Football has lost a true great

Sir Bobby Robson has passed away, I do not need to go in detail about his achievements within the game of football because anyone who knows football knows about Sir Bobby. The world has lost a true great and I would suggest everyone has a moment today where they think about Sir Bobby.

Sir Bobby Robson CBE (8 February 1933 – 31 July 2009)

Bojinov goes to Parma on loan!

Valeri Bojinov has joined Serie A side Parma on a season long loan deal.

I am not happy about Hughes letting Boj go and I think he has made a bad decision. I feel Boj was worth having in our squad at the very least and would suggest Hughes has let a quality player leave.

Bojinov's agent has been quoted as saying that City would not let him leave permanently and I hope that is the case. I am hoping the idea will be for him to get an injury free season under his belt and come back, all the same I still would have rather seen him stay.

Should Boj have stayed?

Farewell Elano!

We seen it coming and now it has happened, Brazilian International Elano has left City and signed a four year deal with Galatasaray.

Even though Elano leaving was on the cards now that it has happened I feel a bit gutted, Elano arrived at City and immediately treated us to some wonderful football.

I think I was hoping that he would stay and prove his worth to Hughes, although I think it was probably for non football reasons that Hughes decided to move him on.

I do wish he had stayed but whats done is done, thank you Elano for treating us City fans to some wonderful displays of football whilst playing in our shirt.

Goodbye Elano!

Nedum Signs new deal!

Nedum Onuoha has signed a new five year contract, this is another example of academy players not being pushed aside for big signings.

This is great news as far as I am concerned especially with rumoured interest from Everton.

Nedum is a good player and I am a huge fan of his, he has come on a lot in recent times and I have no doubt in my mind that if he continues to improve then he will be a full England International for many years to come.

Hughes has done well to recognise that he needs to concentrate on the talent he already has considering all the big money players he has had to work on bringing in.

Toure follows Adebayor to City!

City have completed the signing of Kolo Toure from Arsenal, the defender has signed a four deal.

I have to say that I am delighted with this signing, I am a long time fan of Kolo Toure and I am certain he will make a difference to our defence.

I am actually happier with the signing Toure than if we were to sign John Terry, he is cheaper for starters, quicker, better at attacking and I think he can defend just as well as him.

So now City have finally signed a defender maybe just maybe we will stop getting flack about only signing strikers off other teams fans, one less thing for them to have a go at us for I suppose.

Is Toure a good signing?

Toure fee agreed?

Sky Sports News are reporting that City are close to agreeing a £16 million fee with Arsenal for Kolo Toure.

If we pay £16 million we will be paying at least £3 million to much, I am sure City fans will look past that though considering how good he is.

I really hope this transfer happens, I have been a long time admirer of Kolo Toure and get ready for this but I hold him in higher a regard to John Terry.

More to come if the transfer is confirmed!

Terry stays at Chelsea, so what now?

John Terry has committed to Chelsea today, the Chelsea Captain has said he never intended to leave Stamford Bridge.

I have to say I am not to bothered about not getting Terry, he is obviously a damn good player but at the price quoted he was way over priced, I thought the best thing that could have come from signing Terry was that we would have muscled Chelsea.

Terry says he was never going to leave but I think we all know that is rubbish, he was obviously thinking about it otherwise he would have made a statement a while ago.

So now that Terry has ruled himself out who would you like to see City go for next? Lescott has been linked and I know a lot of City fans would have him but for me apart from the goals he scores he is no better a defender than Dunney.

I would like to see us go for Juan from Roma, he is a strong defender who can also play the ball out.

Who would you like?

No Elephant tusks for City!

City lost the Vodacom Final to Kaizer Chiefs one nil this afternoon.

Although we lost today we didn't play that badly, we kept the ball well and moved it around well. Obviously we could have been a little better and won the game, Kaizer Chiefs play at a fast and erratic pace so maybe we should have used our quality to counter the way they play.

