Jô charity challenge

I am so surprised and thrilled by the return of Jô to the City side that I feel like I should mark it somehow.

So, inspired by a reader on Twitter, I will be donating £5 to a charity of my choice for every goal Jô scores in all competitions this season. I hope some of you do the same.

'I believe Jô is a good striker'

I don't know if it's a problem with the language but Roberto Mancini has a habit of making wildly inaccurate statements about the ability of City players. He picked Jô in pre-season with the hope of finding a buyer, who did not materialise. But for reasons that are hidden from me, he has decided to make him part of the squad for this season:

"I have been able to see Jô close-up in the last two months and what I have seen makes me think he's a good player," Mancini said. "I can also remember seeing him play for CSKA [Moscow] a few years ago when I was with Internazionale and he's a good striker. We want to keep him."

Where to start? The game he was referring to was this one, and Jô does score a good goal if you fast-forward to 48 seconds in. I remember seeing that, and being excited by it. But in his time at City he was just nakedly useless. He has all of the faults of Emmanuel Adebayor - the inertia, the diffidence, the lack of attention to detail - with none of Manu's occasional thrilling upside. Of all the strikers we used in 2008/09: including Benjani, Danny Sturridge, Darius Vassell and Ched 'Bergkamp' Evans, Jô was the worst. He was nowhere near what we needed back then. We're twice the team now that we were then. He is bizarrely incongruous.

But that could well be a good thing. We have come so far in recent years that a reminder of our past would be useful grounding and context. Jô was the last, the worst and the most expensive of a long run of woeful strikers, imported with promising records but who did nothing at City. It started with Georgios Samaras but then there was Bernardo Corradi, Rolando Bianchi, Valeri Bozhinov, Nery Castillo, Benjani, Felipe Caicedo and, if I was being uncharitable, Emile Mpenza. Signing Jô was the last meaningful act of the Thaksin Shinawatra regime, and there was something about its frivolity, its lack of forethought and its wastefulness that summed up the reign as a whole. This is a different Manchester City now. We buy strikers that score goals. But if we have Jô, coming on late in games already won, standing on the touchline waiting for the ball, it will be a firm reminder that it was not always this easy.

Striker departures rumoured

Just two rumours of interest in today's papers, both involving the possible departures of diffident dreadlocked strikers of ours. Not that I want to draw too much of a comparison between Jô and Emmanuel Adebayor: 14 league goals for £25m is better value for money than one league goal for £19m.

But if we sign Edin Džeko then Adebayor's future will be perilous, and so the Mail on Sunday's suggestion that AC Milan enquired after him this week is quite plausible. He would probably improve them.

Less plausible is the rumour in the News of the World that Jô might be included as part of a fee for David Silva. Valencia were interested in him when we signed him two years ago but if we want to convince them to give us their best player it's a funny way of going about it. He would not exactly be a like-for-like replacement for David Villa.

Putting the 'lad' in 'Galadasaray'

Danny linked to a story of Elano's sad failure to make the most of his talents at Galatasaray thus far. He has failed to live up to his fanfare and could well be sold in the summer. It's a real shame for all of us who want to see him do well.

I don't have the same attachment to Jô, though, and therfore I'm finding his travails really quite amusing. He's facing the same problems he had at City and at Everton - the incompatability of his partying, drinking, free-wheeling lifestyle with the demands of being a professional footballer at an elite club. He's got himself into trouble twice already for his parties.

None of this reflects too well on Frank Rijkaard. Like his Barcelona side, Galatasaray have descended into a discordant mess of competing egos, heavy partying and lazy Brazilians. But Rijkaard's Barcelona won two La Ligas and one Champions League before it all went wrong. Rijkaard's Gala have cut out the success and gone straight for the decline.

On the other hand, it does sound fun. Throw Giovani dos Santos, Harry Kewell, Lucas Neill and Milan Baroš in on top of the former blues and there's some serious jokers there. I've given up on getting an extra ticket for Arsenal v City, but if anyone's got a spare for the Galatasaray Christmas party 2010 please get in touch.

Jô joins Elano at Gala

Our one time record signing Jô has had his loan deal with Everton cancelled and has joined Galatasaray for the remainder of the 2009/10 season. With a Premier League scoring record of six in 36 and disciplinary issues at both City and Everton I imagine this brings to an end his career in England. If Galatasaray do not buy him in the summer I am sure that no English club would touch him. A return to eastern Europe awaits.

