Last time I blogged, City still had Darius Va sell, Danny Mills and lest we forget, Glauber Leandro Honorato Berti. Quite a bit has happened since then!!Im sure that many of my, ahem, thousands of adoring fans noticed a lack of blogging updates from here, so I apologise if you were left traumatised and feeling upsetby this. Having been away for a couple of weeks representing my country in a worldwide sporting competition, I felt that blogging perhaps should take a back seat, so although the quantity of articles decreased, I sincerely hope that the quality in future efforts remains of a high standard. Just as a fore-warning me sage, due to school commitments, I plan on doing maybe only one or two articles per month, as opposed to my previous amount, which was rather higher and certainly more time consuming.Anyway, where were we? Oh yes, still talking about Berti! How times have changed during this pre-season, the first full summer transfer window where City have had the opportunity to make full use of Sheikh Mansours many billions. At the time of writing, there have been a total of seven new arrivals at Eastlands, andabout thirteen departures. Those seven include world-cla s stars such as Carlos Tevz and Emmanuel Adebadhairday, but also the likes of Nils Zander, an extremelypromising young left-back, signed form German side FC Schalke.From Berti to Tevz A sign of the changing timesAny new season brings about certain levels of excitement, but there can surely nothave been many other campaigns which have generated both the publicity and fervour that has accompanied the 2009/10 pre-season. Hopes are higher than ever before that the Blues can break into the top four and unsettle the hierarchy of English football that has developedin recent years. Many City supporters, myself included, would be more than contentwith a top five finish, and that would signal a major achievement for the Blues. Disappointingly, our attempts to break into the upper echelons of the Premier League, something that has eluded the grasp of Tottenham, Evertonand Aston Villa in recent years, have been met with a wall of criticism, and in many cases, hypocrisy. The so called experts of the game have declared that City are ruining world football by signing the likes of Gareth Barry for 12 million. Nothing has been made of the fact that Spanish giants Real Madrid spent 80 million, almost seven times Citys amount, on Cristiano Ronaldo, whilst also breaking the world record for Kak. In addition to this, they spent over 30 million to acquire the Seth Beer Jersey services of former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso. Despite his undoubted qualities, is the Spaniard really worth two and a half times as much as Barry?Enough of my personal grievances, I now move onto news of Citys pre-season form. Summed up in one word, it could be described as typical! Before the game at home to Celtic, a match which saw the return of goalscoring sensation Georgios Samaras (that just shows how bad the Scottish League is), the Blues had played five games and recorded just a solitary victory. However, defeats to the Kaiser Chiefs and Rangers among others have failed to dampen our enthusiasm for the forthcoming season, but it would have been nice to see some goals and victories. By all accounts, we have performed well without getting the end results, but Im fairly confident that Mark Hughes and his fellow coaching staff will sort things out before the season opener away at his former clubBlackburn.Samaras returned to face City, whilst the Blues were beaten by the Kaiser ChiefsTalking of that encounter, Citys trip to Ewood Park will be a fantastic early test of the Blues credentials. Will our team, a combination of skillful and talented players, the likes of Robinho and Stephen Ireland, and experienced and reliablecampaigners, such as Gareth Barry and Kolo Tour, be able to pull together and attain the three points? With this fixture being followed by a home tie against newly-promoted Wolves, City should be able to string together a couple of early wins and silence those doubters who believe that the Blues, as so often in the past, will fall by the wayside as our expensively a sembled squad fails to gel together.Generally, Im delighted withthenature of the squad that Hughes has built. There is depth in every department, and real quality at that. Lets take the striking department for example. If we imagine that Hughess first choice pairing is Adebuyonegetonefree and Tevz, then we still have two internationals, Roque Santa Cruz and Craig Bellamy in reserve. I challenge you to name any other Premier League sidethat has such quality in depth, and at that, such variety and choice. Having already considered this proposal, I would be mightily shocked