As merry as the days were long

Where to begin? Apologies in advance, this is going to be a long one.

Since I got on the plane from Istanbul on Monday lunchtime I've thought a lot about what I could possibly say to put everything in to words.

As you would expect, there's already been great articles from City fans about the past weekend, in particular Dan Burke and Howard Hockin as always delivering when it comes to summing up how it feels to be a City fan.

I think back to my wonderful friend Mike Hammond's tweet on the Sunday night (how he was able to write something so good at that time I have no idea, I was more interested in turning a bar just off Navizade Street into my own disco) which starts with the sentence: Every fan here has their own story. So you're going to get mine, and I'll pick it up right from the last blog I wrote on Wednesday 8th February.

We had just lost to Spurs away (again), we had a football organisation accuse City of cheating (again), and the next couple of weeks for me looked like it was going to ruin me financially (again). Villa at home was not a game that will live long in the memory but all good unbeaten runs need to start somewhere and didn't we need it at the time?

Following this game was a run of 5 away games. A lot of people that go a lot reflect on the 4 aways on the spin in October/November 2013 as a tough run of it (West Ham, Moscow, Chelsea, Newcastle) but these 5 between 12th to 28th February were heavy going.

First of all - Arsenal. What a place to start. We had gone into the World Cup break 5 points behind them and although we had been shuddering along a little bit since the restart we found ourselves in a position where we could go top of the league that night if we won. I drove down that night, after missing the turn off on the M25 and effectively taking an hour to go round a roundabout (including some exceptional road rage) we got to Cockfosters to get the tube into North London. We'll get on to the game but my first literal taste of euphoria that night was just off Finsbury Park. There was this shawarma wrap kebab thing which rivals the oft-spoken about burger I had on Boxing Day in Hull 2016. With the taste of succulent lamb in my mouth we marched over to The Emirates. We had to win, really. To lose any more ground on them would make it almost impossible to wrestle the league back. They're a good team, Arsenal. 1-1 at half time seemed a fair result at the time but City stepped up in the 2nd half and when Grealish placed the ball in the bottom corner bedlam ensued in that small corner of The Emirates. He's been quality post World Cup, Jack. I love him. He's like a rock star. The way he got about during the trophy parade was how I'd expect Tommy Lee from Motley Crue to be getting about, heroic. Then The Big Fella made it 3-1 - job done, more scenes of joy temporarily masking the impending bruises and cuts all over your legs.

Onto Nottingham Forest. Not often I go to a ground in England for the first time (actually, I had gone to see Forest play Villa in around 1997 which is up there with Blackburn vs Everton in the Charity Shield and Rotherham vs Southampton in the Johnstones Paint Trophy as one of the most random games of football I've been to). A real sense of everyone being up for it as it was a new place to visit, but it's a bit of a pig to get to. Trains were hammered on the way down there, but after going to football for this long the smell of state beer, sweaty replica kits and regret doesn't really affect you. Saw a few old pubs in Nottingham, Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem was where we did the majority of our kegging and I met up with an old friend of mine from my university days who supports Forest. Game was unremarkable, should have won, missed a load of chances and they scored late on. Amongst them letting off fireworks outside the ground(!) for a draw, it was a little on top getting back into the city centre. Got stuck into a few bars afterwards and ended up having a curry which made us miss our last train back to Manchester. £40 each on an Uber back to The Castle was unnecessary but my God it was a great laugh. 

Last thing I needed after a heavy day like that was a European away game. We flew to Berlin on Tuesday evening, got into one of the lounges at Manchester Airport - don't think the other people booked in at 3pm were quite prepared for 7 City fans looking to make the most the complimentary bottled lager. Had a great time in Leipzig, not sure I would be rushing back to get there again but having a booze in Germany with your mates is always good. Game was pretty uneventful, another 1-1 draw and at this point the thought of winning the treble was not on our agenda at all. 

Anyway, we go again. Down to Bournemouth and after a very heavy week this was a sober one in the car. Saw some bloke blow his front right tyre by driving into the step that surrounds a fuel pump which caused me some amusement.  City at the time were not exactly firing on all cylinders so to be 3 up at half time was a bit of a buzz and it felt like the confidence was starting to come back after a few more positive results. A few days later City played away at Bristol City in the F.A. Cup - not much to add after Bournemouth on a personal note apart from I ended up getting absolutely diddled by Bristol Council for forgetting to pay a clean air charge. Another good performance for City in that awful 3rd kit but what was great round this time of the season is how much the AWOO-ing started going off at every game - and after these 5 games on the spin I really did feel like I was following them everywhere.

Back at the Etihad against Newcastle a week after they sadly lost the Carabao Cup final against the quadruple chasing United - make no mistake about it, as the winter turned to Spring they were unashamedly BACK and didn't we all hear about it? They were ready and waiting to turn it into a 3 horse race for the title... Had a great day here, early kick off against a team doing well, PWF back to his best and despite a few hairy moments we won with a clean sheet - can't ask for more than that. Went for one in Mary D's after the match and Bournemouth went 1 up in the first minute vs Arsenal, hope is in the air. Taxi to Oldham Street and in the back room of The Castle, packed out with City fans including some of the lads from Blossoms. More scenes of celebration when Bournemouth go 2 up - this could be one of *them* days. I cover all bases and put money on an Arsenal victory. 30 minutes later the joy had turn to despair as somehow Arsenal had won 3-2, I wasn't too down beat about it as having been in a few title races it felt way too early in the season for these last minute emotional winners, plus they're conceding against a team we dicked the previous week (oh, and I won £165). As a side note, United lost the following day 7-0.

Thankfully, no midweek football to report here but we were away again the following weekend. I'd say there's not many sentences which make me lick my lips more than "London away Saturday 17:30". Down on a train and got the tube into Soho, what a great gaff for a beer. Got a great picture of me outside Bradley's Spanish Bar near Tottenham Court Road at about 12:30 and a not so great picture of me (in my opinion) pouring a jug of hot water over where I'd been sick on the street at about 15:30. I blame that completely on that angin beer they serve in Sam Smiths pubs, literally makes me gag. The game at Crystal Palace was, and you'll be surprised to hear this after the previous two sentences, a bit of a blur. But The Big Fella scored a late-ish penalty and we claimed the three points. A mate of mine I was with earlier in the day got separated from us at the game, ended up having a few beers near the ground afterwards, realised he missed the last train and got an Uber back to Manchester from Croydon - makes my Nottingham journey seem like a quick commute. Train home was quality as we sat in first class and were not moved - come on!

Two games in quick succession coming up where I think it's fair to say City were at it. 7-0 vs Leipzig and then 6-0 vs Vincent Kompany's Burnley, The Big Fella scoring 8 goals in two games. It had felt like some time since we had really pasted someone so to have two games in a few days where we looked incredible just raised the confidence and you could see it in the players body language. The Burnley game was great too, atmosphere in the South Stand rocking with the great man getting a cracking ovation. God I love Vincent, what a bloke. The international break came next, I spent a few days sunning myself in Spain in preparation for what I can only describe as the greatest 2 and a bit months of my life...

Liverpool at home. Apart from the obvious there's no other team I get more enjoyment beating than Liverpool. We simply had to win, which was not going to be straight forward with Haaland out injured. Early kick off on the Saturday, put down a marker for how we're going to go over the next few weeks to chase down Arsenal. Against the run of play we went 1 down but then a moment that has almost been forgotten about happened - City lost the ball, Liverpool break and if there's one prick you don't want to see running at your goal unchallenged it's Mo Salah. Grealish chased him down and won the ball, not too long after he plays a ball for Alvarez to tap in. Straight at it from the start of the 2nd half and we ended up absolutely pissing it. Made the team that pushed us all the way, the team that have been our great rivals in this era look like mid table fodder. Glorious, and Jack also got his goal in what was probably his finest moment in a blue shirt. Haaland in the stands doing The Poznan, just great stuff. He was back the following week away to Southampton scoring twice, the second being an absolutely outrageous acrobatic kick - sometimes you just cannot believe that this is Alfie Haaland's son. A much better trip to Southampton than back in January anyway - that was probably the worst game City have played under Pep and unbelievably Nathan Jones' Southampton were the team to stop City doing the quadruple.

The next game in any other season would be a stand out as one of the greatest but the quality of what we witnessed this season has it being glossed over. After tanning Leipzig we had a difficult draw in the Champions League - Munich and if we got past them likely Real Madrid. Leroy's homecoming and the potential return of Joao Cancelo. I don't think the score flattered us at all winning 3-0 against Bayern, Rodri, that beautiful man, scoring a screamer and then Bernardo and Haaland putting the icing on the cake in the 2nd half. I boo'd Cancelo and I have absolutely no regrets, fuck him. Atmosphere was bouncing in the South Stand, it's a cliche which I have hated over the years but you just cannot beat big Champions League fixtures.

Leicester at home was quite a forgettable game as we were winning quite early but didn't have a great 2nd half. The three points were the most important thing, especially as the previous Sunday Arsenal had dropped points at Liverpool from being 2 up. Bit of pressure on Arsenal here and who knows, West Ham away the following day could turn into a tricky fixture... and would you bloody believe it, they dropped points again from being 2 up - what could have been 6 points ended up being 2. Was it back on? Oh yes, they could feel the breath of the Parrot down their necks. 

