Man City 08/09

Manchester City hope to end Tal Ben-Haim's short and unsuccessful spell at Chelsea after instigating formal talks to make him their second signing of the summer.

Ben-Haim is keen to leave Stamford Bridge only 13 months after signing a four-year contract and the Israeli international is one of the players whom Chelsea's new manager, Luiz Felipe Scolari, is willing to sell as he seeks to trim down the club's first-team squad.

Portsmouth are also understood to be interested in the 26-year-old, having spent several weeks unsuccessfully trying to persuade the City captain Richard Dunne to move to the south coast. Tottenham, meanwhile, inquired about Ben-Haim's potential availability in January, but sources close to the player have confirmed that City are the favourites.

The deal is expected to cost around £5m and, if everything goes according to plan, will be concluded by the end of the week. Thaksin Shinawatra, City's owner, would then have spent around £25m since the end of last season, having already signed the Brazilian striker Jo from CSKA Moscow, with the same amount still available to the club's new manager, Mark Hughes, for the remainder of the summer.

Ben-Haim, who has 39 caps for Israel, joined Chelsea on a free transfer from Bolton Wanderers but started only 10 Premier League games last season and has not been involved with the first team since an FA Cup tie against Huddersfield Town in February. He subsequently fell out with Avram Grant after criticising his style of management and bemoaning the loss of Jose Mourinho.

His imminent departure hardly constitutes a shock, therefore, although there will be an element of surprise for City's supporters given that Hughes has just persuaded Dunne to sign a new four-year contract and also has an England international, Micah Richards, at centre-half. The arrival of another player in that position would inevitably raise questions about Nedum Onuoha's future at the club.
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£5m is a bit much but he is a decent player and would be good back up for Dunne and Richards so i guess it would be a decent buy, lthough he can be a bit of a c**t. Also i dont think Onuoha will leave, we need more numbers at the back simple as that.

What do others make of Ben Haim?

Goodish player played quite well for Bolton

hm

Garrido----Richards---Dune---Corluka

Ball------Tal---------Dunne--------Richards

Or if Corluka can play on the left he can replace Ball. Would be interesting to see what Sparky has on his mind.

The Easter Bunny wrote:Goodish player played quite well for Bolton

hm

Garrido----Richards---Dune---Corluka

Ball------Tal---------Dunne--------Richards

Or if Corluka can play on the left he can replace Ball. Would be interesting to see what Sparky has on his mind.

Ben Haim wouldnt start mate, he will be a squad player. He will play his fair share seen as we will be playing in 4 comps next season but he wont walk into the first team. Corluka, Dunne and Richards have cemented their places. We need a left back though, i like Garrido but think we could do with a top class left back of the same quality as the other 3. Then for back up we have Garrido, Ben Haim, Onuoha and Mee ( a young 18yr old who captained the U18s last season and is highly rated).

yeah Ben Haim would be a decent addition.

Obscene that Chelsea are going to make £10m profit (minus wages) on him and Sidwell after picking them up on frees last season. Got to be a fair bit of incentive for the top 4 to just pick up any half decent bosman player they can for a season to fill their squad, and give them a tidy profit at the end of it.

Shameless meets The Wicker Man
The ecologists were right, the world is changing. The summers are getting shorter, it's science fact. It seems like only yesterday that we were getting unnecessarily baton charged by the Cleveland SS, sorry constabulary, at The Riverside yet our first competitive game (although I use that term in the loosest possible sense) is less than a week away. Where did all the time go?

This being Manchester City, it's been a fairly eventful pre-season. Our chairman is back in Thailand facing corruption charges, whilst some of our fans have seemingly become overnight experts in the intricacies of the Thai judicial system. Sven, of course, was unceremoniously dumped after a disappointing end to a season which had started with such promise, and has been replaced by Mark Hughes. My previous column was fiercely critical of the appointment, but I'm starting to warm to the man (admittedly it's only gone from sub-zero to tepid, but that's progress of sorts).

There's been a boardroom shuffle too, with St John Wardle and Chief Exec "Red Al" Mackintosh leaving the club, whilst Paul Tyrell has been conspicuous by his absence, somewhat ironic given that his job is Head of Communications. In their place come Garry (two R's, goddammit) Cook, having been headhunted from Nike, and 27 other members of the Shinawatra family, but we'll have no accusations of nepotism. OK?

