Manchester City defender Kolo Toure looks destined to leave the club this summer after failing to hear anything about a contract renewal for the past two months.
Here's what Kolo Toure said regarding the matter:
"I have been here for nearly four years, and two fantastic years when I have been playing a lot and I hear my songs with Yaya and I will miss those things.
Can someone tell me why, when we are a goal down away at Manchester City with around 30 minutes to go, why we take off our biggest goal threat from midfield and one of our most creative players?
Now I understand that up to that point, Frank Lampard wasn't having one of his best games and the penalty miss is something we never expect from him but why take him off?
1. Joleon Lescott Manchester City's title-winning centre-back fairing have found themselves out-of-form and, in Lescott's case, out-of-favour this campaign. Quite what the England international has done to outrank Mario Balotelli in Roberto Mancini's naughty stakes isn't clear. The development during Sunday's Manchester derby that he's now below Kolo Toure in the pecking order just makes [.
As it turns out, footballers don't care much for preseason medals. Especially when they're
upset. So for two fans at Villa Park on Sunday, the Community Shield turned into a free medal day
courtesy of Ashley Cole and Kolo Toure.
First, we have a bitter Kolo Toure tossing his winner's medal away after Man City beat Chelsea
3-2.
What being below Stefan Savic in the pecking order can do to a man
Narked at being left on the bench for Manchester City's largely inconsequential curtain-raising
Community Shield victory over Chelsea at Villa Park yesterday, a jilted Kolo Toure allegedly handed
his winners' medal over to a City fan as he sidled down the tunnel after the game as these photos
(posted on Twitter) would appear to show.
Out-of-favour Manchester City defender Kolo Toure reportedly gave away his Community Shield medal
in protest at being snubbed by manager Roberto Mancini. The 31-year-old was not picked for the
victory over Chelsea and, as a consequence, was not overly appreciative of his silverware. The
Ivorian centre-back exchanged angry words with Mancini after giving the medal [.
Happy Friday to you. 13th a number lucky to some and not so much to others. We find today a
story on a young centre back at Arsenal who might be going out on loan to a Championship club.
Ignasi Miquel is supposedly on the radar of Brighton who are riding on the wave of their success in
recent seasons.
Arsenal youngster Jack Wilshere insists that the club's ambitions to contend for the title next
season depend heavily on retaining the services of skipper Robin van Persie.
Van Persie, who was crowned the PFA Player of the Year last month, has only one year left on his
contract and refused to engage in contract negotiations during the 2011-12 season.
What does the future hold for Tevez, Baines, Drogba and M'Vila? - originally posted on
Soccerlens.com
Here's a look at the top transfer stories circulating in the Premier League today, with guest
appearances from Carlos Tevez (will he stay or go), Leighton Baines (can he match the flying
Frenchman) and Didier Drogba.
Manchester City defender Kolo Toure is looking forward to the return of Carlos Tevez and is
confident he will add to a City side short on confidence.
The Argentina star has not featured for the club since September after a touchline row with manager
Roberto Mancini in Munich and followers of Victor Chandler will not have expected him to return.
Ivory Coast international Kolo Toure is a free man. The 30 year old defender is expected to
feature largely in Mancini's squad for the rest of the season as he prepares to put his nightmare 6
month drug behind him.
Toure has made only 9 appearances for City this season and believes that the club's current crop
of players is equally as good as the invincible Arsenal squad that went a whole season
undefeated.
Liverpool will take a 1-0 advantage back to Anfield after defeating Manchester City in their
Carling Cup semi-final on Wednesday.
A first-half penalty from Steven Gerrard was all that separated the sides at the Etihad Stadium
after City defender Stefan Savic clumsily felled a charging Daniel Agger in the box.
Big blow for manchester City ahead of this weekend's FA Cup tie with Manchester United after
Ivory Coast coach Francois Zahoui rejected their request to play Yaya and Kolo Toure in Sunday's
Manchester derby.
"Clubs know the rules," Zahoui told BBC Africa. "I'm expecting them [the Toures] for the Fifa
deadline.
Roberto Mancini met with the media today ahead of this weekend's FA Cup derby with Manchester
United. During the press conference, Mancini spoke about this weekend's match, and that he has
asked the Ivory Coast manager to allow him to play Yaya and Kolo Toure against United in Sunday
before reporting for Africa Cup of Nations duty.
Liverpool legend Steven Nicol has expressed his disappointment over Liverpool's ineffective
performance against Manchester City last night.Kenny Dalglish's 'tactical' approach of hoofing
balls up to lone Striker Andy Carroll was never going to be successful, especially when he was up
against quality defenders like Vincent Kompany and Kolo Toure.