Before we get back to the league we had to get the 2nd leg of Munich out the way. I got there on the Monday night, I was travelling on my own and for some reason all accommodation in Munich seemed to be really expensive so I thought I'd make the most of my age and I booked an 18-35 hostel. What the fuck was I thinking? Sharing a room with 11 strangers, shared showers and bathrooms and me, not exactly light on my feet, being on the top bunk. Honestly, it was one of the biggest howlers I've ever made and that's coming from someone who has driven back to England from the same city having lost my glasses. Had a great time with great people though, but after a big session on the Tuesday I was struggling to say the very least on the day of the game - think it was the first European away trip I've ever done where I couldn't bring myself to have a pint on the day of the game. Game not overly exciting, The Big Fella put us 1 up and we were through. I'd already booked a flight back from Madrid so I'm glad that that wasn't wasted, just had to work out how to get there... I should also point out that the Thursday I flew back, the quadruple charge for Erik's plucky reds was over as Sevilla beat them 3-0, what a shame.

We had Sheffield United at Wembley on the Saturday, an early start on the train. I wanted to try and get an early night so I could get up early and go to the gym because as you might have gathered if you've got this far, there's been a fair bit of drinking going on in the past few weeks. I was lay in bed at about 8pm and I thought "should I watch any of Arsenal vs Southampton?" No point really, Southampton were bottom of the league and overall pretty hopeless against City the other week. Close your eyes, get to sleep, big day tomorrow. Check my phone 15 minutes into the game - Southampton are winning 2-0. Oh God, it's happening isn't it? Trying to switch off didn't happen, and despite Arsenal eventually getting a point out of the game it really set up the following weeks match at The Etihad with them as a winner takes all. But first, the semi final. Went for a few pints in central London, always a good booze. The game was like a training session, Mahrez bagged a hat trick and it was all pretty easy work for City. Most of my memories around the game were going to and from Wembley on the tube thinking Sheffield United fans were complete arseholes which is a shame as a former resident of Sheffield I have always favoured them to Wednesday but there were grown men on the tube trying to send it up by singing "there's only one Alex Fergo", fucking Fergo eh? I'm glad old Fergo has been alive to see the last few weeks.

So it came to the big one, the game that had been talked about for months and months. Not quite the derby in 2012 feeling, but not a million miles away either. Got to the ground about an hour before kick off and went into that bit in the back of the South Stand where it's like Mary D's but with Asahi on draft and without songs referencing events from 65 years ago. It was electric in the ground and City played like a team completely focused on getting the job done but in style. That Kevin de Bruyne goal will be looked back upon as one of the all time greats, a big player for the big event. Like the Bayern game a few weeks earlier, an unforgettable night where the atmosphere was both intimidating and joyous and a score line which didn't flatter us at all. 4-1. Arsenal were completely cooked. They might as well have brought the trophy out at the end of the game because that was it, there was no coming back for them from this.

Another trip down to London followed, this time at a time where the trains were fucked. Went via Doncaster and then to Kings Cross - a bit longer but not a bad journey for a bit of a change. Got the tube across London and had a drink in Hammersmith - for those that haven't ever been to Fulham, it really is one of the great away games to go to as you walk down the River Thames to the small picturesque ground. Bit of a tricky game this one despite going up almost immediately, fortunately a wonder strike from Alvarez won us the points. He's not had a bad 12 months has he? I might have been wrong calling him the Argentinian John Guidetti. One of them pissed up train journeys home where you think "I bet everyone on here hates us" as we talk about the power of the Parrot once again. Stopped off in Sheffield on the way back at The Sheffield Tap at about 8pm as the sun was setting on a lovely warm day. We knew we weren't far now as that was 3 big points.

The following two games were at home, firstly to West Ham which was quite a tense affair in the first half before we turned it on in the 2nd half - the game will be known most for it being where Haaland broke the Premier League goal scoring record. Again, how is this Alfie's lad? Leeds at home a few days later I had been very kindly invited to the Chairman's Lounge. 3 course meal and free booze, fantastic. Took about 15 minutes into the match for someone to tell me off due to my language, but it was alright in the end. The game was pretty uneventful which was a good thing as I was absolutely steaming. Gundo got two goals but missed a penalty unfortunately. After the game we managed to talk them into letting us into the Tunnel Club because, you know, drinking red wine was not enough, I needed to have a cocktail as well. Saw Stuart Pearce in there and basically mumbled that he was into rock n roll, not my finest moment but better than when I was last in there and saw David O'Leary and simply pointed at him and said "David O'Leary". Unsurprisingly, I was sick when I got home and despite having all that food I woke up to a double cheeseburger and a kebab which was fully wrapped in my living room.

On the Monday I flew to Murcia, my sister lives out there and my parents have a place there and were visiting so I got a night with the family before travelling from Murcia to Madrid on the day of the game by train. I would say that going to Madrid I was still feeling quite scarred from what had happened the previous May when they beat us and knocked us out. Been to see City at Madrid 5 times now and it's still always feel like a huge occasion. A good game between two great teams and two great goals left it even going into the return leg the following week, Kevin again stepping up for City. Had a good laugh in Madrid, didn't have much time to do much pre game as I didn't get to there until about 4 hours before kick off but had a full day on the Wednesday before flying back on the Thursday. It's a great city, but I could do with a bit of a break with it after 3 times in 13 months. Happy with the result, with what we had seen over the past few weeks at The Etihad, why would you fear anyone?

Back home and back at it again on the Sunday, Everton away - always one of my favourites and I felt particularly nostalgic as I thought it could be the last time I would ever visit Goodison but although Everton are complete dogshit for another season, somehow, there has been three teams worse than them this year. Got the train there and it was a bit odd with a very different demographic than the football fans getting off the train walking past the Eurovision fans getting on trains leaving Lime Street. Had a few pints down Mathew Street, not been there for a few years - always good as a self proclaimed Beatles geek. When I walked into Goodison that afternoon there was no way I would have expected that this was the last game I was going to watch before we became champions again. And of course it was Gundogan who came up with the goods again. Two great goals from him sandwiched an assist to Haaland and City pissed it 3-0. I got a lift home from Goodison, timing with expertise a JustEat delivery from KFC within 30 seconds of exiting the car and as I chewed through my mighty bucket for one Arsenal were getting turned over by Brighton. I could taste the secret recipe from The Colonel and I could just about taste the sweet taste of winning the Premier League.

One hand on the trophy, already in the F.A. Cup final and next the second leg against Madrid. The Treble talk was becoming more of a reality but Real were going to provide us with a tough game. Similar to the Arsenal game, I got in the ground an hour early, this time I saw the end of the bus greeting - the atmosphere outside the ground was one of hope and belief. The concourse very similar. 3 swift pints pre game, 90 minutes from Istanbul. We had already reserved flights for the final, not confident enough to buy them but more than happy to pay £4.50 a day to hold them - worth every penny. What a game. The first half in particular, fucking hell, is that the best City have ever played? This Madrid team have been dominant in this tournament for years, they've had luck on their side at times but they're a great team - and we completely battered them, it was like we were playing Cambridge United, who get battered everywhere they go. Concourse at half time was fizzing, we knew that if we keep a clean sheet from here we would be in the final. Not quite as impressive in the 2nd half but Real barely got near us. 4-0, we're all going to Istanbul. A city that we have been singing about since the late summer of 2008 in hope more than expectation.

On Saturday I had organised to go on a hike up in Littleborough and then go for one or two drinks afterwards, nothing too heavy as there was a good chance that beating Chelsea the following day would win City the league, something that didn't seem likely at all until relatively recently and now we could do it with games to spare. I was sat in Cask on the New Islington Marina constantly refreshing my phone as I saw that Arsenal had gone 1 down away to Forest. Many thoughts were going through my mind, do I want to win it like this? Can you believe this is happening? Remember walking out of White Hart Lane feeling like we had fucked it? What do I do tonight? Can I book Monday off work? It ended 1-0, City were champions again. We had joined the small group of clubs who have won it 3 years in a row, something our detractors have previously said we wouldn't do. Well, we've done it, so fuck yourself. That evening I generally took it all in, watched Match of the Day and knew that the following day was going to be a great day - and it was. Out and about in town for midday, went to Cutting Room Square in Ancoats bumping into loads of people I knew. The game was forgettable, it didn't matter at all but always good to win. Tears filled my eyes as they came part my section of the South Stand, this is the 7th time I've seen us win the Premier League and I've not missed a trophy lift but it gets to me every time, all the memories my City supporting life up until being 23 are still embedded in me, and it's overwhelming to see the lads in that blue shirt walk around holding that trophy aloft. Cracking evening in The Castle afterwards with all my close mates, being told to stop singing as there was a comedian on in the next room fell on deaf ears. 

The next week had two games where me and my friends had asked "maybe that could be the day/night" referring to winning the league, we had no idea it would be wrapped up by then. Still, when the Parrot calls you've got to go with it. Three of us travelled down to Brighton on the Wednesday. Lovely place, Brighton, and a really good team but fucking hell it's a long way to go, especially for a mid week game. I looked at this and Brentford a few days later as an opportunity just to enjoy myself, for so long every game I had attended for so long had been vital to win - it felt like we had been either keeping just ahead of Liverpool or chasing Arsenal in the league for about 16 months. Not much to report about the game apart from the bloke in front of us had the most outrageous Air Max trainers I've ever seen.

