Mancini, Barry And Infighting

Another dead news day passes by with far too many commentators focusing on the alleged infighting between City players, Barry telling us it is good for the Club spirit and even one Belfast journalist suggesting Mancini is due for the chop.

In the end everything looks like a crime of passion and I'm sure we would all like to think so.

If Gareth Barry is as concerned as he says it is down to him to put it right on the field. A lot of his play lately has looked laboured as if he has not been training too well. The same can be said for Yaya Toure and to an extent James Milner. Along with Nigel de Jong these are considered to be the mainstays of our midfield, but each one has lacked a spark recently. Some of that has been laziness and not being completely focused on the job in hand.

It probably isn't a criminal offence for a well paid footballer to have a few scoops on his day off but, gentlemen, you are being paid a fortune to deliver a trophy to an otherwise bereft cabinet, and also get us qualified for the first time for the Champions League. Is it not worth your while to put any excesses on hold for just one season in order to achieve that and write your names in the history books? Some you have no real history as footballers, have achieved nothing. Some of your history involves poor performances in the World Cup. Some of it involves being well paid to achieve nothing.

So come on, train hard, work hard and let's knock over the likes of Wolves, like West Brom, like Stoke City. Gather the points and keep yourselves amongst the contenders.

That there are no easy games in the premier league is a long held judgement. Chelsea and Stretford have their setbacks but dig in deep and come up with the goods when their backs look to be against the wall. We still go into our shell and beset ourselves with stories that nobody likes us. We don't want anybody to like us, apart from our own genuine and passionate fans. What good is it if a few Gooners or Sunderland or Hull City fans 'like us'?

We need to get into gear starting on Thursday night. Forecasters say it will be wild rainy and windy, but, guys, you've got to fancy it. Win on Thursday and we are in the knock-out stages. Then we can take risks against Salzburg and Juventus and possibly re-introduce Michael Johnson to shake a few of you up. Maybe you don't want that? I've said before that this year the Europa League will take some winning because there are some quality teams in it, so let's win it this season.

For Thursday I suspect we will see Hart, Richards, Toure, Kompany, Boateng
Johnson, Vieira, Barry, Silva
Balotelli, Adebayor.

If that team can't beat Lech Poznan then something seriously is wrong and maybe the little Irishman from the Belfast Telegraph will be proved right.

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