Reaction: Everton 5 -1 City

Mikel Arteta celebrates after opening the floodgates at Goodison Park with his first of the season. It was not to be his last.

Yesterday was rotten, wasn't it? A horrible 90 minutes with few bright spots for the travelling City fans. Tucked into the ramshackle away section at Goodison Park, a section of the ground offering only the very worst of views, we were subjected to a performance the likes of which have become all too frequent since December 2008. We travelled to Merseyside buoyed by Manchester United's scrappy win over Wolves as well as the images of Sam Vokes skying a possible season changing chance. We knew that even a point against Everton would be enough to lift us out of the relegation zone. We also knew that City had gone a full calendar year without an away win, and would be hard pressed to end that run against an Everton side that has really just started to get into its stride.

City's line up held a few surprises. Gone was Andy Dawson for Kevin Kilbane, fitting reward we thought considering Dawson's white booted Upton Park nightmare. We later learned that Dawson had actually suffered from a bad asthma attack and was unfit to play, with Brown hinting that he would've played had he been available. Jimmy Bullard made his long anticipated return to Premier League action in the middle of a five man midfield that also included Nick Barmby and Richard Garcia and Amr Zaki started on his own up front. Everton, meanwhile, boasted a wealth of talent in their line up. Yakubu, Osman, Arteta, Jagielka, and Pienaar as well as Landon Donovan, Diniyar Bilyatedinov, Dan Gosling and Jack Rodwell amongst the substitutes. We'd've snatched your right arm off, never mind your hand, if you'd offered us a point before kick off. The opening minutes of the game were watched by a strangely muted crowd, but it was hardly stirring stuff. Even when Arteta put the Toffees ahead, the Goodison crowd's response was swift, half interested. We knew it was coming and, apparently, so did they. Yakubu had already hit the post, after Osman had robbed Boateng to feed the Yak. The men in amber and black did not heed the warning though, as only minutes later it was 1-0. Yakubu, given far too much time by Paul McShane, floated a lovely ball to the back post with Mikel Arteta arriving on cue to guide the ball past Myhill. Arteta motored past Barmby in the midfield to find himself in a prime position. Tracking runners from deep has long been a problem for us, and so it would prove again as the game wore on. Yakubu again showed himself to be unusually profligate in front of goal when he missed a penalty. Having been brought down by Zayatte, the Nigerian dusted himself off and took the resultant spot kick himself only for it to be turned away by Myhill. This was the start of City's best period in the game. We hardly had time to draw breath and City were level. Tom Cairney, a revelation in recent weeks, but understandably struggling to convince in this particular game popped up with an absolute worldie of strike. Waiting on the edge of the area to pick up any scraps from a set piece, Cairney unleashed a beautifully struck left foot volley past the desparing dive of Tim Howard. A sweet moment for Cairney, and probably a satisfactory one for the men who brought him through to first time level; Billy Russel and Neil Mann Mann Mann. Having clawed level against the run of play, City could count themselves lucky and you always felt that Everton would score again. That feeling proved correct when just six minutes later, Arteta bagged his second of the match. Running onto Steven Pienaar's cute drag back, the Spaniard passed the ball low into the net. City's midfield again failed to give adequate protection the goal, as Cairney, Bullard and Boateng were all bypassed easily. There were no further incidents of note in the first half and City went in behind knowing it would be a huge task to find a second equaliser.

As the second hlaf began, it was clear to all watching that Arteta was enjoying his afternoon and wasn't ready to stop playing the role of the Tigers' tormentor-in-chief. Six minutes after the break and the game was dead and buried, and there was to be no pet cemetary style comebacks. Arteta dinked a cross towards the back post from the left hand side of the area, having again been given too much room to play the ball. Myhill inexplicably failed to deal with it, and the ball crossed the line having hit Richard Garcia's head. Garcia had every reason to be surprised at having to deal with the cross as to all watching Myhill should've done so himself. Everton had squeezed the life out of the game with more than a third of it to go. Bullard was withdrawn on the hour for Altidore, possibly to save him exerting himself in a game that was lost, with Nick Barmby preceding him, Goodison's least popular man being replaced by Geovanni. With City defending so poorly, there were always likely to be more goals and Everton did not let their fans down, with substitues Donovan and Rodwell providing the final goals. And so ended another painful afternoon watching City away from home. The Tigers' performance has been branded 'pathetic', 'unacceptable', 'tame' and 'tepid' by various media outlets. All fair comment. It was an afternoon never likely to see us gain any reward from our efforts, even before kick off, but it was the manner of defeat that really sticks in the throat. Much had been made in the run up to the game of City needing to go back to basics and make things more difficult for their oppenents but they did anything but. Our five man midfield was always wide open, with Everton running rampant down the middle and out wide. The central midfielders did not protect that centre backs and the keeper well enough and Garcia and Barmby did not offer enough help to their full backs. Amr Zaki was a largely frustrated figure. A willing runner, the Egyptian had to feed on scraps all afternoon and was given little support by his team mates. Much had been made of Jimmy Bullard's comeback, but in his first Premier League game since December, he appeared to be struggling to keep up with the pace of the game and rarely got himself in the kind of positions he needed to to affect the game.