of anyone was to come up with, and with reason, any group of forwards that can match or even better those at City.WithBellamy and Santa Cruz in reserve, City are a force to be reckoned withFor all the talk that City have been signing players by the bucketload and ruining world football, the truth is actually far from the rumours. Any club that has aspirations of challenging for titles has had to spend ma ses of money in the proce s, so what City are doing is nothing unusual. Perhaps people are concerned and worried by our efforts, something that has clearly affected Sir Alex Ferguson. Remember his rant at the blue half of Manchester? The le s thanplacid-natured Scotsman described City as a small club witha small mentality. On the face of it, we should be concerned withsuch a description, but actually, this rant by Ferguson merely highlights Citys growing impact in football. Ferguson only ever has a go at clubs which are a threat to Manchester United. His public warnings and confrontations with Arsene Wenger, Rafael Benitez and Jos Mourinho highlight this fact, so Mark Hughes should feel proud that Fegie now cla ses us as a threat. The Scot never has a rant at the likes ofFulham, Middlesborough or Bolton, so it should come as a pleasant surprise that he even thought about City.Anyway, enough of angry Scotsmen and back to our new signings. Stuart Taylor was acquired from Aston Villa for nothing and will be an experienced back-up in net for Shay Given. I believe that this is a shrewd move from Hughes who has let youngster Joe Hart find regular first team football on loan at Birmingham. In defence, City have made two additions, Kolo Tour and Nils Zander. The latter is a promising left-back whilst the former is a dependable and proven centre-back, who joined from Arsenal for close to 15 million. Tour is likely to slot straight into the City defence to partner Nedum Onuoha and will add solidity and know-how to the back four.Tour joins City and will hope to form a solid partnership with Nedum OnuohaIn midfield, Mark Hughes has added the undoubted qualities of England international Gareth Barry, a snip at just 12 million. Capable of playing in central midfield, on the left wing or at left back, Barry will add experience andgenuine qualityto the City midfield. Already, in pre-season, he has linked up well with both Stephen Ireland and Nigel de Jong so things are looking bright for the Blues in the midfield department.However, it is in the forward region where most of the action and excitement has centred. Three proven, talented and ambitious strikers signed in the summer, namely Carlos Tevz, Emmanuel Adebayor and Roque Santa Cruz. With the former two joining from clubs higher up in the table than us, it represents a major coup for City that we can attract players of such a high calibre. The pursuit of Santa Cruz was a particularly drawn out one, starting last summer and ending when Mark Hughes finally snapped up his number one target. Formerly of Blackburn and Bayern Munich, the Paraguayan striker will add some much needed height to the forward line, and he will hope to remain injury free to secure his place in the side.Watching these two next season should be fun!Adebayor, scorer of 46 goals in 104 appearance at his former club Arsenal, will also add height and presence to the striking department. Capable of playing as a lone man, the Togo forward signed for about 25 million and chose the Blues over other footballing luminaries such as Inter Milan and Barcelona. He po se ses a great first touch and fantastic close control, and those qualities, combined to his aerial ability, will hopefully leadto him scoring many goals this season. In all likelihood, he will be joined up-front by another player whose transfer was protracted to say the least. Ladies-manCarlos Tevz, whose real name is actually Carlos Alberto Martnez,signed from Manchester United after his two year loan deal came to a conclusion. Despite the side from Singapore offering him a new contract, he plumped to join the Blues, citing their ambition anddetermination. His willingne s to work for the team, allied with his natural goalscoring ability will make him a favourite with the Blues supporters, who gave their new hero a rousing reception when he came on as a substitute against Celtic.Emmanuel Adebayor should sort out that deformity in his left armAs previously mentioned, there have actually been more departures from the club than there have been new signings. Promising, young goalkeeper Joe Hart has been farmed out on loan to Birmingham for the season to allow him the chance to get first team football under his belt. Harts chances would certainly have been restricted while Shay Given is at the club, so I believe that this is a good move for all