Cook's appointment in particular has generated much excitement amongst City fans, which seems bizarre when you consider that he is, essentially, just another suit. In fairness to Cook, he has conducted himself fairly impressively in his dealings with the media thus far, although he is prone to the odd case of foot-in-mouth disease which affected previous incumbents. Francis Lee conducted his first AGM at Manchester Airport (as "this is where flights to Europe depart from"), whilst Peter Swales vowed to make us a bigger club than United. Cook, for his part, boldly stated that we "need to build a bigger trophy cabinet". As we've not won a trophy of any note for over thirty years, it would've sufficed just to say we need to build a trophy cabinet.

On the playing side we've seen the departure of the legendary Paul Dickov (proving that the old football adage that you should never go back is indeed true), the endearingly inept Sun Jihai and Emile Mpzena, who has joined up with the cast on the set of Predator 3.

The only arrival so far has been Jo, the Brazilian with a short name and large transfer fee. £19m seemed a little excessive for a largely unproven player with only one cap, but I'm not going to complain when we smash our transfer record for an exciting young South American (they have a reputation for being successful in the Premiership, right? Eh? Oh...). Jo's arrival means we now have 63 strikers in the squad, yet no out and out right wingers, with the exception of the Chairman. Arf.

Meanwhile, the on/off Ronaldinho saga coughs and splutters it's way into another tedious week, but it seems likely that AC Milan will secure his services. There was a bizarre moment during negotiations where the Milan vice-chairman claimed that they couldn't compete financially with "the likes of Manchester City". The times they are a-changing. In true City tradition, some fans were typically dour about the prospect of signing a 28 year, two time World Player of the Year. "Ronaldinho? What's he ever done?". Personally I'm disappointed that the deal looks dead, as it deprives me of the opportunity of seeing the buck-toothed genius lining up alongside "Deadly" Darius Vassell. There would've been a beautiful juxtaposition about it.

Next Thursday sees City travel to the Faroe Islands for a glamour tie against European giants EB/Streymur (the only team I can recall that have a forward slash in their name; if they're willing to defy all standard naming conventions with such casual abandon then we shouldn't underestimate them. They're clearly gung-ho mavericks). It's a notoriously difficult place to get to, not that that's deterred some. A group of City fans, to their eternal credit, have gone to the lengths of hiring their own trawler to get to the game (http://www.bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=79344&start=0). Cue numerous nautical ditties, such as "City, we're on the ship again" and "Faroes, Faroes, we are the Trawler Boys".

The team are based in the rural village of Streymnes, population four hundred. Quite how they'll react to the invasion of 500 Mancunian pissheads remains to be seen. It'd make for a fascinating sociological experiment. I'm surprised Channel 4 aren't there. I imagine it'd be like an episode of Shameless meets The Wicker Man, although a recent relaxation of the local drinking laws means they're a boisterous drunken lot apparently. Maybe the culture clash won't be so marked.

The game will see the first appearance in the latest bastardisation of a kit. Who comes up with these designs?! It's time to name and shame the culprits, we'll hound them out of house and home. The away shirt is particularly bad, with a preposterous "bubble" design on the red stripes. It's as though two stoned work experience kids at Le Coq Sportif were left to their own devices, dicking about with Photoshop. "Huh-huh, f@ck about with the hue and saturation, they'll never notice...".

Ridiculously, the return "home" leg is to be played at Barnsley's ground Oakwell. The reason? Bon Jovi (apropos of nothing an anagram of our £6m striker Bojinov) played at The City of Manchester stadium this summer and the pitch is still being repaired. Ironically, yet depressingly, Jon Bon Jovi has now spent more playing time on the Eastland's turf than Valerie. It seems absurd that we were unable to find a suitable venue even in our own county, despite the abundance of local clubs. Christ, even Edgeley Park would've sufficed. But bloody Yorkshire? Surely there must've been somewhere a little more civilised and progressive to play the game. Streymnes, for instance.

Manchester City have tabled a dramatic £22million bid for Ronaldinho. The emailed offer was confirmed by sources in Barcelona last night and it followed a weekend of intense speculation that a deal with AC Milan had been agreed for the Brazil star.