So where next for City? Arsenal come to the KC next week in front of the ESPN cameras. The Gunners form of late has been frightening and a repeat of this performance will surely see us on the hand of another thrashing. Phil Brown has much work to do between now and Saturday, but the games all City fans have their eyes on come after this coming weekend. An inviting run of fixtures could see the Tigers push themselves out of the drop zone. Coming to the KC in the weeks to come are Fulham, Burnley and Sunderland. Three winnable fixtures. Burnley's away day woes extend back nearly as far as our own, Fulham have struggled for consistency away from Craven Cottage since time immemorial and Sunderland are busy performing a passable impression of City's 2008-09 collapse. But we really need to start picking up points away from East Yorkshire to complement our decent home form. Trips to Portsmouth, Stoke, Birmingham and Wigan must yield points if we are to avoid a return to the Championship.

Gulp.

Further reading:
Brown Going Down - Sky Sports.com
Second Half Collapse Unacceptable - Hull City OWS
Liverpool Echo match report


Soundtrack to this post:

'Sigh No More' - Mumford & Sons
(Island)(2009) Rating 9/10

and


'The Draft - Digital EP' - The Draft
(Epitaph) (2007) Rating 7/10

Blackburn Rovers vs Hull City

Sam Allardyce during his pre-match press conference

So after the unbridled pessimism that was my last post comes optimism! Having taken just a point when three were expected against Wolves, City went into fixtures against Chelsea, top of the league and Champions elect and the richest club in the world, Manchester City. Many, including myself, expected City to gain no points from the Chelsea fixture and perhaps scrape a point against Abu Dhabi Citeh. How wrong can you be? Confident attacking displays coupled with stout defending brought four points from those two games and so we can now look towards tonight's trip to Ewood Park with a degree of confidence and hopes of claiming a first away win of the season. Sam Allardyce and Phil Brown, as we all know by now, spent many years working alongside each other at Blackpool and Bolton Wanderers and both men have been in the media recently with cautionary words for their teams. (Phil Brown: Sky Sports. Sam Allardyce: Also Sky Sports.) Blackburn's home form this season has been solid, losing just once in their last eleven home games and twice all season. These defeats were at the hands of Manchester City and Tottenham though, so it would appear that they are no slouches on home soil. The statistics back this up. Of twelve league home games this season, Blackburn have won six, drawn four and lost the aforementioned two. When you take into account that the Tigers have claimed only four points on the road this season, the prospects of claiming anything tonight look bleak. Or do they? Examining their home record further shows a goalless draws with West Ham, Stoke and Liverpool as well as a 2-2 draw with Sunderland. Added to this narrow victories over Wigan, Burnley and Aston Villa are hardly convincing. In all, Blackburn have scored a respectable 17 goals at Ewood Park this season and conceded 12, so it would seem that the first goal tonight will be key. City don't net much on their travels, just 7 all season, and have conceded 30 goals in that time.

But statistics can only tell you so much. This last week has seen City look revived, thanks in no small part to strength of the spine of the side. Stephen Mouyokolo and Tony Gardner have quickly formed a very good centre half pairing, so much so that cult hero Kamil Zayatte is having to play back up. Up front, Jan Venegoor of Hesselink and Jozy Altidore look to be developing an understanding that has seen each man lay the other on for superb goals in recent games. Altidore provided the assist for big Jan's superb goal against Wolves and the Dutchman happily returned the favour against Man City on Saturday, holding the ball up before passing into Altidore's path, then standing to admire the American's lovely finish. You always have to save the best for last. don't you? And so in that spirit, we come to the midfield. How good have George Boateng and Tom Cairney been? I criticised Boateng last week for his rash challenge on Anelka that led to Didier Drogba's goal, but to write his general performance off for that daft mistake would've been stupid. He carried on in this rich vein of form against Man City, and scored an absolute worldie of a goal, his first for City and well deserved. The news that he's facing a fight to make the game is a blow. Suffering with cramp, if Boateng does miss out expect Seyi Olofinjana to deputise. Alongside The Boat, Tom Cairney has played three Premier League games in a week and looks like he's played another 200 more. City fans must remember though that Cairney is still only a young lad and his form will have peaks and troughs but if Brown and the backroom staff can nurture his talent over the coming months, we look to have a player who can play a vital role in our survival fight. Assuming he starts, tonight will be another big test for him. His only league games have come at the KC and a trip to Ewood Park will be another rite of passage for the youngster.

Other team news reports that Andy Dawson may miss out too. I'm always quick to criticise Dawson when I think he's made a mistake or had a poor game, but credit where it's due, Dawson has been magnificent in recent games. He was excellent against Chelsea, coping with Drogba's constant sojourns out to his wing for Chelsea goal kicks and with the marauding threat of Ivanovic. Against Manchester City he also dealt capably with first Stephen Ireland and then the changing threats of Adam Johnson and Martin Petrov, as well as Zabaleta's runs from right back. Expect Kevin Kilbane to fill in if Dawson does miss out. Kilbane should slot straight in, especially as he bags of experience in this position for the Republic of Ireland.

