FourFourTwo

By Shaun Orange

Following the resignations of Kevin Keegan and Alan Curbishley last week, there has been a great debate raging about how shoddily the men put in charge to run clubs are being treated.

The two subjects at the centre of this storm have themselves said that they quit Newcastle United and West Ham, respectively, because of not being able to oversee the transfer of players on their own. In some cases it has been alleged that there were comings and goings of players without the knowledge of the managers.

Well, that may well be the case, but the underlining factor is that soccer as we know it today has become a billion-dollar industry, with its own set of rules.

And the more we get people like Roman Abramovich, the Russian billionaire who bought Chelsea in 2003 and went on to pump more than a half-a-billion dollars into assembling a world-class line-up of stars at Stamford Bridge, the managers will just have to toe the line. Or, they could just thrown in the towel and walk away with a handsome compensation payoff as some have done.

Keegan’s case in particular makes one wonder. Reports had it before he resigned in a huff from the post he took up only in January this year that he could bank as much as £8 million in compensation. Well, whether he got that much is another matter.

However, Keegan was never going to do anything remotely close to winning silverware at a club that has under-achieved for decades. Bigger-name managers came and left before the former Liverpool and Hamburg star, and they never won anything of note. So why would he be so different?

To make matters worse, he spent nearly five years there in the 90s (Feb 92 to Jan 97) and did not win a thing (in the top flight). So why would he now? Keegan only got the job eight months ago (what about the £8 million?) after Sam Allardyce was sacked because no-one wanted it and because the fans love him – not for his managerial skills, but rather because he was their hero 25 years ago.

Curbishley’s lot is not much different, apart from the fact that they are a much smaller outfit than Newcastle, who in turn are smaller than the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal or Liverpool. And if you got problems dealing with a club like West Ham, then perhaps it is better that you just hop on your bike and get going.

The moaning about why managers should get the last say in the transfer of players doesn’t hold much water these days - not when so much money is changing hands. They alone cannot, and surely should not, be the sole say-so on who comes and who goes.

This is not to imply that they should not have any say in the transfers, but rather that it cannot be left up to them alone. Maybe, in a perfect world that is how it works, but with people like Abramovich spending hundreds of millions of dollars on players, it just does not make sense for the manager by himself to take care of the whole the issue.

This position could be likened to any other job for that matter, be it whatever industry you like -  if you cannot get along with the boss, you leave (or are forced to leave) and go out to get another job elsewhere.

Sadly, it’s as simple as that.

By Shaun Orange

As would be expected, Mark Hughes has expressed great delight with the new developments at Manchester City. Such is his enthusiasm since the announcement this week that the Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG) for Development and Investment have acquired the City of Manchester Stadium team that he has rubbished talk of a possible unsettledness that big-name players like Robinho look likely to cuase - big stars play for big bucks.

Man City set a new British transfer fee record by paying Real Madrid £32.5million for the Brazilian striker on the last day of the transfer window last Sunday. And while no figure has been mentioned about the salary that the striker will earn, it will obviously be much more than any of the other players whom he found in the squad when he switched to the Premier League.

Hughes said that the dressing is his “domain” and thus, he would not let any “jealousy” get in the way of his plans to make Citeh a successful side again and challenge the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan, their neighbours Manchester United and Chelsea in the transfer market. Already the new owners have name-dropped players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Fernando Torres and David Villa as future targets. And this has only served to intensify the excitement in and around the City of Manchester Stadium.

The blue half of Manchester, with the bottomless pocket to use for bringing in world-class stars, has every right to be energized. The instant success of Chelsea, after Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich bought Stamford Bridge in 2003, is an example that they will draw inspiration from. Under Jose Mourinho, Chelsea won two successive Premiership titles in his first two seasons at the Bridge, he also won the FA Cup and English League Cup, for good measure.

But the Portuguese coach failed in his three seasons to land the coveted European Champions League trophy and for that he paid dearly. He was duly shown the Stamford Bridge exit, and now coaches Inter Milan in the Serie A.

Hughes has said that he is confident he has the backing of the new Man City owners, who themselves have indicated that the Welshman’s job is safe. But he should be warned that if he fails to deliver silverware “quickly” then he faces the chop. That is the fact of the matter. Even if he wins the Premiership but not the biggest and most sought-after trophy in world club football – the European Cup, then he will be looking for a new job in the not too distant future.

