Reaction, stats & ratings: City 3 Newcastle 1

Blimey.

We probably have to go back to the mid-1970s for the last time a City side played with such flair and composure. As the plaudits and apologies to Sven pour in (credit to The Guardian's Matthew Taylor for this one) two key questions come to mind: how good are we right now and how much better can we get?

There's a good summary of our league campaign so far by BIB at Citymancs:

West Ham - Brilliant
Derby - Sweating but got a result
Rags - Lucky, sweating but got a result
Arsenal - Deserved something
Blackburn - Deserved nothing
Villa - Deserved
Fulham - Deserved something more
Newcastle - Fully deserved.

Clearly, there's nothing false about our current position, but a read through the talkboards reveals opinion is polarising between the 'top 4 is possible' and the 'let's not get carried away' camps.

A degree of caution would seem very sensible. According to Oddchecker, Chelsea are 2/13 for a top four finish while we're 12/1. Our current squad lacks strength in depth, our form now appears heavily reliant on Elano and Petrov staying fit and the Blackburn defeat showed how easily we can be muscled out of a game.

But right now caution, common sense and the bookies can all go fuck themselves.

There's been magic in the air ever since the takeover went through. Not only is Sven moulding a team that's looking capable of lifting a trophy, but I now believe that Champions League football at Eastlands next season is a real possibility.

But more importantly, I suspect that Sven's legendary powers of persuasion are making the players believe it too.

~ Video of goals
~ Sven's post-match interview
~ Match photos from rtfract.com;
~ Latest Premiership table.


Match stats

The stats (below) are compiled from a live commentary. For more detailed stats, including a breakdown of each player’s passes and tackles click here, while you can also find match details at the BBC and Sky.





Player ratings

Ratings come from (in order): Father Dougal MaGuire, Banned Tosspot, Richard (Bluemoon), ross.mcfc, bluemoon, Slim, Wooders, Grob, King Kev, irblinx (Mancityfans), Bagpuss (Wookie's Lair), Tichard Tucker (rtfract), MEN, Sunday Times, Sunday Mirror, Sky and Sky Your Rating.

Hart: 7, 7, 7, 5, 6, 6, 7, 7, 6, 6, 6, 6.5, 6, 6, 6, 7, 5.7, 6, 5.7 (av: 6.3)
Some nervous moments but looks the part and will benefit from the experience. (MEN)
Few nervy moments but I am always confident with him in net. (Father Dougal MaGuire)
Suspect for the goal. Didn't have to come for it and when he decided he was going for it should have been more positive. Kicking poor and got very very lucky with that backpass. Didn't have much else to do. (ross.mcfc)
Not a great deal he could have done about the goal, that one dodgy moment where he almost put in his own net was a bit of a shocker, but apart from that looked solid. Confident on crosses, but kicking needs improvement. (bluemoon)
Came from crosses well, couple of dodgy moments, but overall looks assured. (Slim)
Looked better than Kasper for me, not really challenged this game, but didn't get the impression he was being looked after by Dunne and the defenders as much. (Wooders)
Looked much more comfortable between the sticks than Kasper did in any of the previous games this season and dealt with balls into the box perfectly. One slight mishap with the attempted OG, but he had it under control. No chance with the goal, top class from Martins. (Grob)
Nearly scored a comedy own goal and should have done better for their goal but handling and distribution were good. (King Kev)
Looked confident on crosses but a little slow off the line at times. Might have done a little more for their goal. (irblinx)
Not much to do in truth. Much better in the air than Schmikes. Doesn't get big (star shaped) to stop shots like Schmikes. Saves well though. Anybody good at Genetic Engineering? (Bagpuss)

Corluka (Onuoha 57): 6, 7, 6, 7, 7, 8, 8, 7, 7, 7, 7, 6.5, 6, 7, 6, 7, 6.3, 6, 6.6 (av: 6.8)
Hurt knee trying to turn in second half and until then had been usual reliable self. (MEN)
Not his best game today, hope his injury isn't bad. (Father Dougal MaGuire)
Solid. (ross.mcfc)
Had a good game, got down the wing plenty of times. Getting better by the game. (bluemoon)
Great player, troubled by Milner, but gets forward well and has deceptively good feet for a big lad. (Slim)
If there's a player we should be pushing for a Hamman replacement I would recommend this guy. He looks good going forward, is more suited to the centre. Rate him. (Wooders)
Tidy as ever and went off as a precaution I think. He didn't look in too much pain. We certainly missed him when he left the game. (Grob)
Classy player with pace and always look assured on the ball, seemed disappointed to go off despite his injury. (King Kev)
Very comfortable on the ball. (irblinx)
Class on a stick. For the first time he didn't let anyone cross from the outside! Hope he's not out too long. Not keen on the impression of being shot by a sniper from the third tier. N'Zogbia stopped running thinking the lad was hurt. It must have wazzed him off somat rotten when Corluka got up so quickly. Still he was substituted fairly sharpish so he was hurt... (Bagpuss)

Dunne: 7, 7, 7, 8, 7, 7, 7, 6.5, 8, 7, 8, 7.5, 7, 7, 7, 8, 6.7, 7, 7.1 (av: 7.2)
Even nasty clash of heads at start of second half didn't knock skipper out of powerful stride. (MEN)
Solid as usual. (Father Dougal MaGuire)
The usual quality performance from Dunney. (ross.mcfc)
Denfensively he was solid as ever, however his distribution needs improving, needs to realise we've moved on from last season and he doesn't need to hoof the ball upfield. (bluemoon)
Solid, not great again but certainly a step up from last week. (Slim)
Typical performance from Dunney. (Wooders)
Poor in the first half and was happy to see Richards take Viduka off his hands in the second half. Got better as the game went on. (Grob)
Good to have him back to form. (King Kev)
Solid. (irblinx)
Kept Viduka very quiet. Always there when required. (Bagpuss)

Richards: 7, 8, 7, 8, 7, 7, 7, 7, 8, 7, 6, 7, 7, 7, 8, 7, 7.2, 7, 7.2 (av: 7.2)
Not at best early on but magnificent in the second half when charging forward. (MEN)
Got caught napping AGAIN for their goal but put in a solid performance. (Father Dougal MaGuire)
Same as Dunney. Looked good going forward. Should have put Ireland in instead of shooting. (ross.mcfc)
Solid as ever, never really troubled. If I'm really harsh, then should have closed Martins down quicker for the goal. Great run in 2nd half, shame about the finish (bluemoon)
Dodgy early, but recovered well and great run for a pissweak shot, funniest moment of the match. (Slim)
Did a the usual good job at cb, though has his dodgy moments, and please, today's run showed why he's best off at the back, no more defensive mid talk please. (Wooders)
Fell asleep for the goal but then headed everything away that came within 5 yards of him. Unlucky not to have had a brace with 2 breakaway chances. Still feel he would be better at full back. (Grob)
Between the 2 CBs the Newcastle forwards never really stood a chance. (King Kev)
Solid. Needs to practice shooting with his left. (irblinx)
Badly out of position in the run up to the Martin's goal. Ditto on other occasions. His pace gets him out of trouble most of the time... Good going forward though. I like the surging runs he's starting to make from the back. (Bagpuss)

Garrido: 7, 7, 7, 8, 8, 8, 7, 7.5, 8, 8, 7, 7, 6, 6, 7, 7, 6.4, 7, 6.7 (av: 7.1)
Spaniard doesn't always catch the eye but handled tricky Milner reasonably well. (MEN)
Same as ever. (Father Dougal MaGuire)
Gets better every game I see him. The bargain of the season. (ross.mcfc)
Best game yet, really building up an understanding with Petrov. I like what I see. (bluemoon)
Troubled by Milner on the switch, but very good getting forward and solid at the back. (Slim)
Great game today, seems to get ignored by Petrov a bit too much when he makes the break forward, can't decide whether this is Petrov being smart, or him just being overlooked. (Wooders)
Solid as ever, good tussle with Milner and held his corner well. His distribution is brilliant. (Grob)
Best I have seen him play. Covered loads of ground and worked really hard. (King Kev)
Still not getting the credit he deserves. (irblinx)
Stylish. Backed up Petrov well. Did what was necessary. (Bagpuss)

Ireland: 7, 6, 7, 8, 8, 7, 6, 6, 8, 6, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 6.7, 6, 6.8 (av: 6.9)
A bit of a mixed bag but more good than bad especially the run and cross for equaliser. (MEN)
Superb ball for Petrov's goal and could of had another. Hit the bar twice as well, was always a threat, better from him. (Father Dougal MaGuire)
A real return to form. Was at the centre of everything. Great lay-off for Petrov's goal. Should have scored himself. (ross.mcfc)
Great performance, really got himself into the game. Link up play was excellent. (bluemoon)
Great come back from the lad, ran for everything, was at the heart of most and a perfectly weighted cross (1st goal) was the Stevie we know. (Slim)
Much better, still think we can get a better right winger in January, though looked better today but loses the ball too easily. (Wooders)
Made the first goal and his movement was very good at times. But gave the ball away a lot in the first half and still isn't playing at his great potential. (Grob)
Welcome back to form Stevie. A few stray passes but otherwise a good performance and did very well to set up Petrov's goal. (King Kev)
Brilliant run and pass for Petrov's goal but overall just didn't look to be right in the head to me, as with the Norwich game he was trying the 1st time killer pass far too often. (irblinx)
A good game. Finally showed that he could play on the right. Great run and cross for the first goal. I'm Still not 100% convinced though. (Bagpuss)

