"Slide Away..."

Once more Manchester City's season veered from the sublime to the ridiculous, quite literally within the space of a minute's playing time (albeit separated by seven whole days). The sublime was provided by Stephen Ireland's sumptuous last minute strike against Reading last week, the ridiculous by Titus Bramble's catastrophic error after just 28 seconds against Wigan. Geovanni was the grateful recipient, cooly rounding the keeper to give City a start we could have scarcely hoped for. If there's a worse player in the Premiership right now than Bramble then I'm yet to see him.

Wigan eventually rallied to gain a deserved point in what was a fairly drab affair at the JJB Stadium. I'd like to say this was a passionate, hard fought Lancastrian derby, but that would be a miserable lie. Both sides lacked the necessary quality to force the issue, and a draw was a fair result.  If you were to be picky you could question Javier Garrido's positioning for Paul Scharner's equaliser, but that would be unfair as he'd been heavily concussed in a clash of heads moments earlier.

The game was a dour, instantly forgettable encounter making this article difficult for the writer rather than just the reader, as is usually the case. The only other incident of note came when Kelvin Etuhu clearly handled the ball in the penalty area. It could scarcely have been more blatant, even if Etuhu had caught the ball and slam dunked it into hapless official Mike Riley's face. Still I'm not complaining. Them's the breaks.

City's away form does, however, remain a cause for concern, in stark contrast to our faultless home record; we're without a victory on our travels since the opening day of the season. Still, it makes a pleasant change from last season when we were rubbish regardless of where we played. I'd like to see Sven take a less cautious approach at White Hart Lane next Sunday and switch from 4-5-1 to 4-4-2, as we're short on choice in midfield (Elano and Johnson are out injured, whilst the peerless Didi Hamann, our most important player, is suspended). Plus we're playing a Spurs side with a defence more porous than Sir Alex Ferguson's whisky soaked nose. Having said that, Sven has won major trophies all over Europe. I recently only just avoided relegation with Stockport County on Championship Manager. I suspect Sven knows best.

Besides, I'm loathe to criticise Eriksson having recently had the privilege of meeting the man at the Carrington training ground whilst interviewing club captain Richard Dunne.  Everything said about Sven is true; he is charm and class personified. No wonder the ladies love him. Dunne also came across as a genuinely likeable guy; during our interview he was intelligent, witty, candid and polite throughout, the antithesis of the typical modern day footballer. A kind of anti-Rio Ferdinand, if you like.

Being granted access to the inner sanctum of the club I've supported since childhood was a fascinating experience. Seeing two senior players deliberate on purchasing a ludicrously expensive car with the same casual abandon that you or I might display when pushing the boat out for a £7.99 bottle of wine from Threshers was an eye opener. It's a whole different world watching the comings and goings of a modern Premiership club. But one I could have happily inhabited from now until eternity. I'm ashamed to say it, as I'm 30 and really should know better, but I was mesmerised and star struck by it all. Look, there's Georgios Samaras struggling with more boxes of (presumably free) Nike trainers than you could wish to wear in a lifetime. And there goes Mike Summerbee with a case of wine for Sven (knowing Buzzer it'll have been the good stuff). Actually having read that back, it all sounds incredibly mundane. I guess you had to be there. And have an unhealthy obsession in Manchester City Football Club.

Finally, last weekend saw the draw for the 3rd round of the FA Cup, with City being paired against our cock-er-nee brothers West Ham. At Upton Park, of course, sod's bloody law. Given our current away form that's us doomed. Good job our name's already on the Carling Cup then...