mancityblues.com

"Lets Kick Racism Out Of Football" is a great slogan and a great campaign. The press fell upon it eagerly when the FA unveiled it. Great stuff.

Mark Hughes, if you listen to recent interviews, has a theory that there are those in the media with an "agenda" against City. It is obvious they don't want City to succeed, we are becoming the "Great Satan", an evil empire that is a cancer at the heart of our great British game.

So cards on the table sports journalists, what is really getting up your collective proboscises? It's clear to all now that City are trying to strengthen the side, with only one outrageously expensive signing so far; and it's clear also that the "big four" have spent millions in recent years doing the same thing, so come on, what really IS wrong with Manchester City?

Examine these examples of the venom and B.S. that encrusts every article regarding "moneybags City" written since last September.

"Manchester City's fantasy football will harm England's prospects. When you next fill up with fuel, and pump more petro-dollars via Abu Dhabi into Manchester City, spare a thought for Daniel Sturridge.
By Henry Winter, Football Correspondent"

With an estimated trillion dollar fortune, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan still does not have enough to paper over the cracks at Manchester City. His vision of global football domination is crumbling . And from the opulent surroundings of his palace in Abu Dhabi the royal ruler now has big decisions to make. (David Harrison and Aidan Magee)

"Manchester City ’s UEFA Cup opponents last night accused them of destroying football and suggested they are not even a big club"

"According to sources close to City’s Arab owners in the Middle East, the Barclays Premier League club — who last night denied they had sounded out Bayern Munich’s Jurgen Klinsmann about becoming their next manager — will cut their losses on England’s best-paid player if they receive an acceptable offer."

Garry Cook can lose 'incompetent' tag if he stands by City manager Mark Hughes. Garry Cook wanted a word with me and the word was "incompetent". At Anfield last Sunday, Manchester City's executive chairman sidled up, seeking a discussion about venomous descriptions of him following his failed pursuit of Kaka. "Incompetent'' was probably one of the more flattering verdicts. By Henry Winter

"Kaka's £100m transfer to Manchester City collapsed and star striker Robinho walked out of the training camp in Spain as the club were facing a crisis last night.

Manchester City owner Sheik Mansour ... continues to throw millions of pounds at his struggling Barclays Premier League club."

"Sportsmail understands that his relationships with his Brazilian stars, the£34million Robinho and the temperamental Elano, are becoming increasingly difficult - a significant obstacle as he tries to impress City's owners in Abu Dhabi."

"Robinho ..... joined the City party on the plane to Denmark wearing white trainers with his club suit but no tie!!!!"

I threw that last one in as an example of what a bad person Robinho must be. Most of these examples these were written with or by Ian Ladyman. Just take a look and contrast these with his slurping adulation of anything connected with Manyoo, and it is plain to see where his affections lie. I can understand him and it's perfectly okay, but let's be clear the constant carping is designed to have no other end than to loosen the masonry in the hope that the walls will crack. We are not taking issue with a United fan such as Ian L, (although it might be better if he would come out and say so now and again, so that everyone knows where his loyalty lies, especially his editor) but with the Press in general. That serial bed-hopper Henry Winter tries to be positive about City in a long article, but the first paragraph, (above), was pure malice.

Just listen to Mr Bandwagon, that paragon of virtue, Stan Collymore on the mirror.co.uk site;

"This weekend, I witnessed quite possibly the single worst performance ever seen in the Premier League ... and that makes me fear for Mark Hughes.
Playing for Brazil in midweek, Robinho was world class, unbelievable. But for Manchester City on Saturday, I swear he didn't move more than 10 yards all game.
It was an utter disgrace, because City were playing with nine men.
His Brazilian team-mate Elano wasn't much better, again after a world-class performance against Italy at the Emirates.
I don't care what excuses they both make, you simply cannot go from the sublime to something so ridiculous without there being an underlying reason.
Both players weren't interested in playing for their team, and for me, they are putting intense pressure on Hughes to get him sacked. I don't know if it will be at the end of the season, two months or two weeks down the line, but I can only see that outcome now."
And it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest either, to see Phil Scolari rock up at Eastlands when Hughes inevitably departs. There have been rumours already, and its no secret that both Brazilians are close to the former Chelsea manager.

Robinho was particularly poor in that game, and has continued a bad run of form, but to turn it into a crisis is again purely designed to destabilise and demoralise fans and players alike. Chipping away at the bedrock, like a medieval siege. Here's more;

timesonline.co.uk
A distortion of the market, a price tag beyond justification and a ludicrous salary. Yes, it is Manchester City we are talking about, although not their thwarted £100 million raid for Kaká, but the club’s £14 million pounce for Craig Bellamy.

mirror.co.uk
Mark Hughes claims he is the man in the Manchester City driving seat.
In fact, he is simply riding shotgun on a runaway train that is thundering into insanity at a rate of knots. As the real Eastlands decision makers - from their palaces in the Abu Dhabi desert - were said by Milan to have offered to increase their world record bid for Kaka by millions, any pretence that Hughes was really in control had to be abandoned.

telegraph.co.uk
The Guardian claims that the Abu Dhabi-owned club are preparing to use their £32.5 million striker, who has only been at the club for seven months, as bait in a player-plus cash offer that would see Terry double his £135,000 weekly wages.

guardian.co.uk
"Information has also reached City (HUH??) that Robinho may be questioning his future in Manchester anyway. There have been persistent reports that he was keen to join Chelsea before Luiz Felipe Scolari's sacking as manager. Senior figures at City have heard likewise." Which senior figures, and from whom has the information reached City? Do they think we're stupid? Of course they do!

John Terry has made it perfectly clear on a number of occasions that his heart is with Chelsea FC and nowhere else, a loyal servant, hats off to him. Dredging up old rumours like this one is again purely designed to dig away at the foundations and .....Oh you know the rest by now.

If you haven't fallen asleep, thank you. I apologise for making you wade through that lot, but this is only a small portion of the tripe they have dished up lately, and I am sure that they never got on the backs of Aston Villa's Martin O'Neill quite so much, or Everton's Davy Moyes for threatening the top four, or anybody else with a desire to upset the premiership apple-cart by trying to become a force in the game. The very language they use is awash with negative words and phrases selected very carefully by the writers. Trained journos all.

So it leads us to the inescapable conclusion that there is in fact another agenda at work here. Okay Ian Ladyman is a Manchester United fan, and a Sir Alex Ferguson acolyte, fair enough. But why such vitriol from all angles aimed directly at City? Why not at Randy Lerner? Why not the Icelanders? Why not the Americans at the pool? Why not Mohammed Al-Fayed? too establishment now, is he? A national treasure?

Could it be because City are funded now by the petro-dollar? That a group of ABU DHABI businessmen are in control, rather than a group of Rich Texans? Are they concerned that there is a possibility that a rich and successful club could arise like a phoenix wearing a Bedouin Kuffiyya and an Agal? It makes you wonder dunnit?