Ahead of tomorrow’s game at The Liberty Stadium, Bluemoon caught up with Chris from Swans Blog to get the lowdown on the opposition…

What are your expectations for the rest of this season?

After the start we made up to January it would be a shame not to secure a top 10 finish and better last season’s 11th place finish.

Are you happy with the manager?

Couldn’t have wished for a smoother transition from Brendan Rodgers to Michael Laudrup. Although that is mostly down to the philosophy at the club and the way we select our new managers. The players he’s persuaded to join have also been fantastic and I doubt they would be with us without the manager.

Who are your key players?

Michu has obviously been a major success this season and made every club in the premier league realise that there are genuine bargains out there. Our central defensive partnership of Ashley Williams and Chico Flores has also been key and there is also Leon Britton who is at the centre of everything keeping everything ticking nicely.

Were you happy with the business conducted during the January transfer window?

A little disappointed our first choice striker was allowed to leave without a replacement coming in. However, on the flip side I’m happy we didn’t panic buy and face the possibility of being stuck with an expensive flop.

Are there any rising stars in the squad that we might not have heard of?

Winger Kenji Gorre who arrived from Manchester United a couple a months ago appears to be an exciting prospect with some good performances for the U21′s in recent weeks.

Your Achilles heel?

Set-pieces. Has been for a few seasons now, we do concede a fairly regularly and don’t really score from them either.

If you could have any City player in your team who would you choose?

David Silva would be ok but I’d go for Sergio Aguero as we could do with a striker. Will probably end up with Scott Sinclair though.

What is your perception of City as a club?

There is no doubt City have an excellent squad and will be challenging for trophies every season but you are still a team learning to cope with that expectation of success. Providing there aren’t wholesale changes I think you’ll be closer to Manchester United next season with the players having that bit more experience.

Likely starting XI for the game, and score prediction?

Vorm; Rangel, Chico, Williams, Davies; Britton, De Guzman, Routledge, Pablo Hernandez, Michu, Moore.

2-1 Man City

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Ahead of Saturday’s game at The Etihad, Bluemoon caught up with resident Hammer markt85 to get the lowdown on the opposition…

What are your expectations for rest of this season?

To consolidate a mid table finish – after City we have two winnable home games in Newcastle and Reading so even a top half finish is possible. It’s far beyond our expectations from the start of the season,  which was just to remain in the Premiership. I think all West Ham fans would have taken 17th place for this season.

Are you happy with the manager?

Very. Big Sam has worked wonders in only a couple of years. Our relegation in 2011 left our club in a mess, Avram finally got sacked and we lost key players in Scott Parker, Robert Green, Matt Upson and Demba Ba. Thankfully the owners made their best decision since arriving at our club. Appointing Sam Allardyce meant getting results. The football wasn’t pretty in the Championship, and some fans were disgruntled with our style of play, but we were winning games and picking up points. He made us a team that was hard to beat. Not many managers could have got us promoted from the Championship and make us a strong Premiership team in such short space

Who are your key players?

With the way we are set up I would say Andy Carroll is our key player. I can’t think of many players realistically we could buy that would perform better in a lone striker role than he has. He bullies defenders, wins headers and is now scoring. I do hope the owners do everything they can to try and keep him but with his wages and value so high it may not be possible.

Diame has also been key to us in midfield. He really is the engine and has shown his class in many games. Aa surprise really, considering he was sitting on the bench at Wigan last season!

Kevin Nolan as a captain gets the team going and scores some crucial goals.

At the back the partnership with Collins and Reid has been excellent and they have made us defensively sound this season – I think Reid will win Hammers player of the season and deservedly so as he is really improving with each game.

Were you happy with the business conducted during the January transfer window?

We spent big on signings and wages at the start of the season so we knew in January we couldn’t get much in. We needed to strengthen up front as Carrol was injured around this time so we bought in Chamakh and Wellington which we haven’t really seen as Carlton Cole is our back up striker for when Carroll is out. Joe Cole was a good signing and nice to see back in a Hammers shirt – but as always the case with him injury’s have taken their toll and he will never be the player he was. An OK transfer window, but the big signings at the start of the season in Carroll, Jarvis and Diame are the ones that will be remembered.

Are there any rising stars in the squad that we might not have heard of?

A bit of criticism that Big Sam gets is that he buys proven ageing players and doesn’t promote within the club enough. Hopefully that might change as we have always been known to have an excellent academy.

Jordan Spence and Danny Potts have done well when given the chance. Also a young English kid called Blair Turgott is scoring goals for fun in our youth team and is being promoted through the ranks at international level.

Nearly forgot – Ravel Morrison is playing very well at Birmingham and looks like he is working hard on and off the pitch, Hopefully Big Sam will forget his antics and recall this kid from loan as he seems very talented

Your Achilles heel?

Our away form and the lack of goals, we are set up too defensively and this has cost us in many away games with Carroll left isolated up front, lately Vaz Te has pushed with Nolan to give us more attacking options which is helping, but at the start of the season we were far too negative away from home.

