Gameweek 21 kicks off on New Year’s Day, the perfect time to have a quick recap on some of the season’s best performers so far.

Starting between the sticks we have Manchester City’s Joe Hart, the Blue half of Manchester are serious title contenders and much of this is due to the brilliance of their young stopper. Points wise Hart is head and shoulders above all other Goalkeepers with an impressive total of 95. If his 6.8 million price tag puts you off, there are cheaper alternatives. Birmingham’s Ben Foster(5.1) 81 points and Blackburn’s Paul Robinson(4.6) 72 points provide excellent value for money.

There is a reason Nemanja Vidic(8.0) is at the heart of 32% of Fantasy League defences, well actually there are 87 reasons. Man United’s rock at the back is top of the defensive pile going into the New Year. Following closely behind are Chelsea’s Ashley Cole(8.3) with 86 points and Everton’s Leighton Baines(7.5) 85 points. Sneaking into the top ten defenders is Sunderland’s Ahmed Elmohamady(4.8) with a 68 point return. Just one point behind Elmohamady is Baines’ team mate Seamus Coleman(4.9). Directly below Coleman you will find Patrice Evra(7.3) and John Terry(7.0), even further down the list is Man City’s Kolo Toure(6.4). It just goes to show that you don’t always get what you pay for.

Moving into midfield we start to find members of the 100 club. Rather surprisingly Everton’s Tim Cahill(9.3) leads the way with 106 points. Not only does the Australian run the midfield he often finds himself thrust upfront and has tucked away nine league goals in the process. Man United’s Nani(9.6) is just 2 points behind Cahill. The winger has been showing real quality throughout the campaign. Like Ronaldo before him Nani looks to have learnt that the tricks, however pretty they may be, do not win you Football matches and has vastly improved his all round game.

Special mention goes to Stoke City wide-man Matthew Etherington(5.9). Normally any left footed Englishman with an ounce of talent is treated like the second coming, however Etherington has quietly gone about his impressive business, three league goals and numerous assists place him ninth overall in the midfield rankings with 85 points.

Leading the way upfront is Newcastle’s Andy Carroll(6.5). They love a number 9 at St James Park and Carroll is no disappointment, the lanky striker has bagged 11 league goals this season and has 113 points to show for his efforts. It’s no surprise that the young Magpie is in 55% of Fantasy league teams.

Hot on Carroll’s heels is Carlos Tevez(11.3). The Argentine has 12 goals to his name and now that his Wayne Rooney style transfer tantrum is done and dusted he can get back to doing what he does best. A note of caution on wee Carlos this week as he is a slight doubt with a thigh injury.

And finally, I can’t go without singing the praises of Bolton’s front two. Johan Elmander(6.5) and Kevin Davies(6.5) have 191 points between them. Owen Coyle’s team are enjoying a cracking season so far and are the only team to have two strikers in the top ten.

That’s all for 2010 folks, I sincerely hope you all have a very Happy New Year.

If you feel like joining in the fun then join the EPL League by visiting: http://fantasy.premierleaguem.com/ the code you need to join is 13413-5300

The final round of the group games saw several well fancied sides struggling for form and in danger of going out, but Group B’s final game saw Ghana edge it 1-0 to progress with Ivory Coast in to the quarter finals. It had certainly been a weird group with Mali pulling out but eventually, the two major sides got through, though Burkina Faso can be proud at their efforts.

They made themselves hard to beat and in knock out football, that can be all you need, as Greece proved in the 2004 European Championships. Ghana struggled, huffed and generally puffed throughout the group but just about got over the line. Group C saw Nigeria roll back the years to trounce Mozambique 3-0 but they made hard work of it through out the first half.

2 goals either side of half time from Osaze Odemwingie put daylight between Nigeria and their opponents and a late goal from Obamfemi Martins wrapped up all 3 points. Nigeria were ominously beginning to shake off the lethargy that had afflicted them in the first two games and began to play as the team of old.  It would be something unfair to dismiss Mozambique’s challenge as they did start the game brighter, but Nigeria have been there and done that. Experience counts for a lot in a major tournament.

Egypt also continued their fine form with a 2-0 win over Benin. Even resting key players couldn’t derail the Pharaohs great from so far in Angola, they’ve probably impressed me the most of all the notable sides. They kept the ball so well in this game, that despite everything being on the line for the Squirrels, they simply didn’t get enough possession. El Mohamedy scored a peach of a goal and when Moteab made it 2-0 after just 23 minutes, they game was effectively over.

