Future spending

One interesting issue over our future development is whether we will repeat the mass turnover of players and money seen in summer 2009 in future transfer windows. Mark Hughes said yesterday that last summer - eight new players at a combined cost of £140million - would not be repeated in future windows:

"What people must understand is that our business in the last window was unprecedented. That will not happen again.

"This notion that we will throw money at whatever player, that is not the case.

"We do not feel we need to go into the market to the extent we did in the last two windows.

"It about looking at players for areas of the team that still need strengthening. Those are the ones we will target. It will not be wholesale comings and goings, I can assure you of that."

This suggests that he is broadly happy with the make up of the team as it is now, and that future changes will be at the fringes of the squad rather than to its core. Which, to me, is a relief. And I don't mean that regarding the quality of the team. I think that the current squad will certainly be enough to meet our target of top six this season, and probably even for the stretch target of top four. And with a few big additions in key areas in the next two or three windows (like him or him or even him) we may well be good enough to go and win something.

But that's not quite what I'm getting at. As exciting as the last few years supporting City has been (and I'm counting the Thaksin era here as well as the ADUG one) the constant change in personnel has been rather disconcerting. We signed eight new players (combined cost £40m) in summer 2007, three new players in January 2008 (£9m), seven new in summer 2008 (£77m total), four in January 2009 (roughly £45m total) and then eight for £140m in summer 2009.

There's clearly a problem with this. Being a football fan is obviously primarily about emotional investment in the club itself. Whether it's Carlos Tévez or Carlo Nash you support the players because they play for City. But this does not mean that emotional bonds with players specifically do not exist or do not matter. (Perhaps the only reason I worried about the departure of Richard Dunne was that he had a relationship with the fans with roots in the Joe Royle era, and that without him we were a team of players brought in the last few years.) If we are to turn over the squad every six months we will reach a point where fans barely have any relationship with any of our players.

Take the current squad: of all the players signed under Hughes I have only really taken Zabaleta, Kompany, de Jong and Bellamy to heart so far. (Wright-Phillips is different, being a reacquaintance with an old friend.) As much as I revel in seeing this summer's buys pulling on our shirts and winning us points I'm not yet at the point of being able to embrace them as our own. (Tell me if you feel differently.) These things take time. If we stick with the core of the current squad I am sure that I will grow to love them, and will delight in their successes. But if we buy a whole new team every six months, it won't quite feel the same.

Lescott discusses City move

Joleon Lescott has a big interview with Matt Lawton in the Daily Mail today. He discusses his move to City:

‘Moving to City was one of the best days of my life because it was something I wanted,’ he says. ‘It wasn’t about the money. I remember hearing that one of the coaches at Everton, someone I’d worked with every day, had said that about me and I thought, “How can you say that when you know me as well as you do?”.

‘Believe me, I had a great contract at Everton. I didn’t need any more. But City represented a chance to achieve real success faster than it was going to happen at Everton.

And how much he's enjoying it at the club so far:

‘At City it’s just brilliant, the way the dressing room has gelled. I think it’s the sheer sense of excitement among all the lads, this feeling that we can achieve things and not just in the future but straight away.

‘You can sense the excitement among the fans, too. They are enjoying watching players like Carlos Tevez and Emmanuel Adebayor as much as I’m enjoying
playing and training with them.’

Everyone injured for Sunday

That's how it feels, at least, with today's news from Mark Hughes:

"We have a couple of doubts. Kolo has not trained since Villa due to the bang on the heel he received there, and Craig Bellamy has a little bit of stiffness in his groin. He did not finish training on Thursday and will not train today.

"We're hopeful on Zabaleta but there is not a guarantee that he will be fit and well. Nigel de Jong is a little bit sore, and Martin Petrov also won't train today because of a sore knee.

"Joleon will be out with the physios today, and we're more hopeful on him than on Kolo in fairness."

Thank god for our squad depth. Vincent Kompany, Micah Richards, Michael Johnson, Roque Santa Cruz - bring your boots.

Tévez books ticket

Carlos Tévez came on for the last five minutes of Argentina's 1-0 win in Montevideo last night, which secured them fourth place in the CONMEBOL 2010 World Cup qualification standings.

Even under Maradona's management, Tévez can be pretty confident of making the final 23. Pablo Zabaleta, on the other hand, has got quite a bit to do.

Bowen on Tévez and Bellamy

Mark Bowen has been speaking about our two firey forwards, Carlos Tévez and Craig Bellamy.

On Tévez:

"Carlos probably isn't operating at 100 per cent yet.

"He is carying bumps and bruises to his ankle and back, but he's playing well enough despite that. In terms of his sharpness and match fitness he will get better, so the best is yet to come from Carlos in the weeks ahead."

