Manchester_City_Blue
Well-Known Member
Mark Hughes first year at City has been something of an enigma, battle lines are now being drawn between the Hughes in and Hughes out camps. It’s time to get some composure and look at the season as a whole. We now look set to finish in the top ten, ten years ago almost to the day we were at Wembley fighting to get back into the second division. For me this is progression as we can now fight the big clubs for players, sponsorship and in the future for cups and titles.
Now I myself am not Hughes biggest fan neither am I his biggest critic, I have given the man a clean slate and let him have a fair crack of the whip and this is what I think of Hughes first season in charge.
Perhaps the biggest indicator of Hughes’ future success will be his signings, we have already been witness to some fantastic signings this year:
1. Jo-(Not Hughes Signing)I don’t think Jo had a fair enough crack of the whip and hope to see him back here. When he received service and had the crowds backing he seemed to do well, looking at him at Everton he seems to have adapted to the premier league and may well resemble the big money signing that we bought back in July.
2. Tal Ben Haim-(Arguably not Hughes signing) He hasn’t had a great season when he has played for us but perhaps his lack of form is linked with the fact that he hasn’t had a settled defence to play in.
3. Shaun Wright-Phillips- His return to City was in a word perfect, scoring twice on his second debut to inspire the team to victory. He looks a much more experienced player second time around and has been an excellent player for us and if not for being kicked around all year I don’t doubt that he could have propelled us into Europe
4. Glauber Berti- Adored by fans even though he hasn’t kicked a ball, Hughes admits had the opportunity arisen Berti would’ve shown us that he is a very capable defender, but through lack of opportunity it is understandable that he must leave to get first team football, I do hope for a cameo against Bolton though.
5. Robinho-He is the biggest player we signed and started with a bang, scoring often and creating many goals for his team mates. Over the winter period his goals per game ratio did decrease but contrary to some critics perceptions he still fought to help the team. He has received an unfair and unjust amount of criticism from the press. The press did not take into account that this was his first season in England, that this was the first time for years that he was playing more than 90 minutes every week and that for a large part of the winter he had a lot of things going on in his own personal life, including the fact that they themselves were ready to jump at him in a moments notice. They also seem to conveniently forget that Berbatov who cost United only £2 million less has scored just 9 goals to Robinho’s 14, and he is only 22nd top scorer in the league compared to Robinho in 4th place.
6. Kompany-Has been a fantastic signing, excelled in defence and midfield, has played through injury for us. He is also a future captain in the making.
7. Nigel De-Jong-Has been a good signing for us, he has certainly strengthened up the midfield.
8. Pablo Zabaleta-Has excelled in every position played in. His whole hearted performances have endeared him to the City faithful and his all action displays have terrorised opposition defenders, he can strike a ball too.
9. Wayne Bridge-He has been a good signing for the club in my opinion. He has had mixed performances for City, mostly good. I think we will see the best of Wayne Bridge next year when he has had a full pre season under his belt.
10. Shay Given-One of Hughes masterstrokes. He has been a consistent performer in the City squad since his January move. His experience has only improved the squad further and this will help with our large array of young, exceptionally talented goalkeepers.
11. Craig Bellamy-Perhaps the player that tore opinions most. Despite the criticisms directed at him I think Bellamy has shown the will to win that we desire from our players and the fight to play against the best.
Hughes’ methods of training have also been highly influential to our season, yes in the earlier part of the season players did suffer as they were not used to such a heavy session, but now we seem to have a fitter squad because of it. Take Onuoha, over the years he has suffered many injuries and has therefore not fulfilled his early potential, however this year after a long uninterrupted run in the side he is finally reaching his heights. I believe that this is due to Hughes’ methods keeping players fitter. Caicedo seems to have benefitted from Hughes training too, he seems to be much more fitter and the confidence from that has helped him prove that Sven was correct in thinking that he had bought one South America’s most promising strikers.
One major focus of our season has been Cups, we suffered major setbacks in the two domestic cups but we excelled in the UEFA Cup. Hughes has been heavily criticised for the exit from the Carling cup, but I ask ,Did our Carling cup exit come from exhaustion?. Before the Brighton game we played away in Omonia on the Thursday before, and then played Portsmouth at Home (in a fantastic yet tiring match). We then had to travel down to Brighton to play on a Wednesday night with many changes to a side that was performing very well in the league and in Europe . The Nottingham Forest is the nadir of our season, Hughes again received heavy criticism for this exit from pundits and fans alike. Many of these seems to forget that in cup competitions over the years typically of City, they have often fallen to a weaker side we lost to Sheffield United 2-1, Chesterfield 2-1, Doncaster 1-1 (Penalties). The truth is that City can only seem to do well in one cup competition a year, this year it was the Uefa Cup. That run itself, although thoroughly enjoyed by us all was a major factor in our League and domestic cup form. We do not yet have the strength in depth to deal with four competitions, something I think will be sorted in the summer.
For once as City fans lets focus on the positives. We have a chance to improve our squad, this may include superstars it may will not but nevertheless they will be quality, judging by our previous signings. We will also have players at our disposal like Petrov and Bojinov who will only improve our squad further next year. And perhaps not getting into Europe is a blessing in disguise, we will not be playing mid week games and the team will have time to work together and form a stronger unit. Keeping Hughes’ is not the disaster that some people think it is, he is a very good manager and I for one will support whoever is in charge of this club.
