March 2013
Sat on the coach at the Etihad, waiting for our cue to leave and it feels like the whole football world has conspired against Barnsley today.

Other clubs have bagged precious Championship points at the expense of our brief taste of Arabian soccer hospitality.

Those regular readers know that I rarely provide match reports and that remains the case today. Flitcroft's boys did very little to excite or make anything about this game memorable for the right reasons.

What will remain with me is having the opportunity to witness in person the stunning corporate takeover that's occurred at the very top of our national game. The whole distortion of the game in this respect is frightening.

The Pharoahs had the common man build his pyramids, to then have them gasp in wonder at the greatness of his achievement. City have their Sheikh!

We'll carry on our fight in the English Championship. Defeated, but not down!
Are you one of the 6,000 supporters travelling to the Etihad this weekend? Do you think that the Reds can pull-off another unexpected victory on the road in the FA Cup?

Deciding to take the "inside-track" to understand what this fixture really means to Manchester City supporters and to discover if Barnsley FC have registered [even as a small blip] on their radar. I spoke to Robert Pollard – Editor and Writer at the Manchester City Blog - Typical City.

Robert got his first season ticket at City in 1994 when, as a young lad at Maine Road, he was dazzled by the skills of Beagrie, Quinn, Rosler and Walsh. The grip the club has had over him has continued ever since. He is a freelance music, sport and politics writer.