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Since Kenny Dalglish returned to the Anfield hotseat he appears to have made a conscious effort to battle every journalist that enters his path. The Scot has battled with anybody brave enough to question him about a negative issue and sometimes those who don’t.

It is now becoming a regular occurrence as he takes exception to people doing their job because they are not doing as he wants. While all managers hope for an easy press conference and attempt to use a straight bat to fend off any problems, the 60-year-old brings all eyes on himself by lambasting those in front of him.

The latest episode of this ongoing saga came last week at the mandatory press conference ahead of Liverpool’s clash with Chelsea when a reporter asked for his thoughts on Luis Suarez’s racism charge by the FA. The club had sent out a press release the day before outlining their stance on the decision but with the cameras on he was pushed to give a response of his own.

Like any good manager that has consulted the club’s press officer he said: “I think the statement says everything and our position has not changed in any way, shape or form. That’s all I’ve got to say.”

But when pressed again he appeared more agitated, saying: “I just said that’s all I’ve got to say.”

And when asked for a third time he couldn’t resist taking a swipe at the interviewer, adding: “I don’t know if you’ve got wax in your ears but I just said the statement says what we’ve got to say and we have not changed our position in any way, shape or form.”

It’s hardly of Joe Kinnear proportions but it is becoming a habit that is not being missed.

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In September he was asked about Andy Carroll’s lifestyle in response to Fabio Capello’s comments on his drinking and he used the opportunity to take a huge swipe at the press. He said: “How long you gonna milk it for? You don’t know his lifestyle. Who knows his lifestyle? Andy. I think Andy’s wiser than a lot of you boys and a lot of the people that right about it and I don’t think his lifestyle is anything like what you’d like it to be.”

And after the 2-1 Carling Cup victory over Stoke another reporter asked a much more positive question about the £35 million man, simply enquiring: “We know Luis Suarez will take the headlines on for Wednesday, but Andy had a really good game. I know there have been one or two questions about his form, but do you feel vindicated every time he puts in a performance like that?”

But even then Dalglish reacted angrily retorting: “I don’t know why he had to ride it. There’s always one or two questions. He was fantastic the other night, just leave it at that, and just leave your question at that as well, and don’t keep looking for negatives. We’ve been through it before with the big fella.”

The manager may think he is just defending his players and attacking journalists he feels aren’t worthy of his presence but it is creating a storm around him that is likely to end badly. Dalglish’s plan of action in press conferences and interviews may work well for him but it is going to make him a target for criticism when things go wrong.

Journalists are asking the questions that the public want answers to and getting an aggressive response so they have decided to take a more positive line of questioning with him, only for the mundane and repetitive style of interviewing to be criticised by the Scot in another rage. Doing this will only alienate him from the press and when things start to go wrong he will not be able to get away from the criticism. The media will not go out and target the Liverpool manager but if he is going to argue with them on a weekly basis why would they want to sweep any problems at Anfield under the rug?

Andy Carroll’s form is not fantastic but it is being concentrated on more and more because of the strained relationship that is being created between the club and the press. Stories are there to be found and the journalists mocked by Dalglish will not turn a blind eye to any sight of a problem.

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Kenny Dalglish picked a fight with the media that he can only win while his team is winning like they did on Sunday. But if he doesn’t guide them to the top four and begins to struggle, the press will be ready to put the pressure on.

Comment below or follow me on Twitter @jrobbins1991.

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[LEGACY: Something handed down from an ancestor or a predecessor or from the past.]

Liverpool have experienced a rocky voyage from leading and competing against Europe’s finest clubs and battling for the domestic cup, to hovering just above the relegation and playing teams such as FC Utrecht in the Europa league.

Just where has this sudden change come from?

Well, Rafael Benitez joined the club in the summer of 2004 and firstly convinced Steven Gerrard not to join rivals Chelsea, then managed to reach the Carling Cup final and recover from a poor start to win the Champions League.

There was no doubt that Benitez’s decline from 2009 onwards and their failure to win silverware was because of his inefficient and bad spending in the transfer market.

Benitez spent £240 million throughout his reign at Anfield, during which he captured over 80 players and the majority were simply not good enough for the squad.

The club suffered after the Spaniard’s relationship with American owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks collapsed after reports revealed that Jurgen Klinsmann had been offered the post before Rafa but had rejected it for Bayern Munich.

Financial backing had always been a problem for Benitez during his time on Merseyside as numerous expensive signings such as Robbie Keane, Alberto Aquilani and Ryan Babel all failed to deliver at Anfield.

