The Return of Z.Z

[Joss]

Just read through the last couple of updates, looking good, glad to see a switch to monthly updates. You can still add description Ross, maybe if you get rid of the pictures, give the score, and you have more room to describe the key moments of the match

 

[Ross-Galloway]

ZINEDINE CONFIRMS INTEREST IN RUMOURED PLAYERS​

Zinedine Zidane today called for a press conference and was asked mostly about the upcoming January transfer window. He confirmed that some of the players that are linked with joining the Eastlands may join because he is interested in them himself.​

Zinedine: At todays press conference anything I mention about players signing is just an interest, not an official signing. Press conference open. First question?​

Darren Lewis, Daily Mirror: We at the Daily Mirror believe that you and Sheikh Mansour are both interested in signing Alexandre Pato from A.C Milan for a fee of around £90 million. Is this true? and would Pato be a good signing?​

Zinedine: I read this rumour myself in your paper and all I can say to that is that it all depends on the outgoings from the club in January. We currently have seven players that all play as strikers for us at the momment and we have two youngsters out on loan. We also have Wayne (Rooney) coming in, in January. This will mean we have 8 strikers which most people would say is too many. I am an admirer of Pato's ability however and would quite happily sign him if I was given the opportunity.​

Unknown Editor, Daily Star: Is it true that Connor Wickham has agreed personal terms with the club and will be joining in January?​

Zinedine: No, that is not true. Connor (Wickham) has not signed a contract for us and we have not made a bid for him. However, it is something that you could quite possibly see happening in January.​

Dave Gurney, Metro: Reports are floating around in London that Jerome Boateng is unhappy with life in England and would like to move away. It has also been hinted that recently transfer listed Luke Young, Tottenham's Vedran Corluka and Shakhtar Donestk's Darijo Srna are possible candidates to replace him. Is this true?​

Zinedine: Yes, it is true that Jerome (Boateng) is not loving life in England and has recently spoken to me about this. We have both reached an agreement and I can confirm that he has not been transfer listed but that is all Jerome the information that Jerom would like to be released. However, if for some reason Jerome did leave Luke Young would not be good enough to take his place however he could be a backup but both Vedran and Darijo are both easily good enough to replace Jerome.​

David Bond, BBC Sport: How do you feel about all the current campaign against Wayne Rooney and the new 'Judas' nickname?​

Zinedine: This is something that I really did expect, I don't blame the fans for being annoyed but personally they should also be annoyed with Alex Ferguson becuase the reason Wayne decided to want to leave was because he wanted a better contract ,which is understandable with a player of his standard, but Ferguson would not give that and in rage put him available for transfer. I think that it will eventuall wear off just like the Owen Coyle 'Judas' campaign has eventually done. Press conference closed.​

Connor Wickham, Darijo Srna and Vedran Corluka may be wearing Manchester City jersey's after January.​

---------- Post added at 08:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:56 PM ----------

Next update for November will either be up later tonight or early tommorow...

 

[Clark_Messi]

Good update mate (Y)

 

[dazamfc]

looking good mate.Keep it up.

 

[kyle93]

Liking the story mate (Y)..keep it up

 

[Zaiaz]

Good update

 

[Ross-Galloway]

November was a month with not as many matches as October had. However, there were some good results and we went into the month third and came out of the month third.

​

The first game of the month was against Ipswich Town in the Carling Cup Fourth Round. If we won this match we would go into the quarter finals and that would be a great achievement for me because it would be my first quarter final in charge as manager. Thankfully we made it to the quarter finals because we beat Ipswich 2-1. Omer Toprak opened the scoring in the 46th minute after a brilliant assist by Luka Modric. Ipswich then equalised in the 74th minute and then Franck Ribery bounced back for City scoring in the 79th minute to win the game for us. Franck Ribery went home happily after being announced as Man of the Match.

Soon after the game they did the draw for the Carling Cup quarter finals and we drew West Ham United. A challenge, but nothing my boys wouldn't be able to handle.

