Cityisland
Well-Known Member
Man City v Fulham (1730 GMT)
Manchester City had a bad result in midweek against Everton but I think they will get back on the horse at the Etihad Stadium, where they have won all 11 of their league games this season.
I actually think their manager Roberto Mancini was quite clever to come out and say 'it was my fault' after that defeat at Goodison Park. You can't do it too often, but I think that was his way of saying to his players 'forget about it and move on'.
In a funny way, the guy they really missed on Tuesday, apart from Nigel de Jong, was Carlos Tevez. He is exactly the sort of player you want in a game like that.
I know Tevez is probably not going to come back into the picture at City but, if he doesn't go somewhere else this season, I just wonder whether someone there might say 'you know what, we are paying a fortune for this bloke, why don't we try and use him?'. Stranger things have happened.
And why not give it another go? There is nothing to lose, even if Tevez says no. You say to him, 'I think you have made a massive mistake and you have wasted the season so far but you can come back and try to help us win the league'.
It's a win-win situation for club and player because he gets himself fit and he sells himself for when he does leave in the summer.
If he apologises, the players would welcome him back into the fold because he is such a good player. It would be like a new signing. I hate it when players refuse to play but if I were Brian Marwood, City's football administration officer, I would be trying to broker some sort of deal.
As for Fulham, well they will miss Bobby Zamora but they are still evolving under Martin Jol.
Zamora's exit had been in the pipeline for a while, although they denied it. Jol is not exactly short of strikers, even before he signed Pavel Pogrebnyak on deadline day but Zamora still gave them something different - a presence.
He had the ability to make Fulham play the way he wanted to. It's what happens with good players.
Zamora held the ball up so Moussa Dembele could play off him, and it allowed Dempsey to come in from wide positions and get goals.
From Zamora's point of view, though, he had one big move left in his career at the age of 31 and he has had a pools win and a lottery win at the same time - he won't be on any less money at QPR than he was at Fulham and he also doesn't have to worry about having to move house. There is no upheaval for him at all.
Prediction: 3-0
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/lawros-predictions/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/l ... edictions/</a>
Manchester City had a bad result in midweek against Everton but I think they will get back on the horse at the Etihad Stadium, where they have won all 11 of their league games this season.
I actually think their manager Roberto Mancini was quite clever to come out and say 'it was my fault' after that defeat at Goodison Park. You can't do it too often, but I think that was his way of saying to his players 'forget about it and move on'.
In a funny way, the guy they really missed on Tuesday, apart from Nigel de Jong, was Carlos Tevez. He is exactly the sort of player you want in a game like that.
I know Tevez is probably not going to come back into the picture at City but, if he doesn't go somewhere else this season, I just wonder whether someone there might say 'you know what, we are paying a fortune for this bloke, why don't we try and use him?'. Stranger things have happened.
And why not give it another go? There is nothing to lose, even if Tevez says no. You say to him, 'I think you have made a massive mistake and you have wasted the season so far but you can come back and try to help us win the league'.
It's a win-win situation for club and player because he gets himself fit and he sells himself for when he does leave in the summer.
If he apologises, the players would welcome him back into the fold because he is such a good player. It would be like a new signing. I hate it when players refuse to play but if I were Brian Marwood, City's football administration officer, I would be trying to broker some sort of deal.
As for Fulham, well they will miss Bobby Zamora but they are still evolving under Martin Jol.
Zamora's exit had been in the pipeline for a while, although they denied it. Jol is not exactly short of strikers, even before he signed Pavel Pogrebnyak on deadline day but Zamora still gave them something different - a presence.
He had the ability to make Fulham play the way he wanted to. It's what happens with good players.
Zamora held the ball up so Moussa Dembele could play off him, and it allowed Dempsey to come in from wide positions and get goals.
From Zamora's point of view, though, he had one big move left in his career at the age of 31 and he has had a pools win and a lottery win at the same time - he won't be on any less money at QPR than he was at Fulham and he also doesn't have to worry about having to move house. There is no upheaval for him at all.
Prediction: 3-0
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/lawros-predictions/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/l ... edictions/</a>
