.

Going into the new season Player you get the feeling that certain players will flourish under Pellegrini, I hope Dzeko will be one of the main beneficiaries of the new style of play, for me he is a real top Striker and with the best service available and right amount of game time could be looking at over 40 goals a season in all competitions. I know this won’t happen as he is unlikely to get this much game time but I’m sure he could be close to a goal a game statistically.

Let’s not kid our self there have been a few disappointments on the injury front, Aguero and Nastasic look to miss the start of the season. There is talk that we will sign a Centre Half, we have been continually linked with Pepe; I like the Jeans but not the player!! I hope we don’t make a signing and look to develop Richards as a Centre half; we still have Lescott! Boyata and Rekik are promising youngsters and the new holistic manta is about blooding youngsters so this would be a step in the right direction.

Pellegrini has some job on his hands keeping the squad happy, we certainly aren’t lacking in talent!

My view of our current squad, taking into account injuries to Aguero and Nastasic. Enough to make 2 teams and no space in either for Garcia, Sinclair or Guidetti

Expectations for this season are as follows:

  • Fast Attacking football
  • Challenge for the League
  • Improved performance in the Champions League

Exciting times ahead, petty we have to wait until Monday but can’t wait to get down to the Etihad and get behind the team.

Bluemoon, you saw me standing alone!!!

Dave

FA CUP Final Tickets arrived

May 8, 2013 admin About the club, Information, Matches, Tickets No comments

Can’t wait until Saturday for teh FA Cup Final vs Wigan at Wembley now that tickets have all arrived

Greenman here we come!!