Season preview

I haven't done a proper season preview yet, so I ought to before it's too late.

More than anything else from this year, I want stability. The Thaksin era at City (still only fourteen months old) has certainly been compelling. But the sense that the whole project walks a razor's edge has only intensified in recent weeks. Rumours of cash crises, impending convictions, and even potential Premier League sanctions make me worry for the future of the club. I'd love us to beat least year's ninth place finish or 55 points. But, as long as we don't go down, it's solidity that means the most. The rumours that we could spend £15m on Santa Cruz or £10m on Diego Milito are in themselves positive. But if we almost had to sell Corluka for only £8m, I'd rather the club stick than twist for the time being.

In footballing terms, I think we'll do ok. Compared with our 2007/08 squad, we've improved significantly upfront: not just Jô, but Valeri Bozhinov, Daniel Sturridge and Ched Evans are all, in their own ways, additions to the ranks. We have improved defensive cover in Tal Ben Haim. Just as importantly, all the Eriksson buys now have the benefit of Premier League experience. On the deficit side, we have, to date, lost only Geovanni, Isaksson and Mpenza. Special in their own ways, but no great losses. So shouldn't this signal a genuine improvement?

I can't get too excited yet. Ultimately, the football and administrative sides are inseparable. The Corluka situation shows that if the finances are not secure, neither will the starting eleven be. And there is no reason to presume that the Cook/Hughes /Bowen regime will be at all freer from Thaksin's interfering and megalomania than the MacKintosh/Eriksson /Backe team was.

The first launch of Thaksin's City started with success and, for the first time in years, real hope. It ended with an 8-1 loss, sackings, and a sense that things were falling apart. Tomorrow sees the relaunch of Thaksin's City. But after recent events, I can't quite summon up the optimism of the Boleyn Ground this time last year.