If you could have any City player in your team who would you choose?

Where to start! For sentimental reasons it would be great to have Tevez at the moment, as he is a Hammers hero for the season his performances and goals kept us up. But if I could choose any player from City I think it would be Yaya Toure. The guy is a machine and on his day can walk through defences. He scores goals, and looks to me like the complete midfielder.

What is your perception of City as a club?

You’re now in the bracket of a ‘world class’ team. The title win last season was brilliant and well deserved. Obviously we envy the amount of money you have as it doesn’t seem long ago that West Ham and City were battling mid-table together, but nowadays it takes more than money and Mancini has built a very good squad that will challenge the title every year. Your board don’t seem as trigger happy as Abramovich and they seem to stay out of the media, which is a good thing. Your champions league campaign was disappointing this year but I am sure it won’t be long till you are competing all the way for every major trophy there is.

Personally, I like City a lot. We have a lot of connections and history together and it is fitting that both clubs will honour Marc-Vivien Foe’s death 10 years ago before kick off. Let’s hope next year you will reclaim the Premiership title as no one likes to see the ‘rags’ win it.

Likely starting XI for the game, and score prediction?

Cant see many changes from the team that beat Wigan with the exception of Noble who is back from injury to replace O’Neill.

I predict our line up will be (4-4-1-1) :

Jaaskelainen

Demel
Reid
Collins
O’Brien

Vaz Te
Diame
Noble
Jarvis

Nolan

Carroll

If your players are motivated enough I predict you will comfortably win 2-0.

Ahead of Sunday’s clash at White Hart Lane, Bluemoon caught up with resident Spurs fan GHoddle to get the lowdown on the opposition…

What are your expectations for the rest of this season?

I expect us to compete for the top 4 but I feel like we will barely miss out on Champions league again.

Are you happy with the manager?

Yes I’m very happy with the job AVB has done and he’s exceeded my expectations. I think if the chairman backs him this summer we can go a long way under him next season. Even though we’re competing for something tangible this season (4th) I always viewed this as a transitional season, and I think AVB is preparing the squad to play in his system next season.

Who are your key players?

Bale (obviously) and Lennon since they are our only wingers, we are really put in a poor position when one or both is out. Also Sandro, Dembele, and Lloris are extremely important players for us.

Were you happy with the business conducted during the January transfer window?

No, not at all. I felt that we weakened our squad when we were in a good position and we failed to strengthen in areas where we clearly needed an additional player (honestly we needed a striker more than anything). We did the same thing last January and it cost us then too.

Are there any rising stars in the squad that we might not have heard of?

I think Tom Carroll could become a really good player. We have a very good youth team at the moment, Alex Pritchard is highly rated and I’ve heard/seen good things from Massimo Luongo and Christian Ceballos. Danny Rose has also done very well on his loan at Sunderland.

Your Achilles heel?

In terms of our actual squad, the weakness is clearly our strikers. But the thing that concerns me the most is our apparent mental fragility.

If you could have any City player in your team who would you choose?

It would be between David Silva and Yaya Toure. Tough choice but I think Silva is more the type of player we need at the moment.

What is your perception of City as a club?

I think your current success is fairly deserved after decades without it, so I don’t begrudge it. I actually like City as a club and I think your team plays good football that is nice to watch.

Likely starting XI for the game, and score prediction?

Depends whether Bale is fit or not but if so, I think it will be Lloris, Walker, Dawson, Vertonghen, Naughton, Parker, Dembele, Lennon, Bale, Sigurdsson, Adebayor. Score prediction if Bale plays would be 2-2 draw.

Ahead of Sunday’s semi-final at Wembley, Bluemoon caught up with our resident Chelsea fan Castiel to get the lowdown on the opposition…

What are your expectations for the rest of this season?

The primary goal for most of us is CL football. A surprising number of Chelsea fans I’ve spoken to would rather secure CL football than success in the cups, because we’ve had plenty of recent cup success but our future depends on CL football. It’d be nice to win the cups too and we expect the team to fight for them, but CL football without any trophies this season wouldn’t be a disaster. A trophy without CL football would be.

Are you happy with the manager?

Nope and not many are as you’d expect. There is a personal hate for him amongst many. He’s not even that great a manager and has made some absurd miscalculations during his time here. I don’t think he’s terrible, but I don’t hold his ability in the same esteem as some of the others we’ve had in the past (Ancelotti, Mourinho etc). He’s stabilised the ship for the moment but Chelsea always performs well in crunch time, regardless of who we have in charge. Most can’t wait to see the back of him come May.

Who are your key players?

Mata and to a slightly lesser extent Hazard. The difference they make to our play is astonishing. They’ve carried us through some rough periods this season and I’ve yet to see them meet a defence which truly contained them.

Were you happy with the business conducted during the January transfer window?

