Just when you thought it was safe to come out from behind the sofa, just when you thought that it was all over for another year and you could relax, safe in the knowledge that, no matter what happened until the end of the season, it would never happen again, we find out that it’s going to happen again. No, I’m not talking about Jô finding his way to the Manchester City bench, but rather the Manchester derby. That game wot I done said I hate. Well, it’s back.

Except this one isn’t going to be in Manchester; rather, it’ll be hosted at Wembley, meaning that the journey for the United fans will be much, much shorter and more convenient (fnar).

It might also be an idea to try a little extra harder to get past Kiev. Y’know… Just in case…

Though I will concede it’s nice to be visiting Wembley with City because it has been a while, let’s be honest, I’m not convinced that Wembley is the best location for the semi-finals. I see the point about more fans being able to get into the ground than into Villa Park or The Emirates or St James’ Park or Old Trafford (although, obviously, this couldn’t be used as a neutral venue for this semi-final). But it does dilute the sense of achievement and occasion of reaching a Wembley final. And the travel costs more. And accommodation, if necessary. And probably tickets (though I’m no expert on FA Cup Semi Final ticketing given that lack of action in that department during my lifetime).

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The cynic in me would say that the semi finals are scheduled for the national stadium these days to earn revenue to cover the cost of its build. Then again, though, the child in me is excited for City’s trip to Wembley. We’ve not been to the new one, after all.

And, in a roundabout way, that brings me to the City fans. I wrote, not so long ago, that I was beginning to lose patience with a small segment of blues fans. But, having lost that patience, I’m not convinced any more that it’s a problem confined to a small segment. Perhaps this puts me in the wrong, I’m not sure, but I would like to think not.

The atmosphere on Sunday wasn’t the best around Eastlands. Partly because of the apprehension and tension of the cup tie hurtling towards an unwanted replay and the knowledge that a victory would set up a Manchester derby down south – did the draw really need to have been made before all ties had been played? – but it was also partly the attitude of the fans. Something has changed in the last few months and not for the better.

There are moans and goans with misplaced passes. There’s the overwhelming sense of disappointment when things aren’t going to plan from the off. There have even been one or two boos greeting the half time whistle when the game is at 0-0. And that’s ignoring that every single referee in the Premier League is part of the anti-City global conspiracy to stop the club in their tracks – apparently.

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The problem (if that’s the right word) is the sudden investment in City’s team has produced a rapid improvement on the pitch. It’s easy to forget that 2006/07 was only four seasons ago and that was the year that we only managed 10 league goals at home, the last coming on New Year’s Day. The progress from that season is astounding and is still happening – City are by no means the finished product. With progress comes a heightened expectation, but it’s too much to expect that, because x number of millions have been spent and the opposition are below City, then we will be three goals up inside 20 minutes.

And when the fans become agitated that it doesn’t appear to be going right on the pitch, it becomes harder for it to go right on the pitch. Players are human; if the people supporting the club are on edge then that feeling can extend to the people representing the club. Then, the harder they try to force things to go right, the harder it gets and the more on edge the fans get and it becomes a vicious circle.

No team will play well every week and even the most hardened City fan will concede that we haven’t been hitting top form recently. But that recent non-top-form has still kept the club in a Champions League position and has seen them progress to the FA Cup Semi Final. So it shouldn’t be too bad when that form returns. And, at the end of the season, nobody will care which games City did and didn’t play well in as long as targets have been achieved and it’s been entertaining along the way.

And it’s been pretty entertaining so far.

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We now find ourselves in a very crucial week of the season. Kiev will come to Eastlands and defend their two goal advantage, looking for an away goal on the break. And they’re good on the break, as we saw in Ukraine, so they will be very dangerous and they shouldn’t be underestimated. It’s not an easy tie and it won’t be a walkover. City need our help to get into the next Europa League round; if that sense of anxiety and tension is in the stadium during the game and the moans and groans arrived within fifteen minutes, then it’s going to be no help at all.

And following Kiev is a trip to Stamford Bridge. With Chelsea two points behind City and with a game in hand, it’s a vital game in the competition for third place. If Chelsea win, not only do they go ahead of City, but they have another game in which to extend that lead. If City win, the gap will be five points with them having played a game more. And a draw would actually do little for both teams, but it would probably benefit Chelsea slightly more with that additional game.

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Though I’d take a draw right now.

