Man City : The dream, the nightmare?

This season dawns with Man city fans finding themselves at the gates of fantasy football. Talk of trophies and glory. Talk of the Champion’s league qualification. Talk of the Premier league championship.

The wealth of talent and proven premier league talent is testament to the nous of Mark Hughes. A man who knows the league in which he works and the brand of football that is played therein. He hasn’t taken a chance on foreign based star names that are unproven in the cut and thrust of the number 1 league in the world. Truthfully, the timetable and demand for success will not allow adequate probation for a star to take a season or two to get used to the pace and power of the Prem. For this he must be commended. Not only has he done this, but he has also signed players he is familiar with. Players he has signed before. Players whom he can count on for loyalty should the team suffer the odd bad result and a shake in confidence. Santa Cruz and Bellamy were signings that Hughes knew would support him in the dressing room.

Sparky has also quickly reached the tipping point in terms of attracting stars to Eastlands. Sceptics said that he could have all the money in the world, but the big players wouldn’t go there with an absence of Champions league fixtures from the schedule and a look down the team sheet at unfamiliar names. In terms of the Premier league the fact that Man city aren’t involved in European competition will actually be a strength as they will be playing considerably less games that their rivals for a top 4 place!

The signing of Robinho was a stroke of luck and genius. He wanted out of Real. He would have signed for Swindon Supermarine if they could pay him 20k a week and offer him a way out of his emotional turmoil in Madrid. Man city struck at 2 minutes to midnight and landed their first Great white. Since then quality has followed and now the two latest signings in Adebayor and Santa Cruz have both cited the fact that the opportunity to play with great players was a factor in their respective decisions to sign.

The stage is set. The first golden orange rays of a new season are rolling over the horizon and Man city are quivering in anticipation. There is still more than adequate time to buy more world class players.

Given, Bridge, De Jong, Robinho, Barry, Bellamy, Santa Cruz, Adebayor to add to Elano, Wright-Phillips et al.

The prices paid are as irrelevant to this article as they are to Man city although none of that money appears to have dripped down into the lower leagues but that, of course is an item for another article. The future is bright and rosy, the world at their feet……or is it?

Another look at the list of players above in the context of character rather than totalling ability and suddenly a realisation that is slightly darker and cooler than a warm sunrise creeps upon you. Sulky and whining springs to mind. Reluctance to perform if things aren’t to their liking? Adebayor’s last season at Arsenal could be likened to Drogba’s spell under Scolari. Santa Cruz was unable or unwilling to play for a Blackburn team under Allardyce. Bellamy has never been the shy and retiring type and Robinho has already come under Man cities disciplinary spotlight. Elano voiced his dissent of Hughes in the media at being left out of the team. Suddenly Hughes has a dressing room that has potential to cause him problems of the like that Scolari found in the Chelsea dressing room…..

Add to that the already well-documented and eye-watering competition for places and you wouldn’t have to wander too far down the yellow brick road before you could envision problems for a manager whom at first glance, you would envy.

Another point to bear in mind is that this experiment in fantasy football has already been attempted by the Galacticos era at Real Madrid. A team containing Owen, Beckham, Zidane, Figo, Raul and Ronaldo that for a period of four seasons did not claim a single piece of silverware. I do not believe for one moment that Mark Hughes will be given four years grace at his current club!

With all these factors in mind the clear demand for John Terry’s signature is blindingly clear as a cloudless sky. Hughes needs a rock at the back. But he also needs a rock in the dressing room. A leader both on and off the pitch. A model professional by example. A world class player who has the respect of his peers across the world. A leader who would corral any player who was out of line on the pitch or in the dressing room.

As much as Robinho was critical at the start, Terry is now critical at the end.

Manchester Cities team has a gaping hole that only a Terry could fill. Lescott would be a great signing but he would not be able to play the role that Terry would. Newcastle United proved under Kevin Keegan’s first spell in charge that the philosophy of trying to score more goals than you concede doesn’t work! Newcastle spent £60 million on attacking options and still remained trophy-less in a year when £60 million was a lot of money.

As for the mutterings coming from Chelsea about John Terry being tapped up? Surely Stamford Bridge doesn’t expect anyone to swallow any of their complaints after the way Jose Mourinho courted Ashley Cole with Chelsea’s backing and approval.

Then there was the Jon Obi Mikel affair…… I will move on to my conclusion!

Manchester City will make history this season one way or another. Finishing in the top 6 would be respectable for me. Hughes is still in his infancy as a manager. The club and manager could grow together and be successful but will the fans and the chairman be prepared to wait when it comes to the crunch? Will the players remember that they want to contribute to making history for the club when they are being rotated on the bench.

Time will tell but you can guarantee one thing. The progress of Man city will be well worth watching this season…………