Six blues play in England win

Records were broken last night, as at one point six MCFC players were on the pitch in England's 3-1 win over Switzerland in Basle.

Four started, Adam Johnson came on in the first half - and when Shaun Wright-Phillips replaced Wayne Rooney with 11 minutes left there were more City players on the England team than those that weren't. It's certainly something worth reflecting on. It's one of the best examples yet of the near-unique richness and depth of our squad. It also shows, I think, how low the bar is of England squad entry: simply having a contract with a top half Premier League side seems to be enough. Although not, for some reason, for Tom Huddlestone.

The four starters were Joe Hart, James Milner and Gareth Barry - who started against Bulgaria - and then Joleon Lescott, replacing Michael Dawson. Lescott was a surprise. Not only because it was Gary Cahill who came on last Friday, but because Lescott had not started a competitive game at centre-back since March 14. He did well enough on his return to the side, winning a few important headers.

In the midfield, Barry and Milner both had good games. This was England's best midfield performance for at least one year, and the passing and movement was crisp and imaginative. Barry did particularly well cleaning up in front of the back four (so much so that I think he could perform Nigel de Jong's role successfully), and Milner played intelligently - staying wide when necessary but sometimes coming inside to help out.

The headlines, though, are Adam Johnson's, again. He came on early in the first half for the injured Theo Walcott, again playing off the right. With his first touch he darted down Reto Ziegler's outside, and crossed low with his right to Jermain Defoe. Johnson is open to accusations of predictability and so his having this Plan B to call upon is of immense value. Soon later he shot just over from distance, but his goal was to come in the second half.

England were counter-attacking and he drifted inside, ran off one of the centre backs and was found by Steven Gerrard's through ball. Facing down the 'keeper, he swerved left, took the ball past him and finished into an empty net. Two competitive international appearances - both off the bench - and two goals.

Joe Hart could not replicate his Friday night heroics, letting in a swerving shot from Xherdan Shaqiri and making two or three uncharacteristic handling errors. He was better, though, than Shaun Wright-Phillips who was twice in dream positions behind the left back but sent two woeful final balls across.

Hart stars and AJ scores in England win

A big night for Manchester City players at Wembley. Joe Hart, James Milner and Gareth Barry all started, while Adam Johnson came on and scored a late goal.

Hart was the most impressive of the four. While England were much the better save, Hart had to make key reaction saves from Stanislav Angelov, Dimitar Rangelov and Glen Johnson to preserve his clean sheet. He also dominated his area and made no terrible mistakes, which might sound unremarkable but is in fact a novel approach for an England goalkeeper.

Milner and Barry were both strong and solid in midfield (Barry's perfectly judged cynical foul on the edge of our box, unpunished, was a beautiful example of his ability with the dark arts), but it was Johnson who scored. He came on for Theo Walcott, with twenty or so minutes left, playing from the right wing. And it was from one of those favoured positions of his that he scored, receiving the ball from Wayne Rooney, swerving inside and beating Nikolay Mihaylov - a little bit too easily - at his near post.

Valeri Bozhinov and Martin Petrov both started for Bulgaria, and I would certainly have applauded any achievements of theirs and written about how much they meant to me. But there was almost nothing to note there.

Given to stay

The big deadline day news - other than Robinho's imminent loan move to AC Milan - is that Shay Given has decided to stay at City rather than join Fulham on loan. Daniel Taylor reports:

Given has based his decision on the fact he joined City in the hope that he could win the first trophy of his career and that, by leaving for a smaller club, he could effectively be passing over that chance. He had also worried that he might jeopardise his place in the Republic of Ireland team but the manager, Giovanni Trapattoni, has assured him that is not the case.

City are involved in four competitions and Given was assured the club are taking them all seriously and that, at the very least, there will be opportunities for him to play in the Carling Cup and Europa League Mancini, who described him as being among Europe's five best goalkeepers last season, has made it clear he does not want to lose him.