Brentford, a game where it seemed like it was going to be impossible to get a ticket was a complete non-event. Had a drink in Richmond before the game, what a great place especially in the sunshine with a load of mates. It was a relaxed day out in London, and I'd say I and everyone I was with made the most of it as the following week was definitely not going to be a relaxed day in London...

So the league season is done with. 1 down 2 to go. To Wembley. 

I went to see Arctic Monkeys at the real Old Trafford the night before, a cracking night and really helpful in getting my mind off what was coming up the following day. As the trains were fucked I had offered to drive. Set off from Ancoats at 8am which might have been a little later than we should have left in retrospect but it was fine. Loads of traffic on the way down but got parked up at Watford Junction with enough time to get a train to Wembley Central and have a drink or two before going in the ground. The train was angin. I bumped into an old work colleague who supports United so was chatting to him and his wife as we made our way on the train and got separated from my mates, a load of United fan piled on a stop or two from Wembley and they were being their usually gobshite selves caught in that middle ground by singing songs about us meaning nothing to them and that we're irreverent but then making it really clear that they hate us. They probably thought I was one of them as I was stood next to a women with a tin foil cup with red ribbons on it. Anyway, managed to get a drink near the ground (£8 a pint in Bar 66 - not sure if Bobby Moore died for them prices) and got in the ground about 45 before kick off, bumped into loads of mates and it was great. Walked down to my seat about a minute before kick off and nothing could prepare me for what happened 12 seconds into the game.

Genuinely one of the most chaotic scenes I've ever witnessed. Bodies flying everywhere like the ball flying into the top corner. Gundo. What a fucking man. What a goal. Goals like his against Villa to win the league the previous year and of course Aguero's goal vs QPR will always be remembered for their drama and importance but this goal can only be compared to Kompany vs Leicester as far as it's ability to take your breath away and or almost require surgery on your limbs. A moment like that is what football is all about. United got one back the only way they could - by the officials having a fucking mare, just like in January. A lot of nerves on the concourse at half time, I was worried, I just didn't know if we had it in us after this never ending season to find another goal. Within 10 minutes of the 2nd half another volley from Gundo and we're back in front. Not going to be the first time you've read this or had this said but surely he is now in the conversation with the all time greats for City? He's been a constant and important performer albeit not always viewed in the same way amongst City fans and beyond comparing him to David Silva and Kevin de Bruyne. The last 10 minutes went on for as long as this blog. But the final whistle eventually blew. F.A. Cup winners, the Double. 2 down, 1 to go.

It meant so much to beat them bastards in the final. All the pre match build up about stopping us from winning the Treble, barely laid a glove on us until the 90th minute. There are always going to be comparisons between this match and the semi in 2011. I think I need a bit more time letting the dust settle on that one. As much as they like to point out that Pep hasn't got a great record against United, when it really matters he gets it done.

The next few days for me are a bit of a blur. I was still euphoric after winning the cup against United and then I was really excited for Istanbul. I don't often get excited for holidays, before Istanbul I had watched City on the continent over 35 times (36 times) but this felt like the first time. I knew so many people going, I'd chatted to so many people in the build up about what they were doing, how they were getting there, how long they were there for, I was completely swept up in it. Different to Porto and don't get me wrong I was excited for that and it was one of the best weeks I've ever had despite losing but that was in a different context due to the pandemic.

I drove us down to Stansted on Friday morning, we got a midday flight to Istanbul. A minibus took us into the centre. Good grief, the state of the traffic - I won't go on about Istanbul as a place too much in this but I thought it was a great city, one of the best I've ever been to but it was such a pig getting around that it would put me off going there again, yet I would recommend it to someone to visit - I know that can seem a bit of a contradiction but I'm sure a few people feel the same. Big booze on Friday, we started at Stansted so by the time we were on the outskirts of Nevizade Street at midnight we were well oiled, but what a sight seeing so many City fans out there. 

The day of the game started with a slight qualm as my mate had lost his phone, it meant that we had to get to the ground a little earlier than we were anticipating. We jumped in a taxi to the stadium which I'm still coming to terms with now. Them drivers don't give a single fuck do they? I've never known anything as reckless in my life, how there's not crashes there every half a mile is baffling, I've basically got PTSD. It's been heavily documented but the traffic and getting anywhere near the ground was a joke, and we got there about 4 hours before kick off. Anyway, got in the fan park, my mate got his ticket situation sorted, saw loads of mates in the park which was like a Bert version of Woodstock 99 but instead of Limp Bizkit causing a riot there was some lad in his mid 20's trying to beat a women's 18 second "Agueroooooo" on stage, bizarre. Managed to get an overpriced bottle of lager off some chief selling them out of a carrier bag in a car park making what I think was a 700% increase on what he bought it for. Walked down to the ground and as expected it looked like bedlam getting in, we got in the ground about 50 minutes before kick off. Heard mixed views on the ground - I really liked it, it felt like a ground made for the big occasion and the big occasion it was. 

The team was generally what you expected apart from Walker being out the team and the game sort of went how I felt it would. It's been such a long season, getting on a mini bus to Leicester for the Charity Shield in August could have been a decade ago and I'd believe you. It was always going to be a tight game, the players have too many minutes in their legs. There just had to be the moment, someone had to be the hero. I'll hold my hands up, and there are a lot of people in the same boat as me - I could not believe how much we paid for Rodri based on his first season at City. When I got back in front of my laptop on Tuesday in work I was thinking about him and John Stones, two players who have been absolute fucking heroes for three consecutive seasons and in the big moments in Istanbul they were there, I thought about that Norwich away game in September 2019. Rodri and Gundo in midfield with Stones behind them and it was a complete disasterclass, I never ever would have thought that a little under four years later these players would be icons with virtually no rivals in Manchester City's 125+ year history, Pep has obviously played a huge part in this but fair play to them, Stones especially as he seemed like he was done in the summer of 2020. But back to Rodri. For me, our most important player, the way we play is built around him and when he wants to he can turn up and deliver a big moment. In a scene not unlike Yaya Toure vs Stoke City in 2011, the ball falls to Rodri just inside the box for him to blast home. People falling all over the place, we've taken the lead in the Champions League final. 

We stopped playing after the goal, and really were quite lucky to not concede - a mixture of bad finishing from Inter and Ederson, often criticised for his goal keeping abilities, making a number of top class saves. Like a week earlier, time just seemed to stand still forever, the 5 minutes of added time with a clock that's going backwards. One last corner for Inter, the keepers up. Not a Mancunian fingernail left from 20,000 sets of hands. Save from Ederson and the full time whistle goes. We're the Champions of Europe. We've won the Treble. Even typing it out now a few days later seems completely absurd. To win the Treble after winning the league 3 years on the bounce with the context of pandemics, winter world cups and shrinking squads, it's just incredible, it's unbelievable. 

I spent another 36 hours in Istanbul and the feeling of ecstasy I had is something I cannot quite describe. It was and still is too much to take in. I imagine it will be a few weeks until I really can reflect on that weekend properly. There was more eating meat on skewers, more dancing round to Morrissey and more boozing - but by this point you've probably read enough about that and probably think I have a problem!

What a season. I went to 59 of the 61 games City played this season, there's no way I can do that again next year without taking on a second job. Some of the best memories I'll ever have will be from this season. I suppose the question is, where do you go from here? Well I think that's sort of how we felt in 2012, and in 2018, and in 2019, so I guess you just go again. You try to redefine what greatness is. I was at the end of season Bluemoon Podcast Live and Jack Gaughan said that this didn't feel like the end of something, it felt like the start of something even bigger. I'm not sure my mind can comprehend that.

So for 4 months of my life, from 12th February to 10th June 2023 that was my story. All the people who were with me during that time whether it be in the car, on the train, on the concourse, in the stands, on the streets of Istanbul - you know who you are and I fucking love you, you've helped shaped the best time of my life. Now, to completely switch off from football and hope England win back The Ashes. See you at Turf Moor.

Time traveling through the tanning booth

I'll start this by saying I know fuck all. 

I don't know anyone who knows what's going to happen. 

I haven't listened to that Stefan fella chat on the Spaces thing on Twitter (which must be a strange sentence to read if you're not on Twitter), I've been blocked by Colin Savage so no idea what he's saying on the matter and I could only bear with about 10 pages on the Bluemoon thread before I longed for reading about the likelihood of us signing Messi. So anyone reading this is probably more informed than I, who has just read what's been dripped through from the aggregators on social media. But then, does anyone for sure know what's going to happen?

I don't even really know what City are being charged with. On social media you see stuff about the grass being too long and something about us not entering the FA Cup - I presumed the whole thing was about Trumanns For Steel paying £250m per year for 30 seconds on the 2nd tiers digital advertising board, but perhaps I'm a bit off the mark.

But it's an important moment in City's history, so it's probably worth writing about.

Been a bad couple of weeks really, hasn't it? My head nearly fell clean off when Cancelo went to Bayern. I mean, there's no player ever to play for us that has irritated me more, but still to lose someone of his quality and not replace him in a position that we haven't properly invested in for 6 years is a bit mad really. Oh and the one senior player we did purchase for that role was basically injured for 2 years and the last 2 years has been suspended by the club for criminal charges relating to sexual assault. 

