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.

Lescott out, Barry a doubt

Mixed news for two of our England World Cup hopefuls ahead of tomorrow night's game. Joleon Lescott won't play tomorrow, nor at the Boleyn Ground on Sunday - and as such his participation this summer must be unlikely.

Gareth Barry is training today and will have a fitness test tomorrow. But presumably he will be available for West Ham - he could well play alongside Vieira in a 4-5-1 if we only need a draw - and as such will go to the World Cup.

Lescott out for 4-5 weeks

Roberto Mancini has confirmed that Lescott's hamstring injury will put him out for between four and five weeks:

He said: "I think there is a good chance that Joleon could play in the last two weeks of the season. Javi played well at Fulham but we may need a few players to come into the side.

This is a real blow. After a difficult start he's probably been our best defender this season - certainly since he came back from his knee injury in January. We now face our run-in, including games with Manchester United and Arsenal, without him. So it's Kolo Touré and Vincent Kompany at centre back and Javi Garrido at left back for the forseeable future.

It's also going to jeapordise Lescott's place on the plane to South Africa, which is itself a real shame.

Lescott injured

Our in-form defender has picked up an injury at the worst possible time. No one seems to know how long he'll be out for, but he certainly won't play against Everton tomorrow evening.

Joleon was set to play left-back on Sunday before his injury, which betrays a surprising willingness from Mancini to break up the Lescott/Kompany pairing which has done so well recently. But I'm sure it will be Kompany and Kolo Touré again tomorrow, with Javi Garrido again at left back.

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.

TLDORC February awards

Not as dramatic as January but still notable, unpredictable and possibly momentous. It was a month overshadowed by our stoppage time Carling Cup semi-final exit at Old Trafford in late January. For the first six games we looked like a team that had all confidence and momentum drawn from them by our second last-gasp defeat at Old Trafford of the season. Our first six games of the season saw six very inspid performances. We lost at the KC Stadium before managing to beat a very limited Bolton side at home without really convincing. Then we threw away a lead to draw our home cup tie with Stoke, before going to the Britannia in the Premier League and salvaging a 1-1. Another draw followed - a dire 0-0 with Liverpool before we went back to Stoke for our cup replay and lost in extra time. Terrible preparation, all that, for a trip to the impenetrable Stamford Bridge. But we managed to pull off the most thrilling away win since the famous 4-1 at Ewood Park ten years ago. And suddenly we look like we have the confidence and momentum which might just propel us to fourth.

Hull City (a) 1-2 (thoughts, ratings, reax, more reax)
Bolton Wanderers (h) 2-0 (thoughts, ratings, reax)
Stoke City (h) 1-1 (thoughts, ratings, reax)
Stoke City (a) 1-1 (thoughts, ratings, reax)
Liverpool (h) 0-0 (thoughts, ratings, reax)
Stoke City (a) 1-3 (thoughts, ratings, reax)
Chelsea (a) 4-2 (thoughts, ratings, reax)

Player of the Month

There's a few decent candidates here - thanks to the exciting start of Adam Johnson, the versatility of Pablo Zabaleta and Vincent Kompany, and the resilience of Wayne Bridge in what have clearly been very difficult circumstances. Honourable mentions for all of them. But I'm going for Joleon Lescott. He came back into the side in February after two months out with a knee injury, having missed the drama of both the Hughes/Mancini handover and the League Cup semi-final.

And since he's come back he's been excellent. He really looks like the complete set: very strong, dominant in the air, and quick across the pitch. He can bring the ball out from the back comfortably and has cut out the positional and concentration errors that blighted his first few months at City. Solid and consistent in the build-up to yesterday, at Stamford Bridge he was exceptional, dealing with Drogba as well as anyone this season.

(It's worth at least wondering how far Lescott's upturn of form has been due to the coaching of Mancini? Does the shadow training mean that the centre-backs are less exposed than they were under Hughes, and that this therefore makes Lescott's job easier? One other possible factor is his playing with Vincent Kompany now rather than Kolo Touré, who is a better, bolder defender and a better communicator than the club captain.)