I suppose I'm pleased that he's staying. If Joe Hart gets injured or suspended we stand a much better chance of success with Given stepping up than with Stuart Taylor. But I'm not too enthusiastic with the sort of job-share scheme mentioned in the report. There are situations where a division of labour makes sense, particularly if we were trying to phase out a veteran for a young 'keeper: the Edwin van der Sar / Tomasz Kuszczak situation is perfect. But this is very different. We are not trying to phase out an older keeper for a new one, quite the opposite.

Moreover, once we have chosen Joe Hart as our number one, to play someone else in the League Cup or the Europa League is to necessarily diminish our chances of success. Given how important winning just one knock-out trophy this year would be to the club it makes little sense to pick a back up for these games.

TLDORC August awards

Two minutes into stoppage time it was looking like a perfect month: no goals conceded, a win and two away draws in the league and simple progress in Europe. But then Micah Richards dragged down Darren Bent in the box; the penalty was converted and things suddenly look less clear. Four points from three league games is a good platform, but it's towards the bottom end of my August expectations. There are obvious positives: the one goal conceded in 450 minutes, the marker performance against Liverpool. But there are slight concerns too: how attached is Roberto Mancini to the Nigel de Jong - Gareth Barry - Yaya Touré midfield triangle, and what implications does it have for David Silva? It's been a good start, but everything is still unclear.

Tottenham Hotspur (a) 0-0 (thoughts, ratings, reax)
FC Timişoara (a) 1-0 (thoughts, ratings, reax)
Liverpool (h) 3-0 (thoughts, ratings, reax)
FC Timişoara (h) 2-0 (thoughts, ratings, reax)
Sunderland (a) 0-1 (thoughts, ratings, reax)

Player of the Month

Only two candidates, and both defensive players. People underestimate just how much our defence has improved under Roberto Mancini. This was a very secure month, thanks in part to consistency of defensive selection. For all but Timişoara at home we had the same spine: Joe Hart, Vincent Kompany, Kolo Touré, Nigel de Jong, Gareth Barry and Yaya Touré. In fact, for Timişoara at home Hart, Kompany and de Jong stayed to retain some certainty in the side. And two of those three stand out - Hart and Kompany. And as good as Vincent was: composed, dominant, authoritative - I'm going for the 'keeper.

Choosing Joe Hart over Shay Given was one of Mancini's biggest decisions at City. I had thought his cautious instincts would push him towards Given. If I had to account for Mancini's choice, I would say that his desire to assemble a team of players in their early 20s, with no loyalty to the previous regime, is an underexplored aspect here. Political or not, it was certainly vindicated. Against Spurs Hart produced a display of shot-stopping that might even have been beyond Given. And then against Liverpool there was a double save of similar brilliance. And now he looks like he could be secure as our number one goalkeeper for the next ten years.

Hart flies in

Interesting news this morning: Joe Hart has cut short his summer holiday to return to pre-season in Portland:

City told Hart and England teammate Gareth Barry they did not have to return until the New York leg of the tour next weekend.

But Hart is desperate to prove himself to Roberto Mancini and with Shay Given set to miss the start of the season through injury, the 23-year-old is heading for Portland, where City play a practice match this weekend.

This reflects very well on Hart. It was clear as soon as Birmingham City bought Ben Foster that Hart would be competing with Shay Given to be first choice in 2010/11. Which means that one of them is going to be disappointed. And with Given's shoulder injury jeopardising his early-season availability, Hart could well start the season as first choice.

I used to be unthinkingly pro-Given, but the more I think about it the more open I am to Hart being first choice. Ideally we'd have another year of Given and then Hart from 2011/12 onwards. But why not now? If he's good enough he's old enough and all that.

Barry, SWP out, Boateng through

England crashed out of the 2010 World Cup on Sunday with a 4-1 loss to Bloemfontein, with MCFC players on either side.

Gareth Barry started for England in his defensive midfield role. This placed him in opposition to Germany's star man and one-time City target Mesut Özil. Barry might have wanted to track him across the pitch but with Özil's imagination so lively, and with Germany having an extra man in midfield Barry spent much of the game having to choose whether to leave Özil or Bastian Schweinsteiger unmarked and untroubled.