An abundance of transfers for under £10 million saw Liverpool cross names off their squad-sheets faster than they could keep up with. From the 60+ transfers that Benitez made during his helm, only four can be recognised as substantial – Reina, Mascherano, Alonso and Torres, all for multi-million pound deals and perhaps the most obvious signings for any top club, but nevertheless quality additions to Liverpool.

The Latin quarter had been added to Melwood, which sparked a Spanish revolution within the camp. However this all changed very quickly when Xabi Alonso, Liverpool’s pivotal playmaker and the only Premier League player to reach 1,000 completed passes in a single season, left the club for Real Madrid on a £30 million deal in 2009.

Alonso’s departure signalled not only the decline of Liverpool in the years to come, but the eventual demise of the Rafa Regime on Merseyside.

Despite reports suggesting that Alonso was happy to say, he left the club following a disagreement with the manager. It was a combination of Alonso’s departure and Benitez’s failure to competently replace him with suitable quality which pushed Liverpool to its limits in the 2009-10 season – finishing 7th in the league, crashing out in the FA Cup 3rd round to Reading and finishing bottom of their Champions League group.

Perhaps just a poor season? No.

When you sell Alonso for £30m you expect to buy a player of equal or potential talent, to not suffer a loss of quality within the squad. Looking back, Benitez’s replacement, injured Alberto Aquilani, comes to no surprise when analysing the Spaniard’s previous transfer list. He halved the Alonso funds on the Italian and on bringing Glen Johnson in from Portsmouth, and played Brazilian Lucas Leiva in his place whilst Aquilani recovered.

Rafa defended his legacy after leaving the club saying that:

“When I left the club, (Javier) Mascherano, (Yossi) Benayoun and (Albert) Riera were there, along with Carra (Jamie Carragher), (Steven) Gerrard, (Jay) Spearing, (Stephen) Darby, (Emiliano) Insua, (Diego) Cavalieri and (Jonjo) Shelvey.”

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Despite starting the season with Liverpool, Mascherano left the club in destination of Barcelona for an alleged £23 million, reducing Rafa’s era to just Fernando Torres and Pepe Reina, as Yossi Benayoun left for Stamford Bridge on a reported £4m deal in the summer.

When Benitez left the club “by mutual consent” (aka sacked) in June, so did his tactics.

Man marking was abolished by Hodgson as early as the first pre-season games, and players which Benitez signed and failed were either sold or sent out on loan: Insua (Galatasary), Aquilani (Juventus), El Zhar (PAOK), Degen (VfB Stuttgart), Riera (Olympiakos), Dalla Valle (Fulham) and Plessis (Panathonaikos) all left on loan, whilst Ryan Babel completed his recent move to Hoffenheim in January.

Fernando Torres’ £50m deadline day transfer to Chelsea, and the club’s acquisition of two young forwards in Andy Carroll (English, 22) and Luis Suarez (24) marks the end of the Benitez era at Anfield (Pepe Reina is still there, but he is expected to leave in the summer as he has no mates left), and it was very much a case of poor scouting and lack of support and communication from both parties which eventually pushed the Spanish era out of Merseyside.

It only took 6 months, two managers, a double-defeat to Blackpool, and another Europa League campaign, but the Reds are finally grating the last of the Benitez cheese, and with Kop-legend Kenny Dalglish back at the helm alongside a proper scout like Damien Comolli and some proper American businessmen, Liverpool are set to remerge themselves with Europe’s elite, or are they?

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If there is a better footballer in the World than Cristiano Ronaldo at this moment in time then I haven’t seen one, as his goalscoring exploits and performances for Real Madrid has seen him eclipse the likes of Lionel Messi for the crown. There is one thing being a good player in England; but doing it in technically the best league in the world is a much different feat altogether.

While his exploits on the pitch continue to leave supporters salivating in awe, his exploits off the pitch draws an equal amount of adulation as he continues to date some of the most beautiful women in the world. The latest women on the arm is the model Irina Shayk, who let’s be honest puts most of the Premier League wags in the shade.

Click on image below to see a gallery of Ronaldo’s latest lady

Wigan Athletic boss Roberto Martinez says that former loanee Vladimir Stojkovic needs to impress at the World Cup to enhance his chances of a return to England.

The 26-year-old Serbia international goalkeeper struggled to make an impact with the Latics following his arrival from Sporting Lisbon, with Martinez still unsure over a permanent deal.