It feels right, though, that he has been reunited with his compatriot and former MCFC team-mate Elano. Both found themselves sharply at odds with the Mark Hughes regime in that discordant autumn of 2008 - both failed to adjust to the new standards in training, both were fined wages for indiscretions, both looked out of place in a side based on pace and will. For those City fans that hope the Mancini era will herald a return to the pre-Hughes relaxation and fun factor, Galatasaray will provide a fascinating 'might have been.'

And it's a great place for him. He joins not just Elano but Shabani Nonda, Harry Kewell, Milan Baros, Tobias Linderoth and now Lucas Neill in the Premier League could-have-made-its at the Ali Sami Yen. Crucially for Elano and Jô they are managed by Frank Rijkaard, a man who achieved great things with a group of lazy Brazilians at Barcelona.

Jô back to Everton

Confirmation today of the news that Jô is to spend the whole 2009/10 season on loan at Goodison Park. For him to go back without even a second look close up from Mark Hughes shows how far he is from our long term plans. It would now be quite a surprise ever to see him again at City: he's contracted until 2012 but I can't forsee Hughes taking him back in summer 2010.

I know it pays to dampen expectations on big money buys but did anyone imagine that our then record £19m signing would only score one Premier League goal for us? Me neither.

Tuesday transfer rumours

Nothing on Lúcio, but still one or two points of interest this morning.

The first concerns the player whom Lúcio would presumably replace - Richard Dunne. It's the same 'Sunderland £4m bid' story we've been hearing for weeks, but with a twist: a quote from Niall Quinn - Sunderland Chairman, City legend and Roque Santa Cruz of the 1990s. He said of his former Republic teammate:

'He is a player who is an excellent footballer but he is a Man City player until they say any different and we stand in a line but we are not the only admirers but if there is a chink of light we will get through it if we can. We probably need a few men and spirited people to lift what we have and of course Richard Dunne would fit the bill.'

It seems increasingly likely that Dunne will leave, which will be both a terrible shame and a necessary step in the right direction. But I'll have more to say when this goes through.

The other departure mentioned today will be less of a shame: widely reported news that Jô is to spend the 2009/10 season on loan at Everton. He's not the worst striker we've ever had at City, but he is the worst £19m one. It only took a few games and one mis-timed night out for Hughes to really turn against him, and from that point he didn't have a future at City. When it became clear that Hughes wouldn't be replaced by Frank Rijkaard - a man who did great things with lazy Brazilians - Jô's future was only ever going to be away from City.

Nothing really on John Terry. We all await his public statement.

City trio in Brazil squad

City's three Brazil stars (pace Glauber Berti) are all included in Dunga's squad for upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

Robinho, Elano and Jô all made the cut, while former City transfer target Ronaldinho has been dropped. Unfortunately for City fans, the inclusions of Mancini, Kaka and Pato may push Elano and Jô down the pecking order somewhat.

On Sunday 12th October, Brazil travel to Venezuela for what I think is a 21.30 BST kickoff. The second game is Colombia at home on the evening of Wednesday 15th. I fear the kick off will be 01.50 BST (on Thursday morning). I'll try to watch at least one of these games and report on it here, work/social life permitting.

Zabaleta's finest hour

Pablo Zabaleta made his name captaining Argentina to victory in the 2005 Fifa World Youth Championship (now known as the U20 World Cup).

His team, featuring Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero and Fernando Gago, beat Nigeria 2-1 in the final. Soon after the tournament Zabaleta got his big move from San Lorenzo to RCD Espanyol.

Zabaleta's personal triumph, however, came in the semi-final against Brazil. Messi's genius put them 1-0 ahead early on, and the game looked safe until Renato's 75th minute equaliser. Deep into stoppage time, the game looked set for another thirty minutes. Play this video from 1:15 to see Zabaleta's reponse.



If you want to watch more YouTube action of City players scoring in big games, Jô has scored in two Russian Cup Finals and two Russian Super Cups: for links to all that footage click HERE.

Robinho scores in Brazil's 3-0 win

I stayed up last night to watch City's three Brazilians in action. I know I should have posted this at the time, but the game didn't finish until 03.57am.

Robinho started on the right hand side of a 4-3-3 for Brazil. In a quick and open game, he impressed with his willingness to run at defenders. After nine minutes, a lovely one-two with Luis Fabiano put Robinho through on goal, but he shot tamely at the Chile keeper's legs. (Video here).

He produced a perfect chipped pass to a marginally offside Ronaldinho, but was otherwise quiet for most the rest of the first half, as Luis Fabiano put Brazil into a 1-0 lead.

