Having just signed Robhino, are Man City the new Chelsea

eZe^

glenjamin wrote: »

Sorry but it just angers me to see a footballer join a club when he knows nothing of their setup, never spoke to the manager or visited the facilties. He has purely joined them because of the money he was being offered. Nothing wrong with that but like I say if some small club had come in with a better offer he would have joined them ahead of City. I ,for one, hate seeing this. I think that this is whats wrong with football. I know most peoples reply to this is gonna be 'well thats football nowadays' and 'of course a player will join a club who are offering him the most' but how are clubs like mine suposed to compete with this. We face been outbid by any club with some sugar daddy in charge and even if we do agree a fee with a club we still can't compete when it comes to the players wages. Especially players who are more interested in how much hes paid than actually what the club has on offer to him in terms of potential success, etc.

And no I don't want to see Robinho break his leg and be forced to retire from football. That was a horrible thing to say and I apologise. I wish him all the best in this new stage of his career.

You're completely right mate. And I agree, it's a shame how he has conducted himself, but at the same time, if he gels properly and starts making a big impact on the team I doubt alot of fans will care in this modern commercialised world. One things for sure, if he can play like he did last season then City will be an enjoyable team to watch with the likes of Petrov, SWP, Ireland, Kompany, Elano, Jo and Robinho.

Xavi6

Xavi6

Lol at Chelsea who were advertising this the other day -



Jumped the gun there lads!

iregk

Xavi6 wrote: »

Lol at Chelsea who were advertising this the other day -
Jumped the gun there lads!

Not really. I saw that on the website as well. It also had a description of pre-order your printing now to avoid long delays should the transfer be complete. They were simply expecting a flurry of orders as is usual but never let the facts get in the way of a good yarn!!!

On the case of the transfer its clear it was only ever about money for Robinho. Now me as a blues fan have no right to complain there, lets call a spade a spade however there is something more interesting happening here.

For the past few years people have been complaining of Chelsea throwing silly money at players (swp for example). The one transfer where Chelsea stood strong and didn't pay anymore that what they believed was a far valuation for him and someone else paid way over the odds for him. It just shows that when Chelsea were starting to have a bit of perspective on money they were throwing around someone else has entered the ring.

Clubs can now ask anything for a player and I for one am slightly disappointed at it. I was hoping to see the market gradually go backward and valuations become realistic again.

PHB

It just shows that when Chelsea were starting to have a bit of perspective on money they were throwing around someone else has entered the ring.

Clubs can now ask anything for a player and I for one am slightly disappointed at it. I was hoping to see the market gradually go backward and valuations become realistic again.

Indeed. But it wasn't just Chelsea driving up the market, it was other clubs like Sunderland who were paying huge money for average players.

Helix

as a villa fan, city terrify me

top 4 is now gone for anyone outside the current top 4 and city unless someone manages it this season

PHB

Helix, I know its hard to see it this way, but anyone getting into the top 4 is a good thing. The longer it goes on, the longer their position gets tougher and tougher to dislodge. If City manage to knock Liverpool out, Liverpool will be fundamentally changed. If they can do it consistantly, the clubs will have to readdress their transfer policy drastically. Anyone getting in is a good thing for clubs outside the top 4 in the long term.

Xavi6

PHB wrote: »

Helix, I know its hard to see it this way, but anyone getting into the top 4 is a good thing. The longer it goes on, the longer their position gets tougher and tougher to dislodge. If City manage to knock Liverpool out, Liverpool will be fundamentally changed. If they can do it consistantly, the clubs will have to readdress their transfer policy drastically. Anyone getting in is a good thing for clubs outside the top 4 in the long term.

Liverpool would be royally fecked without CL football though

PHB

Which is the point. Arsenal and Liverpools business plans are based on CL football. WIthout it, they'd have to serious rethink their purcahses, and have at least 12 million less to spend on transfers. If somebody can knock them out, its only good for the league in general, even it it means some other Chelsea taking their place. City won't be anywhere near as consistant for at least 2-3 years before they can get a truly top class team (it took City a while don't forget).