All in all, I'm confident of coming away with something. I had predicted earlier in the week on KCFM that CITY would win 2-0 but truth be told I'd be delighted with a point. Enjoy the game.

Don't forget to leave a comment below!

Soundtrack to this post:
This Is Not The World by The Futureheads

(Nul Records) (2008)
Rating: 9/10

Wolves reaction

So with the transfer window securely shut for another few months, City can reflect on decent work off the pitch but definitely not on it. The visit of Wolves to the KC was a chance for the Tigers to pick up a much needed win a propel themselves above our visitors from the Black Country. Unfortunately City were twice pegged back and squandered a great chance to make some headway in the relegation tussle. It was a poor game in truth and although City did look to have more quality, it was Wolves who finished the game the stronger side with Bo Myhill called into action a few times to preserve a point. Brown made 5 changes from the side who lost to Wayne Rooney a week ago, with Mendy, Mouyoklo, Cairney, Venegoor of Hesselink and Altidore all being restored to the lineup. Cairney was making his Premier League debut and put in a performance that belied his relative lack of experience, looking much closer to being a complete player than his crab like youth counterpart Nicky Featherstone (crab-like in that he appears able to only move sideways and he's a little irritant who is difficult to get rid of and you're not particularly proud of telling anyone that you have him). Things started well for us when Big Jan fired City into the lead after great work from Altidore, who held off his marker's attention strongly and laid the Dutchman on for a well taken goal. City looked fairly comfortable for the remainder of the first half, although former Man United youngster David Jones troubled the defence with his delivery from corners on several occasions. When the sides emerged fro the second half, Wolves quickly restored parity. Actually that's not true. Anthony Gardner restored parity by parodying Kamil Zayatte and slicing grotesquely into his own net. A horrible error from a normally resolute and classy centre half. Gardner was quickly redeemed though when Wolves right back Zubar mistook Jozy Altidore for a ladder in the penalty area. Mike Dean didn't hesitate in awarding the penalty, which man of the moment Hunt dispatched with consumate ease. I'll confess that at this point I thought it was job done, City would go on to close out the game and seal a vital victory. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, WRONG! Wolves equalised after yet more slack defending, as player after player was allowed too much time to pick out a pass and the Old Gold (disguised for the afternoon in White) creaked towards a goal with Matt Jarvis applying the finishing touch to a move that seemed to be going nowhere. The rest of the game was played out as if in a dream, with both teams appearing to settle for a point. Disappointing to say the least, and definitely two points dropped. Our lack of care when in the lead against Wolves this season may cost us dear, as we have been in winning positions 3 times over the 2 games and have claimed only a point from each. How vital would another 4 be?

Close the door on your way out

What looked like being a quiet day for City has become quite the opposite with several fringe players leaving the club, aiding Adam Pearson's quest to slash the club's wage bill. Peter Halmosi, Tony Warner and Daniel Cousin have all left the KC, either on loan or permanently. Having seen off Wolves's attempts to sign Stephen Hunt earlier in the day, Transfer Deadline Day looks like being a successful one for the Tigers. Hungarian flop Halmosi has left the club on loan to sign for unpronouncable Hungarian side Szombathelyi Haladas until the end of the season. We had high hopes for Hungarian Halmosi having (aliteration!) brought him to Hull from Plymouth in the close season of 2008, but he didn't show the sort of form that caught the eye whilst plying his trade in the green of Plymouth Argyle and nobody at the KC will really miss his presence on the bench. Another disappointing signing was Daniel Cousin who has, as reported earlier joined Greek club Larissa on loan until the end of the season, with a view to making the deal permanent should Cousin bother his arse to put some effort in. Warner, meanwhile, leaves the club having made only two first team appearances in 18 months. The Scouse shot stopper never really looked like replacing Bo Myhill as number 1 or Matt Duke as number 2 and so City were happy to cancel the rest of his deal.

Whilst we're talking about players who spent disappointing periods plying their trade in black and amber, Scottish flop Darryl Duffy has signed a three month loan deal at Carlisle United. Duffy, who is permanently contracted to Bristol Rovers, signed for City in January 2006 as Peter Taylor put together a Little and Large partnership of him and Jon Parkin, and later departed to Swansea City, after scoring just 3 times in 24 outings.

Larissa Explains It All?

Striking enigma Daniel Cousin continues to be linked with a move to pastures new as City look to reduce thier wage bill further, following the release of both Bryan Hughes and Tony Warner. IMScouting.com reports that Cousin will seal a move to Greek outfit Larissa this afternoon.

But with Phil Brown stating on Radio Humberside that this deal had fallen through and with Cousin looking to be lining up a move to an unnamed Turkish club instead, i this just lazy journalism? Yeah, probably. And afterall, when dealing with Cousin, lazy journalism is probably appropriate (budumtish!). I don't expect to see him sign for anyone today, and I think he'll be hanging around in the reserves until he goes somewhere new in the summer. Shame.

