THE Stretford End ticker has finally been taken down and Champions League bunting will be going up around Eastland’s next year. The Blue Moon is rising – gradually.
At the start of the season Roberto Mancini promised the club’s fans and powerbrokers a trophy and a top four finish.
The Italian has delivered and riding on the euphoria of a late burst, City fans can claim to be one of the only teams in the upper echelons of the league on an upward spiral last season.
This optimism will be carried into the new campaign, backed by another spending spree courtesy of the uber-ambitious Abu Dhabi group. One trophy will do for now, but not for long.
Barriers have been broken down. The 35-year-old taunt from across the borough was essentially obsolete the moment the Sheikh shook Manchester when arriving in 2008. A hypothetical stop-clock was started with every petro-dollar parted as the parameters of success and expectation rose.
Silverware was needed to shake the imagery of decades of comedic incompetence and inglorious failure. A trophy of any description was essential to lift the millstone from around the neck from a congregation of players who have nothing to do with past discrepancies.
More than anything the FA Cup victory over Stoke was one for the fans, but of more immediate significance to the City project was qualification for the Champions League. For all of their intent and aspirations, the Citizens needed to be seen to be competing with the continent’s top clubs – those they seek to catch and pass.
Given their affluence it is not merely about the abundance of revenue participating in the competition will bring. City’s elevation to Champions League level will bring the club a status and prestige that money simply cannot buy.
Previously players such as Kaka and Samuel Eto’o have been reticent to sign for the club without the lure of football’s most glamorous draw. The Champions league is another glossy addition to the City brochure, and coupled with vast reserves for transfer fees and wages; there are few saleable players who City could not tempt.
City’s gradient since their takeover has been continuous yet the ultimate goal of being the country’s top team is still largely a work in progress. Jumping from fifth to third with a cup under your arm is commendable, but cracking the duopoly of the ‘big two’ is another.
The deficit between City and the champions in the past two years has been trimmed from nineteen to nine points. The margins are being marginalised, but does this mean City are improving in relation to their vast investment, or that the rest are treading water under financial stipulation?
Despite relative success there are still many reservations about this team. To denounce their achievements, despite another £100m+ recruitment drive Mancini’s men accrued just four more points than they did the previous season, scoring thirteen fewer goals and losing a further two games.
The Blue half were quick to talk down the quality of this year’s other Manchester production, but in truth at no point did City look to be on par with their great rivals. The FA Cup semi-final has little overall say-so on league matters and next year City must provide more than a verbal threat about a sustained title challenge.
Crucial to the composition of next year’s set-up will be the future of club captain Carlos Tevez. The Argentinian has apparently professed a desire to leave these parts and should his departure be confirmed, Mancini will struggle to replace his talisman.
Tevez’s goals ratio could theoretically be replaced by an individual or a combination of altering tactics but losing their best player and fan favourite would be a blow to the fundamental psyche of a club who are trying to harbour world class talent.
Regardless of whether Tevez stays or not, this promises to be another active pre-season for chief executive Garry Cook. The first team pool at City is the best part of 30 players deep, and much of this surplus will need to be shipped to streamline the squad.
There are plenty of peripherals to move on. Shay Given, Wayne Bridge, Michael Johnson, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Emmanuel Adebayor, Jo, Roque Santa Cruz and Craig Bellamy will all be out of the door, as the club look to balance acquisitions in accordance with the incoming FIFA financial fair play rules.
Under the stewardship of both Mark Hughes and Roberto Mancini, City have a fairly chequered transfer history. Of the most recent arrivals only David Silva and Yaya Toure integrated themselves into key components. Jerome Boateng, Aleksandar Kolarov, James Milner, Mario Balotelli and Edin Dzeko all still have the jury deliberating.
By selling stock, this gives the Sheikh latitude to delve into the coffers for probably the last time before prudence is a necessity. Again, funding will not be a problem, rather identifying suitable targets who can improve the squad without disrupting the current equilibrium will be.
There still seems an imbalance about the make-up of the personnel with a battery of central players not masking the paucity of quality out wide. Quite what Mancini’s preferred starting XI and formation was last season was up for debate and the solution will be further muddied by further new faces.
Despite last season’s success, Mancini’s position as manager is not an exalted one. His occupancy was privy to speculation up until the final push, and many spectators are still under enamoured with the Italian’s pragmatic approach.
Style or substance apart, Mancini is under immense pressure to lift City to the summit of English football. An FA Cup means nothing. Champions League football means nothing. The most expensively assembled squad in the history of football means nothing. If there is to be a Blue Moon rising, it starts from now.
Mancini has ensured one small step for Man City, but must now oversee the giant leap.
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