The final group games saw so much to play for but ultimately someone had to go out. Gabon went into the game against Zambia knowing they simply needed a draw, but they seemed to freeze when their big moment arrived. Zambia however played with an abandon of a side with nothing to lose. They weren’t expected to qualify but they brushed Gabon aside to win 2-1 thanks to goals by Kalada and Chamanga. Gabon simply couldn’t get their game working and even after a late goal couldn’t do enough.

Cameroon also knew that they needed to avoid defeat against Tunisia to progress, but once again struggled to produce anything of real quality, especially after going 1-0 down in the opening minute. For half an hour they failed to create anything of note, but once again it was the talismanic striker, Samuel Eto’o who came to the rescue. He equalised at the beginning of the second half but Cameroon shot themselves in the foot and went behind again to an own goal. Staring elimination in the face they rallied and got a second equaliser through N’Guemo. The Indomitable Lions held on, but only just to progress.

So the Quarter Finals were upon us with four interesting games, the host nation Angola entertained Ghana but the fairytale came to an abrupt halt. Despite a feverish support, Angola couldn’t take their chances and recover the initiative after Gyan had given the Black Stars the lead after sixteen minutes. They wasted some great chances and thanks to some great goalkeeping by Ghanaian keeper Kingson, the host nation exited the competition.

Sundays other game saw a heavyweight clash between two World Cup qualifiers, Ivory Coast and Algeria. Both teams had started the tournament slowly but this game was anything but a slow clash. Chelsea’s Kalou got the Ivory Coast off to the best start with a 4th minute opener when he was left free in the box but Algeria would not be bowed and responded after 30 minutes through Matmour with a lovely right foot strike from the edge of the box. The second half was a tense affair but it exploded spectacularly in the final minutes.

With one minute of the match remaining, Kadou Keita hit a thunderbolt from outside the box that flew in to the top left hand corner to put the Ivory Coast on the threshold of the semi-finals but Algeria had other ideas. Unbelievably left unmarked in the box, Rangers centre half, Madjid Bougherra steered a header past the despairing dive of the goalkeeper in the 92nd minute to take the game to extra time.

Amazingly, 3 minutes in to extra time, it was another British based player, Hamed Bouazza, who was left unattended in the box to head Algeria in front for the first time in the match. Of course, we hadn’t had a major incident in either of Sundays games but that all changed in the final minute. The Ivory Coast poured forward and Kolo Toure struck a sweet shot to equalise but it was amazingly ruled out for offside. He was clearly onside and the replays showed as much, but the decision stood and the tournament favourites crashed out in controversial style.

Yesterday saw the remaining quarter finals and Cameroon’s luck finally ran out, though the day seemed to by destined as theirs. An early goal against the impressive Egyptians from a corner by Emana seemed to settle the Cameroonians down. No-one touched the ball apart from Egypt’s captain Ahmed Hassan as it whistled in to the net to start the goal scoring in bizarre circumstances.

Hassan, however, would drag his team back in to the game with a long range shot that went in from well outside the box ten minutes before half time to make it 1-1. Egypt seemed revitalised by this goal and took the game to Cameroon, who had Kameni to thank for keeping them in game but Cameroon continued to struggle but they hung on for extra time. The game turned almost as quickly as the extra period began, when Geremi under hit a back pass and Gado pounced to make it 2-1 but once again controversy reared its ugly head.

Just 3 minutes after going 2-1 down, Ahmed Hassan hit a free kick, Kameni saved it on to the bar and bounced away yet amazingly the linesman gave it and the goal stood. It wasn’t even close to being a goal but to be fair, Egypt had been the better side throughout the game and deserved the victory, but once again, the quality of the officiating dominated the post match discussions.

Finally, Zambia and Nigeria tried their best to send everyone to sleep in a dour 120 minutes but some people managed to make it to the penalty shoot out. Thankfully this gave us a notable incident, with both goalkeepers scoring, and Nigeria’s Vincent Eneyema not only saved a spot kick, he scored the winner to send Nigeria through to the semi-finals.

Sadly, the two shocking decisions soured some great football and it’s hard to think of two worse decisions at international level in this day and age, but hopefully neither set of officials will be here for the rest of the tournament. Thursday will see both games taking place, with the sumptuous West African derby between Nigeria and Ghana acting as a starter to a real grudge match, Algeria v Egypt. Hopefully all the battling will stay on the pitch this time. Roll on Thursday!!!