The business end of the season is fast approaching and if we want City to be successful and if we want to start to see a return on the investment that has propelled us to this level, then we need to get behind the team and be that pick-me-up when things aren’t going too well. Moaning, groaning, booing, shouting that suchabody is rubbish for making a bad pass, screaming for the manager’s head… All of this in unhelpful and, frankly, it can wait.

If we get behind the team now, this could be the start of something good.

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It’s been in use since 1965, it’s widely accepted without much argument, it’s part of the footballing fabric of cup competitions around the world and I hate it. It’s the away goals rule.

Its intention is simple – designed and brought into being to promote attacking football, to encourage away teams to try and score and reduce the number of dour stalemates.

For me that’s rubbish. I doubt there’s any stats available to prove or disprove the point, but I can’t really see how it has brought about a new wave of exciting, attacking football. I’d say it has done the opposite – causing 1st leg ties to often be dour, miserable affairs as the home side often make it their primary objective not to concede, seeing a 0-0 draw as a good result. But the away team will not be too displeased with a draw away from home either, knowing any victory in the 2nd leg will see them through.

You could argue too that it gives an unfair advantage to the team playing away first, as the home team in the first leg squander their natural advantage by being defensive to avoid conceding.

There are also some strange anomalies around the world. In the Carling Cup, it only applies after extra time in a 2nd leg. This rule prevented Burnley reaching their 1st cup final in 47 years when they went out to Spurs in the semi final of the Carling Cup in 2009, losing the away leg 4-1, but winning the home leg 3-0. Two goals by Spurs in extra time saw them go through instead. In the CONCACAF Champions League the rule applies at the end of the 2nd leg, but not after extra time. Not everyone uses it – the playoffs in the Football League for example.

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But even if it had led to a new era of attacking football, I still would not support it, for one simple reason – I simply don’t think it is fair. If 2 teams have scored and thus conceded the same number of goals over 2 legs, I see no reason why one team is knocked out, and one progresses, due to a seemingly random arbitration process. Yes, the team that progresses scored more goals away from home. So what? They conceded more too. Why are we rewarding attacking away from home over defending? It makes no sense to me. If extra time is involved after the 2nd leg it also means the home team in the 2nd leg has an extra half hour playing at home, though the away team has an extra half hour to score an away goal.

It seems to confuse people sometimes too. Away goals are often said to count double, but they clearly don’t. And when Bayern Munich won 1-0 away to Internazionale the other week, I heard at least 2 commentators mention the crucial away goal of Bayern’s. Only it isn’t crucial as an away goal at all – there is no score in the 2nd leg that would see them go through on away goals.

The odd manager has come out to voice their disapproval at the ruling. Arsene Wenger did in 2008, having discussed it with other managers at a meeting in Vienna. He argued that the rule was created in different era when away teams always looked to defend. Has anything really changed?

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So what do you do if you don’t have away goals? Well of course it will mean a greater dependency on penalties. This is hardly the perfect way to decide matches either, but at least there is some skill involved, and anything is better than the current system that exists in many competitions around the world.

Check out Manchester United’s star of the future, Ravel Morrison…

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Togolese striker Emmanuel Adebayor hopes to turn his loan move from Manchester City to Real Madrid into a permanent one.The 27-year-old did his cause no harm on Tuesday, with a brace in Real’s 4-0 thrashing of Spurs in their Champions League quarter-final first-leg clash at the Bernabeu.

Adebayor, who has scored five times in 13 games for Real, is hopeful his hard work will pay off with a permanent contract in the Spanish capital under Jose Mourinho.

“I have two months to go and the club will decide what they want to do – but of course I want to stay,” Adebayor said.

“I just have to keep working hard every day in training”.

“They brought me here to help with the run-in to the end of the season – and today I have done that well.”

Adebayor has now scored 10 goals in 10 games against Tottenham, with eight of those coming while playing for Arsenal, and he admits he always looks forward to playing the Londoners.

“I am very happy when I play against Spurs as I always have a chance to score,” he said.

“So now we have to concentrate on the second game to go through to the semi-finals.”

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has maintained his stance that club captain Cesc Fabregas was misrepresented in a controversial media interview.In an interview published in Spanish magazine Don Balon, Fabregas was quoted as hinting Wenger would have been sacked if he managed a club similar to Arsenal in Spain, due to the fact the club has not won a trophy since 2005.

Wenger responded, suggesting the author had twisted Fabregas’ words and that the club were ‘really upset about it’.

It led to the publishers of Don Balon to post audio of the interview on their website and release a statement stating they had made no changes to the transcript.