We're not playing great at the moment. Missing a bit of a spark. Earlier in the season there was a sense of the invincible of us with The Big Fella leading the line, bagging goals for fun. Although his scoring rate is still very impressive, the belief and swagger you'd expect from last seasons league winners adding the best striker in the world to their team isn't really there. Is it the hunger of the players and fans? Are we missing a Fernandinho/Kompany like leader on the pitch and in the dressing room? Are we too predictable with Grealish and Mahrez? Has the overall quality of the squad dropped compared to last year? Am I justified in not really trusting or liking Akanji because he grew up a United fan? I think the answer to all of the above is, "probably, yes".

Having said that, we're 2nd in the league and we know that things could all look very different in a few games time as unlikely as that feels right now. Probably favourites for the FA Cup and I don't think anyone would want to face us in the Champions League. Long way to go yet before we start writing off the season as a disaster, as much as it's in our very essence to moan about everything being a complete catastrophe.

So, these charges from the Premier League.

Seems pretty serious, albeit could they just be trying to throw a load at us and hope something will stick? From our many detractors out there, the damage has been done. Daily articles from senior journalists speculating what punishment could be handed out to us will trickle down to the likes of the aggregators of rival clubs who feel like they've been cheated out of trophies and the likes of SportBible and FootballLadWhoNeverGoesToGames Facebook accounts will be posting about how "City don't have to give back all their Champions League medals !!!". I can feel like there's going to be a lot of eye rolling from me in the next few weeks. Especially when I've got to speak to people who are either fans of other clubs or just are vaguely aware of football who view me like some sort of Manchester City football correspondent.

We've been here before with UEFA and it was all the same shite from the journalists, all the same banter from the faceless social media wankers and no doubt we'll get all the same unimaginative football chants sang at us by people who wear replica shirts over their hoodies. And speaking of the UEFA charges, despite everything that happened there, it's not really changed anyone's opinions of the club, has it? In fact, I'd say they probably dislike City more because of CAS overruling UEFA. Miguel Delaney probably wakes up in a hot sweat thinking about Tommy Muir on Sky Sports telling everyone to "do one". 

What's the worst that can happen? Relegation? Is that what these people want? Do they think that a regime that has invested in to the club (and city - there's another thing our detractors like to get a hard on over, Abu Dhabi's apparent influence over Manchester Council, although I do not have the depth of knowledge to really comment on this) is just going to fuck it off after 15 years just because they've briefly stopped us? Probably one season in the Championship and then back up in to the Premier League battling on all fronts. Even if Pep left and the majority of the squad was sold we would still be able to outspend every club in the league and any and every player  to get us out of that division would be desperate to join us. 

The infrastructure that has been built over the last 15 years has meant that City as a club and brand are not going anywhere. If fans of other clubs think that this would turn us into midtable mediocrity for the next 20 years or even more what they think in their thick heads that City will return to where they were for 1 season in 128 years then they're completely deluded. Look at Chelsea, it's almost a year since Roman Abramovich was forced to sell the club due to his links with Russia and the bloke that's bought it off him has just gone and whacked £600m on players within a year - if you're looking at trying to get Sheikh Mansour away from City what's to say someone else won't just come along and spend another fuck load of money?

And the talk of stripping us of what we've won - don't make me laugh. It reminds me of the BBC TMS clip when Jonathan Agnew is trying to wind up Geoffrey Boycott by saying that a century he got doesn't count because the South African government want to remove a fixture between England and the rest of the World (on YouTube if you want to watch it), basically; what a load of bollocks. And even if you did want to do that, like it fucking matters? The memories I have of Yaya at Wembley, Aguero vs QPR, Jesus at Southampton, Mahrez at Brighton, Gundogan vs Villa, moments I saw in the flesh, they do not get changed one bit. And with that, the moments where United and Liverpool fans felt like they got kicked in the bollocks - Pienaar, Gerrard slipping over, Crystanbul etc. they all still happened, and they will still hurt you in your stomach, at random moments, like remembering something stupid you said in the playground as a 12 year old.

And my favourite ever moment (West Ham away under Sven on the first game of the season) was before these charges anyway.

Regardless, not much I, as a regular fan, can do about all of the above. Even as someone who believes what socks I wear to the match has a direct connection to how the result goes has to admit that what will happen over the next days, weeks, months and years is out of my hands. And if we do end up having to go down the leagues, you'll still have the same people moaning about the beer, chips, Metrolink, pies, the ticket office and colour of Moonchesters ears. It's in our identity to do so.

10 Years on and it's still 6-1

23rd October 2011. 

Every City fan will have their own memories of that day whether they were at Old Trafford or not. I've written about the day itself, and the time before it happened. I don't need to go on about it but this was only the 2nd time City had won there since 1974. 

It's a day which gets sung about every game City have played in since. In the days after the match it felt big, but a decade on I think we're still feeling the tremors of it now. It was debated whether the "balance of power" (whatever that means) was going to shift. Safe to say "this is how it feels to be City" has changed over the last decade.

In the short term, the game put City 5 points clear in the league during the 2011/12 season and added a lot of confidence to a team that had only dropped points once already that season. The moment on the pitch and the jubilation off it were memorable for me over the next few weeks, we played Wolves twice in a week scoring 8 goals just after the 6-1, we then won away at Villarreal 3-0 in the Champions League before a back and forth 3-2 win away at QPR before there was an international break. I was lucky enough to be at all of those games and for City fans it was unchartered territory. We were flying. The momentum did run out after awhile. Points dropped around Christmas and New Year, followed by some pretty average performances as Winter turned to Spring felt like City had run out of steam.

Anyone reading this knows what happened. A generation of younger football fans, or supporters of other clubs may just think the 2011/12 season was a case of thumbs being twiddled until Aguero scored the winner in May, but it wasn't. Balotelli sent off at Arsenal, Arterta scoring from long range - 8 points behind with 6 games to go. The madness at Carrow Road where Tevez was back to his best, the unforgettable moment in Wolverhampton pre game when Steven Pienaar told us that "God Is Great", Yaya Toure stepping up and being the match winner at St James Park in an unbelievably tense game. 

But when Aguero did score that goal, it came back to the 6-1. That shift in goal difference was effectively the game that won it for City seven months later. We won the league by 8 goals. Every goal counted from August onwards, but in the 90th minute when De Gea and Rio caused a right fuck up and the ball goes out for a City corner the next 4 minutes or so are vital in what happened in May and really, what's happened since.

The following year they came back stronger and we fell apart. Mancini didn't say 'good morning' to Les Chapman, Van Persie went to United and we thought that Maicon would fit into XL shorts. But apart from that, well, it's all been pretty exceptional from the boys in blue whilst them from outside the city boundaries have gone in a constant cycle of being "back" before quickly rushing round their mums box room to find that old Norwich scarf.

Since the 6-1 we have won the league five times in 10 years. Perhaps we've underperformed in the FA Cup, but United have only won it once in that time too. We all know we've underperformed in the Champions League albeit we've been in it every year since the 6-1, only under Pellegrini's last season have we even threatened to not come in the top four, having said that, in the 2015-16 season if we'd won our last two games of the season instead of drawing them we would have come 2nd. Them lot on the other hand have years where they haven't qualified for the Champions League, yes they won the Europa League in 2017 but only a handful of years earlier "Thursday night, Channel 5" was a chant often heard from United fans mocking the trophy. And as for the biggest trophy of the lot, well we've won the league cup six times since 23rd October 2011, one for every goal that we scored at Old Trafford that day. Really makes me sad to think that as I left the ground that day, almost dizzy from what I saw, that I didn't know what 'Carabao' meant.

Time to sound really bitter? Yeah, why not. It's absolutely fucking fantastic that this happened to United when Ferguson was the manager. The BBC have done an article about the game which featured his post match interview, "dominated the first 30 minutes" - did they fuck, the old piss can. You shouldn't laugh at a pensioner looking suicidal, but then again Kevin Reynolds had it right when he kicked him in the bollocks at Euston. All the other chancers that have come and gone since like Moyes or that current plank would have just caused a bit of a shrug of the shoulder from the fans. It's important for us City fans to never let the 6-1 go because as the years go by there's more and more vomit inducing content glamorising United's time in the 90's (don't bother watching Fever Pitch or whatever it was called), and you still can't move without the OG Rat Boy Neville being plastered on TV at every fucking opportunity. The new generation of eReds who've never been within 100 miles of Manchester think they won every game every fucking week for 25 years, well riddle me this - how come they didn't get 100 points in a season?

The amount of colleagues, friends of friends, even customers through work I've spoken to over the years who (debatably - there's no way of proving it, is there?) used to go to watch United a lot, they all seem to have packed it in around 2013-14. They still hark back to the days when that horrible prick was there, sounding more and more like Arsenal fans going on about replacing Vieira in midfield. 

It wasn't a game where we won a trophy. You cannot win a league in October. But as far as a game that set the tone in the relationship between two clubs for the next decade goes, and a game where it showed where City were going as a club it was as important as anything. Something like it just cannot ever happen again. "You lucky bastards, it should have been 10!" - We're the luckiest of bastards, and long may it continue.

I'm Outta Time

How do you even begin to write about Sergio Aguero at Manchester City?

We're on the eve of the last opportunity City's famous striker could play for us in the Premier League, all being well he is fit enough to start and lead the team out in front of a crowd, but at the very least even if he cannot walk properly I'd imagine he'd still come on for the last few minutes.