He told the Wigan Evening Post:"I was delighted to hear that the player would like to stay at the club having worked with us for the past six months.

"At the moment he has gone to the World Cup and we will not be looking at the situation until after the tournament.

"I know it's been tough for Vladimir to adapt to the Premier League, but I was delighted with his attitude.

"I have seen him play a couple of times for Serbia in the friendlies leading up the World Cup and he looks strong and sharp.

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"I am pleased he is going in to the competition in such a good shape and we'll assess that situation further down the line."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

South Korean manager Cho Kwang-rae was thrilled his side was able to break down Iran’s stoic defence in their 1-0 Asian Cup quarter-final victory.

The South Koreans advanced to the semi-finals of Asia’s premier national soccer tournament – where they will meet Japan – courtesy of a Yoon Bit-garam’s extra-time goal.

Cho said his side’s patience paid dividends, as evidenced when Iran’s defence failed to shut down the space around Yoon, allowing the 20-year-old to fire the Koreans into the final four.

“The Iranian team’s defensive organisation was very strong, especially in the middle where they were very compact and highly organised,” Cho said.

“I believe not many teams can score goals against them and if you see figures of their previous matches this is proven.”

“To win this game with a clean sheet is the greatest thing a coach can get. In general, the defence was successful tonight and in that respect I was satisfied.”

“Regarding the tiredness of the players, it can happen in these tournaments but the most important thing is that the players held on until the end of the game and that was the key factor for me.”

The loss marked Iran manager Afshin Ghotbi’s last match in charge of the side before he departs to take the reins of J-League club Shimizu S-Pulse.

While Iran beat bitter rivals Iraq in the group stages, Ghotbi was disappointed he could not appease the country’s football-mad supporters with a trophy.

“This championship was very important to our players and our team,” Ghotbi said.

“When we reached the second phase we started believing we could be champion and make the people of Iran happy.”

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“When these two sides meet anything can happen. We tried very hard to get the players to relax and play football, but the Koreans did very well in the midfield and closing down space.”

“At half-time we talked about it and I think in the second half we improved but not as we would have liked. Again, it comes to the importance of winning and I think it got to the players.”

“They are tired of not coming home with the trophy for 35 years and they wanted to do this for the people.”

Chelsea are 1-0 down at home to Manchester United in the first leg of a Champions League quarter-final, and with twenty minutes to go, Carlo Ancelotti decides to substitute 33 year-old Didier Drogba, who has scored one goal in his last eleven games for the Blues. A hum of disappointment quickly surrounds Stamford Bridge, not because the home supporters are uninspired by Nicolas Anelka’s introduction (although the Frenchman hasn’t scored since February), but because their new £50million ‘hero’ remains on the pitch for the remainder of the match, eventually completing 617 minutes without a goal for his new club.

Chelsea fans are not known for their patience, and their chairman is always quick to point out when something is wrong, but is it now time for Fernando Torres to realise he made a big mistake in forcing through his Liverpool exit, especially considering the different directions both clubs are now heading in?

Allow me to start by clearing up one issue – Fernando Torres is not a similar case to that of Andriy Shevchenko. Torres’ Chelsea displays are not a result of failing to adapt to the style or rigours of the Premier League – the Spaniard scored 75 goals in 126 games for Liverpool during his first full three seasons in England, and spearheaded Spain’s attack during successful European Championship and World Cup campaigns whilst a Liverpool player.

However, almost exactly 12 months ago, Torres revealed that he felt daunted by the prospect of an extended career in England based on the continual demands of Premier League football. “This is my third season and I’m still amazed to see Gerrard, Rooney and Lampard, players who have been here a long time, still playing at such a high level and with such impressive rhythm because the English league really wears down a player. I just can’t imagine what state I’ll be in within five or six years if I continue to play here – it could easily give me problems when I stop playing. The physical level is superior to all other countries.”

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Torres announced these concerns following a knee operation which he never fully recovered from before joining his Spanish team-mates in South Africa last summer. He had actually scored 18 goals in 22 League games for Liverpool before the operation, but his performances and evident fitness concerns at the World Cup delayed his move to Stamford Bridge until January. It was thought that Torres would leave Anfield last August following Liverpool’s failed bid to qualify for the Champions League, but the striker committed to Roy Hodgson’s vision, which in hindsight was an egregious decision.

Torres then faced a fitness struggle in the midst of a rancorous ownership and managerial transition and was not the only high-profile Liverpool player to express doubts about the future of the Merseyside club. Pepe Reina has been broadcasting almost monthly updates on his contract situation since the start of the season, and it looks more than likely that he will depart this summer given that Liverpool have yet again failed to infiltrate the top 4.