There were some good and bad individual performances also today. I thought that SWP and Petrov were terrible, SWP seemed to think he could run at people and magically go past them and it did not work. The other player who was even worse was Petrov, he was giving the ball away, slowing down attacks and when he made a pass that got to another City player he kept leathering it at them, I can not see him coming close to pushing Robinho out while he is in this kind of form.

To move on to the good performers, Bridge seems to have come on quite a lot and I was quite pleased with him today. There was one stand out performance for City though and that was Gareth Barry, he did everything perfect today and never seems panicked by any situation, he could easily be Hughes's best buy since arriving at City.

Again I will say that we shouldn't read to much into this tournament and the results from it, but we should be a lot fitter after it and in the rest of the preseason games I would expect to see improvement.

Watch City live in the Vodacom final!

Tomorrow is the final of the Vodacom trophy, City will play the Kaizer Chiefs after they overcame the Orlando Pirates on penalties.

City will again kindly be providing a live stream for us to watch the game.

The match kicks off at 2pm UK time and can be accessed by clicking the following link - http://live.mcfc.co.uk/.

Funnily enough there is a repeat of a game between Hoffenheim and Panathinaikos on there at the moment.

Ched has gone!

Ched Evans has left City to join Sheffield United, the welsh striker has signed a three year deal.

City have made 3 million off Evans and although I think that is a good price, I still think we should have loaned him out.

There is two reasons I would have preferred a loan deal, one is that he could have gone on loan and done well and we could have commanded an even better price, the other is that I do not think we ever seen his best form and there is a possibility he would have come good after gaining loan experience.

Should Evans have been kept or did he miss his chance?

Shaleum Logan loaned out

City have confirmed that Shaleum Logan has been loaned out to Tranmere Rovers.

Shaleum has signed a one year contract before going out on loan, Mark Hughes obviously showing that he has faith in Shaleum.

Caicedo leaves on loan

City have confirmed that Felipe Caicedo will spend the up and coming season on loan at Sporting Lisbon.

It isn't a shock to me that Felipe has been loaned out but it is a disappointment. I am a bit of a Caicedo fan on the quiet and I think he has done a good job when called upon.

I am hoping that he has been loaned out with the view to see if he comes on a little well he is at Sporting, hopefully he will realise some of his potential and return to City ready to properly show us what he can do.

Rumour time: Lescott

Right I am ready for the stick that I might get but when I get told something like this I am going to share it just in case it turns out to be true.

So here goes, last night I received some information about a deal for Joleon Lescott. I was told that a deal for him has been done for a figure around the 20 million pound mark. I was also told that it hasn't been let out yet because Everton do not want clubs that they may want to buy off to know that they have money, hence helping their negotiation process.

Like I said I do not know if it is true, all I can say is that the person who told me also told me about Robinho's rape case a couple of weeks before that leaked.

Do we want this to be true?

Our youngsters will get a chance!

Kaizer Chiefs 0 - 1 Man City

First for the game - It was a decent performance by City, we had a lot of possession and were in control, Kaizer Chiefs played at a very high tempo and did come close to snatching a couple of goals.
In the end a fine move saw Ireland finish an Etuhu cross, talking of Etuhu he missed a sitter after beating the keeper he blazed it over the bar.

City started looking a bit tired towards the last 20 minutes of the game but managed to see through the victory. There were some good performances from our senior players, Gareth Barry and Nigel De Jong in particular looked very good in the centre of the park.

Now for the young lads that played tonight. We are forever hearing about how money will mean young talent being pushed out and on tonight's performance for a couple of our academy products that will not be the case.

I have always said that if your good enough you will get a chance and that was before the money came to our club. There was two players tonight that have come through our academy that did really well, Ben Mee and Ryan McGivern who is a left back both played extremely well at centre half. They both looked really assured and comfortable even though one of them was playing out of position.

I think it just goes to show that if you do work hard and play well then any academy lad can make it to the top regardless of money.

Watch City live from SA!

City play the Kaizer Chiefs tonight in their latest preseason match in South Africa.