concerned. In defence, Danny Mills, Glauber Berti and Michael Ball have all been released, with Mills calling time on his playing career due to a knee injury. In addition, Shaleum Logan has been loaned out to Tranmere Rovers for the season.The midfield department has seen three players leave the club this summer. Former Liverpool and German international Dietmar Didi Hamann was released by the club after his contract ran out. The holding midfielder was castigated during his first campaign at city, but he showed his real worth to the team when Sven Goran Erik son was in charge. Disappointed as I am to see Hamann depart, the move was inevitable really and I hope that he can find another role within football as soon as po sible. Another player to leave was Elano, who joined Turkish side Galatasarayfor 7 million. Although mesmerising on occasions, the Brazilian failed to reproduce that brilliance with any regularity and quickly fell out of favourwith Mark Hughes. With a reputation for being a troublemaker, Elano was always going to leave the club in the summer and I wish him all the best for the future.Elano and David Nugent: Early shout for look-a-like of the season Deserving of his own paragraph is Swi s midfielder Gelson Fernandes. When, on 9th July 2009, he signed for French club As Saint-Etienne, it signalled the end of an era for City. No more booing at the ground, no more endle s criticism on this website of Gelly, no more rants at his total inability to play football, no more disgruntledne s at his pa sing!! Po sibly the worst player ever to wear the City shirt, Gelson angered and and frustrated in equal measure. Declared as one of the brightest prospects in Swi s football when signed by Erik son, Fernandes was about as good at football as a goldfish would be in a memory test! So Gelson, thank you and goodbye.It is in the striking department where most of the outgoing action has centred on. In total, six forwards have departed from the club, either on permanent deals or temporary ones. Brazilian international Jo, who moved to Everton last season on loan, joins the Toffees again, this time for the whole campaign. Bustling Ecuadorian striker Felipe Caicedo, holderof the Premier Leagues largest bum award, has joined Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon on loan, again for the duration of the campaign. Hopefully, the striker will score a few goals and will return to City a much improved player. The third player to move out temporarily is Bulgarian battler Valeri Bojinov. The strikers City career was decimated on two occasions by serious injuries which curtailed bothhis two seasons at the club, but he did show glimpses of his potential at the back end of last year. This move, to Italian side Parma, will enable him to have regular first team football and to boost his confidence.Valeri Bojinov, currently on loan at Parma, has put on a few pounds since his modelling daysThose moving out permanently are Darius Va sell, Ched Evans and Danny Sturridge. The latter of that triumvirate has moved onto Chelsea, with a fee between the Londoners and City yet to be decided by a tribunal. As reported in previous blogs, Sturridge was demanding a certain amount of money per week and City were not prepared, in any way, shape or form, to meet his demands. Evans, capped ten times by Wales, has moved to Sheffield United in the Championshipfor 3 million. The Welshman never really cemented his place in the City side and it was hard to see where he would have fitted in this time around, so his move is beneficial for all concerned.The transfer of Va sellis an amusing one. Released by City at the end of the last campaign, the England international (that doesnt feel write to say) moved to Turkish side Ankaragc. This club are celebrating their centenary year and their chairman, Cengiz Topel Yildirim, declared that they wanted a marquee signing to celebrate this landmark achievement so they bought Darius Va sell. 3000 fans reportedly turned up to see the former Aston Villa striker on his first day, so at least there are some people who Va sell pleases, although he will never be forgotten after scoring against Manchester United.Va sell celebrates after scoring at Old Trafford but has now moved to AnkaragcSo, overall in my opinion, it has been a highly succe sful pre-season for the Blues in terms of player recruitment and expectations. Im sure than everyone is looking forward to Saturday 15thAugust, the date of our first Premier League match in the new season, so it is with high hopes and aspirations that I bid you farewell for this article. Please leave any comments below about your thoughts on the forthcoming season, our signings or any other aspect that has caught your eye. Thanks for reading. Kevin Newman Jersey