The news started coming through early on Saturday morning and as the information became clearer, it was soon apparent that the whole African Cup Of Nations would now be tainted. When the dust had settled, 3 members of the Togo party were dead and several were seriously injured. Angolan rebels had attacked the team bus as it drove through the dangerous territory of Cabinda. It is no exaggeration to say that it is a miracle that no-one else was killed.

As of now, the Togolese team have now been pulled out by the Togo government and are awaiting a flight back to the capital Lome. After the initial attack, the team were unanimous in their decision that they wanted to pull out, but after discussions yesterday, the team wanted to continue in the competition to honour the dead members of the party. The Togolese government however had other ideas.

With second choice goalkeeper Dodji Obilale airlifted to South Africa for treatment for his injuries, the government feel it would be inappropriate to continue. CAF, the African Confideration, were determined to keep Togo in, but in all honesty, I found it quite galling that the team seemed to be getting pressure to stay in the competition. I understand the teams wishes that they would like to stay to use this incident but I don’t feel that after this, anyone’s mind will be on football in the Togo camp.

There are so many questions that need to be answered, why were they allowed to drive through a known Angolan rebel enclave? Why did no-one know they were going to drive, rather than fly as all the other teams did? Why didn’t they have an escort? It is such a mess of miscommunication and bad organisation that as I said, how no-one else died is a miracle. The team bus was sprayed with machine gun fire for almost half an hour until the rebels ran off.

Emanuel Adebayor, as team captain , has led the interviews with everyone since the tragedy and was instrumental in the decision that saw the team decide they wished to continue as a mark of respect. Yet, no-one can understand what it must be like to survive such a thing and then be expected to play football. It is only a game.

Of course, this now, quite rightly throws doubt on the security of the whole tournament. The Rebel group responsible, Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda or FLEC, have promised that this is only the beginning of an orchestrated campaign that has been planned to coincide with the African Cup Of Nations. The critics who questioned the wisdom of awarding the competition to Angola in the first place will be quick to point out that concerns were raised 4 years ago. This, they say, was a disaster waiting to happen.

Worries that this could impact on South Africa are wide of the mark, Angola is 1500 miles away. It is like comparing a tragedy in Norway having an impact in Italy. It has no merit for comparison. If anything, this will now strengthen the resolve for South Africa to be on the ball throughout the build up to the tournament. Security of the fans and participants will now be crucial for the success of the competition and the future of African footballs position in the world game.

The tournament will continue tonight with Angola kicking off against Mali but it has certainly been tainted. The wisdom of continuing the tournament will be under scrutiny from here on in and everyone will be hoping that the tragedy will be the last incident in a dark day for African football. I truly hope everything else goes to plan.

Well when your side is screaming out for a centre half, why not simply go out and sign a centre midfielder who’s lost his pace and has struggled with injuries for 3 seasons. Yes, Roberto Mancini seems to think that by signing a creaky Patrick Vieira, it’ll help shore up a leaky defence. 5 years ago, Viera was clearly one of the best centre midfielders in Europe, but his four years in Italy have seen his reputation decline.

Whilst certainly not past it by any stretch of the imagination, I cannot believe Vieira can cope with the pace of Premiership football any more. I know his move is motivated by being a regular starter for France, but he hasn’t started a competitive game for Les Blues since August 2007 and I do not see the benefit of disrupting the midfield pairing of Gareth Barry and Nigel De Jong.

It also sends a signal that the manager has no confidence in his midfield anchor men, when Manchester City’s back four have been far more culpable for their weaknesses this season. Barry and De Jong have been amongst City’s better performers this season, and for all the spin that has accompanied Mancini’s victories against Stoke City, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Middlesbrough, it’s doubtful that City wouldn’t have won those games with Mark Hughes in charge.

It seems like City are entering that dimension that Real Madrid lived in where players are signed on reputation rather than ability and the wisdom in signing Vieira will become clearer over the next few weeks. The warning signs are there though with Vieira’s total appearances over the last 3 and a half seasons at Internazionale totals 72 games in all competitions. Italian football is not the high paced, frenetic standard of the Premiership and I don’t think Vieira will be able to cope.

