James Milner to Man City

[Craig_H]

When do keepers **** up against us?

Tim Flowers, Ian Walker

[Craig_H]

why dread it?

they have been **** pre-season and looked ****ing awful against spurs.

they havent gelled as a unit yet and it will take a fair bit of time. the city line up looks disjointed to me and we easily have a better 11.

i'm confident we can do a number against them and wouldnt be sursprised to see roy go 442 with ngog and torres up top.

Agree with this. That's exactly why going there so early could prove a great thing for us.

It's a shame they have a game tonight, an extra 90 minutes to progress in their gelling process.

[SK]

Tim Flowers, Ian Walker

i remember bolton's finnish keeper Jaskelainen(sp?) ****ing up a stevie g "shot" that was going well wide and pushing it in the goal...was that last season or the one before that?

[IN_RAFA_WE_TRUST]

DTguardian Stephen Ireland today: "I guess James Milner thinks the grass is greener on the other side. He's going to get a shock" #MCFC #AVFC


DTguardian Ireland on kids at #MCFC: "They're coming in with £10,000 watches, walking around as if they have played 200 Premier League games"


karlsentk @DTguardian let me know how many sour grapes you've been pelted with during the past 5 minutes

[IN_RAFA_WE_TRUST]

DTguardian Stephen Ireland goes all Roy Keane, in full, on #MCFC, Mancini, loyalty and Rolex culture http://bit.ly/8ZN9Jf #AVFC

[Shaggy]

Stephen Ireland blasts Manchester City after leaving for Aston Villa

• Mancini 'doesn't have a relationship with players'
• Milner 'in for a big shock' when he gets to Eastlands

Stuart James
guardian.co.uk, Friday 20 August 2010 23.00 BST


Stephen Ireland last night lifted the lid on life at Manchester City with an astonishing attack on his former club. Ireland, who joined Aston Villa this week as part of the deal that took James Milner in the opposite direction, tore into everyone, from the manager Roberto Mancini to the club's "money-obsessed" young players, as he revealed the full extent of his anger at the way he has been treated.

The Irishman was prevented from discussing the details of the financial pay-off he received from City because of a confidentiality agreement he has signed – he is believed to have picked up a little more than half the £2m he was demanding – but every other subject was considered fair game as he reeled off a list of complaints that painted a bleak picture of his final 12 months at City. Ireland's tirade included:

• Warning James Milner he will get a shock if he thinks the grass is greener at City

• Claiming Mancini has no relationship with any of the players

• Insisting he is as good as if not better than any of the new signings

• Accusing City's young players of wearing £10,000 watches and believing they are Premier League stars

• Describing City as a club where loyalty is no longer recognised

• Branding Mancini's criticism of his attitude unfair because he was the "best player in training"

It was a remarkable assault on City and will make for uncomfortable reading when the club's officials, players and supporters wade though Ireland's diatribe. The midfielder, who is expected to make his Villa debut at Newcastle on Sunday on his 24th birthday, spoke about City as if they were a club he could not wait to leave. "I think Aston Villa got a really good deal," he said. "I guess James Milner must think the grass is greener on the other side. He's going to get a shock soon because it's definitely not that way.

"I've really landed on my feet here. I think it's a family club and one that will get the best out of me. I am actually shocked at how good it is. I've settled in so well, so fast. Even the young lads are so polite. I'm actually quite shocked with that. At City they're not like that. They're coming in with £10,000 watches on their wrists and walking around as if they have played 200 Premier League games."

Ireland, who has a reputation for spending his own money quite lavishly, came through City's youth system and spent nine years at the club, but he felt as though the service he gave them counted for nothing in the end.

"I don't think loyalty is much in anyone's mind at Manchester City," he said. "I felt like I would be next [to leave]. A lot of players felt like that as well – the homegrown guys."

The former City trainee said he had not spoken a word to Mancini before he left although he suggested there is little communication between the manager and his former team-mates full stop. "He doesn't really build relationships with players," said Ireland. "He brought Patrick Vieira in and when I spoke to him about his relationship [with Mancini], he said he doesn't really have one, and he's worked for him for years. I think that's the way he is."

Ireland won the player of the year award at City in 2009 but he was a peripheral figure last season, in particular after Mancini replaced Mark Hughes in December. When asked about Ireland's lack of action last season, the Italian implied the midfielder had an attitude problem, when he claimed he needed to "change his head". Ireland remains deeply upset with those comments.

"I think that was really unfair, all the players know I was the first player into training and the last to leave," he said. "I worked the hardest. With all the heart-rate monitors and tests, I was always No1, far ahead of everyone. You see the performance in training and I was practically always the best player in training. If [Mancini's] standing there watching that, I don't know how he doesn't see that. All the boys eat chocolate, doughnuts, crisps, fry-ups and all that stuff, whereas I always eat my greens and never even have a pudding."

Another wave of big names have arrived at Eastlands this summer but Ireland claimed he is as good as any of them. "I'm not really a highly-self-confident person," he said, with no hint of what was to come. "But I can honestly say Manchester City have tried to replace me for the last three or four seasons and it's never happened. I can easily say I've got, if not more ability, as much ability as any player they have signed this year."

