This is City

School visit by Barton

AN interesting article in Carlisle's News and Star about the school visit undertaken by Joey Barton yesterday.

Although much of the news has been about Barton finally signing a new deal, he seems to have matured as a person and it's good to see him giving something back.

Joey to end stand off

JOEY Barton is keen to see an end to the contract dispute with City and it looks as though he may sign a deal by the end of the week.

After facing criticism from fans, and many in the media, Barton has said he is prepared to negotiate a deal.

He accepts the situation got out of control and he hopes City fans will forgive and forget,  giving him a chance to concentrate on forthcoming matches.

Mills told to wait

DOCTORS have told Danny Mills that he will be out of action until the end of February, despite him being fit enough to train.

Mills was discovered to have a broken shin in November despite the fact that the break is believed to have occurred earlier in the season.

Also City have been linked with the Blackburn Rovers’ striker Matt Jansen who has played just 13 Premiership matches since a motorcycle accident in 2002.

Sommeil out for three games

DAVID Sommeil has been hit with a three-match ban after his tackle on Tottenham's Lee Young-Pyo was deemed violent conduct.

He will miss Premiership games against Manchester United and Bolton and an FA Cup clash with Wigan or Leeds.

The referee during the game against Spurs did not see the tackle as he was running towards another incident, but the FA deemed Sommeil’s offence dangerous and banned him for three matches.

Nedum surprised at Liverpool link

AFTER a confident display against an admittedly poor Birmingham City, young defender Nedum Onuoha has said he is flattered to be linked with a move to Liverpool.

The 19-year-old academy star has said he is happy at the Blues and was a little surprised to see reports saying he was being watched by the European champions.

The David James Foundation

I HEARD David James featured on Radio 5 today talking about his charity work in Malawi.

He has set up the David James Foundation which will help farmers in Malawi draw on the experience of their British counter parts.

The Daily Mail features a short piece about the foundation and the support that Tony Blair has shown for the venture.

UPDATE: The David James Foundation

Sun dines with the Queen

SUN Jihai sat down for dinner with the Queen this week at a banquet held in honour of the President of the People’s Republic of China at Buckingham Palace.

The City full-back, and Chinese captain, was invited to the Palace on Tuesday evening and the Queen even recognised him asking, 'You are the Chinese footballer, how are you getting on?'

The Times continues that Sun, and his wife Jia-Yu, enjoyed fillet of sole with tomato, truffle with white wine sauce and chocolate mousse.

Barton to miss Rovers game

JOEY Barton will be forced to miss the game against Blackburn Rovers after picking up his fifth booking in six games in the defeat against Fulham last Saturday.

The midfielder has been given a one-match suspension that means he misses the games on November 19.

Hopefully Claudio Reyna will be fit by then and be available to slot into midfield.

Bradley signs up

BRADLEY Wright-Phillips has signed a four year extension to his contract that will keep him at the club until 2009.

The young striker, who came on for the last few minutes last night against Aston Villa, has obviously impressed the City coaching staff.

The 20-year-old can only learn more from working alongside Andy Cole and Darius Vassell over the coming months.

Andy Cole offered Ghana role - no say Ghanaians

UPDATE: The BBC say that Ghanaian football bosses have rubbished claims that Andy Cole could coash them during the World Cup.

Now this is an interesting one, Andy Cole has been approached by Ghana with the offer of a chance to coach the team in next year's World Cup.

"I'm really interested in what Ghana have to say and I am looking forward to meeting them to talk about the job," Cole told The Sun newspaper.

Cole has said he will be chatting with officials from Ghana on November 9.

Ghana, whose start player is Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien, won their qualifying group to win a place in Germany next summer.