Manchester City's Shaun Wright-Phillips: Loved but Not Wanted

It seems ever more certain that Shaun Wright-Phillips (SWP) has played his last game for Manchester City and he may well be moving the short distance across Greater Manchester to Bolton Wanderers.

This morning Bolton manager Owen Coyle made it clear he will do all he can to convince Wright-Phillips that Bolton is a place that will benefit him in every way.

City manager Roberto Mancini admits that he likes Wright Phillips, he thinks he is a good guy and a great professional but he simply doesn't see a use for him moving the team forwards.

That is a perfectly acceptable viewpoint as far as I am concerned. For example, I love my brother but I wouldn't employ him because he doesn't have the skill set I require.

But there is a large group of City fans who want SWP to stay. They see him as one of very few links to the pre-Mansour days and they feel he loves the club and should be given a place in the squad.

I have no doubt that if Mancini saw enough in SWP to warrant his inclusion he would give him a squad number, but that plainly isn't the case.

It's now for City fans to back the manager's decision and not use SWP as a stick with which to beat Mancini every time something goes wrong.

Of course, SWP loves City and the fans in the main hold him close to their hearts too. But that is not enough to gain a place in a modern footballing squad.

I hope SWP goes on to great success wherever he plays as he really is a good guy but that doesn't mean he must be guaranteed inclusion in one of the world's best squads.