By all means, Vieira was one of the stand out midfielders in world football during his spell at Arsenal, of that there is absolutely no doubt. Yet Wenger’s transfer policy of removing older players before they deteriorate at Arsenal has yet to blow up in his face. Remember everyone banging on about what a great pair of signings Adebayor and Toure were in the summer? They’ve strangely gone quiet already. Adebayor’s 6 goals this season and the leakiest defence in the Premierships top ten seem to once again back Wengers judgement.

Of course, the additional revenue that Vieira will bring through shirt sales will be the only thing that Gary Cook will be interested in. The ability the cover the wage package of apparently £140,000 a week won’t be overly important to the owners but surely the value has to be on the pitch. We’re not talking about a David Beckham icon here, we’re talking about a man who can’t get in the worse French team in 15 years. Vieira struggled to cope with the recovery period in his spell at Arsenal when he was at his prime, so I’ve no idea how he can cope with the demands it’ll put on him now.

Mourinho has been deploying him solely as a defensive midfielder, but he still tries to play his old role and gets caught out of position, he hasnt got the pace to get back and he lacks the tenacity to fly in to the tackles like he used to. He’s earned rave reviews for his last Inter performance against Chievo, but come on, it’s hardly the Milan derby is it. I just don’t see the wisdom of the signing, I just feel it’ll tarnish one of the best midfielders in Premiership history’s legacy and that would be a shame.

So, if the only time you’ve ever come across this tournament is when certain Premiership managers whine about it, let me welcome to you to one of World Football’s best kept secrets. Over the years, the African Cup Of Nations has grown and grown to be one of the most respected tournaments in World Football. So, as the tournament kicks off in Angola on Sunday, welcome to an overview for the 27th competition.

The influx into European football of African players over the last 20 years has seen the profile of this once derided competition rise far above what even the most biased supporter of African football could have hoped for. My first experience of seeing an African side was Algeria’s incredible defeat of West Germany in 1982 and as I’ve watched football, its reputation has grown and grown. Now it’s a fantastic tournament and one you really need to catch so here’s who to look out for in my first article about it.

This year’s tournament is being held in Angola for the first time and as such will give us the first glimpse of some of the teams who have also qualified for the World Cup in June this year.16 teams participate in the finals, drawn in to groups of four, with quarter finals, semi finals, a 3rd/4th play off and the final.Running over 20 days, this looks set to be the biggest African Cup of Nations yet.

The qualification for this years tournament also doubled up as qualification for the World Cup, which saw the odd spectacle of South Africa entered even though they’re the World Cup hosts along with Angola to try and earn a double qualification. Ironically, Angola haven’t qualified for the World Cup and South Africa failed to reach the African Cup of Nations.

Favourites for the second tournament in a row are of course Didier Drogba’s Ivory Coast but in 2008 they were humiliated in the semi final by Egypt 4-1. They’ll be desperate to try and add to their solitary title won in 1992.With a squad featuring the Toure brothers, Drogba, Eboue, Zakora and Dindane, they’ll certainly be there or there abouts, The Elephants will be certainly one of the teams to beat. Drawn in Group B they’ll be one of the two fancied teams in that group.

The other side in Group B with ambitions to win the tournament will be the Black Stars of Ghana. Ghana are a team that we should have seen so much more of over the last 20 years, especially as they gave us one of the greatest ever African players of all time, in Abedi Pele, who like George Weah of Liberia never made it to a World Cup. They finished 3rd last time, so they’ll be desperate to go at least one better but they lack a clinical striker.  With Michael Essien, John Mensah, Kingson, Addo and Amoah in the squad they’ll try and cope with the loss of talismanic captain Stephen Appiah and Sulley Muntari’s enforced passing over.

Group A should be a walk in the park for one of England’s forthcoming World Cup opponents, Algeria. With a fine international pedigree, they’ll be in with an outside shout of getting to the last four this time round. Since bursting on to the world stage in the 1982 World Cup, Algeria have lost their way a little since following it up with qualification for the 1986 World Cup and winning the A.C.O.N in 1990.

Since winning that title, they’ve been disqualified once, gone out in the first round three times and failed to qualify since 2004. Familiar names to watch out for in the Desert Foxes team are Hassan Yebda and Nadir Belhadj of Portsmouth, Kamel Ghilas of Hull City, Hamuer Bouazza formerly of Fulham and Madjid Bougherra of Rangers. They need a good tournament to reaffirm their place in African football.