Lescott will always find it difficult because of his £24m price tag. People will always remind him that he's not 2.4 times as good as Thomas Vermaelen, or 4.8 times as good as Roger Johnson or Richard Dunne. But all Lescott can do is be the best he can be, fulfill his talents as far as he can. This month he's done that. If he continues to do so he might make the World Cup squad, and go on to be a real success as a City player.

Performance of the month

It should really be Carlitos' masterclass at Stamford Bridge yesterday. But it's not. It's Adam Johnson's debut against Bolton. It was exhilarating stuff - good old fashioned wingplay from the best young English winger on the market. He gave the Bolton back four nightmares and won the penalty that sent us ahead. Added to Bellamy, SWP and Martin Petrov and we've got some excellent options in wide positions.

Goal of the month

Adebayor's control and volley in one fluid movement against Bolton to win us that game. Although Tevez embarrassing Terry to get our crucial equaliser at Chelsea was also good.

No Kolo

One of the best things about yesterday was the sight of the two best centre backs at the club - Joleon Lescott and Vincent Kompany - playing together in the heart of our defence. Aside from Kompany nearly conceding a penalty to Yossi Benayoun, they were very solid against an admittedly witless Liverpool side.

I'm afraid to say that we're a better team without our club captain Kolo Touré in the side. Not only does Vincent Kompany improve on Touré's defensive capabilities, but Shay Given improves on his captaincy.

I'd like to see this arrangement survive for the rest of the season. (I am sure that in the summer we will spend big on a new centre back, regardless of who the manager is.) But I imagine that at least one of Lescott or Kompany will suffer an injury recurrence. And then there is Kompany's versatility - he could well lose his place in defence by getting moved into midfield.

But they've got Ricardo Fuller and Mamady Sidibé to contend with in mid-week, which isn't the worst preparation in the world for Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka on Saturday. I may have to revise my opinion after those games.

Lescott out for 5-6 weeks

From the official site:

Joleon had a ten-minute operation to remove the rogue chip of bone and will start his recovery programme in a couple of weeks after a precautionary delay for natural wear and tear on the knee.

Wednesday night's defeat at White Hart Lane was the first game he had missed since arriving from Everton and making his debut in the 2-0 Carling Cup victory at Crystal Palace in August.

Manager Mark Hughes, already without Ivory Coast centre-half Kolo Toure during January, hopes Lescott will be back in five to six weeks but could move for a defender in the transfer window.

This can only be bad news. The reason our defence has been so bad this season is because Lescott and Touré have failed to gel properly. Despite all the criticism he's been getting, he is not inherently a bad player. There are certainly questions to be asked of why it has taken so long for them to function as a unit (whereas Richard Dunne and James Collins have managed it at Villa very quickly), but a long disruption - particularly with Kolo on international duty - can only be a bad thing. Plus side, we get a new defender to moan about in January. My money's on Upson. Although if we're insistent on buying from the Premier League I'm increasingly impressed with that new Irish guy at Aston Villa...

Lescott discusses City move

Joleon Lescott has a big interview with Matt Lawton in the Daily Mail today. He discusses his move to City:

‘Moving to City was one of the best days of my life because it was something I wanted,’ he says. ‘It wasn’t about the money. I remember hearing that one of the coaches at Everton, someone I’d worked with every day, had said that about me and I thought, “How can you say that when you know me as well as you do?”.

‘Believe me, I had a great contract at Everton. I didn’t need any more. But City represented a chance to achieve real success faster than it was going to happen at Everton.

And how much he's enjoying it at the club so far:

‘At City it’s just brilliant, the way the dressing room has gelled. I think it’s the sheer sense of excitement among all the lads, this feeling that we can achieve things and not just in the future but straight away.

‘You can sense the excitement among the fans, too. They are enjoying watching players like Carlos Tevez and Emmanuel Adebayor as much as I’m enjoying
playing and training with them.’

SWP scores for England

Fabio Capello played an experimental eleven against Belarus this evening, which meant that City stars Wayne Bridge and Shaun Wright-Phillips paired up down the left hand side. (Gareth Barry also played, but he's a regular now.) None were particularly impressive, Barry was the best of the three, breaking down play and firing passes all over the pitch. He got a pre-assist after three minutes, sliding through Gabriel Agbonlahor who crossed for Peter Crouch to put us 1-0 up.