The game can be viewed live on our official website from 18:30pm - www.mcfc.co.uk

I have to say it is great that City are making these kind of games available for the fans for free, it isn't easy for people to get out to South Africa, so watching it live is the very best next thing.

Good job City, you really are improving every aspect of our beloved Club.

Adebayor signs for City!

Emmanuel Adebayor has decided to swap the south for the north and has signed for City!

Adebayor has signed a five year deal and will wear the number 25 shirt.

Every week as a City fan seems to be getting better, I think the signing of Adebayor is a real sign of intent. He is genuinely one of the best strikers in Europe and a player that I think can score plenty of goals for us in the Premier League.

I know how the Arsenal fans feel about him and to be honest I have my worries about his attitude, but I am sure Hughes would have been well aware what he was signing before let him put pen to paper. It might be a fresh start that he needs and thankfully that fresh start can now come whilst playing for City.

Is Adebayor a good signing? Have a look at this video to refresh your memory.

Orlando Pirates 2 - 0 Man City

Our first proper preseason game and we were beaten, Hughes fielded a team with a few of the younger lads and a few of the fringe players in it.

I am sure most of you watched the match, so you will probably know how boring and flat it was. There is not much point in going into detail it was a typical early preseason game, most of the players were not close to match fit, no organisation, bad decision making and so on.

Orlando didn't even threaten us properly all the way through the game, we just could not break them down and when we should have levelled it Bojinov missed a total sitter with his head.

Good points were getting to see some of the younger lads play and especially Weiss, he has got bag fulls of talent ad to go with it he has now started to put that much needed bulk on. He does have moments where he takes himself on sometimes but that will iron itself out once he starts playing with the first team more.

All in all I wouldn't read to much into the result of this game, it was by no means the first eleven that will be starting the season for us that were playing.

Man City line up: Taylor, Zabaleta, Ben Haim, Mee, Garrido, Weiss, Ireland (De Jong 70), Johnson (Vidal h-t), Petrov, Bojinov (Caicedo 70), Bellamy (Benjani h-t).

Adebayor due in Manchester for permit hearing!

Sky Sports news are reporting that Emmanuel Adebayor will be in Manchester for a work permit hearing tomorrow.

If it is true then the Arsenal striker could be City player in the next 48 hours. I wouldn't mind having Adebayor and I think the way we have gone for him after deciding against chasing Eto'o shows we have a list of players that we think will fit in at the club.

If Adebayor does sign I think it will be a very good signing, he has a good scoring record and is still young. There is however a question mark over his attitude, he is said to be disruptive but I am sure Hughes will weigh him up properly before signing him.

Would Adebayor be a good signing?

Carlos Tevez is 99.9% signed!!!!!!!!!!!!!

City have announced that terms with Carlos Tevez have been agreed and the move has also been rubber stamped by Premier League and the Football Association.

After Tevez has had a medical he is expected to sign a five year deal with City.

Mark Hughes said.............

"It is terrific news," "Carlos is an International player of the highest class who possesses all the attributes that will help drive this club forward.

"He is not only outstanding technically but he is a reliable goal scorer and someone who will contribute fully to the team ethic. He gives us another exciting, attacking dimension.

"I cannot wait to welcome him to City. This is yet another deal that shows the commitment of the owner Sheikh Mansour to make this club the very best it can possibly be. I am sure our fans will give Carlos an exceptionally warm welcome."

This signing is bound to get a lot of us excited, Tevez is a player respected throughout football and has unquestionable ability.

Hopefully now that we have a target man in Santa Cruz Tevez will benefit from the way we play no end, things are starting to get exciting especially with a deal for Adebayor being talked about.

Are you happy with the signing of Tevez?

News catch up!

Eto'o deal off! City have pulled the plug on the Eto'o deal because the player was taking to long to make his mind up. Although it is a shame that Eto'o will not be a City player, I am glad we are not accepting being messed around.

Jo goes back to Everton! Jo has joined Everton on a season long loan deal with the option of a permanent transfer. I would have liked to see Jo stay at City this season and fight for his place, Hughes obviously does not like him though.

