Part 2
Sky Sports’ Adam Bate was another to hail the remarkable impact of the Belgian central defender, whom he described as City’s rock.
Bate opines: “He leaves English football as a true Premier League legend.
“There was no self-indulgent farewell tour. Certainly no documentary to announce the decision. Not for him the spectacle of being chaired from the field for a drawn out substitution.
“He wasn't even the man to make way for John Stones late on in the FA Cup final win over Watford. David Silva was afforded that standing ovation.
“Vincent Kompany settled for the trophy. Another trophy. The man who captained Manchester City to this historic domestic treble.
“In a game where it is now customary for ex-pros to bemoan that leadership is a lost trait, nobody could level that accusation at the Belgian. He was City's rock. The one who set the tone. The one who set the standards.
“He was also the link to an earlier era. One in which to be a Manchester City player had very different connotations to now. He arrived from Hamburg in the summer of 2008 when City's last result of the previous season had been an 8-1 defeat to Middlesbrough. Even Afonso Alves scored a hat-trick.
“Kompany not only survived the transition of City into a modern super-club, he led the change. Few would dispute that he has been the Premier League's outstanding centre-back of the decade.
“He was certainly its most successful.
"I don't care about my CV," he has said but it is a mighty one. Four Premier League titles under three different managers, the club's player of the year in the first of them. Four League Cups. Two FA Cups eight years apart.
“It is a list that puts him among the first rank of City's heroes. Club legend Tony Book had the honour of bringing out the FA Cup on Saturday, and was heralded with a banner, but Kompany is now the face of City's greatest era.”
The warm words also flow in the Daily Mail from Chris Wheeler who says the timing and manner of Vinnie’s decision to seek a new challenge away from City also spoke volumes about the man.
Wheeler reports: “It says everything about Vincent Kompany that having declared Manchester City ‘the best team in the world’ in the aftermath of their FA Cup win at Wembley, he was prepared to walk away from the club.
“Most players would be tempted to ride the gravy train for another season, to keep playing for this magnificent team and pick up the trophies that will almost certainly come City’s way over the next 12 months. Not Kompany.
“He has always followed his own path and did so again on Sunday morning by announcing that he is leaving the Etihad after 11 years to take over as player-manager of his old team Anderlecht.
“Kompany goes out at the top after becoming the first captain in English football to win the domestic treble. Throw in the Community Shield and it’s four trophies this season and 12 in total during his stellar career at the club.
“He will go down in history at City. A leader and a legend who did arguably more than any other to turn the Abu Dhabi dream into reality.
“His last home game will also go down in City folklore after Kompany’s 30-yard blockbuster clinched victory over Leicester and, in effect, another title. The tears that flowed afterwards suggested it might be his farewell.
“‘Where do you want your statue, Vincent Kompany?’ screamed Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville that night. Fans have already started an online petition.
“City hope he will return to the club one day and Kompany feels it will happen. “‘I will be connected with City for the rest of my life — as a fan, employee, ambassador, it doesn’t matter,’ he said last year. ‘Whatever City decide or I decide it’s not something we can undo. We’re tied to each other for life.’”
Monday gossip
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posted on 20/5/19
Part 2
Sky Sports’ Adam Bate was another to hail the remarkable impact of the Belgian central defender, whom he described as City’s rock.
Bate opines: “He leaves English football as a true Premier League legend.
“There was no self-indulgent farewell tour. Certainly no documentary to announce the decision. Not for him the spectacle of being chaired from the field for a drawn out substitution.
“He wasn't even the man to make way for John Stones late on in the FA Cup final win over Watford. David Silva was afforded that standing ovation.
“Vincent Kompany settled for the trophy. Another trophy. The man who captained Manchester City to this historic domestic treble.
“In a game where it is now customary for ex-pros to bemoan that leadership is a lost trait, nobody could level that accusation at the Belgian. He was City's rock. The one who set the tone. The one who set the standards.
“He was also the link to an earlier era. One in which to be a Manchester City player had very different connotations to now. He arrived from Hamburg in the summer of 2008 when City's last result of the previous season had been an 8-1 defeat to Middlesbrough. Even Afonso Alves scored a hat-trick.
“Kompany not only survived the transition of City into a modern super-club, he led the change. Few would dispute that he has been the Premier League's outstanding centre-back of the decade.
“He was certainly its most successful.
"I don't care about my CV," he has said but it is a mighty one. Four Premier League titles under three different managers, the club's player of the year in the first of them. Four League Cups. Two FA Cups eight years apart.
“It is a list that puts him among the first rank of City's heroes. Club legend Tony Book had the honour of bringing out the FA Cup on Saturday, and was heralded with a banner, but Kompany is now the face of City's greatest era.”
The warm words also flow in the Daily Mail from Chris Wheeler who says the timing and manner of Vinnie’s decision to seek a new challenge away from City also spoke volumes about the man.
Wheeler reports: “It says everything about Vincent Kompany that having declared Manchester City ‘the best team in the world’ in the aftermath of their FA Cup win at Wembley, he was prepared to walk away from the club.
“Most players would be tempted to ride the gravy train for another season, to keep playing for this magnificent team and pick up the trophies that will almost certainly come City’s way over the next 12 months. Not Kompany.
“He has always followed his own path and did so again on Sunday morning by announcing that he is leaving the Etihad after 11 years to take over as player-manager of his old team Anderlecht.
“Kompany goes out at the top after becoming the first captain in English football to win the domestic treble. Throw in the Community Shield and it’s four trophies this season and 12 in total during his stellar career at the club.
“He will go down in history at City. A leader and a legend who did arguably more than any other to turn the Abu Dhabi dream into reality.
“His last home game will also go down in City folklore after Kompany’s 30-yard blockbuster clinched victory over Leicester and, in effect, another title. The tears that flowed afterwards suggested it might be his farewell.
“‘Where do you want your statue, Vincent Kompany?’ screamed Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville that night. Fans have already started an online petition.
“City hope he will return to the club one day and Kompany feels it will happen. “‘I will be connected with City for the rest of my life — as a fan, employee, ambassador, it doesn’t matter,’ he said last year. ‘Whatever City decide or I decide it’s not something we can undo. We’re tied to each other for life.’”
posted on 20/5/19
Who’s chopping onions at this time of day?
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