My guess is that Hughes will not get anywhere near challenging for the Premiership title this season, and come next term, Man City will have a new, high profile manager in placd at the City of Manchester Stadium. The oil-rich Abu Dhabi-based tycoons will still be there, of course.

By Shaun Orange

There is no Premier League football this weekend because of the World Cup qualifiers, but there is still a great deal happening in the domestic game. And perhaps the most notable is at West Ham and Newcastle, both clubs without a manager.

Alan Curbishley quit the Hammers and Kevin Keegan walked out on the Magpies. The latter’s decision to suddenly leave the Tyneside club in the lurch is not entirely surprising, at least not as unexpected as Curbishley’s decision to resign from the Upton Park job.

Keegan, we all know, was one of England’s best ever players and to this day is he is still adored by the fans. But as a manager, and he had chances to manage the best teams around, he’s failed dismally. And given the latest scenario, it is quite likely that he might never return to a managerial post, at least not a Premiership team, or anything like it.

There will be many fans of Newcastle will be highly upset at his departure, but in some ways, maybe the club stands to benefit from him leaving. He never really did anything of note in either of his two stints at St James Park, who now need someone with guile to take the club forward.

This is among Europe’s biggest clubs and they deserve better – a better qualified and better organised manager who has the capacity to win things.

Curbishley’s decision to head for the exit was based on interference from the board in his dealings in the transfer market and the sale of players whom he wanted to keep at the club. That is what he claims.

However, the club has a different view and said the former Charlton boss was in the know of what was talking place with regards to the transfer market, so they taken aback by his sudden departure.

There might, of course, be some substance in Curbishley’s claim (because we cannot be sure that either side is not absolutely correct). But the timing of Curbishley’s decision to leave is what is mind-boggling. They had a fairly good start to the season so for him to just up and out doesn’t really make much sense. And this applies, even if the board did go against his wishes. This sort of thing happens nearly everyday, yet the other managers (Keegan aside) do not walk out on the club, players and fans.

There might just something else in the West Ham issue that prompted Curbishley to leave; something that we don’t know about.

If indeed it is what he says happened, and then I would say he still did not have enough to quit. The excuse is really not good enough.

But this, and Keegan’s lot, all make for attention to be drawn to the Premiership even if there is no Premier League this weekend.

By Shaun Orange

Just when we thought that the summer signings were not as captivating as they might have been, we were dealt a shocker with the amazing coup of Manchester City.

Manchester United eventually signed Dimitar Berbatov from Tottenham, but that was to be expected. One might add here that Spurs showed real guile in the protracted saga, in which the Red Devils were accused of some under-handedness, something reportedly left die away as part of the agreement between the two clubs. The London team, it appears, got a better price for the player than they might anticipated. Good on them.

However, there was no guessing – on anyone’s part, that Man City would pull off the feat of luring Brazilian ace Robinho to the City of Manchester Stadium; not with the player publicly declaring that he was bent on a move to Chelsea.

It would appear that with the takeover of the club by the Abu Dhabi United Group, some brilliant business acumen on the part of Thaksin Shinawatra (the owner of the club up to then) and Real Madrid’s reluctance to sell one of the world’s best players to one of their main European rivals, all weighed-in to make this quite extra-ordinary move possible.

It left manager Mark Hughes almost speechless, and his observation that this was “a huge statement of intent” on the part of the club, was perhaps an understatement.

Man City forked out a British record £32.5 million for the 24-year-old whom they secured on a four-year deal. Capped 42 times by Brazil and a scorer of 25 goals in his 101 appearances for the Bernabeu side, Robinho's arrival could well mark the start of a balancing of power in Manchester football. For a long time now, the Red Devils have cast a long shadow over the blue half of Manchester, but that could change rather dramatically if things go the way they look like they might.

Attention was drawn to this when Dr Sulaiman Al-Fahim, the man behind the ADUG swoop, confirmed that they had also made last-ditch efforts to sign Berbatov, Valencia’s much-sought after David Villa and Mario Gomez. But real warning came in his statement that read: “Funds are available and transfers such as these show we are serious.”

Indeed, Man City will now be looked upon in a different light in English football from today, if all goes through as expected. And that stature would be carried through to the European stage. There is little doubt that with the financial muscle that the ADUG yield, they will be targeting the Champions League. This powerhouse of big bucks was also in the running to take over Arsenal, Liverpool or Newcastle.

What Robinho’s move to Man City really means to English soccer will only be truly understood in time – maybe next January, when the transfer window opens again.