from The Times......
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_city/article6939830.ece
If Mark Hughes had hoped the crisis in the Gulf would divert the attention of Manchester City’s Arab owners away from his malfunctioning team, the manager will be disappointed.
Sheikh Mansour, the City owner and Abu Dhabi royal, may have his hands full with Dubai looking to their neighbouring oil-rich emirate for a rescue package that will help to ease their £48 billion debts, but events in the Middle East have failed to mask a miserable run of results that has left Hughes facing arguably the biggest week of his managerial reign at City.
Hughes conceded yesterday that City’s billionaire owners are “frustrated” by a sequence of seven successive draws in the Barclays Premier League that has ensured that the club’s Carling Cup quarter-final at home to Arsenal this evening and the visit of Chelsea in the league on Saturday assume huge importance.
“Frustrated — that is the top and bottom of it,” Hughes said. “They [the owners] are frustrated that these draws have not been turned into wins. I discuss it on a weekly basis with Khaldoon [al-Mubarak, the chairman] and will after the game as well. It is one of those things and frustration is the word.”
Al-Mubarak has reiterated on several occasions that they are planning for the long term, but their patience is certain to be tested if results do not improve quickly. Hughes is confident he retains the full backing of the owners, even though he accepts his team’s poor form has placed them in the line of fire.
“At the moment, we have allowed ourselves, or given others the opportunity, to question where we are going,” he said. “You can put different angles on it and different spins. It could be viewed as seven drawn matches or it could be viewed as an unbeaten run, but that is not the way we are viewing it.
“We are frustrated because we have been in a winning position in four of those games, but we are not a million miles away from the targets we set ourselves. We have long-term targets and where we are now is near-as-dammit where we expected to be.
“I think the fans understand that it wasn’t going to be an easy progression, and that at times in the season we will struggle and things won’t quite go for us.
“I said earlier in the season that those times will come. We would like to think this is the one time when things won’t quite go as well as we hope, so if that means the worse part of the season is now then we will take that. I would like to think there is a resolution to this run and we are looking to get back to winning ways, which will be a big boost to everybody in terms of where the club wants to go.”
The importance of a victory against Arsenal’s young side tonight extends beyond a place in the semi-finals of a leading cup competition for the first time since 1981. Win and the picture will look very different for Hughes. Lose and the storm clouds will begin to gather before an enormous game against Chelsea.
“It only takes one positive result, I am convinced of that,” Hughes said. “We are just in the habit of drawing but we can quickly change that into a habit of winning.
“Getting to a domestic semi-final is really important and another step in terms of progress. We are up against two top teams and what we want to do is get the first part over then look at the weekend.
“Chelsea is not an easy game but one we are looking to go into in good heart. We need to win against Arsenal because it is a significant competition for us.”
