Sunday 23 March 2008

Can I Have A Word?
Another awayday, another poor result for Sven's men. I don't know why we get sotravel sick, but the trip to the Reebok Stadium was an ideal opportunity to take advantage of Bolton's dismal current state and the dire 0-0 draw has to be seen as two points lost. I think that Sven should have started with Castillo and Elano instead of putting them on the bench, as soon as Elano came on he added a different option to our wayward attack, but was unable to penetrate the goal.
The Wanderers though are really going through a torrid time. I don't rate Megson at all as a manager, and I am sure that every Bolton fan would beg Big Sam to come back after his short-lived time in Tyneside. It's not too late for them though, the relegation scrap is certainly intriguing and it really could go down to the wire this year. I think at the moment the only certainty is that Derby County, along with their scandalous manager Paul Jewell, are doomed to Championship football next season.
What next for City? An away trip to St Andrews, home of Birmingham City. It's always proved to be quite a happy hunting ground for City in the past and, with Birmingham struggling for results and form, I'm hoping it will be the same again.
Keep the faith,
Emily

Monday 17 March 2008

Can I Have A Word?

It's been a while coming, but City have finally managed to beat Spurs. The North London outfit have been a bogey side of ours for quite some time now, and I was beginning to think that it was going to stay that way, especially when Robbie Keane scored. He seems to be our nemesis; Keane always scores against City.

But I was obviously happy with Ireland's equaliser. It wasn't the prettiest of goals, and yes there was a serious shout for offside, but it stood. In the second half we went on to create chances and scored again with Nedum's first goal for the club. It was an excellent header and exactly what we needed. They did have a goal afterwards ruled out for offside, which was once again deemed a 'dubious' decision by the linesman, but the result stood and it's definitely a welcome and overdue three points for City.

It was great to have Dunney return so quickly from what looked a nasty leg injury, but for me the star man had to be Michael Johnson. He reads the game so well, creates chances and has great vision. He's definitely a star in the making and one that Fabio Capello should be keeping an eye on, along with Joe Hart of course. I also thought that Elano had improved slightly, although he is unfortunately nowhere near as good as he has been earlier in the season.

The Easter weekend is on the horizon and so is Bolton Wanderers away. It's a very tough fixture- Bolton are fighting and scrapping for every point at the moment but don't seem to be getting anywhere and make no mistake, they will see City as ideal visitors to try and get the full three points from. I have a healthy banter with a Bolton fan at university, so there is an extra incentive for City to pick up an away victory at the Reebok Stadium and condemn them further into the relegation brawl.

Keep logging onto FootballFanCast.com and reading King of the Kippax as always, and keep the faith with City.

Best blue wishes,


Emily

Saturday 15 March 2008

My Column (5th ed. March 2008)

Emz And The City
‘Without a Dream in My Heart, Without a Love of My Own’

YOU'VE COME A LONG WAY, CITY

Can you believe that it's March already? It doesn't seem five minutes since City won at Upton Park- the season has gone past in a blur and I am delighted that, with ten games to go and the finishing line in sight, we are in contention for a European spot.

Our start to the season was phenomenal and seemed to surprise everybody, especially me. Perhaps it was just me being pessimistic but I thought that it would take a few games for the new players to gel, but it's full credit to Sven. The vast majority of his buys have been a success and his tactics have been unquestionable. The Swede hasn't shied away from introducing academy graduates in among the more established names and it's certainly paid off.

But Everton, Villa, Portsmouth, Liverpool and Blackburn are all very strong outfits and it will prove a stern test to see just how far City have progressed as a club if we remain in the running come May. It's great to see that we almost have a full strength squad and I remain hopeful that City fans will get to see more of the promising Bojinov, who has unfortunately missed the majority of this season with his injury.

PRIDE OF MANCHESTER

Can you believe that I am still smiling after the result against the rags? It was a day of remembrance for them that turned into a day to remember for City. I was astounded and over the blue moon with the result- we really surprised them with our confidence and possession and we were good value for the win. Every player put in an outstanding performance, with Captain Fantastic Richard Dunne perhaps just edging it for me as Man of the Match.

The media really had created an almighty fuss over the minute's silence in the days leading up to the game and I had become completely pissed off to be honest. It was always going to be only a vast minority of people who would contemplate spoiling the silence and risking the reputation of City fans as a whole, yet the media was tarring all City fans with the same brush which I find unacceptable. We are impeccable- enough said.

Obviously, in the aftermath of the celebrations, rag fans claimed that we were celebrating like we had won a cup final. The fact is that beating the neighbours home and away is something that I personally have never experienced in my lifetime- it had been 34 years since we had done the double over them so of course we are entitled to celebrate more than we would for a normal game. Bitter, perhaps?