In January of this year, Liverpool sacked their second manager in 6 months and Torres was only starting to regain his form sporadically between injury spells. Meanwhile, Chelsea had been two months in to a sequence that saw them drop down the Premier League table after their worst run of results for 15 years. These factors, in addition to Torres’ two goals against the Blues in November, convinced Roman Abramovich to renew his interest in the forward and he spent £50million to secure his services. Although he has yet to convert for his new club, Torres is beginning to demonstrate his class gradually and was unfortunate not to score against United in last week’s first leg.

Torres does not legitimately fit in to the categories of Michael Owen, who began his career exceptionally and struggled to improve over time, or Andriy Shevchenko, who dominated Europe until the age of 29 when he should have been hitting his prime but instead rapidly regressed. Torres is of the same mould as Samuel Eto’o, a striker who has delivered explosive goal-scoring form consistently throughout his career.

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The Cameroonian is almost exactly three years older than Torres, and three years ago found himself in a similar position to the Spaniard. He had scored 19 goals for Barcelona during an injury-plagued season and was unsettled by a change of manager at the Nou Camp, as Pep Guardiola had announced his intentions to neglect the striker. He stayed, and in fact scored 39 goals in Guardiola’s first season as Barca completed a European treble, but was sold that summer to Inter. Apparently not good enough to remain with the European champions, Eto’o led Inter to Champions League glory the following season, which is something Abramovich might have considered when signing the cheque for Torres. Abramovich’s craving for Champions League supremacy is well known, and Torres could conceivably be the man to lead Chelsea to a European Final, if not this season, then next.

Support Torres by following Josh Sheridan on Twitter

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Juventus boss Luigi Delneri was left fuming after his side threw away a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 at home against Catania on Saturday.Two first-half goals from Alessandro Del Piero put Juventus comfortably ahead at the break, but Catania fought back with strikes from Alejandro Gomez and Lodi – from a free kick on the stroke of full-time – to secure a crucial point in their battle to avoid the drop.

Delneri, whose side are in seventh place and three points short of a Europa League berth with four games to play, was furious by the performance of his men and referee Mauro Bergonzi, who allowed five minutes of stoppage time.

“I am angry with everything, not just with Juventus’ performance, but also with the serious mistakes we made in the second half and the mistakes in the game’s finale due to high tension and due to errors from the referee,” Delneri said.

“At the end he did so many things he (Bergonzi) shouldn’t have done.”

“There was a series of quite complicated factors – the injury time, their free kick from (Felipe) Melo’s foul that wasn’t a foul, because it would have been impossible not to use that arm.”

“A more serious foul by (Pablo Martin) Ledesma was not seen from a Del Piero free kick, so to tell the truth I think he made quite strange decisions.”

“I’m not saying he did that on purpose, but if you are a referee you should behave as a referee otherwise it would be better to change profession. You should have a logic in what you see.”

Premier League leaders Manchester United host newly promoted Norwich City at Old Trafford on Saturday intent on getting back to winning ways after dropping their first points of the season last week.

The Red Devil’s storming start to the season came to an abrupt halt as they failed make it six consecutive wins at Stoke City last week with Peter Crouch’s second half header securing a 1-1 draw for the Potters. As invincible as United looked in the opening weeks of the campaign they now look decidedly vulnerable after stuttering to a 3-3 draw in the Champions League against Basle with Ashley Young saving their blushes with a late header. They have been hindered by the absence of Wayne Rooney who missed both games although Sir Alex Ferguson will hate to rely solely on the England man to inspire his side. Defensively they were poor on Tuesday with Phil Jones and Rio Ferdinand struggling to operate in tandem although it’s likely they’ll be paired together again on Saturday with Nemanja Vidic and Chris Smalling injured along with Tom Cleverley. Danny Welbeck could be given another chance up front after he scored twice against the Swiss side keeping out Javier Hernandez who was forced off at Stoke last week after a class with Asmir Begovic. Jonny Evans should also return to the side and provide backup to Ferdinand and Jones from the bench.

