I work for this website and I'm in charge of the sports section and so this is my first article. I've not posted it on yet, thought I'd show you guys first. Don't kill me it's my first one!
Manchester City: The Blue Revolution.
Manchester City: The Blue Revolution.
By Omiclops
Finally, Manchester City fans will be able to witness the changes that have happened over the course of 12 months being finally put into play, after 33 years of being trophy less and having to endure countless seasons of mediocrity.
How things have changed.
Ex-Thailand Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the Manchester City chairman at the time, had just sacked Sven-Göran Eriksson for a supposed unsuccessful season, despite their second highest ever league finish in his first season in charge. The future looked bleak thereafter while Shinawatra's future as Manchester City chairman was put under heavy scrutiny. Allegations for fraud from the Thailand government had befallen him and manager-less Manchester City were facing constant speculation about their funding and where it had come from.
Until that fateful day of August 31st 2008 when the Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG) lead by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan bought out Manchester City Football Club (making Khaldoon Al-Mubarak the Chairman) and changed the entire perspective of the Premier League. Not even the most optimistic City fan could’ve predicted such an outcome. ADUG thus made Manchester City the richest team in the world. It was still hard for most fans to believe, pinching themselves or rubbing their eyes when reading that line.
Furthermore, on that very same day, ADUG made arguably the biggest Coup in City's chequered history; signing Brazilian and Real Madrid forward De Souza Robson (Robinho) from the clutches of hot-favourites Chelsea. The capture of Robinho, at midnight on the last day of the transfer window for £32.5m, broke the British record transfer fee thus showing the Arabs meant business. During the same season in January, City were inches away from acquiring Kaká from AC Milan with an audacious and ground-shattering offer of £96M, only for AC Milan to 'bottle' it due to protests by the Italian fans. Yet a mere 6 months later, Real Madrid made a reduced offer for the same player at £59m, causing no problems and no protests from AC Milan’s part.
Defining Moment
Let's take it back to 1999 in the Division 2 play-off final and City trailing 2-0 to Gillingham with 2 minutes to spare. This was the defining moment in Manchester City's history, as Paul Dickov emerged and scored the equalizer in stoppage time. If only he hadn't 'just f***ing hit it', would Manchester City be where they are today? I sincerely doubt it, and now ADUG want to rewrite Man City's history, filling it with trophies of the Champions League and Premiership.
Man City have spent just over £100M this term, acquiring the services of several Premiership players. Amongst them, Carlos Tevez; Ex-Manchester United forward, leaving Old Trafford to join The Blue Revolution. This showed not only the Premiership, but the world, that City mean business in the transfer market and it is more than money that attract players to Eastlands.
Mark Hughes has been publicly told that his target for this season is the Top 6; however, looking at the transactions that have gone through, one has to suspect that Top 4 is more suited. Arsenal (Toure & Adebayor), Manchester United (Tevez), Aston Villa (Barry), and possibly Everton (Joleon Lescott) have all been unsettled as City have snapped up their top players, weakening them while simultaneously strengthening City.
Hughes has always been known as a cool, calm and composed person. As a player, he boasted such attributes and he has shown this in the interview room and numerous other occasions, whereby most notably Sir Alex Ferguson has blasted him countless times for spending ADUG’s bottomless pit of cash. However, he has remained unruffled and is awaiting his players to do all the talking on the pitch.
All the Welshman needs is time. The Arabs have shown they will give him all the funding required to achieve his goals. It's down to you now, Hughes.
Manchester City: The Blue Revolution.
Manchester City: The Blue Revolution.
By Omiclops
Finally, Manchester City fans will be able to witness the changes that have happened over the course of 12 months being finally put into play, after 33 years of being trophy less and having to endure countless seasons of mediocrity.
How things have changed.
Ex-Thailand Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the Manchester City chairman at the time, had just sacked Sven-Göran Eriksson for a supposed unsuccessful season, despite their second highest ever league finish in his first season in charge. The future looked bleak thereafter while Shinawatra's future as Manchester City chairman was put under heavy scrutiny. Allegations for fraud from the Thailand government had befallen him and manager-less Manchester City were facing constant speculation about their funding and where it had come from.
Until that fateful day of August 31st 2008 when the Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG) lead by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan bought out Manchester City Football Club (making Khaldoon Al-Mubarak the Chairman) and changed the entire perspective of the Premier League. Not even the most optimistic City fan could’ve predicted such an outcome. ADUG thus made Manchester City the richest team in the world. It was still hard for most fans to believe, pinching themselves or rubbing their eyes when reading that line.
Furthermore, on that very same day, ADUG made arguably the biggest Coup in City's chequered history; signing Brazilian and Real Madrid forward De Souza Robson (Robinho) from the clutches of hot-favourites Chelsea. The capture of Robinho, at midnight on the last day of the transfer window for £32.5m, broke the British record transfer fee thus showing the Arabs meant business. During the same season in January, City were inches away from acquiring Kaká from AC Milan with an audacious and ground-shattering offer of £96M, only for AC Milan to 'bottle' it due to protests by the Italian fans. Yet a mere 6 months later, Real Madrid made a reduced offer for the same player at £59m, causing no problems and no protests from AC Milan’s part.
Defining Moment
Let's take it back to 1999 in the Division 2 play-off final and City trailing 2-0 to Gillingham with 2 minutes to spare. This was the defining moment in Manchester City's history, as Paul Dickov emerged and scored the equalizer in stoppage time. If only he hadn't 'just f***ing hit it', would Manchester City be where they are today? I sincerely doubt it, and now ADUG want to rewrite Man City's history, filling it with trophies of the Champions League and Premiership.
Man City have spent just over £100M this term, acquiring the services of several Premiership players. Amongst them, Carlos Tevez; Ex-Manchester United forward, leaving Old Trafford to join The Blue Revolution. This showed not only the Premiership, but the world, that City mean business in the transfer market and it is more than money that attract players to Eastlands.
Mark Hughes has been publicly told that his target for this season is the Top 6; however, looking at the transactions that have gone through, one has to suspect that Top 4 is more suited. Arsenal (Toure & Adebayor), Manchester United (Tevez), Aston Villa (Barry), and possibly Everton (Joleon Lescott) have all been unsettled as City have snapped up their top players, weakening them while simultaneously strengthening City.
Hughes has always been known as a cool, calm and composed person. As a player, he boasted such attributes and he has shown this in the interview room and numerous other occasions, whereby most notably Sir Alex Ferguson has blasted him countless times for spending ADUG’s bottomless pit of cash. However, he has remained unruffled and is awaiting his players to do all the talking on the pitch.
All the Welshman needs is time. The Arabs have shown they will give him all the funding required to achieve his goals. It's down to you now, Hughes.