Behind-the-scenes transfer negotiations have been raging since Sportsmail first reported the interest of City, whose ambitious owner Thaksin Shinawatra is determined to complete the transfer against all the odds.


City have even promised Ronaldinho, 28, the No 10 shirt, which fits in with his R10 range with major sponsors, Nike, who would foot some of the bill for bringing him to the Barclays Premier League.



Scroll down for more



Jump to it: Ronaldinho works his way back to fitness to join Brazil's Olympic squad under the watchful eye of trainer Paulo Paixao in Porto Alegre



More...
We will sign Adebayor or Ronaldinho, but we don't want both, say AC Milan
Galliani: Ronaldinho rejected Man City and Chelsea made huge offer for Kaka

Reports from Milan claimed that a deal for Ronaldinho had been agreed with Barcelona amid suggestions that a salary of £5million-a-year had been offered. But that is at least £100,000-a-week less than City are prepared to pay.


That may explain why Spanish radio last night reported a fall-out between Milan's chief transfer negotiator Adriano Galliani and Ronaldinho's agent and brother, Roberto de Assis. While Milan hold the upper ground in the transfer negotiations - Ronaldinho would rather play for the Italians - they cannot match Thaksin's financial power.


That has given City hope in their pursuit of the two-time world player of the year. And they are refusing to pull out of their summer-long quest to capture a player who has scored 70 goals in 145 league games for Barcelona.


The ambitious bid tabled for Ronaldinho, endorsed by Thaksin, is City's way of proving how serious they are about bringing in the Brazilian.


Their pay-as-you-play salary offer is being supported by at least one major sponsor, with Nike prepared to back the deal. Deal insiders say that Milan must still remain favourites, but City are refusing to give up the chase.


'They are refusing to be bullied out if it by Milan,' a source said last night. 'You have to admire their daring and their audacity. They still have hope that this could be possible.'

Milan made a move for Chelsea's veteran Ukraine striker Andriy Shevchenko yesterday, although they may be using that as a smokescreen.



On message: Ronaldinho gestures before a charity game for children with cancer in Sao Paulo last week
They are also hoping to sign Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor, from Arsenal. That would leave them little budget to compete with City.


'It should be remembered that Milan have not qualified for the Champions League,' said a source. 'Their pockets are not deep. It should give City some hope.'


Milan, in fact, will play UEFA Cup football this season, just like City.


Any successful transfer bid for Ronaldinho would smash City's transfer record for the second time this month.


They have just signed the Brazilian striker Jo for £18m from CSKA Moscow. Jo and Ronaldinho have been texting each other about the prospect of playing together in England this season.


The explosive Jo, who will also play at the Beijing Olympics, is said to be 'very excited' at the prospect of teaming up with Ronaldinho.


Another Brazilian, Elano, is already at the City of Manchester Stadium. Ronaldinho said at the weekend that he will break his contract at Barcelona in order to join Jo at the Olympics.


His participation in Beijing would be more of a problem for Milan than City.


The player is expected to make a 'major announcement' relating to his future tomorrow.


Sources close to him say he will not return to training with the Barcelona squad today when the first team report back for pre-season training, under new manager Josep Guardiola.


The Brazilians claim that Ronaldinho has been 'training intensely' in order to be fit for the Beijing football tournament as an over-age player.


However, one concern for all interested parties is that he has not played a competitive match since March 9.


City are back in action this week when they play EB/Streymur of the Faroe Islands in the UEFA Cup.
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Please, please, please let us sign him it would be incredible !

Rumours suggest we may well accept this huge offer from Man. City, forcing Milan and Ronaldinho to act. The player is due back today for training, but he won't actually train, probably just drop in to say his goodbyes. So expect significant movement on the transfer within this week.

Thank you Man. City for making the 30m euro bid for Ronaldinho. Perfect kick up the backside for Galliani, and suddenly he's flown to Barcelona knowing he must seal the deal quickly, and at a higher price than their laughable initial offer of 15m euros.

The difference between the City and Milan offers for Dinho is so much that it may actually be resolved in City's favour!!!

Tho I rather see the brazilian land up at Milan, which will end their transfer campaign without covering some of the real gaps in their squad. Dinho is a luxury for Milan who already have enough players in that position... but they are missing some key components ...

