I'm sure the press will have a field day with the 3-2 loss to Rangers, but in this case I don't see it as a big deal. There should be no way that Dunne and Toure are the starting central combination for the game at Blackburn or if they are then the negative results will be inevitable. So nothing really learned that the club and the fans didn't already know.

If anything I think the result increases the chance that Joleon Lescott will join the club. What's an extra few million in fees when money is no object and the alternative is painfully obvious.

I sincerely hope that Richard Dunne can turn it around. His play for the Republic of Ireland against Bulgaria was something special but it has been 18 months since he put in a performance like that for City. The Dunne of a couple of years ago would be a huge uplift for the team; the Dunne of last season was quite terrible.

A Toure, Lescott, Onuoha, Kompany and Dunne defensive central back five is decent. And that's a relative statement. If City now aspire to the top four then that's a different requirement than a centre of defense that can maintain a mid table position.

Elsewhere... Sunderland continue a very impressive off season with the signing of Darren Bent. The Wearsiders have now rebuilt their front line with Frazier Campbell and Bent and along with the capture of Marseilles captain Lorik Cana and Paraguayan National captain Paulo Da Silva are adding some quality experience to the club.

Liverpool's pending immediate capture of Roma star Alberto Aquiliani leads credence to the theory that the Alonso move has been on the way for a couple of weeks. Aquilani is injury prone and while not as rare as Italian goal poachers, Italian playmakers are not plentiful on the ground in the Premier League either. Not as good as Alonso no matter how the spin is attempted.

And Finally... Couple of City old boys in the news ad both connected with Scotland. Nicky Weaver has signed with Dundee United while Georgios Samaras netted a late late winner for Celtic in their historic away win at Moscow in Champions League qualification. I'm surprised that Weaver hasn't been the target of bids from Championship teams. Injury has blighted a once promising career but at age 30 there still seems a lot of football left in one of the heroes of Wembley.

And speaking of heroes, Samaras will be feted as one after his goal against Dynamo Moscow. It wasn't a particularly good goal although as has been often said they all count. In this case Samaras ran across the box from left to right before hitting a weak but well placed shot back the way he had come into the left corner. What mattered was that the Moscow keeper had all his weight on his left foot and couldn't get the leverage to spring back to make the save. Fortuitous but I'm sure Celtic will not complain. I still maintain that Samaras was used correctly in only a handful of games by City and still wonder what would have happened if we'd seen some old fashioned winger play and ball supply to the Greek forward.