But seconds before half time, Fabiano took down a long ball and laid the ball off to Robinho, whose finish from the edge of the box was exquisite. Watch it HERE.

One minute in the second half, Brazilian left back Kleber was sent off. This led to Ronaldinho's withdrawal for anouther defender, leaving Robinho up front alongside Fabiano in a 4-3-2 formation. He didn't see as much of the ball, although when Chile also went down to 10 men the game became more open again. His one chance, a header from a Maicon cross, went well wide.

On 77 minutes, Diego came off for Elano, who charged around everywhere but didn't come up with anything spectacular. Five minutes later Luis Fabiano scored his second and Brazil's third.

But with four minutes remaining Luis Fabiano was replaced up front by Jô. And the two City players operating together up front showed us what we can expect this year. In the last minute of normal time, Robinho surged from midfield and played a perfect through ball for Jô. His right foot shot was destined for the bottom corner but was turned round by the keeper.

And in stoppage time a one-two between the players put Robinho in on goal, but his shot went tamely to the keeper.

Very promising signs though. The only way to play Robinho, Petrov and Wright-Phillips in the same team is to use Robinho as a second striker behind Jô: a partnership which showed impressive signs this evening.


Robinho's chance after 0.09, goal after 1.07

Hughes on Jô

Mark Hughes had some very nice things to say about Jô after today's win.

He told Sky Sports:

I thought Jô was excellent today. He led the line really intelligently, showed power when he had to, and he’ll be better because of the performance he put in today. People will start to see what a good player he is now.

And said in his BBC interview:

I was really pleased with his performance. Everybody saw the qualities that he had. He led the line really intelligently, with good power and good strength. Resisted challenges, brought people into the game. We had a real target up there, so we knew when we played up to Jô that the ball would stick. So that encouraged the guys behind him to join in and make things happen.

Jô scores twice as Brazil bag bronze

City striker Jô was started today in the Bronze medal match with Belgium, and he rewarded coach Dunga with two goals in a 3-0 win.

The first was an awkward header from close in, early in the second half. In the dying moments he raced clear to slam home his second.

We can only hope this boosts his confidence, as he flies back to Manchester this weekend, poised to lead the line in the crunch match in Denmark next Thursday.

First goal video HERE.

Second goal HERE.

Jô plays in Brazil win

Jô came on for the last fifteen minutes of Brazil's 1-0 defeat of Belgium. His only significant touch of the ball was to put the ball in the net from close range, but the goal was correctly disallowed for offside.

Jô scores in Brazil friendly win

In an Olympics warm up match today, City striker Jô bagged his first ever international goal. Brazil were already 2-0 up against Singapore thanks to goals from Diego and Ronaldinho, before Jô nodded in a cross from Thiago Neves to make it three.

(From the invaluable 101greatgoals.com)

Jo to miss start of season!

Bad news this evening: Jo is in the Brazil squad for the Olympics.

This might be exciting for those who need the esteem boost of seeing City players lining up alongside Robinho, Ronaldinho et al (it's not like Elano was at the Copa America or anything...), but given how much we paid for him it's rather frustrating.

The schedule for the tournament is here. Brazil have group matches against Belgium on August 7th, New Zealand on the 10th and then China on the 13th. Presuming they get through (which does not require much of a bold predictive leap) they ought to have a quarter-final on the 16th (against Cameroon or South Korea) and then a semi-final on the 19th - probably against Argentina. The final is on August 23rd.

If the squad have to convene a few days before the Belgium match, Jo is surely out of the Celtic friendly, which takes place on August 6th - the day before Brazil's first game. It is possible that Jo will miss the earlier Stockport County friendly (2nd August), depending on when he has to leave for Beijing. The Milan friendly is next to go - falling the day before the New Zealand match. From here it gets more and more vexing: the UEFA Cup Second Qualifying Round 1st leg (tempting fate, I know) is Thursday 14th August. Even a shock group stage exit for Brazil will presumably rule Jo out of this. The first league game at Villa Park (either Saturday 16th or Sunday 17th) clashes with the quarter-final. The first home league game, entertaining West Ham, is on the 23rd - the day of the final. Presuming Brazil reach that, there is then a five day gap before the potentially crucial UEFA Cup 2nd leg.