And aside from the fact Germany were better throughout, Barry was unfortunately at fault for Germany's third and fourth goals. The third came when he gave it away in the opposition penalty area, setting up a counter-attack that ended with Thomas Müller scoring. And the game was over when Özil glided past Barry and round the back before setting up Müller. Barry could have brought Özil down and escaped with a yellow but he was too gentlemanly slow even to do that.

Jérôme Boateng started at left back in the absence of Holger Badstuber. He does not look like a natural left back but still did his job well. He's big, physically imposing and cuts off danger well. It was to his credit that James Milner was withdrawn for Joe Cole after 64 minutes. If we do not sign a more able specialist, it's quite possible Boateng will play left back at times next season.

There was more MCFC involvement: Shaun Wright-Phillips came on for Glen Johnson with three minutes left. He hit one cross straight to Manuel Neuer. England are out, but Boateng is through to the quarter-final.

England squad confirmed

The England squad has been confirmed and it contains three Manchester City players: Joe Hart, Gareth Barry and Shaun Wright-Phillips. This is historic. In two previous World Cups there had been two MCFC men in the squad: Colin Bell and Franny Lee in 1970, and Joe Corrigan and Trevor Francis in 1982. But never three.

This is testament, in Shaun Wright-Phillips case, to the success of our Academy - he is the first of its graduates to play for England (Micah Richards and Joey Barton have also done so), and the first to be included in an English World Cup squad. Joe Hart is not an Academy player, but he was bought from Shrewsbury Town for £600,000 aged 19 and so we did have some active role in his development. Barry, of course, we can claim no real credit for.

But this is still a historic moment, another marker of the upward progress of MCFC in the last two years. More news on more squads when it comes in.

SM: Hart to return 10/11

Simon Mullock has a report in the Sunday Mirror that Joe Hart will be brought back next season to compete with Shay Given:

The England keeper, who lost his place to Given when Mark Hughes drafted the Irishman in from Newcastle for £8m in January 2009, has enjoyed a sueprb season on-loan at Birmingham.

He is reluctant to return to City as an understudy to Given and both Birmingham and Arsenal are ready to offer him a permanent move away from Manchester.

But City manager Roberto Mancini has decided that he needs two international-class goalkeepers in his squad and wants Hart back.

If Shay Given's recovery from injury takes him into August then there is certainly a case for bringing back Joe Hart anyway. But putting that to one side I'm not one of those behind the idea of bringing Hart back to MCFC next season, for reasons I outlined here.

PFA Award nominations announced

I was excited this time last year when one of our own - Stephen Ireland - was nominated for PFA Young Player of the Year. But this year we've gone one further, with Carlos Tévez getting a much-deserved nomination for the real thing. I don't imagine he'll win it - Wayne Rooney has to be penned-in for it, and rightly so. Having a nominee, though, is something to proud of and a sign of how far we've come so quickly.

We are not without representation in the Young Player award, either. Joe Hart, who is one of ours even if he has been playing for Birmingham City all season, is on the short-list.

Mancini/Hart talks planned

Aside from the future of Roberto Mancini himself, the question over the future of Joe Hart looms larger over the club than any other issue this summer. I had always presumed that Hart would stay at Birmingham City for 2010/11 but it seems increasingly likely that he will return to City, due to Mancini's comments today:

“We have a very good goalkeeper at the club in Shay Given. Shay and Joe Hart are two of the best in the Premier League, and it is important to have two good goalkeepers.

“The Premier League season is long, and if you are playing in the Champions League, as well as the FA Cup and the League Cup, then you need the players - you need two top goalkeepers.

“It is important that I speak with Joe in the weeks after the Premier League finishes, then we will see about next season. He has worked very well at Birmingham and he has developed."

This sounds clear: Joe Hart will come back to City next season to compete for a place with Given. I think this is probably the right move at the wrong time. Like most City fans, I like the idea of Joe Hart becoming our Number 1 at some point again in the future. But I don't see any value in his stagnating in our reserves. As good a season as he has had at St. Andrew's he is not yet a credible alternative to Given. Maybe with another season of Premier League experience he will be. Time is on our side here - Hart signed a five year deal three months before we bought Given, and so we've got him until the end of 2012/13.

