Fixtures coming thick and fast

The City kit boss and former Latics star writes every week for Chron Sport
THE Christmas and New Year fixture schedule is getting a bit crazy, and certainly at City some of the players seem to be feeling the effect.

There’s so many games to squeeze in. Two games in three days, like last weekend can be tough going, and I agree with some managers that some of it isn’t really necessary.

Surely a few more of the league fixtures can be spread out across the season. Look at some of the European leagues, they close down at this time of year. The Bundesliga doesn’t resume until almost the end of January.

We’ve got Swansea tomorrow, then Blackburn in the FA Cup on Saturday, West Ham in the League Cup next Wednesday, and then after the Newcastle match on January 12 we’re going to Abu Dhabi for five days.

It’s heavy going, but certainly City’s squad should always be large enough to cope.

There is the tradition aspect with the Christmas and New Year programme. It’s long been part of the English game that supporters have lots of games to go to over the holidays, and players have always known what’s in store.