Sat Aug 13 v West BromUpdated: October 3rd, 2007
Sky Sports
‘Slightly sterile stalemate’ — ‘City…lacked verve in the opening stages, although they started to find their way into the tie’ — ‘For all their blustering neither side managed to find a breakthrough across the course of the game’.
MEN
‘On-loan Chris Kirkland (was) equal to all City’s half chances in a game lacking true quality’ — ‘It was a pity neither side could summon up the guile to go with their undeniable effort’.
Observer
‘The immense void left by the sale of Shaun Wright-Phillips will take some filling for City supporters and, in PR terms alone, Cole will have to go some to so do. Nevertheless, his name was met with genuine warmth by City fans in the pre-match introductions, and the fact that the centre- forward made a lively contribution to the early exchanges did his cause no harm’.
Guardian
‘Darius Vassell, meanwhile, trudged off after an ineffectual debut, presumably wondering whether Cole was always so reluctant to pass the ball and, quite possibly, how a crowd of nearly 43,000 could be so subdued’.
Daily Mirror
‘City have struggled to replicate the cauldron-like atmosphere they were able to generate at Maine Road at the plush City of Manchester Stadium. The facilities may be far more up-to-date, the capacity may have increased. But the move has come at a price in terms of the atmosphere, despite the unstinting support of the country’s most loyal fans’.
The Times
‘In a desultory draw devoid of thrills, Chris Kirkland and Joey Barton took their first small steps towards redemption’.
Sunday Times
‘Had they taken arguably the best two chances of the game they would not have been reliant on Kirkland to earn them a point against a City side driven forward by Joey Barton, who also impressed as he begins his own voyage of redemption’.
Daily Telegraph (registration needed)
‘Pearce…watched in frustration as his players struggled to break down West Brom’.
Sunday Telegraph (registration needed)
‘The two old England warriors prowled their technical areas, seemingly straining to be unleashed. It was a match that yearned for a Psycho or a Captain Marvel’.
What they said about the players
James
Quiet-ish game in a match of few chances for either side but saved well from Campbell in second half and was unruffled by anything the Baggies threw at him (MEN)
Solid clean sheet (Sky)
Sommeil
Not convincing (Sky)
Sommeil made light of his lengthy absence. The Frenchman stood up to the early physical threat of Kevin Campbell and Kanu and also got himself in the way of a couple of Jonathan Greening crosses that threatened danger (MEN)
Looks flustered under pressure and no signs that he’s going to be anymore than a stop-gap (MEN)
Thatcher
Usual no-nonsense performance by Thatcher, proving a formidable obstacle to forays down the right (MEN)
Looked positive (Sky)
Mills
Still failing to convince in the right-back berth. Did nothing spectacularly wrong but loses his position at times, allowing attacks on the left (MEN)
Tenacious as always (Sky)
Jordan
Adapted better than you’d expect to central defence although was helped by facing one of the least fleet-footed attacks in the Premiership (MEN)
Acquitted himself well (Sky)
Sinclair
Ok, we weren’t going to get SWP mark II but in his first Premiership performance in eons, there was no signs that Sinclair can be the solution on City’s right side, which, given the bid for Bolton’s Stelios, is a supposition shared by Stuart Pearce (MEN)
Sinclair, another man not seen in a City shirt for a considerable period of time, also impressed, gliding in off his right-flank at times to provide admirable support to new striker partners Andy Cole and Darius Vassell (MEN)
Recapturing his best form (Sky)
Barton
Best midfielder on the pitch, proving his usual combative self despite ongoing anger management lessons. Still sometimes goes for the spectacular pass or shot which is beyond him, and needs to work on set-pieces (MEN)
Overcame summer troubles (Sky)
The brightest spot for Pearce was the performance of Barton in central midfield after a torturous summer. (Daily Telegraph)
Reyna
Quietly competent performance from the America, who keeps the momentum going ferrying the ball around in an unflashy fashion (MEN)
Quietly influential (Sky)
Musampa
Musampa’s getting better and better for the Blues. He brought balance to the left side and was unlucky with a snap-shot in the first half (MEN)
Provided a threat (Sky)
Cole
Our man-of-the-match (Barton was the fans choice) for proving the doubters wrong with some intelligent link-up play and off-the-ball running. Came close with a couple of chances and maybe should have done better when let in by Gaardsoe’s mistake in the second half (MEN)
Wasted too many chances (Sky)
The half a yard of pace age has taken from Cole’s legs meant he couldn’t run away from the Baggies defence when Thomas Gaardsoe’s wayward header landed at his feet (MEN)
Vassell
May take time for Vassell to get fully match fit. Despite being full of running, didn’t really make his presence felt although suffered from a lack of service (MEN)
Looked settled in new surroundings (Sky)
Looked off the pace (Mirror)
Wright-Phillips (70, Vassell)
looked lively and full of confidence. Signs that BWP could really come on this season (MEN)
Marginal (Sky)
Croft (85, Sinclair)
Sibierski (90, Musampa)
Pearce
The City boss marched over to a section of supporters near the dugout midway through the first half and urged them to become more vocal and inspire their team to an opening-day victory.
Ultimately Pearce’s call for more passion could not help his team plunder a goal, but the City boss was deadly serious about getting a louder version of Blue Moon from the docile crowd.
“I was telling them it’s a football ground not a library,” said Pearce. “Some carried on reading programmes, others told me to shut up and sit down. (Daily Mirror)