Blue Moon On The Horizon At Man City!

[ElaElaElano]

Manchester City have this afternoon announced E. Fegan as manager of the club, following the retirement of Sven Goran Eriksson. There has been some inevitable insecurity felt among many fans, questioning the credentials of their new coach, but he was quick to rubbish such concerns at a media conference at Eastlands this afternoon.

'I come to Manchester City with a wealth of experience, perhaps not at the highest level, but I believe that having spent seven years studying to acquire all the necessary qualifications stands me in good stead'. He added 'I should point out that I am a lifelong Manchester City fan and I feel therefore I understand the club in a way many others might not'.

'Obviously, Sven worked wonders at this club during his stay, and I think we all should thank him for really changing the mindset at the club. From this day, using his work as the instigator, we will continue to build this club and hopefully find ourselves competing in European competition again soon'.







Club Information:

Chairman: Dr Thaksin Shinawatra

Deputy Chairman: John Wardle

Chief Executive: Alistair Mackintosh

Life president: Sidney Rose


Team manager: Eoin Fegan

Assistant: Hans Backe

First Team coaches: Derek Fazackerly, Tord Grip

Goalkeeping coach: Eric Steele

Academy Manager: Jim Cassell


European Cup Winners' Cup: 1970

Premier League Best Season: 2004-05 finished 8th

Football League Champions: 1936-37, 1967-68
Football League Runners-up: 1903-04, 1920-21, 1976-77

Division One Champions: 2001-02
Division One Runners-up: 1999-2000

Division Two Champions (original): 1898-99, 1902-03, 1909-10, 1927-28, 1946-47, 1965-66
Division Two Runners-up (original): 1895-96, 1950-51, 1988-89
Division Two Play Off Winners: 1998-99

FA Cup Winners: 1904, 1934, 1956, 1969
FA Cup Runners-up: 1926, 1933, 1955, 1981

League Cup Winners: 1970, 1976
League Cup Runners-up: 1974

FA Charity Shield Winners: 1937-38, 1968-69, 1972-73

[ElaElaElano]

Squad for season 2007/8:

Goalkeepers:

Joe Hart
Andreas Isaksson
Kasper Schmeichel


Defenders:

Micahel Ball
Vedran Corluka
Richard Dunne
Javier Garrido
Shaleum Logan
Nedum Onuoha
Micah Richards
Jihai Sun

Midfielders:

Ousmane Dabo
Gelson Fernandes
Dietmar Hamann
Michael Johnson

Attacking midfielders/Wingers:

Elano Blumer
Kelvin Etuhu
Geovanni Deiderson Mauricio Gomez
Stephen Ireland
Martin Petrov


Strikers:

Rolando Bianchi
Valeri Bojinov
Emile Mpenza
Georgios Samaras
Daniel Sturridge
Darius Vassell

[ElaElaElano]

CITY IN SHOCK BENJANI SWOOP?





Manchester City are reportedly set to line up a bid to sign Benjani Mwaruwari from Portsmouth. The powerful striker is a fan favourite at Fratton Park, but the arrivals of Jermain Defoe and Milan Baros have somewhat undermined Benjani's position at the club.

[ElaElaElano]

By the way, this is my first time doing this, so if it's not that good, go easy! ;-)

[ElaElaElano]

TRIO TO BE SHOWN EXIT DOOR!


Emile Mpenza, who joined City on a free transfer in January 2007 from Al Rayyan in Qatar, had impressed initially, scoring three goals in his first eight appearances for the club, but he was rarely used by Eriksson and it looks as though Fegan will offload him in the near future.



Georgios Samaras, a big disappointment since his £6m switch form Herenveen in January 2006, looks set to move back to Europe after a difficult 18 months in England. The 22 year old striker never settled, and found it hard to adapt to the style of play in England.


Ousmane Dabo, labeled the 'worst ever signing' by Manchester City fans in an online poll, looks set to leave in the window, having joined from Lazio for £1m in the summer of 2006.

[ElaElaElano]

CITY COMPLETE TRANSFER TRIO IN HECTIC DAY!