It was also announced later that week that Arsene Wenger had been sacked as manager of Arsenal after they had a streak of bad results. A few days later they then announced former Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini as manager. Also, that day Joe Hart agreed on a new contract that was five years long and 40K a week. I had to sign a new one because he was becoming England's first choice and thought he deserved a pay rise so I gave it too him to stop any problems.

The second game of the month was against shockingly first place Wigan Athletic. It appeared that they were playing extremely well under their new manager Alan Curbishely but I believe the reason they were playing so well was because they were playing for Roberto Martinez up in heaven. Because of their current good form we managed to get a 2-2 draw. Olivier Kapo opened the scoring for them in the 4th minute, quite an embaressment for our defence. However new fan favourite Edin Dzeko soon equalised in the 6th minute. Carlos Tevez then made it 2-1 in the 27th minute and we kept the lead untill Titus Bramble scored in the 69th minute to equalise. Edin Dzeko was announced as Man of the Match.

Our last game of the month was against a team that we had just drawn in the Carling Cup, West Ham. This in a way was a tester match for the lads and they got used to West Ham's style of play. We walked home winners in this match after stealing a 1-0 win. However, there was something bad, Giorgio Chiellini got a red card in the 1st minute, I think that's a new record. That means he won't be able to play in the next game against West Ham in the Carling Cup. The ref was even though because he did give Scott Parker his second yellow of the game in the 75th minute. The only goalscorer in this game was Edin Dzeko who scored in the 40th minute. After that game Edin Dzeko then thanked me for his form this season and said that if it wasn't for me he wouldn't be playing as well as he is. This really made me smile.

So, we finished the month third, the same place we started. We also drew Barnsley in the F.A Cup Third Round and for once we finished the month with no injuries.

Manager's Player of the Month

Edin Dzeko​

---------- Post added at 09:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:39 PM ----------

New layout and writing any better guys??

 

[NunoPeixinho]

Great update mate, keep it going

 

[Clark_Messi]

Sorry mate but I can't update tongiht and won't be able to until tomorrow night.
Good update though.
Sorry

 

[Pugman]

Good story

 

[Ross-Galloway]

MAN CITY TRANSFER RUMOURS​

Bayern Munich are interested in upset Manchester City goalkeeper Shay Given (Various)​

Wayne Bridge will sign for Sunderland in January for a fee of around £8M (The Sun)​

John Terry want's to join Man City in their title race for a fee of around £40M (Daily Mirror)​

Man City are looking at Lassana Diarra who has fallen down the rankings (Daily Mail)​

Real Madrid defender Pepe is looking for a new club and Man City are interested (Daily Star)​

Eljero Elia has put pen to paper to sign for Man City in January (Various)​

Chelsea scouts have been spotted at Man City's ground and they are interested in Jo (Daily Mirror)

Man City, Man Utd and Everton are all keeping their eyes on recently transfer listed Sebastien Bassong (Various)​

---------- Post added at 11:42 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:27 AM ----------

December, the month of Christmas, the month of gifts. All I wanted for Christmas was for Man City to do well. This month they made me quite happy with the results they got. We went into the month third and came out of the month as a non mover, we stayed third.

The first game of the month was agaisnt West Ham United in the Carling Cup quater finals. This match was nerve racking and even had me on the edge of my seat. (Carlos) Tevez opened the scoring in the 43rd minute with a rocket of a shot, personally I think Rob Green didn't want to save it because he knew that if it clipped his hands it would break his fingers. Or because he thought he might drop the ball.... Dean Ashton then equalised for the Hammers in the 51st minute from a decent volley via a Berhami corner. Dean Ashton then scored 4 minutes later to make it 2-1 to the Hammers. However, our man on form Edin Dzeko soon equalised in the 68th minute. The game then stayed 2-2 throughout the rest of the match and then the referee blew the whistle for 90 minutes.

I had a quick talk with the lads and then extra time started, we got into the game extremely quickly when Fernando Torres scored just five minutes after the kick off. However, Dean Ashton scored again in the 111th minute to equalise. The clock ticked down and then the whistle blew. Penalties. This was my first penalty shoot out as manager, I was just as nervous as I was when I stepped up to take one.

