what the papers say

Wednesday win reaction

City
beat Newcastle on Wednesday - and that is a fact! - something the press
could not ignore or misreport, but there's still plenty of scope for
all the usual speculation as well.

Daily Mirror

"Manchester City 2-1 Newcastle: Craig Bellamy's first City goal secures points"

Record
signing Robinho and new arrival Craig Bellamy both paid the first
instalment of a debt to manager Mark Hughes by ensuring a Manchester
City win against ailing Newcastle.

Hughes has patched up his
differences with Robinho, who has been in the headlines for all the
wrong reasons recently, and was rewarded by the Brazilian setting up
Shaun Wright-Phillips for City's opener.

Then Bellamy, snapped
up for £10million from West Ham by a boss who believes there is far
more to his fellow countryman than a short fuse, sealed victory with a
neat turn and finish on his debut.

It eases City into mid-table
but leaves Newcastle deep in the mire, with star striker Michael Owen
facing another spell on the sidelines after limping off just 18 minutes
into the game.

There were so many sub-plots to talk about it hardly mattered the opening period brought almost nothing worthwhile to discuss.

Confirmation
of Shay Given's knee injury was hardly a surprise as it would allow any
discussions that take place between Newcastle - whose owner Mike Ashley
was at the game - and City to continue without the inconvenience of the
Irishman playing for his current team against the one who want him.

In
turn, City know all about Joey Barton, who was making his first
appearance against them since moving to the north-east, citing a lack
of ambition in the Blues camp.

Barton has since served a jail
term and his comments have been proved hopelessly incorrect given this
might have been the night Kaka made his debut for City.

That
audacious deal fell through of course, with a sizeable percentage of
the City support not exactly best pleased at how their club's approach
for the former world player of the year has been portrayed.

Neither
have they been particularly enamoured at suggestions Mark Hughes cannot
control the star names in his squad, specifically Robinho, whose
decision to walk out of a warm weather training camp in Tenerife and
fly back to Brazil is nothing in comparison to being questioned by West
Yorkshire Police yesterday over an allegation of sexual assault he
totally denies.

To Hughes, the decision to select Robinho, his
best player, was straightforward. Yet it was still a brave move and
asked a basic question of the former Real Madrid man's mental state.

Yet if Robinho is slight in stature, his attitude is strong.

Having
apparently made peace with Hughes, he then got any remaining waverers
in the City support back onside with a deft through-ball which allowed
Wright-Phillips to drive a shot through Steve Harper's legs and put the
hosts in front.

In truth, it was by far the best moment of a
tepid opening period in which City debutants Craig Bellamy and Nigel de
Jong buzzed about effectively without being able to assist their
team-mates in making the most of their dominance.

Lacklustre as City were, they were a cut above Newcastle, who were truly awful.

The
loss of Michael Owen just after Wright-Phillips' goal when he jarred
his leg after leaping for an aerial collision with Nedum Onuoha hardly
helped.

But Joe Kinnear does not have much time to build a team capable of escaping relegation trouble and this one might not.

They
did at least force Joe Hart into a save in the opening minutes of the
second half, although Damien Duff's long-range shot was ambitious at
best.

Newcastle were cursing when rookie referee Mike Jones
failed to rule Micah Richards' challenge on Steven Taylor a foul even
though the City defender had been caught badly out of position when
Duff floated over the cross which was about to be powered home until
Taylor hit the deck.

But Bellamy and Wright-Phillips felt they
should have been similarly rewarded at the other end by Jones, a
veteran of only five previous top flight games.

And there was
no need for debate 13 minutes from time when Pablo Zabaleta strode onto
Wright-Phillips' pass and then found Bellamy.

Bellamy seized his opportunity, twisting and turning on the edge of the box before sending a precise shot past Harper.

Three
minutes later, Wayne Bridge allowed David Edgar to rob him close to the
penalty area and the youngster wasted no time in providing Carroll with
a tap-in - but City ended worthy winners.

The Sun

"Man City deal looks a Given"

SHAY GIVEN is set to join Manchester City today in an £8.5million deal.

The Newcastle keeper had a medical on Tuesday and was left out of last night’s clash with Mark Hughes’ men.

A Newcastle spokesman claimed the player had an injured right knee.

But
the Republic of Ireland star, a Toon stalwart for 11 years, made it
clear to Joe Kinnear that he wanted a move and the manager eventually
caved in.

Given is expected to sign a contract worth £86,000 a week.

Daily Mirror

"Aston Villa will try to sign Manchester City star Daniel Sturridge for free in the summer"

Aston Villa aim to sign Daniel Sturridge in July after being rebuffed by Manchester City this month.

England youth team striker Sturridge, 19, who has three goals this term, is out of contract in the summer.