Manchester City manager Eoin Fegan has wowed the fans this afternoon by completing the signings of three attacking players.


Benjani, the 29 year old striker joins from Portsmouth for a fee of £3.5million


Nery Alberto Castillo signs on a free transfer having left Shaktar Donetsk. He is seen here with City chief executive Alistair Mackinstosh.




Eighteen year old powerhouse striker Felipe Caicedo joins from FC Basel on a four year contract for a reported fee of £1.2m


Of the signings, the city manager said 'It's a tremendous day at Manchester City. I promised the fans an overhaul of our attack and I believe we've delivered just that this afternoon. In Benjani, we have a powerful forward who has built a reputation in the premier league. With Castillo, his pace and versatility will improve our options greatly, and I believe Caicedo is one for the future, perhaps we won't see the best of him for another couple of years but nonetheless I'm delighted to have him here.

On the topic of player exits, the manager was somewhat cautious, saying 'I am sure some of the players here will be departing before the window shuts, but that is all I'm willing to say at this time'.

[ElaElaElano]

BIG OPENING DAY FOR CITY!




VS






Manchester City's hopes of kick starting their season in good fashion has been hit a hammer blow with their first fixture of the season away at local rivals United. While city have had the better of their opponents at home, they've struggled at Old Trafford, their last win coming in 1974, when Dennis Law's backheel condemned the reds to relegation.

Of the fixture, City manager Fegan said 'Undoubtedly, it's a tough fixture and not the best start for us. But local derbies are always special, and if anyone thinks I'm coming here to park the bus in our 18 yard box is very wide of the mark. The aim is to play good football, and try to get a result for our magnificent fans'.

It is sure to be a big occasion, with Benjani and Nery Castillo both expected to start for the blues.

The bad news for city fans is that promising young striker Valeri Bojinov has suffered cruciate knee ligament damage and is expected to be out until the new year.

[PlayerJoshua321]

good thread
and K.U.T.G.W

[ElaElaElano]

BLUES BUOYANT AS BENJI BAGS BRACE!



Manchester City provided fans worldwide with a shock result on the opening day of the season, as they comfortably defeated rivals United 1-3 at Old Trafford. Benjani and Nery Castillo joined City's starting XI, in an attacking 4-5-1 formation.

First Half:

As you would expect with a derby, the opening exchanges were fiery and aggressive with sliding tackles flying in everywhere. City looked composed on the ball and dominated possession for much of the opening 15 minutes. United began to come out of traps, though and Cristiano Ronaldo was looking threatening out on the right hand side of midfield. However, the first big opportunity came City's way as Vedran Corluka broke out of his right back position before squaring an inch perfect ball to Martin Petrov, only for the Bulgarian to send his rasping drive well over the crossbar.
United counter attacked with Ronaldo once again leading the line, but the big surprise came just on half time when City scored the opener.
A wonderful exchange of passes between Dietmar Hamann and Elano led the brazilian to send a wonderful through ball onto the right flank, where new boy Castillo collected and marched down the touchline, before delivering a wonderful ball into the path of fellow newcomer Benjani, who headed the ball home across the United goal.

Half Time score: United 0-1 City









Second Half:

The opening exchanges in the second half were somewhat lacklustre, with United running out of ideas and City playing a cautious passing game around their own defensive area. The game picked up 15 minutes into the half. And it wasn't Ronaldo, but his Mexican counterpart Castillo who was running the show. He displayed flashes of wonderful skill and utilised his pace to the maximum on the right hand side, at times interchanging with Elano who was playing in a deeper role. Indeed it was Castillo who found the breakthrough for City's second, as his lung busting run found him on the edge of United's penatly area, where he cleverly got around Vidic to square the ball to Benjani 12 yards out, who made no mistake with a first time drive beyond Van Der Sar.
Things got better and better for the blues, who dominated possession throughout the game, and on 76 minutes, they had a third. Vedran Corluka, again coming forward from defence played a one two with the brazilian before he unleashed a clever finesse shot into the bottom left corner. With time running out, Ferguson made a double change, replacing Tevez and Ronaldo with Nani and Saha on 81 minutes. These changes made an impact, as Saha found Rooney unmarked in City's area to lash home a response for the reds. It was too little, too late though, and the blues' fans sang loudly and proudly out of the stadium, in a day they'll surely never forget!