Thamkfully by the end of the penalty shoot out I was the one celebrating, West Ham only managed to get one penalty in through Dean Ashton and we scored all of ours. I could not believe it, we were through to the Semi Finals of the Carling Cup.

​

Our second game of the season was my first Manchester derby as manager, I was really looking forward to this game and was happy at the end when we went home with a draw. Wesley Sneijder got our only goal in the 24th minute from a brilliant free kick, Nani then got Man United's only goal of the game in the 38th minute after Igor (Akinfeev) made a brilliant save from a shot by Anderson but wasn't able to catch the ball and Nani got onto the ball quickly and tapped it in.

Our third game of the month was against Everton, this one ended goal less but shouldn't have done. Yet again the linesman caught us out because of Edin Dzeko disallowed goal. in the 39th minute.

Later that week the World Player of the Year winner and runner up was announced. The World Player of the Year award went to Zlatan Imbrahimovic and the runner up was Xavi. Two players from Barcelona, gotta tell you something.

The next game this month was against Wolves and this was an extremely disapointing result, because the match finished 1-0 to Wolves. Cristophe Berre scored in the 41st minute and then we just couldn't bounce back unfortunately.

Our last game of December was against Birmingham City where we kept a clean sheet and got a good result. The match finished 2-0 to us, with goals coming from Edin Dzeko in the 30th minute and David Silva in the 72nd minute.

Later that night I also signed a new contract with Adam Johnson because the one he had only had 6 months remaining on it and if I didn't sign a new contract he would be eligibale to leave. So, I signed a four year contract with him on 15K a week.
​

Manager's Player of the Month

Joe Hart

Even though Joe Hart didn't even play a full match this month, I brought him on at the begining of extra time against West Ham. I was extremely proud of the way he played in goal during the penalty shoot out. Saving all of their penalties except one.​

 

[Zaiaz]

great update fair play joe hart

 

[Joss]

Good update Ross, keep using the headers though, it looks more professional! And change the font and colour, it hurts my eyes KUTGW

 

[Ross-Galloway]

Good update Ross, keep using the headers though, it looks more professional! And change the font and colour, it hurts my eyes KUTGW

Sorry Joss I may sound like a complete idiot to you but what do you mean by the headers??

 

[Clark_Messi]

"..... and we now go live, to Eastlands for the unveiling of Manchester City's new signings."

The whispers and conversations gave way to silence and flashing lighst as Marcel Desailly approached the table that was the focus of the room, sat down and prepared to speak.

"Hello and welcome. I have been asked on behalf of manager Zinedine Zidane to head this press confrence that will, for the first time, unveil our newest aquisitions as Manchester City players. I know you are all raring for me to get to the players so you can ask them questions so I'll immediately get right to that. First of all, I'd like to unveil one of football's living legends, a player who has graced the Premiership, La Liga, the MLS and Serie A, David Beckham."

David Beckham emerges from the side of the room to take his seat on Desially's right.

"And next, his Los Angeles team mate and USA captain, Landon Donovan".

Donovan emerges from the same place as Beckham and takes the seat to Beckham's left.

"Now, without further adieu, I present one of the best footballers in the world and a magnificent bargain for the club, arriving from all the way across town, Wayne Rooney"

Rooney emerges from the same spot to a rapturous aplause and takes the seat next to Desailly on the other side.

"And now I open the floor to all questions."


"Debbie Rayson from the Daily Mail. Wayne, after completing this move what do you make of claims that you are "Judas"?

Wayne Rooney- Listen, Sir Alex transfer listed me, and Manchester City were kind enough to take me in, I will always remember and love my time at United but i this is a new chapter in my life and I am looking forward to my time at City. I will not answer any more questions on that subject.

David Barry, Sky Sports News- Marcel, do you now think that you have a strong enough squad to win the league or will you continue to strenghten?

Marcel desailly- I think the squad is now strong enough but I would not rule out more transfer activity.

