Manchester City fans quite rightly rejoice, get to their feet and blast out a rendition of ‘Stand up for the Champions’ at the Etihad Stadium on match days. Well, the City faithful will remain rooted in their seats next season if they have to suffer many more performances like this.  Mancini’s men seem to have sunk into a malaise – despite remaining unbeaten in the league since Easter Sunday – […]

To lose any game when you’re 2-1 up in the 86th minute is careless, but to capitulate with victory over Real Madrid within touching distance in the Santiago Bernabeu stadium is criminal. With just four minutes of regulation time remaining Aleksander Kolarov’s  30 yard free kick bamboozled the massed Madrid defence and looked destined to give Manchester City a most amazing Champions League victory. S natching defeat from the jaws […]

As anybody who knows anything about construction work, Rome was not built in a day. But give an Italian ‘architect’ a thousand days and you’ll see a creation of substance and beauty, erected on firm foundations. And so it was that Manchester City’s Roberto Mancini marked his 1,000th day as City boss with his team of champions displaying both skill and backbone away to Stoke City. There’s always a hint […]

The milestones came thick and fast – Roberto Mancini’s 100th game as Manchester City manager, City’s 200thgoal under the Italian’s stewardship and Carlos Tevez’ 50th Premier League strike in sky blue. It’s a fact that whenever Tevez scores in the PL for City or Yaya scores at all, City have never lost – and so it was against QPR on Saturday. But the only statistics that really mattered were three […]

Roberto Mancini was playing for high stakes both on and off the park, as champions Manchester City sought a rare win at Anfield against Brendan Rodger’s young Liverpool braves. If the fiery Italian was a poker player one suspects he’d be an ace at calling his opponents bluff or, in this case, gambling with three points to get his point over to City’s money men. What other reason could he […]

Hadn’t we been here before – predictions of a ‘nailed on’ City win, opponents out of their depth, a goalfest for the men in sky blue? Just 98 days on from that incredible win against QPR with the Premier League title on the line, and here we were with Manchester City’s version of Groundhog Day against newly promoted, unfancied Southampton. The feeling of déjà vu was further perpetuated by the […]

Rock legend Freddie Mercury was a ‘virtual’ impresario at the closing ceremony of London’s glorious 2012 Olympics on Sunday night, but his vocals would have been just as appropriate at the Community Shield clash up the M6 in Birmingham. Queen’s classic ‘We Are The Champions’ theme could easily have boomed out at Villa Park as the Royal Blue Champions of Europe stepped out against the Sky Blue (albeit in maroon) […]