Well sort of.
This will be the last post on Bitter and Blue in its current guise as from today the blog has moved
to join the team over at SBNation.
It was a tough decision to make and it will be strange to have the blog elsewhere after four and a
bit years at its home here on Blogger, but I feel it is a really good opportunity to join up with
them.
Slowly but surely, the squad is beginning to take on a healthier look - and is set to have a very
competitive feel to it. After Patrick Vieira's return to training, defensive pair Joleon Lescott
and Wayne Bridge are set to return over the next week:
WAYNE Bridge is set to shrug off the problems of his personal life and return to action
for the Blues at Hull on Saturday.
A nice interview in the Northern Echo with Adam Johnson in which he discusses his time at
Middlesbrough and reasons for the move (and mentions interest from both Wolves and Sunderland), and
in which talked a little about looking ahead to his time at the club:
"It's a big club, where I will learn and improve playing alongside top players every day.
It appears as though Patrick Vieira is finally ready to make his debut for the club:
"It has been a frustrating spell with the injury. Thank God it is over and I am ready to start,
" he said. I suffered it in the last game for Inter and did not realise it was that bad.
Tucked away inside this article on plans for a US tour next summer is the news that we have offered
a contract to Martin Petrov - with talks by all accounts 'enouraging':
City have offered Martin Petrov a new contract and are encouraged by the way the
negotiations have gone with the Bulgaria international.
Judging by these comments, the agent of Fernando Gago and Real's Jorge Valdano are none too pleased
with our conduct over the transfer that wasn't:
"City used us," Gago's agent Marcello Lombilla told radio station Onda Cero. "This has
never happened to me before. I don't want to talk about the figures that City were offering because
they approached Madrid without even knowing there wasn't physically enough time to put something
together.
As expected, the loan transfer of Benjani to Sunderland was confirmed today and it is all but
certain that his career with us is now over with his contract set to expire at the end of the
season.
It is a good move for Benjani as he remains in the Premier League and goes to a side where he will
likely see plenty of playing, something he would not be afforded (despite his recent stint as a
stand-in) with the return of Emmanuel Adebayor.
So suggests ESPN, based on Steve Bruce's pre-match interview when he discussed the potential
move:
Steve Bruce is hopeful Benjani will be joining the club after Sunderland's last-gasp
move for the Manchester City striker.
Speaking before Monday night's ESPN game with Stoke Bruce said his club had got all the
paperwork off on time and were awaiting confirmation.
"My goal is to stay for a long-time. If the president wants to extend my contract to
four years that would be great."
>>Robinho on his unveiling at Santos.
My view when the loan deal was made was that was the last we will see of Robinho in a City shirt,
being that far from a loan deal invigorating him and providing the necessary motivation for him to
succeed with ourselves, it would merely strengthen any resolve to move from the club.
The Guardian's man for all things La Liga, Sid Lowe, brings us some background on the reasons why a
deal for Fernando Gago did not ultimately transpire:
Manchester City failed in last-minute efforts to sign the Real Madrid midfielder
Fernando Gago in a deal worth a potential €18m (£15.
One deal that was expected to be a 'sure thing' today ended in frustrastion as McDonald Mariga
slipped through our grasp and ended up signing for Inter in a co-ownership agreement with his
current club Parma.
It appears as though a deal was agreed in principle, but as I anticipated a couple of days ago we
ran into problems attaining a work permit for the Kenyan:
Mariga, who has 24 caps, met part of the UK criteria after playing in 75% of Kenya's games in
the last two years.
The deal that many expected was finally confirmed just before the transfer deadline this afternoon
as we landed Adam Johnson for an undisclosed fee:
The Club is delighted to announce that Adam Johnson has joined us from Middlesbrough
for an undisclosed fee after agreeing terms and passing a medical this afternoon.
Some not so positive news following yesterdays victory:
Manchester City have been hit by a fresh injury problem with Vincent Kompany expected
to be out for at least two weeks with a groin strain.
The big defender, who has been a revelation at centre-back during City's defensive injury crisis,
limped out of Sunday's 2-0 win over Portsmouth.
