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| team 1 | score | team 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Newcastle | 2 - 1 | A Villa |
| team 1 | score | team 2 |
|---|---|---|
| A Villa | 16:00 | Man City |
Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini is prepared to take Robinho back and is closing in on his top transfer targets.
The Blues continue to track Inter Milan striker Mario Balotelli and Aston Villa midfielder James Milner, with the club showing no signs of slowing down after a busy summer of market activity.
They have already spent big in their efforts to force their way into the Premier League's top four and Mancini has confirmed to Sky Sports News that he is still hopeful of bringing in more new recruits.
Speaking after City's latest pre-season friendly on their American tour, against Club America, the Italian revealed that he is optimistic regarding moves for Milner and Balotelli, who have been strongly linked with moves to Eastlands for some time.
Mancini also confirmed that he expects Brazilian playmaker Robinho to return to the club in the near future.
The Samba star was loaned out to his former employers Santos last season, having struggled to make the desired impact in English football.
However, having shone back in his homeland and at the 2010 World Cup, he could be awarded a second opportunity to prove his worth with City.
Mancini claims he would have no problem welcoming Robinho back into the fold, but admits that the player must be happy if he is produce his best form.
"At this moment, no. But it depends on him," he told Sky Sports News when asked whether he had any issue with taking the Brazilian back.
He added: "The situation is that Robinho will finish his contract with Santos. After that he will stay in Brazil for another week, play for the national team and after that he will return to Manchester City."
| Time | Fixture |
|---|---|
| Sunday 12th February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 16:00 | Aston Villa vs Man City |
| Saturday 25th February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Wigan vs Aston Villa |
| Saturday 3rd March | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Blackburn vs Aston Villa |
| Saturday 10th March | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Aston Villa vs Fulham |
| Sunday 18th March | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 16:00 | Aston Villa vs Bolton |
| Saturday 24th March | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Arsenal vs Aston Villa |
| Saturday 31st March | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Aston Villa vs Chelsea |
| Saturday 7th April | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Liverpool vs Aston Villa |
| Monday 9th April | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Aston Villa vs Stoke |
| Saturday 14th April | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Man Utd vs Aston Villa |
| Saturday 21st April | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Aston Villa vs Sunderland |
| Saturday 28th April | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | West Brom vs Aston Villa |
| Saturday 5th May | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Aston Villa vs Tottenham |
| Sunday 13th May | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Norwich vs Aston Villa |
| Time | Result |
|---|---|
| Sunday 5th February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Newcastle 2 - 1 Aston Villa | |
| Wednesday 1st February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Aston Villa 2 - 2 QPR | |
| Sunday 29th January | |
| The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON | |
| Arsenal 3 - 2 Aston Villa | |
| Saturday 21st January | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Wolverhampton 2 - 3 Aston Villa | |
| Saturday 14th January | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Aston Villa 1 - 1 Everton | |
| Saturday 7th January | |
| The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON | |
| Bristol Rovers 1 - 3 Aston Villa | |
| Monday 2nd January | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Aston Villa 0 - 2 Swansea | |
| Saturday 31st December | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Chelsea 1 - 3 Aston Villa | |
| Monday 26th December | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Stoke 0 - 0 Aston Villa | |
| Wednesday 21st December | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Aston Villa 1 - 2 Arsenal | |
| Sunday 18th December | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Aston Villa 0 - 2 Liverpool | |
| Saturday 10th December | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Bolton 1 - 2 Aston Villa | |
| Saturday 3rd December | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Aston Villa 0 - 1 Man Utd | |
| Sunday 27th November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Swansea 0 - 0 Aston Villa | |
| Monday 21st November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Tottenham 2 - 0 Aston Villa | |
| Saturday 5th November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Aston Villa 3 - 2 Norwich | |
| Saturday 29th October | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Sunderland 2 - 2 Aston Villa | |
| Saturday 22nd October | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Aston Villa 1 - 2 West Brom | |
| Saturday 15th October | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Man City 4 - 1 Aston Villa | |
| Saturday 1st October | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Aston Villa 2 - 0 Wigan | |
| Pos | Team | P | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester United | 25 | 58 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 24 | 57 |
| 3 | Tottenham Hotspur | 25 | 53 |
| 4 | Arsenal | 25 | 43 |
| 5 | Chelsea | 25 | 43 |
| 6 | Newcastle United | 25 | 42 |
Despair for Dalglish? Result for Roberto? Happiness for Harry? Merse calls the weekend games...