Group C sees the power of African football, Egypt and the former star, Nigeria drawn together. Egypt who were pipped for World Cup qualification by Algeria, which saw such scenes of sportsmanship for them, have a lot to live up to . As defending champions since 2006, it remains to be seen just how much of a hangover they’ve retained from missing out on South Africa. Yet, without the injured Amr Zaki and the unpicked Mido, Egypt would seem to have it all to do to retain the trophy. Spurs fans will certainly remember Hossan Ghaly and Dortmunds Mohamed Zidan is one to watch for the Pharaohs.

Nigeria qualified for both Angola and South Africa, but they are not the side they once were. The Super Eagles were one of the key sides in African football’s modern growth but the generation that got them there are slowly retiring. Yet the squad is still packed with familiar names. Yobo, Yakubu, Kanu, Obi-Mikel, Martins, Shittu, Taiwo, Etuhu and Olofinjana will all be in the squad and will be looking to try and re-affirm their place at the head of modern African football. An outside chance of winning the title certainly.

Which leads us to another favourite, the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon. Lead by one of the worlds greatest strikers, Samuel Eto’o, Cameroon have been one of Africa’s leading lights over the last two decades. After missing out for the 2006 World Cup, they were in danger of missing out on both tournaments this year, but after sacking the manager, former Rangers, Lyon and Paris Saint Germain manager Paul Le Guen rode to the rescue.

Surprisingly though, Le Guen has opted not to pick the impressive Sebastain Bassong for the tournament but joining Eto’o will be Rigobert Song, Geremi, Alexandre Song, Jean Makoun and Andre Bikey. If they can keep Eto’o up the field, then anything can happen and after the 2006 penalty shoot out marathon against Ivory Coast and losing the last A.C.O.N final on penalties, they’ll be hoping to avoid more shootout heartache.IN Carlos Kameni, they’ve probably got the best goalkeeper in Africa. He could be key.

So they’re the main 6 contenders, but there are two outsiders that may catch the eye. Imagine a team with a midfield of Seydou Keita of Barcelona, Real Madrid’s Mahamadou Diarra and Juventus’s Momo Sissoko with Freddie Kanoute upfront. Well, that’s Mali’s main foursome and with a squad with a wealth of European experience and the Eagles have a team with bags of potential still unfulfilled. Of course, Togo also qualified and whilst the side seem to lack quality overall, if a certain Emmanuel Adebayor fancies it, then the Sparrow Hawks could cause some real shocks.

So there you have it. Over here in Europe, Eurosport will be showing every match, with the BBC disappointingly only showing the semi finals and final this time. If you’ve never watched it before, I recommend it highly and it’ll give you a real taste of what’s to come in June this year when the World Cup gets underway. I’ll be dropping another more articles throughout the month for you to keep up to speed with the tournament, so feel free to leave me your comments and questions.

Four weeks ago, Arsenal’s title challenge was over. The home defeat to Chelsea had seen everyone and their dog line up to kick Arsene Wenger’s team. While they were still licking their wounds, Manchester City snatched a win against the usual collection of youngsters, sprinkled with experience in the League Cup. Not good enough, not strong enough, need another striker they cried.

Well here we are then, on December 30th, Arsenal are tucked in 3rd, with a game in hand, which is against Bolton Wanderers at the Emirates next week. Win that and they go second in the table. Yet as the Portsmouth fans who have witnessed tonight’s thrashing at the hands of the Gunners said, if they had a predatory striker, they’d have scored 20.

For all the failings that Arsenal are constantly accused off, it’s their lack of that predator in the box that seemingly holds them back from killing teams off that their rivals manage to snuff out. Yet, it feels churlish to criticise a side that have score 51 goals in 19 Premiership games and could be second this time next week. Of course, as my fellow EPL talk writer Eric Altshul wrote earlier this week, Arsenal have a crucial 4 game period coming up from January 27th.

The results against the other big clubs do not determine the Premiership title, you only have to look at Liverpool’s result last season to see how little it effects the Premiership outcome. It is the games that you should win, that slip through your fingers that cost you titles and cups. For every emphatic thrashing of Portsmouth, there’s a defeat at Sunderland or a draw at West Ham United. Those are the games, especially the West Ham match when Arsenal threw away a 2-0 lead that will keep them from going top next week.

Of course, Wenger is one of the best managers at protecting his players and keeping his cards close to his chest. If he thinks he needs a striker, he’s not the type to come out and say it, he usually just goes out and gets his man. Now, with Arsenal having a real chance to get their hands on the Premier League title, having someone who has an ability to scuff the ball in off his backside is exactly what Arsenal need. Financially Wenger could, within reason, land any striker outside of the Premier League to give them that final piece.