Hamann: 6, 8, 7, 7, 7, 8, 8, 7, 8, 8, 8, 7, 7, 6, 6, 7, 6.6, 7, 6.9 (av: 7.1)
The anchor that allows the others to go and torment the opposition and did his job well. (MEN)
His worst game for us but still did a job. (Father Dougal MaGuire)
A better turn around in player I can't remember. Picked up everything and unlike his opposite number Butt didn't kick everything that moved. Maybe apart from Elano our most crucial player in our squad. (ross.mcfc)
Does all the things that generally get missed, without him the rest of our midfield wouldn't have the freedom that they have. (bluemoon)
Another magnificent performance, gave little away but was pulled left and right a lot more than you'd like for his old legs. He will be irreplaceable. (Slim)
Who was that German 40 a day man last season? Definitely wasn't this guy. (Wooders)
Passing was a bit off in the first half and didn't win a couple of tackles which you would expect him to, but worked hard for the team and kept his good form going. (Grob)
Buys free-kicks all day long! Must be very frustrating to play against! He is a class act and I dread him picking up his 5th yellow as we would miss him. (King Kev)
Completely in charge of the midfield, had Newcastle in his pocket. (irblinx)
Mr dependable. Sees it - blocks it tackles it. The Terminator. Passes well too. (Bagpuss)

Johnson (Ball 86): 6, 7, 7, 7, 7, 6, 7, 7, 7, 7, 6.5, 7, 7, 6, 6, 7, 6.6, 7, 6.5 (av: 6.7)
Hard working performance and some of his close range passing was a joy to watch. (MEN)
Quiet again. (Father Dougal MaGuire)
Made all the right passes and supported Hamman brilliantly today. (ross.mcfc)
Another good game, partnership with Hamman is blossoming. (bluemoon)
Drifted out of the game for LONG periods, but was doing his part in the build up. (Slim)
One of our better players all season, but didn't do much for me this game, though he was instrumental in some of our really pretty bits of footy this afternoon. (Wooders)
Better than last week but needs to start getting his foot in more. His play is pretty but he needs to add some steal to it. (Grob)
I just wish he would get stuck in a bit more, seems hesitant at times. (King Kev)
Didn't see as much of him as usual but hardly put a foot wrong. (irblinx)
Not that good a game compared with recent performances. Still did ok though. When he goes forward on one of his runs someone has to fill in behind as we are vulnerable to the counter attack. I noticed this against Fulham last week and again today. Ireland/Elano/Petrov - get it sorted. (Bagpuss)

Elano (Geovanni 89): 10, 9, 10, 9, 10, 10, 10, 10, 9, 9.5, 9, 9, 9, 8, 9, 9, 8.6, 9, 9.1 (av: 9.3)
At the hub of everything eye catching and his free kick will live long in the memory. (MEN)
YES a 10!! Never loses the ball, sets up chance after chance and WHAT A GOAL. (Father Dougal MaGuire)
I don't think there are many better players in the Premiership. What a free-kick. (ross.mcfc)
Pure Brazilian magic for 90mins. I feel very fortunate to watch a footballing genius in the flesh! (bluemoon)
There are no words. (Slim)
Can actually say he's up there with the best in the prem, definitely top 4 quality, really starting to wonder if we can get there now thanks to this man. (Wooders)
Perfect. (Grob)
I didn't think we would ever see a player of this calibre at City again! Rounded off a brilliant hard-working performance with an amazing goal from the free-kick. (King Kev)
He went out of the game a little for a spell in the second half but otherwise fantastic and the free kick was perfection. (irblinx)
Pulled the strings like he was directing a Gerry Anderson classic. Gets better with every game. Very definitely coming to terms with the physicality of the Premiership. (Bagpuss)

Petrov: 8, 8, 9, 8, 8, 9, 9, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 9, 8, 8, 8.4, 8, 8.6 (av: 8.3)
Confidence surge from Fulham game obvious to see. Made one goal and scored another. (MEN)
A constant threat, scored one and set up one again. (Father Dougal MaGuire)
This is the Petrov is thought we had signed. What vision he has. Found an extra yard of pace as well. (ross.mcfc)
Immense performance, caused Newcastle defenders a nightmare. I think we all hope last week would be the springboard for him and it looks it has. (bluemoon)
Has exploded in the last two games, he is just SO fucking quick it's scary. (Slim)
Pissed me off so much before the last couple of games because I was expecting what I have seen in the last couple of games from him. Glad it's starting to happen. (Wooders)
Great finish, great crossing and great all round performance. (Grob)
Beats players, provides crosses, scores goals, sets up chances and yet some people don't rate him, amazing!! (King Kev)
Great performance again. (irblinx)
Damned good. Caused mayhem down the left all game. Did his fair share of defensive covering too. (Bagpuss)

Mpenza: 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 7, 7, 8, 7.2, 7, 7.5 (av: 7.8)
Likes playing against Magpies. Scored again in what was just about his best game for the Blues. (MEN)
A constant threat, scored one and set up one again. (Father Dougal MaGuire)
Best performance this season. Was in all the right places and read everything Elano was going to do. That is some feat in itself. Took his goal well. People should now get off his back. (ross.mcfc)
Outstanding performance, best I've seen him play since he joined. (bluemoon)
Does everything right as a striker. Not some things, not most things, but EVERYTHING right. Sometimes his touch let him down, but he is deserved of his place. (Slim)
Take it back Emile. Sorry lad. (Wooders)
Worked his tripe out, looked a threat, held the ball up well, laid it off nicely too, scored a good goal and maybe should have had a couple more. Best I've seen from him in a City shirt. (Grob)
Much the unsung hero. Works very hard on and off the ball and scores goals, what more could we ask? (King Kev)
Best showing for us so far (since he signed), all action. Shame he isn't the brilliant finisher we need too. (irblinx)
Could have sworn that Drogba was playing for us today. He led the line brilliantly today. Shielded the ball excellently. Always passed to a City player. Never let the Newcastle defence have an easy moment. Should have scored another though - hence only 8. (Bagpuss)

Subs:

Onuoha (Corluka 57): 6, 6, - , 6, -, 6, 6, 6, 5, 6, 7, 7, 6, 6, 6, -, 6.2, 6, 6.3 (av: 6.1)
Not much to do as Blues dominated. (MEN)
Got lucky a few times. Why does he always let the ball bounce?? Martins caused him a lot of bother. (ross.mcfc)
Came back into a tough game, N'Zogbia and Martins are tough bastids to mark out, but he was solid for the most, and lucky when he wasn't. (Slim)
Came on and looked top, just like at West Ham. Seems to suit the sub role maybe? (Wooders)
Got himself into trouble and then out of trouble a fair few times. Needs to cut that part of his game out. Passing wasn't good. (Grob)
Disappointed in him a bit today. This was his chance to stake a claim to the RB position yet he seemed far too casual and my heart was in my mouth several times when he should have dealt with the situation easily. (King Kev)
Can't decide whether he was just incredibly composed or the luckiest guy on the pitch today, kept giving me a heart attack with Martins on his tail. (irblinx)
Mighty fine. This boy is class and a better natural defender than Richards. (Bagpuss)

Ball (Johnson 86).

Geovanni(Elano 89).

Subs not used:
Schmeichel, Ball, Onuoha, Geovanni, Samaras

Match reports


Elano's dazzle takes City to dizzying new heights (Paul Wilson)
Paul Merson was suggesting on Sky during the Carling Cup snorefest against Norwich on Tuesday that he wouldn't have a City season ticket as a gift. He would have changed his mind pronto had he watched this. Anyone would. Apart from three goals of the highest quality, four if you count the class finish by Obafemi Martins that gave Newcastle an early lead, there was incident and entertainment here from start to finish with even the beaten visitors playing their part. It was just a pity the ground was not quite full for what was this stadium's finest hour.


City hit dizzy heights but Owen ready to lift club and country (Jon Culley)
This was not a flawless performance from his team. A defence that had conceded three goals at Fulham looked wobbly enough often enough for the Eastlands crowd to remain slightly uneasy until Elano's brilliant free-kick three minutes from time put the issue beyond doubt. Going forward City were breath-takingly good, Elano and Martin Petrov the leading players in a work of artistry and innovation that had an audience who were bored rigid last season jumping to their feet in anticipation of the next moment of magic. In many ways, it was football in the classic City tradition.


Elano leads Sven-Goran Eriksson's entertainers (Clive White)
The much-maligned Swede, however, may be the man to lead City to glory. He has already led them out of the darkness, settling back into club management more easily than anyone could have imagined. The team he hurriedly put together during pre-season are not only getting better results than any City fan would have dared think possible, they are also playing the type of football that until now they could only watch on video.


