Typical City

The wealthy businessmen from the Middle East seem to have found a new hobby as owning a Premiership club looks like the in thing at the moment. The number of Premiership clubs owned by foreigners that has nothing to do with football is increasing every season and that has become a big problem. One could argue they should be allowed to spend their money in whatever way they want, which would be true if their acts weren’t affecting so many people. Mark Hughes is the latest casualty of City owners’ tyranny and no wonder that all Premiership managers are have voiced their support for the Welshman.

A lot of people doubted Hughes was the right man for the job when he took over the reigns at Eastlands but he slowly started proving the doubters wrong. Sparky worked under the radar and tried to take this team to a different level, but the things were speeded up when wealthy Arab owners completed the club’s takeover. He kept his job and was handed a lot of cash in order to bring new players but it was simply too late for City to save that season.

Last summer Hughes managed to bring several big name signings and thus created a very good side that was expected to challenge for the top 4 finish. City had a pretty good start of the season, defeating teams like Arsenal and Chelsea in the process, although they did record a couple of disappointing results as well. The inconstancy was not surprising considering the numerous changes the side had undergone in the summer but it seems the owners wanted instant success, which is something not even Sir Alex Ferguson could have done if he had been asked to do Hughes’ job.

Disregarding alleged Manchester City goals to create a stable working environment without rash decisions, the Arab owners sacked Hughes after the Sunderland game even though they had secretly agreed a deal with Roberto Mancini few weeks back. This is the decision that will cost the owners dearly this season as Sparky was just starting to make this team his own and I simply cannot see Mancini doing the better job at Eastlands.

The fact that several first team players protested angrily after Hughes was sacked proves the boss has formed a great understanding with his players and I am pretty sure he would have taken this team to a whole new level had he been allowed to finish his job.

The only player Hughes didn’t sign himself, Robinho was the one who caused him the most problems and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the Brazilian who had something to do with his sacking. Sparky dared to bench overpriced, overrated and utterly selfish Robinho, while playing Craig Bellamy instead, which proved to be a visionary decision since Bellamy became one of the key players in the team.

Most of Hughes’ signings were spot on, with Barry, De Jong, Given, Bellamy, Tevez, Kompany, Bridge and Wright-Phillips all proving their quality and fitting right into his side. I don’t think a lot of managers would sign better players despite the money he had at his disposal as Hughes was hardly to blame for players like Kaka and Terry not wanting to come to Eastlands.

All things considered, I am pretty sure City would make bigger progress under Hughes than they will ever do with Mancini and if they continue behaving like this, City will never be a big club.