The anti-City brigade, increasingly desperate at the sight of City’s ‘mercenaries’ continuing to put in shifts are now reduced to calling Mancio’s team ‘softies…’
You just couldn’t make it up. Again.
The Grauniad’s Joe Lovejoy slated City’s “foreigners,” most notably Mario Balotelli, in his bitterness edged Stoke match report last week as not liking the cold and “fairweather,” “Northern Softies” utterly ignorant of the fact that 7 Englishmen represented The Blues that day and of course that Inter Milan, Super Mario’s former employers, regularly apply anti-freeze to their players legs.
What has narked the likes of football blathering DJ Alan Brazil is that a handful of City players have taken to wearing gloves and ‘snoods’ (neck gaiters) as winter takes an early grip on the beautifully sanitised game in England.
Brazil refers to the likes of City warrior Carlos Tevez as ‘snood wearing tarts’ who wouldn’t have lasted long in his day. Well, not all of today’s athletes have a built in lard lining Alan.
Week in, week out this winter a legion of players across Europe’s leagues will take to the field similarly clad.
Only weeks ago we were treated to a bandwaggoning Nigel De Jong witch hunt which led to City’s midfield enforcer being dropped from the Dutch national side. Now the same player finds himself and some of his team-mates labelled as ‘softies.’ Good grief.
It transpires that the wearing of the snoods by Argentian, Spanish, Togolese and Ivory Coast origined players is perfectly legal under Football Association rules, but that hasn’t stopped the likes of hatstand Ipswich manager and erstwhile rag thug Royston Vasey Keane talking City player attire during one of his press conferences last week. Not the first time he’s droaned on about City this season, either.
Glass backed rag central defender Rio Ferdinand used his YouTwitFace account to say: “If you see me play in them white tights Eboue wore last week I’ll allow a drop-kick to my head … because I’d have deserved it!”
It hasn’t stopped there. The Manchester United Evening News went to the lengths a couple of days ago of interviewing former rags in a ‘not in our day’ article alongside club sources pontificating in classic ‘Old Trafford setting the standards’ drivel that Sir Alex Ferguson, the Stretford bin man, would never accept the like of it.
Well, funny old thing.
Because in February 2005 both Roy ‘Saipan’ Keane and Mr. Ferdinand, in an Eastlands Manchester derby that was heading for a stalemate, found themselves joined on the pitch in the 64th minute by substitute Ryan Giggs. Who was wearing black tights. Allegedly, to keep his hamstrings warm.
How we laughed but not for long as the sight of a player in tights saw The Blues rapidly capitulate to such an extent that Richard Dunne lost the plot and scored a goal. Past David James.
Of course the likes of Keane and co will have conveniently forgotten that little episode, much as they’ll have forgotten every rag’s favourite scouser Wayne Rooney sporting red tights since then, but for any hacks out there under orders to find out who first introduced a culture of alleged ‘softiness’ into English football, then look no further than one of the swamp’s very own living leg-ends.
West Ham United v CITY ON VMC:
Head for the VMC Match Day Experience Forum for the build up and beyond to City’s crucial fixture against the relegation zoned Hammers next Saturday.
Vital Man City on:
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