Last time I blogged, City still had Darius Va sell, Danny Mills and lest we forget, Glauber Leandro Honorato Berti. Quite a bit has happened since then!!Im sure that many of my, ahem, thousands of adoring fans noticed a lack of blogging updates from here, so I apologise if you were left traumatised and feeling upsetby this. Having been away for a couple of weeks representing my country in a worldwide sporting competition, I felt that blogging perhaps should take a back seat, so although the quantity of articles decreased, I sincerely hope that the quality in future efforts remains of a high standard. Just as a fore-warning me sage, due to school commitments, I plan on doing maybe only one or two articles per month, as opposed to my previous amount, which was rather higher and certainly more time consuming.Anyway, where were we? Oh yes, still talking about Berti! How times have changed during this pre-season, the first full summer transfer window where City have had the opportunity to make full use of Sheikh Mansours many billions. At the time of writing, there have been a total of seven new arrivals at Eastlands, andabout thirteen departures. Those seven include world-cla s stars such as Carlos Tevz and Emmanuel Adebadhairday, but also the likes of Nils Zander, an extremelypromising young left-back, signed form German side FC Schalke.From Berti to Tevz A sign of the changing timesAny new season brings about certain levels of excitement, but there can surely nothave been many other campaigns which have generated both the publicity and fervour that has accompanied the 2009/10 pre-season. Hopes are higher than ever before that the Blues can break into the top four and unsettle the hierarchy of English football that has developedin recent years. Many City supporters, myself included, would be more than contentwith a top five finish, and that would signal a major achievement for the Blues. Disappointingly, our attempts to break into the upper echelons of the Premier League, something that has eluded the grasp of Tottenham, Evertonand Aston Villa in recent years, have been met with a wall of criticism, and in many cases, hypocrisy. The so called experts of the game have declared that City are ruining world football by signing the likes of Gareth Barry for 12 million. Nothing has been made of the fact that Spanish giants Real Madrid spent 80 million, almost seven times Citys amount, on Cristiano Ronaldo, whilst also breaking the world record for Kak. In addition to this, they spent over 30 million to acquire the Seth Beer Jersey services of former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso. Despite his undoubted qualities, is the Spaniard really worth two and a half times as much as Barry?Enough of my personal grievances, I now move onto news of Citys pre-season form. Summed up in one word, it could be described as typical! Before the game at home to Celtic, a match which saw the return of goalscoring sensation Georgios Samaras (that just shows how bad the Scottish League is), the Blues had played five games and recorded just a solitary victory. However, defeats to the Kaiser Chiefs and Rangers among others have failed to dampen our enthusiasm for the forthcoming season, but it would have been nice to see some goals and victories. By all accounts, we have performed well without getting the end results, but Im fairly confident that Mark Hughes and his fellow coaching staff will sort things out before the season opener away at his former clubBlackburn.Samaras returned to face City, whilst the Blues were beaten by the Kaiser ChiefsTalking of that encounter, Citys trip to Ewood Park will be a fantastic early test of the Blues credentials. Will our team, a combination of skillful and talented players, the likes of Robinho and Stephen Ireland, and experienced and reliablecampaigners, such as Gareth Barry and Kolo Tour, be able to pull together and attain the three points? With this fixture being followed by a home tie against newly-promoted Wolves, City should be able to string together a couple of early wins and silence those doubters who believe that the Blues, as so often in the past, will fall by the wayside as our expensively a sembled squad fails to gel together.Generally, Im delighted withthenature of the squad that Hughes has built. There is depth in every department, and real quality at that. Lets take the striking department for example. If we imagine that Hughess first choice pairing is Adebuyonegetonefree and Tevz, then we still have two internationals, Roque Santa Cruz and Craig Bellamy in reserve. I challenge you to name any other Premier League sidethat has such quality in depth, and at that, such variety and choice. Having already considered this proposal, I would be mightily shocked