Typical City!
For years the blue half of Manchester has felt a certain perverse pride in that old adage. Whenever Manchester City does something wonderful -- and there have been some
One step forward, one stumble down a 300-foot ditch back.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
So it stands to reason that literally hours after City went joint top of the table (behind on goal differential and with all its rivals holding games in hand, but work with me here for the sake of the analogy) it comes out that the club's most important player, Carlos Tevez, has put in a written transfer request.
Yep, typical.
The case of Tevez is a fascinating one. Although many feel that he is a mercenary in the truest sense -- how do you cross the great red blue divide otherwise -- he does seem to be sincere when he says that he just wants to be close to his family in Argentina. That's problematic, as Boca Juniors can't likely afford £30 million, but getting fair market value is not on the top of City's need-to-do list. The nightmare for the Citizens is that he wants to move to a club in southwest London that isn't Fulham. If that's the case the City experiment might be doomed.
That would make a lot of people happy. Once a loveable underdog of a club, City are now widely hated outside of Manchester. It's felt that they are ruining the game with their spending and every slip up is reported on with glee.
SEE! YOU CAN'T BUY A CHAMPIONSHIP!!!11! the football press screams after every pushing match in training or sideline spat between manager and player (because that type of thing never happens at other clubs you know). The noise has reached a nearly unbearable point with this latest news. It's bound to become even louder as the January window draws closer.
It's completely irrational of course. The majority opinion on City is not based on ration, but rather emotion. This idea that you can't buy a championship is absurd. Money absolutely buys trophies (and love and happiness for that matter). If anything City's money has made the Premiership more interesting because the top four is no longer as predictable.
I suppose this would be a good time to disclose to those unaware that I inherited a lifelong burden of supporting sky blue. However, that doesn't mean that I can't understand the frustration that people have with the money that is spent. Still, it would be nice if there was some consistency in the criticism. Why is Spurs held up as a wonderful story of a little club that overcame long odds to qualify to the knock-out stages of the Champions League (after spending about £100 million in 18-months) while City is killing the game?
I don't expect many will have a good answer to that. What I do think an answer will be found for is the question of what to do with moody Carlos.
The City experiment will continue and will eventually find success regardless of what happens to Tevez. Yes, it would represent a set-back if he really does force his way out in January, but Tevez seems to change his mind every hour. It would be surprising if he didn't finish the season at City. After that maybe it's best that they let him fly.
They can afford to replace him after all.
I'm still looking for a name for my weekly European column -- and no I don't plan on writing about City every week!