City Info......

I was talking to a City employee yesterday about things in general about City and this is what he had to say. I swear all what i say here is true, i will use bullet points as i try to remember what was said (didn't have time to post it yesterday).

*Tevez was welcomed back by "most" players, only because they are desperate to win the league and feel he will help.

*Vincent Kompany is a very cold and straight talking guy, who has more or less cold shouldered Tevez (he aint happy at all with him).

*Khaldoon Al Mubarak was "livid" at not progressing from the group stages of the CL and stormed out from the Napoli (away) game before the full-time whistle, which was so out of character as he's such a mild mannered man.

*Micahs fitness "issues" (each player is individually assessed on a regular basis), don't allow him to play as often as RM wants him to. I don't know if this is a long term thing.

*Kolarov is prefered to Clichy due to the opposition, i think it's a height and not speed issue. Didn't really understand what my mate was trying to say but i got the feeling RM expected Clichy to be better than he is.

*RM "needs" to win a trophy (any of the 2), with the EL taking preference, as the top brass want City to be a huge name throughout Europe. Only Real Madrid and Barcelona have a bigger wage bill in Europe, so City are "expected" to be challenging. Expect City to be very cautious tonight......maybe even 0-0.

*Failure to win a trophy this season will not necessarily mean the end of Mancini, but "serious" questions will be asked as to why.

*Ancelloti and Mourinho are genuine and serious possibles as replacements. I asked about keeping RM offers stability, but he said bringing someone else in will not disrupt the dynamics and stable structure built throughout the club and backroom staff. It would not be a big issue to change managers!

*NDJ isn't used much because RM wants to play fast 1 touch attacking football, he felt NDJ didn't fit into this. It was nothing to do with his "Advisor". He said there were worse people the club have to deal with than Kia nastybollocks........really!

*Dzeko tries more than anyone else in training and is very clean living "emotional" person. He wants to succeed at City more than anyone else. He hates balls into his feet (as he admits he's not got the best touch) but thrives on wing play wanting the ball crossed more, but is willing to adapt and do anything for City.

*Apparently, Mario does things in training (skill wise) other players can only dream of doing. They still think eventually he's going to be one of the best player to grace a City shirt but admit they have work to do with him. His age is obviously a contributory factor to his "nuttyness" but they still think in time they'll get the best out of him.

*RM was looking to bring another forward in in January but couldn't get the players at the price City valued them at (no names mentioned here).

I don't know if this is anything you didn't already know folks, but as i said it's all true.

I feel that VK is Manchester City. He is the club captain and rightly proud of that fact.

He kept quiet last year when Tevez was captain (undeservedly so) and he can lead city for the next 6 or 7 years.

Tevez let us down badly in Munich and moreso thereafter. We really could have used him in those games against WBA and Sunderland. We'd probably be in the CC final if he'd been bollocksed to turn up and play for us.

That is a very good reason for Vinnie to be pissed with him. Most of the others haven't been here as long and just think about winning the trophies.

I think you're bang on about VK Dawg.

The 2 things that specifically stuck out to me about our conversation were, Khaldoon not being happy about the CL exit (they were thoroughly pissed at this) and the fact he mentioned Ancelloti as a possible replacement. I mentioned Mourinho but i got the feeling Ancelloti would be 1st choice.

but Ancelloti is at PSG and they have oodles of money to spend.

I agree about the CL progress because they had spent a ton of money and expected qualification from the group.

I don't know if the League Cup would have been enough on its own, though we should bust a gut to get to the final.

Re Ancelloti: I'm only going off what he said Dawg. Maybe they feel he's the only one who could possibly do a better job.

I really got the feeling the EL is a must win comp for RM (for the owners), although nothing would please me more than City winning the PL.

i guess it's all about raising the profile of abu dhabi in europe and beyond.

it is already news in england/uk and winning a european competition would help with raising the profile in europe,

either that or mario getting off with angela merkle

Ancellotti?

Would we be able to cope with the errant eyebrow though?

on the NDJ issue, I've noticed a more attacking approach by him since he's been back in the side, coincidence?

As for Tevez, he needs to be told that he could have made the difference in pregression into the CL knock out stages, and that he is expected to bust a gut to make sure City win as many games as possible when he is in the team

As for winning a trophy, how can the Europa League take precedence of the Prem? I know which one I'd rather win! hopefully we can win both, but the Prem should be the priority... maybe that's why certain players were rested at the weekend, I wasn't the only one perplexed at Mancini's team selection

Top post Shaken, confirmed a few things a lot of us have been saying for a while, and threw a few new points into the mix.

Think you're probably right about NDJ Beware, although this 'fast one touch football' seems to have been masquerading as 'slow and careful build up' of late!

I can see why we use Kolarov at times for height, against Villa for example who are a threat from corners, our only other players with height were VK & Lescott - however, I think Clichy's been decent on the whole and playing Kolarov is a gamble, he really will cost us one day.

You can see Dzeko wants to succeed, and a lot of us have said for a while he wants the ball infront of him to run on too, or crosses in from wide. But - will he be a City player much longer? The type of player we now need, Silva, Aguero, etc when off form you'd still rather they were on the pitch, same can't be said for Dzeko.

Wouldn't want Mourinho at all.

Even if we win the EL and beat United in the process, if they pip us to the league I'll be devastated.

EL over PL? Really? Interesting, because given the number of countries that pay attention to our league, I'd expect seeing someone different at the top for the first time in 16 years would make a much bigger impact than winning a second tier competition which does little to raise the winner above anonymity.

I know you're just the messenger, Shaken, but I find it a bit odd that the PL isn't the main challenge any more.

As i said leo, i think the owners feel the money they've allowed to be spent should not only be challenging for domestic honours but European honours. It must be a bigger deal to them.

I too would would prefer to win the PL more than anything mate.