ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE Manchester City 1 Wolves 0: "WE USED to be everybody's favourite other team, now every black cab driver seems to loathe us." City fan Noel Gallagher.
Out of the mouths of babes and rock stars. Like Manchester United, to whom the nation’s hearts went out post-Munich, and Chelsea, who were a good, fun team pre-Abramovich, City are finding nouveau riche wealth comes at a price.
Envy may be at the root of it, but there is a widespread feeling that Sheikh Mansour’s money-no-object largesse is inflating the transfer market to a near-obscene degree at a time when the rest of us are having to tighten our belts to weather the recession.
It is not only David Moyes, the Everton manager, who finds the persistent public courtship of Joleon Lescott objectionable. Mark Hughes and his middle-eastern paymasters have had a destabilising influence elsewhere, their flashing the cash, turning the heads of Roque Santa Cruz, Emmanuel Adebayor, Gareth Barry and very nearly John Terry.
City fans will argue it has all been done before, notably by United and Chelsea, and once by Blackburn’s Jack Walker, and they have a point, but it is still a fact that runaway inflation of fees and wages cannot be for the good of the game.
Lescott is a capable, reliable defender, but he cannot get in the England team when they are at full strength, is hardly a matchwinner, and €25 million is a ludicrous price to pay when the far more influential Barry cost €14 million.
Asked if Lescott’s potential arrival will be the final addition to his squad before the transfer window closes on September 1st, Hughes said: “Not necessarily.”
Hughes’ relentless pursuit of the Everton man may have been behind Richard Dunne’s uncharacteristic unwillingness to share his thoughts on Saturday night.
Asked for a comment, the City captain said: “Sorry, got to get away quickly.” Whether he meant to Aston Villa was unclear. Dunne’s position in central defence is the one jeopardised by Lescott’s imminent arrival and, given the slightest encouragement, Martin O’Neill would have him tomorrow.
After two games against run-of-the-mill opposition it is much too early to venture conclusions about City’s prospects of translating potential into real progress. They have had so many false dawns before, most recently under Sven-Goran Eriksson, who had them running third in October 2007, until the wheels came off spectacularly with a 6-0 drubbing at Chelsea.
Hughes has cherry-picked better players than Eriksson had, but the product does not yet amount to the sum of their individual parts. A win is a win, as any manager will tell you, but against homespun Wolves they created nine acceptable chances yet scored only the one goal, from the admirable Adebayor.
Carlos Tevez, who made an unremarkable home debut, Robinho and Craig Bellamy were all culpable, and instead of enjoying a comfortable victory, the Eastlands crowd were left calling for the final whistle after a spirited Wolves fightback during which Andy Keogh volleyed against Shay Given’s crossbar.
Hughes was “delighted with how we’re shaping up”, yet it is one of the more established faces in the City squad that is really catching Hughes’ eye at present.
“Stephen Ireland’s ability is beyond question now,” said Hughes. “On the strength of his performances last year, and the way he has started this, it all bodes very well for us. He is an outstanding young talent.”
On the impact Adebayor is having Hughes added: “It is important that your strikers get up and running.”
But Mick McCarthy counselled caution, saying: “If they can continue to carve out as many chances as they did against us, brilliant, but if they allow others the chances we had . . .”
The sentence was unfinished. Like City.
Guardian Service
