Hughes Sacked: Reaction

As a long suffering Manchester City supporter, I take my analyst cap off today and react with some emotion to the sacking of Mark Hughes. I find the timing odd, and the handling of the action by the Blues ownership even worse.

Hughes did the best job he could with a club that lacks the continuity or stability to truly contend for major honors. This having been said, he made a number of mistakes on the job, and if City is as ambitious as the ownership claims, an upgrade was eventually needed. The firing of Hughes and hiring of Roberto Mancini was bungled, no doubt, but Hughes actual record is not easy to defend.

His mistakes included the sales of Vedran Corluka and Richard Dunne, while Elano (who was eventually sold) and Martin Petrov were frustrated in Hughes setup. Tactically the 4-3-3 Hughes employed never worked as it should. Players would bunch up on the pitch and all too often, City would lose its shape at the back. Last season, the Blues struggled defensively with players who had previously had a stout record for both Stuart Pearce, and Sven Goran Eriksson. This season, with higher priced imports, City’s backline was even worse, and each member of the Citizens’ current backline performed better with their previous clubs or managers.

Much has been made around the purchase of Joleon Lescott. But Lescott is no worse for City than Kolo Toure or Wayne Bridge have been, and unlike those two players, he does not have experience with a big four side. Every defender that Hughes has purchased has performed poorly including Pablo Zabaletta whose contract was just extended. At the same time two defenders Hughes dumped, Dunne and Corluka have been outstanding on their new sides, both of whom are ahead of City in the current table.

The 4-3-3 formation favored by Hughes lent itself to countless goal scoring opportunities and attacking flair. But the high priced purchases of Carlos Tevez and Roque Santa Cruz have failed to deliver the consistent attacking quality their price tags would indicate. Tevez was surplus to requirements at Manchester United, while Santa Cruz was a multi year failure at Bayern Munchen. Both are nice players for midtable level clubs, but neither is a good enough attacking player for the type of side City’s ownership claims they want the Blues to be.

Hughes greatest asset is his ability to give a bloody shirt speech. His ability to motivate less talented, underdog sides cannot be questioned. He had remarkable success with both Wales and Blackburn while regularly playing an underdog role. But being a front runner is not an easy transition, and ultimately Hughes failed to connect with a large percentage of the big name players at the club.

Roberto Mancini is a solid hiring. Of the available names on the market he was in my mind the most qualified to manage City. Nonetheless, City’s season and future hangs in the balance and the side could either finish in the top four or flirt with relegation by making a change at this point in the campaign.

Hiring a manager from outside England is often times a disastrous move for Premiership clubs, particularly in the winter. A manager from Italy is unlikely to have any real idea of how to tactically cope with the brutal winter weather that grips traditional Lancashire. I also have serious concerns as to whether Mancini understands the English game, and knows how to work with players who are either British or have spent the bulk of their professional careers in England. However, I still consider Mancini a better hiring than Guus Hiddink (who recently failed to qualify the most talented Russian team since the USSR’s breakup, for the World Cup), Jurgen Klinsmann (whose player moves with Bayern Munchen were as perplexing as some of Hughes worst moves) or just about anyone else that is currently availible.

The promotion of Brian Kidd to Assistant Manager is a safe move. Kidd served in the same capacity for Manchester United and England. Kidd is best remembered however by me, as a goal a game striker for the Fort Lauderdale Strikers of the NASL after he had moved stateside. A Manchester native, Kidd played for both United and City, and has coached as well at both clubs. The promotion must be bittersweet for him though, as Hughes brought Kidd, his former coach with Manchester United back to City, earlier this year.

Manchester City’s season and long term future hang in the balance. The Blues appear to be too talented and in too advanced a position currently, to be relegated, but just three years ago under Stuart Pearce,  City had 30 points on January 1st and yet barely avoided relegation. That team was punching above its weight to have been in 10th place on New Years Day, but this side has dropped points regularly to sides surely to be in the relegation fight.

The Blues could just as easily take advantage of the struggles Liverpool and Manchester United currently face, and crack the top four. One thing was fairly certain: with Mark Hughes as manager, City wasn’t going to finish in the top four, but wasn’t going to be in a relegation fight either. With Roberto Mancini in charge, either outcome is possible.