It's quite possible that by the summer of 2011 or 2012 he will be as good a keeper as Shay Given, or at least the gap will be sufficiently narrow that it will be worth sticking with the man in his mid 20s rather than his mid 30s. But I don't think we're at that point yet. And I think that a season on our bench - rather than in the Birmingham City first team - will decrease the possibility of his reaching that point during his current City deal. If we want to keep him in the long term - and I really do - we should let him stay away next season.

England squad prospects

As we get closer to the World Cup, the make-up of the elect 23 grows larger and larger in the public consciousness. David Beckham's Achilles snap has only heightened this. Rather than copying and pasting various City player's declarations that 'fourth is important to us' (I'll come back to that tomorrow) I think it's time to have a look at the City players with a shot at making Fabio Capello's final squad, and to attach relatively arbitrary percentage chances of their being included.

Gareth Barry

The lone certainty. Barry has played almost every game under Capello, who brought to England the doble pivote system which served him so well in previous jobs. The partnership of Barry and Frank Lampard is the foundation of the England side, breaking down opposition play and making it possible for Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney to perform further up the pitch. As we all know Barry's had a pretty patchy season in blue but Owen Hargreaves' injury makes him odds-on to keep his place in the side. Michael Carrick is improving but Barry's selection and assured performance against Egypt two weeks ago ensure he'll start at Rustenberg on June 12. Chance of making squad: 100%

Joe Hart

Of course he's been at Birmingham City all season but he's still ours - and may well be a full-time Manchester City player again come June. He has had an exceptional season at St. Andrew's - the best English goalkeeper this season by a distance. Were it not for the continuing mastery of Cesc Fàbregas he would be a certainty for the PFA Young Player of the Year - the first goalkeeper since Mervyn Day to win it. But recent evidence suggests that Capello is likely to prefer the experience of David James or Rob Green. This is fairly puzzling, but Hart's inclusion in the squad for the Egypt game suggests he's next in line. That, and Paul Robinson's month-long absence with a calf strain more or less confirm Hart's place on the plan. 90%

Joleon Lescott

Like Joe Hart, Lescott is currently behind an out-of-form West Ham player in the pecking order. Capello clearly rates Matthew Upson - partnering him alongside John Terry against Egypt - despite the humiliation visited on him by Nilmar in Qatar in November. But with long-term injuries to Phil Jagielka and Gary Cahill, Lescott seems to have a decent hold on fourth choice, ahead of Ryan Shawcross, Roger Johnson and Matthew Dawson. So if Lescott keeps up the form which won him the prestigious TLDORC Player of February gong he should keep his place - particularly given his ability to play left-back in a crisis. Of course, all it would take is an injury or a dip in form and Shawcross, Johnson or Dawson - all of whom have been better than Lescott over the course of the season - could steal in. But I reckon he's got a decent chance. 60%

Shaun Wright-Phillips

Shaun is the player I'd most like to make it, as the MCFC Academy graduate with the best chance. But I fear he will just miss out. The right wing position is famously competitive and even with David Beckham absent I think he's behind Aaron Lennon and a resurgent Theo Walcott in Capello's preferences. SWP has seen a lot of England gametime recently, and has a good scoring record, but deep down City fans know that he is not quite of international class. And if we've spotted this then I'm sure that Fabio Capello and Franco Baldini have. The one possible opening is if Aaron Lennon fails to recover from his muscle injury, in which case SWP could go as back-up to Walcott. But with Milner, Gerrard and possibly Joe Cole offering choices down the right it's not looking great for our Shaun. 40%

Adam Johnson

This is an interesting one. The combination of Beckham's injury and Johnson's audacious goal on Sunday afternoon led to some speculative press about the chances of AJ's inclusion on Monday. Capello is known to be fan of his and he would offer something slightly different. Being one of the two quick English left footers helps, given that we have a tradition of playing right footers - Paul Scholes, Joe Cole and Steven Gerrard out there. And while Steward Downing has his own admirable qualities, Johnson has a bit more pace and a bit more magic than his former Middlesbrough team-mate. He's nowhere near the finished product, and was noticeably quiet against Liverpool and Chelsea recently - but stranger things have happened than his inclusion. 20%

