Juve's last visit to Manchester City

On Thursday, 30 September, Eastlands will host what I reckon is probably its second biggest European night ever when Italians Juventus come to town for a Europa League group stage clash against City. Probably in our recent history, only the UEFA Cup quarter final second leg was a more prestigious home competitive fixture in Europe. This isn't, however, the first time Juventus have travelled to Manchester for a European fixture that wasn't at Old Trafford.

Clues to City development in Abu Dhabi projects?

Let's face it, trying to predict what may happen at Sportcity is a guessing game. Some guesses, of course, and more informed than others. However, it's struck me that one potentially useful source that could shed some light on what may happen in East Manchester is information concerning developments in Aub Dhabi. Of course the two areas are very different - but the likely approach and possible aspects of the style of the development could be revealed by what's happening in our owner's own backyard.

Sportcity update: what can we expect, and when?

Little by little, more is becoming clear about the proposed redevelopment of land around the City of Manchester Stadium. As previously established, there are effectively three separate potential areas of development: the stadium itself; a potential new training facility on the other side of Ashton New Road from the stadium and opposite the Asda superstore (the former Clayton Aniline site); and the lesiure attraction that will replace the defunct Super Casino proposal. This week saw the publication of a Report to the Council's Resources and Governance Overview and Scrutiny Committee, which suggests that the Council will be renegotiating the financial terms of the lease with the club for the City of Manchester Stadium. It's hard to imagine there being a reason for doing so other than the Blues' having decided to expand the facility.

This fellow was quite majestic: Dave Watson remembered

Another in my nostalgia series, this time looking at my favourite player from the mis-to-late seventies era when I first watched City as an impressionable schoolkid. It was a great team full of international players and I hold many of them in affection still: Corrigan, Hartford, Donachie, Royle, Kidd, Tueart, Barnes, Owen and others all gave me plenty of happy memories. But it was centre half Dave Watson who was my personal favourite, there was a (highly tenuous) personal connection which made him feel closer to me, and so he remains my all-time City favourite to this day.

Why the Stratford OIympic Stadium will be a missed opportunity

It seems a very long time ago now, but when Manchester City moved to the City of Manchester Stadium, there was great controversy in some quarters. In the wake of the successful Commonwealth Games of 2002, the athletics lobby was furious that the track was ripped up and the venue became a dedicated football stadium. I'd argue that they only had themselves to blame, and that a 60,000 venue with retractable seating could have been considered. But the same athletics lobby's determination not to lose out after 2012 has seen an ill-considered plan adopted for the Olympic Stadium - and it's already too late to put that right, even the most logical outcome ensues and West Ham end up moving in.

Super injunctions and their use by footballers in 2010

In Britian's increasingly celebrity-driven popular culture, the exploits of sports stars continue to hold a great fascination for the public, hence the obsession with their lives in the popular press. This month in the News of the World alone, we've seen the Ricky Hatton cocaine expose as well as details of Wayne Rooney's relationship with escort girl Jenny Thompson. In legal terms, this has been accompanied by the rise of the 'super injunction', a legal device by which celebrities attempt to keep details of their private lives out of the papers. I thought I'd take a look at what a super injunction is and how it works.

1977 and all that ...

Last season, City finished fifth in the Premier League. You have to go back 32 years, to 1978, to find a higher top division finish for the club. Tony Book's side finished fourth that year, but the Blues' last meaningful tilt at the title came a year prior to that, with a gap of only one point separating City and perennial champions Liverpool. That tiniest of margins means that there are any number of occasions which can be viewed as critical turning points by those who want to play 'if only'. Here, I look at a few of them.

More bits and pieces on the Sportcity development

The time of an announcement concerning the proposed leisure destination at Sportcity is nearing. It must surely come ahead of the search for a partner to take the leisure destination idea forward, scheduled to begin in October, as discussed in an earlier addition to this blog.

And the stadium development is now in the news, too: this morning's News of the World had a story on the stadium development. Neil Ashton claims, as Subterranean Homesick Blue (under the guise of Dyed Petya) has already suggested on the Bluemoon message board, that the club is looking to a capacity of 75,000 or so with a view to being the venue for a 2018 World Cup semi final if the event takes place in England. Meanwhile, James Ducker of The Times suggested last week that the land earmarked for a new training facility in West Openshaw now comprises 80 acres: the figure previously confirmed by the club publicly was 59 acres (no link as the article is behind a pay wall). Assuming Ducker is right, this is extremely interesting.

I may well return to these matters in the future, but meanwhile the continuing progress of events has led me to muse a little further on the development generally.