A great way to wrap up a great season

The City kit boss and former Latics star writes every week for Chron Sport
IT was nice for Manchester City to finish the season on a high courtesy of a 2-0 victory at Bolton, which ensured we finished third in the Barclays Premier League.

We have managed to avoid the tricky qualifiers for the Champions League and advance straight to the group stages.

Our brilliant end to the campaign came hot on the heels of the FA Cup final triumph — our first piece of silverware in 35 years.

I suppose it was fitting that Joleon Lescott and Edin Dzeko got our goals at the Reebok Stadium.

Joleon has been superb since the turn of the year, and it helps that he is left-footed, because he and Vincent Kompany compliment each other well at the heart of the defence.

And a goal will have done Edin’s confidence no harm. He has clearly got ability and there is more to come from the lad next season.

It is easy to forget that he has come from a different league and these things take time.

David Silva — one of our star performers — had a slow start to his Eastlands career and found himself on the substitutes’ bench until he adjusted to his new surroundings.

When players come from other teams in Europe it takes a while to get up to speed.

It will be nice to have a break this summer.

Tomorrow we finish shipping out all the kit that is now surplus to requirements, and the following day I fly out to Benidorm, where I will play for a Manchester City veterans’ side along with the likes of Asa Hartford, Peter Barnes and Andy Morrison.

We face a Spanish side in a one-off game, and the rest of the time will be spent relaxing after a long season.



AFTER all the speculation I was not surprised to see Chelsea axe Carlo Ancelotti — but I think they have made a mistake.

The Italian has a great track record. In his first season at Stamford Bridge he won the league title and FA Cup.

Chelsea always looked likely to act after ending this campaign without silverware, but I think it is harsh on Ancelotti.



ELSEWHERE Birmingham City’s relegation came as a real shock.

The last day of the season was unbelievable at the bottom of the table, with Wolves and Wigan both flirting with the danger zone and Blackpool leading at Manchester United, only to lose the match and their top-flight status.

I thought the Tangerines would go down because they have been in freefall for some time, but I was stunned to see Alex McLeish’s men suffer the dreaded drop, just three months after they lifted the League Cup at Wembley.



::And that’s it from me for this season, and I’ll be back in August.