Micah Richards

This is a disappointment. Four years ago it looked very likely that Richards would make this plane - and many other such planes in the future - but we all know that it hasn't quite happened for him. He's had a good season, better than last year certainly, but he still does not have total ownership of the right-back slot, and the failings Capello is so critical of have not been entirely expunged. Now that Glen Johnson is fit, and with Wes Brown as a solid understudy it would take at least one injury for Micah to muscle his way onboard. And with James Milner fancied as a right back even that is not assured. But he's still 21 - there will be more chances in future. 5%

Blues star in England win

Another successful night of international football for MCFC, as two of ours starred in England's not awfully convincing 3-1 defeat of Egypt.

Gareth Barry started, in his traditonal deep midfield role, and was one of our better performers throughout. His traditional combination of muscling people off the ball, never giving possession away, occassional breaks forward and 'winning' free-kicks were all on show tonight. England went 1-0 down in the first half - after a mistake from Matthew Upson, inexplicably in the side ahead of Joleon Lescott.

We drew level in the second half when Barry surged down the right and crossed low for substitute Peter Crouch to slot home. The ineffective Theo Walcott was hauled off for Shaun Wright-Phillips who put England ahead with a gentle volley straight at Essam El Hadari, which the veteran goalkeeper palmed into his own net.

The win was completed when SWP crossed from the same position as Barry had earlier, with the same result as Crouch grabbed his second and England's third. When Wayne Rooney came off with five minutes left Barry took the armband. Does anyone know when last a City player captained England? I have no idea at all.

It was a shame that neither Lescott nor Joe Hart got on the pitch but as City fans we can't complain with one goal, two assists and five minutes in the armband. Bridge might not be going to South Africa but Barry is a certainty and SWP's chances are probably just over 50%. Lescott's hang in the balance.

Hart slams the haters

Daniel Taylor has a very good interview with Joe Hart in The Guardian today. Hart, despite his rejection by City, is still very supportive of the club, and rejects 'the haters':

"There are too many bitter people. Too much jealousy. Everyone wants to knock them down but I hope they do really well. They have not broken any rules. They have paid the money, they are not doing it with backhanders, it's legitimate money. So good luck to them, I say."

And all this while he has no assured future at City:

"There's no guarantee I will ever play for them again," Hart says. "I would love to but, if I'm not needed, then fair enough. I'm at Birmingham now and I've got nothing to do with Manchester City any more. I still find myself supporting them, their result is the first one I look for and I want the lads to do well, but Birmingham are my priority now.

I don't imagine he will ever play for us again. If Shay Given was 36 or 37 Hart could well have a decent shot at being our first choice keeper on Given's retirement in a few seasons' time. But Shay is only 33. He should be able to play beyond his current contract, which expires at the end of the 2012/13 season, when he will be 37. And I can't forsee Hart wanting to spend the next four or five seasons in a perpetual state of loan, biding his time for Given's retirement.

It's tough on Joe. But revolutions have to have losers as well as winners, as we are about to see with Richard Dunne's departure. And can any City fan with open eyes watch the first three matches of this season and honestly say they'd stick with youth?

Hart gone

Our goalkeeper swap with the city of Birmingham is complete, Joe Hart's loan move to Birmingham City has been confirmed.

Hart made his frustration at a lack of first team football clear:

He said: "It has been tough. It's frustrating, but there's only one person can play in goal and Shay's doing that at the moment. I've had to deal with it the best I can. It's not been ideal, but it's not the end of the world."

There is a part of every City fan that would love to see us conquer the world with our own young players; Hart in goal, Richards and Onuoha in defence, Ireland and Johnson running the midfield, Sturridge up front etc etc.