There's only a few signings that I can remember exactly where I was when the news came through. For some reason I cannot place where I was when Bony was confirmed and I wasn't pressing F5 when it looked like we had sealed Sylvinho's signature. But I remember Sergio. Whilst others opted for signing of the summer Charlie Adam, or as the song goes, Phil Jones, City signed Kun Aguero.

There's few debuts I can recall moment for moment. It helps I suppose when you're making your debut as a substitute, but I can still remember the excitement and expectation as this young Argentinian was warming up in the second half. I can still hear my mate Green saying to me, "can you imagine if he comes on and scores a cracker? It'll be a better buzz than Robinho's debut." And it probably was a better buzz and you'd probably say his City career was a bit better than Robinho's, I think.

I've often thought about that night since the news was released that he would be leaving us at the end of the season and it made me think about what Sergio has done at City. As his time comes to an end at City a lot of the noise outside of the fanbase will of course be around that day in May 2012, and as much as it should be, for City fans we had 10 years of his magic. At City Sergio redefined what it meant to make an instant impact on your debut. He redefined goal scoring consistency. He redefined match winning moments. He redefined league winning moments. Overall he redefined Manchester City F.C.

To talk about Sergio only in terms of what happened in May 2012 is to me if I have a conversation with someone about Oasis. People from the outside only want to talk about Definitely Maybe or Morning Glory, much like the game against QPR, but I loved it all. His performances in the 2013/14 season were my Be Here Now, Aguero scoring hat tricks on consecutive weekends vs Arsenal and Chelsea in 2018/19 is my Dig Out Your Soul. Unfortunately this season has been very much like the power cut at the Heaton Park gig in 2009, but he's got enough credit in the bank to allow that to happen.

In the early days he scored in the 6-1. He scored what felt like an important winner in his first season against Villarreal. He scored the winner away at Arsenal in the League Cup when we hadn't won at Arsenal for about 40 years. He scored the winner away in Porto (that would be nice to see again, wouldn't it?) He scored 6 goals in the final 6 games of the 2011/12 season - lest we forget that we won the league that season by 8 goals. The following year wasn't great for City, but he still scored in an FA Cup semi final and one of my all time favourite moments scoring the winner at Old Trafford in April 2013.

In the 13/14 season, he was injured for large parts of it and for most fans the two stand out performers were Yaya and Dzeko but in all competitions Aguero scored 28 in 34 games. When you consider that he's not known for hitting the ground running when he gets back from an injury that is quite remarkable. The goal he scored at home to United to put us one up is a favourite of mine from that season, a great finish on a great day - although I'm still annoyed that we didn't put 7 or 8 past them being 4-0 up after 50 minutes. 

There were times where the rest of the team was on the whole underperforming but he got us over the line or kept us in the fight. The 2014/15 season isn't one that particularly stirs up any great memories as we didn't win anything, in fact it was the only season since the 2008-09 season where we didn't get to a semi final of a cup competition. The team was a bit disjointed, Yaya and Silva looked tired from 5 years of playing every single week, Mangala was a flop, Jovetic and Lampard were playing a lot of games, Pellegrini was looking out of his depth but Aguero's goals got us to 2nd place in the league and one of the stand out nights of that year was his hat trick at home to Bayern Munich. Surprisingly that was his only season as the golden boot winner.

Again, the following season for the club wasn't particularly remarkable despite winning the League Cup and getting to the Champions League semi final (how far we've come eh?) but again Aguero's numbers in the league were brilliant - 24 goals in 30 appearances. It's not the most significant moment by any stretch, but one of my favourite moments from Aguero was a goal that only he could score at home vs Chelsea in front of the newly expanded South Stand. In the reverse fixture me and my mates had a great day out at Stamford Bridge where Sergio scored all three goals as we won 3-0, one of the highlights of the season.

All change at the start of the 2016/17 season, new badge, new manager and all things MCFC and been changed to "Man City" - that last bit still irks me, as we're not from "Man". Sergio scored the first goal under Pep and although he started the season well, things weren't always rosy between Aguero and Guardiola - the arrival of Gabriel Jesus seemed to unsettle Sergio somewhat, but over time that seemed to be less of an issue. There's so many great Sergio memories over the years that this season doesn't particularly stand out yet he scored 33 times in 45 appearances!

2017/2018 was a significant season for the club and for Sergio. The team broke all sorts of records as we won our 3rd Premier League title, some of which we may never see broken again whether it be the 100 points, 106 goals, 18 consecutive league wins, 32 league wins, just to name a few. Another record I don't think we're likely to see broken was when Sergio scored away at Napoli to become the clubs all time leading goal scorer. Unfortunately I wasn't there to witness it but all the same it was an incredible achievement that Sergio broke Eric Brook's record that had been there for decades. Loads of great highlights from Sergio that season, the opening goal in the Carabao Cup final vs Arsenal, the four goals at home to Leicester, giving it out to that copper who held that City fan down on the pitch away to Bournemouth. Despite personal and club landmarks that season it still feels like a bit of a "what if" season for Aguero as again injuries hampered him - 21 goals in 25 league appearances is again ridiculous numbers, makes you wonder what he could have done if he was fit all season.

After a lay off and surgery Sergio seemed to be back to his best. Winning the Community Shield he scored both the goals, the first of which was his 200th goal for City. In the first home game of the season he scored a hat trick against Huddersfield. Another goal in a derby at home to United in November in typical Sergio way - blasting the ball as hard at the near post as possible. After some poor form around Christmas, City needed to beat Liverpool at home in January 2019 to get themselves back in to the title race. Any other result would have seen City struggling to catch Liverpool. Similar to the goal against United 2 months earlier, a trademark Aguero goal got us 1-0 up going in to half time - the pace of the game and the power in Sergio's shot is unbelievable - it was so intense at the time living in that title race but reflecting on it, you were looking at two of the great modern era teams going at it and of course Sergio scored. The aforementioned hat tricks on consecutive weekends to Arsenal and Chelsea played a huge part in City building our momentum for retaining the title, the Chelsea hat trick in particular was stunning. As things got more and more tense as the season went on, Aguero as always with ice in his veins provided some important and crucial goals - Fulham away and especially Burnley away stand out in my mind as games where I felt like I was about to have a heart attack in the away end due to the pressure of the situation. And then who else can you rely on when it's the final game of the season? City went 1-0 down to Brighton in the first half at the Amex, for me the enormity of that didn't even have time to sink in because before you knew it, Aguero had scored an equaliser and we went on to win 4-1 and retain the league title.

After winning 5 of the previous 6 domestic trophies, the 2019/20 season always had the potential to feel a bit flat. And it did. However, Aguero still broke records and scored important goals, because that's what he does. I was there at Villa Park in January 2020 as he overtook Thierry Henry as the highest scoring international player in English history. Just read that again. Anyone who saw Henry in his pomp understands that he was one of the greatest foreign players to ever kick a ball in England and Sergio has gone past his record. And he also broke Alan Shearer's hat trick record. I grew up on Alan Shearer, he was probably my non-City hero when I was a kid and again Aguero has broken his record. The following month and again against Aston Villa he scored the opening goal as City went on to win the Carabao Cup for the 3rd time in a row.

I went to Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup. Bit of an unremarkable night, albeit I can recall having a laugh in the car with my mates as we went over The Pennines. We won 1-0, Aguero scored. Got back in the car and listened to the draw for the next round - Newcastle away, buzzing, night out in Newcastle on the cards. And then the world stopped. I was fortunate enough to attend the 2021 Carabao Cup final, but for 13 months the last City goal I had seen scored was by Aguero. I'm sure there's people out there who went to Sheffield that night who didn't go to Wembley nor have got tickets for Everton this weekend.

Soon after "Project Restart" Aguero got a bad injury. I don't really want to reflect too much on this season because it's not how I'll remember Aguero, struggling for fitness and form, looking numb on the bench as the team look to have found a winning formula without him. The goal at Palace was a nice reminder though of what he is all about, and I'm pleased that the last points we picked up before we won this years title had his influence on it. It's a shame that things are having to end, but all good things do unfortunately.

There's so many records and moments I've listed here. And there's always more. He's scored in every home league game against Liverpool. He's City's highest scorer in Manchester derbies. He has the highest goal scoring ratio in Premier League history. It goes on and on. But like Zabaleta, Yaya Toure, Kompany and David Silva before him it's what he meant to supporters more than just stats. Aguero will always be linked with that moment in May 2012, a moment that transcends football in all honesty, there will be people in this country who have no idea about football but they know about the dramatic moment where he scored the late winner to secure City's first league title in 44 years. 

I'm no fan of Martin Tyler, but his commentary over that moment is iconic. I've watched the highlights of that game so many times that for me the best part of his commentary that day gets overlooked. Just after the final whistle he says, "but the bare facts will never tell you the whole story" - words that reflect the run in of the 2011/12 season, and words that reflect Sergio Aguero and his time at City. 

I really hope that either against Everton or next week in Porto we see the great man one more time, he still has some magic left in him and potentially one last great moment, and if that is to win the Champions League then it will be a fitting end for one of the greatest players not just City but English football has ever seen. 

And of course I don't want my last memory of him in a City shirt to be that fucking penalty.

Nothing Ever Lasts Forever

Well, it looks like the end is in sight.