A few weeks ago many people will have written off the Canaries but after two wins on the bounce they go into the game against Ferguson’s side booming with confidence. It’s been a promising few weeks with back-to-back victories over Bolton and Norwich seeing some self belief start to creep into the players at Carrow Road. Paul Lambert has moulded his side into one capable of coping with Premier League life and their performance on Monday against the Black Cats was an accomplished one. The former Colchester boss has proved himself to be a shrewd operator in the transfer market with lower league signings Elliott Bennet, Marc Tierney and Anthony Pilkington excelling in the top flight so far this season. Taking maximum points at Old Trafford could be a task too far for Lamberts’ side with United unbeaten in 36 games at home. He suffered a blow in mid-week with the news James Vaughan will be out for four months joining Zak Whitbread, Elliott Ward and Dani Ayala on the sidelines. Lambert will also have to do without Ritchie De Laet who is unable to play against his parent club.

Key Players

Ashley Young – After scoring his first Champions League goal against Basel on Tuesday the winger will be hungry to inflict some pain on Norwich this weekend. He’ll be tasked by Ferguson with providing Rooney with the bullets and also getting in some shots of his own.

Bradley Johnson – Since signing from Leeds in the summer Johnson has been a real presence in the Canaries midfield with his energy making him a fans favourite already. Scored his first goal for the club at Bolton two weeks ago and will relish the opportunity to play at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Verdict: 3-0

Ashley Young is currently third in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index, behind only his teammate Wayne Rooney and Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero Young has also completed the most dribbles (30) of all players in the Barclays Premier League this season, one completed dribble ahead of his teammate Nani. Bradley Johnson had an average speed while the ball was in play against Sunderland of 6.64MPH. This was over 1MPH more than any other Norwich City player during the game. The Norwich City players covered a total of 125,306m (77.86miles) in Monday night’s 2-1 win against Sunderland

Fancy winning a million pounds??

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In 1973, Pink Floyd accidentally stumbled upon a trend that would become prevalent in football 37 years down the line. “Money, get away, Get a good job with more pay, And you’re okay; Money, it’s a gas, Grab that cash with both hands, And make a stash; New car, caviar, four star daydream, Think I’ll buy me a football team…”

What Roger Waters couldn’t possibly have foreseen while he penned the track in the early seventies was that one of the then AS Nancy players would go on to lead European Football’s governing body and set about an attempt at imposing rules to their competitions that would all but end the hopes of winning (or even entering) those competitions for anybody who wishes to fund a football team that they have bought with their own money.

On the face of it, Michel Platini’s financial fair play rules would be a good move for the sport. It makes perfect sense to every right thinking person that no company, business or individual should constantly spend more money than they are bringing in and rely on loans from banks, other companies or individuals. Regularly borrowing money to fund your latest purchases isn’t a sensible way to stay out of the red.

But football doesn’t really work like that.

UEFA is currently considering whether or not clubs that don’t live “within their means” should be allowed into the Champions League and Europa League from the 2012/13 season. Just to put that into context, should this rule have come in for the coming season, fourteen of last year’s Premier League members would not be allowed to play in Europe next season. That would mean one Europa League placed would go to a Championship team…

This would mean the competition for the best teams in Europe would contain six of the twenty best teams in England and one team from below that. Which is just complete madness – this is clearly not only going to apply to England; it’ll apply to the rest of Europe, too. Would millions of people tune in to see a Serie B side face a lower Premier League team in the Champions League, both of which only qualified because the league winners and subsequent teams in lower places of their respective countries were banned for not living within their means?

The problem is that this is a system that shouldn’t be enforced on clubs, certainly not now. The clubs that have been playing in the Champions League for the last fifteen or so years, for example, have had a much higher income than those that haven’t been involved in the competition during that time. These clubs, therefore, can afford to spend more money on transfers and wages than others, if those others aren’t allowed to use money provided by cash injections from wealthy owners.

Given that this system, should it come in, won’t start until 2012/13, it gives those teams who are regular qualifiers for the Champions League two seasons to sort out their finances to allow them to qualify. Assuming that they do, they will, inevitably, be the only teams who can afford to qualify in the future: they will have the best income in the league and, therefore, will be able to spend the most in the league.

How can Michel Platini congratulate a club the size and stature of Fulham for reaching the Europa League final in one interview and then, in another, outline measures to ensure that they wouldn’t be able to spend enough money on transfers and wages to be able to reach a league position that allowed them to qualify without simultaneously disqualifying them from qualification?

This rule just seems to be a veiled way of maintaining the status quo. It would do nothing but exclude teams with relatively small gate receipts, fanbases, merchandise sales and other income streams and preserve the income of those at the top.

I can fully understand the reasons why these rules are being discussed; as I said, spending within your means makes perfect sense. But it is totally unfair to allow clubs to spend whatever they want and be financed by sugar daddies for over a hundred years, then suddenly force them to have to stop in three seasons’ time (with an extra three year cooling off period, too).