Full time score: 1-3


Starting Line ups:

MU: (442)

Van Der Sar (GK)
Neville (RB)
Vidic (CB)
Ferdinand (CB)
Evra (LB)
Ronaldo (RM)
Scholes (CM)
Carrick (CM)
Giggs (LM)
Rooney (RS)
Tevez (LS)

Bench:

Foster(GK)
Brown (RB)
Hargreaves (CDM)
Nani (LW)
Saha (ST)


MC: (451)

Hart (GK)
Corluka (RB)
Richards (CB)
Dunne (CB)
Ball (LB)
Hamann (CDM)
Castillo (RW)
Johnson (CM)
Petrov (LW)
Elano (CAM)
Benjani (ST)

Bench:

Onuoha (CB)
Fernandes (CDM)
Ireland (CAM)
Caicedo (ST)
Vassell (ST)


Substitutions:

Nani for Tevez, 81
Saha for Ronaldo, 81

Ireland for Elano, 85
Caicedo for Benjani, 88

[PlayerJoshua321]

good result over Man Utd

[ElaElaElano]

By the way, I'm playing Professional mode and 5 minute halves.

[ElaElaElano]

CITY STUMBLE IN CLOSE CONTEST



MANCHESTER CITY 1-1 PORTSMOUTH

Martin Petrov provided the touch of class in an otherwise uneventful tie at Eastlands this evening, where City played Portsmouth. Fegan left his side unchanged from the victory at Old Trafford, hoping they could replicate that performance in their first home game of the campaign.
The blues started brightly with Petrov making several runs down the left hand touchline, but ultimately Portsmouth defended well against all of them.
The breakthrough came on 17 minutes, when Elano fed Petrov with a clean pass across the pitch, and the Bulgarian international cleverly chipped former City 'keeper David James.
At this point, it seemed as though City would go all out and attack against Portsmouth but following the goal they were significantly more subdued and offered little in attack. As the half time whistle blew, the home side looked comfortable but not particularly threatening.

Half time score- 1-0 (petrov)

In the second half, Portsmouth capitalised on City's reluctance to attack and offered many goalscoring opportunities. They looked a constant threat, and on 61 minutes, David Nugent scored a wonderful goal for them.
Sulley Muntari passed a lovely ball to John Utaka, who chipped a 40 yard pass up the pitch, where Nugent clutched first time and unleashed an unstoppable volley from 18 yards.
Pompey then shuffled their pack, replacing Muntari with Davis, but in the end, the two sides shared the spoils in a good game at Eastlands.

MC:
(unchanged)

Portsmouth:

James
Lauren
Distin
Campbell
Hreidarsson
Kranjcar
Muntari
Mendes
Taylor
Utaka
Nugent

Subs:

Ashdown
Diop
Davis
Johnson
Kanu

Changes-

Davis for Muntari, 75 minutes.

[ElaElaElano]

BIG RESHUFFLE FOR BLUES IN TIGHT ENCOUNTER

BOLTON 0-0 MAN CITY

Having left his impressive side unchanged for the visit of Portsmouth, Eoin Fegan made numerous changes to his team for a tricky looking away tie with local rivals Bolton Wanderers. Nedum Onuoha replaced Vedran Corluka at right back, Javier Garrido came in for Michael Ball at left back, with Gelson Fernandes replacing Dietmar Hamann in the holding role. The boss adapted a more attacking approach in fielding a 4-1-2-1-2 formation. Elano moved to the right side of midfield, whilst Stephen Ireland came into the CAM role in the absence of injured Micahel Johnson, allowing Nery Castillo to partner Benjani in attack.
The blues started very brightly, with Benjani's pace troubling the Bolton back line. However, after some early opportunities the game stretched with Bolton happy to sit back and defend.