Just as Britain looks like it's going to wake up from it's lockdown slumber, the era of hoovering up trophies which has been Manchester City for the past 24 months seems to be at an end (for now). Obviously the league has been on the cards for some time, as I write this we're hours away from our first league game as former champions against the new champions Liverpool. No denying they've completely deserved it, regardless of City not being at the races this year they've been almost unstoppable and I'm sure will go down as one of the greatest single seasons in English football. But I'm not here to talk about them.

What's happened over this last few months has been mental hasn't it? I don't want to make light of anything because it's extremely sad so many lives have been lost, the pressures put on to key workers has been immense and the reality is that many will lose jobs after the furlough scheme ends. However, I have to say that I've had a very fortunate lockdown. Around a week into the UK coming to a standstill I moved over to my parents place in Southport where I've been incredibly well looked after, I've had the opportunity to exercise most days and I've even started to learn Spanish, all whilst 75% of the time the weather has been pleasant and from my parents balcony I've been looking out across the Irish Sea. Also, not consuming 12 pints of Guinness and eating a kebab every weekend has probably been a good thing and the lack of City/commute to work has actually got me to a position where I'm not having an anxiety attack by the 5th of the month wondering how the fuck am I going to get to payday again with what's coming out and what I have left in my bank account. 

A bit of perspective really. I've also tried to put a bit of distance between myself and social media. Over the past decade I've used Twitter more than anything else, mostly for keeping up to date with what's going on in football. But as football ended on the 13th March, I was looking through my timeline and realising that I really couldn't give a fuck about what a lot of people have to say. Then there's people out there that I like and have an interest in things they say, but it doesn't mean that any of these people are my friends. And I think lockdown has really shown who is your mate and who isn't your mate. This morning for example I got a message off a guy a went to uni with, probably seen him 5 times in the past decade but this is the 3rd time he's reached out to me since this all began. Whereas there's people I see/read every Saturday for years but it's probably not crossed either of our minds to be in touch. It is what it is I guess. And as for Facebook, fuck me I don't know why I still have it. It's either some woman I met on a night out in 2008 putting pictures of her kids up or a bloke I went to school with who is unashamedly expressing an outrageous racist opinion with the tagline of "dont like it then fuck off!" or something equally as thought provoking. 

Ironically the void I've tried to fill in distracting myself with social media has been taken up by Bluemoon. So now instead of scrolling through a timeline, I'm just reading thread after thread of shit opinions and unashamedly racist bollocks from "Barry Conlon's Deep Fat Fryer" instead of @IconicIlkay. Do yourselves a favour and never enter the Political Forum, it's not worth your blood pressure. 

Which vaguely brings me on to City. The last blog I posted I got quite a bit of enjoyment writing about all things which have been shit about the past decade, and I think I'll probably enjoy writing about things that are shit at the moment. But things aren't really that shit at the moment.

Well not being there is shit. Football behind closed doors is shit. I don't usually watch a lot of football outside of watching City live and I've somehow watched Sheffield United 4 times in the past 2 weeks. As a former resident of London Road, Sheffield a stones throw away from Bramall Lane I've had a bit of a soft spot fort'Blades. And the Greasy Chip Butty song rivals the Ludo Miklosko song (sorry if that's now in your head). But fucking hell they're bad to watch. And Villa. And West Ham. And Burnley. And Bournemouth. And Norwich (how the fuck did we lose to them?!). In fact, I sometimes cannot believe how popular football is. As a fan that goes to most the games, Chelsea, Southampton, Brighton and Watford away games are all ones I look forward to, so I'm pretty gutted that I've missed out on them this year. But then again, I've probably lost a stone and I'll probably be out of debt in August, so swings and roundabouts. What has been particularly horrific is the last game I went to was the derby, I've still not seen their 2nd goal mind. 

Yes we've lost the league and it hurts. Like any love story, it hurts when he/she goes out of your life, but then the most exciting bit is the chase for the next one. Those Autumn/Winter months of 2011, 2013 and 2017 were the most exciting times - yeah actually winning the title is the memory that stands out but when I think of QPR away in November 2011, beating Spurs at home in November 2013 or Chelsea away in September 2017 it gets me giddy as it's that point when you start thinking "it's on here". But I suppose the question is, do we have what it takes for next season?

At this point it looks like we're going to have to invest a bit. 3 players key to winning 6 competitions in just over a year (Kompany, Sane, Silva) will not be with us next season. We knew losing Vincent was going to be big but I don't think most were predicting it would be as big as it has been. Add to that Laporte's injury and Stones/Otamendi's inconsistent form and it's clear that defensive reinforcements are a priority. We've got a few games between now and the end of the season which don't mean a great deal, so any time that Eric Garcia and Taylor Harwood-Bellis can get would be preferential as if they flourish then it could save us some money.

It's been positive to see Tommy Doyle and Cole Palmer being involved in the squad, with Palmer apparently really impressing Pep. I've only seen Palmer play once in the flesh and he did stand out, however I'm not sure you can really judge a player too much from playing at under 18's. Just had a flashback to people saying Brandon Barker should be in the team instead of Jesus Navas as I typed that. I'm a big fan of Doyle, I've probably watched him 8-10 times and he's always looked the part. Another name that is getting linked with making the bench/appearances before the end of the season is Jayden Braaf. I'll be honest and say that I've only seen him in the flesh once and I thought he looked bright but not the finished article. A lot of City fans who watch YouTube compilations of players seem to think that he's the next Sancho... all players develop differently and you know I sell things to dickheads for a living, I'm not a scout, but for me he's not near Sancho level. But then I didn't think Sancho was going to be as good as Brahim Diaz and right now I've got that wrong. An exciting young prospect no doubt but I think if he does get his chance I do hope that the fan boys on Twitter don't ruin his confidence if he doesn't have a great first game.

I've spoken about the positives here but the negative is really quite a big negative - and at the moment it's unknown. So much depends on this CAS appeal. In the worst case scenario it isn't the end of the world, but it will take some adjusting to. I've already mentioned 3 players which were key to our recent success who will be gone, and when you think that Fernandinho, Aguero, Otamendi (as much as he can be a liability, he was in the PL team of the year in 2018) and Walker are all at the wrong end of their careers/they will need replacing within the next 2 years, we could probably do with having Champions League football to attract the best and also they will cost a lot of money to replace. Having said that, we signed David Silva and Yaya Toure without Champions League football. The show will go on, and the club won't fall to pieces, but as well as the issue above you would risk losing our players who hold the most value - Sterling, de Bruyne, Laporte, Bernardo. If it gets thrown out/if it's only one year then I think we'll be able to live with that. 

We've got 7 weeks left of football for this season, top 4 spot as good as done, 2 games to win to retain the FA Cup and then 4 games to try and win the Champions League. It probably won't happen but if that's how it turns out then perhaps the big bald Dyson hasn't completely packed in yet, and it will probably go down as one of the greatest seasons the clubs had. Which would probably suit these odd times we're living in.

Six shit things about City in the 2010's

The club, the local press and City bloggers will be typing up their drafts right now as to what an incredible decade the 2010's have been for City.

There's no denying it, 4 leagues, 6 domestic cups and a few bin lids - there's no team in the decades "top 6" that we've not had a game where City have knocked at least 5 past them in a single game. No one else can say that and despite not winning the Champions League it would be very difficult to argue that the 2010's have been City's decade. And that's without even mentioning the "moments" - the FA Cup win to end 35 trophy-less years, the 6-1 at Old Trafford, the Aguero moment, winning three titles from 'impossible' positions, becoming 'Centurions' and the first English men's team to win the domestic treble.

But when you're a cynical bastard who revels in misery and sneers at the happiness of others then it's time someone stepped up and highlighted some of the shit of this decade and I think I'm the man to do so, so here you have it in no particular order here are six shit things about City in the 2010's:

Wigan Athletic
Any of three fixtures against these lot could be seen as a relative low point in the decade. Since we've been successful it's really hard to look beyond the FA Cup final as being the grimmest day watching City. From waking up to the news that City were planning on binning Mancini to get in a manager I'd never heard of, to Ben Watson scoring a last minute winner, to walking outside into rain so heavy you could have thought I'd had 3 buckets of water thrown over my head, it was all shit. The mere thought of it makes me see the dark clouds in the air just before we walked in the stadium singing "you can stick your Pellegrini up your arse" all over again. The cherry on top of a painfully frustrating and disappointing season, Mancini was sacked within 48 hours, 1 year to the day since his most famous victory vs QPR.

9 months later and we're playing them again the FA Cup quarter finals. A completely different feel to this season though as the previous-inserted-into-arse Pellegrini had got us banging the goals in and looking like we couldn't be stopped, domestically anyway. I was due to travel to Barcelona after this game as we had the second leg of our Champions League last 16 fixture that week, just the little issue of the now Championship Wigan to see off. Forgot to mention that they were relegated just after the Cup final victory. We welcomed them with a City cult hero as manager - Uwe Rosler had a banner up in the South/East stand corner and his name reverberated round the ground before the game. I have no real recollection of this game (believe it or not I've avoided watching any highlights) apart from The Engineer, The Charming Man, Manuel Pellegrini decided not to wear a nice suit like he had in every game he'd managed us in so far this season but he wore what looked like pyjamas. If he didn't naturally look like death warmed up anyway I'd presume that he had overslept and didn't have time to get changed before speeding up to Manchester from Mere Golf Club. He looked exactly how City played - a load of shit with our minds elsewhere. We lost 2-1 and lost again a few days later to Barca, so our "maybe we'll do the quadruple" talk quickly turned into "fucking hell we better win the league now otherwise just a League Cup looks like shit for how well we've played".

