conclusion that when City play on Mondays,

what do we have in the absence of transfer speculation or the kind of 'controversy' that the media loves to feast upon?

According to The Sun, we have not had a penalty awarded against us so far this season, and we'd be top of the league if all the games had stopped at half-time. The statistical mayhem continues in The FT, who not only 'reveal' that City have scored 2.5 goals per game but also state that the good form of the 'big five' (including us) means that only 6% of games have ended in draws so far. Unbelievable scenes.

But, some do cast their eyes beyond the weekend to Monday night's game at Villa Park with The Mirror reporting that Curtis Davies expects his close friend Gareth Barry to be on the receiving end of some flak when he faces his former club. The defender hopes it won't be the case, though, and he said:

"I'd like to think the fans would clap Gareth but I've got a So what do we have in the absence of transfer speculation or the kind of 'controversy' that the media loves to feast upon?

According to The Sun, we have not had a penalty awarded against us so far this season, and we'd be top of the league if all the games had stopped at half-time. The statistical mayhem continues in The FT, who not only 'reveal' that City have scored 2.5 goals per game but also state that the good form of the 'big five' (including us) means that only 6% of games have ended in draws so far. Unbelievable scenes.

But, some do cast their eyes beyond the weekend to Monday night's game at Villa Park with The Mirror reporting that Curtis Davies expects his close friend Gareth Barry to be on the receiving end of some flak when he faces his former club. The defender hopes it won't be the case, though, and he said:

"I'd like to think the fans would clap Gareth but I've got a feeling it will be jeers."

"He did this club a good service over the 10 years or more that he was here. But obviously football is very fickle and I think people see the short-term picture.

"I know Gareth has gone from saying he wanted to play Champions League football, when he nearly moved to Liverpool last summer, to moving to Manchester City.

"But maybe he's looked at his options and thought that long-term maybe Manchester City might have the structure to become a Champions League team more so than us.

"If he sees there's an opportunity to do that, then obviously that's Gareth's choice but we'll beg to differ." it will be jeers."

"He did this club a good service over the 10 years or more that he was here. But obviously football is very fickle and I think people see the short-term picture.

"I know Gareth has gone from saying he wanted to play Champions League football, when he nearly moved to Liverpool last summer, to moving to Manchester City.

"But maybe he's looked at his options and thought that long-term maybe Manchester City might have the structure to become a Champions League team more so than us.

"If he sees there's an opportunity to do that, then obviously that's Gareth's choice but we'll beg to differ."