But on Friday, Wenger was still seething about the article and maintains the publication broke an agreement with the club.

“What they say is not interesting to us. They did not respect our agreement,” Wenger said.

“They will never get an interview from us again, ever.”

“I stand by my claim 100 percent. We had an agreement they had to send us copy for approval and it was not done.”

“I maintain completely that they did not respect our agreement. The article in itself I do not want to discuss.”

%image% Liverpool’s push to end the season in a European place continued after they brushed aside Newcastle 3-0 to move up to fifth on the table.Goals from Maxi Rodriguez, Dirk Kuyt and Luis Suarez gave Kenny Dalglish’s side a comfortable 3-0 win at Anfield and sees them overtake Tottenham in fifth place, albeit on goal difference.

The hosts opened the scoring with 10 minutes of the game gone, forward Rodriguez adding to the three goals he bagged against Birmingham last weekend.

Young left-back John Flanagan sent in an inviting cross that was not dealt with by Newcastle defender Mike Williamson, and Rodriguez’s volley from 12 yards took a deflection off Danny Simpson before flying past Krul into the net.

The visitors struggled to get a foot-hold in the game and could not cope with Liverpool’s intensity as the first-half progressed.

Jay Spearing, standing in for the injured Steven Gerrard, then forced Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul into a mistake after his fierce drive was spilled by the 22-year-old, but the stopper recovered the ball with Dirk Kuyt and Raul Meireles closing in.

Winger Jonas Gutierrez was proving difficult to handle down the right flank however it was Liverpool who again threatened.

Midfielder Lucas should have done better with his header after Spearing’s cross and could only send a tame effort straight at Krul to still give Newcastle hope of getting back into the game.

But any chance of that was extinguished when Williamson hauled down striker Suarez just following the re-start after the Uruguayan had beaten him for pace in the box and Kuyt dispatched the ball into the goal from the penalty spot.

And Liverpool made sure of the points five minutes later after some neat inter-changes from Kuyt and Suarez found the latter in space giving him an easy finish from six yards.

The Independent is reporting that Phil Jones has given his strongest indication to where his future may lie – if he were to leave Blackburn. The 19 year old will represent England in the summer U21 European Championship and has been linked with a host of clubs including Manchester United, Liverpool and Spurs. However, it’s Arsene Wenger’s style that impresses Jones the most.

Jones commented that “I think Arsenal play the prettiest football in the Premier League.”

Arsenal is known to have been monitoring Jones and his Blackburn teammate Steven N’zonzi – but Blackburn has made it clear that any team looking to sign the home-grown player from the club will need to pay a high price. Arsenal may face competition from Liverpool to sign Jones and you might think that Kenny Dalglish would be favourite due to the success he had as Blackburn manager in 1995; bearing in mind Jones has supported Blackburn since childhood. However, as Jones points out he would only have been 3 years old at the time – too young to remember that success under Dalglish.

On his future Jones says “Obviously I want to win things, and hopefully play for England at senior level. Representing your country is a massive achievement.”

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As the end of season awards and reviews begin to pile in, one particular issue has began to gripe no end – the continual grouping of Man Utd’s twin full-backs Rafael and Fabio under the ‘well they’re twins so they must be the same player’ banner. In reality, the subtle differences in each defenders games mean that they could turn into very different players from one another in the future.

You could be forgiven for not really knowing the difference between Rafael and his twin brother Fabio Da Silva – indeed, in a Carling Cup tie against Barnsley last season, referee Chris Foy even proceeded to book Fabio, despite it being Rafael that had committed the offence in question on Barnsley winger Jamal Campbell-Ryce.

Signed together from Brazilian club Fluminense in January 2008, the pair were initially and now rather laughably likened to a the ‘Brazilian Neville brothers’ – laughable not because the Neville brother were bad of course, but because that has to be the first time that phrase has ever been used in all seriousness.

Rafael has found first-team action easier to come by since the switch, yet back home in Brazil it was Fabio, the captain of the Brazil under-17 World Cup side back in 2007 that was held in higher esteem. By virtue of their natural position, Rafael has been granted more first-team opportunities in the right back slot with no one able to make the position their own at Old Trafford over the last 18 months, whereas Fabio has had to contend with Patrice Evra at left back, one of the best in his position in world football.

Fabio has made a breakthrough of late and now appears to have leapfrogged Rafael in the pecking order and looks the favourite between the two brothers to start the Champions League final against Barcelona after making the right back slot his own in recent weeks.

