Conspiracy theories will always be with us, but if they did fake the moon landings, how come we know it's made of green cheese? And is there really a plot to stop the Blue Moon rising?

Probably not. Our phones haven't been hacked for weeks. But Patrick Vieira's been thinking aloud about recent events, and even a hint of sinister goings-on makes a good story.

City's football development executive merely points out the inconsistencies that have seen key Blues players banned while others escape retribution, leading, the Guardian notes, "to conspiracy theories emerging among the club's supporters".

The Independent's Ian Herbert writes that "Vieira has suggested that a sequence of refereeing decisions which have gone against Roberto Mancini's side may reflect football's general bias against the club and a sense that 'people don't want us to win the league.'

"The red cards dispensed to Vincent Kompany and, to a lesser extent, Mario Balotelli have left City substantially aggrieved, which is why Vieira has spoken out.

"He cited the tackle by Frank Lampard on Wolves' Adam Hammill and Peter Crouch's apparent eye-poke of West Brom defender Jonas Olsson as examples of unfair treatment of City.

"Lampard was only booked and Crouch's offence went undetected last month, as City lost first Kompany, then Balotelli, for four games apiece."

Patrick's take? "Frank Lampard's tackle looked dangerous compared to Vincent's. Crouch, when he put his finger in the eye of another player, looked bad as well.

 

It felt like ... anything that City will do will be amplified and we get punished, compared to the other teams and the other players

"I don't want to think about it because I don't want to say that everyone is against City or anything like that. But when you look at the last few decisions, you are asking yourself if something is wrong here, if people don't want us to win the league."

Stepping away from the grassy knoll, Shay Given reckons there's no reason why his former City team-mate Joe Hart shouldn't captain England. 

He's quoted by goal.com: "Joe could be a captain no problem. Dino Zoff won the World Cup with Italy and in more recent times Iker Casillas won the World Cup and European Championship with Spain so I definitely think a goalkeeper can wear the armband."

The Mail believes that Valencia are plotting to hijack Pablo Zabaleta, adding that they "are likely to lose defenders Jorge Alba, Miguel and Antonio Barragan in the summer".

They also note that "City continue to watch Torino defender Angelo Ogbonna, 23, and 20-year-old, 5ft 4in Napoli midfielder Lorenzo Insigne, 20, dubbed the ‘Adriatic Messi’ after a loan spell with Pescara."

And apparently Barnsley and Sheffield Wednesday want Harry Bunn. What transfer window?