Jenny Stalie, BBC- What about Dajiro Srna, now that Chelsea have revelaed they have made a £6.5 million bid for the Croatian.

Desailly- We are aware of that and will try to outbid Chelsea for his signature. Now if we cluld please stay on topic.

John Smith, The Daily Record- To Wayne and Landon, don't you think it will be difficult to get in a squad with so many attacking options?

Rooney- Yes but I believe in my ability and just want to score goals for this club now.

Donovan- Yeah I'm the same, I think when you step up to a massive club like Manchester City competing for a place is just part of the, ehh, experience and I'll just get my head down in training and hope it'll be rewarded with a first team place.

Harry Cooper, BBC News- David, you have announced that you are retiring at the ned of the season, then why make this transfer?

Beckham- Well yes I am retirning but I still feel I can offer a lot to this club and I will try to make it into the team for the next six months.

Marcel desailly- I've just beem informed that our alloted time is up so thank you for coming and let us all wish well to our new signings, Wayne, Landon and David.

​

 

[Joss]

Sorry Joss I may sound like a complete idiot to you but what do you mean by the headers??

Nope

Instead of explaining it, i'll point you in the right direction:
http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=29300

They're templates, or "headers" in your post to make a story neater, you did it with the Man City Transfer Rumour update, instead of just googling Sky Sports News, look on there, and see what i mean.. it makes it look neater and adds variety, that way you could also (or maybe Clark_Messi could do a monthly Q+A session, like djh does in his story, "Back from the Brink"
http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=45746.

Just some tips, don't take is personally

Nice update Clark... just one more thing, can you bold the names of the questioners and you, to separate the text a little more, and maybe italic what you say in PC's for the same reason, otherwise can get a little confusing! Other than that, great job guys, some Screenies of the table and results every month would also be nice Ross! :$

 

[Ross-Galloway]

For those who are following it would be really supportive and would make me happy if anyone could possibly nominate me in Story of the Year, thank you so much if anyone does nominate me. Here's the link http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/f81/story-of-the-year-t46420.html

---------- Post added at 08:11 PM ---------- Previous post was yesterday at 08:27 PM ----------

ROUNDUP OF JANUARY TRANSFERS
​

Today we saw the closing of the January transfer window and what a window it was for City, making nine transfers in total and also securing four players who will join the club when there contract's expire. The majority of the press believe that Zinedine has made too many transfers this window and it could all backfire on him, however this is what he had to say back to them "Manchester City is a club that are currently 3rd in the league and were 2nd for a while this month, I am looking and aspiring for them to win the Premier League and if we want to do this we need to strengthen our current squad. We also have a lot of money at our hands, so why not use it?"

Despite the press not happy about the signings it appears the fans and the players that have been signed are happy. Us at manchestercity.com have decided that we would make a profile about each player we have signed this January so you can learn a bit more about them and see why Zinedine has decided to sign them for the club.
​

Wayne Rooney

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOSTZX4-Z4I"]YouTube- Wayne Rooney - Till I Collapse[/ame]
​

Wayne is a player that needs no introduction, he signed for a fee of £30 million after being transfer listed by Alex Ferguson himself. He is England's number 1 striker and will form a great partnership with our other top striker Fernando Torres.
​

Landon Donovan

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lpaMMalCxY"]YouTube- Landon Donovan - Numb/Encore[/ame]
​

Landon Donovan is currently only 28 years old and has already made himself a MLS legend and a US legend. He has played in the MLS for the majority of his career for L.A Galaxy. We signed him on a free as his contract expires and should prove to be a complete bargain.
​

David Beckham

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VfSjrT_3_g"]YouTube- David Beckham - Starz in Their Eyes[/ame]
​

David Beckham is a player who is known worldwide and has unfortunately announced his decision to retire at the end of the season, however he is a player who I am sure will bring great things to the club while he is here. He also joined from L.A Galaxy on a free and he has previously played for our bitter rivals Man Utd but some would say that was when he was at his best form, that's why the video above shows him in an Man Utd shirt.
​

Darijo Srna

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRGxDMUVwwo"]YouTube- Darijo Srna - Rock That Body[/ame]
​

