So How Was Your Summer?

This time next week we will be sitting on the eve of the new football season and a trip to White Hart Lane. We’ve had a busy summer so how have we done up to now?

Transfers are always going to put City in the headlines and this summer was no different. City confirmed Jerome Boateng would join them on 1^st July and it all suddenly went off. We were linked to every player conceivable (I’m sure Ronaldinho popped up somewhere as he invariably does) and we also made the only bid for James Milner, despite interest from Chelsea and Old Trafford.

Joe Hart, Gareth Barry and Shaun Wright-Phillips went to South Africa to participate in England’s most recent failure at an international tournament but Barry impressed in the draw against Algeria but it didn’t stop the team crashing out to Boateng’s Germany.

City then went on to grab Yaya Toure and hit the headlines again but this time with his wages. Some were reporting a weekly wage of £200,000+ for the star to join us but how much of that is true is still to be known.

Davis Silva joined and more recently Aleksander Kolarov from Lazio. Outgoing, we have seen Javier Garrido replace Kolarov while Martin Petrov and Benjani have been released. City’s signings have caused another bout of ‘anti-Cityism,’ with Soloman Kalou and Frank Lampard of all people claiming City will fail as they can’t buy success.

We’ve also been battered from the depths of Portsmouth as reporter Ian Darke had a pop at us, saying we have failed to impress despite our outlay. Nothing like a little bitterness eh? City still continue to pursue Milner but it looks like the deal for Balotelli will fall through due to the players wage demands and frankly I’m not surprised. No 19 year old should be paid £180k per week, no matter how good they are.

Pre season has not been too good but does anyone really care about pre season results? Okay, so we lost to Inter Milan and Borrusia Dortmund but to me, they don’t even count as games. What matters is what happens at Spurs next week and from then on until next May, hopefully ending the season with a nice trip to Dublin for the Europa League Final.

Speaking of which, you will have seen our opponents in that competition are Timisoara, meaning a nice trip to Romania for the blues. Not a tie that we should lose but a trip into Eastern Europe is seldom easy but I would expect the blues to come away with a victory and progress to the group stage.

A little fact about Timisoara that was noted earlier on the comments page. The city hosted a series of demonstrations against the rule of Nicolae Ceausescu in December 1989 and led to the revolution in Romania that saw the dictator and his wife executed by firing squad on Christmas Day. So a little history for blues fans making the journey.

So another eventful summer at Eastlands and, with just under a month of the transfer window left, you can guarantee that the blues have something left to offer before the transfer window slams shut on 31^st August.

Did I miss anything? I’m sure the more observant of you will let me know if I have.

How do you think the blues have done over the summer? Should we have done better in the transfer market? Are we ready to storm the Premiership like a Romanian Revolution? Let us know your thoughts.

I know I keep reminding you but it is important. Join the OTBM Fantasy Football League before the first game at Spurs next Saturday. Don’t complain to me when we’re all competing and you missed out. I’ve reminded you enough times. Join through our Fun & Games page and click Fantasy Football.