In other news, former City right winger Jason Price has left Millwall, signing for Oldham on a month's loan. I wouldn't fancy playing at Oldham for any longer than a month either. Boundary Park freezing at the best of times.

Edit: I've just read on the BBC's excellent Transfer Deadline Day page (which you can find here) that BBC Radio 5 live's senior football reporter Ian Dennis has just said made the following the report on air: "I understand striker Daniel Cousin will be leaving Hull City with Greek side Larissa his likely destination." Let's hope he's right!

Transfer Deadline Day

City fans celebrate the news that Stephen Hunt isn't going anywhere!

12.46
It's difficult to avoid the cloud of hyperbole, hype, disappointment and wasted time that is transfer deadline day. Thanks to Sky Sports News we know all about every deal that might be about to happen, has happened, won't happen, they want to happen and we love it don't we? I couldn't tell you why, but it's ace. Managers hate it, agents love it and the fans, starved of transfer activity for most of the season can't get enough of it. City have so far only done one piece of business of note, with Zaki joining the ranks and their only involvement on deadline day so far has been to allow Will Atkinson to extend his loan at Rochdale (link) and to tell Wolves to stick their £5 million offer for Stephen Hunt up their arse (link). Great news for the Tiger Nation. Selling Hunt would've been a hammer blow to our chances of survival, with the diminutive Irish winger scoring 6 goals and providing assists for a further 4. City have scored only 22 league goals this season, with Hunt critically involved in nearly half of them. The facts speak for themselves don't they?

I'll be posting throughout the day on any City related news or just on stories that catch my eye. Reaction to the frustrating draw with Wolves and a preview of tomorrow's game at Chelsea will follow later on tonight.

Spurs vs City reaction/ Amr Zaki/ 6 a Side

Tottenham Hotspur 0 - 0 Hull City.

Anyone who predicted that result ahead of the weekend's game was probably just taking a wild guess. City hadn't kept a clean sheet away from the KC all season and Spurs had scored 11 in their last 5 games. They probably would've added at least another 3 or 4 to that total had it been for Boaz Myhill. Now, to the Tiger Nation, Myhill has always been highly regarded and we've known for a long time that he is a top shot stopper, but his performance at White Hart Lane on Saturday was something else. 7 times Spurs tried to breach his goal. 7 times Myhill stood firm, Gandalf-like between the sticks, his every save crying out "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!" Spurs, like the Balrog in Tolkien's 'Lord Of The Rings' had met their match and City's figurative sheet remained clean, pristine and unsullied. Myhill deserved nothing less after what was a truly fantastic display. He'll never play better again in his life, and I, for one, feel privileged to have witnessed such a display from a man who has been a great servant to our football club. Thanks Bo.

Whilst Myhill deservedly took the plaudits the rest of the side should be congratulated too. Let us not forget that this was only City's third point on the road this season and, as I mentioned before, the first clean sheet the Tigers have kept away from home this term. That City took anything from this game is testament to the work rate and commitment shown by each and every player wearing City's blue away strip. Craig Fagan led from the front, as always. His desire to chase lost causes was as great as ever and he worked Tottenham's centre backs whenever he could, tirelessly chasing down lost causes and hassling Bassong and the excellent Michael Dawson. Nick Barmby and Stephen Hunt provided the quality in midfield, linking up in the second half to provide City with their only real chance of note, which Barmby lashed into the side netting. Much of City's travelling contingent, myself included, leapt to celebrate an unlikely lead as soon as the ball left Barmby's boot. Unfortunately we had been deceived and quietly sat back down as the home fans hooted derision. George Boateng did an important job in front of the back four, breaking up countless attacks but when asked to produce with the ball at his feet often fell short. 'The Boat' looked knackered with half an hour to play and that he remained on the field for the remainder of the game highlights his character and desire. Geovanni didn't have his best day creatively either but the diminutive Brazilian worked tirelessly, playing a sort of game that must be entirely foreign to him. This was good to see, as it makes a case for including him in the side when he is not at his attacking best. The back four must take credit too, particularly the centre backs. Kamil Zayatte and former Spur Anthony Gardner were outstanding, displaying a willingness to put their bodies on the line in support of Myhill's quest to keep Spurs' glittering attack at bay. Anthony Gardner has always looked a classy player, but now that he has managed a run of games he is really beginning to look the part and is, in my opinion, the equal of former defensive partner Michael Turner. He'll be off to Sunderland in cut price deal soon then. Well, either that or he'll suffer a freak injury whilst tieing his shoelaces.
Spurs will feel hard done by not to have claimed more than a point from this fixture, and with the chances they created, you would really have expected them to have won comfortably but anything but a clean sheet and point would've been equally hard on Bo Myhill. A draw was a fair result in the end, and it temporarily lifted City out of the drop zone until West Ham's goalless draw at Villa Park the following day dragged them back in. But if this sort of fight and defensive discipline can be shown on a regular basis, City have every chance of pulling themselves clear. We just need a touch more quality up front.


