Something people need to bear in mind is that to Mansour, City are just a tiny, tiny part of his business empire. We're one of hundreds of companies he owns. If people think he sits around worrying about which players Manchester City are going to sign, then i suspect they'll be very wrong. He has shares in banks, huge multinational companies, vast amounts of property in that London, i'd be surprised if City accounted to more than 0.1% of his overall business portfolio. That's not to say he doesn't want the best for us, just that it's unlikely to be him that makes the decisions about the football side of the operation. This is why Khaldoon's here, he's the link, but admittedly not a football man. Hughes and his team will make ALL of the football decisions, Cook runs the business side of things, and they both report to Mubarak who in turn reports to the big man.
I highly doubt Mansour & Khaldoon sit around talking fantasy football. If Hughes wants Eto'o, Ribery and Tevez he'll tell Cook and Khaldoon, and if they think it's feasible then Cook will make moves for them. If Hughes wants, say, Lescott, Parker & Santa Cruz then we'll go for those. Our owners are already proving a great asset to the club, and by the sounds of it they're here long-term, but they won't be buying players over the managers head, they won't be making mangerial changes unless their advisors think it absolutely necessary, and they won't be sat around 24/7 discussing the merits of us signing Thierry Henry, or Micah Richards poor form. We're a very small part of their business, and with that i think we try and remain moderately realistic.
Also, the owners appear very keen to come across well, both to the fans and the media, and not to quickly gather a reputation, as other foreign owners have, of being sack-happy, throwing their weight around, dabbling behind the scenes. I think they want to win friends in the game, and this is why i think they'll give Hughes at least another season to prove himself.
