‘We Fight Till The End, We Fight Till The End, We’re Man City We Fight Till The End…’ It’s a rousing terrace war cry and one rapidly becoming Manchester City’s Champions League campaign theme in 2015/16. Last gasp winners against Borussia Moenchengladach and Sevilla have seen City snatch six points in nerve-shredding, nail-biting encounters in a fiercely competitive Group D. The joy and relief was palpable as City’s flame-haired Belgian […]

When UEFA’s General Secretary, Gianni Infantino claimed: “We always said we want investors in football, but good investors…” it made many wonder what European football’s governing body defined as ‘good’? The bald-headed Infantino, a familiar figure at the laborious and protracted Champions League draws every August, made the bizarre proclamation as UEFA once again oozed hypocrisy, using their Financial Fair Play (FFP) to discriminate against Manchester City. Among the dictionary […]

As football clichés go a ‘must win’ game is up there with the best. Mathematically, Manchester City could still qualify from Group E of the Champions League, even if they fail to beat CSKA Moscow at the Etihad this evening. In truth, anything less than three points would see City in a right old mire with their backs well and truly to the wall, struggling to reach the knockout stages. […]

Blue-sky thinking relates to creative ideas that are not limited by convention or current beliefs, facilitating the stripping away of barriers, overcoming obstacles and confounding conformity. It’s a derivation on a theme, but Sky-blue thinking is not a million miles removed when addressing the vagaries and rank injustice perpetrated by the ridiculously titled UEFA Financial Fair Play rules. If ever there was a contradiction in terms FFP is it. It’s […]

UEFA bureaucrats – the money men who regulate European football and, fair to say, a right set of continental bankers – have battered the newly crowned Champions of England into submission…or have they? At first glance Manchester City have incurred the wrath of the despot Michel Platini and had their backside spanked. Much to the delight of the likes of Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Real Madrid, even those Euro competition non-starters […]

A conspicuous absence of the ‘C’ word at the Etihad Stadium should see Manchester City emerge as heroes and not villains, in the penultimate game of this, the most pulsating of Premier League finales. Complacency is the only conceivable obstacle to a City win that would send them two points clear at the top of the table tonight. Anything less than maximum points would be a self-inflicted football crime and […]

Manchester City’s transformation into one of Europe’s biggest and most prestigious clubs continues with the Etihad set to become the second largest stadium in the Premier League. A public consultation exercise showing proposals to expand the present 48,000 capacity to beyond 60,000, concluded yesterday, with City set to reveal their preferred option next week. The comprehensive approach by the club has sought to address a host of topics, not least, […]