Which is where this bloke comes in. Hull City confirmed this week the signing of powerhouse Egyptian striker Amr Zaki on loan for the remainder of the season. Voices within the media have been quick to condemn the decision to sign the challenging striker but to most City fans, it looks a good decision. What the media have failed to realise is that with the club sitting in the relegation zone and suffering financial troubles, we will not be able to bring in players without baggage. Beggars can't be choosers, after all. This is a deal that could benefit both club and player though. After impressing in the first few months of his loan spell at Wigan last season and being linked with a host of top clubs, including Chelsea and Real Madrid, things went sour for Zaki. After repeatedly arriving back to Wigan late from international duty, leading to Steve Bruce, the man who must be every rhinoplastic surgeon's wet dream, branding him the most "unprofessional player" he had ever worked with. Bruce seemed perfectly happy with Zaki when he was banging in goals for the Latics, and bang them in he did. Who can forget his magnificent volley at Anfield? So having seen his star rise and fall so quickly, Zaki went back to the wilderness with Zamalek and must now see the next few months at City as a chance to redeem himself. If he is able to score the goals that help to push City out of relegation trouble, he may get the move to a top club that he desires. If this deal proves to be a success, it can only be good for both club and player.

Finally, I'd like to end this post by wishing my good friend Ian a speedy recovery. Ian fractured his fibula last night in a freak accident after going in for a tackle during one of our 6-a-side football matches and will be in plaster for the next 6 weeks. Hopefully we'll be able to get Ian back in our line up soon, and as league champions as our team, West Hull United, is currently gunning for the league title. Whilst Ian waited for an ambulance, we were forced to carry on with the game a man light, with the game deadlocked 0-0. We demolished our opponents 5-1 in a fantastic display of counter attacking football and quality possession play. Ian's injury was not the only disappointing thing about the game though, as our opponent's goal keeper shouted a disgusting comment to his team mate during the 2nd half. In our league, slide tackling is forbidden as the astro turf is unforgiving and sliding in is dangerous to yourself and your opponent. During the second half, one of our opponent's defenders slid instinctively in an honest attempt at winning the ball but, realising his error, pulled out and missed both ball and man. A free kick was awarded anyway, prompting their keeper to shout "If you're going to slide, at least fucking hit him." Why, in a Monday night game of 6-a-side do some people feel compelled to inflict injury on people who are just trying to get some exercise and play a bit of honest competitive football with their friends? Idiotic, childish and utterly deplorable, especially as he'd seen Ian helped to the side of the pitch in the first half where he sat, awaiting an ambulance. Anyway, following our fifth goal, I reminded him of his fuckwitted comment, saying "If you're going to dive, at least fucking save it."

Thanks for reading, and if you feel you have anything to contribute please leave a comment!

Soundtrack for this post:
Gold Country by Chuck Ragan

(SideOneDummy) (2009)
Rating: 8/10

and

Build & Burn by The Loved Ones

(Fat Wreck Chords) (2008)
Rating: 8/10

Preview: Spurs vs City/The African Cup Of Nations/Robbie Savage

There's a few things I'd like to cover with this entry, and I've outlined them in the title so I'll start with Robbie Savage's fantastic and, in my opinion, justified rant at a BBC Radio Derby reporter. If you've not heard it, please listen here before reading the rest of my post. It's a ten minute piece, so just take a moment or two to familiarise yourself with the story.

Before I continue then, I'll assume that you've listened to Savage's defence of his manager, Nigel Clough, and his criticism of BBC Radio Derby journalist Colin Gibson's post match coverage of Derby County's 1-4 defeat at the hands of the Scunts. Clearly, losing by 4 goals to 1 at home in any game is not good enough. Losing by 4 goals to 1 at home to Scunthorpe United is shocking. Scunthorpe United had, until the weekend's game at Pride Park won only once away from home, a 4-0 victory at Crystal Palace back in September, scoring only 9 times in 12 outings away from Glanford Shoebox. So Derby's defeat to the Iron would rankle with anyone connected with the Rams, none moreso than Robbie Savage, the club captain. Savage took umbrage with Gibson's comments after the game and decided to take him to task at a press conference. The Soccer AM favourite criticised Gibson for commenting on rumours that members of the Derby changing room did not back the capabilities of the backroom team and, in Savage's opinion, encouraging listeners to attack Derby County and spread further the feelings of dissatisfaction that are rumbling around the stands at Pride Park.
The reason I bring this up is because too many times journalists, in pursuit of a story, are able to get away with lazy journalism. Perhaps Gibson did hear rumours that Derby players were unhappy with Clough and his staff, but the correct thing to do would be to investigate these rumours and try to establish whether or not the rumours had any grounding in fact before the broadcast. You would expect better of a BBC journalist than to comment on hearsay and pupport it as fact. As Savage states in his diatribe, he would expect such a thing from the Sun or the Daily Mail, but not from the local media, who can play a huge role in encouraging support and generating goodwill towards the club's players and staff. So I say good on Robbie Savage for defending his manager and hitting out at boo happy fans. Okay, it's easy to criticise, and as somebody who unfortunately succumbed to booing the Tigers following our dismal 5-1 defeat to Colchester back in November 2006, I can understand the Derby fans' feelings but it really accomplishes nothing. It only creates more pressure and further reduces the confidence of a struggling team. Get behind the team, in good times and bad. Nobody wants to see them fail so give them a helping hand and back them to the hilt. Booing your team's players are what the opposition fans are for so to do it yourself is counter-productive.

