Liverpool FC Forum

by **Reg** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 1:10 pm

Man City to keep on spending Hughes wants to buy three more star players
08 Oct 2009 - 07:54:24

Out of time: City boss Mark Hughes has lost patience with the training efforts and play of Richards
Manchester City's remarkable assault on the Barclays Premier League title will be bolstered by at least three signings in the January transfer window as manager Mark Hughes looks to build on his team'simpressive start to the season.

Hughes has taken his expensively assembled City team to the topfour of the Barclays Premier League on the back of someattention-grabbing football that has announced their arrival as agenuine top-flight force.

It is understood that Hughes, who spent more than £120million thissummer, has been given the go-ahead by the club's owners to take thenext step in the New Year after he made it clear that his squad stillneed a right back, a left back and another creative midfielder.

With Hughes' team likely to be in or around the Champions Leagueplaces in January, chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has indicated to themanager that he will be given whatever it takes to ensure qualificationfor next season's competition.
The lure of Champions League football will also make it easier toattract star names to Eastlands, something that handicapped the clubwhen they tried to sign John Terry from Chelsea and Kaka from AC Milanlast January.

This tangible shift in status spells bad news for the rest of the Premier League and also for the current City full backs - Micah Richards, Pablo Zabaleta and Wayne Bridge.
As Sportsmail revealed last season, Hughes has harboured doubts about former England defender Richards since becoming boss and he has now lost patience with the 21-year-old's average training efforts and failure to understand the tactical and positional side of the defending art.
Argentina defender Zabaleta has played at right back since Richards struggled so much in the Manchester derby defeat but he remains very much a stand-in and Hughes will do what he can to solve the problem when the transfer window opens after Christmas.

Time to turn things round: But Wayne Bridge has not lived up to his manager's expectations
Bridge has time on his side to prove that he should command the left back position regularly after Hughes bought him for £14m from Chelsea 10 months ago.
Nevertheless, the England squad player has not been as influential as Hughes had hoped, and his failure to impress in the game at Old Trafford has been noted. The onus is on him to have a good couple of months as the richest club in the country prepare to flex their muscles again. Having won five and drawn one of their seven League games so far, City have more than lived up to their pre-season billing.
However, Hughes and his coaching staff remain concerned at some of their team's defending.

This was particularly the case in the 4-3 defeat by Manchester United, their previous win over Arsenal and during Monday's 1-1 draw at Aston Villa.

Vulnerability at set-pieces, for example, was something that troubled City last season and the problem has returned. Bridge has been particularly culpable, although it must be said that midfielder Gareth Barry has begun to suffer from the malaise, too.

Hughes is known to be an admirer of Barcelona pair Carlos Puyol and Eric Abidal. The duo are 31 and 30-years-old respectively, something that would place
immediate question marks over their ability to settle quickly to the pace and fury of the Premier League, but with the Catalan club so keen to sign Robinho in January the potential for a playerplus- cash deal is obvious.
City are not looking to push Robinho out of the door but the Brazilian may struggle to win a regular place when he recovers from a stress fracture of a leg in a couple of weeks. He is not likely to tolerate too much time on the fringes, especially in a World Cup year. Certainly, City would listen to offers.
In midfield, Hughes has been on the look-out for another playmaker. A huge fan of Xabi Alonso, who eventually left Liverpool for Real Madrid, the City boss would like a player in a similar mould.

Such players will not come cheap and prices automatically go up a notch when City are doing the bidding. But, having found £120m-plus for Hughes to spend in the summer, there is no sign yet of the club's Arab owners tightening their belts.
Fabregas shuns Barca questions as Guardiola targets Man City ace RobinhoArsenal rival Manchester City in bargain move for Barcelona captain Carles PuyolMaradona rants at Manchester City over Zabaleta injury

by **bigmick** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 8:20 pm

Signings or not I remain convinced that City are serious, and a top four slot would appear to be well within their capabilities. I've been saying for a while now that I expect them to challenge for the title, but I don't think they'll quite win it. I hate to say it but unless things improve for us, the first result we might be looking for after our own every week may well be Arsenal.

by **Number 9** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 9:29 pm

bigmick wrote:Signings or not I remain convinced that City are serious, and a top four slot would appear to be well within their capabilities. I've been saying for a while now that I expect them to challenge for the title, but I don't think they'll quite win it. I hate to say it but unless things improve for us, the first result we might be looking for after our own every week may well be Arsenal.

You are always pessimistic at the start of the season though!

On Man City..Im not sure,I still think they are in some sort of mega rich honeymoon period..a few boots up the @rse and they may fall off their bike and not feel so untouchable.
I'd be amazed if a team came from where they were to a top 4 and challenging club in such a short space of time.Then..the money they have spent is unbelievable,its never been done before.Still thoughI predict 5th or 6th...I also predict the whole club to implode and virtually ruin within the next 3 or 4 years and get back to its natural level...but im a cynic and dont trust anything quite as cheesy as what has went on there so qickly!

by **bigmick** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 10:40 pm

I am pessimistic Baz at the start of seasons you're right.

