Manchester. The worlds football capital.

I post this 3 days after the transfer window closed - this is predominantly as a result of shock and, well, a lot more shock. The shock comes after Louis Saha passed a medical (I am pretty confident that even I could pass a medical if sick note Saha can) and a lot more shock came after the news that City are mega rich.

Local Manchester news has been full off how Mancunians are proud having two massive clubs. Apparently, in one we have the worlds richest and in the other the worlds best and we are delighted. I am not proud or delighted though, in fact I am gutted. I wish City would get relegated until a Leeds situation occurred.

City are muppets, they can’t be richer than us. Mocking them used to be brilliant, they would never finish higher than us and even when they beat us twice last year it was no big deal. What's going on?

After the bizarre weekend, despite the promise of limitless cash I don’t envy Mark Hughes. Charged originally with improving on 9th and taking City a step higher he is now going to be judged on silverware. Fantasy footy might not be all it’s cracked up to be, just ask recent Real Madrid coaches. Rather than relying on his shrewd signings and ability to create a strong team from an average squad, Hughes will now have to deliver the best signings, get them to gel and then get them winning trophies.

So, where does this leave the humble United fan? For starters, bringing in a hypnotist might be useful. Getting Ronaldo to stay beyond this season (I know I am an optimist) with Berbatov, Rooney and Tevez would help stave off the New Blue Galactico’s. All the money in Abu Dhabi would struggle to buy a better attacking four than that.

The only possible positives are that we can expect a meaningful derby – its usually billed as a David vs. Goliath event where brave old City have nothing to lose. Also, could this lead to Fergie postponing his retirement? (I already know I am an optimist) Surely he won’t leave and let City have things their own way.

Other things we can take from City’s takeover are that if they do win the league in the coming years then surely they have bought the league. Right?  Also, if their average attendance shoots up from the 42000 they got last year we can call them glory hunters. I know these are ironic coming from a United fan but forgive me, I am getting my excuses ready early.

I can accept Arsenal and Chelsea winning the title. Seeing City as Premiership champions though, well, might be time to emigrate…………..

Craig Malpas

Comments

[Nick Dixon]

Having read all these comments , I find it unbelievable no-one has noticed the fact , if 20 foreign investors come in and buy up the Premier league clubs and all the clubs have a relatively similar amount to spend .
The premier league will stay exactly as it is now with the ever popular big four staying at the top.
The only difference being the players get paid even more and most of the England players will be playing in the Championship.

[Ged Parker]

'An Old Man Reminices'
It great being 55 years old. Started watching City in Trautman's day, went to world cup games when we won it and had the glory years of 1965 to 1976 when we were easily the best side in Manchester. And what a soap opera since! What were my alternatives? Following the rags and all that boring year on year success- yawn? or the rise and fall of the likes of Carlisle or Oldham? How about safe dependable Newcastle where I have lived for 29 years? hmmm. No wonder the TV sitcom is dying.

[Col]

Rob T

I too am a Chelsea fan and say good luck to City - it only helps to make the PL so much more competitive than the early days when ManU dominated, mainly because they were the first to benefit from PL and CL money which enabled them to buy in the best players like Roy Keane. I think you are doing Abramovich a disservice when you say rich owners are not interested in developing youth as one of his state aims is to produce our own players and he has provided one of the best facilities in the world,Cobham,to do this. Last year Chelsea had more players in the England squads at youth level than any another club. There is a real prospect of some these players breaking into the first team in the next few years, especially with Scolari, who has a repuation for promoting youth.

[Oli]

I saw Mani's comments too. That would be a real silver lining for this Red if City lift the Champions League!! How many gold stars would you put on your replica shirts for doing that anyway, seeing as you have one per league title already?

By the way, just to burst a few bubbles, the main man in the consortium is Shiekh Mansour Bin Nohayan. He is the Chairman of Al-Jazzirah club of Abu Dhabi, who have won the UAE league, well lets see???? Actually they have never won the league! This is a match made in heaven, he must have found City through a dating site!

[Edd]

IMO the discussion as to who has bought or not bought success is pretty pointless. The fact is every professional football club try to buy success to some extent or other, its all relative. For the newly promoted clubs to the premiership success is staying in the top division and all have spent what they can afford in an attempt to do so.
For Europe's major clubs, or those with mega rich owners, success is about titles and trophies and they will always be in the market for the world's best players.
Clubs will always attempt to buy the best players they can within their budget, that is the way it has always been, if it were otherwise the transfer market simply wouldn't exist.

