Howard Hockin @howiehok34 ?

It’s that time of year again. With no domestic football to worry about or comment on, and no international football until the autumn (except at U21 level), attention inevitably turns to the clubs’ summer rebuilding plans, and the maddening transfer merry-go-round, as the infamous transfer window will soon open once more for business. A transfer window [...]

Michel Platini’s plans for financial “fair play” in European football has garnered great debate over the past year or two, and I won’t say much more on that. But it has struck me that there might be an unwelcome consequence of these plans that wasn’t part of his remit. Regarding ticket prices, Manchester City’s owners could [...]

Around 18 months ago, Wolverhampton Wanderers played a weakened team against Manchester United in a league match. I was furious. Well, quite miffed anyway. I thought it disgraceful that they would throw in the towel for a football match, and thought it unfair on United’s competitors that they chose to do this once against United. It’s [...]

Last week, Manchester City defender Kolo Touré was banned from all football activities after being found guilty of taking a prohibited substance, contained within a dieting pill belonging to his wife. It was backdated to the date when he was initially suspended, so he will be available again in early September. As most will be aware, it is [...]

With the introduction of the Bosman ruling and the financial difficulties many teams found themselves in over recent years, a swathe of footballers have found themselves on the football scrapheap once their contracts expired.  In the Premier League this hasn’t been a problem with the oceans of cash swimming around, but with the introduction of the [...]

Last week, Manchester City played Stoke City twice in a few days, in the FA Cup final and in the league. Everyone got on pretty well. City decided not to parade the FA Cup before or after the league game in respect to Stoke fans, we clapped their fans away and Delilah was played over [...]

The talk of the papers is once again that Manchester City will go on a massive spending spree in the summer. They won’t. Already City have been linked with Christiano Ronaldo, Xavi, Leighton Baines, Alexis Sanchez, Fabregas, Pirlo…….<4 hours later>………Aguero, Mata, Kaka, Cavani and Rob Earnshaw. Garry Cook and Brian Marwood are well aware of the [...]

At some time around 5:15pm, on Saturday 14 th May 2011, Carlos Tevez, captain of Manchester City Football Club, climbed the Wembley steps, shook a few hands, and held the FA Cup aloft. The blue moon had finally risen. City had won their first trophy since 1976. After 30 years of supporting my team, I had witnessed [...]

After Manchester City had beaten Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-final, I was keen to soak up any footage I could of the day, and stumbled onto youtube. On there, the FA had uploaded a video showing a tunnel-cam throughout the day, a look behind the scenes. It was strangely hypnotic, devoid as it was [...]

As I’m guessing you are aware, this year ends with an odd number. This is always bad news for a football fan, its natural consequence being no summer football. As a fan of the world’s most popular sport, football becomes part of your life for nine months of a year. As a Manchester City fan, I [...]

In defence, we have probably seen the biggest success for Manchester City this season. 31 goals conceded in 34 league games – a record only bettered by Chelsea (28), tells its own story, though many will probably claim it’s only due to Mancini’s boring brand of football. That stat alone suggests that this is one area [...]

A couple of years ago I stumbled upon Twitter. At first I wasn’t particularly impressed, it seeming little more than a never-ending list of Facebook-like status updates. But the more I delved in, the more it made sense. It would change everything for those that write about sport, or anything for that matter, both professional [...]

In many areas, football has changed beyond recognition over the years; in some areas it has remained very similar. The fundamental essence of the game has remained, interpretations have differed. The game has been modernised with nets, and assistants, substitutions, offsides, fourth officials, scoreboards, chicken balti pies and so on. Ken Aston, himself a referee in [...]

Carlo Ancelotti has the look of a resigned man. It’s a look we’ve all seen many a time. Another dead man walking, who knows that his time is almost up. Whatever he does from now until the end of the season, he is almost certainly going to be relieved of his job in the summer. His [...]

When I decided to choose my own Premiership Team of the Year, I thought it would be a breeze. I’ll be done in 20 minutes. Three days and two migraines later, I realised how difficult it is. I watch a lot of football, too much- but there are still many teams that I haven’t seen quite enough of [...]

In what has been another dull season for Manchester City (ahem), it is widely expected that the summer transfer window will be a busy one. Garry Cook has often stressed that the original spending spree will be toned down after a couple of years to allow youth to come through, and obviously with one eye on [...]

Last week, The FA announced the tickets prices for this season’s FA Cup Final. Eyebrows were raised as the highest priced tickets smashed through the £100 barrier for the first time. Prices for the most expensive tickets to English football’s end-of-season showpiece will cost £115, an increase of 22% on last season. I say that eyebrows [...]

It’s been hard to love the England football team in recent years. Before every tournament final, if we have made it that far, the tabloids have whipped us up into a frenzy of anticipation, and expectation. Then we invariably stumble through the group stages before limping out of the competition, returning home to recriminations, apologies, and [...]