David Silva is a Manchester City Player...

Wow.

With most of the world's attention on the World Cup (although not really for the football — mainly dodgy goals and vuvuzelas of course), I wasn't really anticipating new signings. There has been an awful amount of rumour surrounding Yaya Toure, which would have been the more understandable announcement with Cote d'Ivoire knocked out of the tournament.

However, we have signed a player still in the tournament, and with a great opportunity to add "World Cup winner" as well as "Manchester City player" to his resume. Welcome to the club Lionel Messi David Silva.

So much about this signing makes sense. Silva is just 24, and has already played at the highest levels for club and country. He's played in the Champs League with Valencia, and was part of the Spanish side that won Euro 2008. He can play as a winger or attacking midfielder, and gives us that creativity that we were so lacking in the latter half of last season.

He's been a long term target for Chelsea and less believably, Manchester United (yeah, and where would they get the funds to buy him?!)

For mine, this is as significant the acquisitions of Robinho and Tevez. Roberto Mancini said of the signing:

"I think that David Silva is one of the best midfielders in Europe, and I hope he will be a very important (well he would say that, wouldn't he?) player for Manchester City.

"I am so pleased he is coming to us, I think he can make a big, big impact for Manchester City. In signing David, we are showing the World that we are bringing the best players here and that we hope to compete to win the Premier League. When players see what is happening at Manchester City and the ambition they are attracted to what we are building and want to be a part of it.

"I hope he does very well for Spain in the World Cup and then joins us for our pre-season, ready to compete in the Premier League. I am very excited about seeing him playing for Manchester City."

And so are we, Roberto...

Sydney Blues: Supporters' Club 5-a-side Tournament

It's that time again... thanks to Lee and the team at Footy Fans Down Under, we have another Supporters Club 5-a-side tournament to contest.

The tournament is run biannually, and this will be our third attempt at it. Frankly, our record isn't too flash so far. In the previous two tournaments, we have failed to get out of our group, with a record of 2-2-4 from our eight matches. With City's fortunes improving on the pitch, it's about time we got our act together and showed everyone else how the boys in blue play football.

Supporter's Club 5-a-side Tournament Details
Date: Sunday 15 August 2010
Time: No later than 10:00am
Location: Harbord Bowling Club, near Manly
Cost: $20 each, paid on the day

Bring: Footy boots (plastic moulded), Manchester City home kit

Here's the brief details, but there will be more to come as the event gets closer:

Whilst it’s 5-A-Side squad numbers can be up to 12, plenty of games will be played so a good idea to get a good squad number, a rolling sub system will operate.

The Event will be held on Sunday 15th August and we'd love to see your team there, Clubs are already signing up and it's sure to be a great day.

The competition venue will be the Harbord Bowling Club on the Northern Beaches, it has bar facilities aswell as food available etc so ideal for teams bringing supporters along, venue for after competition presentation to be confirmed – we have moved from our previous venue due to the demand and this will enable us to use more pitches.

Again we will be using synthetic surfaces so all good from a weather perspective.

Look forward to hearing from you soon and of course to registering your team, information will also be available via www.footyfansdownunder.com

Regards,

Lee.

If you can confirm you are good to play, please send an email to lessoninpride@gmail.com saying you are in, and you'll be added to the list.

Football ability is not a major requirement — even I managed to find the back of the net twice last time — but a sense of humour is. Brendo should be there to serenade us on the ukelele and I can back him up on concerto vuvuzela. Roberto Mancini might even make another appearance...

You have plenty of time to think about it, but it really is a top day out.

City's Ever-Changing New Kit

The main criticism of the new home kit is the simple fact that we have one! It's the fifth new shirt in as many years, and when you include all the changes to away and third kit too (there were nine different kits used in the three seasons before this one), it becomes an expensive exercise at the beginning of each season.

From top-left: This seasons new kit, 2009-10 home kit, 2008-09 home kit, 2007-08 home kit, 2006-07 home kit, 2004-06 home kit...

The last time we used a home kit for consecutive seasons was back in 2004-05 and 2005-06. Isn't this something we used to take the piss out of the Rags for?

Hopefully, Umbro can use common sense and announce that this one will be in for a while. I mean, how many times can you improve on a sky blue and white shirt?

World Cup Update

Carlos Tevez netted the first (and second) goal by a Manchester City player last night, bagging a brace as Argentina cruised past Mexico 3-1 to reach the final eight.

Jerome Boateng's German side knocked out England in the other round of 16 clash, and in the process ending the World Cup for Gareth Barry, Shaun Wright-Phillips, and Joe Hart. Whilst not breathtaking, Boateng had a solid game, playing out of position at left-back. And at just 21, Jerome looks a solid prospect for the future.

Nigel De Jong's Oranje take on Vladi Weiss' Slovakia at Durban tonight. It should be noted that the referee of this clash was the same one that handed out 9 yellow cards in the match between Germany and Serbia... which is not a good sign for the tough-tackling midfielder!

In the other clash, part-time City player Robinho will look to open his World Cup account against Chile. Although, the tournament favorites haven't exactly blown me (or their opponents) away so far, so it would surprise me if Chile gave them a run for their money.

And lastly, Roque Santa Cruz will start his THIRD GAME IN A ROW for Paraguay tomorrow, against the dangerous Japan. That's assuming of course he doesn't pick up a knock getting out of bed...

So even though Australia and England are no longer in the tournament, there is still plenty of good football on show – and a great chance to see our very own on the game's biggest stage.

New Manchester City Home Kit Leaked?

This is most likely what the boys will be wearing in the 2010-11 Premier League and Europa League campaign. Out of all the mock-ups and fake kits, this appears to be the most genuine, and I'm almost certain this is the real deal.

Whilst similar to last year's kit, there are a few minor changes. The white crew neck is gone, replaced by a blue collar, and the shirt now has white cuffs... but my favourite change is the one that you won't be able to see when you're wearing it — the miniature City scarf at the back of the neck.

I didn't think they were able to improve on last season's kit, but on this occasion, I think Umbro have outdone themselves.

Don't forget, we will be placing an order for the kit when it's released, so if you're in Australia and you want to save a couple of bucks, get in contact.