So, presuming Brazil do as well as they ought to, and play the whole length of the tournament, Jo will miss: the two glamour friendlies, the UEFA Cup Second Qualifying Round 1st leg, and the first two league games! If we can get him back for the UEFA Cup Second Qualifying Round 2nd leg we will have done well. How frustrating! Hughes (and Cook) may have to take action on this - thousands of City fans certainly will be hoping that they do. But in one of his first interviews at the club, Hughes made comments on the issue of club/country disputes, telling the official website:

"International football is important to the individuals involved ... But from the club manager's point of view, you are selfish on occasions, you'd prefer that they limit their commitments sometimes and come back fit and well, but that's not always an easy task."

So maybe we haven't heard the last of this yet.

At last....

Almost one month since Garry Cook's 'expect to see Jo in a week' comments, we have confirmed and unveiled the £19million hitman. I'm really excited. Not merely because it's the biggest buy of the summer so far, and the biggest in our history, but because of the quality of the player before. It is true that any eight figure transfer fee represents a significant risk, but I am sure that Jo is a good investment.

I've already written at length about his record HERE - have a look and see how successful he's already been in his career. One Brazilian league, one Russian league, two Russian Cups and two Russian Super Cups and he's only just turned 21. Unsurprisingly, YouTube is full of footage of Jo, both compilations and highlights of the big games in which Jo has starred. (He's played in two cup finals and two Super Cups and scored in all four games). I've found some of these clips - see HERE and HERE.

Jo has been given the number 14 shirt, which I guess makes Paul Dickov's staying on at the club unlikely. More interestingly, it keeps both the 9 and 10 shirts open for next year. With Emile Mpenza on his way out and Rolando Bianchi also looking for a move, it raises hopes for more striker purchases. Presumably the 10 is being saved for Ronaldinho should he sign, but 9? Even with Jo I still think we could do another experienced forward on the books - ideally Milito but there are others. Another possibility would be the promotion of Valeri Bozhinov from 29 or Benjani from 27 to the number 9 jersey. Whilst ambivalent about Benjani, the possibility of Bozhinov staying and playing next season would, for me at least, feel like a new transfer.

Further to what I've already written about him, Jo's youth is an important thing to consider. Despite his four years of senior football so far and his significant trophy haul, he's younger than many of our 'young' players. Born in March 1987, he's four months younger than Onuoha, roughly seven months younger than both Fernandes and Stephen Ireland and more than one year younger than Corluka. Of the first team squad, Joe Hart is one month younger than his almost namesake, leaving only the 1988 births: Johnson, Richards and Caicedo.

Mail says Jo done deal!

This has just popped up on my Newsnow feed: a Daily Mail piece saying Jo is a done deal.

Jo completed his £18million move to Manchester City yesterday [Tuesday] and prepared to launch a new Eastlands era against part-timers from the Faroe Islands.

The Brazil front-runner will be unveiled today [Wednesday] after City finally received clearance to sign him from CSKA Moscow for £7m upfront, with the rest in instalments.

There are two possible explanations for this.

Either this is the result of the Daily Mail being tipped off by someone inside MCFC that the deal is done, and getting the news out there first. The Mail has a good record with getting City stories right (infinitely better than the Manchester Evening News, whose journalism involves newsnow, google and bad writing), although their City scoops tend to be Ian Ladyman. This piece is by John Edwards. So it's possible.

Or, the Mail think that it's possible Jo will be unveiled Wednesday (let's face it, it is) and have tried to jump the gun on this one. By disguising prediction as inevitability, and hoping that they may be subsequently proved right, they hope to be seen as prophetic tomorrow. And if it doesn't happen, they hope the short memories of Daily Mail readers will get them off the hook.

I've spent the last month desperately refreshing mcfc.co.uk for hope of a signing being announced. And I'm now in the position of relying on the good faith and honesty of the Daily Mail for salvation.

Yet more Jo YouTube

An important point to remember about Jo is his big game record: he's won two Russian SuperCups (2006 and 2007) and two Russian Cups (2006 and 2008), and scored and starred in all four finals. Even more impressive, three of those four finals took place before Jo's twenty first birthday. Anyway, if you want to know more, read my big piece on him HERE.

I've been spending time looking for those games on YouTube, with some success. Here are the Russian Cup Finals:
2006: CSKA Moscow 3 - 0 Spartak Moscow, two goals from Jo
2008: CSKA Moscow 2 - 2 FC Amkar Perm (CSKA won 4-1 on pens), assist and goal from Jo plus penalty

Some more searching this morning has led me to the highlights of the 2007 Russian SuperCup. CSKA beat Spartak Moscow 4-2, Jo scoring CSKA's third and fourth goals. If you can't be bothered to watch the whole thing start from 3:42 to see both goals.