The Sparrow

Xavi6 wrote: »

Liverpool would be royally fecked without CL football though

Yes they would... It would be hilarious. And it may well happen at least next year.:p

Helix

PHB wrote: »

Helix, I know its hard to see it this way, but anyone getting into the top 4 is a good thing. The longer it goes on, the longer their position gets tougher and tougher to dislodge. If City manage to knock Liverpool out, Liverpool will be fundamentally changed. If they can do it consistantly, the clubs will have to readdress their transfer policy drastically. Anyone getting in is a good thing for clubs outside the top 4 in the long term.

no its really not

whatll happen here is city will become a top 4 fixture, at liverpools expense until DIC buy them. then liverpool will jump in ahead of arsenal, who without serious investment will falter and become a mid table team for a few years imo. nobody outside united, city, chelsea or a DIC owned liverpool will have any hope in hell of breaking that top 4. its just going to be a straight swap of city for arsenal in the long run

unless other teams now take investment from obscenely rich arabs, thats it. game over. nobody else has a hope of champions league football

Xavi6

And it just gets better.........


http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/2008/09/02/arab-billionaire-dr-sulaiman-al-fahim-pledges-540million-for-manchester-city-players-115875-20721189/

Arab billionaire Dr Sulaiman al-Fahim pledges £540million for Manchester City players

By Paul Byrne 2/09/2008
Sulaiman Al Fahim

The man behind yesterday's sensational takeover of Manchester City has given manager Mark Hughes just three years to win the Champions League.

But billionaire Dr Sulaiman al-Fahim - frontman for a mega-rich Middle East business group - will hand over an astonishing £540million to bring the world's top stars to the under-achieving Premier League club to help achieve the quest.

Sulaiman said in an exclusive interview that he wants to buy 18 new players - at a cost of £30million each.

He added: "I need to meet the manager but the best players in the world average £30million. We need a minimum of 18 players at that level.

"Without that you can't win the Champions League."

Hughes (right) admitted he was "stunned and excited" by news of English football's latest big takeover.

And within hours of agreeing the deal the club was trying to hijack Dimitar Berbatov's £30million move from Spurs to deadly rivals Manchester United.

Sulaiman went on: "Our goal is very simple - to make Manchester City the biggest club in the Premier League.

"We have to spend to get the world's best players . The club has everything it needs except really good players. It has good players but not excellent players who can really compete at the top.

"To compete with Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal, you need good support from the board to finance players and support the manager. For this season our aim is to change the club's image and be in the top four. We want to win the Champions League in the near future.

"We have to give that trophy to the fans. I'm hungry for success. I am very excited. It is my dream for our group to own a club like City."

Sulaiman, a 31-year-old married father of three and property tycoon, plans to watch his first game at the City of Manchester Stadium when big-spending Chelsea visit on September 13. He added: "I hope the team play well on that day."

The takeover was greeted with delight by City fans. Kevin Parker, of the official supporters' club, said: "Teams are looking for investors with deep pockets and it appears they have deep pockets.

"In the past 30 years we haven't had any success and we're desperate to win a trophy."

Sulaiman heads the Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment, which has agreed to buy City for £150million from controversial chairman Thaksin Shinawatra. Backed by the Abu Dhabi royal family, the consortium is thought to be worth £120billion.

Sulaiman said: "The UK has the best league in the world and the idea is that Abu Dhabi would like to position itself as a sports and cultural hub."

Ex-Thai prime minister Shinawatra, 59, sold the club just 14 months after taking charge.

He bought City for £80million, but plans to pump in millions more were foiled when almost £1billion of assets were frozen in Thailand. Together with his wife Potjaman, 51, who is on bail after being sentenced to jail for tax fraud, he is in exile in London.

The freezing of his assets has caused City cash huge flow problems in recent weeks.

Now Shinawatra is poised to step down as chairman and take a role as honorary president.

Money will not be a problem for the new owners, based in the United Arab Emirates, which is the world's fifth-largest oil exporter.

Flamboyant Sulaiman will sit on City's board under the deal, which was agreed on Sunday.

The chief of Hydra Properties enjoys the company of film stars such as Demi Moore and Leonardo DiCaprio and has been described as the Arab world's answer to Donald Trump. He also hosts a reality TV show.

City said officially: "We can confirm a Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between Abu Dhabi United Group and Manchester City FC. A period of due diligence for all parties has now been entered."

20 Times 20 Times

Any body who thinks that Robinho is overrate , inconsistent hasn't watched much of la liga over that past few seasons. He has been easily Real Madrid's best out field player last year. It is a great buy i just hope that he can adjust for the hard hitting premiership.

monkey9

So, when Ronaldo moves to City next summer because he wants to realistically continue to win things, who will Utd replace him with??

Xavi6

monkey9 wrote: »

So, when Ronaldo moves to City next summer because he wants to realistically continue to win things, who will Utd replace him with??

Nani of course! :pac:

jaykay74

monkey9 wrote: »

So, when Ronaldo moves to City next summer because he wants to realistically continue to win things, who will Utd replace him with??