Ireland described the way his time with City ended as "heartbreaking" but he is adamant he is heading in the right direction. "I can understand why James Milner has gone there but I can tell him that I'm very happy to leave there and come here," he said. "Some people have used the phrase that I've been forced out. I couldn't be more happy to be forced to come here, to a club like Aston Villa."

[IN_RAFA_WE_TRUST]

DTguardian Suddenly getting lots of tweets along lines of 'shark tank', 'hypocrite', 'granny', 'pink trims' and 'pot calling kettle chav'

[wiw]

What a strange interview. Some bits I don't believe, but others are what you'd expect really..I bet the club is full of cunts

[Rudo]

You can see where the lad's coming from.

Worked his way up through the City academy, broke into the first team squad, became a regular for them, one of their best players, next thing you know the Club's turned upside down with a Sugar Daddy owner, new manager comes in, new players, new ****in everything and good, solid players who've worked their balls off for the Club are ****ed off for a bunch of cunts on ridiculous amounts of money!!

It's not nice.

[Craig_H]

It's business, of course it's not nice.

He should man the **** up and enjoy his extravagant salary that he's no doubt getting at Villa, not to mention the lovely £2m golden handshake that City gave him.

[Rudo]

I know but i can see where he's coming from, that's all i'm saying.

To go from being a regular and one of City's best players to being benched as players who aren't even as good as you take your place must be hard to accept.

[Craig_H]

I can think of two million things that could soften the blow.

[JohnDoe]

Ireland is class, and will show it this season. I wish we signed him.

[MrsB]

What a strange interview. Some bits I don't believe, but others are what you'd expect really..I bet the club is full of cunts

I think that's correct. Remember Richard Dunne?

Richard Dunne 'hurt' by Manchester City exit

New Aston Villa signing Richard Dunne has become the latest malcontent to criticise Manchester City.

By Sandy Macaskill, Telegraph.co.uk
Published: 8:24PM BST 03 Sep 2009

The former City captain has accused the club of undermining his nine years of service by the way in which they made it clear to him that he was no longer a valued member of the squad.

The defender, who signed for Villa on Tuesday afternoon for around £6 million, said that City added insult to injury by informing him that he would be sold if an appropriate offer was tabled — because the club needed the money.

Dunne was saluted as the “ultimate professional” who had “conducted himself in an impressive manner throughout my time here” by Mark Hughes this week. The City manager explained that he had sanctioned Dunne’s sale because he had felt it unfair to ask the defender to play second or third fiddle this season.

“It would have been difficult for him to stay given his standing at the club,” Hughes said. “I wasn’t going to stand in his way out of respect for what he has done for City.”

However, the Republic of Ireland international, City’s player of the year for four years running, has suggested than rather than not standing in his way out of admiration, Hughes actively ushered him towards the Eastlands door.

“It was difficult,” the 29 year-old said. “They made it quite clear they didn’t want me there any more.”

Dunne had anticipated the cold shoulder once Joleon Lescott’s move from Everton was confirmed, and he had approached Hughes seeking assurances that his contribution to the club was still valued.

Instead, he was told that if an acceptable bid was lodged it would be accepted, “because [City] needed the money”.

“That was that really,” he added. “I could have played in the reserves for the next three years. I’m not hurt to leave, I’m just hurt the way in which it was dealt with. It wasn’t the best way they went about things.”

Although Dunne insists that he is not bitter, he fired a final shot at his former club, who have experienced years of flux with changing ownership and managers, and continued uncertainty over Hughes’s future, saying he was pleased to have ended up at a club who pride themselves on their solidity.

“I’m just pleased to be here and I’m looking forward to many years playing at a club that’s stable,” he said.

[Bender]

James Milner took Manchester City’s spending to astonishing new levels last night when he finally completed his protracted move.

Milner’s arrival from Aston Villa, in a £26million package that saw Stephen Ireland go the other way, sent City’s total lay-out under mega-rich owner Sheikh Mansour through the £1billion barrier.

The extraordinary spree, described by Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson this week as “kamikaze”, offered conclusive proof - if any more were needed - of City’s relentless drive to become the biggest name in the game.

In the two years since he took control at Eastlands, the oil-rich Arab has used his seemingly limitless financial might to turn City into the richest club in the world and is showing no signs of slowing down.


A total of £355m has been spent on transfers, £487.8m has been committed to wages for new players and those on existing contracts, while the initial takeover itself cost £210m.

Add to that £20m spent on stadium and training ground improvements, and the magical figure of £1.08bn is reached.

City’s Premier League rivals will be pleased to know their spending in this transfer window is over, according to boss Roberto Mancini who was speaking ahead of tonight’s first-leg Europa League play-off tie here against Timisoara of Romania.

Milner’s arrival on a five-year, £120,000-a week-deal came too late for him to be included tonight but he will make his debut in the Premier League next Monday at home against Liverpool.