I actually am. Panic spending has never worked out for us and I’m glad the board was thinking ahead this time. We did excellent business last summer and I hope the trend continues this year.

Are there any rising stars in the squad that we might not have heard of?

One of our youth players on loan to Watford, Nathaniel Chalobah is a special talent. You all know about Bertrand who is turning into a decent (but not amazing) left back and our “wonderkid” signings like Courtois and Lukaku. But Chalobah is an academy product with some impressive talent. I expect to see him either loaned to a Prem club or used in reserve for us next season.

Your Achilles heel?

In general our striking options are sub-par for a top team. Our defence should be better but I think that’s more a product of organisation and discipline than personnel. In the context of Sunday’s game, we’ll be weak at Left Back with Cole and possibly Bertrand out injured.

If you could have any City player in your team who would you choose?

Aguero. I wanted him when he was still at Atletico and he’s proven to be one of the best in the world. If he wasn’t constantly rotated I think he’d post numbers comparable to RVP and Suarez. He’s also an intelligent player who would thrive on the sort of service Mata and Hazard delivers.

What is your perception of City as a club?

Neither love nor hate. City have made it harder for us at the top but they’ve also made the league more interesting. We now have no assured “Sky 4″ and the league is much more competitive which is only a good thing for a sport. In a couple of years we could have 4 or possibly more teams capable of winning it every year, rather than United vs X every year which was getting tedious.

Likely starting XI for the game, and score prediction?

I’m not sure about some injuries and Rafa sometimes makes some strange decisions but I’d like:

——– Cech

Azpili – Ivan – Luiz – Bertrand

—— Mikel – Ramires

– Oscar – Mata – Hazard

———- Ba

Can’t guess the score but I don’t think either will keep a clean sheet and I’d give the game 60/40 odds in City’s favour considering all factors. I think extra time is likely for me and I think the difference will come down to what our key players do on the day.

Ahead of Saturday’s game at The Etihad, Bluemoon caught up with Ed Harrison from The Newcastle United Blog to get the lowdown on the opposition…

What are your expectations for the rest of this season?

We are currently 13th in the league table and in the quarter finals of the Europa League – so after having a very poor first half of the season we could do well in the final run-in. We would hope to finish in the top ten in the Premier League and get as far as we can in the Europa League.
We play Benfica in the quarter finals – and we must stand a fair chance of
reaching the last four if we can play somewhere near our best form in
those games.

Are you happy with the manager?

I am personally happy with Alan Pardew, although some fans don’t think
he’s very good. But it seems Mike Ashley has great faith in Pardew, who
went 13 games in the league when we lost 10 of them – ending in the 2-1
defeat by Reading at home.

Most managers would have been fired with that record, but Mike stood by
his manager.

But in the week following, Mike Ashley brought in Yanga-Mbiwa, Massadio
Haidara, Yoan Gouffran and Moussa Sissoko – and we had already brought
Debuchy into the club in the first week of January.

And the five Frenchmen have made an enormous difference and we also now
have Yohan Cabaye and Steven Taylor back form injury.

Alan Pardew was the Premier League Manager of the Year and the PFA Manager
of the Year last season – and you don’t suddenly become a poor manager
overnight.

Who are your key players?

Yohan Cabaye, Moussa Sissoko, Steven Taylor, Ben Arfa, Tim Krul and
Fabricio Coloccini are our best players, but the last three are out
injured at the moment.

Were you happy with the business conducted during the January transfer
window?

Really happy – we got in five top French players for just £18M – although
we missed out on Loic Remy who preferred to go to QPR – heaven knows why –
although rumors were that they offered him ridiculous wages.

Are there any rising stars in the squad that we might not have heard of?

Davide Santon is a 21 year-old Italian International left back – but he
may not make the game because of an injured hamstring. And 23 year-old
Moussa Sissoko, who we bought from Toulouse in January is going to be
some player. Pardew gives him a free role up front and he’s 6’2” tall and
very fast – he’s not a bad player either and is a French International.

Your Achilles heel?

The defense is still our weakness – and we concede too many goals – that’s
been our weakness since we came back into the Premier League in 2010 after
one season down below.

If you could have any City player in your team who would you choose?

Carlos Tevez – and Alan Pardew worked with him when he was manager of West
Ham – he’s a terrific player.

What is your perception of City as a club?

The best team big money can buy – the owners have paid out extremely high
transfer fees for players – and paid out huge wages too. Only now are the
club trying to get their finances under control. For the financial year
ended last June Newcastle will actually make a profit for the first time
since Mike Ashley bought the club in the summer of 2007.

Likely starting XI for the game, and score prediction?

I think we’ll still have Krul, Coloccini and Debuchy out injured – so
assuming Davide Santon is fit – this could be the side:

Elliot
Simpson Yanga-Mbiwa Taylor (S) Santon
Gouffran Cabaye (c) Tiote Marveaux
Sissoko
Cisse

We’d be very happy to come away with a 1-1 draw.