Yet there are differences between the two defenders and to casually lump them together as readily as everyone else seems content to do to is irritating to say the least. They were brought over to Utd at such a young age simply because they would not get the defensive education that they so required in their native Brazil and their progress at Old Trafford has been excellent.

The role of the full-back has changed exponentially over the last decade or so, but still, there are remnants of a bygone era, whereby a full-backs role is simply to offer an outlet of attack and this is non-best typified than in South American football.

Fabio remains the more attacking of the duo, hence the gradual bedding in since his arrival in comparison to Rafael, as his more natural game needed reigning in to an extent, whereas Rafael‘s seemed more ready for top flight football. Fabio also seems less wasteful on the ball and in possession of a better temperament.

Rafael on the other hand looks the better defender. Positionally there is still a lot of work to do and while not as composed as Fabio on the ball and developing an unwanted reputation for rash challenges, his feistier attitude and combativeness will stand him in good stead in the future and he looks more solid when questions have been asked of him.

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While they are not chalk and cheese, there are already subtle differences developing in each players game and to label them as one and the same seems a tad lazy and dare I say it, ignorant of the players on show’s talents.

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It’s like comparing Maicon and Daniel Alves, the two best right backs in the world at the moment. Both obviously have their strengths going forward, but Maicon is unquestionably the better defender (Bale shockers apart) and Alves the better attacker. One is a monster, the other more technical – as time goes on and they continue to develop, people may begin to notice more of a difference between the Da Silva twins simply beyond their first names.

Certainly it’s early days in the team strengthening job that Paul Lambert has on his hands. However, based on the noises coming from Lambert and the transfer policy we have seen from the Scotsman since he has been at Norwich, we can have some idea on the sort of players he will be going after.

Two words we constantly hear from Paul Lambert, when discussing transfers is young & hungry. However, clearly he would also like Premier League experience where he can get it. His first signing James Vaughan from Everton manages to qualify on all three fronts. At 22 years of age there is no debate about whetever he is young or not. Is he hungry to perform at the Premier League? I think so, when James Vaughan first emerged on the scene as a youngster at Everton it looked as if he was going to have a long career as a Premier League footballer. However, for whatever reason he never really managed to cement his place in the Everton first-team – which is a bit strange given the amount of problems Everton have had with strikers over the years.

A succession of loan spells followed the latest being at Crystal Palace. Now, had Vaughan not signed for Norwich, he would have most likely have signed a permanent deal with Crystal Palace or gone out on loan again. Palace themselves admitted they wanted to sign Vaughan but couldn’t compete with a Premier League club. So it’s fair to say that James Vaughan didn’t expect to be playing Premier League football this season. And given what has gone on with Everton – surely he feels he has something to prove – so surely that is hunger. But he also brings with him that much needed Premier League know-how and he will know what Norwich need to do in order to compete in arguably the world’s best league.

But who else will join Paul Lambert’s Premier League revolution? Time will tell and plenty of names are doing the rounds. But any player that does come in will have been considered for some time and the signing will not be taken lightly. As expected Paul Lambert has recently confirmed he will not be on the lookout for household names and will not be paying out extreme wages. That is exactly the right philosophy and I firmly believe it gives Norwich the best chance of success.

It is all very well clever journalists dropping names like Miroslav Klose into the mix. But anyone that knows the sort of manager Paul Lambert is would have known this one was never going to be a runner. A signing like that would not only demand extremely high wages – but would feel that the team should be built around him and he is bigger than the club. A big part of Norwich City’s success over the last couple of seasons has been a result of the excellent team spirit. Team spirit will be vital for any success Norwich enjoys next season. Any new signing has to fit in to the Norwich City ethos and not upset it.

One player who appears to be close to joining Norwich is Millwall striker Steve Morison. It appears that Norwich has perhaps bid as many as four times for the striker and finally Millwall are happy with the deal on the table – which certainly seems to be in excess of £2m. At 27, the striker should be coming into his prime – although it’s debatable whetever or not he qualifies on the” young” criteria. But if you are going to move into the Premier League then now is the time for Morison and he will certainly be hungry to deliver. Morison has been superb in the past two seasons for Millwall, scoring 20 league goals in League One last season and 15 goals in the Championship this season. So he will know be eager to show what he can do in the Premier League.