A group of 12 avid Manchester City fans have proved their dedication by hiring a 72-foot fishing trawler to take them to this week's UEFA Cup qualifier in the Faroe Islands - 26 hours by sea - after being priced out of flying.

And such dedication has earned the dozen supporters sponsorship from football magazine FourFourTwo - who are providing beer for the entire journey.

The epic journey will start from with a drive from Manchester to Aberdeen before embarking on a 12-hour overnight ferry to Lerwick on the Shetland Islands.

All aboard: Leighton Gobbett & Co will spend over two days on board the Three Sisters

From there, The Three Sisters - fully kitted out for deep sea divers with 14 sleeping compartments, a kitchen, toilet and shower - will set sail for Torshavn in the Faroe Islands in potentially rough seas and arrive Thursday, the day of the game against EB Streymu.

They will return by trawler on Sunday.

The group, led by exhibition organiser Leighton Gobbett are all aged between 25-40 and follow idols City everywhere.

Gobbett said: 'This should be the funniest trip ever to a football match. It really is for people that want a trip of a lifetime and are up for a laugh.'

FourFourTwo Deputy Editor Matthew Weiner added: 'This voyage represents everything that is great about football fans. These lads love their team and will do anything to see them play - even brave the high seas.'

Supporters in the Faroes waiting to greet the group of super fans should look out the trawler which will be flying a FourFourTwo flag.

The full exclusive story will appear in the next issue of the magazine which is on sale on September 2. You can also see fourfourtwo.com for footage.

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Great to see !

That's awesome. There was a phone in on TalkSport on Saturday based around the furthest and most obscure places you'd been for a friendly. There were a bunch of Man City fans (11 I think) who hadn't missed an overseas friendly since the 70's, and a further 20 or so of the same group who'd only missed a couple.

Lovely stuff

Glenn Hysén wrote: That's awesome. There was a phone in on TalkSport on Saturday based around the furthest and most obscure places you'd been for a friendly. There were a bunch of Man City fans (11 I think) who hadn't missed an overseas friendly since the 70's, and a further 20 or so of the same group who'd only missed a couple.

Lovely stuff

Yeah we have a lot of fans who never miss games ( i guess a lot of clubs do) i know some who havnt missed 1 in about 30 odd years, even making it to games when City fans ae banned like Millwall away afew years ago.

I cant make it to all the away games but until the other year i didnt miss a home game in any comp or friendly for about 10 years or something.

Gutted but Goater was and still is better anyway !

It's been a long hard road to recovery for Valeri Bojinov following the horrific knee ligament injury he sustained just six minutes into the home derby victory over Manchester United last August.

That was 11 months ago and the 22-year-old is now seeing the light at the end of the tunnel as told mcfc.co.uk of his hunger to impress both his new Manager and the City fans alike.

The Bulgarian striker said: "My knee is better now, but I’ve got a little bit of a problem with my thigh muscle, but not a big problem though. After that sort of knee injury it is normal to have a little bit of a problem with the muscle."

Despite the small muscle problem, Valeri was certainly upbeat about a swift return to full training, adding: "The physio is good, the doctor is nice and everything is getting better, and I think in a week maybe I’ll be better.

"I want to stay fit, I want to play and want to train with the team. There’s a new coach now and it’s very important for me because it’s close to the start of a new season.

"It’s important to be in training so the Manager can see me and I want to demonstrate my quality. I want to play well and score because I am a striker and the supporters didn't have a chance to see me last season because of my injury."

Indeed the time Bojinov spent on the pitch during last season only adds up to just over one half of football and the former Fiorentina hitman admits it's an important campaign for himself.

“It’s very important to come back and play. I only had those three appearances and they were for such a short amount of time. So I want to play because City are a very important team, playing in the UEFA Cup, which is a very important tournament because you are on the European stage.

“I’m very hungry to come back and play on that green pitch because it’s been almost one year since I’ve been out on there with the team. So I am hungry for everything, training, playing and scoring goals.”

The only football the Bulgarian international has played during his rehabilitation has been at reserve team level, where he scored two goals in three games, but for a man who is still the youngest ever overseas player to play in Serie A it has to be top-level football for him.

He stated: “I'm happy to have played and scored at that level, but it’s very different playing for the reserves, and then playing for the first team.

"In the first team you play in the Premier League and it is a very big competition. It’s important because I want the fans to see me score and do well for City and my team mates.”