Half time- 0-0

In the second half, City again dominated but to no avail as Jussi Jaaskelainen stopped a number of powerful shots.
Perhaps the most exciting moment for City's travelling support was the introduction of 17 year old striker Daniel Sturridge, a youngster tipped to succeed in the future. He replaced the ineffective Nery Castillo and his pace did trouble Bolton at times.
In the end though, a lacklustre occasion got the result it deserved.

Full time- 0-0

Bolton:

Jaaskelainen
Hunt
Cid
Meite
Gardner
Nolan
McCann
Guthrie
Davies
Anelka
Diouf


City:

Hart
Onuoha
Dunne
Richards
Garrido
Fernandes
Elano
Ireland
Petrov
Castillo
Benjani

[RiZO]

Great thread, I will do one myself after the transfer update.

[ElaElaElano]

Transfer Update:

Following the close of the transfer window, Manchester City can confirm the departures of several players.



Andreas Isaksson has left the club, after he was informed by his manager that young goalkeeping duo Joe Hart and Kasper Schmeichel were above him in the pecking order. He joins Fulham for a fee of £1.3m.



Versatile defender Sun Jihai has also departed, with MLS outift Columbus Crew his destination. He left for a fee of £500,000


Young striker Georgios Samaras has been handed a second chance in English football, with Roy Hodgson forking out £1m to bring him to Fulham.


Experienced Belgian international striker Emile Mpenza departs to join Spanish strugglers Real Betis for a fee of £2.8m



Most surprisingly, Rolando Bianchi, who only joined the club from Reggina in May has made an instant exit from the club, with City boss Fegan apparently disappointed with his work ethic at the club. He joins fellow premier league team Aston Villa for a fee of £5.5m

In addition, youngsters Marc Laird, Shaleum Logan, Ashley Grimes and Richard Martin have all been released on free transfers.

[ElaElaElano]

SHINAWATRA SPLASHES OUT FOR CITY!



Manchester City chairman Thaksin Shinawatra has today announced massive overhauls at the club, with investments being made in coaching, fitness and stadium departments.
Dr. Shinawatra, nicknamed 'Frank' by the City faithful, has splashed out an amazing £25,500,000 on backroom additions and improvements. The list are as follows:

-New coaches to work with players on attacking, defensive, midfield and goalkeeping play

-Two fitness coaches, Fernando Lassimati, and Andy Hinchcliffe, a former City player, who will be housed by a state of the art fitness centre, including swimming pool and gym

-Rebuilding work to take place on the City of Manchester stadium, to increase capacity to 54,000



The swimming pool at City's new fitness centre



Of this revelation, City boss Eoin Fegan remarked 'It's a fantastic move by the chairman and we all appreciate his generosity here on the playing side of the club. Fitness is such a vital factor in modern football, and obviously Dr. Thaksin recognises this'.

[DannyB]

good thread. funny how u can beat united but not pompey and bolton

[ElaElaElano]

Yeah, I don't know what happened there. But thanks for the compliments! I hope it's half decent, and worth the read!

[ElaElaElano]

...bump...

[SCARCELLA]

Keep going I like this! Good luck bro! Man City is a good team!

[ElaElaElano]

CITY SWOOP FOR NEW ASSISTANT!



Legendary former Manchester City striker Shaun Goater has today been confirmed as Assistant Manager to Eoin Fegan. The Bermudan spent five years at the club, where gained hero status by scoring 103 goals, including a famous brace on derby day in the last derby at Maine Road, where he scored his 99th and 100th goals for the club.
Having retired in 2005, Goater returned to Bermuda to acquire management qualifications and kept close contact with the club. Now, he has returned to the city where he made his name, to link up with new boss Fegan and assist him in bringing the team to european competition.
Fans have reacted well to the news, with a poll taken on Manchester Evening News showing 91% of fans were happy with his arrival.

More news to follow. . .

[daviebhoy08]

gr8 read m8 hope u keep it up

[ElaElaElano]

Anyone have any suggestions/comments/criticisms?

[Torres&GerrardFC]

Kutgw

[DBond5]

Originally Posted by Bridg48Player

Anyone have any suggestions/comments/criticisms?

Mate, keep it up, it's brilliant, detailed to the max and the game detail is brilliant, can't wait till you play us!