It was Wright-Phillips, though, who got on the teamsheet scoresheet (thanks Dominic). Roughly half way through the second half a David Beckham corner broke to him on the edge of the box and he fired a long, low shot into the bottom corner. He had worked hard all evening but I am not sure that he did enough to convince Capello that he is a serious option for the left wing, given that Joe Cole and James Milner can both play there too.

We could see four City players in the World Cup squad: Barry, SWP, Bridge and Lescott. Not to mention Micah Richards. But the only one whose place is assured now is Barry. The others are all 50/50 shots or worse.

5/11

A quick point. There has been much media attention this week on England 2 - 3 Croatia from almost two years ago: one of the lowest points in the recent history of the national side.

Take a look at the team: Carson, Richards, Campbell, Lescott, Bridge, Wright-Phillips (Beckham 46), Gerrard, Barry (Defoe 46), Lampard, Joe Cole (Bent 80), Crouch.

Anything stand out?

Lescott's ambitions

I might not, but Lescott certainly thinks we can get top four this year:

"I'm excited to have joined a great club, and after talking to Mark Hughes I know that the Club's ambitions and mine are similar. Now I just want to get ou there with the lads.

"It was time for me to make the change, and my target now is to just play as many games as I can this season - you don't join a big club like this and expect to go straight in.

"We want to finish as high as we can in the League of course, and fourth place is achievable when you look around the dressing-room. We've signed players from some of the biggest clubs in the world, and that shows the ambition here.

"I think we're better equipped than Everton to finish fourth. I reached the FA Cup Final last season, which is an achievement. The next step is to win a trophy. I sense that feeling here.

Lescott, at last

At least it's over. We've spent the last few months waiting for this transfer to go through; it's been dull, drawn out, and damaging to our reputation in the game. But it all finished this evening, and I suppose that we've won.

It's certainly good news for Hughes. To have taken one of the prized assets of another team who finished ahead of us last season is a real achievement. To be a sufficiently attractive prospect that top players of top six clubs are willing to force moves to City is not only good news in the present, but points to a potential future - presuming we continue to progress - when the world's elite players, who have thus far rejected City, may be enticed to come to Eastlands.

And, of course, it's good news for our defence. Lescott may not be John Terry but he's also not Richard Dunne. Hughes has long identified a left-sided centre half as a top priority and, ultimately, we have to defer to him on these issues. Lescott has the top six Premier League experience of which Hughes has made such a fetish this summer. In his three seasons at Goodison Park Everton finished sixth and then fifth and then fifth. He's powerful, quick, good in the air and can play at left back too. I've no doubt that City will be a better team with him in.

But there are other reasons which make me less than enthusiastic about this deal. Apart from anything else, the fee is ridiculous. Of all the purchases we have made this summer, this is the price least proportionate to market value that we have paid. 150% of market value is one thing, but 200% is quite another. I'm not worrying about this particular few million pounds, but it is a simple fact of the marketplace that if we get a reputation for paying 200% of market value then we will get asked to pay as much in future. This is a cycle which can get out of hand if left unchecked. Next time we go for David Villa what is to stop Valencia asking for €100m, given that they almost got €50m from Real and Barcelona this summer? It's not healthy.

And then there's Everton. Let's not forget that they finished thirteen points ahead of us last season. Since then we've certainly improved, and they've lost their second best centre back. But David Moyes now has £24m to invest in the playing squad. This is the man that picked up Mikel Arteta for £2m, Tim Cahill for £1.5m, Phil Jagielka for £4m and Lescott himself for the same fee. He's already spent some of the money on Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, and is set to move for City legend Sylvain Distin to replace Lescott. Should Moyes succeed in bringing in four or five good players who bed into the squad well (as most Moyes signings do), we can have little complaint if they give us a real battle for the Europa League spots.

And what of Nedum Onuoha? One of my main reasons for supporting the purchase of Sylvain Distin rather than Lescott was that a 31 year old would retard the progress of Onuoha less than a 27 year old. As well as Lescott on a five year deal, we have Kolo Touré signed on until 2013. How exactly Nedum Onuha, the great hope of the Academy, fits into our future plans lies unclear. If we make Europe this season then he can perform the third centre-back role Jonny Evans has United - playing fifteen or so games each year depending on injuries and rotation. But it's neither what he needs nor what he deserves.

