Sunday 3 May 2009

Elano still going?

In the wake of his recent up-turn in performances, I asked last week whether Elano has done enough to dissuade Mark Hughes from selling him in the summer. Hughes' refusal to offer him a new contract would suggest not. This is further reinforced by the impeccably-sourced Ian Ladyman in his report on the Blackburn game in Monday's Mail:
He may not be much use in a crisis or when points need to be hard-earned, but with City playing well there are few better to watch — and that includes his friend and countryman Robinho.

Hughes added: ‘You have to prove your application on a daily basis and that goes for everybody. Not just on a daily basis but on a match-by-match basis. So Elano has done himself no harm recently.’

Nonetheless, Elano will be out of the door quicker than a speeding bullet if offers come in this summer, but for now he is helping Hughes and City push for a European place and indeed the highest Premier League finish in their history.

We'll find out soon enough.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hmmmmm
Elano still has two years left on his contract so I'd guess it will be reviewed in the summer or maybe not.
Hughes will have to face a barrage from the fans if a loved player is allowed to leave at a time when we are "building" a stronger squad.
For me fire Hughes and keep Elano.

newsoftheblues said...

still... ian ladyman is an irresponsible hack!

He writes with little substance or information and sensationlises everything.

It another terrible article scraping at small details and most of its is conjecture.

He doesnt deserve the attention you give him!

TLDORC said...

I'm sorry mate but you're wrong. He's very well sourced and gets most of the big City stories before anyone else. If he says something about City it's generally true.

nb said...

Tommy- You spend a lot of time criticising Hughes for refusing to play/appreciate Elano. Why do you doubt the validity of a story suggesting that Sparky wants him to leave the club? Surely this is precisely what you expect to happen...

Anonymous said...

tommytheblue...ladyman's articles reflects what happens when you run out of barrel to scrape.

newsoftheblues said...

not really no, he is playing him now, and has seen what he can do for the team. Hughes wants his team to play well, and in picking elano it is working...I have no complaint if hughes is picking elano who seems happy to play for him and working hard for the team. Surely Having a player of elano's quality and calibre in the squad is surely prerequisite to what Hughes has and wants to do with the squad. Hughes is wise enough to know have a player of quality like that can aid in bringing others and it wont be easy attracting players above his level.


and Sorry JPB, i cant agree, like many journos, their may be a grain of truth in his articles, but he adds to that through sensationalising and lying... it was only the other week, he was responsible for blowing the richards story out of preportion!

Anonymous said...

Elano has two years left and he wont be leaving unless some other club pays over the odds.

Truth is the only attacking players leaving will be Vassel And Benjani.

Fernandes is on his way out also.

Sturridge is a slippery situation, he will either leave and City will get compensation or he will commit to City showing loyalty.

Joe Hart will be going out on-loan (only) to another Premier League club to gain experience without hurting City. probably Birmingham City unless someone bigger comes knocking.

City fan/writer

http://bleacherreport.com/users/72693-Jason-Halfpenny

pjdemers said...

I think the Elano saga is being dragged completely out of proportion. While I'm a huge admirer of Elano, he seems to be playing it to his advantage. Like Hughes said, he has 2 years left on his contract. There is no question Hughes rates Elano highly but I think he's still trying to remind Elano that he's not bigger than the club regardless of his huge talent & popularity with the fans.

now I'm probably going to catch a lot of stick for this but I for one have no problem with how Hughes has handled Elano this season. in fact his treatment of Elano is no different than that of Eto by Guardiola at Barca. Elano's work rate has improved by leaps and bounds, and he plays for team and not just himself, and Saprky deserves some of the credit.

The fact of the matter is that City are actually making a strong run in the final stretch of the season, a promise that Hughes looks to making good on. We as City fans should be focusing on this instead of contract negotiations (regardless of validity) which can wait til the summer.