Manchester United legend Mark Hughes has apparently asked for permission to speak to Manchester City about the vacant manager's position following the bizarre and totally unjustified sacking of Sven-Goran Eriksson.
The Welshman is also being linked with the Chelsea job, but it's thought that Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti could be in the frame for that position, so City seems the more likely destination.
If Hughes accepts either job, you do wonder how long his next term of employment will last, because City owner Thaksin Shinawatra managed to bemuse just about everyone when firing Sven. The Blues had a decent season which culminated in them getting into Europe, albeit through the back door. City played some of the best football seen by their long suffering fans for many a year. The Swede had brought in some fabulous players' like Elano and Petrov, added to which there was the emergence of Michael Johnson and the blossoming of Michah Richards, things weren't that bad.
So why exactly did Thaksin Shinawatra fire Sven? No one knows for sure, but what we do know is in doing so he's become a hire-'em fire-'em owner in short order.
As if being a former United player won't bad enough for many City fans, Hughes will have to overcome the fans hatred of all things connected to the Red Devils. There will always be some who will call him a Munich Red bastard whenever the slightest thing goes wrong.
Marks Hughes teams' do not always play football in a manner that is easy on the eye; first and foremost, they make themselves hard to beat. If Hughes is offered and accepts the job, there's likely to be a marked change from what we saw at Eastlands last season when the Citizens were at their very best. From day one Hughes will have a battle on his hands trying to overcome the deep-rooted insecurities of the City fans, but all the while he will know that the club owner could pull the trigger at any time.
Football has long been a profession where few get time to prove their worth, but with so much more money sloshing around, patience where the manager is concerned is almost unheard these days, in this respect Thaksin Shinawatra has a lot in common with other owners. Nonetheless, you won't find many people agreeing that Sven deserved to go and the decision to fire him was without doubt one of the worst decisions in recent memory - which will no doubt only serve to make the job even harder for Hughes or whoever comes in.
Maybe Hughes has come to the conclusion that wherever he goes, he will be in more or less the same situation, the Blackburn manager may well feel the City job is as good as any that he's likely to be offered in the next few years.
There will always be pros and cons about any new job. At least he will be nearer to home; the drive to work will be shorter. In accepting this job, Hughes will be reducing his carbon footprint.
On transfers, he's likely to be afforded more freedom to buy. However, it's an interesting fact that Hughes has only spent just over £5m net on transfer fees in his four years at Blackburn, given how relatively well Rovers have done this fact alone is a massive plus point on his CV and it's likely to mean that if things go wrong should he "shake hands with the devil" then there's always likely to be another job, but maybe it wont be just around the corner.
Showing posts with label Man City. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Man City. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
England win against Israel was partly down to a former local park keeper...
One of the most amazing football stories I've heard in quite some time came to light last week when I learnt that the man who is behind Manchester City's Academy set-up was until 1997 a local authority parks keeper - his specialist subject? Trees.
Jim Cassell, who rumour has it, is also a lifelong Manchester United supporter, is the man who is at the heart of City's burgeoning youth set-up, which along with West Ham United, must currently rank as the best in the country.
Cassell was the man who told City's former manager Joe Royle to select Shaun Wright-Phillips for the Blues for first team. Not long after the England winger was sold to big spending Chelsea. Micah Richards is another who has taken to the top flight of English football like a duck to water, against Israel last weekend, both players were on target for their national team as England grabbed a much needed three-nil victory. Cassell must have been a very proud man that day.
The City production line is continuing to produce talent at what must look like an alarming rate for rivals like United who until the last few years have been among the best at nurturing talent from an early age, but the worm has turned and now it's City who keep on churning out quality young players.
Manchester City and England can be thankful that Jim Cassell swapped his donkey jacket and wellington boots for his track-suit to pursue a full-time career in professional football. All too often we hear about the vast sums of cash which dominates the world of professional football, but here we have a man from a working class background who had a very run-of-the-mill job who went to make a real mark on the game at the highest level. It is an amazing story.
Jim Cassell, who rumour has it, is also a lifelong Manchester United supporter, is the man who is at the heart of City's burgeoning youth set-up, which along with West Ham United, must currently rank as the best in the country.
