BLUES NEWS

In such trying times as an International Break the football writers and pundits alike sit glued to their laptops hoping for snippets of gossip to latch onto.

The Mirror's Oliver Holt could only manage "a friend" when disclosing his primary source  on the Robinho revelation. This is the rumour that Robinho is a liar and has been two-timing City by talking to Barcelona in a bid to break free of his 200k a week shackles in January!

His namesake Oliver Kay, of the Times, has gone for a different angle by connecting 'Rino' Gattuso with a January move to Eastlands. With no direct quotes from either the club or player or even a source to provide verification, it seems both Olivers were looking for a twist in a week that has produced more fantasy than a Dickens novel.

There is more chance of Oliver Twist himself signing for City in the transfer window than an ageing Seria A bully boy not known for dominating Premier League midfields. How many defensive midfielders are we planning on fielding anyway?  

In the mean time Dick Advocaat has been exactly that in dealing with City's mourning Vincent Kompany.

The story goes that Vinny was late back from his compassionate leave of absence and has been expelled from the Belgium camp as a punishment. The fact that Kompany was at the funeral of his Grandmother didn't seem to register with the Dutch maestro.

In this case Belgium's loss is our gain although the opposite could be said about Martin Petrov as his latest international injury seriously looks like another few weeks on the sidelines for the Bulgarian flyer.

The last transfer story of the summer window has reared its ugly head again as the Petrov-Bentley swap deal is back on. Now I know Rigsby's rubbed the boss up the wrong way on a few occasions and Bentley did prove himself under the boss like Santa Cruz and Bellamy before him.

But there is only one goalscoring assist providing quality set piece taker in this equation and his name aint Bentley.


In better news Michael Johnson completed another 45 minutes in this week's reserve cup win. The day the boy completes 90 minutes will be a good day in the life of any Blues fan. Come on Johnno- show us how much you want it!