Mark Hughes has always had the faint air of a tinker about him, hasn't he? Take a look at him there, and then remember what they called him: Sparky. I mean, for God's sake. He's been given a good scrub since, of course, but if you were ever to end up at a party back in his house, you wouldn't be completely shocked if every room in the place reeked of old dog shit, or at the very least, old dog food. Well, the City manager has been true to those suspected roots this week, wingeing about the flak he gets from the press.
His club, the richest in the world, currently languish in mid-table. With a trip to White Hart Lane, one of the Premiership's most formible grounds this season, a European position looks unlikely for the club which has managed just 11 points on the road this season. On the face of it, most would probably argue that the media's criticism is justly delivered.
In fairness to Hughes though, it's not as if he's been able to exploit the club's great and newfound fortune. An attempt made to land Kaka in the last tranfer window failed and, apart for the signing of Robinho at the start of the season, the club has been unable to lure any more superstars to the City of Manchester Stadium. Hughes manages the richest squad in the world, but has an only slightly above average squad to choose from.
But this is the whole point, I feel: his inability to exploit the club's wealth. Hughes is more than qualified to manage mid-table squads and finish mid-table. But with money in the bank, City fans (myself included) expect that the team will move beyond that next season. As the last transfer window showed, Hughes hasn't got the renown which will be needed next season to bring big names to a relatively small club.
To attract big name players, we need a big name manager.