roberto mancini uncorks the red wine to shake up manchester city diet

roberto mancini has revealed that he is aiming to shake up his players' diets at manchester city by adding italian favourites such as pizza to the menu, served with a glass of wine.hailing from a culture where alcohol is sipped at mealtimes instead of necked at speed in pubs and nightclubs, mancini will seek to show his squad how a decent glass of red can perk up their pre-match meals and improve performance."i will calmly make corrections to what they eat before matches," city's manager told the italian newspaper corriere dello sport. "you need more chicken, pizza, carbohydrates. as well as a glass of wine, which isn't being served."fabio capello has told england's players to drizzle olive oil over a mediterranean salad instead of squeezing ketchup over a plate of chips. but mancini's plans come as more of a surprise. another ­italian, ­gianluca vialli, famously gave his chelsea players a glass of champagne in the dressing room before his first match in a charge – a 3-1 victory over arsenal – but it rare for players to be encouraged to consume alcohol.mancini's touch has worked to perfection at city so far, though. the team, who play everton at goodison on saturday evening, have won all four of their matches since he took over and he believes he has improved the side he inherited from mark hughes and sees a bright future."i have given city more balance and a greater sense of conviction," he said. "the potential is incredible, but you need to draw it out. and the road ahead is long." he added that he was relishing the "challenge" of playing against "immortal" sides such as liverpool and manchester united, city's opponents in the carling cup semi-final this month.mancini, who also admitted that his long-term ambition is to move back to italy to take over the national team, said that he had been struck, since his move to city, by "the incredible fans, very strong players and a well-organised club".after finding himself "in a completely different world", the former internazionale coach said he had been working 24-hour days to make the switch to english football. mancini noted that he had been given a warm welcome in england by fellow expatriate italians carlo ancelotti, roberto di matteo and gianfranco zola. however, his relationship with capello, described yesterday by one italian insider as "mutual, silent hatred", does not appear to have improved. "no, i haven't heard from capello," he said of the england coach.asked about his ambitions, mancini did not rule out an eventual return to serie a, where he coached fiorentina before winning three league titles with inter. "what seems impossible today may happen tomorrow. inter, milan, juventus, lazio, roma, who knows?" he said. "one day i would like to coach the national side, or a national side. but right now, and for many years to come there is only city."having moved into a hotel, mancini plans to bring his wife to manchester permanently next season, corriere dello sport reported, adding that mancini dedicated city's 4-1 victory over blackburn rovers that took them to fourth place in the ­ premier league on monday to his father.mancini said he had held six or seven tactical discussions with his players since taking over three weeks ago, and singled out carlo tevez, scorer of a hat-trick against blackburn, as an "extraordinary striker, serious and deadly on the field".he added that the unsettled forward robinho "only needs tranquillity and goals. if he wants to win he has found the right team and despite the rumours he has not told me he wants to leave."mancini said he was glad to leave behind the constant squabbling over fouls and refereeing decisions that dominate discussion in italy, where pundits pore repeatedly over slow-motion replays."here it is about football and gossip, and not referees, dodgy goals and suspicions," he said. "every country has its culture and here i see respect among players, even after a bad foul. that is the fascination of english football – the spirit."

    Source :guardian.co.uk     Date : 13  January   2010
arsenal put their faith in sol campbell again

sol campbell will complete a remarkable return to arsenal today by signing a contract at the emirates stadium until the end of the season. the former england defender played in last night’s reserve-team match against west ham united at upton park and then revealed that talks about a permanent contract are already at an advanced stage. it was campbell’s first appearance in an arsenal shirt since may 2006 and he coped well before coming off at half-time. more

 Source : timesonline.co.uk   Date : 13 January 2010
barry ferguson breaks duck – and nottingham forest's fa cup hopes

... cameron jerome pulled down sebastian larsson’s long through-pass only to turn and shoot into lee camp’s hands with christian benítez better placed, but then birmingham went ahead in the 62nd minute more

 Source : timesonline.co.uk   Date : 13 January 2010
time for kevin pietersen to get in touch with his swaggering former self

... is there a lingering resentment at the way he was treated by his employers when all he was doing, in his estimation, when he “got rid” of peter moores, was putting the interests of the team ahead of his own? all these are the added complications, layer upon layer, of a career in the spotlight more

 Source : timesonline.co.uk   Date : 13 January 2010
rafael benitez assured that he can spend cash from ryan babel sale

... ” but with manchester city having illustrated their determination to win a place in next season’s champions league, liverpool can ill afford to allow their squad to be further depleted by the possible departure of babel, who is interesting several european clubs, without benitez being given the go-ahead to find a replacement more

 Source : timesonline.co.uk   Date : 13 January 2010
wounded eagles wary of falling prey to the cup curse

... coached by local man faouzi benzarti, who was snapped up after being sacked by libya, tunisia are seeded to go through with group favourites cameroon ahead of zambia and gabon more

 Source : soccerway.com   Date : 13 January 2010
anfield up for grabs- liverpool fans rage over new stadium naming rights

... 'liverpool will press ahead with building work once an initiative to raise £120m extra investment is concluded in the next couple of months more

 Source : football.co.uk   Date : 13 January 2010
japan looking forward to tough korea and china tests

... with japan travelling to europe and africa in recent months looking for tough tests ahead of the 2010 world cup, a chance for some competitive games at home is just what coach takeshi okada ordered more

 Source : goal.com   Date : 13 January 2010
fa cup match preview/stats/thread: newcastle utd v plymouth

... hughton has hinted that he may play kevin nolan giving him some match time ahead of their next league game against west brom more

 Source : thefootballnetwork.net   Date : 12 January 2010
hughton calling on nolan for cup success

... " looking ahead at the plymouth replay tomorrow night he said; "it will be an experienced team that plays tomorrow night more

 Source : thefootballnetwork.net   Date : 12 January 2010
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