ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE: Manchester City 1 Middlesbrough 0WHEN THE top target was Kaka and the alternatives included David Villa, Gianluigi Buffon and Thierry Henry, it is easy to understand why the football world is slightly underwhelmed by Manchester City's mid-season transfer business.
The Wayne Bridge Trust does not have quite the same ring as the Kaka Foundation. Equally, it is difficult to imagine a grown man rushing to a tattoo parlour to have Craig Bellamy’s name etched on his chest, as one fan did with Kaka once he heard the Brazilian might be joining.
Yet Mark Hughes can feel quietly satisfied about the players he did manage to bring in before the transfer deadline. Shay Given’s €8.5 million signing from Newcastle looks a shrewd piece of business judging by his debut performance, when it looked as though Afonso Alves could chuck a handful of rice at him and he would keep out every grain.
Nigel de Jong may not have been on Hughes’s original wish-list but he has set about filling the defensive midfield role with distinction. Bridge might be overpriced at €13.7 million but is a capable left-back and Bellamy has now scored winning goals in two of his three appearances since joining from West Ham.
He, too, has been described as expensive but Hughes is already talking about the €11.5 million fee representing “great business” and it is difficult to disagree when Bellamy scores goals with such expertise, cutting inside Emanuel Pogatetz before driving a left-foot shot beyond Brad Jones.
Typically, even that did not guarantee a smile at the final whistle and, in classic Bellamy style, there was a little tete-a-tete with Pogatetz.
“That’s just the way Craig is,” Given said of a player he knows well from their days at Newcastle United. “He’s had a few spats with other players. I had one with him myself (when Bellamy was at West Ham) down the tunnel at Newcastle. He’s always complaining about something but it’s just the way he is. He is a fiery sort of character and he demands the best of all the players. But it’s a good trait to have. I’d much prefer him on my team than on the opposition’s.”
Gareth Southgate will concur, having seen Middlesbrough’s run without a win stretch miserably to 13 games, dating to November 9th. They are the lowest scorers in the top four divisions and it was slightly misleading when Southgate wondered what the score might have been were it not for Given. The manager forgot to mention that Middlesbrough’s best player was also their goalkeeper, Jones making a succession of excellent saves.
Even with Robinho looking slightly jaded, City looked the more impressive team, with Shaun Wright-Phillips demonstrating why he will be badly missed if, as expected, the English FA bans him for three matches today on the charge of violent conduct arising from his clash with Stoke City’s Rory Delap.
Most of the acclaim, however, went to Republic of Ireland international Given after denying Alves on four separate occasions.
“Sometimes you get those days when you think you’re unbeatable,” he said. “This move has given me a new lease of life. There’s a real buzz in my stomach and I feel like a kid again really.”
Hughes admitted he could not remember a better goalkeeping debut. “I can’t remember a better goalkeeping debut than that,” said Hughes. “Whatever Shay was asked to do he did it without any real theatre. He was very composed and had a calming influence on our back four . . . very few are as good as Shay and we are delighted he is here.”
GuardianService
