Manchester City's Carlos Tevez is one of the most maligned players in the Premier League at the moment, and Liverpool legend Steve Nicol recently argued that "the football world would think a lot less about Mancini if he does decide to let him come back". Nicol's former team-mate Mark Lawrenson seems to be a lot more forgiving though, and he believes Tevez could still play an important role for

As hinted at in last night's post it felt like a good night to be a blue from the word go.
City always seem to fall foul of Everton's superior workrate and commitment. Players like Aguero, Villa and Nasri have added real class to go along with the brawn but where is the steel that side will need to win a title?

Get In Bellers!...Liverpool booked their place in the League Cup final at Wembley on Wednesday night after beating Manchester City 3-2 on aggregate. It was a fantastic tie for the neutral as City took the lead twice at a boisterous Anfield but the home side were the better team over the two legs and Craig Bellamy's 73rd minute goal made sure the Reds would be fighting for some silverware next month.

By Chris Wright

This probably isn't going to stay up for very long, but here we have Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa pulling off one of the most brazenly ridiculous handballs for quite a while as, with a matter of minutes left to play against Man City last night, the Honduran leaps like a salmon to blatantly swat a bouncing ball away with Sergio Aguero poised to scamper in on the Wigan goal from 45-odd yards out.

Following their terrific performance to knock City out of the FA Cup it's back to Premier League business this weekend for United who are a top priced 1.16 to beat Bolton at Old Trafford and keep the pressure on Mancini's men. The performance put in by Wayne Rooney and Co to beat City 3-2 at the Eithad would have delighted Sir Alex, as they looked sharp and threatening and a different side to the one that got hammered 3-0 at St James'.

By the standards used to judge recent red-carded tackles like Vincent Kompany's against Manchester United and Jay Spearing's against Fulham, on Wednesday night Glen Johnson at the very least put himself in a position where seeing red was a very real possibility. Maybe even the most likely possibility.

Mirror: Mancini: Suarez is no racist, but he did make a mistake

"It is important to say 'I am sorry, I made a mistake, I apologise for this and I accept the charge'," says Man City boss

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2012-01-11 10:31:07 from: The Mirror

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Its been a while since I have posted anything remotely interesting so here is brief summary with all things that are annoying me in football these days
Roberto Mancini




I have a lot of respect for Roberto for the following reasons;
1) He was a brilliant striker
2) He brought madcap Mario Balotelli to England
3) No matter what the weather or situation he looks so suave in that scarf and coat you just cant help but admire his style (in a non homosexual way : but if you look at him that way thats no problem)
However, his recent whinge that he would struggle to fill his subs bench for the Man Utd game was simply laughable.

They've been pretty battered in the last couple of weeks, so it's no wonder that Man United brought their A Game and fans to the City of Light last night. Unfortunately, any game between City and United has been classified as 'Category C' which is the "highest security grade" by British police who put riot police on standby in the event of trouble.

Man City's Vincent Kompany is out of the Carling Cup Semi-Final with Liverpool this week.
The impressive defender was harshly sent-off in the FA Cup game v Man Utd yesterday.
Doesn't matter, we will take it.
We couldn't get past him the other week when we lost 3-0 to the Sky-blues, he stopped everything we threw at Man City.

One of the lasting benefits of watching soccer (football or whatever you want to call it) is how it never ceases to surprise and just when you think you've got it all figured out, everything changes. Such was the nature of today's FA Cup Third Round match between Premier League Leaders Man City and their closest rivals Manchester United.

Manchester United ended their two game losing streak with a massive 3-2 win over Man City at the Etihad Stadium. Some quick thoughts on the game:

• Kompany tackle was worthy of a leg card. You cannot slide in with two feet off the ground anymore. Doesn't matter if he went through Nani or not.

In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so.

Talksport: Mancini's card waving, Michael Owen, Jamie Redknapp's Joe Hart love-in things that annoy you about football!

Pundits always moan about imaginary card waving, so we asked what gets your goat here's a selection of answers

View the full story here: Talksport

A news article on 2012-01-06 09:27:00 from: Talksport

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Arsene Wenger has made it clear that a temporary signing of a left-back is an immediate priority for Arsenal before the Gunners play their next League game against Swansea, and it seems that he could be close to signing one, according to the Metro this evening. There are three top-class left-backs on the market right [.

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.

• Kop That: Manchester City 3 Liverpool 0 Match Zone: Vincent Kompany is best defender in Premier League http://t.co/jyoKvdwu 23:51:11, 2012-01-03
• Kop That: Manchester City 3-0 Liverpool: Aguero, Yaya and Milner heap further punishment on Reds http://t.co/rb7RODCY 23:50:58, 2012-01-03
• Kop That: Dalglish: We know what is NOT in the Suarez report http://t.

Liverpool Lose 3-0 At Etihad

Suarez begins his 8 match ban... Manchester City put three goals past Liverpool on Tuesday night despite the away side retaining a lot of possession. A goalkeeping mishap and a dubious penalty helped City on their way but despite this, Liverpool still couldn't find a goal to put the pressure on Mancini's side.

This is the exact pose Sergio Aguero makes on the way to the Manchester Market every Sunday for tea and biscuits! Can't blame the bloke, he's really enjoying life at the club.

We know you Scousers aren't entirely happy about losing 3-0 to Mancini's Men last night, but that's how football is.

BBC Sport Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger unhappy after loss to Fulham.

Over the past year or so, football experts have taken a shot at trying to troubleshoot Arsenal's predisposition to losing games which they had already had won. Many comments focused on the squad's lack of defensive strength but I have a different take on the problem

It's not the defenders that cause Arsenal's fragility, it's the attitude of the manager who almost never holds his players accountable for their mistakes, blames everyone else around him when they lose, and so consequently, his players have no fear.