[JVS]

The notion that the Arabs are going to set up camp in Manchester is laughable..... this have always hung out in London SW1 and will continue to do so.... if you've been you'll know why and it ain't about the quality of the air and scenery. The one thing City must not do is give everyone new contracts at inflated levels( stay calm lads, this doesn't make you worth more)that will cripple the club when the Arabs slope off back to Belgravia

[JVS]

I doubt anyone will truely begrudge the City fans their luck, in truth something had to change. Let's hope the next purchase will be of someone their manager has met and seen play and who knows where Manchester is. The total lack of care taken in this signing demonstrates a wholly unprofessional and ill informed approach that will probaly lead to disinterest when the Arabs see a new toy

[A Thorn]

I recall that on Soccer AM last year, Mani of Primal Scream and more importantly the Stone Roses, stated that the roses will only get back together when City win the Champions league. Maybe, just maybe, that is a more realistic thought now. Shall I dig out my baggy jeans and Madchester T-shirt in preparation?

City 'til I die!

[Oli]

From Jim White's blog at yahoo.co.uk

Invited on to a television news show to discuss the takeover of Manchester City by Arab oil money, the spokesman from City's supporters' group was very pleased with himself.
Asked whether this now made City the biggest club in Manchester, he replied: "City have long been the only club in Manchester."
The presenter seemed somewhat surprised. "I think you'll find," the City bloke continued, "that Manchester City are the only football club within the boundaries of Manchester itself. United are located in the borough of Trafford."
The newsman shook his head. And well he might. Here was the greatest moment in Manchester City's history, the moment they were about to launch themselves on to the international stage, and here was their chosen spokesperson wallowing in parochialism.
He made his statement in triumph, as if it undermined United's authenticity, as if the fact Old Trafford is located in a suburb somehow negated their very existence. And watching him smirk you thought: well, a drowning man would reach out for the thinnest of passing straws in the hope it might keep him afloat.
It was the kind of comment that might have given succour when United were winning everything and City nothing. But now surely City need to show a bit more ambition. Now the language of the club needs rapidly to change.
Watching the City fan in action, you wondered whether the Abu Dhabi royal family had any idea what they are buying into here. Almost certainly not. In fact, they haven't a clue. The family's spokesman - the flamboyant Dr Sulaiman al-Fahim, a character who promises to be a fine addition to the cast of the Premier League soap opera - said that after failing to progress an interest in Arsenal and Liverpool, frankly any Premier League club would do.
It might as well have been Middlesbrough as Manchester for all they cared. What was important to them was to get themselves a foothold in English football in order to project their brand across the globe. City are as useful an advertising hoarding to promote their nation as a leisure and tourist destination as any.
Yet, the question posed by the newsman to the City fan was a legitimate one. Whatever the intentions and purposes of the Abu Dhabi takeover, does this now mean City are a bigger club than United? One thing we can safely say is they are richer.
These are about as wealthy benefactors as you could imagine. Their purpose is not to profit from the club, it is to use it as a promotional tool. They have so much of the stuff, money will be no object. While United are buried up to their necks in dodgy sub-prime thanks to their recent takeover, City have been plugged into a gushing money well.
And let's not kid ourselves: money counts. In the Alex Ferguson era United's domination has twice been tested by a suddenly enriched rival. Firstly it was Blackburn in 1995. Then, ten years later it was Chelsea. Interestingly, the amount of money required to shift the balance of football power has grown inordinately.
Jack Walker may have been fantastically rich compared to you and I, but his wealth was put in the shade by Roman Abramovich's wallet. Now the Russian looks a pauper compared to City's new boys. With all this ready cash, City will be able to buy whomsoever they wish and persuade them to Manchester by astronomical wages.
The shopping list drawn up by their owner is already of an improbable scale: he wants everybody you have ever heard of in Eastlands by the time the next transfer window closes on January 31st.
Of course, buying who you want doesn't necessarily deliver success. Claudio Ranieri failed to translate Abramovich's billions into the title and it took Jose Mourinho's organisational skills to corral Chelsea towards silverware. Fortunately for City they have an excellent manager in Mark Hughes.
The big question is whether the new owners - who appear to know nothing about football, but plenty about celebrity - will leave him to get on with the job. Though he is remaining publicly upbeat, privately Hughes may already be somewhat perturbed by the buying policy of his masters.
The scattergun purchase of marquee names may not help him progress the club. It doesn't get you a team. In fact, it might do the opposite. Robinho will shift a few replica shirts, but he is a known flake, who Real Madrid were pleased to let go because of the disruption he caused in the dressing room.
But even if City are projected by all this cash into a trophy winning position, the ambition that they will seriously challenge United in scale is an unlikely one. 15 years of hegemony built on 50 years of history is not easily shifted.
You only have to go to Spain or Italy and hear the local commentators refer to United by the simple shorthand of Manchester to realise quite how far City have to travel to become recognised internationally. Sure, United underestimate the new City at their peril. But right now, they can rest easy in their beds.