A key part of being a mature football fan is the acknowledgement of the gulf of knowledge and understanding between the supporters and the management. Hughes and his team know so much more about these issues than I do that my quibbling is essentially irrelevant. If Hughes says that Lescott is a good buy and good business, then he has to be respected. But I can't pretend I'm not rather ambivalent about this one.

Lescott confirmed

Confirmed by the club, on a five year deal.

Hughes is pleased:

"I am absolutely delighted to welcome Joleon to Manchester City. He is an England international who has proved his Premier League ability during his time at Everton," said the Blues boss.

"In bringing Joleon to the Club I feel we have recruited a defender of the very highest quality. He can play in a number of defensive positions, and I’m positive he will make a significant impact for us."

Ogden: Lescott done

This is only breaking news in so far as Wednesday's Telegraph has been published online and the other 'papers have not, but Mark Ogden's report says that a deal is now done after a day of wrangling:

Despite Lescott, 27, agreeing personal terms and passing a medical in Manchester on Monday, City were forced to hold further talks with the player’s representatives before finally wrapping up the transfer on Tuesday evening.

The England defender has agreed a five-year contract worth £90,000 a week at Eastlands and he could make his debut in the Premier League encounter with Portsmouth at Fratton Park on Sunday.

City had hoped to unveil Lescott officially at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, but talks relating to fees owed as a result of negotiations resulted in the planned unveiling being shelved.

This has clearly gone to the papers today before City have made an official announcement, so I'm sure that when Daniel Taylor / Ian Herbert / Ian Ladyman's articles all go up we'll hear more about it. But at least the hitch has been ironed out.

UPDATE: Not Daniel Taylor but Andy Hunter in the Guardian has a very similar piece:

Manchester City took their summer spending to a staggering £120m tonight when they resolved a late hitch over Joleon Lescott's protracted move from Everton to add the England international to their ranks for an initial £22m.

The 27-year-old has signed a five-year contract worth £90,000-a-week with City, having passed a medical on Monday afternoon only for the deal to be put on hold for 24 hours due to a dispute over payments owed to the defender's representatives. A further round of talks broke the impasse this evening and Lescott could make his debut for Mark Hughes' team against Portsmouth at Fratton Park on Sunday.

We can all relax now.

Lescott on Tuesday

So it seems from Tuesday's papers.

The Guardian's Andy Hunter reports:

Joleon Lescott is on course to become the second most expensive defender in British football history having passed a medical ahead of his proposed £22m move to Manchester City.

The 27-year-old underwent a series of tests at a private clinic in Manchester this afternoon with City anxious for assurances over the knee problem that delayed the England international's £5m move to Everton from Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2006. Lescott, a virtual ever-present at Goodison Park despite those initial injury fears, has agreed personal terms on a deal that will double his £47,000-a-week salary at Everton and eventually take the fee to £24m with add-ons. Wolves will receive a £2.55m windfall as they are entitled to 15% of any profit made by the Goodison club.

Let's hope for a double unveiling tomorrow.

Lescott fee agreed

As now reported on SkySports.com and our official site.

Interesting move from the club announcing the agreeing of a fee rather than waiting until everything was tied up.

I guess we'll see him presented Monday or Tuesday.

SSN: Lescott medical

Sky Sports News are reporting that Joleon Lescott is undergoing a medical at City. How about a debut on Thursday at Selhurst Park?

Lescott latest

It looks almost done: once Moyes dropped Lescott and asked him to train on his own there was only ever going to be one outcome. And Nick Townsend reports in today's Sunday Times:

The only comment from Everton manager David Moyes yesterday was: “Something might happen very shortly. You might get some news soon, possibly today.” Everton had rejected offers of £15m and £18m but a deal worth about £25m, including add-ons, is understood to have been finalised yesterday, although City are unlikely to have heard the end of the matter.

Over at Eastlands, before City’s 1-0 win over Wolves, City boss Hughes said: “The clubs are speaking, which I’d suggest is a positive sign. Whether or not anything is concluded in the next day or so only time will tell.”

Asked if Lescott would be City’s last defensive recruit, Hughes said: “Not necessarily.”