Now I myself am not Hughes biggest fan neither am I his biggest critic, I have given the man a clean slate and let him have a fair crack of the whip and this is what I think of Hughes first season in charge.
Perhaps the biggest indicator of Hughes’ future success will be his signings, we have already been witness to some fantastic signings this year:
1. Jo-(Not Hughes Signing)I don’t think Jo had a fair enough crack of the whip and hope to see him back here. When he received service and had the crowds backing he seemed to do well, looking at him at Everton he seems to have adapted to the premier league and may well resemble the big money signing that we bought back in July.
2. Tal Ben Haim-(Arguably not Hughes signing) He hasn’t had a great season when he has played for us but perhaps his lack of form is linked with the fact that he hasn’t had a settled defence to play in.
3. Shaun Wright-Phillips- His return to City was in a word perfect, scoring twice on his second debut to inspire the team to victory. He looks a much more experienced player second time around and has been an excellent player for us and if not for being kicked around all year I don’t doubt that he could have propelled us into Europe
4. Glauber Berti- Adored by fans even though he hasn’t kicked a ball, Hughes admits had the opportunity arisen Berti would’ve shown us that he is a very capable defender, but through lack of opportunity it is understandable that he must leave to get first team football, I do hope for a cameo against Bolton though.
5. Robinho-He is the biggest player we signed and started with a bang, scoring often and creating many goals for his team mates. Over the winter period his goals per game ratio did decrease but contrary to some critics perceptions he still fought to help the team. He has received an unfair and unjust amount of criticism from the press. The press did not take into account that this was his first season in England, that this was the first time for years that he was playing more than 90 minutes every week and that for a large part of the winter he had a lot of things going on in his own personal life, including the fact that they themselves were ready to jump at him in a moments notice. They also seem to conveniently forget that Berbatov who cost United only £2 million less has scored just 9 goals to Robinho’s 14, and he is only 22nd top scorer in the league compared to Robinho in 4th place.
6. Kompany-Has been a fantastic signing, excelled in defence and midfield, has played through injury for us. He is also a future captain in the making.
7. Nigel De-Jong-Has been a good signing for us, he has certainly strengthened up the midfield.
8. Pablo Zabaleta-Has excelled in every position played in. His whole hearted performances have endeared him to the City faithful and his all action displays have terrorised opposition defenders, he can strike a ball too.
9. Wayne Bridge-He has been a good signing for the club in my opinion. He has had mixed performances for City, mostly good. I think we will see the best of Wayne Bridge next year when he has had a full pre season under his belt.
10. Shay Given-One of Hughes masterstrokes. He has been a consistent performer in the City squad since his January move. His experience has only improved the squad further and this will help with our large array of young, exceptionally talented goalkeepers.
11. Craig Bellamy-Perhaps the player that tore opinions most. Despite the criticisms directed at him I think Bellamy has shown the will to win that we desire from our players and the fight to play against the best.
Hughes’ methods of training have also been highly influential to our season, yes in the earlier part of the season players did suffer as they were not used to such a heavy session, but now we seem to have a fitter squad because of it. Take Onuoha, over the years he has suffered many injuries and has therefore not fulfilled his early potential, however this year after a long uninterrupted run in the side he is finally reaching his heights. I believe that this is due to Hughes’ methods keeping players fitter. Caicedo seems to have benefitted from Hughes training too, he seems to be much more fitter and the confidence from that has helped him prove that Sven was correct in thinking that he had bought one South America’s most promising strikers.
One major focus of our season has been Cups, we suffered major setbacks in the two domestic cups but we excelled in the UEFA Cup. Hughes has been heavily criticised for the exit from the Carling cup, but I ask ,Did our Carling cup exit come from exhaustion?. Before the Brighton game we played away in Omonia on the Thursday before, and then played Portsmouth at Home (in a fantastic yet tiring match). We then had to travel down to Brighton to play on a Wednesday night with many changes to a side that was performing very well in the league and in Europe . The Nottingham Forest is the nadir of our season, Hughes again received heavy criticism for this exit from pundits and fans alike. Many of these seems to forget that in cup competitions over the years typically of City, they have often fallen to a weaker side we lost to Sheffield United 2-1, Chesterfield 2-1, Doncaster 1-1 (Penalties). The truth is that City can only seem to do well in one cup competition a year, this year it was the Uefa Cup. That run itself, although thoroughly enjoyed by us all was a major factor in our League and domestic cup form. We do not yet have the strength in depth to deal with four competitions, something I think will be sorted in the summer.
For once as City fans lets focus on the positives. We have a chance to improve our squad, this may include superstars it may will not but nevertheless they will be quality, judging by our previous signings. We will also have players at our disposal like Petrov and Bojinov who will only improve our squad further next year. And perhaps not getting into Europe is a blessing in disguise, we will not be playing mid week games and the team will have time to work together and form a stronger unit. Keeping Hughes’ is not the disaster that some people think it is, he is a very good manager and I for one will support whoever is in charge of this club.