Slow start against our bogey team

The City kit manager and former Latics star writes every week for Chron Sport
MANCHESTER City’s Everton jinx struck again last night, with the Toffees recording a 2-1 victory at Eastlands.

David Moyes’ men tend to get the better of us, and we were punished for a slow start.

In the second half we were chasing the game but still had most of the possession, but the visitors defended well.

The best news of the night was undoubtedly Carlos Tevez’s decision to withdraw his transfer request.

The longer he stays and the happier he is, the better it is for the club because he is a fantastic talent.

Looking ahead, despite missing out on top spot, we are still third and there will be plenty of twists and turns in this unpredictable season.

We qualified from the Europa League group stage by topping the group after a 1-1 draw against Juventus, but a fault with our plane forced us to stay an extra night in Turin.

We got to the airport after the match and waited two hours before being told it was not safe to fly back to Manchester, so we headed to a local hotel for a meal before returning to our original accommodation, where we slept.

Luckily there were no such problems the following morning.

Our team, mostly made up of fringe players, performed well in minus seven degrees, and Jo will have gained confidence from scoring our equaliser late in the game.

It was a strange atmosphere playing in front of around 6,000 fans in such a big stadium, but with the Old Lady of Italian football already out of the competition, we knew it would not be a big turnout.

There is a quality depth to our squad now.

That was demonstrated by our ability to call on someone like Patrick Vieira, who is pure class despite his advancing years.

The experience he possesses is absolutely priceless and he played an important part in helping us gain the result we needed.

In the knockout stage we will face Greek side Aris FC, so at least the away leg will be warmer! Which also means taking less gear for the lads.



FORMER City star Stephen Ireland has been strongly linked with a move away from Aston Villa, just four months after joining the club.

Stevie has struggled in the Midlands and has hardly featured at all of late, so I would not be surprised to see him depart Villa Park.

A couple of years ago he won our player of the year after a fantastic season, in which he scored a lot of goals and provided them for his team-mates.

Stevie is still a young player, who possesses a phenomenal football brain.

If he can get back to the level he was at during Mark Hughes’ first campaign at Eastlands, he can really stamp his authority on this league again, I am sure of that.