Man City 3 Newcastle 1
The Brazilian midfielder had already established himself as a clear man-of-the-match with an inspired display of cultured passing in a pulsating contest when he strode up to rocket home the 86th-minute free-kick which guaranteed Sven-Goran Eriksson's men their victory.
Eriksson has steadfastly refused to set any targets for his team despite their amazing start to the campaign.
But on this evidence they look viable top six contenders.


Elano Ralph Blumer makes City slicker (Jonathan Northcroft)
It was hard to know what made the supporters of Manchester City the most mirthful and merry.
There was revelling in the discomfort of Nicky Butt and Alan Smith as they circled in chase of the ball with the futility and building rage of a cat trying to grab a wasp. There was looking to glum Joey Barton sitting in the stand and singing: “Joey, what’s the score?” There was the Premier League table at quarter to three which showed their team joint top with Arsenal. And there was magic to behold, the sashaying sorcery of an entertainer named Elano Ralph Blumer.


Man City 3 Newcastle 1 (Simon Mullock)
Perhaps Joey Barton was right to quit Manchester City - because on this evidence he wouldn't get anywhere near the team being built by Sven Goran Eriksson.

Revealed: Sven's best transfer deals ever

I've just finished a chapter on Sven for the upcoming Purelymancity book but thought I'd put some of the research online first. So far I've found details of 109 transfer deals from Sven's career - 69 players he’s signed and 40 he’s sold.

Here are the three that stand out:

Juan-Sebastian Veron

I've never come across a manager making a multi-million pound profit on the same player twice, but then our Sven is full of surprises.

As Sampdoria manager, Sven signed the 21-year-old Veron from Boca Juniors for £4.5m in August 1996. According to Joe Lovejoy's biography, Sven bought the player after watching a video of him, fearing that another club would beat him to the signing. It was the first time he'd signed a player without seeing him first, but the gamble paid off with Veron quickly establishing himself as an important play-maker.

Financial problems at Sampdoria resulted in Veron being sold to Parma for £13m in 1998, but a year later the two were reunited at Lazio with Sven paying £18.1m for the midfielder. According to Lovejoy, Sven had told the Lazio owner: "Buy me Veron and I will deliver the scudetto." Sven duly delivered, with Veron becoming the key player in Lazio's title-winning season in 1999-2000. After Sven's departure, Veron was sold to United for £28.1m in July 2001, meaning Sven had made his clubs a combined profit of £18.5m on the player.

And that was the last time the words 'Veron' and 'profit' were ever used in the same sentence. In August 2003 United sold Veron to Chelsea for £15m, and less than two years later he was offloaded to Inter on a free transfer.

Christian Vieri

One of the most profitable deals in football's history. Sven brought Vieri to Lazio for £19m in the summer of 1998. After scoring 12 goals in 22 games Vieri was sold to Inter for £31m after just one year at the club.

Ruud Gullit

This is a cheeky one.

As manager of Sampdoria Sven paid Milan £500,000 for Gullit in July 1993, then sold him back to them for £1.3m the following summer. Nine games into the season he brought him back to Sampdoria in exchange for Alessandro Melli.



Below are the details of Sven's transfer deals. If anyone has any names to add please drop me a line at purelymancity@hotmail.co.uk:



Benfica



Sampdoria players in



Sampdoria players out



Lazio players in



Lazio players out

Reaction, stats & ratings: City 1 Norwich 0

I love these types of games, but only if I don't have to watch them.

Yesterday's line-up didn't exactly back up Sven's comments after the Bristol City game that he was "taking this competition very seriously", but we got away with it.

And for the second time this week there was yet another reminder that this is not the 'same old City'. Saturday's game brought to mind my most depressing moment as a City fan, standing in a sea of bitterness at Craven Cottage at the start of the 98-99 season and watching Kevin Keegan's Fulham trounce us 3-0. Norwich, who yesterday announced they were facing a £7m black hole this year thanks to their parachute payments ending, provided a glimpse of another nightmarish vision - one we were sliding towards before this summer's takeover.

But we're in the last 16 and the draw is on Saturday. Just two more wins and we'll be in our first semi-final since 1981.

~ This week's Mystic Meg award goes to billy123 at Citymancs, who correctly predicted both the result and scorer.

~ Cardiff's 4-2 win at West Brom has to be something of a first, with three goals from ex-city players (two from Fowler, one from Sinclair) plus two goals from on-loan Ishmael Miller.


Match stats

The stats (below) are compiled from a live commentary and can differ from the stats at the BBC and Sky.





Match reports


Georgios Samaras pounces to do himself justice in the eyes of Eriksson (Oliver Kay)
It was harsh on Norwich City, who had been the equal of their Barclays Premier League opponents to that point, but, if anyone was entitled to a bit of luck on an otherwise forgettable evening at the City of Manchester Stadium, it was Samaras. The Greece forward became a byword for extravagance and impotent forward play under Stuart Pearce last season, but, as he kept his nerve to shoot past the advancing goalkeeper with only 53 seconds of normal time remaining, it was tempting, not for the first time, to remark on the feel-good factor that has swept the club since Eriksson’s arrival in July.


City 1 Norwich 0
The battle will not be an easy one to win but Samaras started in the best manner possible, finishing off Kelvin Etuhu’s superb through ball to ensure the Premier League high-flyers overcame a determined Norwich side who scrapped throughout but never really looked like causing a shock.
Not that City were that good. With only three chances of any note, the hosts seemed set to be taken into extra-time until Samaras found his range, charging clear of the Canaries defence to set the Blues fans chirping.


Samaras in late arrival to clip wings of Canaries (Dan Murphy)
"I'm very happy for him," Eriksson said. "He told me in August that he planned to stay and fight for his place and that's what he's done.
"I cannot say that we played excellent football because I would be a liar, but in a match like this we have to look at some other players beyond the 12 or 13 who play every week."


Samaras sinks Norwich on a rare night of triumph (Andy Hunter)
The restorative powers of Sven-Goran Eriksson know no bounds at Manchester City. Elevated beyond expectation in the Premier League, the former England manager even coaxed a defining goal from Georgios Samaras last night as the much-maligned striker subjected Norwich City to a late and cruel defeat.


Samaras keeps cool to rescue Eriksson (Mark Ogden)
Samaras, the Greek forward burdened by the hugely unrealistic £6million fee that former manager Stuart Pearce paid to acquire his services from Heerenveen in January 2006, beat Norwich goalkeeper David Marshall from close range after being freed by substitute Kelvin Etuhu in the 90th minute. Moments earlier, one fan had moaned "Get him off" after a typical piece of Samaras clumsiness, but he displayed nerves of steel to convert his late chance.

~ You can read a view of the game from a Norwich perspective at The Pink'un.


Player ratings

Ratings come from (in order): Father Dougal MaGuire, moomba (Bluemoon), MEN and Man City Mad.

Hart: 8, 6, 7, 7 (av: 7.0)
One fine save from a first half free kick but otherwise didn’t have to work too hard. (MEN)
Miles comfortable with him in net, although he didn't have much to do he did everything great! (Father Dougal MaGuire)
Good save from the free, but not much else to do. (moomba)

Logan: 6, 7, 6, 6 (av: 6.3)
Got forward well from his right back slot but needs a bit more composure on crosses. (MEN)
Thought him and Sun should of swaped, a few good runs in the first half but quiet in the second. (Father Dougal MaGuire)
Good game, I would have swapped him and Sun around too. (moomba)

Dunne: 6, 7, 6, 8 (av: 6.8)
Asked boss to play and was usual reliable self which is more than could be said for some. (MEN)
Nothing great, nothing bad. (Father Dougal MaGuire)
Solid. (moomba)

Onuoha: 6, 6, 6, 7 (av: 6.3)
Hardly troubled alongside the skipper and always posed a threat at set pieces. (MEN)
Nothing great, nothing bad. (Father Dougal MaGuire)
Solid, apart from the letting the ball bounce criticism. (moomba)

Ball: 6, 6, 6, 6 (av: 6.0)
Like Logan on the other side of the field managed to get forward but wasted some crosses. (MEN)
Nothing great, nothing bad. (Father Dougal MaGuire)
OK. (moomba)

Jihai: 6, 6, 5, 5 (av: 5.5)
The midfield battle was too equal for the home side’s liking and he struggled to dominate. (MEN)
Nothing great, nothing bad. (Father Dougal MaGuire)
OK on the right wing, but hate to see him try and run things in the centre. (moomba)

Fernandes (Etuhu 68): 7, 6, 5, 5 (av: 5.8)
Unable to provide the platform for the front two to open up the plucky visitors. (MEN)
My MOTM, looks good for the future. (Father Dougal MaGuire)
Bit of a disappointment, got around a bit but wasn't that effective. (moomba)

Ireland: 6, 5, 5, 6 (av: 5.5)
Gave the ball away too often for his own good even if he did then win it back. (MEN)
Got about, put some challenges in and a few good passes. (Father Dougal MaGuire)
Poor, great opportunty to shine but didn't take it. (moomba)

Geovanni (Evans 79): 6, 7, 8, 7 (av: 7.0)
The one shining light who brought game to life with the ball at his educated feet. (MEN)
The outstanding performer in the first half... his guile looked the home team’s best hope of a breakthrough. (Times)
Can see why he doesn't start, corner kicks were worse than Barton, few decent runs but never hurt Norwich. (Father Dougal MaGuire)
Great first half, faded in second. Touch, and vision were quality. (moomba)

Bianchi: 5, 5, 5, 5 (av: 5.0)
If he wants to usurp Mpenza from the first choice side then he will have to do better than this. (MEN)
Poor. (Father Dougal MaGuire)
Worst performance I've seen for him, can't wait until he gets himself right though. (moomba)

Samaras: 7, 7, 7, 6 (av: 6.8)
Tried both wings with limited success. One good shot, one good cross and one superb goal. (MEN)
He is unlikely to have addressed too many of the Swede’s misgivings last night, when he was notable for persistence - not a bad quality, but not his obvious forte – rather than the poise expected of a £6 million forward. (Times)
Worked hard, feel sorry for the lad because everytime he does osmething wrong he gets abused, glad he took his goal well. (Father Dougal MaGuire)
Tried hard, and while some thing didn't work out I thought h was one of our best. (moomba)


Subs:

Etuhu (Gelson Fernandes 68): 6 - , 7, - (av: 6.5)
Looked lively and great pass for goal. (MEN)

Evans (Geovanni 79): 6, - , 5, - (av: 5.5)
Was busy enough on debut. (MEN)


Subs not used:

Isaksson, Dabo, Williamson.

