Man City boss: Will Fergie stick with kids for Carling Cup semi-final?
Manchester City boss Mark Hughes believes Sir Alex Ferguson could change his mind and play a more experienced Manchester United team now he knows City are the opposition.
Ferguson has tended to go with Manchester United's talented youngsters in the competition and they have not let him down with the trophy secured last season.
Hughes, however, is not so sure that will be the case after the clubs were thrown together in draw.
He recalled his time in charge of Blackburn in 2006 when they were beaten by United in the last four in two incident-packed games.
Ferguson named the likes of Ryan Giggs, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Louis Saha, Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney in both legs.
Hughes said: "Sir Alex never used to play weakened sides in the competition.
"I seem to recall during my time at Blackburn they were a pretty strong side in the semi-final. We will have to wait and see. That is his decision."
City have not won a trophy in 33 years and were last in a domestic semi-final in 1981.
Hughes said: "We will enjoy it. Over two games we would back ourselves against anybody. We want to get to a Wembley final. This club has not had many experiences of that in recent times.
"We need to be in a domestic semi-final and we want to try and win the competition. I have picked strong teams because it is important. Certainly if we had not done that we might have gone out of the cup because we have had some really hard games.
"We have treated the competition with the respect it deserves. We deserve the reward of a semi-final. We want to go one step further if we can."
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Results & Fixtures
Matches
| Home | Away | Score | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun May 13th | |||
| Stoke City | Bolton Wanderers | 2 - 2 | 14:00 |
| West Bromwich Albion | Arsenal | 2 - 3 | 14:00 |
| Everton | Newcastle United | 3 - 1 | 14:00 |
| Sunderland | Manchester United | - 1 | 14:00 |
| Wigan Athletic | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 3 - 2 | 14:00 |
| Manchester City | Queens Park Rangers | 3 - 2 | 14:00 |
| Swansea City | Liverpool | 14:00 | |
| Norwich City | Aston Villa | 14:00 | |
| Tottenham Hotspur | Fulham | 14:00 | |
| Chelsea | Blackburn Rovers | 2 - 1 | 14:00 |
Tables
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester City | 38 | 28 | 5 | 5 | 64 | 89 |
| Manchester United | 38 | 28 | 5 | 5 | 56 | 89 |
| Arsenal | 38 | 21 | 7 | 10 | 25 | 70 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 38 | 20 | 9 | 9 | 25 | 69 |
| Newcastle United | 38 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 5 | 65 |
| Chelsea | 38 | 18 | 10 | 10 | 19 | 64 |
| Everton | 38 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 56 |
| Liverpool | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 7 | 52 |
| Fulham | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | -3 | 52 |
| West Bromwich Albion | 38 | 13 | 8 | 17 | -7 | 47 |
| Swansea City | 38 | 12 | 11 | 15 | -7 | 47 |
| Norwich City | 38 | 12 | 11 | 15 | -14 | 47 |
| Sunderland | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | -1 | 45 |
| Stoke City | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | -17 | 45 |
| Wigan Athletic | 38 | 11 | 10 | 17 | -20 | 43 |
| Aston Villa | 38 | 7 | 17 | 14 | -16 | 38 |
| Queens Park Rangers | 38 | 10 | 7 | 21 | -23 | 37 |
| Bolton Wanderers | 38 | 10 | 6 | 22 | -31 | 36 |
| Blackburn Rovers | 38 | 8 | 7 | 23 | -30 | 31 |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | 38 | 5 | 10 | 23 | -42 | 25 |
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Comments (35)
I don't have to pigeon hole myself into your warped definition of football, a fan, and what being a true fan is about. you sound like a clueless highschooler who needs to stick with his buddies and the cool group to have any sort of validation in his life. i thought people grow up. it's obvious your kind never does. if anyone has a pathetic life it's your kind. other's don't need to glorify themselves through delusional extremes as your types. really falling behind the evolutionary chain - once a *****, always a ***** a *****.
ok man i hope you wack off to jaglielka everyday. or who is ur superstar nowadays? joleon lescott..... u know one day you're gonna get urs ***** and it's gonna be so hard it'll rip you 17 new ones... no one gives a shit about your rhetoric or the reason why people are culturally "cued" into clubs... so ***** what???????????????
-Manchester City has a large fanbase in relation to its comparative lack of success on the pitch.
-In August 2006, the club became the first to be officially recognised as a "gay-friendly" employer by campaign group Stonewall (UK) (says a lot about your type.)
-A common stereotype is that City fans come from Manchester proper, while United fans come from elsewhere. A 2002 report by a researcher at Manchester Metropolitan University found that while it was true that a higher proportion of City season ticket holders came from Manchester postcode areas (40% compared to United's 29%), there were more United season ticket holders, the lower percentage being due to United's higher overall number of season ticket holders (27,667 compared to City's 16,481).
DEAL WITH IT!
You're a complete twat. How can you support a team that you never even been to watch, part of the reason people start supporting teams is because it brings together people in the community who are proud of their team.
You're probably one of those stupid yanks that is to clued up on how many corners utd have had in the second half of games. No one cares! Get a grip and support a local team that you can be truely passionate about.
Its obvious you don't really care about Utd because if you did you would have given up everything else in your pathetic life and moved to Manchester, bought a season ticket and support your team like a proper fan should (and if you really love them go to every away game(+Champs League) and cup finals).
By the way I met Vidic at Petrol Station and told him to ***** cos he's a *****, and he did, cos he gay, just like the rest of the utd squad. They all suck suck big willys. Speaking of imbreds, gary neville mum is also his sister and thats why he can't kick a ball straight.
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