Silva still hopeful of title
David Silva believes Manchester City still have every chance of mounting a title challenge this season - especially if they can carve out a win at Chelsea on Sunday.
City have stuttered in the league in recent weeks and find themselves seven points behind leaders Manchester United. But with the distraction of the Europa League gone following Thursday's exit to Dynamo Kiev, Silva thinks the gap is not insurmountable.
Silva told The Sun: "If we win at Stamford Bridge and United have a few more problems in the closing weeks, there is still a chance of us winning the league.
"Chelsea are also obliged to win, so the situation increases the pressure. I think the team with the better attack will win. We need to hold our nerve and not change our attacking philosophy."
Ancelotti: Mancini a great tactician
Carlo Ancelotti has praised his compatriot Roberto Mancini ahead of Chelsea's crucial Premier League clash with Manchester City on Sunday.
Ancelotti believes the game could prove decisive in each side's season and admits that he finds Mancini a difficult manager to overcome.
"He's a very intelligent coach who prepares a tactical game very well,'' Ancelotti said. "That's the reason I have difficulty against him. I hope to change that on Sunday.''
Ancelotti and Mancini have a friendship dating back to their playing careers. "We were team-mates in the national team - he's a friend,'' Ancelotti said. "Not such a friend because he's won too many times against me.
"He has to understand that he is my friend, so sometimes he can give his friend something.''
Mancini also proved his fellow Italian's nemesis towards the end of the pair's time in charge of AC Milan and Inter Milan, respectively, and has now won six of the last seven head-to-head clashes between them.
With Chelsea and City boasting the biggest-spending owners in English football, Ancelotti and Mancini are arguably the most under-pressure managers in the country.
"This is normal, managing that pressure, for the coach," said Ancelotti. "It's one of the skills a coach must have in football.
"The second thing is to be patient, not just with the players but with the club and the journalists. It's a good skill to have, patience, a very good skill.''
Ancelotti is hoping to beat Manchester United in the Champions League for a second time when the two sides meet in the quarter-finals. He knocked the Red Devils out four years ago when he was in charge of AC Milan.
"It was a fantastic evening for Milan and a bad one for Manchester," he said. "They were surprised by the way we started that game but it was a tie that was always in the balance.
"Winning the Champions League is not an obsession for Chelsea, it is a dream. At Milan the Champions League was the most important thing every year. We didn't focus on winning Serie A.
"Losing to Inter Milan last year was a bad moment for everyone at Chelsea. Now we have to see if we deserve to be in the semis again."
"I am always happy to play against United because you know it will be a fantastic game with fair play. Sir Alex [Ferguson] is one of the greatest managers ever. What I like most about him is that even though he has won a lot of trophies he has always maintained his humility."
Rodwell move not already agreed
Everton manager David Moyes has rejected claims that a deal is already in place which will see Jack Rodwell move to Manchester United in the summer.
United have been linked with Rodwell for the past two seasons and press speculation has suggested that the two clubs have agreed a fee for the England Under-21 international to tread the same path as Wayne Rooney in 2004.
Moyes insisted: "We are not vulnerable. I have heard the stories about Jack and they are a load of rubbish.
"We have a great working relationship with Manchester United. The chairman (Bill Kenwright) has a great relationship with David Gill and I have with Sir Alex (Ferguson).
"To say that a deal is already done for Jack is completely untrue and I don't know where those stories have come from."
Holloway blasts FA over fines
A furious Ian Holloway has insisted the Football Association need to show more social responsibility and not hoard disciplinary fines for themselves.
Holloway believes Sir Alex Ferguson's £30,000 fine for criticising referee Martin Atkinson should have been given to the Japan earthquake appeal, while he was angry that Blackpool's fine for fielding a weakend side against Aston Villa could not be paid to former youth team coach Gary Parkinson.
Parkinson is now paralysed with 'locked-in syndrome', one of the after effects of his recent stroke. Holloway thinks the FA should more humility by giving the £25,000 to a worthy recipient rather than keeping the cash for themselves.
"What do the FA need the money for, and what right have they got to it, anyway?" he said. "Why can't they help the rest of the world, for a change, and do something useful with it?
"You don't mind quite so much if it goes towards a charity, and when you think of what is happening to so many people in Japan at the moment, it could easily have gone there.
"When we were fined, I got the club to ask the FA if they could give the money to Gary Parkinson and his wife. That's where I wanted it to go, but we didn't even get a reply."