Reaction, stats & ratings: Fulham 3 City 3

I can't tell you how much of a treat this season feels. It seems that every game now produces a fresh reminder of how different this club is from previous years.

In the last two seasons we've only won five points from games where we've been behind, in the 1-1 draw at Everton in Sept 2006, the 1-1 draw at United in September 2005 and the 2-1 win at Birmingham in August 2005.

Petrov's performance was another reminder of how things have changed. True, the jury is still out on him (BBC Radio Manchester's Fred Eyre claimed Petrov usually takes six months to settle into a club) but after having to endure the wing play of Miller and Samaras last season just knowing we have a player on the left wing capable of beating men and scoring is a real delight.

There have been many comments about how unreal things have felt since the takeover. But after the recent events at Chelsea I wonder is things are about to get even more surreal?

There was a fascinating story in The Observer on Sunday that details the problems there. It claims that Abramovich is now in charge of team matters and tactics and even gave a lengthy lecture on tactics to Essien after last week's draw against Rosenborg. If true, it sets up the real prospect of Chelsea imploding and leaving a Champions League spot up for grabs.

In that scenario, the question would be whether City could finish ahead of the likes of Newcastle, Everton, Blackburn and Villa (and possibly Spurs, Pompey and West Ham). Richard Dunne certainly believes we can and I'm not going to argue with our skipper.

Champions League football at Eastlands next season? The claim should seem outlandish. But it doesn't. And after witnessing the former prime minister of Thailand don a City scarf and sing Blue Moon I can't help feeling that anything is now possible.

~ The Observer story also reveals that Chelsea were set to sign Micah for £5m in the summer of 2006, but Abramovich pulled the plug.

~ Post-match interviews with Sven, Dunne and Petrov
~ Latest Premiership table.

Match stats


For more detailed stats, including a breakdown of each player's passes and tackles click here, while you can also find match details at the BBC and Sky.





Player ratings


Ratings come from (in order): Fidel Castro, bluemoon, DPBBlue, Chopper, irblinx, mr_nool, WangYu, Jonny Foreigner, peg-6, Grob, Arjan Van Schotte (Mancityfans), Father Dougal MaGuire (Bluemoon), Man City Mad, MEN, Sunday Times, BBC, Sky and Sky Your Rating.

Comment of the day goes to Arjan Van Schotte, who believes that Ireland's performance showed he was clearly still in mourning.

Schmeichel: 6, 5, 5, 5, 5, 6, 5, 4, 5, 5, 5, 4, 5, 6, 6, 5.3, 5, 4.6 (av: 5.1)
Might have built a bigger and better wall for Fulham's second but no howlers. (MEN)
Was shite with high balls/crosses again, but still not a bad game. Want Issy back, though. (Fidel Castro)
Poor on crosses yet again, should have done better on the freekick. Very nervy display. Hope Issakson is back next week. (bluemoon)
A heart attack (DPBBlue)
At fault for first two goals, time for a rest. If Issy is injured again then get Hart in. (irblinx)
Weak on crosses. Didn't do any spectacular saves today to get his score up. Wasn't responsible for any of Fulham's goals though. (mr_nool)
Please, please can we get Hart in now? (Jonny Foreigner)
Gave me heart attacks whenever he was in action. (peg-6)
Time for Issy. Every time the ball goes near Kasper I think it's going in the net. (Grob)
His kicking was excellent, it was his goalkeeping that let him down. (Arjan Van Schotte)
Poor, time to go on loan somewhere. (Father Dougal MaGuire)

Corluka: 7, 8, 7, 7, 7, 7, 6, 7, 7, 6, 7, 6, 7, 5, 6, 6.1, 6, 5.3 (av: 6.5)
Found Bouazza as big a handful as he as faced all season and not at best for third goal either. (MEN)
Solid defending and helped the attack a few times too. (Fidel Castro)
Best defender on pitch by a mile. Looks a class act. (bluemoon)
Cool as ever and good going forward. (DPBBlue)
Looked composed on the ball, another one that didn't do enough for their first goal though. (irblinx)
Good defending. Participated well in the offensive game. A bit passive by the 1-0 goal. (mr_nool)
Impresses every game. (Jonny Foreigner)
Solid. Sven should have moved him in the middle. (peg-6)
Cool calm and collected but made a pigs ear of it in the build up to the 3rd and had a couple of embarrassing moments with the ball at his feet. (Grob)
Solid performance against a poor "winger". (Arjan Van Schotte)
Solid, kept Bouzza at bay most of the time. (Father Dougal MaGuire)

Dunne: 6, 6, 5, 6, 5, 5, 6, 6, 5, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6.3, 6, 4.8 (av: 5.7)
Not at his sharpest for opener and like the rest of the Blues defence lived dangerously at times. (MEN)
Good defending, but his hoof-tactics are starting to get irritating now. (Fidel Castro)
Looked dodgy today, not his usual self. Sure normal service will resume next week. (bluemoon)
Very shaky. (DPBBlue)
Shocking, worst performance in years. Everyone deserves the odd off day but this was dire, at fault for goals 1 & 3 and shouldn't be giving away free kicks on the edge of the area. (irblinx)
Dunne
Wooden leg today. poor distribution. Sometimes quite dodgy defending. (mr_nool)
Not at his best. (Jonny Foreigner)
Should have got substituted. (peg-6)
His range of passing was atrocious. The amount of hopeless balls forward he attempted was ludicrous. Made a bit of a cock up for the 3rd and didn't cover himself with glory in the build up for the 1st. (Grob)
Had one of his off days. Should have stopped the third, even if the dude was offside. (Arjan Van Schotte)
First game back and looked ropey, had a handful with Healy in the first half. (Father Dougal MaGuire)

Richards: 5, 6, 5, 6, 6, 6, 6, 5, 5, 6, 6, 6, 7, 6, 6, 6.2, 5, 4.8 (av: 5.7)
Allowed Fulham players to wind him up and it affected him in last quarter of an hour. (MEN)
Awful start, then started settling down and playing brilliant again, but after his crazy minute with Dempsey lost the plot again and was scratching his bum for their third goal. (Fidel Castro)
Certainly not one of his best performances, but still did his job reasonably well. (bluemoon)
Another poor display but won everything in the air. Sleeping for goal 3. (irblinx)
Richards
Exposed badly today, his speed got him out of trouble previous games but cannot rely on that. Time to switch him back to right back. (mr_nool)
Massive but naive. Made quite a few errors (1-0, 3-3). (Jonny Foreigner)
Maybe he had to cover Dunne too many times. (peg-6)
Too often caught out of position. Would be much more effective at right back. Still a talent rather than a consistent performer. (Grob)
Was due a bad game and duly delivered. (Arjan Van Schotte)
Poor game from Micah, could of cost us with a stupid sending off. (Father Dougal MaGuire)

Garrido: 8, 7, 6, 8, 8, 7, 8, 7, 7, 8, 7, 7, 6, 6, 6, 5.9, 6, 5.2 (av: 6.8)
Most of the trouble came down opposite flank but might have done bit more going forward. (MEN)
Helped Petrov a lot and defended well too. (Fidel Castro)
Another decent performance, getting better by the game. (bluemoon)
Did OK and got forward well, but got beaten on a couple of occasions. (DPBBlue)
Best defender on the park and did well going forward. (irblinx)
One of the new players I'm most impressed with. Always does his job + likes to go forward. (mr_nool)
Some good cover for Micah and good going forward. (Jonny Foreigner)
Just need a bit better cross. (peg-6)
Never put a foot wrong. (Grob)
Good at the back and links up well with Petrov. (Arjan Van Schotte)
Continues to impress every game. (Father Dougal MaGuire)