On City though, to me it's quite simple. they have a lot of very good players who are accustomed to the Premiership, so they are bound to have a good team. Whether or not Hughes can keep them rocking all the way remains to be seen, but they must surely go close to cracking the top four at least. Put it this way, if they don't come anywhere near breaking into the top four I think Hughes will deservedly be gone in the Summer, and then you can bet a pound to a penny on that they'll move heaven and earth to get the manager in who's got the very best chance of arriving and having an instant impact which is big enough to perhaps win the league in his first season. They'll want someone with a proven track record not of five year plans, but of one year plans. Things will get interesting if they get that manager, whoever he may be.

by **Reg** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 1:44 am

I agree Mick and Hughes has done a great job in making them gel from the off.

by **Number 9** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 2:13 am

bigmick wrote:I am pessimistic Baz at the start of seasons you're right.

On City though, to me it's quite simple. they have a lot of very good players who are accustomed to the Premiership, so they are bound to have a good team. Whether or not Hughes can keep them rocking all the way remains to be seen, but they must surely go close to cracking the top four at least. Put it this way, if they don't come anywhere near breaking into the top four I think Hughes will deservedly be gone in the Summer, and then you can bet a pound to a penny on that they'll move heaven and earth to get the manager in who's got the very best chance of arriving and having an instant impact which is big enough to perhaps win the league in his first season. They'll want someone with a proven track record not of five year plans, but of one year plans. Things will get interesting if they get that manager, whoever he may be.

Mourinho?

Well mate its like this here...they bought great players...they have started well and are IMO punching well above their weight.
I put their recent form and success down to a mix of collective hysteria and adrenalin....I mean adrenalin like hull had last season start!...Dont take me literally on that by the way,I just think they are in a dreamland at present and everything is pink and fluffy.....its early days,very early days...soon they will all remember that they are Man City,it wont take long!

Just watch...I'll bet you my left nut or both that we finish at least 6 points above them!

by **bigmick** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 2:37 am

Number 9 wrote:Just watch...I'll bet you my left nut or both that we finish at least 6 points above them!

Well I don't know about your left nut Baz, but I don't think we will. So if City finish within five points of us I'm the winner. Loser gets the bevvies in for the winner at the still to be arranged Newkit meetup :;):

.

by **bigmick** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 2:43 am

My prediction for the top five at this stage :

1st Chelsea 86 points.
2nd Man Utd 80 points
3rd Liverpool 74 points
4th Man City 73 points
5th Arsenal 72 points

by **Number 9** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 2:46 am

bigmick wrote:
Number 9 wrote:Just watch...I'll bet you my left nut or both that we finish at least 6 points above them!

Well I don't know about your left nut Baz, but I don't think we will. So if City finish within five points of us I'm the winner. Loser gets the bevvies in for the winner at the still to be arranged Newkit meetup .

Tis a bet..and I'll keep my nut for now then,you'd only sell it! :down:

by **bigmick** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 2:58 am

Number 9 wrote:Tis a bet..and I'll keep my nut for now then,you'd only sell it!

true mate, too true.

by **aCe'** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 7:21 am

Number 9 wrote:
bigmick wrote:
Number 9 wrote:Just watch...I'll bet you my left nut or both that we finish at least 6 points above them!

Well I don't know about your left nut Baz, but I don't think we will. So if City finish within five points of us I'm the winner. Loser gets the bevvies in for the winner at the still to be arranged Newkit meetup .

Tis a bet..and I'll keep my nut for now then,you'd only sell it!

by **CTID** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 8:37 am

At the end of the Summer window Hughes announced that we will never see City have another window like that again. We all thought that meant that the Owners had told him "Get who you can now Mark coz when this window closes, We'll be tightening the purse strings". We took this as a contradiction to what they had previously said, "We will do whatever it takes and spend as much as it takes to make this club the biggest in Europe". However it turns out what The Chairman and Hughes meant by this was we will never see the same volume of players coming into the club within such a short space of time. Whole sale changes were necessary this summer to get the team at a level were we can challenge the top teams. Now we will just keep adding world class talent to that which we already have

The really big piece of the puzzle we now need is Champions League football. Without it a lot of the really big players will be hesitant to join us. We have been told to expect Maicon (the worlds best RB IMO) to join us in January, Beating Manure to his signature. And that we will expect to place a bid of around 65 million for Ribery, Who i think if we are near the top at that time will probably come.

We will probably also expect another LB (probably Lahm) and a craetive CM to help out.

Whatever happens, as i say CL football is crucial to how we develop. With it i expect City to have the best team in Europe next year. Without it.......Well we'll probably still be class but it will certainly help

by **LFC2007** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 2:51 pm

You can be well proud if you win something

by **Madmax** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 5:48 pm

bigmick wrote:My prediction for the top five at this stage :

1st Chelsea 86 points.
2nd Man Utd 80 points
3rd Liverpool 74 points
4th Man City 73 points
5th Arsenal 72 points

If we put on a run i think this prediction is just about right!

by **CTID** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 5:59 pm

LFC2007 wrote:You can be well proud if you win something

In all fairness mate. The thing about City. With money, without money. Great squad, s,hit squad. 1st in the prem, bottom of the conferance.

We will always be proud tp be City. Thats just who we are. And that'll never change. Sure things are good right now. But believe me we all know where we have come from. We sat through that s,hit for 40 years.

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Man city to keep on spending - Hughes wants to buy three more star play

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