4 year later and we're in the FA Cup against Wigan again. They've done us at Wembley, they've done us at The Etihad, will they do us at The DW? Mancini got done by them, as did Pellers, surely football God himself Josep Guardiola and his soon to be Centurions will be able to turn over a team not in the Premier League or the Championship but in fact League One? I was stood in the away end just in front of Aguero's Dad and son, what a load of shit they witnessed. Delph got himself sent off for being reckless, Walker fell asleep and known pyromaniac Will Grigg slotted past the imposing Claudio Bravo to send us out of the Cup and another year of "maybe we'll do the quadruple" to be put to bed until the following April. It kicked off at the end when the Pie Eaters ran on the pitch to celebrate, after about 10 seconds of flicking the V's and shouting "inbred!" a few times I quickly scurried back to the car and missed it.

Anytime we've not hammered United
Let's have it right - it's been a great decade against our nearest rivals. Since the 6-1 in October 2011 I have seen us play them in the league there 7 times, winning 5 times, drawing and losing once each - that in itself shows the difference between the two clubs this decade. Every single victory has been fully deserved as well, we've absolutely wiped the floor with them. That 3-0 when they had Moyes was not only borderline pornography to my eyes, The Chosen One's comments after saying they should "aspire to be like City" was tattoo on your forehead material. But as someone who unfortunately had to miss the November 2018 derby victory due to being at a wedding, I haven't seen City beat United at home for five years.

Every time they have come to us this decade we've been on paper miles better than them, and as things are right now and have been for quite a few years (since Ferguson left) you would have to say that only a near disaster at City would result in them finishing above us in the league, especially now with having that dinner lady as their manager. Having said that they've done us a few times. The one that sticks out is obviously the Van Persie one as that knocked the stuffing out of us and as our results faltered afterwards, but I'll let them have that as they were good enough to win the title that season. That time Rashford danced round Demichelis (who apparently turned 39 this week, I thought he was 40odd when he signed for us) to score, that 0-0 on a Thursday night, when we were winning 2-0 and could have been 5-0 up at half time, only to lose 3-2 and therefore couldn't win the title that day (I actually rate this day higher than the aforementioned Wigan cup final as the worst footballing day of the post-takeover era) and even this season where we lost 2-1 - you look at the teams and we should be leathering these. Maybe like Wigan they must have some sort of curse on us that you can only get by being supported by a load of badly dressed yonners, who knows.

I could go on about that 3-2 in April 2018 for some time. I never felt as high as that moment when Gundogan put us 2-0 up, I can remember the concourse in the South Stand vividly at half time, absolutely bouncing. It was all your dreams at once. It took me awhile to get over it to be honest, and it certainly didn't help that this game was between the two Champions League quarter final defeats against Liverpool. A real cunt sandwich if there ever was one.

Recruitment post-title wins
Fuck me we've spent some dosh on shite. True we've spent money wisely and we've built two really great Premier League teams, but the money we've spent when we're chasing title wins compared to when we're on top is ridiculous. Clichy, Nasri, Aguero vs Rodwell, Sinclair, Maicon is a great example of the difference between the summer of 2011 and 2012. Javi Garcia isn't remembered as a great City player by any stretch but he's soundly not in the relegation zone of that summer, whereas the previous summer we won 2 titles with those 3 players key to our success.

The summer of 2013 had 5 major signings - Fernandinho, who you could argue is one of the clubs best signings this decade, Negredo, Navas and Demichelis overall had a positive impact that season and Jovetic was a bit in and out, probably viewed as a flop but I didn't mind him that season. Then the following season we signed Eliaquim Mangala and Fernando, thus ending any trust anyone ever had in the Portuguese league. During the Winter window we signed Wilfried Bony. These three players would make it in to my all time underwhelming City XI or any negative XI you could put together. I mean fucking hell these lot were abysmal. Mangala, I'll give you that he had a debut (as did McManaman and he's considered by some as one of our worst signings of all time) and he played a few times in our 18 wins on the spin in 2017, but generally he was a proper liability. With Bony all you need to do is look where he's been since and how many goals he's scored. Literally the only positive thing I can say about Bony is he has responded to @MikeNumber5 DM-ing him on Instagram. Says a lot when the signings of that summer were a 36 year old Frank Lampard and Bacary Sagna on a free. I tweeted a picture recently of when we beat Bayern Munich at home after Aguero had scored his hat trick and he had Lampard, Jovetic, Mangala and Fernando around him - what an odd time, and no surprise that we didn't win the title that season.

We invested a lot of money in the build up to the Centurions season, quite a few years in the making with Otamendi, Sterling and KdB in the summer of 2015, Stones, Sane and Jesus in the summer of 2016, Walker, Bernardo and Ederson in the summer of 2017. But the summer of 2018 it was the often criticised Mahrez for what was then a club record transfer, and I don't want to slag him off too much really as he's not been that bad, but then he's not been that good, has he? (EDIT - bit of a sidebar to the point but I've had to mention him missing that penalty at Anfield last year as that deserves an honourable mention regarding shit moments of the decade) Doesn't really matter as we retained the title so happy days. Then the summer just gone and I know it's early days, I like the look of Rodri but he's not there yet, Cancelo cannot get a run of games together yet and this morning I've read that he's already "open for City exit", Angelino is what he is - a £6 million full back in a team without a left back. All in all a bit underwhelming and we find ourselves without having our Christmas turkey but 14 points off top. With the money and competitiveness of football you cannot stay on top forever but where we are today feels a bit disappointing.

Not doing anything in Europe
One of my favourite things is going across Europe watching City with my mates, this decade I have travelled to loads of different countries and cities watching City. I love it about as much as I dislike home Champions League group games. The weird "not sure if these are really City fans" crowd with some stranger standing next to me, the crap flat atmosphere, the groan at having to play Donetsk again. I, like a lot of fans, are not completely taken in by the competition and as I wrote many moons again (the day after the Roma draw in 2014) I never expected City to be in the Champions League when I grew up, so it's not exactly something I've dreamt about winning.

Having said that, I have seen us win a lot of trophies and this is the last one to tick off the list. Not only have we not won a European trophy this decade, we've not even been to a final. Considering the players and managers we've had, we've let ourselves down here. "But we've had difficult group fixtures!" Yeah we did under Mancini, but in the years since we've been heavy favourites to qualify to the next round - and we have. Getting Barcelona two years in a row wasn't an easy draw for us but you've got to play the best at some point and it's not like in either game we came close to winning. Our away performance at Real Madrid in the semi final has got to rank as one of the most disappointing 90 minutes of the decade. Monaco at home was one of the games of the decade, probably one of the most dramatic games I'll ever go to - but we went out there with a 2 goal cushion and were level by half time. The last two seasons we've played English clubs both who ended up as losing finalists but the first finished 25 points behind us in the league and the second 27 points behind us in the league.

Even without winning a trophy in Europe, Liverpool and Chelsea have played in 3 finals, United have won the Europa League and Arsenal and Spurs have played in European finals. Yeah I know we laugh at the Thursday night cup playing against a bunch of Bosnian farmers but I'd still like to see us win a cup in Europe, and hopefully this will change sooner rather than later!

The Academy
We've tanned a load of money on a great facility across the road from The Etihad where we were told all about a conveyor belt of young talent coming through. No doubt there have been some talented young players play for our youth teams but that has not turned into appearances for the first team. Even right now we're clamouring for the extremely talented Phil Foden to get a game in a midfield which is lacking legs and invention at times but he cannot seem to start consecutive league games.

I know you're in danger in sounding like a bit of a prick to demand youth players being in the first team over established stars, I'm pleased we bought Kevin de Bruyne instead of trying to turn Celina into a star but as someone who grew up with a lot of academy products in the first team and someone who likes to watch the younger teams play (paedo alert) it's a bit frustrating that despite all the money invested into the CFA we haven't had a regular starter.

The one that got away was clearly Sancho. When he eventually leaves Dortmund it will be for a massive fee. Would his career taken off in the same way if he'd stayed at City? Who knows - Frimpong who has gone to Celtic is another who in my opinion we'll regret letting go. There's been a load who have looked great at their age but we've either not given them a chance or they've gone to NAC Breda or Girona for a season and hardly set the world alight. In the same way you could look at Bony's career trajectory post-City you can probably look at Brandon Barker and think "well he probably wasn't worth giving a go" - but sometimes the right chance for a player at the right time can make or break a career. There's been plenty this decade who've looked the part at their age group, we've got to loads of FAYC finals but no one has nailed down a place. Hopefully in the next decade this will change, with players like Eric Garcia, Tommy Doyle and Jayden Braaf to name 3 impressing at different ages you would hope there's a lot more to come.

Constant price increases
As a City fan that follows them all over the country one of the best things to happen this decade is the introduction of the £30 price cap for away tickets. We almost take it for granted now but only a few years ago there were away games (looking at you Arsenal and Chelsea) where we were paying over £60 per game. I even remember seeing/hearing someone say "Everton is pretty cheap at £43" those of us who went to all the games when we were crap were hit hard as all of a sudden City were a Category A game, not Category C (i.e. who the fuck wants to watch these). If it hadn't been for this league wide price cap then there's probably a lot of games I would have had to sacrifice and miss out on.