More on Jo

• If you haven't read my piece on Jo, I recommend it.

• The Russian Premier League is, according to UEFA Coefficients, the sixth strongest league in Europe. Stronger than Portugal or Holland. So for Jo to have scored 30 in 53 RPL games is an impressive record, given the honour bestowed on those who have similarly succeeded in the Eredivisie or the Bwinliga.

• I missed this YouTube earlier, it's from CSKA Moscow losing 4-2 at Inter last year. Run the video from 1:21 and see what Jo can do...

• This is like the other compilation, but a bit more fun.

Jo

Attention has been focussed, very understandably, on Jo in recent days.

£19million is an awful lot of money. And nobody really knows anything about him, or at least, not enough to feel comfortable with the amount being spent on him.

Here is some information which will hopefully make you feel better.

Starting his career at Brazilian club Corinthians, he won the Brazilian Cup in his first season playing senior football, in 2002. Increasingly settled into the side, his strike partnership with Carlos Tevez fired Corinthians to the Brazilian Serie A title in 2005. Jo's record for the Corinthians senior team is 13 goals in 81 games. He signed for CSKA Moscow in late 2005, having only just turned eighteen, but not in time to play any part in that year's Russian Premier League - which runs from March to November each season.

Jo won his first trophy with CSKA in only his second game - scoring the winner in the 3-2 defeat of Spartak Moscow in the Russian Super Cup. The 2006 Russian Premier League (from here, RPL) was a further triumph for CSKA and Jo in particular. CSKA won the title by virtue of having won more games than Spartak Moscow, with whom they were tied on points. Jo played 18 of the 30 league matches, and scored 14 goals (including four penalties). He was the second highest scorer in the RPL that year, the winner being Spartak's Roman Pavlyuchenko who scored 18. A perfect first season was capped with CSKA's triumph in the Russian Cup. Jo scored twice in the 4-1 quarter final second leg defeat of Rubin (5-2 on aggregate). After beating Zenit St Petersburg 4-0 over two legs in the semis, CSKA faced Spartak Moscow in the final. In the cup as in the league, CSKA triumphed over their local rivals, winning 3-0. Jo scored twice. Report here. YouTube here.

The 2007 season started with yet another triumph for silverware over Spartak Moscow. The Super Cup, the first match of the season, was CSKA's for the second year running as they beat Spartak 4-2: Jo scoring the third and fourth goals. The Russian Premier League campaign was not quite so successful though. CSKA finished in third place, six points behind Spartak Moscow and eight behind the winners, Zenit St Petersburg. And for the second consecutive year, Jo missed out on the RPL Top Scorer to Pavlyuchenko. Jo bagged 13 goals in 27 in the league: but Pavlyuchenko (and FC Moscow's Roman Adamov) each scored 14. There was no success in the cup either, as CSKA crashed out in the last sixteen to Krylya Sovetov Samara 2-0 over two legs. The end of 2007 did see some European fame for Jo, as he scored in both Champions League group games against Inter Milan. No medals for Jo then, in 2007, although he was rewarded with his first and only international cap in June.

What will (hopefully) prove to be his final year in Moscow has been mixed so far. With the RPL season one third of the way through so far, CSKA are in seventh place, with 15 points from 9 games. Jo has played 7 of those matches and scored 3 league goals. He will leave Moscow on a high though. Just last month, he won his second Russian Cup medal. CSKA faced FC Amkar Perm in the final. 2-0 down with twenty five minutes left, Jo set up Wagner Love for 2-1 before himself snatching a late equaliser, taking the game to extra time. It eventually came down to penalties, and Jo scored his as CSKA triumphed 4-1. It will forever be known as 'the Jo final', and you can see YouTube of the game here.

So in two and a bit seasons at CSKA, Jo has won one Premier League, two Russian Cups and two Super Cups. He has scored 30 in 53 in the league, and 44 in 77 in all competitions. He has twice scored the second largest number of goals in the league (albeit with two players ahead of him in 2007). Moreover, he is clearly a big game player. He scored the winning goals in both the 2006 and 2007 Super Cups, and scored in the Russian Cup finals of 2006 and 2008 - whilst also converting his penalty in the 2008 final shoot out.

If the two cup final YouTubes aren't enough, here is a more general one:



Whilst writing this, I've become very excited about signing him. I hope you now are too.