It can't have escaped your attention that the Togo national team were attacked by terrorists on their way to their base for the African Cup of Nations in the Angolan province of Cabinda. It's easy to forget in the post-attack talk of World Cup safety and Togo's withdrawal from the tournament that three of the people who were injured on the bus have reportedly died. Football should not really be the issue, and the importance of a victory in a game is put starkly into perspective by the events of last week. Sadly the 2010 ACN will forever be remembered and tainted by this incident, but let's hope that it will also offer up positive memories, such as Mali's stunning fightback against Angola in the tournament's opening game, with Stephen Keshi's side exhibiting possibly the greatest comeback since Lazarus, or maybe even Elvis, to turn around a 4-0 deficit to draw 4 apiece and claim a vital point. Amazingly, Angola led by 4 goals as late as the 79th minute of the game. Seydou Keita's goal proved to be the turning point and sparked a fantastic revival that was capped by Mustapha Yatabare's goal that came deep into stoppage time. Even more bizarre than this though was seeing former City loanee and generally rubbish footballer Manucho score. Yes, it was a penalty but those of us who were unfortunate enough to see Manucho doing a barely passable impression of a footballer in a City shirt will realise just what an achievement this was for him.

And so we move onto the real meat and potatoes of this entry. This weekend sees City travel to deepest, darkest North London and White Hart Lane, home of Tottenham Hotspur. Tottenham are still the best team I've seen this season. They visited the KC for City's first home game of the season and were devestating. Jermaine Defoe was in fantastic form and showed exactly why he will be a key member of Fabio Capello's World Cup squad this summer. He was brilliant and was joy to watch, unfortunately. He claimed a hat trick that night. Hopefully this Saturday will see Defoe in abject, listless form but that doesn't look likely. The striker has got two goals in his last two games, carrying on his great season so far. Tottenham sit in 5th place in the Premier League on the back of a blinding opening half of the season and look well placed to push all the way for a Champions League spot. Including the routine win against Peterborough United in the FA Cup 3rd Round, Tottenham's recent results point towards a team at the peak of their powers. They are without defeat in their last five games, winning each one except their fixture away at Fulham which was a goalless draw. Looking at the bigger picture, they have lost only once in the Premier League since the start of November, a 1-0 home defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers. In that time they have recorded eye catching victories against Manchester City (3-0) and of course Wigan Athletic (9-1). Impressively, they haven't conceded since December the 12th, with Kevin Doyle being the last player to breach their defence in that Wolves victory. This can be put down in part to Michael Dawson's recent impressive run of form, a run which has seen him emerge as contender for a seat on England's plane to Sith Ifrica.

This all makes rather bleak reading for City fans. Our own form has, somewhat predictably, suffered since Jimmy Bullard's latest injury at Villa Park. But with Bullard's return in sight, is there reason to be hopeful for the Tiger Nation? Well, yes, actually, I think there is. Ignoring the Reserves' appalling 2nd half display away to Wigan in the Cup and concentrating solely on league form, City's performances of late haven't been rewarded with the points many feel that they merited. The performance against Bolton on the 29th of December was an abject one for 70 minutes, and then Stephen Hunt decided to start playing. His two quick goals in the 71st and 78th minutes salvaged a point for the Tigers and City actually finished that game the stronger side and wouldn't have been bad value for a win that looked unlikely following Ivan Klasnic's opener and Kevin Davies's 61st minute header. The listless nature of the performance is perhaps understandable given that the team remained unchanged after the 3-1 home defeat to champions Manchester United. Looking at the result doesn't tell the full story as the herculean effort that City put into that game went unrewarded. For 90 plus minutes, they gave United no peace. The outstanding Craig Fagan led from the front as he gave Wes Brown and Nemanja Vidic and torrid time and deservedly got on the score sheet as he kept his cool to net a penalty that he had played no small part in winning. Wayne Rooney, a striker who cost United more than City's entire squad, was the difference that day and City were once again left to reflect on glorious defeat. The trip to Arsenal also ended in similar circumstances, with the 3-0 scoreline again not telling the full story. For much of that game, Phil Brown got his tactics spot on and City gave their illustrious opponents a difficult time. Unfortunately, this game was a tale of poor refereeing decisions and missed opportunities. Arsenal's opener came from a beautifully struck Denilson free kick after referee Steve Bennett generously awarded Arsenal a free kick for an alleged foul on Abou Diaby. Under challenge from George Boateng, Diaby went down easier than an Amsterdam prostitute and Denilson only added to our anger by duly scoring. The second half saw City handed a similar stroke of luck when Bennett ridiculously judged that Craig Fagan had been fouled by Silvestre and awarded a penalty. But the chance to draw level was spurned, as Geovanni saw his tame effort saved by wannabe Englishman Manuel Almunia. Arsenal made the most of their luck, City didn't and were made to pay for their profligacy only moments later when Eduardo's easy finish rounded off a slick passing move. The Gooners ran out comfortable 3-0 winners in the end. On other days, City might've taken more than they got from their last three games but they didn't and this serves only to highlight the lack of quality in our ranks. With reports of Wolves firming up their interest for Stephen Hunt, this transfer window could see that situation worsen but as long as City continue to exhibit the spirit, determination and fighting qualities they have shown of late (and providing we can get the most out of Jimmy Bullard!) then they will give themselves every chance of staying in the Premier League for another seemingly unlikely season of top flight football.