City on the other hand have year on year increased the season ticket just a little bit, a tenner here, fifteen quid there so that without realising your season ticket now is a lot more expensive than it was 10 years ago. Those out there who think the club can do no wrong will shrug their shoulders and say "oh well it's only £1.50 extra on your monthly direct debit" or "well it's only an extra £3.57 per game" or even "well this is the price of watching good football" (as if they'd give us a rebate if we ended up outside the Champions League places). Have I given up my season ticket? No, and I'm sure anyone rolling their eyes at this might be quick to point that out, but City are taking the piss and I'm sure for a lot of people they're not far off their financial breaking point. I understand that the club need to be seen to increase match day revenue but that latest increase gave the club around £750k in revenue, the clubs overall revenue was £535m.

I don't see this changing in the next few years, they will keep putting it up, people like me will keep moaning about it and do nothing about it, gradually long term fans will stop being able to afford going week in week out and the characteristics of our fan base will change, which is sad and already noticeable at the higher demand away games.

Anyway, despite this being purposely a moan it has been a great decade watching City - here's to the 2020's being our decade as well!

The Man Who Would Be King

Growing up supporting City in the 1990's, you were told tales of the great players to have previously worn the blue shirt.

When I first felt the crushing blow of relegation in 1996, 20 years had past since Dennis Tueart had scored an overhead kick at Wembley to secure City a League Cup victory. That victory would be the last great day for many years, and it signified the end of a 8 year glory period for the club where we won the league, cups and in Europe too.

For the first 15 years of me being a match going fan I had to grasp on to the temporary crop of cult heroes with the knowledge that a legitimate legend may never play for City again. I loved Rosler, Goater and Benarbia, who are rightly adored as being City's heroes of their day, but they didn't achieve the sort of things which my Dad had seen when he was my age. Doyle, Summerbee, Lee and of course Colin Bell - the King of the Kippax.

City had moved on from this era and moved away from the Kippax. I doubted that we would ever see another "King". We all know the story of the developments of September 1st 2008 - when everything changed. But it still didn't seem real, and although the names and reputations like Robinho, Bridge, Given were bigger than before we still needed to achieve or for my generation be forever celebrating players who were just great servants of the club, not players who we could remember for the moments that you will talk about forever.

The summer of 2010 was a significant one for City. Having been within touching distance of qualifying for the Champions League that May, we went out and bought the players that we hoped would take us to that next level - to not only compete, but to win.

A lot of players will be remembered fondly from that transfer window; Balotelli, Kolarov, Milner but two in particular stand out. David Silva and Yaya Toure.

Little did I know at this point how important these two players were going to be. It will be a sad day when David leaves, but that day is not upon us yet, but for Yaya, the end is nigh.

And it wasn't just myself who didn't know how important Yaya would be. If you've never read this before, check out this article from The Mirror's Brian Reade - https://www.mirror.co.uk/opinion/football-opinion/brian-reade-column-millions-squandered-3353824

There's almost too much to say about Toure. He was absolutely vital for Mancini in the 2010/11 season. He was viewed as a deep lying central midfielder but Mancini looked at his attributes and played just in front of Barry and de Jong allowed Toure to be creative on the ball with his passing, and allowed him to break forward with such pace and power that hasn't probably been seen before or since on these shores.

With some players they have attributes such as pace or shooting ability, but some players just have that ability to score important goals. David Platt once described Edin Dzeko has having the ability to score "heavy goals", and when you're in the hunt for silverware, you need someone who can provide the heavy goals.

A sunny mid-April day in the capital against our bitter rivals for the right to play in the F.A. Cup final a month later. A game that City grew into, but there was not a lot between ourselves and United on the day. It was tight, if anyone made a mistake it could have been crucial. The recently-much-lauded Michael Carrick made this mistake and Yaya pounced on the loose ball, ran past Vidic like he wasn't there before megging Van Der Sar.

It's almost easy to forget with everything that's happened since this moment of jubilation what exactly this goal meant. Trying hard not to sound patronising here but the younger generation of City fans will never know what that feels like. We may well go on to do this and that in many different competitions, but that moment where City exploded out of the shadows by beating United will probably never happen again. All eleven on the day heroes, but it was Yaya who was the difference on the day.

4 weeks later and just as the nerves of "maybe this isn't going to be our day" were just about kicking round in your head, Yaya again almost burst the net with a goal at the same end, right in front of the blue end of Wembley. The F.A. Cup was City's first piece of silverware in 35 years. Thirty five fucking years. Some people don't live that long. It was an amount of time which our neighbours reminded us of regularly, and even had a banner mocking us. Hope they made the most of it at the time.

I could be wrong and there's no way of knowing otherwise, but in the same way that we all felt that without Dickov scoring those goals and Weaver making those saves in 1999 we would have been doomed, I think we all feel that if Yaya hadn't been the difference on those two days and City hadn't won the F.A. Cup in 2011 we might not be where we are today, 7 years later just days away from lifting our 3rd league title.

The Cup was the first thing. The next step was to be the English champions. City headed to Newcastle for the penultimate game of the 2011/12 season just barely on top of the league by 8 goals and 0 points. Newcastle were flying high at the time, and they knew that if they beat us and won away at Goodison the following week they had the chance to get in to a Champions League place. Mancini made the change to push Yaya further forward in an attempt to win the tight game between us and Newcastle. There's a story that Joleon Lescott tells about Toure assuring him the day before the game that he was going to score at St James', and he did. Twice. More heavy goals. Another huge day in my life where I was watching a really tight game of football and Yaya Toure was the difference. I recall clearly walking out of St James' that day knowing that we had done it. 44 years since we last won the title and we just had QPR at home next week to lift the title. Dead simple...

It didn't quite work out for City or Mancini the following season, not to say that Toure had a poor season at all, but City just didn't seem to have the right mentality as champions it seemed at the time - a trending theme as no club has defended the title since.

A new manager and a new style of playing for the 2013/14 season, one that will be remembered more than any other due to Toure's performances. Where do you start? Dominating United home and away, ridiculous goals of all types whether long range strikes against Fulham, Plzen and Sunderland in the League Cup final - a goal which is possibly the finest the new Wembley has seen, and sparked the turn around where City ended up winning 3-1 and lifting the League Cup for the first time since 76 - or lung busting runs against West Ham, Cardiff and Aston Villa. This final goal is particularly significant as it was a rainy May night at The Etihad where City found Villa hard to break down, but eventually got our noses in front with two goals from Dzeko. It was the 90th minute at the end of an exhausting season and Yaya picked the ball up in his own half and drove at Villa's heart like someone trying to kill a vampire, before smashing the ball into the back of the net to win the game 4-0 and put City 2 points at the top of the league with one game to play.

Throughout the whole of that season he was basically untouchable. Pellegrini made everything go through Yaya and that season it worked a charm as we won our first double since 1970.

There were great moments after this; the winning penalty in the 2016 League Cup final in particular stands out as well as great goals away to Villa in 2014 and Watford in 2016. But unfortunately he never really got to the same heights in the seasons following 2013/14. He was a victim of his own success in one way, and I have always believed the Pellegrini relied on him too much and over played him. When he joined City, he had just come off a World Cup, another World Cup in 2014 as well as what seemed like AFCON every year. Add that to him being over the age of 30 and being a huge bloke and I bet his body was exhausted at times in Pellegrini's final year. Elements of our support were getting on his back, which made me love him even more, but even then it looked like at the end of the 2015/16 season with Pep about to take over it looked like it could be the end for Yaya.

By all report he and Pep have a weird relationship. I won't get into all the tripe that Yaya's agent has spouted over the years, but he made it even worse in the autumn months of 2016. But then, when I had resigned myself to never seeing Yaya play for City again, Pep brought him back away to Crystal Palace in November 2016. Me and my mates were absolutely buzzing when we saw the team news. And after Yaya not having played for 7 months, what do you think he did? Scored 2 and again was the difference on the day. As he scored his second he ran over to the fans in the same he did when he scored there in April 2014 before our second title win, and fans ran on the pitch to celebrate with him. It was an emotional moment, something that I never thought I'd have - a true City legend - had returned and scored on his comeback. For the rest of the season he looked great, playing in a bit more of a reserved deeper role - probably something Pellegrini should have done 2 years earlier. He played that well that he was offered a 12 month contract extension.

So we get on to this season, where his appearances have been limited, but there's no telling what his winning influence would have done for the dressing room with a lot of the team being under 24.

It was announced on the 4th May, just 9 days before his 35th birthday that he will be leaving City after 8 years and that our final home game of the season against Brighton will be used as a send off to a City legend. A year ago, as Zabaleta was saying his goodbyes, I questioned whether the current crop of players had the personalities to take on the hero status' which Zabaleta had had before them and I think although no one is Zabaleta standard yet, they are doing their bit.

There's certainly players in this current squad with the ability to control games, score important trophy winning goals, and create moments like Yaya has over the years, but Yaya will always be remembered as the man that created those first moments. Without him, City wouldn't be the club they are today.

We will be lucky to witness anything like what Yaya Toure has done at Manchester City again, and for me and many others he is my Colin Bell, he is The King.

Thanks for the memories, Yaya.