Ireland (Jihai 83): 5, 5, 5, 4, 3, 5, 5, 6, 6, 5, 5, 6, 6, 7, 6, 5.8, 5, 4.5 (av: 5.2)
Some neat touches but they were few and far between. (MEN)
The invisible gran....eeeh man. (Fidel Castro)
A right-winger this lad isn't. Totally ineffective and when he did get the ball, he wasted. (bluemoon)
A few decent touches but his defensive work was very iffy. (DPBBlue)
Worse than a being a man down for most of the game, and he really needs to sort his hair out! (irblinx)
Was he even on the pitch? (mr_nool)
One or 2 neat balls that threatened the Fulham defence and a few timely challenges. his defensive contribution is undervalued by many. (Jonny Foreigner)
Not bad. Nothing special. (peg-6)
Looked waaaaaaay off the pace and should have gone off at half time. (Grob)
Clearly still in mourning. (Arjan Van Schotte)
Quiet. (Father Dougal MaGuire)

Hamann: 9, 9, 8, 8, 9, 8, 8, 7, 8, 8, 8, 9, 7, 7, 7, 6.6, 7, 6.2 (av: 7.8 MOTM)
Still oozes class on the ball and got in some meaty tackles that helped stem the flow. (MEN)
Nice and simple, but oh so effective. (Fidel Castro)
Wow, is this really the same player! Worked his arse off and MOTM for me. (bluemoon)
Rarely put a put wrong. (DPBBlue)
Godlike at times, think Sven was right he is getting younger with every game. (irblinx)
Was immense today. Didn't lose possession as easily as he did against Villa. (mr_nool)
Solid. (Jonny Foreigner)
Cool. Link well from the back to the center. (peg-6)
Bossed the midfield for long periods. (Grob)
I think he might be taking drugs. (Arjan Van Schotte)
MAGNIFICENT, shame he is 34 as he is quality. (Father Dougal MaGuire)

Johnson: 7, 6, 6, 7, 7, 6, 7, 7, 6, 5, 6, 6, 6, 7, 7, 6.3, 6, 4.9 (av: 6.3)
It was a great battle in midfield where he played a full part in making it an entertaining contest. (MEN)
His usual busy self. (Fidel Castro)
Not great, not shite. (bluemoon)
Didn't do much for most of the first half (like the rest of them) but improved. (DPBBlue)
Didn't excel but put a lot of work in. (irblinx)
Good game, but nothing extraordinary. (mr_nool)
Quiet game but whenever he gets the ball things seem to happen. Great passing again. (Jonny Foreigner)
Did nothing of note except lose the ball in the build up to the first goal. Poor. (Grob)
Very quiet game, did little of note. (Arjan Van Schotte)
Quiet. (Father Dougal MaGuire)

Petrov: 5, 7, 7, 7, 8, 7, 8, 7, 7, 7, 6, 7, 8, 7, 7, 8.1, 8, 7.6 (av: 7.2)
Terrible start to the game, but he got 2 goals so that's why I'm giving him a 5. (Fidel Castro)
Kind of lucky with both goals, but who gives a fuck. Wish he'd pass a little earlier though! (bluemoon)
Deserves a seven if only for the two goals but still gave the ball away cheaply. (DPBBlue)
Best game so far, lucky on the finish for the first goal but the run was great, goal 2 was a great finish and he was unlucky not to have scored the third. Some good link ups with Garrido again. (irblinx)
Two goals says it all. First half hour was dire, though. (mr_nool)
Looked poor until the first goal but once he got his confidence back he looked a different player. (Jonny Foreigner)
If he didn't have 2 goals, he would have got a 5. (peg-6)
Was dire for long periods, then burst into life with 2 great goals. Classic winger! (Grob)
Gives the ball away too often, wanders infield at inappropriate times and chips in with two goals. Still not impressed so far. (Arjan Van Schotte)
Only a 7 because of the two goals but I was ready to come on here at half time and call him his substitution until he scored. Hopefully them goals will kick start him and give him confidence now. (Father Dougal MaGuire)

Elano (Geovanni 80): 8, 8, 9, 8.5, 8, 8, 7, 8, 8, 7, 7, 9, 7, 7, 7, 7.4, 6, 6.1 (av: 7.6)
Anonymous in the first half but once he'd been riled by tackles was unstoppable for twenty minutes. (MEN)
What a fantastic player he is, quiet first half but was brilliant second half. (Fidel Castro)
A true class act. I'd love to see him linking up with Geo and Bianchi. (bluemoon)
Pure class, incredible vision and already becoming a hero. (DPBBlue)
His touch is peerless, another assist for our new hero. (irblinx)
Even closer than Dietmar to a nine. Most of our offensive game goes through him. I dread the day he gets injured. (mr_nool)
Man of the match for me. Great vision and superb delivery. (Jonny Foreigner)
MOM. Best assist in Prem. Period. (peg-6)
Always probing but didnt produce as much as a can. (Grob)
The lack of options upfront hampered him today. (Arjan Van Schotte)
What a player, another assist, still bemused why Sven takes him off with 10 to go nearly every game. (Father Dougal MaGuire)

Mpenza (Bianchi 80) 7, 7, 7, 7, 6, 6, 7, 7, 7, 7, 6, 7, 7, 7, 6, 6.6, 6, 5.6 (av: 6.6)
Tireless, unselfish running got its reward with a close range header opening his league account for season. (MEN)
Cool finish and lots and lots of hard work. (Fidel Castro)
Doesn't cut it for me on his own upfront, but fair play to him he works hard and got the equaliser and was at the right place at the right time. (bluemoon)
Fine goal and performance and but he'd be better alongside Bianchi, he ends up pushed wide when we want to him in the middle, though that could be down to the lack of an out-and-out right winger too. (DPBBlue)
You just can't play a lone striker with someone who never holds the ball up, without the poached goal it'd be a five from me. (irblinx)
Fought hard, but needs to stay central. Should also learn that he's no dribbler. (mr_nool)
Runs his arse off but lacks Bianchi's quality. Why he is first choice remains a mystery. (Jonny Foreigner)
Tireless. Quick reaction for the third goal. (peg-6)
Worked his tripe out and was rewarded with a goal. Service to him was shocking. (Grob)
The role of hard-working sub was made for him. Not so sure about the "lone striker". (Arjan Van Schotte)
Took his goal well and held it up well, still would prefer Bianchi. (Father Dougal MaGuire)

Subs:

Geovanni (Elano 80).
Slotted into the Elano role. (MEN)
Shame he didn't play for longer, cos he was great for those few minutes he was on the pitch. (Fidel Castro)
Gave us another attacking option and should have come on about half and hour earlier. Wasted on the bench. (Grob)
Made an impact but had too little time. (Arjan Van Schotte)
Think he is a great sub to bring on last 15-20 mins, not so sure about him starting. (Father Dougal MaGuire)

Bianchi(Mpenza 80).
Carried on where Mpenza left off. (MEN)
Few nice flicks. (Fidel Castro)
Another who is wasted on the bench. Why he doesnt play is beyond me. (Grob)
Must start next game. (Arjan Van Schotte)
Neat touches, bemused why he doesn't start as he is a goalscorer unlike Mpenza. (Father Dougal MaGuire)

Jihai (Ireland 83).
Helped quieten down home side. (MEN)
Tightened up the right hand side after Ireland decided to stop playing. (Grob)
Love the guy. City Legend. (Arjan Van Schotte)

Subs not used:
Hart, Ball

Purelymancity online store open

The Purelymancity store is now open for business. There are 30 items currently for sale and looking at the purchases so far the blue moon design (below) is proving the big seller:



The store is part of a US site called CafePress.com so prices are all listed in dollars, but just divide by two to get the UK price (at today's exchange rates $2.00 is worth exactly £1.00. Postage & Packing to the UK costs (£3.50) for the first item and (£2) for any additional item and takes 8-10 business days.

Click here to visit the Purelymancity store



Match reports



Murphy the great leveller for Fulham in exciting joy of six (Conrad Leach)
By the time this thriller by the river had finished, the sun had dropped below the tree line but there was still a warm glow from seeing six goals. Manchester City equalised twice and then took the lead before the hosts finally ended up level thanks to Danny Murphy. If only it had been like this the last time these two managers met.


Petrov spares Sven from more misery against Sanchez (Arindam Rej)
'If you are watching the game, it's entertaining,' said Eriksson. 'But if you're in my clothes, then you are not happy with some of the decisions we took when defending.'
City certainly contributed to their own problems. One goal came from their inability to deal with a basic route one move. Another came from careless defending of a free-kick. It made for an all-action contest that included a scuffle between Micah Richards and Clint Dempsey that could have seen worse punishment than a booking apiece.


Sven-G�ran Eriksson foiled by Fulham (John Aizlewood)
The last time these two managers faced each other across the dugouts, David Healy’s goal marked the zenith of Lawrie Sanchez’s Northern Ireland tenure and the nadir of Sven-Göran Eriksson’s England reign. Yesterday evening’s clash may have had a slightly less momentous hue, but events in Belfast two years ago this month can hardly have been more thrilling than these 90 minutes as, for the second consecutive league game, the Craven Cottage faithful saw six goals, equally shared.


Fulham 3 City 3
Manchester City had to settle for a point against Fulham after a thriller at Craven Cottage.
Three weeks ago Fulham came back from 3-1 down to draw with Tottenham - from whom they had just bought Murphy, and they managed to rescue another point against City.