Vassell or Dickov obviously

gixerfixer

In fairness if D.I.C. buy liverpool then it's Arsenal and Man U who will the teams with the problems of not qualifing for the Champions league. All three Chelsea,City,Liverpool will be owned by owners who are in it to win it no matter what the expence. Man U will be rudderless with ferguson gone in a couple of years and god knows what the hell Wenger is up to at Arsenal with his young players obsession. Going to be a very interesting couple of years. On the other hand if the takeover of the pool doesnt go through then liverpool can wave goodbye to any hope of a league for another 19 years at the least.

carlop

I think all the talk of Man City breaking the top 4 is a bit premature. A lot depends on whether the new owners intend to stick around, which in fairness it appears they do. However this season I can imagine Robinho having an unsettling effect on City, in the same way that Tevez and Mascherano did at West Ham.

Tevez and Mascherano are two model professionals and were not disruptive influences themselves, but their arrival and general hype that surrounded it clearly unsettled West Ham, and a team that had had a good top half finish and come within seconds of winning the FA cup found themselves in a relegation battle, where ironically it was Tevez who nearly single-handedly kept them up.

I'm not suggesting for a second City are going to be in a relegation fight, but the arrival of such a big star to a team that was really beginning to find its feet is not necessarily such a good thing in the short-term, especially when that big star is robinho, who hardly has a reputation as a model pro and I'm guessing thinks of himself as head and shoulders above any other City player.

Pepe LeFrits

Arsenal's business plan was built upon an assumption of finishing 10th and averaging a 40,000 capacity every game, so unless the credit crunch has really hit (which I've seen very little evidence of), I don't think missing out on CL football would really hurt that much - at least in a monetary sense. Player ambition might be an issue but as we've seen with Robinho, it's all about money and Arsenal pay young players (Wenger's forté) very well. Either way Wenger doesn't spend money and maintains a strong team so I don't think that's a huge issue.

The way the PL is going right now is unsustainable. City fans are no doubt delighted with things right now but what happens (and will happen if current trends continue) if more billionaires come into the league? City and Chelsea's monetary advantage becomes nil and either could find themselves stuck in the relative no mans land of 4th, 5th, 6th or beyond, and unable to break into the upper echelons no matter how much money they spend. Eventually the bubble will burst and some of the billionaires will lose interest, leaving their clubs completely boned.

Daemonic

gixerfixer wrote: »

In fairness if D.I.C. buy liverpool then it's Arsenal and Man U who will the teams with the problems of not qualifing for the Champions league. All three Chelsea,City,Liverpool will be owned by owners who are in it to win it no matter what the expence. Man U will be rudderless with ferguson gone in a couple of years and god knows what the hell Wenger is up to at Arsenal with his young players obsession. Going to be a very interesting couple of years. On the other hand if the takeover of the pool doesnt go through then liverpool can wave goodbye to any hope of a league for another 19 years at the least.

I don't think D.I.C. have ever been quoted as being ready to throw cash at the club to fund huge transfers. They have given assurances the stadium would be built, which long term would give Liverpool the finances to compete. Personally I'd prefer that option...just seems more sustainable to me.

x in the city

Robhino is just a n0b tbh, did you see the cut of him at the interview, with his designer t shirt and baseball cap, looked more like a rapper..
I dont think he is going for the football tbh, I think he would have been hard pressed to name the city manager and where they played last week.

football is really gone crackers, no doubt about it.

Mikeyt086

x in the city wrote: »

Robhino is just a n0b tbh, did you see the cut of him at the interview, with his designer t shirt and baseball cap, looked more like a rapper...

So he's a n0b because of the clothes he wears?

Thats an interesting view.

x in the city

well leaving real madrid, one of the power houses of world football for manchester city (leaving their wealth aside) is one of the most baffling and craziest moves ever.* FACT



It is previous obvious as the real bloke calderon said that it is for non football reasons, and that, whatever way you look at it, is a sad state of affairs for football in general all across the board.

football now is all about money and wealth and even liverpool (cough!) I think will struggle now if things continue to spiral out of control.

It will be interesting to see how mark hughes deal with all this. he must have the biggest grin on his face all across the north west now, if I was him I would ask for a huge salary increase and if he fails to win the cl and whatnot in a few years, or if he gets sacked he can always go home with a stack of cash and resume normal life.

MisterAnarchy

x in the city wrote: »

It is previous obvious as the real bloke calderon said that it is for non football reasons, and that, whatever way you look at it, is a sad state of affairs for football in general all across the board.

It is all Calderons fault.
He stalled on contract talks with Robinho in early May .
Robinho was their best outfield player last season,he singlehandedly won them alot of matches .
Then in June/July Calderon was talking through his arse that he was going to sign Ronaldo and sell Robinho maybe even as part payment.
How did that make Robinho feel ?
Madrid made an absolute balls of the whole affair and now they are without their best attacker.
I give Robinho 18 months at Man City max.