In form Tottenham Hotspurs striker, Emmanuel Adebayor, who arrived in a loan deal from
Manchester City apparently believes that his team might find a patch to catch up with City this
January, mainly because of the African Nations Cup.
Adebayor is confident that the departure of Yaya Toure along with Kolo Toure to defend their
respective country, Ivory Coast, in the upcoming competition set to be held at Gabon and Equatorial
Guinea.
The Nature of Ivory Coast - originally posted on Soccerlens.com
Ivory Coast topped the Group D with two wins and a draw. A late winner by Gervinho against Togo in their opening fixture saw them win 2-1. In their second game, they faced Tunisia; the Ivorians won 3-0. In their final group game, they made a sensational come back from 2-0 down to draw level with Alegeria.
Ivory Coast was the overwhelming favorite and had the big-name players. It's not like facing
those factors had stopped Zambia from maintaining its inspiring quest to be crowned king of Africa
before.
Almost 20 years after a plane crash in Libreville, Gabon, killed 25 Zambian national team
players and officials, Zambia came full circle and paid an incredible tribute to its 1993
predecessors in that city, stunning Ivory Coast 8-7 in a dramatic penalty shootout after 120
scoreless minutes to capture the African Cup of Nations for the first time in its history.
Zambia's fairy tale run in the African Cup of Nations ended with them sensationally beating hot
favourites Ivory Coast 8-7 on post match penalties to win their maiden AFCON trophy.
In a match attended by football legends Pele, Michel Platini amongst other and beamed to
millions across the continent and the world, there was doubt that the Chipolopolo were the better
side on the night.
In an amazing game tonight, Zambia won the African Cup of Nations after the game with
the Ivory Coast ended 0-0 after extra time, and Zambia won the penalty shoot-out 8-7 with
the Ivory Coast missing their last two penalties through Kolo Toure and Gervinho. Didier Drogba
missed a penalty for the Ivory Coast after 70 minutes when he blazed over the bar.
The Ivory Coast won their first match of the 2012 African Cup of Nations today, a 1-0 defeat of
Sudan with Didier Drogba scoring the lone goal.
Curious as to their current FIFA ranking and who else might likely put up a fight against the
Elephants, I looked it up. Learning that they rank 18th internationally didn't surprise, but the
fact that only 5 other African countries make up the top 50 did.
The Ivory Coast won their first match of the 2012 African Cup of Nations today, a 1-0 defeat of
Sudan with Didier Drogba scoring the lone goal.
Curious as to their current FIFA ranking and who else might likely put up a fight against the
Elephants, I looked it up. Learning that they rank 18th internationally didn't surprise, but the
fact that only 5 other African countries make up the top 50 did.
As the curtains draw open for the AFCON tournament, attention will definitely be on a number of
players who are set to retire once a winner is revealed on February 12th.
For many it will mark an end to the golden generation of some of the continent's truly brightest
talents but also the beginning for a new breed of stars who will look to carry on from where their
predecessors left.
The stage is set for the 28th edition of the African Cup Of Nations that begins tomorrow in
Equatorial Guinea and Gabon with two Group A fixtures between the hosts Equatorial Guinea and Libya
in the early kick off and the eagerly awaited Senegal v Zambia clash in the late kick off.
Roberto, ditch Sheikh Mansour for Mitt Romney. He's got cash to give away.
The Italian is complaining that he's down to two central midfielders and one striker. James
Milner and Nigel De Jong will start in the middle and Sergio Aguero patrols up front.
The Ivory Coast has refused his demand to release Yaya and Kolo Toure till after the Man Utd FA
Cup showdown for their ACN campaign.
1. There were some unbelievable Bentekkers on display in the Liverpool vs Aston Villa match. Two goals and a crazy backheel assist for Villa's young Belgian striker. 2. Kolo Toure has finally come clean and told Roberto Mancini that he's a footballer, not a car salesman, and is promptly flavour of the month.
Gareth Barry was charged by the FA yesterday for verbally abusing fourth official Mark Clattenburg following City's 3-2 defeat against Manchester United. The result could have been a lot worse for the blues if the linesman didn't incorrectly rule out Ashley Young's goal, which would have put us 3-0, and if the referee didn't miss Kolo Toure fouling Patrice Evra in the box.
Take a second and think...what if no one had left Arsenal? What if all the players that are still influencing their new teams (or would still have a place in the Arsenal team) were still at Arsenal? Guys like van Persie, Nasri, and Fabregas. Or how about Cole, Toure, and Hleb? Though the names of some of these players will make Arsenal fans worldwide shudder and most likely hurl expletives at their respective computer screens, it's hard to disagree that nearly all of these players played massive roles at Arsenal.