Darijo was a great player for Shaktar Donstek and our scouts were lucky enough to find him for us, he cost a fee of £15 million and would have been cheaper if Chelsea had not made a bid. He plays at right back but also sets up and scores many goals.
​

Xavi

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39cu-bPkDF4"]YouTube- Barcelona vs Villarreal 4-1 [1/5/2010] Xavi Free Kick HD 1080p Highlights Golazo[/ame]
​

Xavi signing for us was probably the suprise of the window as no one expected the Spanish star to leave his hom country and his favourite club and no one expected Barcelona to allow him to leave, however when ZZ offered Barcelona a fee of £50 million it must have been to much resist and the wages we offered him were to good to turn down and there we had it. Xavi playing in a City shirt. He is a great player and is great at free kicks as the video above shows.
​

Connor Wickham

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wFeZjwQdR8&feature=related"]YouTube- England U17's beat Spain U17's in 2010 European Championship final[/ame]
​

Connor is a 17 year old striker who is already being called the new Wayne Rooney and he had great interest from many top clubs but the former Ipswich youngster decided to sign for us for a fee of £1.5 million. He helped the England U17's win the Euro championship by scoring the winning goal for England in the final. He has gone out on loan to Bristol City for 3 months to gain some experience.


More new signings to come to be announced on the website tommorow.


So what do you guys think of the videos?? I made all the ones apart from Xavi and Connor Wickham ​

 

[ollie56]

​

That looks like the PSP game. Football manager handheld.
Anyway good story.

 

[Joss]

Good videos Ross, really good in fact. KIU.

Btw.. my story could do with a comment if you have time

 

[Ross-Galloway]

​

JANUARY TRANSFER ROUNDUP
​

As promsied yesterday we will continue on with the last few signings that we are going to announce...
​

Manuel Almunia

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNsZAGiyi_I"]YouTube- Broadcast Yourself.[/ame]
​

Manuel Almunia was rotting in on the bench at Arsenal due to the arrival of Steve Mandana, but with Shay Given leaving, we needed a replacement and ZZ obviously thought Almunia was perfect for the job. He cost the club a fee of £8 million.
​

Kazenga LuaLua
​

Kazenga was a Newcastle reserve player and yet again our fantastic scouts have found a hopefully great player for the future. He cost us a fee of £2.5 million.
​

Eljero Elia

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx09C47Oc5I"]YouTube- Eljero Elia - Written in the Stars[/ame]
​

Eljero was Zinedines final signing of the month and was a player that was extremely close to joining in the summer but unfortunately the transfer did not go through in time. But, he is finally at the club and will definately prove to be a great player. We brought him from Hamburg in Germany and he cost us £15 million.

In January we also saw some players sadly leave the club. Shay Given left to join Bayern Munich for a fee of £10 million. He was transfer listed by Zinedine at the begining of the season after not turning up to a meeting the Zinedine held.

Soon after Shay Given left Robinho followed to also join Bayern Munich for a fee of £60 million. Zinedine agreed to let the player go because "the fee they were offering for in my opinion an out of form player was to good to reject. Robinho also left because he was no longer in the first team plans."

We then also saw Everton buy two of our top stars at the club, Yaya Toure and Jerome Boateng. They agreed to pay £25 million for each of them and offered us Steven Pineaar, this was a fantastic offer that Zinedine obviously accepted. Yaya Toure had become a player who could not even make it onto the bench after not fitting in with the teams 4-3-3 formation. Jerome Boateng left because he did not like Manchester and that was the main reason he decided to leave. This was the most upsetting sale of them all as Jerome was a brilliant player for us.

Aston Villa then also bought Nigel De Jong from us for £10 million, he was sold for the same reason as Yaya Toure. He did not fit into our formation.

Zinedine also sent out some youngsters on loan this month and all of them have gone out on loan for 3 months and all of the clubs they have been loaned too have agreed to pay all of their wages. Victor Moses has gone on loan to Blackburn, Adam Johnson to Burnley and Connor Wickham to Bristol City.

​