staffs_blue
Well-Known Member
City must get back to basics
Fri Jan 09 11:53AM
Forget the galaxy of global stars Manchester City have been linked with this January, Mark Hughes needs to recruit some no-nonsense domestic players if he is to turn the club's fortunes around.
While the likes of Kaka, Lionel Messi and David Villa have captured the imagination of City fans, the only way to take the club forward is to overlook the superstars and focus on the nuts and bolts instead - for the time being at least.
It will be difficult - nearly impossible - for City to go from a club that has done nothing for the past 32 years to a club that can challenge the Big Four overnight, even with a host of world stars on their books.
A handful of expensive players will certainly put bums on seats but they are not going to provide long-suffering City fans with the instant success they so crave.
A successful team needs to be carefully assembled over a number of years and around a base of hard-working, hungry players. The flair can be added later as a final coup de grace to turn a good team into a great one.
Arsenal and Manchester United have taken this path - both sets of fans have had to wait as Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson have taken their time to construct highly successful teams.
Even Chelsea, who undoubtedly benefitted from Roman Abramovich's takeover and would never have won the Premier League if it were not for his millions, had been building for a number of years prior to his arrival.
In the years leading up to the Russian's buyout, Chelsea had won the FA Cup a couple of times, along with a League Cup and a host of top six finishes, including third-place in 1999.
The fact is that City have not won a trophy since the League Cup in 1976 and to expect an instant turnaround of fortune with a sudden influx of cash is optimistic at best.
No disrespect to Sparky, who I think will become a great manager, but he does not at the moment command the same pulling power that bosses like Ruud Gullit or Gianluca Vialli did when they were at Chelsea.
It's simple - Chelsea were in a far stronger position to benefit when Abramovich took over than City are in now.
But Mark will know this and he also knows his football - he proved that during his tenure at Blackburn.
So it came as no surprise to see Wayne Bridge become his first recruit of the January window.
Bridge is exactly the kind of player City need at the moment. He ticks all the boxes - he is experienced, English, knows the Premier League and is not afraid to put in a shift on the pitch.
And he will not need pandering to; he comes without an ego and will be prepared to fight for a place in the starting line-up.
The same cannot be said for some of the bigger names City have been linked with since the Abu Dhabi consortium took over. Egos can be the undoing of a side and that is not what Hughes wants.
City are clearly going to spend this January, but I just hope Sparky is allowed to pick who he brings in, rather than the owners getting involved and attempting to cherry pick the world's biggest names.
Egos aside, the arrival of big name players only help raise expectation levels, which have already rocketed at Eastlands since the takeover. And that will not help the team on the pitch or Mark off it.
What will help is the permission to steadily construct a team under no pressure with a carte blanche to bring in the players he thinks he needs to strengthen his side.
Then, in a few years, he should spend the millions available to him on the kind of global superstars who are capable of taking his side to the next level. It's almost as if a club has to earn the right to attract players like that - I just don't think City are quite there yet.
Talks a bit of sense for an ex rag.he's usually a moron.
Fri Jan 09 11:53AM
Forget the galaxy of global stars Manchester City have been linked with this January, Mark Hughes needs to recruit some no-nonsense domestic players if he is to turn the club's fortunes around.
While the likes of Kaka, Lionel Messi and David Villa have captured the imagination of City fans, the only way to take the club forward is to overlook the superstars and focus on the nuts and bolts instead - for the time being at least.
It will be difficult - nearly impossible - for City to go from a club that has done nothing for the past 32 years to a club that can challenge the Big Four overnight, even with a host of world stars on their books.
A handful of expensive players will certainly put bums on seats but they are not going to provide long-suffering City fans with the instant success they so crave.
A successful team needs to be carefully assembled over a number of years and around a base of hard-working, hungry players. The flair can be added later as a final coup de grace to turn a good team into a great one.
Arsenal and Manchester United have taken this path - both sets of fans have had to wait as Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson have taken their time to construct highly successful teams.
Even Chelsea, who undoubtedly benefitted from Roman Abramovich's takeover and would never have won the Premier League if it were not for his millions, had been building for a number of years prior to his arrival.
In the years leading up to the Russian's buyout, Chelsea had won the FA Cup a couple of times, along with a League Cup and a host of top six finishes, including third-place in 1999.
The fact is that City have not won a trophy since the League Cup in 1976 and to expect an instant turnaround of fortune with a sudden influx of cash is optimistic at best.
No disrespect to Sparky, who I think will become a great manager, but he does not at the moment command the same pulling power that bosses like Ruud Gullit or Gianluca Vialli did when they were at Chelsea.
It's simple - Chelsea were in a far stronger position to benefit when Abramovich took over than City are in now.
But Mark will know this and he also knows his football - he proved that during his tenure at Blackburn.
So it came as no surprise to see Wayne Bridge become his first recruit of the January window.
Bridge is exactly the kind of player City need at the moment. He ticks all the boxes - he is experienced, English, knows the Premier League and is not afraid to put in a shift on the pitch.
And he will not need pandering to; he comes without an ego and will be prepared to fight for a place in the starting line-up.
The same cannot be said for some of the bigger names City have been linked with since the Abu Dhabi consortium took over. Egos can be the undoing of a side and that is not what Hughes wants.
City are clearly going to spend this January, but I just hope Sparky is allowed to pick who he brings in, rather than the owners getting involved and attempting to cherry pick the world's biggest names.
Egos aside, the arrival of big name players only help raise expectation levels, which have already rocketed at Eastlands since the takeover. And that will not help the team on the pitch or Mark off it.
What will help is the permission to steadily construct a team under no pressure with a carte blanche to bring in the players he thinks he needs to strengthen his side.
Then, in a few years, he should spend the millions available to him on the kind of global superstars who are capable of taking his side to the next level. It's almost as if a club has to earn the right to attract players like that - I just don't think City are quite there yet.
Talks a bit of sense for an ex rag.he's usually a moron.