Having made a cursory tour of the blogosphere and the attendant media the common emotion one
picks up after Arsenal's no show at yesterday's transfer deadline is that of frustration, of
disbelief, and a sense of resignation that once again what seems so obvious to us is lost on the
manager and the boardroom.
Van Persie: Arsene Wenger's options and what is best for Arsenal - originally posted on
Soccerlens.com
Arsenal have been handed a hammer blow due to the fact that captain and talisman Robin van
Persie has confirmed that he will not be extending his contract at the north London club. With less
than 12 months before the Netherlands international is a free agent, Arsene Wenger has a key
decision to make in whether to keep his best player and lose him for nothing in a year, or sell him
now for financial gain and to a preferable buyer.
Let me start of by stating that I sincerely hope that Robin van Persie decides to put pen to
paper and commits his long-term future to Arsenal Football Club Club.
He's been a fantastic player throughout his career, giving us some breathtaking moments and
despite having spent a considerable amount of time on the treatment table last season showed us, if
he can stay fit for an entire league campaign, he's easily one of the best strikers in the
world.
Liverpool defender Daniel Agger has become a target for Premier League champions Manchester City,
after the Danish international told manager Brendan Rodgers that he sees his future away from
Anfield.
The Daily Mirror report that Manchester City have already tabled a bid of £13 million for the
27-year-old, with Real Madrid and Barcelona also monitoring the availability of Agger, who has
voiced his desire to move on.
With Liverpool given a boost following the refusal of the FA hearing committee to reduce or resind
Vincent Kompany's four game ban, plus the the lose of Yaya & kolo Toure's participation at The
African Nation's Cup. Kenny Dalglish's team have a great opportunity to progress to the Carling Cup
final.
We still have to be at our best to beat these guys as the likes of Nasri and Balotteli lie waiting
in the wings.
Mais um jogo das eliminatórias da Copa do Mundo de 2014, foi realizado no dia 09/06/2012, na
cidade de Marrakech-MOR, onde jogaram as seleções do Marrocos (70º no ranking da FIFA) e a
seleção da Costa do Marfim (16º no ranking da FIFA).
Antes desse jogo, as 2 seleções jogaram: Eliminatórias Copa do Mundo
2006Cairo21/01/2006 MAR0:1 (0:1)CIV Primeira Fase1988Casablanca19/03/1988 MAR0:0CIV Primeira
Fase1986Cairo20/03/1986 CIV3:2 (2:1)MAR Segunda etapa
Eliminatórias Continentais
1996Abidjan04/06/1995 CIV2:0 (1:0)MAR 1996Rabat13/11/1994 MAR1:0 (0:0)CIV 1992Abidjan28/07/1991
CIV2:0 (1:0)MAR Partidas da fase de grupos1992Rabat13/01/1991 MAR3:1 (1:0)CIV Partidas da fase de
grupos
Mais um jogo válido pelas eliminatórias da Copa Africana de Nações de 2012, foi realizada no
dia 09/10/2011, na cidade de Abidjan-CIV, onde jogaram as seleções da Costa do Marfim (16º no
ranking da FIFA) e a seleção do Burundi (141º no ranking da FIFA).
Antes desse jogo, as 2 seleções jogaram:
Bujumbura 09/10/2010 BDI0:1 (0:1)CIV Group matches2004Abidjan 08/06/2003 CIV6:1 (3:0)BDI Group
matches2004Bujumbura 30/03/2003 BDI0:1 (0:0)CIV Group matches
O árbitro desse jogo, não foi encontrado.
There have been a couple of readers who have sent emails suggesting that Manchester City's Kolo Toure would be a good signing for Newcastle in the summer, when he's a free agent. Kolo Toure free agent this summer The 32 year-old former Arsenal center-back probably has at least two or three seasons left at [.
Turkish Super Lig club Galatasaray has reportedly captured their second massive signing of the January transfer window, signing former Chelsea star Didier Drogba from China's Shanghai Shenhua.
The 18-month deal for Drogba comes a week after Galatasaray finalized a transfer for Inter Milan's Wesley Sneijder.
And we thought interviewing excitable boys was tough... Images: ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/GettyImages,
Milos Bicanski/Getty Images.
There's a big game tomorrow night, obvs. Don't think for a moment we haven't been distracted
from our work by it.
GOOD WEEK
Pink Power: Their boys failed to qualify for Champion League action next
season, but Lyon's women won't be giving a crap about that after they retained the women's version
of the trophy last night.
The African Nations Cup kicks off this weekend, which provides a handy
opportunity for under performing league players to show what they're about! Unfortunately,
perennial favourites Egypt failed to qualify for this alongside Algeria,
Cameroon and Nigeria.
