The Board Say "Build!"

No sooner has the dust begun to settle at the end of another season, Manchester City FC are announcing to the world grandiose plans to underpin their quest to dominate planet football.  These plans are music to the ears of most City fans (me included of course) as we look to gain a seat at football’s top table.

All the right noises are being made.  The buzzwords cropping up in almost all of City’s communiqués are stability, foundations, build, investment and sustainability.  In fact even that beleaguered of species the football fan is mentioned in despatches as the club talks of strengthening links with the community and its fan base.

I am extremely optimistic about City’s future.

However, I am not sure about the viability or sense in keeping Mark Hughes in charge of team affairs, as I have stated in previous articles.  

That said I can fully understand the club giving Hughes another season in charge to build a team in his own image.  With a huge procurement programme planned for the summer, Hughes will be given every opportunity to create a team that he will be confident of challenging those at the top of the tree with.

A stake has been put in the ground that a top 6 finish is expected.  I just hope Hughes has learned from the mistakes of this season, all of which have been very well documented.

The season has seen Hughes adroitly playing the press with his excuses for non-performance and for finishing 10^th having spent in excess of £100 million on players.

Without the distraction of European football for City, excuses around tiredness will not be tolerated, nor will any about ‘...so many new players need time to gel...’

With a full season already under his belt, the changes being made in the close season, a full pre-season to look forward to and the prospect of another full season in charge, Hughes will have been given all the time one would expect a manger would need to build a successful side.

He would be wise to note what that most sage of philosophers Daffy Duck once sang “time waits for no one, it passes you by..” 

If the away form does not improve into the new season, I think that time will be over just about when Santa Claus starts panicking he has only 24 days left go!