Cassell was the man who told City's former manager Joe Royle to select Shaun Wright-Phillips for the Blues for first team. Not long after the England winger was sold to big spending Chelsea. Micah Richards is another who has taken to the top flight of English football like a duck to water, against Israel last weekend, both players were on target for their national team as England grabbed a much needed three-nil victory. Cassell must have been a very proud man that day.
The City production line is continuing to produce talent at what must look like an alarming rate for rivals like United who until the last few years have been among the best at nurturing talent from an early age, but the worm has turned and now it's City who keep on churning out quality young players.
Manchester City and England can be thankful that Jim Cassell swapped his donkey jacket and wellington boots for his track-suit to pursue a full-time career in professional football. All too often we hear about the vast sums of cash which dominates the world of professional football, but here we have a man from a working class background who had a very run-of-the-mill job who went to make a real mark on the game at the highest level. It is an amazing story.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Arsenal scrape win as City continue to show promise...
Last weekend Man City got what they didn't deserve, after being totally outclassed for 75 minutes they somehow managed to hang on for a narrow Manchester derby win, it wasn't deserved and the result was a total travesty.
One week on and I decided to take a closer look at this new City side, because going off the derby there was nothing to suggest that this much talked about rejuvenated side amounted to anything more than a side who have been punching above their weight in the early exchanges of the new season, as often happens in the Premier League.
Courtesy of Sky I took in the whole 90 minutes on Saturday night and I have to admit it wasn't a bad game. City actually managed to surprise me, as their performance from an attacking sense was much better than in the Manchester derby a week ago. In that game United had snuffed out Elano the Blues play-maker in-chief early doors and so the Brazilian barely figured, as a result, save for 15 minutes in the opening period City did not function going forward at all that day.
On Saturday at the Emirates stadium Arsenal allowed the visitors to play and for large chunks of both half's City took full advantage, often counter-attacking in numbers, but for Elano's poor decision making midway through the opening period City would have surely taken the lead. Instead of passing to either of the two Blue shirted players in better positions, the Brazilian elected to shoot from twenty yards outside the Gunners penalty area, it was a defining moment in the game and a missed opportunity to take the lead as his effort came to nought.
Much is being rightly made of the remarkable progress of Micah Richards, who has been switched to the centre of City's back four to play alongside Richard Dunne. With young players like Richards there's always a danger of building up expectations too soon, but without doubt, this lad is real potential, the hype is justified.
Against Arsenal both defences were pretty much in control, but after the half time break, Robin van Persie and Adebayor started to get on top. Arsenal's young Dutch striker started dropping a bit deeper and Richards didn't follow him and this led to the home team opening up City. On one such occasion only a last ditch lunging tackle by Richards denied van Persie a clear strike on goal. Despite the best efforts of the young England defender the Arsenal striker cut back onto his left foot, but fired over the bar in doing so. That effort was a warning of what was to follow later, but then just as it looked as though Arsenal might start to unravel City's resolute defence the visitors took over with their own brand of counter-attacking football.
At the heart of everything which is good about City's attacks is another youngster in Michael Johnson, who for me, was the man of the match, his link up play was first class as he made himself available all game alongside City's elder statesman Hamann.
City's engine room continued to find both Elano and Petrov on the wing and as an attacking unit the Englishman, the Brazilian, the German and the Bulgarian linked up well. City had Stephen Ireland on the right, but barely anything goes down their right flank and the Blues do not look that convincing down this channel. Behind Ireland, right-back Corlucka played his full part again, though was again there was a penalty appeal against him, but this time it was nowhere near as clear-cut as the one City got away with in the derby when he hacked down Evra late on in the opening period.
Once City's attacking spell had abated, Arsenal started to probe the visitors back-line again and on 65 minutes the Gunners were awarded a penalty for another last ditch lunging Richards challenge, this time on Hleb. There was no argument about the decision, though the City youngster appear to briefly have a go at the referee Chris Foy.
However, the visitors were rescued by Kasper Schmeichel in goal who did a fairly decent impersonation of his old man when performed the ritual of jumping up and down on the line prior to van Persie taking his spot-kick. Schmeichel's antics worked a treat as the Dutchman's effort amounted to little more than a back-pass, which was easily dealt with by the young City keeper.