So what, then, will be the outcome of the visit to White Hart Lane? Another 1-0 victory with a piece of Goevanni magic? Perhaps, but probably not. I'll go for a home win. Enjoy the game, and thanks for reading

Soundtrack for this post:
'To The Confusion Of Our Enemies' by The Riverboat Gamblers

(Volcom Entertainment/No Idea) (2006)
Rating: 5.5/10

Arsenal away Preview

This weekend sees City visit the Emirates hoping for a repeat of last year’s amazing win. The most likely outcome for the game is an Arsenal victory, but with the Gunners losing their captain Cesc Fabregas during last night’s disappointing draw with Burnley and Arsene Wenger already getting his excuses in early (see here), might there be a glimmer of hope for the travelling contingent of City fans?

No. Frankly. Arsenal have been playing poorly of late but have still been picking up points. Wenger’s half time tantrum inspired his side to come back from behind away to Liverpool, with Andrei Arshavin’s explosive strike bagging the points, and by all accounts Arsenal were lucky to even claim a point against Burnley. The Clarets were denied all three points by both the woodwork, which repelled Chris Eagles’s fantastic solo strike, and the linesman who deemed, rightly in my opinion, that Steven Fletcher was offside when tapping in from close range. On another day Burnley might also have been awarded a second penalty for a Mikael Silvestre handball, and with Graham Alexander possessing lethal ability from 12 yards, it’s safe to assume that he would’ve picked up his second goal of the game. All of this might offer hope to City fans, but this ignores City’s form in their last two games. Away to Aston Villa, City were pedestrian at best. Even before Jimmy Bullard’s “I can fly, oh no wait… that’s the ground and I’ve just done my knee again” moment, Villa were putting the pressure on City and in truth should’ve scored sooner than they did, with Luke Young going close in the very first minute of the game and Emile Heskey fluffing a glorious chance as only he can. Villa’s goals, when they did come, all resulted from mistakes made by City. Richard Dunne’s opener saw not one, not two, not three, but four! FOUR! City players make howlers to leave him unmarked in the area. Kamil Zayatte, Andy Dawson, George Boateng and Jozy Altidore all equally culpable, leaving the massive faced Irishman with acres of space and he duly obliged by lashing the ball into the top corner, carrying on his impressive run of form since his transfer from Abu Dhabi Citeh. The second we all know about, Matt Duke running needlessly from his goal, Steve Sidwell’s quick thinking and an impressive finish from West Yorkshire oik James Milner. The third, a John Carew penalty, saw Duke needlessly, in my eyes, pull down Ashley Young and Carew smacked in Villa’s third, with Villa Park finally waking up from its seemingly permanent stupor to remind us that Carew “is bigger than me and you.” He is. But not if you and I were added together to form some kind of super person. Individually, yes. Collectively, no.

And so on to the KC and Blackburn. What can you write about this game? Not much because not much happened. Craig Fagan missed a great chance as Craig Fagan is prone to doing, through one on one with only Robinson to beat he missed. We knew he would so to find ourselves still level after crafting a brilliant opportunity was no surprise. Blackburn hoofed, we hoofed back. Vennegoor of Hesselink flashed a header wide, Jozy Altidore tripped himself up but City weren’t lucky enough to get a third dodgy penalty in a matter of weeks. Blackburn’s introduction of Klasnic might’ve turned the game in their favour but he spurned a number of great opportunities to win the game for Big Sam’s dullards and, in the end, neither team went home happy.

So what from all this leads me to think that City won’t repeat last year’s heroics or even claim a point at the Emirates? Just the fact that Arsenal have been on a poor run and yet are still picking up points. Generally (Liverpool aside), the top clubs do not go on extended runs of poor form. With City regressing back to their October ways rather than their blinding form of November, a win beckons for the Gunners. To add to that City haven’t exactly been pulling up trees away from the KC this season (or indeed, at the KC), claiming only two points, scoring 5 and conceding 21. Doesn’t exactly say “grinding out the points” does it? Meanwhile, Arsenal have only lost once at home to the west London powerhouses of Chelsea, and have conceded a respectable 7 goals in 7 home league games, scoring 22 of their own. That’s not to say I’m totally downbeat about our chances. You never know with football do you? If it was a dead cert that Arsenal would win then you wouldn’t bother going. I had exactly the same thoughts last season prior to City visiting the Emirates, Anfield and Stamford Bridge and I was proved wrong.

