Making plans for Nigel

So, Nigel de Jong wants to meet up with HBA, the player he crippled last season, does he? Probably a wise move that the encounter's been scheduled to take place post-match, in case there's any further flare-up between the two during the game.

The Silver Fox said of the Frenchman that "he was absolutely clear to me that he has no problem about going back there, no problem about facing their particular player", which to me suggests that HBA is hungry for a bit of revenge in one form or another. Hopefully it'll be both constructive and within the rules of the game - while a desire to hurt his assailant would be understandable, we'll find it hard enough to get a result at the Etihad as it is, without being forced to play with ten men.

Of course, given the riches at Roberto Mancini's disposal and his general squad rotation policy, there's a chance that de Jong won't actually start the game for the league leaders, depriving HBA of the opportunity to get his own back.