The visitors resistance was finally broken when ten minutes from time Fabregas was found lurking by the edge of the Blues six yard box and he blasted his effort past Richards and through the arms of Schmeichel who had no time to react.
Going off the evidence of the Arsenal defeat, which was a game in which City once again got something that they didn't deserve, this time a defeat, the Blues could mount a serious challenge to get into Europe. City have moved from the third to the second tier of Premier League clubs and there's talk of capturing a new striker, which is an area of weakness in their squad.
As for Arsenal, they were not totally convincing on the day and if they have serious ambitions of pushing the likes of United, Liverpool and Chelsea they will have to play a lot better than they did against City.
One week on and I decided to take a closer look at this new City side, because going off the derby there was nothing to suggest that this much talked about rejuvenated side amounted to anything more than a side who have been punching above their weight in the early exchanges of the new season, as often happens in the Premier League.
Courtesy of Sky I took in the whole 90 minutes on Saturday night and I have to admit it wasn't a bad game. City actually managed to surprise me, as their performance from an attacking sense was much better than in the Manchester derby a week ago. In that game United had snuffed out Elano the Blues play-maker in-chief early doors and so the Brazilian barely figured, as a result, save for 15 minutes in the opening period City did not function going forward at all that day.
On Saturday at the Emirates stadium Arsenal allowed the visitors to play and for large chunks of both half's City took full advantage, often counter-attacking in numbers, but for Elano's poor decision making midway through the opening period City would have surely taken the lead. Instead of passing to either of the two Blue shirted players in better positions, the Brazilian elected to shoot from twenty yards outside the Gunners penalty area, it was a defining moment in the game and a missed opportunity to take the lead as his effort came to nought.
Much is being rightly made of the remarkable progress of Micah Richards, who has been switched to the centre of City's back four to play alongside Richard Dunne. With young players like Richards there's always a danger of building up expectations too soon, but without doubt, this lad is real potential, the hype is justified.
Against Arsenal both defences were pretty much in control, but after the half time break, Robin van Persie and Adebayor started to get on top. Arsenal's young Dutch striker started dropping a bit deeper and Richards didn't follow him and this led to the home team opening up City. On one such occasion only a last ditch lunging tackle by Richards denied van Persie a clear strike on goal. Despite the best efforts of the young England defender the Arsenal striker cut back onto his left foot, but fired over the bar in doing so. That effort was a warning of what was to follow later, but then just as it looked as though Arsenal might start to unravel City's resolute defence the visitors took over with their own brand of counter-attacking football.
At the heart of everything which is good about City's attacks is another youngster in Michael Johnson, who for me, was the man of the match, his link up play was first class as he made himself available all game alongside City's elder statesman Hamann.
City's engine room continued to find both Elano and Petrov on the wing and as an attacking unit the Englishman, the Brazilian, the German and the Bulgarian linked up well. City had Stephen Ireland on the right, but barely anything goes down their right flank and the Blues do not look that convincing down this channel. Behind Ireland, right-back Corlucka played his full part again, though was again there was a penalty appeal against him, but this time it was nowhere near as clear-cut as the one City got away with in the derby when he hacked down Evra late on in the opening period.
Once City's attacking spell had abated, Arsenal started to probe the visitors back-line again and on 65 minutes the Gunners were awarded a penalty for another last ditch lunging Richards challenge, this time on Hleb. There was no argument about the decision, though the City youngster appear to briefly have a go at the referee Chris Foy.
However, the visitors were rescued by Kasper Schmeichel in goal who did a fairly decent impersonation of his old man when performed the ritual of jumping up and down on the line prior to van Persie taking his spot-kick. Schmeichel's antics worked a treat as the Dutchman's effort amounted to little more than a back-pass, which was easily dealt with by the young City keeper.
The visitors resistance was finally broken when ten minutes from time Fabregas was found lurking by the edge of the Blues six yard box and he blasted his effort past Richards and through the arms of Schmeichel who had no time to react.
Going off the evidence of the Arsenal defeat, which was a game in which City once again got something that they didn't deserve, this time a defeat, the Blues could mount a serious challenge to get into Europe. City have moved from the third to the second tier of Premier League clubs and there's talk of capturing a new striker, which is an area of weakness in their squad.
