Since the takeover of Man Citeh about £170m will have been spent of players after the arrival of strikers Tevez and Adebayor to Eastlands. Citeh fans seems for the most part excited that this influx of money has brought in some top name players to put a challenge in on Man Utd for the league crown, but is the Premiership truly a realistic target for the blue side of Manchester this coming season? No.
Sadly the misguided Citeh faithful will have to make do with a tight challenge for European honours with Spurs, Everton and Villa in the Europa League chase rather than heading for at seat at the premiere European table and break the top 4. The problem with signing these ‘superstar’ names for big money is that actually whatever the media will lead them to think these players are not the superstar names that they appear to be. The club is more likely to fall into disrepute with a team of mercenaries being over paid who are happy enough to collect their massive wage packets without putting in the effort needed to climb the table. There reward is given out before they step onto the pitch. Will Gareth Barry care if he doesn’t win the league? Will Adebayor be bothered is he is not in the Champions League? Do these players have the hunger to win something for Man City? Are they ready to give it all for the fans? Or are they more hunger to fill their bank balance?
Citeh need a strong backbone. They would like to sign a heroic stalwart centre-back to build a defence round. A leader of men. They would like John Terry to be that warrior but will have a hard time getting him. Terry means more to the Chelsea fans than the club because those in the club realise his ‘throw his body on the line’ tactics have left him susceptible to injury and a large offer would be difficult to turn down. JT will hope that any offer that does come with be rebuffed and his contract will be upped to the same wage as Frank Lampard. Wherever he plays his football next season, and Man City is genuinely an option, he will be lucky to play ¾ of the games without his back giving out. If Citeh don’t get Terry they should look at a proven top level defender coming into their peak like John Mensah, Naldo or Bruno Alves. That would be a better and cheaper move to make.
Mark Hughes has the 2nd toughest job in football right now. (The top position goes to Manuel Pellegrini.) Hughes has to take these new signings and mould them into a team. His job is being made increasingly difficult every time a new player joins because already his players are saying “am I going to be in the first eleven”. The amount of competition doesn’t always create increased performance, there is such a thing as too many players. The luxury of Hughes’ situation is that some of those players will happily sit on the bench for 80 minutes deciding what to spend their next pay check on. Dealing with the ego’s that come with the stars is a job Hughes must adapt to fast. His experiences last year will help him but dropping players who have cost £20m is difficult and with the fans anticipation comes a short time period to get into full flow. As I see it this time next season the money men will have a new man in charge, a foreigner manager of course, but someone use to dealing with big names. It could be Mourinho.
There is too much that could go wrong at Citeh for a race for the title this season. Too much has chopped and changed for players to settle. When the group took over they immediately said this would be a long term project, but then they tried to sign Kaka for £100m. This made them a target for every club in the world to be overcharged. Until the season transfer window is closed I’m not going to talk about positions because too much depends on who the top 4 bring in between now and then.
Arsenal fans are pinching themselves as Emmanuel Adebayor looks set to join the Citeh ‘revolution’ for a whooping £25m after he joined for just £3m in January 2006. In the 07/08 season he pulled a large haul of 30 goals in 48 games but for those close to the club who saw the games rather than the MOTD highlights they know his tally should have been double that. Then after gaining the plaudits and respect of the majority of the fans his attitude changed. Firstly forcing a doubling his wages to a reported 80k-a-week then resting on his laurels he firmly believes he is one of the top strikers in the world, deserving to be loved in the same way the supporters respect Cesc Fabregas or Robin van Persie. This could have been the case if his work rate had improved but his lack of effort teamed with his obvious lust for more money and a bigger stage left his relationship with the fans at breaking point. His statement about Milan’s advances being like Beyonce was after him and his interview on Football Focus with Garth Crooks where he referred to himself in the 3rd person ended his career at Arsenal.
Fans appreciate work rate, sweat, effort, motivation, exertion over talent. Any player who will run his heart out like a fan of the club would do, will gain the respect of the crowd quicker than any solo strike will. Arsenal fans know that waiting in the wings is Nicklas Bendtner, another tall striker who likes the ball at his feet more than his head. Bendtner lacks the experience of Adebayor, but in a 10minute cameo in a game already won or lost will put in 100% effort. Even if Adebayor goes im not convinced Wenger will replace him with Chamakah. He already has Eduardo, Van Persie, Bendtner, Arshavin, Walcott and Vela as striking options. Last season the gap between Everton and Arsenal was 9 points, the gap between City and Arsenal was 22 points. The question Citeh fans need to ask is do these new players plug a gap of at least 22 points?
Now this is a Premiership blog, you probably realise that through the title so I will do my bit to cover the lower end of the league. Burnley must make an impact in the transfer window. At the moment they will go down with a points total like Sunderland and Derby. Last season in the Championship they conceded 60 goals only 6 clubs conceded more and 3 of those were relegated. I haven’t decided whether the other two have a chance, Birmingham are a bigger club than Newcastle. I’d rather see Birmingham v Villa than Newcastle v Sunderland.