And on Bellamy:

"I'll take my Welsh hat off here and admit I'd hope he was with us all the time, but any decision would have to come from Bellers. There's no pressure from within the club to cut back on his international commitments. He has to make that call by himself.

"Craig knows his body well and the demands that he can make of it. He looks after himself and he is well aware that club football is his bread and butter, and that the rigours of a long season can have an effect."

'Of course I would like to play for Barça'

More flirting with the Blaugrana from Robson de Souza:

"Of course I would like to play for Barca. Who would not? We could have so much fun," he told El Mundo Deportivo.

"It would be a pleasure to play alongside (Lionel) Messi, my compatriot Daniel Alves, Xavi, (Andres) Iniesta, (Zlatan) Ibrahimovic, with all of them.

"They're a great team. I played against them and know their quality. But right now I can only do it on the PlayStation.

"It is a pleasure to watch Barca play. They look like the best Brazilian team with the way that they use the ball. Pep Guardiola's team is truly spectacular."

On the other hand, though:

"But now is not a question of whether there is a loan move or I sign in the winter market or in the summer.

"It is a question of sitting down and talking when there is a serious and concrete proposal and as I have said before I have not personally received that.

"Now would not be the right time to say things that could be badly interpreted here or there.

"I have a contract with City and being the professional that I am, I am dedicated to them."

Bridge injured

Forgot to include this below: Wayne Bridge hobbled off with a thigh strain this evening. If he can't make it on Sunday we may see a City debut for Sylvinho, presuming he's fit. Failing that it's Stretford End coin-assault victim Javi Garrido. I think Zabaleta's a better left back than Garrido - certainly in this sort of game - but he's also struggling for fitness.

Or how about Lescott at left back and a first start of the season for Vincent Kompany?

Or even Gareth Barry at left back and Ireland and de Jong in midfield?

We are literally awash with options.

SWP scores for England

Fabio Capello played an experimental eleven against Belarus this evening, which meant that City stars Wayne Bridge and Shaun Wright-Phillips paired up down the left hand side. (Gareth Barry also played, but he's a regular now.) None were particularly impressive, Barry was the best of the three, breaking down play and firing passes all over the pitch. He got a pre-assist after three minutes, sliding through Gabriel Agbonlahor who crossed for Peter Crouch to put us 1-0 up.

It was Wright-Phillips, though, who got on the teamsheet scoresheet (thanks Dominic). Roughly half way through the second half a David Beckham corner broke to him on the edge of the box and he fired a long, low shot into the bottom corner. He had worked hard all evening but I am not sure that he did enough to convince Capello that he is a serious option for the left wing, given that Joe Cole and James Milner can both play there too.

We could see four City players in the World Cup squad: Barry, SWP, Bridge and Lescott. Not to mention Micah Richards. But the only one whose place is assured now is Barry. The others are all 50/50 shots or worse.

Bowen on Robi

Not very clear one way or the other:

"Robi is one of those players who will always be surrounded by rumour and speculation.

"It doesn't concern him - he comes in and always does his work with a smileon his face. He's a great guy and very much a part of the manager's plans."

The more I think about this the more I think he'll be gone - if not in January then certainly next summer.

Ireland adjusts

Stephen Ireland has talked very frankly today about the demands placed on him by the change from last year's 4-3-3 to this year's 4-4-2:

"Also, I have never played in a 4-4-2 system in five or six seasons, so it has been about adapting to that as well.

"Last season we played a 4-3-3 and I was just bombing forward regardless, getting in the box and being creative.

"This year I have to be more disciplined, but I can't complain because it's a team game, and it's not just about me getting in the box.

Stephen Ireland has quite noticeably struggled with the shift in emphasis. It's only natural that when three attacking players becomes four (at times our new formation has been more 4-2-4 than 4-4-2) the central midfielders have more work to do. Last year Ireland could rely on two of Nigel de Jong, Vincent Kompany and Pablo Zabaleta behind him - this year it's just him and Barry. So his role has been naturally curtailed.

More important, though, is with him in that role the teams looks rather unstable. Ireland can do the defensive work but he's no expert and it does heap too much weight on Gareth Barry's shoulders. And in the games Ireland has missed - when Nigel de Jong has accompanied Barry - the team looked much more balanced, with a foundation sufficiently strong to bear the strain. So Ireland not only has to improve his own game but also prove that the team will be stronger with him in it.

It's going to be tough. My take, not that it matters, is that we should stick with last season's 4-2-3-1. That way we accomodate the solid base of Barry and de Jong, allowing Ireland to flourish in the hole with Craig Bellamy on his left, Carlos Tévez on his right (in the 'Dirk Kuyt role') and Emmanuel Adebayor up front. It's bad luck for Shaun Wright-Phillips but someone's got to miss out.