Some fans may have had concerns that they might not even get to see Bojinov in a City shirt this season such are the rumours that have linked him with a move back to Italy, but he was quick to outline his ambitions, declaring: “I have seen the stories and no I don’t want to move back to Italy.

"I’m happy in Manchester and want to stay because City is a very important club. After a year of injuries, I’m happy because the Club, and the Manager have given me a chance to stay at City.

"I don’t want to go to Italy because I want to play for Manchester City, the fans and for myself, in the Premier League. The Premier League is very important and I want to show the new Manager what I can do."
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Brilliant news ! I cant wait to see him playing, Boj and Jo could be a brilliant strike force and both are still very young.

A group of Man City fans who hired a trawler to take them to watch their side's Uefa Cup qualifying game in the Faroe Islands had to abandon their trip due to stormy seas. After an eight drive to Aberdeen, followed by an overnight ferry to the Shetland Islands, the group were forced to turn around as the eight-foot Atlantic waves got the better of them

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/manchester/7510033.stm

UEFA Cup latest:

EB/Streymur 1-1 ManCity
(Ruff See) (Magni Arge og)

briz wrote:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/manchester/7510033.stm

UEFA Cup latest:

EB/Streymur 1-1 ManCity
(Ruff See) (Magni Arge og)

Rough Sea? How poetic

I wonder if the faroe islands has enough hotels to host the team and supporters

I'll keep an eye on this match tonight

8 foot waves = a pretty calm sea. What did they expect a snookercloth?

Anyway congrats SGoater on getting the key away goal! Park the bus and get a no-score draw @home says I.

with force 8 gales and waves of up to 16.4ft (5m) high.

5 m. waves are quite big you know, especially for a 22 m boat.

Riviera wrote:

with force 8 gales and waves of up to 16.4ft (5m) high.

5 m. waves are quite big you know, especially for a 22 m boat.

Ah that's better. Wind force 8 is for real men.

I know I've sailed in gales (on the North Sea & Channel which means higher waves). As long as your boat is small enough (22m is a bit too long) you're fine because you can surf the waves.

Guess if you haven't been at sea (like probably the guys who did the trip), it gets scary.

Moto Guzzi V8 wrote:

Riviera wrote:

with force 8 gales and waves of up to 16.4ft (5m) high.

5 m. waves are quite big you know, especially for a 22 m boat.

Ah that's better. Wind force 8 is for real men.

I know I've sailed in gales (on the North Sea & Channel which means higher waves). As long as your boat is small enough (22m is a bit too long) you're fine because you can surf the waves.

Guess if you haven't been at sea (like probably the guys who did the trip), it gets scary.

they should have watched a bit of "Perfect Storm" just to see it what they were getting into

They should've watched a bit of 'Bend it like Beckham' just to see the likely standard of football they were going to see [/u]

kas wrote:

Rosicky wrote:A group of Man City fans who hired a trawler to take them to watch their side's Uefa Cup qualifying game in the Faroe Islands had to abandon their trip due to stormy seas. After an eight drive to Aberdeen, followed by an overnight ferry to the Shetland Islands, the group were forced to turn around as the eight-foot Atlantic waves got the better of them

Those guys are legends and have now been flown over for free and put up in a hotel for free.

Moto Guzzi V8 wrote:8 foot waves = a pretty calm sea. What did they expect a snookercloth?

Anyway congrats SGoater on getting the key away goal! Park the bus and get a no-score draw @home says I.

They wanted go but the captain refused to sail !

What a shite captain.

Maybe he knew/thought half of them would have been crying for their mummies at sea... (but in that case he should have thought about that beforehand)

It's hell if you get seasick (and if the sea/weather is good for getting seasick, lots of people will). You keep on throwing up green stuff & feel like your about to die. I've seen people beg/cry to to be put ashore again. Luckily I seem to have a strong stomach for it; only got seasick once & wasn't even rough weather (apparently just a wrong frequency of waves)

I don't blame him for saying no to 5 meter waves, there's more than just the high waves out there to worry about. Safety first, always.

Riviera wrote:I don't blame him for saying no to 5 meter waves, there's more than just the high waves out there to worry about. Safety first, always.

Giant squid? International terrorism? Single mothers?