For all the doom mongers complaining when he sold Adebayor and Toure, for a combined £41 million, the dissenting voices seem to have grown increasingly quiet. Replacing Toure with the elegant Vermaelen was a masterstroke that has seen the Belgian weigh in with some important goals from the back. With the injuries to van Persie, Bendtner, Walcott, Denilson and Fabregas and the impending African Cup of Nations taking Song, Wenger may be forced into the market whether he likes it or not.

Of course, the one major bonus to the injuries that have blighted Arsenal is the continued presence of Andrei Arshavin, who has continued to rein in his own attacking instincts for the benefit of the team. The lad has given a real team performance over the last few weeks at the expense of personal glory and has re-affirmed his reputation as an excellent footballer.

So Arsenal finish a year which has seen them continue to play beautiful football, but miss out on the big prizes. Perhaps Wenger has already decided what part of the jigsaw is required to complete the beautiful with a little bit of brawn in the box.

So it’s official now, Manchester City’s owners have shown there true colours with yesterdays sacking of Mark Hughes and replacing him with Roberto Mancini. Rumours had been circling Hughes since Saturday morning, with several British papers stating that the game against Sunderland was to be his last. The board of Manchester City can no longer hide the delusion that powers the boardroom, a complete lack of the fundamental understanding of football and the team ethic.

Yes, they’ve spent massively over the last 18 months, but quite where this decision now sits with the empty promises over the summer that Mark Hughes was a long term investment is anyone’s guess. Here is a team that sits in 6th, with a game in hand, with a forthcoming League Cup semi-final next month against United to come. Apparently, this simply isn’t good enough.

Of course, only an idiot would think that you could create a title challenging side in 18months. Regardless of the investment or the monies spent, this is fantasy football based on the idea that if something costs a lot of money it must be good. Football doesn’t work like that. All the hoo haa about Robinho when he signed has been proved to be just that. He’s nowhere near as good as his marketing team tell us and it’s now apparent. Yet he cost £31 million and he’s Brazilian, so he must be brilliant it seems. All those people banging on about him being one of the best players in the world seem to be keeping their heads down these days.

City fans, some of footballs most hardy and loyal followers will be surprised by this but it’s not a situation they’re not accustomed to. During the tenure of Peter Swales, most fans needed an encyclopedia to keep up with the manager merry go round at Maine Road. It was no surprise that the side yo-yoed between the top two divisions for nearly two decades, with a season in the third tier for good measure. Of course, that situation will surely not repeat itself, but the boardroom now resembles that of a tantrum throwing teenager.

The statement issued by Manchester City yesterday speaks volumes about the little understanding of football they have.  “A return of two wins in 11 Premier League games is clearly not in line with the targets that were agreed and set, Sheikh Mansour and the board felt that there was no evidence that the situation would fundamentally change.”

I feel for Hughes, I don’t feel he’s been given enough time for the side to gel. Don’t let the outlay cloud the truth of what has gone on here. In fact, you have to question who was choosing their transfer targets. With the exception of Bellamy and Given, most of the big outlay players simply haven’t delivered consistently. No-one is questioning Wengers decision to sell Toure and Adebayor anymore are they? To create a side takes time, patience and knowledge.

Yet, the decision to install Mancini shows two things: The decision to install Hughes had already been taken and Mancini tapped up to replace him and by appointing Mancini, a complete lack of the understanding of football. The owners of Manchester City want to be the best side in the world, but they appoint someone who hasn’t managed since being sacked by Inter Milan in April 2008. Why no offer for Hiddink? Frank Rijkaard? even Jose Mourinho?

Mancini was sacked after his continual failure to trouble the further rounds of the Champions League but his tenure at Inter is rose tinted. With the exception of Roma, all of Inters major rivals were embroiled in the match fixing scandal of 2006. So Mancini’s first title was given to them after Juventus were stripped of it. The second title was won when all their rivals were deducted points, or in Juventus’ situation, relegated to Serie B and Roma couldn’t capitalise. They were also able to strip players from the other teams who were punished, so how great a manager was he really?

Mancini was sacked before the third title was assured. Yet Sheikh Mansour thinks he’s the man to make them a great side? Fantastic decision making there Sheikh Mansour, I don’t think Chelsea will be losing any sleep. Yet another Fantasy Football decision based of a complete lack of knowledge of the game. Manchester City fans deserve respect, not this ridiculous attempt to sign every person you’ve heard of. It was a dreadful decision to sack Hughes, but an even worse one to replace him with Mancini.

