Skoorb
Alert Team
So here we are......
The historic first ever derby to be played outside Manchester .........discounting of course all those played at The Old Toilet. But we can't expect the rest of the footballing world to understand that so let's just leave that hanging....
Of course this match is the first meeting between the new managers of both clubs. Once colleagues (at Barcelona) and subsequently on rather less friendly terms Guardiola will be facing Maureen again. The latter has played down the significance of this pre-season friendly, once again undertaking his classic lowering of expectations policy just as he did before his new charges took on Dortmund. Just as well really given the four goals they conceded.
Guardiola has so far played the resumption of their relationship with a diplomatic straight bat. He knows full well that this is a phoney war and the real meat and potatoes won't be brought to the table until September when the first league derby will take place. I fully expect the media hype before that fixture to be off the scale - re-runs of their encounters whilst at their respective Spanish clubs will be played over and over again. Their relationship deteriorated badly and although Maureen has been circumspect so far I do not doubt that he will employ every tool in his armoury of the black arts to ramp up the pressure on his bitterest rival. With an ego larger than the stadium his club infests he wants to be the top dog and his corrosive narcissistic tendencies will come creeping out to infect the atmosphere I am sure.
It is going to get ugly as the press conference questions will try to eek out and add to the tension. Any hesitation, pause before replying....blinking even will be a sign of 'stress' and the internet click-baiters will have a field day.
Still, that is for another day.
Monday's fixture remains in doubt due to the heavy - almost biblical - rain that has been dropping upon the Birds Nest stadium recently. We await updates. There will be HUGE pressure to play this fixture and I hope that due consideration is given to the risks it poses to the squads. I recall one pre-season game played on a rain sodden pitch in the far east where we picked up some injuries and with the likes of Aguero, Silva and co back in the frame the potential for something similar occurring to deprive Guardiola of the services of key personnel.....doesn't bear thinking about.
City's squad is bolstered by the return of senior players such as Hart & Sterling fresh from their combined hatchet job on England's chances of Euro 2016 glory. Yes, sadly it was their fault and no one else's that England got dumped from the tournament :012: How many will feature should the match be played is another question. I dare say they will take some part in proceedings if only to give the sponsors their money's worth.
The fixture will only be shown live on the rag's own club channel and I dare anyone on this site to admit they subscribe to that. Details of potential live streams will follow and highlights will be available on Sky Sports commencing at midnight BST. If City win it will be shown only once and the BBC site will bury the report 'below the fold' as they say in Newspaper parlance.....should a different outcome arise I expect it to be on a loop with the BBC site also going bonkers and declaring the first blow to have been struck.
What are your thoughts on the first derby of the Guardiola era?
I want to beat them whatever the status of the games.....
Come On City!!!!
The historic first ever derby to be played outside Manchester .........discounting of course all those played at The Old Toilet. But we can't expect the rest of the footballing world to understand that so let's just leave that hanging....
Of course this match is the first meeting between the new managers of both clubs. Once colleagues (at Barcelona) and subsequently on rather less friendly terms Guardiola will be facing Maureen again. The latter has played down the significance of this pre-season friendly, once again undertaking his classic lowering of expectations policy just as he did before his new charges took on Dortmund. Just as well really given the four goals they conceded.
Guardiola has so far played the resumption of their relationship with a diplomatic straight bat. He knows full well that this is a phoney war and the real meat and potatoes won't be brought to the table until September when the first league derby will take place. I fully expect the media hype before that fixture to be off the scale - re-runs of their encounters whilst at their respective Spanish clubs will be played over and over again. Their relationship deteriorated badly and although Maureen has been circumspect so far I do not doubt that he will employ every tool in his armoury of the black arts to ramp up the pressure on his bitterest rival. With an ego larger than the stadium his club infests he wants to be the top dog and his corrosive narcissistic tendencies will come creeping out to infect the atmosphere I am sure.
It is going to get ugly as the press conference questions will try to eek out and add to the tension. Any hesitation, pause before replying....blinking even will be a sign of 'stress' and the internet click-baiters will have a field day.
Still, that is for another day.
Monday's fixture remains in doubt due to the heavy - almost biblical - rain that has been dropping upon the Birds Nest stadium recently. We await updates. There will be HUGE pressure to play this fixture and I hope that due consideration is given to the risks it poses to the squads. I recall one pre-season game played on a rain sodden pitch in the far east where we picked up some injuries and with the likes of Aguero, Silva and co back in the frame the potential for something similar occurring to deprive Guardiola of the services of key personnel.....doesn't bear thinking about.
City's squad is bolstered by the return of senior players such as Hart & Sterling fresh from their combined hatchet job on England's chances of Euro 2016 glory. Yes, sadly it was their fault and no one else's that England got dumped from the tournament :012: How many will feature should the match be played is another question. I dare say they will take some part in proceedings if only to give the sponsors their money's worth.
The fixture will only be shown live on the rag's own club channel and I dare anyone on this site to admit they subscribe to that. Details of potential live streams will follow and highlights will be available on Sky Sports commencing at midnight BST. If City win it will be shown only once and the BBC site will bury the report 'below the fold' as they say in Newspaper parlance.....should a different outcome arise I expect it to be on a loop with the BBC site also going bonkers and declaring the first blow to have been struck.
What are your thoughts on the first derby of the Guardiola era?
I want to beat them whatever the status of the games.....
Come On City!!!!