As for Arsenal, they were not totally convincing on the day and if they have serious ambitions of pushing the likes of United, Liverpool and Chelsea they will have to play a lot better than they did against City.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
New season brings new hope to Premier League new boys...
The Premier League new season started with a bang on Saturday with Sven Goran Eriksson's Man City sharing the headlines with Roy Keane and Sunderland in what turned out to be a very interesting day for neutrals and die-hards alike. With the big-boys (Liverpool excepted) taking centre-stage on Sunday, it was a chance for the lesser lights to showcase their collective new talents.
Having spent over £40m so far this summer, much will be expected of Man City, but even the most loyal Blues fans couldn't have anticipated what happened at Upton Park. Premier League rookie manager Sven Goran Eriksson had given himself much to ponder regarding selection issues, having signed so many overseas stars. Added to which the former England manager hasn't had that much time to work with his new charges - there's some debate as to whether or not he'd even seen some of them play before signing them.
Nonetheless, City, by all accounts, put on a fantastic 90 minute performance and the two-nil scoreline was a fair reflection of the game. City's star man was Blumer Elano, the Brazilian plays in a similar role to United's Paul Scholes and he was key to the Blues victory. West Ham for their part could not break down a well organised City team and here again Eriksson must take a great deal of credit, because few could have expected the former England manager to create such a well balanced side in such short order. Many Man City fans have been saying 'the derby with United will be too soon for us'... now it cannot come soon enough one suspects.
One Saturday does not maketh a season, but on the evidence of the win over the Hammers, maybe this is the season when City will finally have a decent chance of winning a pot? Let the giddyness begin...Predictions: Man City mid table finish, West Ham bottom eight.
Sunderland and Roy Keane made their Premier League debuts when facing Spurs in the day's early kick-off and opening league fixture at the Stadium of Light. The game while not being a snoozfest, lacked goal-mouth action at both ends throughout the ninety minutes.
Former United starlet Paul McShane looks to be a very shrewd signing, the young central defender won just about every header and but for Michael Chopra's late injury time winner for Sunderland the Irishman would have no doubt been the man-of-the-match.
McShane reminds me a lot of Barcelona's Pugol, both have distinctive hairstyles, both charge up and down the park making superbly timed tackles. Keane will be delighted with the one nil win over Spurs, but the Black Cats boss is going to have a very difficult season based on the evidence of the opening game. Sunderland lack genuine star quality up front and in midfield. Richardson, one of Keane's big summer signings did not impress at all and it came as no surprise when he was replaced late on.
Keane and his chairman will be delighted with their opening victory, but they will also realise the size of the task ahead of them, and with money still left in the bank to spend on new players, I for one expect another signing or two. Nyron Noseworthy and Paul McShane were rock solid against a lacklutre Spurs, though once again Martin Jol the Spurs manager did the opposition a huge favour by taking off Berbatov. My prediction for Sunderland and the rest of the season is expect them to be in the bottom six once the season is under way proper. As for Spurs, they have injuries to key players, but as ever they will take points off the big boys. Predictions: Spurs top six finish, Sunderland possible relegation candidates.
Sammy Lee, the new Bolton manager was on the wrong end of a 3-1 scoreline as Big Sam returned to the Reebok stadium with his new club Newcastle United. However, both of Martins goals looked suspiciously like hand-ball. Apparently, the talk coming out of the Bolton Wanderers camp is that this season they will play more football. Dodgy goals aside, losing at home 3-1 to Newcastle doesn't bode well for the new season. Expect a return to 'route one' football in the not too distant future. Predictions: Bolton possible relegation candidates, Newcastle to finish in top eight.
Before a ball was kicked, many pundits had been predicting that Derby County were racing certainties for a quick return to the Champhionship, so the 2-2 scoreline with Portsmouth will give their supporters and manager cause for optimism in what will be a very difficult season. Predictions: Derby possible relegation candidates. Pompey top eight finish.
