Manchester City; Will Sparky Find City Job A Little Too Thakhsin?
Mark Hughes bravely passed through one of English football’s most dizzying revolving doors when he joined Manchester City as manager on Wednesday (June 4). Even before the arrival of trigger happy, fit and proper person Thakhsin Sinawatra at Eastlands City was a club with a reputation for changing managers more often than Fabio Capello changes his England captains. Sinawatra’s first managerial casualty was Sven Goran Eriksson after just one moderately successful season in charge. The former England manager had replaced Stuart Pearce in the hot-seat despite the fact that Pearce had spent just two years at the helm. Kevin Keegan lasted almost four, but prior to his arrival the likes of Steve Coppell, Brian Horton, Joe Royle, Phil Neal and Peter Reid came and went in quick succession. Yet Sinawatra’s takeover of the club and his subsequent impatience with Eriksson has taken panic-sackings to a whole new level. Never the most popular England manager, Eriksson was nevertheless responsible for leading City out of the previous season’s stupor under Pearce, and back up towards the top table. City were sniffing around the top four in the Premier League at Christmas, but suffered a dramatic fall from grace to eventually finish 9th. Yet even that was a significant achievement on the part of the Swede, who it has been suggested had been given a remit to achieve a top 10 finish by Sinawatra when he accepted the role. So if Sven goes for achieving his objective, what will be expected of Hughes? The Welshman leaves Blackburn Rovers as one of the brightest managerial prospects around, having guided the Lancashire club to European football twice, and to a couple of cup semi-finals into the bargain. Before that his achievements in making Wales a credible international side were equally impressive. He has shown that he can adapt his playing style to suit the situation in which he finds himself, transforming the dogged, overly-physical Blackburn Rovers side of his early days at Ewood Park into one of the more attractive sides to watch in the Premier League by the time of his departure. Yet there are limits to what any manager can achieve in the current top flight climate. If Sinawatra is looking for a manager who can get City into the top four in the space of one season he needs to be looking on another planet. City may now have the finances in place thanks to the former Thai Prime Minister, but they still lack the pulling power to attract the world’s best players. Their qualification for the UEFA Cup through the UEFA Fair Play League may help with their recruitment drive this summer, but in truth it is not unless or until City are playing Champions League football that they will become a genuine option for superstars looking for more than just a big pay day in England. Adding to Hughes’ problems is the baggage that he arrives with. Much of the media coverage of Hughes’ appointment has palpably failed to analyse the effect that being a Manchester United legend might have on Hughes’ chances of success across the city. While it is a truism that fans will accept Satan and all his Hellish underlings at their club provided they bring success, it is not difficult to imagine a slow start to next season bringing pressure from what used to be known as the terraces. If Sinawatra is regarded as impatient, it must also be remembered that few have the power to remove a manager from office with quite the haste of an angry mob of season ticket holders. At the first sign of trouble there will be City fans who will take great delight in voicing their disapproval in that charming way that football die-hards possess. So what’s to like about this appointment? Well, it offers Hughes a chance to ply his trade backed by the kind of finances that were never going to be forthcoming at Blackburn Rovers. If Hughes can spend wisely he does have the potential to lead City to a position somewhere around the top six in 2008/09, which could mean another tilt at European football. He is revered as one of the better tactical thinkers in the Premier League at present, and has always had the kind of obsessive ambition which marks out the great from the good. He has been waiting for an opportunity at a wealthier club with a larger fan base, and should relish the opportunity to establish his credentials further. His self belief is obviously such that he can put the issues surrounding Sinawatra and the economics of the league to the back of his mind. If he can convince the players to think along his lines he will be highly influential. All he needs is a bit of time and a sense of realism from his boss. As Eriksson prepares to move back into international management with Mexico, he would surely testify that neither is guaranteed at Eatslands no matter how good you are. By Stephen Orford 4 June 2008