On this week's main listening report we look back at some of the big stories from the football world in 2011. This is part two which will focus on July to December.

Nella 18/a giornata di Premier League il Manchester United di Alex Ferguson rifila, all'Old Trafford, un pesante 5 a 0 al malcapitato Wigan e aggancia in vetta, a quota 45, il City di Mancini, bloccato sullo 0 a 0 dal West Bromwich (da segnalare una traversa di Balotelli e alcune occasioni fallite da Silva).

Premier League round-up: Man City slip-up as Red Devils rout Wigan

Berbatov nets a hat-trick at Old Trafford as Mancini's men can only draw with West Brom

View the full story here: Talksport

A news article on 2011-12-26 17:05:06 from: Talksport

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

First it was Luciano Moggi the former Juventus director who was sentenced to 5 years and 4 months in prison for his role in the 2006 Calciopoli scandal, then former Roma midfielder Mancini was found guilty of sexual assault and sentenced to 2 years in prison, now Sevilla President Jose Maria del Nido becomes the latest big shot football executive to trade the plush setting of his office suite for a cold hard jail bed.

Arsene Wenger has admitted that he can't find a solution to Arsenal's defensive injuries within the squad as the busy Christmas period arrives, and thinks that playing his centre-backs out of position will only make the problems worse and will reduce their attacking options as well. "It's difficult," Wenger said, "because first of all we [.

Nothing screams "STUD!" more than this photo of Carlos Tevez and his fans at last week's Angel Cabrera (Argentinean golfer) Classic in Cordoba. While you were out shopping at Tesco's Express for Christmas last week, Tevez decided it'd be best to assume the role of a professional golfer.

The Man City manager Roberto Mancini spent a long summer trying to prise Samir Nasri away from Arsenal, but the young Frenchman is finding himself left on the bench too often for his own liking. Mancini explained that Nasri needs to step up his game if he wants to become a regular first team member, [.

The recent strong run by the Gunners has created this impression that they are a hard lot to beat. I am among the many Gooners who have noted and commented on the doggedness of this Arsenal squad. With that in mind, I thought it would be interesting to see if some numbers back the new found resolve that is being widely perceived and how other top teams stacked up when compared to Arsenal.

The recent strong run by the Gunners has created this impression that they are a hard lot to beat. I am among the many Gooners who have noted and commented on the doggedness of this Arsenal squad. With that in mind, I thought it would be interesting to see if some numbers back the new found resolve that is being widely perceived and how other top teams stacked up when compared to Arsenal.

Manchester City We are often told that our greatest tests are in response to adversity. Is now the time for Mancini to show his true worth? In truth, City should probably have won at Stamford Bridge on Monday. David Silva was brought down for a penalty, and Sergio Aguero had a chance which on other [.

After having a relatively quiet couple of weeks, Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli is making headlines once again for a bust up with team mate Micah richards during the team's training session on Thursday.

This comes at a time when the club is preparing to face Arsenal on Sunday in a must win fixture if they want to continue leading the table.

By Majid Abdalli, writing from the United Arab Emirates

When Asamoah Gyan arrived at Sunderland for a club record £13 million fee, it seemed like the dawn of a new era for both club and player. However, the new era has become true only in the case of the player, while Sunderland are back where they were under Roy Keane – struggling at the wrong end of the table.

It could be you... Thanks to everyone who entered the competition to win a Savile Rogue football scarf. It was a very popular competition, but the triumphant winner selected at random is... Tom Hostler. Tom opted for the Mancini-esque Manchester City scarf featured above as his prize. Hopefully that will cheer him up [.

Dopo aver conosciuto l'eliminazione in Champions, il Manchester City di Mancini incassa anche il primo ko stagionale, uscendo sconfitto da Stamford Bridge nel Monday Night di Premier League col Chelsea di Villas Boas. Grande prestazione dei "Blues". I londinesi rimontano la rete iniziale degli avversari, firmata da Mario Balotelli, e chiudono sul risultato di 2Continua a leggere .

City are proving to be a strong contender for the Premier League title this season and one player who has been instrumental in the Club's unbeaten run and fantastic form is Yaya Toure.

Toure who joined City last summer after a misunderstanding with his former club FC Barcelona,has proved to be one of the club's most important signings with the 28 year old defensive midfielder going on to become a key player in Mancini's line up.

It's been a rough week for Brazilian footballers and sexual assault, with Mancini being jailed a couple of days ago and Marcelinho suspended on suspicions today. Add Braga's Ewerton to the list with his questionable methods on Wade Elliot of Birmingham.

Or maybe just well-timed photography.

The Man City manager Roberto Mancini is incensed that the FA have scheduled both his team and Liverpool to play in the League Cup Quarterfinals just two days after facing each other in the Premier League, in fact he thinks that the players should have a formal protest and he personally should pick schoolkids to [.

Some shocking news for you today. Former Inter Milan and AC Milan Brazilian winger Mancini has been sentenced to 2 years and 8 months in prison after he was found guilty of rape.

Not many will remember Mancini as a Milan player because he only made 7 appearances for the club before returning to his boyhood club Atletico Mineiro, however, his stint with capital club Roma is where his skill was brought to the fore.

Mancini: Liverpool players got Balotelli sent off

Manchester City manager backed his striker after the latest controversy

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2011-11-27 22:29:50 from: The Mirror

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Suarez battles with Lescott...
Liverpool had to settle for a 1-1 draw at Anfield on Sunday after fighting hard against a City side that began to tire as the 90 minutes went on. Joe Hart kept the away side in the game with minutes to spare after a great save to deny Andy Carroll. Both sides had a bit of luck but neither left victorious.