Manchester City pegged back by Danny Murphy (Bruce Maxwell)
Manchester City returned to second place in the Premier League in the late match but had to settle for a point after a thrilling encounter at Craven Cottage.


Petrov and Elano make case for Eriksson the entertainer as City revel in new flair (Mike Adamson)
"We more or less always play attractive football," a glowing Eriksson said. "That I want to see and I'm sure our fans do. I absolutely love working with these players. They are young, still hungry and they want to learn. I guess when the season is finished you will see the four big teams in the top four places, but I hope I am wrong."

How we compare to last season (or rather, how we don't)

I thought it would be interesting to make some like-for-like comparisons with last season to get an idea of how much progress we've made so far.

After the first six games of last season we had six points and a goal difference of -3. But comparing the results to the corresponding fixtures reveals that we're already eight points better off with a goal difference up by +9.

Here's how the results so far compare to same fixtures from last season (the result against Derby has been compared to the Watford fixture, though Sheffield United would also have been a good comparison as they got the same result as Watford at Eastlands last season):

Villa home: W 1-0 (last season L 2-0)
Blackburn away: L 1-0 (L 4-2)
Arsenal away: L 1-0 (L 3-1)
United home: W 1-0 (L 1-0)
Derby home: W 1-0 (D 0-0)
W Ham away: W 2-0 (W 1-0).

Totals:
This season: 12pts / F5 / A2 / +3GD
Last season: 4pts / F4 / A10 / -6GD


A look at the player ratings so far gives another good indication of the progress that's been made. Below are the average ratings taken from scores given on talkboards and in the media:



And here are the ratings from the first six games of last season:



The most striking difference has to be the performances of Hamann, whose average rating for the whole of last season was just 5.6 - making him the third worst ranked player last year (last season's squad ratings here).

Maybe he's the best indicator so far of the Sven-effect.

~ If you haven't already visited, the Daily Telegraph has the most comprehensive match and player stats available online. For detailed player stats click here and for a graphic for each game that breaks down passes and tackles and shows who passed to whom, click on the following links and trawl to the bottom of the page there: v Villa; v Blackburn; v Arsenal; v United; v Derby.

~ City players are still showing up well in the Actim Index, though some of the ratings are pretty curious. Not only is Garrido currently ranked the 25th with Richards only 37th, but I refused point blank to believe that Antoine Sibierski is currently the 6th best player in the Premiership.


Who's the Daddy?

What a week it's been for our new midfield bad-boy.

First he kills off two grandmothers to get off work, then he slags off his job and bares his a arse on a social networking site. And the result is a new five-year contract and a bumper pay-rise.

Stephen Ireland is my new hero.




Purelymancity online store opens

The Purelymancity store is now open for business.

Below are some of the items available:















The store is part of a US site call CafePress.com so prices are all listed in dollars, but just divide by two to get the UK price (at today's exchange rates $2.00 is worth exactly £1.00. Postage & Packing to the UK costs (£3.50) for the first item and (£2) for any additional item and takes 8-10 business days.

Click here to visit the Purelymancity store

Will we miss Backe's influence?

With the news that Hans Backe has taken compassionate leave the question now is whether his absence will prove a setback for the side.

The 55-year-old is probably the most experienced assistant manager in the Premiership. In his 23-year career he's managed ten teams from five countries (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Austria and Greece). In Denmark he led FC Copenhagen to the three titles and also won the league with Aalborg BK. In fact, the only time he has really failed was at Panathinaikos in 2006, where he was sacked after just four games in charge (there's a thread about his time there at the greeksoccer.com talkboard).

With a CV like that it seems unlikely he would take the City job unless he was given a significant role, and the body language when Backe and Sven are deep in conversation during games does suggest he has a lot of tactical input. I'm also curious about this photo from the Bristol City game, which was posted by neil jung at Bluemoon:







Aside from being struck at how remarkably dapper they all look (has any bench been this well-dressed in the history of football?) I can't recall ever seeing a laptop being used during a match before. I'm not sure who the guy operating it is, but it might be Simon Wilson, a video analyst who joined from Southampton last year.

According to the Daily Mail's Charles Sale, Sven 'wasn’t much interested in sports science techniques' during his time with England, in contrast to Steve McClaren who has been using the ProZone software at every match since he took over.

Whether the laptop was Backe's brainchild is unclear, but his immediate impact at the club was noted by Steve Tongue in The Independent, who made this observation after the pre-season friendly at Doncaster:

Ever the players' man, Sven Goran Eriksson wandered among his Manchester City squad after the final whistle at the Keepmoat Stadium on Saturday, shaking hands with every one of them. More significantly, his compatriot and assistant manager, Hans Backe, was already making tactical points to several individuals.

But for the time-being it will be reserve team manager Kenny Jackett that Sven will be turning to for advice during games. Jackett may not have anything like Backe's experience but his record shows he's no Steve Wigley either, winning promotion with Swansea in his first season in charge and reaching the play-off finals the following year.

I just hope he remembers his tie.



~ The Irish Independent had a fascinating interview with Richard Dunne recently, in which he describes Backe, Sven and Tord Grip as "absolute gentlemen", while the MEN ran this profile of him which claims that Backe loves modern British music. According to this reader comment, Backe insisted on played The Smiths at the start of his TV show in Sweden and was a big fan of Oasis.

~ A couple of bits of (vaguely) Backe-City triva for you. In 1982 Backe became manager of Swedish side Djurgårdens, who were managed by Alan Ball's dad three years earlier. And during his brief stint at Panathinaikos the club announced plans to build a new stadium that will look pretty much identical to CoMS (pictures here)

~ Last March I wrote this piece that compared City tactical software to the ones used by rival clubs.



Purelymancity online store opens

The Purelymancity store is now open for business.

Below are some of the items available:















The store is part of a US site call CafePress.com so prices are all listed in dollars, but just divide by two to get the UK price (at today's exchange rates $2.00 is worth exactly £1.00. Postage & Packing to the UK costs (£3.50) for the first item and (£2) for any additional item and takes 8-10 business days.

Click here to visit the Purelymancity store

Reaction, stats & ratings: City 1 Villa 0

Another day, another City teenager for the press to rave about.

Although Johnson has a long way to go before he merits a comparison with Colin Bell, he certainly shares Bell's self-assurance.

"He played something like nine games at the end of last season. When I met him, he said to me: 'I came along and saved City [from relegation]!' He's certainly got confidence," Eriksson told reporters after the game.

I've been reading the book Sven co-authored with psychologist Willi Railo, Sven-Goran Eriksson on Football, where they divide players into four personality types, with 'Type A' (the 'cultural architects') being the most desirable. The way we comfortably protected our 1-0 lead yesterday makes me wonder how many 'Type As' Sven has inherited.

Other pluses from the game had to be performances of Corluka and Petrov. Still not sure whether Garrido is up to it defensively but I do wonder whether he'd make an ideal left-midfielder for the more tricky away games.

So, second in the table and our next four league games are Fulham (A), Newcastle (H), Boro (H) and Birmingham (H). A top-four position after ten games is now looking a distinct possibility.

~ Video of Johnson's goal
~ Premiership table
~ Sven's post-match interview
~ Getty Images


Match stats

Okay, I know the stats show that no crosses were made during the game, but I can only go on what the live commentary tells me.

For more detailed stats, including a breakdown of each player's passes and tackles, Click here, while you can also find match details at the BBC and Sky.





Player ratings

Rating come from (in order): King Kev, glyntowen, Wonderwall, Grob (Mancityfans), FleetwoodBlue (Wookie's Lair), The Times, MEN, BBC, Sky, Sky Your Rating

Schmeichel: 7, 5, 5, 6, 5, 6, 6, 6.3, 5, 5.8 (av: 5.7)
Physically big Villa side fired plenty of crosses to try and undermine confidence and failed. (MEN)
Another clean sheet for the young Dane, he still needs to iron out a few things in his game but you can't argue with the stats! (King Kev)
Oh dear, just proves you cant just go with stats..... (glyntowen)
If he follows that display with the same again, then I would seriously think about resting him. His worst game for us yet. Got to give him the benefit of the doubt. (Wonderwall)
Not convincing and poor decision making but he keeps getting away with it so he must be doing something right. Glimpses of top class potential within but its surely only a matter of time before Issy gets his shirt back. (Grob)
He's got bags of potential, I love his attitude (born winner and just look at the delight on his face when we scored and at full-time) and I'm delighted that he's been offered a new 3 year contract, BUT until he brushes up on his ability to deal with crosses he's a liability. Two to three years from now I suspect that he'll be a major asset but he's not quite ready yet. (FleetwoodBlue)

Onuoha: 6, 6, 6, 6.5, 6, 6, 7, 5.8, 6, 6.3 (av: 6.2)
Seems as happy on the right as he does in the middle and this was a typically strong effort. (MEN)
Struggled a bit today, was left exposed when Vassell was injured/flagging and I suspect he was relieved to have the help from Sun when he came on. (King Kev)
Solid, pace lets him recover when beaten. (glyntowen)
OK, nothing to write home about, dependable. (Wonderwall)
Had a good tussle with Young which ended in a draw. Kept Maloney annonmous when he came on. Passing and touch much better than last season but he'll likely be back on the bench against Fulham. (Grob)
Solid enough defensively but tentative when in possession. (FleetwoodBlue)

