If Old Trafford is the Theatre of Dreams, Manchester City play at the Comedy Store – 13 managers in the last 20 years, and it's the way they sack 'em. Mark Hughes's dismissal on Saturday was badly mismanaged, as was that of his predecessor, Sven-Goran Eriksson, and so many before them.
Eriksson suffered a lingering death, Hughes a sudden one at an inopportune time. If Sheikh Mansour and his flunkies wanted rid of the Welshman, why did they not do the dirty deed after that dire 3-0 defeat at Tottenham? What purpose was served by waiting until City played Sunderland at home, a match they were always likely to win?
It was apparent before Hughes went, and has been confirmed by fans' reaction since, that the board did not lack popular support in deciding a change was needed. Many shared their view that the progress made these past 18 months was insufficient, given the unprecedented funds made available and the calibre of players to hand. Well over £200m has been spent on transfers in that time, after which City should be doing better than jostling for position with Fulham and Birmingham. It is a personal view that any new manager should get two full seasons in which to prove his worth but there are exceptions to any rule and a strong case can be made for this being one.
It should not be forgotten that Hughes inherited a decent, competitive team from Eriksson. They were running fourth at Christmas two years ago, only to fall away badly and finish ninth. Before his first [and only] full season in charge, Hughes splashed out £125m on players including Jô (£18m), Nigel de Jong (£17m), Craig Bellamy (£14m) and Wayne Bridge (£12m), not forgetting Robinho (£32.5m), who we are told was not his idea. City finished a disappointing 10th, losing more games (18) than they won (15). Another money-no-object spree last summer brought in Emmanuel Adebayor (£25m), Carlos Tevez (£25m), Joleon Lescott (£22m), Roque Santa Cruz (£17.5m), Kolo Touré (£16m) and Gareth Barry (£12m) and, with Hughes's total outlay nudging £240m, the minimum expectation was qualification for Europe.
The new-look team won five of their first six matches in the Premier League but were flattering to deceive. Momentum was lost with a run of seven successive draws against humdrum opposition which pointed up the desperately fragile nature of City's defence. They conceded three goals against Burnley, Bolton and Spurs and the gag that they needed to score four to win became Keystone Cops reality on Saturday, when they led Sunderland 2-0 and 3-2 but required a fourth to emerge 4-3 victors.
Hughes's supporters point to the fact that his team had lost fewer games than all their rivals and were through to the semi-finals of the Carling Cup. His critics counter that successful sides are built from the back, and that City have managed only one clean sheet in their last 14 league matches. Progress in the Small Beer [aka Carling] Cup must also be kept in perspective. City beat Arsenal's reserves to get to the last four, having overcome mighty Scunthorpe in the previous round.
Hughes's farewell was typical of the curate's egg his team had become. City raced into a 2-0 lead, only for cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof defending to allow Sunderland to be back on level terms midway through a switchback first half. Bellamy, outstanding throughout, had City in front again before the interval but Kenwyne Jones equalised before Barry set up Santa Cruz for the winner. Informed of Hughes's fate after the game, a players' deputation went looking for the chief executive, Garry Cook, to protest. There are honourable exceptions [Shay Given and Bellamy spring immediately to mind], but the rest would have done better to back the manager where it mattered most – on the pitch.
Old "Sparky" extinguished, what of his successor? A lot is being made of the fact that Roberto Mancini has precious little experience of football in this country but how much did Arsène Wenger and José Mourinho have when they arrived?