That is all.
Sadly the misguided Citeh faithful will have to make do with a tight challenge for European honours with Spurs, Everton and Villa in the Europa League chase rather than heading for at seat at the premiere European table and break the top 4. The problem with signing these ‘superstar’ names for big money is that actually whatever the media will lead them to think these players are not the superstar names that they appear to be. The club is more likely to fall into disrepute with a team of mercenaries being over paid who are happy enough to collect their massive wage packets without putting in the effort needed to climb the table. There reward is given out before they step onto the pitch. Will Gareth Barry care if he doesn’t win the league? Will Adebayor be bothered is he is not in the Champions League? Do these players have the hunger to win something for Man City? Are they ready to give it all for the fans? Or are they more hunger to fill their bank balance?
Citeh need a strong backbone. They would like to sign a heroic stalwart centre-back to build a defence round. A leader of men. They would like John Terry to be that warrior but will have a hard time getting him. Terry means more to the Chelsea fans than the club because those in the club realise his ‘throw his body on the line’ tactics have left him susceptible to injury and a large offer would be difficult to turn down. JT will hope that any offer that does come with be rebuffed and his contract will be upped to the same wage as Frank Lampard. Wherever he plays his football next season, and Man City is genuinely an option, he will be lucky to play ¾ of the games without his back giving out. If Citeh don’t get Terry they should look at a proven top level defender coming into their peak like John Mensah, Naldo or Bruno Alves. That would be a better and cheaper move to make.
Mark Hughes has the 2nd toughest job in football right now. (The top position goes to Manuel Pellegrini.) Hughes has to take these new signings and mould them into a team. His job is being made increasingly difficult every time a new player joins because already his players are saying “am I going to be in the first eleven”. The amount of competition doesn’t always create increased performance, there is such a thing as too many players. The luxury of Hughes’ situation is that some of those players will happily sit on the bench for 80 minutes deciding what to spend their next pay check on. Dealing with the ego’s that come with the stars is a job Hughes must adapt to fast. His experiences last year will help him but dropping players who have cost £20m is difficult and with the fans anticipation comes a short time period to get into full flow. As I see it this time next season the money men will have a new man in charge, a foreigner manager of course, but someone use to dealing with big names. It could be Mourinho.
There is too much that could go wrong at Citeh for a race for the title this season. Too much has chopped and changed for players to settle. When the group took over they immediately said this would be a long term project, but then they tried to sign Kaka for £100m. This made them a target for every club in the world to be overcharged. Until the season transfer window is closed I’m not going to talk about positions because too much depends on who the top 4 bring in between now and then.
Arsenal fans are pinching themselves as Emmanuel Adebayor looks set to join the Citeh ‘revolution’ for a whooping £25m after he joined for just £3m in January 2006. In the 07/08 season he pulled a large haul of 30 goals in 48 games but for those close to the club who saw the games rather than the MOTD highlights they know his tally should have been double that. Then after gaining the plaudits and respect of the majority of the fans his attitude changed. Firstly forcing a doubling his wages to a reported 80k-a-week then resting on his laurels he firmly believes he is one of the top strikers in the world, deserving to be loved in the same way the supporters respect Cesc Fabregas or Robin van Persie. This could have been the case if his work rate had improved but his lack of effort teamed with his obvious lust for more money and a bigger stage left his relationship with the fans at breaking point. His statement about Milan’s advances being like Beyonce was after him and his interview on Football Focus with Garth Crooks where he referred to himself in the 3rd person ended his career at Arsenal.
Fans appreciate work rate, sweat, effort, motivation, exertion over talent. Any player who will run his heart out like a fan of the club would do, will gain the respect of the crowd quicker than any solo strike will. Arsenal fans know that waiting in the wings is Nicklas Bendtner, another tall striker who likes the ball at his feet more than his head. Bendtner lacks the experience of Adebayor, but in a 10minute cameo in a game already won or lost will put in 100% effort. Even if Adebayor goes im not convinced Wenger will replace him with Chamakah. He already has Eduardo, Van Persie, Bendtner, Arshavin, Walcott and Vela as striking options. Last season the gap between Everton and Arsenal was 9 points, the gap between City and Arsenal was 22 points. The question Citeh fans need to ask is do these new players plug a gap of at least 22 points?
Now this is a Premiership blog, you probably realise that through the title so I will do my bit to cover the lower end of the league. Burnley must make an impact in the transfer window. At the moment they will go down with a points total like Sunderland and Derby. Last season in the Championship they conceded 60 goals only 6 clubs conceded more and 3 of those were relegated. I haven’t decided whether the other two have a chance, Birmingham are a bigger club than Newcastle. I’d rather see Birmingham v Villa than Newcastle v Sunderland.
That is all.
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