It was quite a contentious match on an unordinary day at Eastlands Saturday as Manchester City held on for a morale-boosting 2-1 win against Chelsea.

What was most obvious about this game is how much it mattered to most teams. I lost count of the number of times Chelsea and City players collided when trying to win 50/50 balls. Plus the workrate of several players, especially Carlos Tevez, was extraordinary. Chelsea hate to lose but this was a match that you have to give a lot of credit to City. As the commentator summed up at the end, “What a win,” and what a win it was indeed.

The most contentious moment in the game was City’s first goal which definitely hit Toure’s arm before landing in the path of Emmanuel Adebayor who slotted the ball into the net. The referee should have awarded a free kick to Chelsea, but he failed to see what the TV replay showed and City got away with it.

The other defining moment of the game was Frank Lampard’s penalty near the end which was saved by Shay Given. You can usually bank your money on Lampard scoring from the spot kick, but Lampard’s accuracy of getting the ball near the corner of the post failed him this time and Given guessed the right way and saved the ball with relative ease.

Overall, this wasn’t a classic game in terms of football skill but it definitely was an unpredictable one where you never knew what was going to happen next. Referee Howard Webb was too involved in this game for my liking and gave away too many unnecessary yellow cards, but it was definitely a difficult game to referee with plenty of aggression shown by both sides.

So much for Chelsea looking like an unbeatable machine, but it shows they are human after all. Not to take anything away from Manchester City, the Citizens battled hard and deserved to get something out of this game. Are they flat track bullies in reverse? Perhaps, but Hughes’s biggest challenge now is to get his City side playing like this against weaker opposition and tightening up his defense.

Well if there was one game I couldn’t wait for the return leg this season so far, then Manchester City vs Arsenal was the one. Now thanks to the magic of the League Cup draw, we get an extra episode in this intriguing match up. There is no doubt that the first league clash saw some pretty unsavory scenes both on and off the field and the repercussions are still rippling through both clubs. It will be interesting to see if Wenger scraps his usual policy of youth and fields the strongest team available to him on Wednesday night.

Manchester City on the other hand will no doubt look to play their strongest side, which of course means Adebayor and Toure will once again face up against their former team mates. City are determined to put a marker down this season and the unwanted record of 7 consecutive draws in the Premiership, with only the solitary win against Scunthorpe United coming in the last two months to give the Blue side of Manchester some cheer. Winning the League Cup is certainly on Mark Hughes’ list of priorities, a trophy would be a major step in the right direction for both himself and Manchester City.

The question for me is though can Arsenal rise above gaining revenge at Eastlands? Coupled with the defeat on Sunday against Arsenal which saw some unusual post match comments from Arsene Wenger, keeping a calm head will be crucial for the Gunners. It is unusual for a League Cup game to have so much riding on it but this game now becomes a needle game for both sides. The league clash was a thrilling roller coaster ride for the neutral fans out there and with it being live on TV, I’m really looking forward to it for the right reasons. I don’t want it to descend in to a free for all, I want a damn fine game.

With Van Persie and Bendtner out of Wednesday’s clash, the Adebayor fan club won’t be in evidence on the pitch, but it’s important for both teams to try and put the events of September 12th behind them. After all the accusations and fall out, the last thing either side needs is a repeat of the animosity that broke out that day. Both sides need a result for varying reasons and it’s odd that this game could offer both some much needed respite.

Hughes is once again coming under pressure from certain parts of the media, but it was never going to be easy to get such an amount of signings to gel so quickly. Manchester City were never going to hit the ground in the way some people thought, it doesn’t work like that.  Arsenal, once again hit a ropey patch and the knives come out for Wenger who has seen his side lose two in a row in the Premiership but made sure they were through to the knock out stages of the Champions League.

For both sides, the League Cup could offer some much needed silverware to go in the trophy cabinet and give the fans something to cheer about. The League Cup, for all it’s maligned reputation has had something of a renaissance in recent seasons and the last 8 sides are all Premiership clubs who fancy their chances of reaching the semi finals.Both clubs at Eastlands will be trying to make sure they are one of them and I think it may be a cracker of a game.