of anyone was to come up with, and with reason, any group of forwards that can match or even better those at City.WithBellamy and Santa Cruz in reserve, City are a force to be reckoned withFor all the talk that City have been signing players by the bucketload and ruining world football, the truth is actually far from the rumours. Any club that has aspirations of challenging for titles has had to spend ma ses of money in the proce s, so what City are doing is nothing unusual. Perhaps people are concerned and worried by our efforts, something that has clearly affected Sir Alex Ferguson. Remember his rant at the blue half of Manchester? The le s thanplacid-natured Scotsman described City as a small club witha small mentality. On the face of it, we should be concerned withsuch a description, but actually, this rant by Ferguson merely highlights Citys growing impact in football. Ferguson only ever has a go at clubs which are a threat to Manchester United. His public warnings and confrontations with Arsene Wenger, Rafael Benitez and Jos Mourinho highlight this fact, so Mark Hughes should feel proud that Fegie now cla ses us as a threat. The Scot never has a rant at the likes ofFulham, Middlesborough or Bolton, so it should come as a pleasant surprise that he even thought about City.Anyway, enough of angry Scotsmen and back to our new signings. Stuart Taylor was acquired from Aston Villa for nothing and will be an experienced back-up in net for Shay Given. I believe that this is a shrewd move from Hughes who has let youngster Joe Hart find regular first team football on loan at Birmingham. In defence, City have made two additions, Kolo Tour and Nils Zander. The latter is a promising left-back whilst the former is a dependable and proven centre-back, who joined from Arsenal for close to 15 million. Tour is likely to slot straight into the City defence to partner Nedum Onuoha and will add solidity and know-how to the back four.Tour joins City and will hope to form a solid partnership with Nedum OnuohaIn midfield, Mark Hughes has added the undoubted qualities of England international Gareth Barry, a snip at just 12 million. Capable of playing in central midfield, on the left wing or at left back, Barry will add experience andgenuine qualityto the City midfield. Already, in pre-season, he has linked up well with both Stephen Ireland and Nigel de Jong so things are looking bright for the Blues in the midfield department.However, it is in the forward region where most of the action and excitement has centred. Three proven, talented and ambitious strikers signed in the summer, namely Carlos Tevz, Emmanuel Adebayor and Roque Santa Cruz. With the former two joining from clubs higher up in the table than us, it represents a major coup for City that we can attract players of such a high calibre. The pursuit of Santa Cruz was a particularly drawn out one, starting last summer and ending when Mark Hughes finally snapped up his number one target. Formerly of Blackburn and Bayern Munich, the Paraguayan striker will add some much needed height to the forward line, and he will hope to remain injury free to secure his place in the side.Watching these two next season should be fun!Adebayor, scorer of 46 goals in 104 appearance at his former club Arsenal, will also add height and presence to the striking department. Capable of playing as a lone man, the Togo forward signed for about 25 million and chose the Blues over other footballing luminaries such as Inter Milan and Barcelona. He po se ses a great first touch and fantastic close control, and those qualities, combined to his aerial ability, will hopefully leadto him scoring many goals this season. In all likelihood, he will be joined up-front by another player whose transfer was protracted to say the least. Ladies-manCarlos Tevz, whose real name is actually Carlos Alberto Martnez,signed from Manchester United after his two year loan deal came to a conclusion. Despite the side from Singapore offering him a new contract, he plumped to join the Blues, citing their ambition anddetermination. His willingne s to work for the team, allied with his natural goalscoring ability will make him a favourite with the Blues supporters, who gave their new hero a rousing reception when he came on as a substitute against Celtic.Emmanuel Adebayor should sort out that deformity in his left armAs previously mentioned, there have actually been more departures from the club than there have been new signings. Promising, young goalkeeper Joe Hart has been farmed out on loan to Birmingham for the season to allow him the chance to get first team football under his belt. Harts chances would certainly have been restricted while Shay Given is at the club, so I believe that this is a good move for all