City Tell Them About The Dunney, Mummy
Manchester City were totally dominant against Aston Villa on Saturday but I would like to focus on a very important player for City, currently in the claret and blue of Villa. That player is of course, former Captain and four times winner of Manchester City Player of the Year from 2004 all the way through to the end of the 2008 season.
In 2000 Joe Royle signed Dunne from Everton for 3.2 million. In those years he has, like City, had some highs, some lows and some memorable moments before moving onto Villa in August 2009, a fee believed to be around 5million.
Dunne made 24 League appearances under Joe Royle and found himself part of a three man defense with Steve Howey and the other ‘big man’ for us, Andy Morrison. Despite that City leaked goals in Dunnes first season and were relegated. As a result Joe Royle was relieved of his duties and Kevin Keegan was installed as Blues manager and given the task of not only returning us to the Premier League but keeping us there.
Richard played all but one league game as we bounced back after a season conceding over 50 less goals than we scored. Things were looking good however Dunne was given a club suspension in 2003 for ‘discipliary’ problems and he looked on his way out of City. However it is testiment to the Dunney Monster as he worked very hard on a rigourous fitness regimine and only a few months of getting back into the City squad his International team also came calling.
From Novemeber 1st 2003 until April 30th 2005 he would only miss one League game as City first consolidated and then improved on their Premiership finishes. The 2004-05 season was the first of four succesive Man City Player of the Year awards and he was also given the Captaincy in 2006, taking over from Distin.
As well as being a rock in defense he also contributed to City’s scoresheet, the right end I’m talking about. Seven goals in fact, with the first against Birmingham in Division 1. In fact he would score another against Brum three seasons later when both teams were in the Premier League. Two of his three goals in the 2005-06 season were in losing games against Fulham and Portsmouth and the third was a 3-2 against Charlton. October 30th 2006 he scored the only goal in a win against Middlesbro before scoring one of the six goals in the rout against Portsmouth in 2008, and on his birthday too!
That would be all she wrote for Dunne though as last season as a Citizen came to an end. Villa snapped him up in 2009 and two months later he was scoring his debut goal for his new club, against his old. He refused to celebrate the goal and was applauded by the travelling City fans for the gesture.
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