Manchester City Football News & Views on Derby Joy for City

Dear old Jimmy Hill has mentioned (a few dozen times) on his Sunday Supplement on Sky Sports that when he was manager of Coventry City he would make a point of not talking to the media immediately after a match, when emotions were at their highest. That, of course, was a long time ago but its still good advice even if Jim does exasperate everyone by insisting upon labouring the message.

In the true spirit of Jims philosophy, it is now safe to air one or two opinions on last weekends Manchester derby. To begin with, Manchester City thoroughly deserved to win this game and their victory, which was as emphatic as the 3-1 scoreline suggests, is an indication of what manager Stuart Pearce has accomplished since he took over from Kevin Keegan. It also effectively ended any lingering hopes Manchester United might have harboured of catching Chelsea in the chase for the premiership.

As Robbie Fowler scored the decisive goal, Stuart Pearces leaping delight before he was engulfed by City fans stood in stark contrast to the grim figure of United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, whose earlier expletive-enriched rant at referee Steve Bennett will almost inevitably earn him an F.A. enquiry.

He should have listened to Jimmy Hill.