WHAT'S ANOTHER YEAR!

Well that's it for another year. No silverware. No improvement on last years points won or league position. But is it all bad? No way Jose! Despite our apparent lack of progress - and it's fair to say the table never lies - I don't believe it's all doom and gloom. In the past twelve months the club has gone through a major overhaul. Behind the scenes restructuring and facilities are changing. A new owner, a new manager. A new board.

One legacy from Shinawatra's reign, Garry Cook is taking on board his responsibilities as CEO. He is talking and listening to the right people-YOU THE FANS! He recently attended a supporters club meeting in Reddish and this has to be good news for all who love this club. The Kaka incident may not have been his best moment but I'm sure it will be a learning curve in his role.

Within weeks the new manager was getting to know the quality of the players at his disposal and it soon became evident to Hughes that the players at the club were not equipped to take this club forward. New players were brought in. Jo had been signed by Thaksin. Robinho's record breaking transfer was a sign of intent by the new owners that they had arrived. SWP came home. Ben Haim, Kompany, Berti and Zabaleta joined the club. The future of those players who were at the club and of course the unending speculation about incoming transfers all contributed to unsettling the players and this was reflected in the first half of the seasons performances.

By Christmas we were still struggling to find any cohesion on the pitch. Players were either struggling with individual form or adapting to the requirements of the new manager. We all know that new brooms sweep clean and footballers are not renowned for liking change. Hughes pulled the rug from under those players feet who were on an easy ride. The squad needed strengthening. Too many mistakes were being made and we were being punished for them. During the January sales Hughes went out shopping and bought Bellamy, Bridge, De Jong and Given.

At last the manager was making his mark on the team. Ok, so things didn't happen overnight. I'm sure the manager will accept that progress wasn't quite as rapid as he had envisaged. But one things for sure that will not have gone unnoticed. Injuries to key players - Bojinov, Benjani, Bellamy and Petrov - haven't helped the cause but has highlighted the lack of depth and quality at the club.

This was all too evident as we progressed in the UEFA Cup. The glut of games, the travelling proved to big an obstacle. Our results on the back of our forays into Europe were pretty dismal. The season wasn't bereft of some positives. Stevie Ireland and Onuoha have been superb and have possibly secured their foreseeable futures at the club. New signings, Given, Zabaleta and Kompany have justified the managers judgement. De Jong is possibly still finding his feet and Bridge alongside Robinho, Elano and SWP have been inconsistent but will surely get better. Berti we've seen nothing of, whilst Ben Haim was as crap for us as his previous clubs. Given that TEN players were signed since Hughes' arrival the percentage of poor buys is minimal. I'll settle for more of the same.

The spine of the team is far from being strong enough. A quality commanding centre half, a box to box midfielder, a forward with the ability to hold the ball upfront and an out and out goal scoring centre forward (another Goater please) should be a priority for Mark Hughes. Names don't necessarily matter. It's a case of right calibre, right age, passion to play for City.

If you peruse some of the seasons stats - which can be interpreted to suit ones arguments - we weren't too far off being a much better side than results indicated. Much depended on what City team turned up on the day. We only won two away games which was abysmal. Only Stoke, Boro and West Brom picked up less points. The 5 teams who finished above us collected between 16 (Spurs) and 33 (Everton) points on their travels. Winning 13 home games was acceptable but failing to draw at home and losing 6 was our let down. We lost 11 games by a one goal margin - had we managed just one goal in each of those games we would have been only one point off a top six finish. We were rarely hammered in terms of goals conceded, but most teams especially away from home were probably relatively confident of winning once they'd penetrated our back four. We had 17 players on the score sheet but too many only scored one or two goals. Robby despite having a poor season hit 14 so there is hope to be had if he puts his mind to it and benefits from lessons learnt in his first year at Eastlands.

Overall I firmly believe that we are moving in the right direction and if given money to spend, and if spent wisely, that should see us making progress next year. Remember one thing 'don't walk before you can crawl'! The owner has indicated his desire to see us secure a top six finish and that has to be the next step on the road to moving this club onwards and upwards.

Finally, to all those who still have reservations about Mark Hughes   - I respect your opinion - but give the man a chance. I think it's the least he deserves. If we are no further forward in twelve months then I'm sure he'll get his P45 and I will readily hold my hands up and say I got it wrong!

 
Geoff Stevenson

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