The new look Liverpool were in action as they travelled to Villa Park for a game that ended in much controversy after visitors ran out 2-1 winners. The media have been going overboard about Steven Gerrard's winning free-kick. It was a stunning effort that much is true. However, if United's Cristiano Ronaldo had 'won' the free-kick in similar cirumstances our loveable and all too often agenda setting media would have surely focused on the disgraceful cheating. Referee Mike Riley was conned big time by Gerrard. It was an appalling decision and one that won the game for the Merseyside Reds. Predictions: Merseyside Reds top four finish. Villa top eight.
Having spent over £40m so far this summer, much will be expected of Man City, but even the most loyal Blues fans couldn't have anticipated what happened at Upton Park. Premier League rookie manager Sven Goran Eriksson had given himself much to ponder regarding selection issues, having signed so many overseas stars. Added to which the former England manager hasn't had that much time to work with his new charges - there's some debate as to whether or not he'd even seen some of them play before signing them.
Nonetheless, City, by all accounts, put on a fantastic 90 minute performance and the two-nil scoreline was a fair reflection of the game. City's star man was Blumer Elano, the Brazilian plays in a similar role to United's Paul Scholes and he was key to the Blues victory. West Ham for their part could not break down a well organised City team and here again Eriksson must take a great deal of credit, because few could have expected the former England manager to create such a well balanced side in such short order. Many Man City fans have been saying 'the derby with United will be too soon for us'... now it cannot come soon enough one suspects.
One Saturday does not maketh a season, but on the evidence of the win over the Hammers, maybe this is the season when City will finally have a decent chance of winning a pot? Let the giddyness begin...Predictions: Man City mid table finish, West Ham bottom eight.
Sunderland and Roy Keane made their Premier League debuts when facing Spurs in the day's early kick-off and opening league fixture at the Stadium of Light. The game while not being a snoozfest, lacked goal-mouth action at both ends throughout the ninety minutes.
Former United starlet Paul McShane looks to be a very shrewd signing, the young central defender won just about every header and but for Michael Chopra's late injury time winner for Sunderland the Irishman would have no doubt been the man-of-the-match.
McShane reminds me a lot of Barcelona's Pugol, both have distinctive hairstyles, both charge up and down the park making superbly timed tackles. Keane will be delighted with the one nil win over Spurs, but the Black Cats boss is going to have a very difficult season based on the evidence of the opening game. Sunderland lack genuine star quality up front and in midfield. Richardson, one of Keane's big summer signings did not impress at all and it came as no surprise when he was replaced late on.
Keane and his chairman will be delighted with their opening victory, but they will also realise the size of the task ahead of them, and with money still left in the bank to spend on new players, I for one expect another signing or two. Nyron Noseworthy and Paul McShane were rock solid against a lacklutre Spurs, though once again Martin Jol the Spurs manager did the opposition a huge favour by taking off Berbatov. My prediction for Sunderland and the rest of the season is expect them to be in the bottom six once the season is under way proper. As for Spurs, they have injuries to key players, but as ever they will take points off the big boys. Predictions: Spurs top six finish, Sunderland possible relegation candidates.
Sammy Lee, the new Bolton manager was on the wrong end of a 3-1 scoreline as Big Sam returned to the Reebok stadium with his new club Newcastle United. However, both of Martins goals looked suspiciously like hand-ball. Apparently, the talk coming out of the Bolton Wanderers camp is that this season they will play more football. Dodgy goals aside, losing at home 3-1 to Newcastle doesn't bode well for the new season. Expect a return to 'route one' football in the not too distant future. Predictions: Bolton possible relegation candidates, Newcastle to finish in top eight.
Before a ball was kicked, many pundits had been predicting that Derby County were racing certainties for a quick return to the Champhionship, so the 2-2 scoreline with Portsmouth will give their supporters and manager cause for optimism in what will be a very difficult season. Predictions: Derby possible relegation candidates. Pompey top eight finish.
The new look Liverpool were in action as they travelled to Villa Park for a game that ended in much controversy after visitors ran out 2-1 winners. The media have been going overboard about Steven Gerrard's winning free-kick. It was a stunning effort that much is true. However, if United's Cristiano Ronaldo had 'won' the free-kick in similar cirumstances our loveable and all too often agenda setting media would have surely focused on the disgraceful cheating. Referee Mike Riley was conned big time by Gerrard. It was an appalling decision and one that won the game for the Merseyside Reds. Predictions: Merseyside Reds top four finish. Villa top eight.
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