Gelson leaves for France! Gelson Fernandes has left City to join A.S. Saint-Étienne, Fernandes made no secret of his desire to go in search for regular football and will now hope to do that at the French Club. I am a little sad that Gelson has left, I was one of a small minority that liked Gelson as a player. Although sometimes brash in his approach I thought we had a good hard working player with bag fulls of potential.

Micah has swine flu! Micah Richards has been diagnosed with swine flu. Micah was on holiday in Cyprus when he found out he had contracted the virus, he is currently being treated but will not be allowed back into Britain until he is fully cured. Hopefully it will only be a short time before he is better.

Sorry to my readers!!!

Just a quick apology to my readers because I have not been posting much lately.

Unfortunately there has been a sad time in my personal life, I will do a catch up on recent events very soon!

Once again my sincere apologies.

Check out Total Manchester City now!

Just a short post to tell you about a great blog called Total Manchester City.

Total Manchester City is a great blog an worth keeping up to date with, it has a lot of hard work put in to it and is run by an absolute first class bloke.

I would also like to thank the Editor at Total Manchester City and his wife after they very recently gave me a hand with something.

To visit Total Manchester City click here.

Was Bidding for Terry pointless?

After having a £30 million bid for John Terry rejected I have been thinking that bidding at all was pointless.

For a start Chelsea are very unlikely to let John Terry leave Stamford Bridge for a couple of reasons, he is their captain and I don't think that Chelsea would risk losing him because he is the heart of their team

Then you have think would John Terry leave Chelsea and competing for titles for a move to City, I think if John Terry was to even think about signing for us we would have to pay him wages that he would not be worth. Terry is a good strong centre half but I am not convinced he is better than some other defenders that we could go for.

So would you like to see City go back with a bigger bid for Terry or is there another centre back you would like to see City go for?

Players released, should any of them have been kept?

City have today confirmed who will not get their contract renewed. What I want to know is, should any of the players we have released been kept?

The following players were released, Danny Mills, Daniel Sturridge, Darius Vassell, Glauber Berti, Didi Hamann, Michael Ball, Richard Martin.

There was also some youngsters released, Matthew Brown, Ian Daly, Gregor Hartley, Ben Morris, Curtis Obeng, Chris Ramsey and Angelos Tsiaklis.

So my question is a strange one but was there any reason to keep any of the released players, for example could we have used Ball for when we wanted some dirty work doing or Hamann to slow the play down.

The reason I ask is because I am a little bit disappointed that Vassell has left, I know I am going to get a lot of stick for this but it is just what I think.

Vassell to me has been a fine professional for City and has always gave us his all, now I know that you can't have hangers on at the club but I think Vassell is worth having in your squad. He works hard, he tackles, he is adaptable and when he gets a chance where he doesn't have to think about it for too long he can actually score a couple on the quiet.

I am sure Vassell would come in handy during a campaign and would have liked to see him stay.

As for the youngsters that have been released, I am quite surprised that Curtis Obeng has been released he has always looked a decent player to me.

So is there anyone that you would have kept?

What do we think of the new site?

The new site has launched today and I was wondering what everyone thinks of it?

I have to say my relationship with the new site got off to a bad start because it didn't launch on time this morning, I was sat on my PC clicking refresh every ten seconds. I really wanted to order our new kit and get those Doves tickets.

Apart from that I think it is as good as I thought, it has everything we would want. I think my favourite feature of the new site is that the video content is now all free, it will save people money and especially people like me who already shell out on season tickets and all the merchandise.

What do you think about the new site?

Is Eto'o happy to come?

I was reading some of the comments about Eto'o and it seems to be different to what I have been told.

I took my friend for a tour of our ground and the tour guy told us that the Eto'o deal is out of City's hands! He said Eto'o is willing to come but wants a pay off from Barcelona before he leaves.

Now I know your thinking that it is just a tour guide, he knew his stuff though and mentioned he meets with Garry Cook, So watch this space!

When I asked about Tevez he said ' I don't think that's a secret to anybody that he will be coming'.