Other names that have been in the mix recently include Peterborough striker Craig Mackail Smith and Hull midfielder Jimmy Bullard. We know all about the interest in Mackail Smith – after Paul Lambert made attempts to sign him in January. Jimmy Bullard is more interesting – because at 32 he doesn’t seem to fit the “young” tag. But what he does offer is Premier League experience and real quality – particularly when striking the ball from distant. Craig Mackail Smith offers a fantastic work rate and you can’t really complain with a goals return of 30 league goals, but the difference between League One and Premier League is massive.

However, we don’t know if any bids have been lodged for either of those two players – but we have recently heard that Lambert put in a bid for Leeds midfielder Robert Snodgrass believed to be around £3.5m. The offer though has been turned down and it remains to be seen if Norwich will have another go. Snodgrass though does seem to be the sort of player that you would expect Lambert to be interesting in. He is just 23 years old and recently broken into the full Scotland squad; generally used as a winger – so could give Norwich options in both the diamond or in a more traditional 4-4-2. After playing in Scotland and with Leeds in the Championship and League One – he will now be keen to show what he can do in the Premier League.

Players like Vaughan, Morison and Snodgrass all seem to be the right sort of signings and all British of course. They all seem to be keen to show what they can do and deserve the opportunity. Although, we can’t assume yet that Paul Lambert won’t go for any foreign players – they have to fit into the togetherness and team spirit at Norwich. In general though bringing in players who have that little bit of Premier League experience and the best players from the Championship seems a pretty good way to go. But whetever it will be enough to keep Norwich City in the Premier League – time will tell; but one expects they are giving themselves one hell of a chance. Also a word on the board, after signing James Vaughan for £2.5m, another £2m+ on Morison and further bids of £3.5m+ suggests there is going be a decent transfer spend. And this could turn out to be a classic case of fortune following the brave.

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Sunderland have won the race to sign Korean Ji Dong-Won, beating Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven and Bundesliga outfit Schalke to his signature.The striker’s K-League club, the Chunnam Dragons, said a fee believed to be more than two million pounds had been agreed with the English Premier League side.

Ji, 20, who scored four goals at the Asian Cup in January, is set to sign a three-year deal with the club if he passes a medical after Korea’s Olympic qualifier against Jordan on Thursday.

Chunnam president Yoon Jong-Ho confirmed an agreement had been reached with Sunderland.

“I received the final proposal from the English team on Monday with a transfer fee satisfying enough for us to release Ji,” he told Yonhap News.

It would not be Ji’s first spell in England, having spent time with Championship outfit Reading during his youth career.

He would add to Steve Bruce’s depleted attacking stocks after Danny Welbeck’s loan spell at the Stadium of Light ended and he returned to Manchester United.

Eredivisie side PSV were also looking to sign the Korean and Ji told Yonhap News last week he was considering his options.

“My team and agent are still negotiating closely. I personally want to play for the best team I can and where I can get more chances to play,” he said.

“Eindhoven is a great club that often tops the league. However, I heard that the Dutch league is not like the old days.”

“Sunderland is a mid-level team, so there is always change in the squad, but they are playing on the big stage called the Premier League.”

All the talk around the Emirates, once again this week, has been about players leaving the Gunners with Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas continually linked with a move away. Reports suggest that Nasri is apparently said he will be happy to see out the last year of his contract, although the temptation to cash in on his last year of his contract may force Arsenal’s hand.

At FFC this week we have seen a mixed bag of Gunners blogs that include Wenger’s £20m gamble, a familiar and disturbing trend for Arsenal, while is it time Walcott was given centre stage.

We also look at the best Arsenal articles around the web this week.

*

The 20 ‘Championship Manager’ cult heroes that fell by the wasteside

Were Arsenal right to show their transfer hand?

A familiar and disturbing transfer trend for Arsenal?

Anxious to reassure Arsenal fans

Time Walcott was given the chance to fulfil his original billing?

Breaking Wenger’s rules is necessary

Why Wenger should play them at their own game with ‘transfer talk’

Young Gunners’ to Young Goners’

Wenger’s £20m gamble?

Arsenal eye up £12M Russian playmaker

*Best of WEB*

Wenger on the Verge of Magic again? New Season = New Chance…… – Highbury House

Cesc, time to say goodbye. Arsene, time to buy what we need or you should go with him. – Le Grove

I am not yet looking forward to the new season – Online Gooner

Still A Big Club But Will The Spending Match That Status? – A Cultured Left Foot

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On Cesc Fábregas’ legacy – Arsenal Mania

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Click on image below to see Wes’ latest lady