But it's just a dream. Mark Hughes has to improve the team as quickly as possible with his available resources, and no City fan would seriously argue against the claim that buying Shay Given in January was one of Hughes' best acts as manager. The problem for Hart is that Shay Given is only 33, and has a contract until 2013. I can't see circumstances other than a career ending injury for Given in which Hart becomes our first choice again within the next four years.

So I fear this may be goodbye. If Hart does well at Birmingham, and they stay up, I imagine he will be rewarded with a permanent move. Should they go down, he may well try again for a new club next year. No City fan would claim that the Abu Dhabi takeover has been anything other than miraculous for us. But like any revolution, it has its losers as well as its winners.

Micah wins it for the U21s

A towering second half header from a James Milner corner won the game 2-1 for England U21s against Finland. It was England U21's first game in the 2009 U21 European Championship.

Richards limped off with a few minutes remaining.

Joe Hart played in goal for England.

Season ratings: Goalkeepers

Shay Given (21 starts, 0 goals)

If you ever want to remind yourself how far we've come in the last ten years, draw up a 'best City players since I've been supporting' team. If you're under fifty - and I imagine that most of my readers are - the likelihood is that quite a few of the names on the teamsheet will be from the Eriksson and Hughes era. In terms of talented players, we're as lucky as we've ever been at the moment, even if it doesn't always seem that way. No player represents that better than Shay Given; he may have only played twenty-one games for us, but he is surely the best goalkeeper we have had for thirty years. Of all the players we've bought since the takeover, he is the only one I almost feel guilty over - he's just too good. Some of the saves he's made since joining have been breathtaking - a few from Afonso Alves, the Aalborg penalty shoot-out and one from Marouane Fellaini - which helped him to my April Player of the Month award - stand out but there have been many more. Probably the best move Hughes has made, if one of the easier too. If we ever win anything, it will largely be down to this man. A

Joe Hart (33 starts, 0 goals)

Given's arrival made Hart one of the few real losers from the ADUG takeover, in what was ultimately a season of frustration for him. He had a good start to the season, recalling the form that had made him such a good prospect last season. His heroics in the shoot-out in Midtjylland brought back memories of another young English goalkeeper making a name for himself nine years before. But he could never quite do enough to dissuade Hughes from deploying our new found wealth at the top end of the market. When he conceded two soft goals at the Hawthorns on Boxing Day, his fate was sealed. Hart has not had another touch since, and a loan deal to Birmingham City suits all parties. I'd be surprised if we see him again in a City shirt. B

Kasper Schmeichel (2 starts, 0 goals)

Unplacing Joe Hart was always going to be difficult for Kasper; unplacing Hart and Shay Given is impossible. Chances were limited this season to just two games, but even when he did play he never excelled. At the Withdean Stadium he conceded two soft goals and became the only City goalkeeper to lose a penalty shoot-out this season. Surely has no long term prospects at City and will move in the summer. C-

City move to secure Hart and Sturridge deals

From today's MEN:

Both players will be offered fresh contracts that will reflect their status as important members of the first-team squad.

"We are in the early stages of negotiation with both players and their representatives," confirmed the club.

Exactly the news we wanted to hear.

Having finalised Michael Johnson's five year deal, Hart and Sturridge must be next to be offered long term contracts. Hart's terms do not reflect the progress he has made in the last twelve months, and Sturridge could theoretically leave on a Bosman at the end of the season.

We have heard in the press recently of potential new deals for Hart and Sturridge, and today's piece further confirms this.

Should Hart sign the five year deal rumoured, he will join Micah Richards, Michael Johnson and Pablo Zabaleta as contracted until summer 2013.

These are the players around whom you build a dynasty.

New Hart deal?

The News of the World says today that Hart is "expected to sign a new five-year deal with Manchester City within the next couple of weeks".

This new contract would increase his earnings from £8,000/week to £30,000/week.

When Richard Dunne re-signed almost three months ago, Hughes said that talks with Hart were ongoing. Which just goes to show how lengthy a process this has been.

Two weeks ago, NotW claimed that a new deal had been offered to Danny Sturridge. The securing of Hart and Sturridge on long term deals must be the club's immeadiate priority - even before preparing bids for Benzema and Aguero.