The weekend’s other fixtures of note to us see Blackburn take on Spurs at Ewood Park and that should be an away win, given Tottenham’s dismissal of Manchester City last night. Portsmouth play Liverpool in Saturday’s lunch time kick off. Liverpool scraped a win against Wigan last night to lift themselves back into the top Six and maybe that might see them turn a corner. At any rate, I can’t see them dropping points to Portsmouth. Sunday sees a couple of really big clashes with West Ham facing Chelsea and Wolves welcoming Burnley to Molineux. West Ham vs Chelsea is an easy one I think. I’ve seen one pundit predict that West Ham might stifle the Blues but this isn’t going to happen. The Hammers were well beaten by Bolton and with Chelsea swatting Pompey aside I can only see Chelsea winning. Burnley’s visit to Wolves is a little more interesting and is a definite six pointer. Burnley haven’t travelled well this season, whilst Wolves have claimed half of the 16 points at home. Wolves have scored 7 at home all season, with Burnley’s away tally equaling this, whilst Burnley’s defence away from home has been slightly meaner than Wolves’s at home. A dull and unsatisfactory draw for both sides then? Yup.

Whilst I’m here, I’d like to write a bit about Hull’s failed bid to be considered as a host city for England’s 2018 World Cup Bid. I could take this if I felt like some of the cities who won out ahead of Hull merited their places. But Plymouth? Really? How is financially viable for Plymouth Argyle, those perpetual Championship strugglers to have a nice shiny new 30,000 + seater stadium? Their average attendance this season has been 10,726. Laughable. So that’s a huge new stadium for the Green Army to rattle about in? Right, that’s fiscally prudent, isn’t it? Another reason for Hull’s non inclusion is that the organizers wanted a better geographical spread of host cities for more of the country to experience the World Cup. So London get three grounds, Manchester gets two, Liverpool (a short drive down the road from Manchester remember) gets one, and Newcastle and Sunderland get one each. Alright, so I’m hardly likely to be the most unbiased of people in this case but Plymouth and Milton Keynes have hardly proved themselves to be hotbeds of football have they? Milton Keynes average attendance is just as poor as Plymouth’s, with 10,325 actually rattling around an already built stadium. It’s already proved to be an example of money poorly spent. OK, they couldn’t carry on playing at the Hockey Stadium but shouldn’t somebody have pulled Pete Winkleman back from the realms of fantasy to remind him that nobody goes to watch MK Mongs and a team in League One does not justify having a newly built 35,000 seater stadium? Mind you, someone might’ve said something similar to Adam Pearson before the KC was built and now look at it. Full every week, but still very quiet. I’ll shut up now. I’m ranting.

See you after the weekend.

Kick Off

So this is the start of my blog. I've been toying with the idea of doing something like this for a while. I remember I began to think about it seriously the day that City travelled to Anfield and were duly dispatched 6-1. It wasn't the best day we've had following City but it wasn't the worst either. We'd had problems getting to the game. We'd elected to travel by train to Liverpool and get the bus from the station there to Anfield. We'd done that last season. No problem. Or so we thought. We hadn't bargained on the rail services messing with us. Long story short, we were stranded in Manchester with less than an hour and half til kick off and no hope of getting there on time by train so we took a taxi from Manchester to Anfield for £60, driven there by an fucking idiot of a Man City fan who wanted to tell us all about his beloved Citeh and how "the pussy round here is amazing." We ignored him for most of the journey but all got the impression that he hated Manchester United more than he loved Manchester City. So pockets lighter, and heads heavier, we took our seats and watched City get taken apart by a Fernando Torres master class (equally weighted by an Ibrahima Sonko horror show) and then made our way back to Hull. Once back home, we went for a few scoops in Gardener's on Cott Road, with my uncle Peter, his girlfriend Allie and my mum, just to round the day off with something enjoyable because up until then it had been a bit of a shocker. Over several beers, I was cajoled into starting something like this and now three months down the line I've done it.

Over the course of next however many entries, I'm going to bring you my thoughts on City, football in general, be it the Champion's League, England's upcoming World Cup disappointment or just my six a side team. There'll also be a few entries about music, just for variety, you know? This was just an introduction. Saturday sees City travel to Arsenal, where no doubt a repeat of last year's epic 2-1 victory will prove to be beyond them but as long as we can show the same kind of fighting spirit that was evident during our FA Cup Quarter Final tie there back in March then I'll be happy. Anyway, I'll preview that game sometime before Saturday and I'm also working on my best of 2009 lists for goals, games and records.

Thanks for reading.

Soundtrack to this post:
Lucero's '1372 Overton Park' (Universal Republic Records, 2009)