Richards: 8, 7, 7, 7, 5, 7, 7, 6.9, 7, 7.4 (av: 6.9)
Took a couple of whacks but led by example flinging his body where the boots were flying. (MEN)
Rounded off a brilliant week with a commanding performance, picked up a few knocks but battled on manfully. (King Kev)
Nice solid game. (glyntowen)
Not his best game, but I love his ability to recover, I cant wait for him to get the rest of his game together. He will be one of the best players on the planet if he keeps improving and ironing out the errors in his game. (Wonderwall)
Stood up to be counted in the last 3rd of the match with some dominant heading. First hour he was hit and miss. Missed Dunne's steadying influence. (Grob)
Never got to grips with Carew and Young. Probably knackered from his England exertions and possibly trying too hard as captain. (FleetwoodBlue)

Corluka: 7, 7, 7, 8, 8, 7, 8, 6.5, 6, 7.1 (av: 7.2)
Classy display from the Croatian who dealt with Carew well and made some timely interceptions. (MEN)
Best game yet for City, looked very assured and saved us a few times. (King Kev)
Looks better in the centre, sometimes doesn't attack the headers well enough. (glyntowen)
Looking better with every game, this fella may turn out to be one of the best signings for Sven. (Wonderwall)
Didnt put a foot wrong all afternoon. The best of the back 4. Battled hard against Carew and was in the right place at the right time to snuff out all danger. Confident with the ball at his feet also. (Grob)
Outstanding again. Reads the game well, good all round defender, uses the ball well, surprisingly effective going forward and an expert at winning free kicks when only the vaguest of fouls has taken place. I love him to bits. (FleetwoodBlue)

Garrido: 7, 6, 6, 6.5, 7, 6, 7, 6.0, 5, 6.2 (av: 6.3)
Recovered from a shaky start to play a vital role in keeping the visitors chances to a minimum. (MEN)
A bit hesitant at times and needs to learn to get stuck in a bit more. (King Kev)
Does the job, think he is stop gap for Bridge, like the way he helps Petrov. (glyntowen)
Not sure if I would prefer Ball or Garrido, nice problem to have, but did well today against a tricky winger. (Wonderwall)
Great with the ball at his feet and had Agbonlahor shackled bar one defensive lapse with Agbonlahor's header. Looked handy in midfield also. Well worth £1.5 million. (Grob)
Solid, no fuss, no nonsense defender. I really like him. (FleetwoodBlue)

Vassell (Jihai 64): 7, 6, 6, 6, 5, 5, 7, 5.3, 6, 5.4 (av: 5.9)
Started brightly and popped up on both wings whilst finding time to help out the defenders. (MEN)
Obviously still a little rusty but still managed to scare the Villa defence a few times with his pace. Should have gone off sooner though as he was clearly struggling. (King Kev)
Tries but I'd rather see Bianchi up front as part of a 2. (glyntowen)
Don't understand this one by Sven, he did put a couple of nice balls across and always has the opponents on the back foot because of his pace. (Wonderwall)
Got a knock early on which hindered him and he barely got into the game. Looked out of place in our new look system surrounded by quality players. His days are numbered. (Grob)
Not good enough. Please sell him in January. (FleetwoodBlue)

Hamann: 9, 9, 7, 8, 6.5, 7, 8, 5.9, 7, 6.9 (av: 7.4)
If his court date this week is worrying him he didn’t show it with another classy ninety minutes. (MEN)
Blimey, what a player!! Sven is certainly getting the best out of Didi and it is a joy to behold, still battling away in the 90th minute! (King Kev)
Great performance, holds it together, yes he is slow but usually in the right place. (glyntowen)
Great composure, but he must pass the ball sooner, he was caught too many times in possession. Solid performance. (Wonderwall)
Bossed the midfield against England golden boy Barry and £8 million Reo Coker. His Indian summer continues. A fine performance bar 1 lapse in his own box which was almost costly. (Grob)
Impeccable 1st half, but tired in the 2nd half amidst the difficult conditions. What a transformation now he's managed by someone who actually knows what he is doing. (FleetwoodBlue)

Elano: (Ball 82): 7, 8, 8, 9, 7, 7, 7, 6.5, 8, 7.8 (av: 7.5)
Sometimes infuriates with his flicks and feints but more often than not delights the eye. Made the goal. (MEN)
Slept through the first half but woke up in the second half to give a decent performance. He is good on the ball but not so good off the ball. (King Kev)
Most good stuff goes via him. (glyntowen)
Looked like the only player who would unlock their defence. Good vision and lasted well after his international commitments. (Wonderwall)
Superb. World class in the final 3rd, he always found space and broke down the Villa backline time and time again. Its hard to believe a player of his calibre cost less than the likes of Reo-Coker. (Grob)
Annonymous for 20 minutes but grew and grew thereafter. A genius. (FleetwoodBlue)

Johnson: 9, 8, 8, 7.5, 9, 8, 7, 7.1, 7, 7.8 (av: 7.8 MOTM)
Lack of confidence in left foot cost him dear in first half but more than made up for it with the winner. (MEN)
Brilliant performance from the young lad who is being compared to Colin Bell, great praise indeed! His goal was good enough to win any game. (King Kev)
Cracking goal, the boy is one hell of a talent. (glyntowen)
Fantastic goal, the boy has great talent, looked very comfortable in the centre with Elano and Hamann. I would like to see how he copes in a 4-4-2. (Wonderwall)
Took the goal well and was always looking to get forward. Tidy on the ball and is an upgrade over Joey Barton. (Grob)
What a goal, what a display, what a player. (FleetwoodBlue)

Petrov: 8, 7, 7, 7.5, 6.5, 6, 6, 6.1, 7, 6.7 (av: 6.8)
Couple of promising runs to the goal-line but not much of the explosive shooting for which he is known. (MEN)
His best display yet for us, nice to see him running at (and beating) his man and getting a number of decent crosses in. (King Kev)
Some nice crosses, getting better. (glyntowen)
I can't wait for him to understand what his feet are actually doing half the time. Once his first goal goes in, he will add to that with a few more. Looked a threat today. (Wonderwall)
Best game yet. Worked hard for the team, whipped some lovely balls into the box and showed some blinding pace at times. He needs to start getting his foot in more though. (Grob)
Best display to-date. Will prove an asset in the long-term. (FleetwoodBlue)

Mpenza: (Bianchi 85): 6, 6, 6, 7, 5, 6, 6, 5.8, 5, 5.5 (av: 5.8)
Hard working display from the Belgian and his run off the ball helped create Johnson’s goal.
(MEN)
Tried hard but pretty ineffective unfortunately, can't wait to see him fully fit again. (King Kev)
Chased a lot but I think Bianchi is just better. (glyntowen)
Hard working, put himself about. I do not understand why Mpenza was ahead of Bianchi, but in Sven I trust. (Wonderwall)
Worked hard but not always on the same wavelength as Elano. So strong though and linked player well, bringing the midfielders into the game. (Grob)
Superb attitude and not without ability but seriously limited. (FleetwoodBlue)


Subs:

Jihai (Vassell 64): 7, - , 6, 6, 5, 5, 6, 4.9, 5, 5.6 (av: 5.6)
Booked but won some fine tackles (MEN)
Thank God we had him to call on when Vassell was flagging, I think Onuoha was pleased to see him! (King Kev)
Did a solid job. (Wonderwall)
Tightened up the right hand side but didn't really see a lot of the ball. (Grob)
Hopeless. (FleetwoodBlue)

Ball (Elano 82): - , - , - , 6, - , 6, 5.4, 5, 5.5 (av: 5.6)
Made sure Blues held on to lead. (MEN)
Perennial sub now. Mostly reliable but justifiably 2nd choice left back. (FleetwoodBlue)

Bianchi (Mpenza 85).

Subs not used:
Hart, Gelson


Match reports


Johnson keeps City honest for Eriksson
Like Schmeichel, City seem to be enjoying a charmed life. Aside from the opening-day victory over a woefully out-of-sorts West Ham United, they have not been totally convincing, but Eriksson will not mind that so long as the results keep coming.


City glimpse future with Johnson's magic touch (Henry Winter)
In Manchester of all places, it is unwise to suggest you won't win anything with kids. Although City are unlikely to become acquainted with silverware this season, the future looks highly promising. If Nigel Reo-Coker is worth £8.5 million, one shudders to think how much Johnson, who utterly dominated the Aston Villa man, would cost should his many admirers at other clubs ever persuade City to name their price.


City 1 Villa 0
Villa fought hard in a frenetic match but were unable to create one real clear chance as City climbed up to second.


Johnson keeps up the pace in City of dreams (Nick Harris)
Johnson joined City from Everton's youth set-up in 2004. He was part of the City youth team that reached the 2006 FA Youth Cup final, and made his first-team debut last October. "I had heard about him before I arrived," Eriksson said. "He played something like nine games at the end of last season. When I met him, he said to me: 'I came along and saved City [from relegation]!' He's certainly got confidence."

