Can it can only get worse for City fans?
I’ll say it outright; at times this summer I’ve been riddled with jealousy at the manner in which Manchester City have brazenly waved wads of cash around while my own side Arsenal have maintained their strict penny-pinching ways. That being said, I don’t envy the rollercoaster ride which City supporters are about to embark on…not one bit.
With expectations already so high, how can fans who’ve spent June, July and August toasting their club’s champagne transfer policy while baiting their ‘Mancunian’ neighbours at Old Trafford, not be slightly fearful that it’ll all come back to bite them in the arse?
Not only that but with no Newcastle United - and their court jester ways - to distract the rest of the Premier League, it goes without saying that the British appetite for glorious failure will no doubt see City’s season scrutinised like no other.
Managing expectations
First things first, City are not going to win the title this season despite the dreams of a vocal minority. They'll realise this fact come kick-off at Ewood Park on the first day of the season when a physical Sam Allardyce side will be desperate to bring the superstars back down to earth. I'd like to say this is a cheap pot shot, but it isn't - City's newfound reputation ensures that every team will have an extra incentive to snatch points from their grasp.
Granted, without the distraction of European football Mark Hughes does stand a chance of doing well in the League Cup and FA Cup, but even then, as an obvious scalp for lower league sides the old adage ‘the bigger they are, the harder they fall’ could well come into play. Even if they do progress to the latter stages, with the established ‘big four’ well schooled in showpiece dramas it will take an almighty effort to thrive under the Wembley lights.
So with no guarantees of silverware, what would constitute a decent season? Europa League qualification? Fourth place, third place, runners-up? Would a neck-and-neck title charge against Manchester United which ends in failure be any less painful than another average season in mid-table? Probably not…
Patience is a virtue
This season has been cautiously promoted by Mark Hughes and Garry Cook as an opportunity to patiently build upon last season. But how can you ask fans to be patient when you spend so much money?
How will fans react to seeing strikers missing gaping open goals, defenders slipping as they attempt back passes, midfielders chickening out of challenges? Well they’ll do as any fan would do watching their team; they’ll howl with derision, criticise the individual responsible and eventually turn on the manager. It’s the natural state of the game…it happens up and down the country every Saturday evening and City fans were guilty of doing this last season following the FA Cup defeat to Nottingham Forest. It’s natural…it’s what happens in football.
The problem City face is that it’s tougher to stand by your men when you have the option to replace them with more attractive propositions at the drop of a hat. How much time and how many games do you give an underperforming star, no matter how much money they earn, to justify their respective inflated price-tags?
The experiment
With great financial clout, Mark Hughes and Garry Cook have proved that you can lure players of a high calibre to a club whose recent history isn’t exactly satisfying reading. The next stage of the experiment is whether they can fulfil the desires of said players while asking some of them to sit on the subs bench week in, week out. They may have moved for money, despite the talk of projects and success, but what happens when many of them are reduced to bit part roles and have only their cash for comfort? Will any self-respecting player honestly be happy to see his reputation panned in the media without putting up a fight? No set of new recruits have ever been set the challenge of making a team great in double quick time. Can they handle the pressure? Will they thrive or hide?
It’s hard not to get caught up in the excitement at Eastlands and I wish Mark Hughes all the best. He’s a genuinely ambitious and hard-working coach who at least appears to be tempering expectations from the ADUG hierarchy by targeting experienced Premier League stars as a stepping stone. That being said, you do fear his 'privileged' position could turn out to be a poisoned chalice.
So far, City’s summer has been all about questions…come August 15th it will become about delivering answers.