But the result was superb and against all odds we came away with all three points. It was impressive to see Benjani net his first goal (and what a baptism of fire), even if it was off his shoulder, endearing himself to the blue army straight away. I am happy that Vassell got on the scoresheet too; he is very much a confidence player and what a match to grab a goal in too.

WILL THE REAL MANCHESTER CITY PLEASE STAND UP

I made the journey down from Preston to watch what I thought was a crunch match in the race for Europe. Everton have been playing some quality football of late and they were coming into the game on the back of a huge UEFA Cup win- we had enjoyed a weekend off after our euphoric derby victory.

To be honest, the break did us no favours and I did feel that Everton were deserved winners. We struggled to created opportunities and were punished with two quite tame goals. But they brought the game to us, worked hard and showed tenacity and drive. These are the kind of qualities that City need to adopt to stay in the hunt for Europe.

But the game had been an ideal chance to prove to any doubters that City really should be taken seriously as an least UEFA Cup contenders, and yet again we failed to capitalise on that. During the game the weather had been awful, and it was still pouring down as I drove back to Preston. Instead of going out, I stayed in with some hot chocolate and my pj's and I actually felt quite angry.

We beat the rags at Old Trafford yet we looked like we were never really looked to be in contention with Everton. It is this kind of inconsistency that City need to iron out. All my life all I have ever known is unpredictability with the blues and, earlier this season, it looked like we had stamped out our bad habit. But now it's crept back in, first Everton and now Wigan (fair enough, they are our bogey team but it's no excuse). For many teams in the Premier League there is such a thing as a sure three points- for City this doesn't exist.

UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE

It's been a while since I actually wrote about my university goings on and my course so I thought I would update you all. I'm rapidly approaching the end of my second year and to be honest it's flown by. It has been a step up from what was quite a basic first year, but I am coping well and really enjoying it. We have had numerous different assignments to do, and I have so far interviewed ex Manchester City player Gary Owen pitch-side at Eastlands, and I have lined up an interview with Gabby Logan at BBC Television Centre later this month which I am very excited about. The course is superb for giving me these opportunities that give me a taste of what life would be like if I actually did make it in the world of sport journalism, and for that I am very grateful.

I think I've been really lucky to meet a good crowd of mates, who I go out with all the time and am going to live with next year: Frankie, Laura, Sarah and Caz. There was a point where we were all going out almost every night, but I have realised that I can't do this anymore if I want to come out of uni with a decent degree. We all stress at uni about work, life troubles and boy problems (which I have completely given up on), but I love spending time with them and we are all getting really excited now for our final year and the prospect of what lies ahead for us all career-wise.

THEY THINK IT'S ALL OVER...

Things to look forward to...Gabby Logan...the game at St. Andrews, Birmingham is one of my favourite away days for some reason...Sunderland away because I get to see my friend Amie and stay there for the weekend...City's return to form...Valeri Bojinov's comeback...


Keep the Blue faith,

Emily Brobyn xx

Sunday 9 March 2008

Can I have a word?

Well, well, well. The game against Reading was the first time I actually predicted a City score, 2-0 to them, and I was right. It's not something I should really be proud of though- our defending was shocking. The unbeatable partnership of Micah Richards and Richard Dunne was torn apart with Richard's recent knee operation, but the injury to Dunne was just as worrying to see. He had to have stitches to the wound after the nasty tackle with Reading's Stephen Hunt and I hope that he will be back in action soon, although at this moment in time the estimate is a fortnight at the least.

But we just seemed to implode after the injury. I definitely felt that we had a case for a penalty when Michael Johnson was fouled in the area, and I was incensed to see Uriah Rennie brandish a yellow card instead of pointing to the spot. But sometimes when confidence is quite low, those kind of decisions go the wrong way. The fact is, we didn't create enough chances and the chances that we did create were mournfully wasted (Vedran Corluka with the miss of the season from two yards out). They were clinical with theirs. We have to move on, and look to our next fixture, Spurs at home, on Saturday.

I am delighted for Barnsley after their F.A. Cup victory against Chelsea. Sadly, the results from the quarter finals mean that only one UEFA Cup spot will be up for grabs, meaning Europe is even more of a distant goal for City.

The results of the February poll are in. I asked you who you thought had proved to be Sven's best buy of the season so far. It was a tie- with both Vedran Corluka and Martin Petrov proving to be very popular amongst the blue supporters. The new poll is up and running so please vote accordingly.

Keep logging onto FootballFanCast.com for all the latest views from real fans, and check out King of the Kippax as the latest issue is out now!

Stay blue and keep the faith!

Emily xx