Teams have previously been able to build up an income stream by spending money they didn’t have to get them to the top: attracting more fans, more merchandise sales, more gate receipts and even more TV money. Now, should this ruling be passed, it will take that opportunity away and slam the door of potential success in the face of those clubs who may not have been successful in the past.

The romantic idea that a team can be built up from youngsters from a club’s academy and go on to win the league has been ruined by the influx of money into the game. It’s right that clubs should have to put a certain amount of money into their youth policy; but limiting the amount of money being spent on transfers and wages to that which a club earns isn’t the way to do it.

It might seem that I’m dead set against this scheme because my supported football team has a rich owner. For that reason, I do have a vested interest in this proposed rule change, but I’m not especially worried for my own club should it be passed.

Clubs like the one I support – Manchester City – for example, actually wouldn’t be as badly hit by this system as many would think. Since money spent on the academy and training facilities wouldn’t count towards the money spent in the “living within your means” system, clubs with rich owners can use all of their income on transfers and wages and take the cash injections to fund every other part of the club.

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A club without that rich owner would have to spend their income on everything else in the day-to-day running of the club as well as transfers and wages, further disadvantaging them when it comes to attracting players to help them increase their stature.

This financial fair play ruling is anything but fair play.

Written By David Mooney

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Mario Balotelli has risked the wrath of Manchester City fans after claiming that he does not like the city and is homesick, echoing comments made by teammate Carlos Tevez earlier this year. Balotelli is yet to establish himself as a fan favourite at Eastlands, and these remarks are just the most recent in a chain of controversial events that seem to have dominated his career as a footballer.

Whilst Balotelli insists “everything is fine” with regards to playing for Manchester City, his comments about the city will have undoubtedly upset a vast number of Mancunian’s, both blue and red. Unlike Tevez, Balotelli did not discuss his dislikes in any detail, but merely claimed that the city is not to his “tastes”. Manchester may not have the same culture or weather as say, Milan, but it is still ‘home’ for the City fans, who will almost certainly feel disgruntled over Balotelli’s apparent lack of respect for this.

As if this was not enough, the Italian then went on to discuss his future, and insisted that “one day” he would like to join AC Milan. At 20-years-old it would perhaps be unreasonable to expect the forward to remain a City player for the rest of his career, however it is certainly not unreasonable to expect him to respect his contract and the club by not discussing his future so openly, having only been at the club for a year.

Balotelli seems to insist on presenting himself as the “bad boy” of football, and his apparent arrogance and immaturity both on and off the field has overshadowed the talent that we are led to believe he possesses. In his first year in English football Balotelli managed to score just 6 goals in 17 league appearances, including a hat trick against Aston Villa back in December. This record is hardly prolific, and though we have seen glimpses of brilliance from the Italian, it is fair to say he still has a lot to do to prove himself as one of the best forwards in the league.

Balotelli on the other hand, believes that only Messi “is a little stronger” than him when it comes to ability on the field, and that “all the others are behind”. When he joined City he claimed not to know who Jack Wilshere was, but that he would “show him the Golden Boy trophy and remind him that I won it”. It is these kind of remarks that have made him such an unpopular figure in English football, but Balotelli continues to be seemingly unfazed by what the fans think, even his own.

Whilst Carlos Tevez’s comments about Manchester and his outspoken desire to leave the club will have upset a number of City fans, his performances and work-rate on the pitch week-in week-out will have gone some way towards their acceptance of his inevitable departure. Mr Baloltelli plays with an air of arrogance about him, rarely displaying any signs of enjoyment, and is so casual at times you would think he had better things to be doing. The only time we really see any emotion from the forward seems to be when he is substituted, and his outburst at Mancini in a friendly against LA Galaxy a week or so ago exemplified this perfectly. Taken off for attempting a back-heel when through on goal, Balotelli reacted as though he had done nothing wrong.

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Whilst it is obvious that he must change his attitude if he is to become a fan favourite at Eastlands, Balotelli seems so uninterested and indifferent when it comes to being ‘liked’, that this “bad boy” attitude is almost certain to continue for the foreseeable future. If (and it is a big ‘if’), the Italian can prove himself to be ‘ahead’ of everyone else in the league, then City fans will almost certainly become less concerned with what he thinks about their city, and English weather. For now, Balotelli should probably watch his tongue a little more carefully – especially whilst the City faithful are the only fans not to have turned on the youngster.

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