[Ray Jackson]

good article. I'm a blue but liked your humour. but you are forgetting the intrinsic comedy that runs through my beloved club. If there's a way to cock up being the world's richest club, we will find it. Make no mistake. City til i die.

[Oli]

To those City fans who have all posted comments below about United spending huge amounts too, I think there is a big difference. United's money has been generated by the club, not thrown at them from an outside sourse. We have actually been made poorer by being a plc taking out £10m a year in share dividends or the Glazers taking away £45-61m a year in debt payments. Any money we do spend is money generated by the club itself- which gives a lot more stability to the club too as it cannot be taken away at the whim of one Arab consortium.

I'm not knocking City for acceopting this investment, most clubs would, but the way in which Utd have spent money is different. Also, United (and this is not so true anymore) always spent big money to complement free, local signings. The big money or Stam, Rio etc went alongside players that were all free - Nevilles, Giggs, Scholes, Butt, Beckham etc. Obviously now when you look at our team that is not the case as much.

[mac]

whats is all the fuss about City and the new owners? lets see how they play ball. one theing- if City do not perform then the rich brats loose interest and city gets sold again. for certain they will have a new manager next season. as for buying trophies, its bull ask any liverpool suporter. they wouldve a long time ago if the couldve. RED FORR LIFE

[Craig]

Hi Andrew, thanks for the comment. I think you miss my point - I accept United have bought numerous players for ridiculous amounts - This in turn has contributed massively to our success. We have had to listen to people say we have bought the league for years (which I accept) and I just wonder whether City fans will accept they have bought the league.

Wasn't denying we haven't, just wondered whether City fans would accept that is what they will be doing.

Craig Malpas

[Sky Blue Down Under]

Such whining from the Scum's supporters - jealous????? Why is it alright for United to buy all the players and with that titles and tradition????? In the last 30 years, United have been a rich club that has lived in the shadow of Everton, Forrest, Villa and Liverpool (when they were wining league titles and Euro Cups) until the early 90's when they had a good crop of juniors. Since then, they have bought their titles - seems the scum doesn't like it when teams like Chelsea and City who are now cashed up come in and crash their party. How many top class English juniors since the early/mid has the Scum since produced??? Not too many!!! I hope they get relegated so that some reality can be brought back in to the mind set of those arrogant United Supporters!!!! Once the Rags, always the red 'rags'!!! Go u City Slickers!!!!! Champions all the way!!!!

[Dave]

Having watched the circus surrounding City over the last week, comments by fans and interviews given by the new owner I have come to the conclusion they are the Mikey Carroll of the premier league

[MJ]

Talk about hypocritical - you say Chelsea and Blackburn bought titles, but with god knows how many 20+M signings over the past decade how can you possible imply that United have not bought the title time and time again? You and most of the others having a go at City are just throwing your toys out of the pram now because someone you've looked down your nose at for so many years will get a chance to play on a level playing field finally. I'm a city fan and loving it, but I'd be happy to see another 10 clubs with the same investment so that the arrogant and elitist four get put in their place finally.

[Andrew]

"Other things we can take from City’s takeover are that if they do win the league in the coming years then surely they have bought the league. Right?"

Craig what a bitter and delusional man you are. Are you seriousley trying to say that United have not bought their success!?!

Let me enlighten you:

Berbatov £30.75m
Rio Ferdinand £31.1m
Juan Sebastian Veron £28.1m
Wayne Rooney £23.75 m
Ruud van Nistelrooy £19m
Michael Carrick £18.6m
Owen Hargreaves £17m
Anderson £17m
Nani £14m
Louis Saha £12.8m
Dwight Yorke £12.6m

United are THE club that buys success. The sooner you can see who and what your club is the sooner you will stop making a fool of yourself.

There is a saying "It is better to be thought of as a fool than to open your mouth and confirm it"

I'd keep my mouth shut if I were you!

[Oli]

Bring it on. Football has been screwed for ages with every club either relying on money from blokes who don't even follow the sport, or saddling themselves with huge debts at the risk of stability. At one end of the spectrum is Chelsea and now City with money set to pour in, at the other is Leeds who piled up thre debt too high, noting United have nine times more than Leeds ever did and are heading for a fall.

So even as a staunch Red I don't see why City should get such abuse for jumping on the same messed up bandwagon everyone else is on. Blackburn bought one title and Chelsea bought too- neither bought anything in Europe. So City can spend all the money they want, it doesn't buy anything like United's record anyway.