If I was an Arsenal fan, I’d be fed up already listening to people saying that Manchester City were obviously going to usurp them as one of the “Big Four” sides. It’s amazing what spending money does to peoples judgement when it comes to football and Manchester City have certainly caught more than their fair share of attention over the summer. To all intents and purposes, Manchester City will easily outstrip Arsenal on the pitch and leapfrog them in the Premiership.

So since last summer City have spent over £160 million pounds, but have they really bought the required players to turn them into a major force in the Premiership. In my honest opinion, no they haven’t. It’s easy to simply look at the figures they’ve spent and it all becomes an addiction to money rather than talent. For some, Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson have suddenly lost the managerial skills they’ve earned over one summer due to players going to Manchester City.

How has Ferguson lost his abilities by not signing Carlos Tevez? Whilst the vocal United fans tried to convince Ferguson to sign him up, Ferguson would not be budged. He was quite right to question how a striker who only scored 5 goals in the Premiership was worth £25 million. He consistently failed to deliver in big games time and again, yet because he ran around like a dog chasing a rabbit, he was “world class”. It is such an over rated term, that is consistently trotted out all the time as to make it almost redundant. Would you honestly say he’s a better striker than Wayne Rooney? Really? Even the most blinkered City fan can surely see the stupidity of that comparison.

Not one of Manchester City’s new signings is World Class, that’s a fact. Not one of them. Honestly, seriously, none of them. With the exception of Gareth Barry, Shay Given and Wayne Bridge, there isn’t one player who would be at Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal or Chelsea. Adebayor, Toure and Tevez have all been let go because they aren’t good enough for a top 4 side. City had clean run at every one of the targets they’ve signed because the clubs that owned the players were happy to see them leave, Barry and Given apart.

Craig Bellamy, over rated, over paid and has never, ever delivered consistently. A temper that causes more problems than he’s worth, I witnessed one of his strops at Norwich. Refused a decision by the referee, little Craig stomped his feet and jumped up and down on the spot for almost a minute. Pathetic. I wonder how long it will be before he starts texting his team mates spiteful messages?

Roque Santa Cruz, so good that when he left Bayern Munich, he joined Blackburn, no offence Rovers fans. If every major club in Europe wasn’t interested, how has he become such a brilliant striker after one good season and then moping around for a year hoping for a move. In 8 years at Bayern, he scored 38 goals playing for one of the biggest sides in Europe and one that consistently challenged for trophies at home and in Europe. That’s a dreadful record for someone allegedly so good.

Robinho  joined Manchester City, then forgot who he’d signed for. Chelsea to be fair, wouldn’t pay over £27.5 million for him and by Christmas, they were probably glad they hadn’t. Another one touted as “world class”, laughably so if you’ve watched him regularly at Real Madrid. A good player, almost really good, but wildly inconsistent, prone to having hissy fits and a strike rate that doesn’t match the amount of chances he gets.

As for the two signings from Arsenal, Toure and Adebayor, Wenger must be laughing all the way the bank with his £40 million transfer kitty. He has, thanks to Manchester City, made a fortune from Arsenal’s two biggest troublemakers who were simply not at the races last season. If anything, Arsenal are stronger without spending a penny. The issues that those two caused in the dressing room and on the training ground had caused fractures through out  Wengers squad in the last two seasons. Arsenal are better without those two at the Emirates, no question.

Adebayor famously attacked a team mate during a match because he didn’t pass to him, Toure got his gang to ignore William Gallas because he couldn’t be captain. Once again, childish, immature and bringing tons of baggage with them.Good riddance, I don’t know one Arsenal fan who is sad to see them leave. Not one. That tells you everything you need to know about those two.

This rag tag bunch of egotistical, money driven mercenaries are now all nicely tied up on 4 and 5 year contracts, earning more money than they ever believed they possibly could. Do you really think they’ve come to win trophies or count their cash? All this talk of “ being excited by the project” makes me laugh, it’s jibberish. It’s all about the money, nothing more, nothing less.  Now somehow this team will be bonded and formed into one the best teams in England within weeks? It’s crazy to expect such results so soon.

How long before the cracks appear at Eastlands and the dressing room becomes a pit of ego clashes and cliques. If they’re not in the top 7 come Christmas, the pressure will be really on Mark Hughes. Rome was not built in a day and Manchester City could end up being more like Sodom and Gomorrah than the Eternal City next season. They will have all to do to keep up with Everton, Tottenham, Villa and Fulham, never mind crack the top 4 and worry Arsenal.