Ed Chamberlin thinks Liverpool could topple Man United and backs resurgent Bolton to beat Wigan.
Big comebacks, top four scores and Paul Robinson's fear of Arsenal... it's Martin Tyler's stats.
Darren Bent has denied being critical of Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish following a "rather false article".
Man Utd put their 100 per cent record on the line, while Man City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool will be hoping for home comforts.
Barry Bannan has apologised to Aston Villa fans after being knocked out of the Carling Cup by Bolton.
Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish is asking his players to respond from the defeat against Bolton on Tuesday.
Alex McLeish is hopeful midfield ace Jermaine Jenas will return on Sunday, while Darren Bent is said to be 50-50.
Comments (13)
David White (Aston Villa fan) says...
it seems that Man city have realised that unless they are prepared to let villa have stephen ireland and 15 million or 30 million straight cash - then villa want to keep milner .... and that for me is a positive move ....
Posted 13:07 29th July 2010
Manu Goswami (Manchester United fan) says...
robinho will outshine others in the premier league
Posted 13:05 29th July 2010
Liam Wilkinson (West Bromwich Albion fan) says...
Why would they take him back? hes obviously just there for the money and has never played as good for them as one of the Brazilian teams hes played for, he doesnt want to be there, and when someone doesnt want to be there there not going to fulfill there full potential.
Posted 12:46 29th July 2010
Dave Eccles (Manchester City fan) says...
Robinho can not return to Eastlands! I called him all the names under the sun when I watched Brazil v Ivory Coast in S.Africa and I meant every word!
Posted 12:22 29th July 2010
Kesigan Pillay (Liverpool fan) says...
Man City is ruining football, first they loan out a UK record signing in Robinho, then then make Yaya Toure on of the highest paid players by paying him 220000 pounds per week. Their actions dont make any footballing sense it seems that their owners acquired them as an " loss making entity" to balance their books.
Posted 12:21 29th July 2010
Jackie Casey (Manchester City fan) says...
robinho is a joke ,hes taken the mikey ,and even slated our club. dont even give him the chance to come back.he wants to be the big idol or he cries, he wont be accepted by the fans after everything he has said and his lack of effort on the pitch anyway ,we should cut our losses and get rid
Posted 12:18 29th July 2010
Steven Parker (Manchester City fan) says...
why does mancini want robinho back he dosnt want to play for the club and when he did he was rubbish i would let him stay in brazil or even better let man utd have him because they are only a 1 man team and robinho would fit in fine there
Posted 11:55 29th July 2010
Derek Booth (Manchester United fan) says...
Its all well and good buying all these "top" players, but where are they going to play. you can still only play 4 / 5 midfielders at once, so I should imagine they might need to buy some cushions aswell. The rest will be sitting down quite a lot.
Posted 11:41 29th July 2010
Philip Scott (Manchester City fan) says...
I think Robinho should come back, he wasn''t as bad as most people think last year, he needs a higher quality of players around him for his talent to shine through, we have them now and there are more to come I feel sure, he will shine this year in a city shirt with class players all around him , who can read the game as he does.
Posted 11:39 29th July 2010
Norman Numwa (Chelsea fan) says...
robinho is childish,thats it
Posted 11:28 29th July 2010
John Rigby (Manchester City fan) says...
Robinho is a class player and would grace any football team but unfortunately it went wrong under Mark Hughes he became frustrated and lost interest (it wasn''t just the weather) Hopefully if he does return Mancini should sit down with him give him a big hug (they need love Brazilians) and show him the clubs intentions for the immediate future, Mancini has brought more class players in and the ambition shown by the club to step up a gear and make a challenge might just get Robinho interested again. Come home Robbie.
Posted 10:57 29th July 2010
Aaron Wright says...
Robinho is only interested in one thing and that''s money he''s only 25 and has never had to do a hard days work in his life. These players need to realize that they have a contract and that they can''t dictate to the clubs where or when they play. I couldn''t go to my boss and say send me to brazil for a year it just wouldn''t happen if I was mancini I''d haul his butt back to manchester and show him who''s boss
Posted 10:49 29th July 2010
habeeb Idris (Manchester City fan) says...
I want city to give him another chance to prove his worth or sell him to another european power house club than staying in santos.
Posted 10:31 29th July 2010