concerned. In defence, Danny Mills, Glauber Berti and Michael Ball have all been released, with Mills calling time on his playing career due to a knee injury. In addition, Shaleum Logan has been loaned out to Tranmere Rovers for the season.The midfield department has seen three players leave the club this summer. Former Liverpool and German international Dietmar Didi Hamann was released by the club after his contract ran out. The holding midfielder was castigated during his first campaign at city, but he showed his real worth to the team when Sven Goran Erik son was in charge. Disappointed as I am to see Hamann depart, the move was inevitable really and I hope that he can find another role within football as soon as po sible. Another player to leave was Elano, who joined Turkish side Galatasarayfor 7 million. Although mesmerising on occasions, the Brazilian failed to reproduce that brilliance with any regularity and quickly fell out of favourwith Mark Hughes. With a reputation for being a troublemaker, Elano was always going to leave the club in the summer and I wish him all the best for the future.Elano and David Nugent: Early shout for look-a-like of the season Deserving of his own paragraph is Swi s midfielder Gelson Fernandes. When, on 9th July 2009, he signed for French club As Saint-Etienne, it signalled the end of an era for City. No more booing at the ground, no more endle s criticism on this website of Gelly, no more rants at his total inability to play football, no more disgruntledne s at his pa sing!! Po sibly the worst player ever to wear the City shirt, Gelson angered and and frustrated in equal measure. Declared as one of the brightest prospects in Swi s football when signed by Erik son, Fernandes was about as good at football as a goldfish would be in a memory test! So Gelson, thank you and goodbye.It is in the striking department where most of the outgoing action has centred on. In total, six forwards have departed from the club, either on permanent deals or temporary ones. Brazilian international Jo, who moved to Everton last season on loan, joins the Toffees again, this time for the whole campaign. Bustling Ecuadorian striker Felipe Caicedo, holderof the Premier Leagues largest bum award, has joined Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon on loan, again for the duration of the campaign. Hopefully, the striker will score a few goals and will return to City a much improved player. The third player to move out temporarily is Bulgarian battler Valeri Bojinov. The strikers City career was decimated on two occasions by serious injuries which curtailed bothhis two seasons at the club, but he did show glimpses of his potential at the back end of last year. This move, to Italian side Parma, will enable him to have regular first team football and to boost his confidence.Valeri Bojinov, currently on loan at Parma, has put on a few pounds since his modelling daysThose moving out permanently are Darius Va sell, Ched Evans and Danny Sturridge. The latter of that triumvirate has moved onto Chelsea, with a fee between the Londoners and City yet to be decided by a tribunal. As reported in previous blogs, Sturridge was demanding a certain amount of money per week and City were not prepared, in any way, shape or form, to meet his demands. Evans, capped ten times by Wales, has moved to Sheffield United in the Championshipfor 3 million. The Welshman never really cemented his place in the City side and it was hard to see where he would have fitted in this time around, so his move is beneficial for all concerned.The transfer of Va sellis an amusing one. Released by City at the end of the last campaign, the England international (that doesnt feel write to say) moved to Turkish side Ankaragc. This club are celebrating their centenary year and their chairman, Cengiz Topel Yildirim, declared that they wanted a marquee signing to celebrate this landmark achievement so they bought Darius Va sell. 3000 fans reportedly turned up to see the former Aston Villa striker on his first day, so at least there are some people who Va sell pleases, although he will never be forgotten after scoring against Manchester United.Va sell celebrates after scoring at Old Trafford but has now moved to AnkaragcSo, overall in my opinion, it has been a highly succe sful pre-season for the Blues in terms of player recruitment and expectations. Im sure than everyone is looking forward to Saturday 15thAugust, the date of our first Premier League match in the new season, so it is with high hopes and aspirations that I bid you farewell for this article. Please leave any comments below about your thoughts on the forthcoming season, our signings or any other aspect that has caught your eye. Thanks for reading. Kevin Newman Jersey