So let's see who does better- the club with the debt or the one with the money flooding in. It is certainly interesting stuff, and the derby in November will be exciting. But everyone knows United are a bigger club however you look at it, and the need to bring out attendance figures from the 1940's says it all. Berbatov still laughed at the suggestion of changing his Red shirt for Blue, and maybe City will just attract mercenaries like Robinho who are putting cash ahead of trophies and their career? Only time will tell of course, but if I were a City fan I'd be holding off gloating just yet as I remember the same boasting last summer when Frank and Sven arrived. They celebrate in September, we do in May. Some things like that may not change for many years to come.

[Jonathan]

As an Arsenal fan with no personal grudge against Man City I am amazed by the over hype - yes Abromavich helped to transform Chelsea who were already a successful team on the cusp of success - to me the signing of Robhino hi-lights nothing more than a player and his agents greed at being pushed into a corner - would he have really signed for Man City for footballing reasons - Is Mark Hughes really a proven manager and will he be able to deal with such over inflated egos?(sorry but the Blackburn team he created were little more than bruisers!!!). Will a genuine footballer sell his soul purely for money - and having sold his soul will it guarantee a successful team - so many unanswered questions - I cant wait for the next chapter !!!!

[Rob T]

Its all very well United fans saying that City will never finish above them, but I'm afraid they will. Just as they will one day finish above Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal. They won't do it this season and probably not next but they will do eventually - wih the kind of money available to Mark Hughes now they have to.

As long as they don't end up winning the Prem every season I am not too concerned if they win the title. Don't know why United fans are getting so het up.

You guys have still won the Prem the most number of times and it is unlikely that aother club will overtake your Prem title haul for a very long time - if ever. The big 4 have now become the big 5. And with Spurs and Villa sitting outside this group waiting to pounce on one of the unlucky clubs above them it has only made the the Prem more competitive. This will sound very strange to some but it's true money can't always buy you success. As a Chelsea fan despite all the money Abramovich has made available, we haven't won the Champ lge yet.

It amazes me when I look back at the Prem in the 90's and how utterly dominant and ahead of everyone else United were. Was the Prem more competitive then - I don't think so. Clubs then just rolled over and let united walk away with another title. Yes, they had a great squad with v. talented kids but why did no other Prem club provide a suitable challenge for them? It was because the Prem back then wasn't as fashionable as it is now. Billionaires weren't queing up to buy clubs like they are now.

What's the betting Liverpool will soon have super rich owners... and Everton...and Newcastle. Half the clubs in the Prem will soon have mega rich billionaire owners all chasing the same players.
At the end of the day it will be the young English footballers that will suffer the most as academies dry up because all the owners want instant sucess and aren't interested in investing in and having great youth academies that have kept the game alive for so long. Most of these owners don't really understand football.

The fans too will suffer as ticket prices get hiked up every season so soon it will cost £100 to watch a game at a Prem club in an average seat. These owners have forgotten what its like for ordinary people because they have lived lifes of wealth beyond most peoples comprehension.

I hope Mark Hughes gets time to mould a decent team together that does win respect, but fear that he won't get such a luxury. What will happen if City don't finish in the top 4 at the end of this season? I think people can work this one out for themselves.

[fergies taxi for smoking bulgarian]

some rag muppet wants to play the attendances game does he ? well here goes ;- check out your gates of 3500 for league matches in the 1940,s (this is true - check it for yourself) citys average gate was often higher than uniteds pre munich (strange or what ? ) you idiots know nothing about history - they say ignorance is bliss , you must be in a permanent state of delirium !

[Harris ex manc]

John, even when we were in the old 2nd division we had an avge crowd of 46-47ooo, which is higher than you lot have ever had. I remember the 8000 attendance in the league cup at Maine Rd... do you?

[sixlashes]

utd fans what a sad bunch...we have had stick of you lot for years lots of years 4 days of banter from city fans and look at you.your pathetic even the ceo and ryan giggs comming out defending utd,ha ha ha.do you know the difference between us and you ?you have no sense of humour,if the whole thing went pearshaped tomorrow we could still laugh about it ,city city the richest in the land and all the world

[RONALDOISSKYBLUE]

REMEMBER 1968-1977 ? you were in citys shadow then and you will be again very soon - it is your very worst nightmare coming true ?PANIC ON THE STREETS OF LONDON , PANIC ON THE STREETS OF BIRMINGHAM

[A Thorn]

What a pathetic, embittered little man you are! Should Sheikh Ya Body have asked Grumpy Arse Taggart's permission before buying City? United may be the most supported team in the world but you're ALL going to be paying for City, everytime you buy petrol so on behalf of us Blues fans who have had to endure your vitriolic drivel for years, thank you. Maybe our new owners can search down the side of their sofas to see if they can find some loose change to pay off your debts. Then again, I think buying kaka would be nicer :)