Images from City's history / international round-up

There's a fantastic collection of 34 historic video clips at YouTube. Highlights include the 1955, 1956 and 1981 Cup finals, the 1970 and 1976 League Cup finals, the 'ballet on ice' from November 1967 and a 17min clip from the title-winning game at Newcastle in 1968. There's also footage of the team training from the 1930s which shows what Maine Road used to look like.

Staying in the 1930s I received an email from Pamela Haynes, who found this autographed photo of the 1934 Cup-winning team in a pile of old papers:





Pamela wrote to the City museum and received a reply from club historian Gary James, who told her the photo was taken on a piece of land close to Claremont Road & Maine Road a few days before the 1934 Cup final on April 28th (the shirt and badge was worn exclusively for the final).

Pamela believes the picture came to be in her possession through a now-deceased relative called Lesley Hayward, a cloth merchant based in Moseley Street who supplied the material for the team's suits. If anyone has more information about the picture or Pamela's relative please email me at purelymancity@hotmail.co.uk and I'll pass it on.

And finishing off the historic theme, life-long City fan Trevor Boswell has put a history of the 1971-72 season on his new website and plans to add more seasons in the next few months. For a reminder of how damned good that side was here's a clip of the 3-2 win at Everton from 1972, which includes a pretty spectacular Everton own goal.

~ King of the Kippax's Dave Wallace has put together this excellent compilation of the best and worst City goals.

~ You can find team photos from 1880 onwards, as well as historic pictures of Maine Road, in the Images section here.



International round-up

Five out of five clean sheets involving all three of our keepers, five goals, two sendings off and two dead grandmothers. No reports of injuries so far while the other pluses have to be the return of Isakkson and the penalties scored by Elano and Petrov. Actually, when was the last time we had two international penalty takers at City?

Another question that struck me during the England game on Wednesday was whether we were watching McClaren's team or Venables's, because it certainly brought back memories of 1996 for me.

Below are the City players who have been in action for their countries (all played 90mins unless stated). You can find match details for most of the games at Uefa.com.


Friday 7th
Hart (England u-21): clean sheet
Johnson (England u-21): unplayed sub
Onuoha (England u-21): scored
Schmeichel (Denmark u-21): clean sheet

Saturday 8th
Corluka (Croatia)
Dunne (RoI)
Gelson Fernandes (Switzerland u-21): sent off
Ireland (RoI): scored
Isakkson (Sweden): clean sheet
Petrov (Bulgaria)
Richards (England): scored

Sunday 9th
Elano (Brazil): sub 78min, scored pen

Tuesday 11th
Hart (England u21): clean sheet
Onuoha (England u21)

Wednesday 12th
Corluka (Croatia)
Dunne (RoI)
Petrov (Bulgaria): scored pen, subbed 60min
Richards (England)
Samaras (Greece): sub 76
Schmeichel (Denmark u-21): clean sheet

Thursday 13th
Elano (Brazil): sub, sent off 80mins



City's finances

I'm holding over the stories about City's finances, and Premiership finances in general, until next week as I'd like to get my hands on a bit more information first.

In case you missed it, there was a fascinating feature by David Conn in The Guardian recently, which explains Jerome Anderson's connection with City (Harry Harry in the Daily Express claims Anderson has earned £7m in commission from us so far). It also details the role played in the takeover by Philippe Huber, whose company Kentaro signed a media deal with City last week.

~ US-based City fan Simon-Peter Vickers-Buckley has an interesting theory about the role Huber might have played in Thaksin's recent outburst about Swiss banking, which you can read at his mcfctrueblue site.

More Thaksin news / weekend round-up

Thailand's Assets Examination Committee (AEC) will decide today whether to charge Thaksin with 'attaining unusual wealth and concealing assets', The Nation reports.

Two days ago the AEC claimed that Thaksin had moved 'at least Bt50 billion' (£720m) out of the country before last September's coup.

Last Wednesday Thaksin told Swiss newspaper Mittelland Zeitung that he plans to sue a Swiss bank for freezing his accounts and revealing his confidential records. "Good old bank secrecy is no more. Absolute discretion is a thing of the past," Reuters quoted him as saying. The following day Thaksin spokesman Sir Ian Bell (formerly Margaret Thatcher's spin doctor) did some serious backtracking, claiming that Thaksin doesn't have any Swiss bank accounts and was merely confusing Switzerland with Thailand. Which is easily done.

~ Let's hope Thaksin's frozen funds aren't the reason he downgraded his travel arrangements recently. On Sunday The People revealed that Thaksin travelled up to the Blackburn game by train and sat in economy class. Two weeks ago he went to the United game in first class .

~ Thai pop star Lydia has denied she's having an affair with Thaksin (original story here). The 20-year-old says she sees him as a paternal figure and even calls him 'father'.

~ feedthegreek at Mancityfans has found a video of a recent interview Thaksin gave to Al Jazeera.


Doing us proud

Well that was quite a weekend. Eight City players on full international duty and four picked for their under-21s, three goals from City's academy graduates and all three of our keepers in action and achieving clean sheets.

Here are the City players who played for their countries this week (all played 90mins unless stated):

Friday
Hart (England u-21): clean sheet
Johnson (England u-21): unplayed sub
Onuoha (England u-21): scored
Schmeichel (Denmark u-21): clean sheet

Saturday
Corluka (Croatia)
Dunne (RoI)
Gelson Fernandes (Switzerland): sent off
Ireland (RoI): scored
Isakkson (Sweden): clean sheet
Petrov (Bulgaria)
Richards (England): scored

Sunday
Elano (Brazil): sub 78min, scored pen


The last City player to score in a full England international was Trevor Francis during the World Cup in June 1982 (SWP's debut goal in 2004 was in a friendly), while Peter Barnes' goal in the 3-0 win in Bulgaria in June 1979 was the last time a City player who had come through the youth system scored in a full England international.

~ Last season I wrote this profile of academy boss Jim Cassell. You can find a list of players who have come through Cassell's academy at the MCFCStats blog.

~ There's a very funny thread over at RedCafe. One of the posters questions whether Micah Richards passed the '90 minutes' rule for academy kids considering he grew up in Leeds, but then points out that he's never been to England and isn't entirely sure where Leeds is.

~ Stephen Ireland has now withdrawn from the RoI squad following the death of his grandmother.



Coming up on Purelymancity

I'm going to be be concentrating on finance this week. As well looking at how much money Thaksin has spent I'll also be comparing our finances to other clubs.

Two clubs worthy of close scrutiny at the moment are United and Liverpool. On Sunday the News of the World reported that interest on the United's debt will be a staggering £100m this year, while the The Telegraph recently revealed that Liverpool owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr are looking to saddle the club with a £500m debt.

Transfer window special: how our spending compares

City were the second highest spenders in this summer's transfer window, paying out a net £35.9m. Man United top the table on £41.3m. In all, Premier League clubs spent £454m on new signings and received £191m from player sales, which means that £263m has gone out of the Premiership this summer.


The table (below) was compiled mostly from figures given at the official Premier League site, premierleague.com, with the remainder from soccerbase.com and various newspapers. Although Newcastle paid £5.8m for our only summer sale, Joey Barton, it looks likely that the club only received £5.5m, with the remainder used to pay Barton's 'loyalty' bonus. Deloitte & Touche put the cost of United's signings at £51m, but that excludes the Tevez fee which was reported to be £12m (with £2m going to West Ham and £10m to the player's agent).





Below is a breakdown of Sven's signings. The fees for Elano and Petrov and Garrido come from the official site. Sky reported that Gelson Fernandes cost 9.5m Swiss francs, and premierleague.com and transfermarkt.de both put the Bianchi fee at €13m. There's an element of doubt about the exact fees for Corluka and Bojinov. Premierleague.com say we only paid £4m for him, but I've used the €13m figure given by Zagreb's vice-chairman. Bojinov's fee was reported as both £5.7m and £6m and by premierleague.com while transfermarkt claim it was €8m (£5.4m), but as every other report has it at €8.5m (£5.7m) that's the one I'm going with.





And finally, here's how our transfer spending over the last five years compares to other Premiership clubs. The figures are for net spending, so include the income from the sale of players. Profits from transfer dealings are in brackets:





Thaksin news

Amid the reports about a second arrest warrant being issued for Thaksin, I found this story which suggests it might not be all doom and gloom for our new owner.

Pointing out that Thaksin is more popular than the king in some parts of Thailand, it claims that the newly-formed People Power Party (effectively Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai under a different name) could become the largest party in the Thai parliament after the next election. In that event, the prospect of Thaksin gaining access to the £1billion in frozen assets becomes a distinct possibility.

Meanwhile, the Bangkok Post reveals that Thaksin has suffered from deafness in one ear. Which makes me wonder if this is the reason we didn't sign anyone at the end of the transfer window. "What's that, Sven? You want to buy an elk for £9million? You must be mad. I could buy a million cows for that."


Next week's Purelymancity

I'll be taking a look at City's finances and working out how much we've increased our spending by. I've also just finished a chapter on Sven's managerial career for the upcoming Purelymancity book, so I'll be putting some of that information on the site. So far I've found details of 109 transfer deals from 1981 to 2001, and next week will be revealing the top three signings of his career.