mancityblues.com

Remember Dr Sulaiman Al-Fahim? He was the man who fronted ADUG when they bought the club off Dr Thaksin. He has popped up again fronting a consortium buying Pompey, or not, as the case may be. Dr Al-Fahim caused something of a storm with his big-spender pronouncements, something we have never really lived down. He was removed smartish, but like grit to a blanket, we remain smeared as the minnows with the moneybags. All gas and shinpads.

And they wasted no time knocking us down.

Then came Sheikh Mansour, if not the power behind the throne, certainly the head of ADUG. He steadied the ship, assured Garry Cooke of his full confidence, but brought in his own man - Khaldoon Al-Mubarak as Chairman.

I think I have the timing of events right, the appointment of Al Mubarak was followed or just preceded by an open letter to City fans, stating the aims of the new owners in great detail.

It included this;

My intention is that Manchester City has the very best people at its disposal, both on and off the field. For that reason I have asked my friend Khaldoon Al Mubarak, to take on the position of Chairman of the Club. My request to him has been to put together a board and executive team that is worthy of the heritage and potential of Manchester City.
Khaldoon and I have agreed that the we will not be making any more announcements for a while as we really now need to sit down with the manager, Executive Chairman and key staff and put together plans that will, over time, get the Club to where we want it to be. That is the stage we are entering now and as anyone who runs a business knows, this involves a lot of listening, and a lot of talking to many stakeholders and research and discussion before plans can be announced.

It's worth noting that by stakeholders, they are referring to anyone with an interest in MCFC, customers, players, staff, everyone. And that process has evidently led to some interesting conclusions.

We know that there are advanced talks with the council about the Eastlands site, there is a new office complex under way, but most intriguing is the decision to re-site the training facilities within a stone's throw of the Stadium, bringing the whole operation into the heart of Manchester where it belongs. they have recognised the history and tradition of the club, and are keen to exploit it to it's fullest commercial advantage.

This is from City fan Andy Morris, on bleacherreport.com

The image of City is of paramount importance and it will be a move back to more traditional club values that will also help in developing the already extraordinary links between club and community.

It may be small beer in terms of the larger developments but the new kits have been designed to draw the club back to its roots, with direct links to the more succesful eras in the club's history.

The overall aim is to create a more visible club, a better spectator experience tied to traditional values.

The Chairman recently;

This is a club that has had 10 managers in 15 years and changes of ownership
It is hard to believe we have ever had a real pre-season.
This time we will have that and will do so with a year's experiences behind us and that will make us stronger.
Next year is going to be better than this one. The club has a lot more stability."

I must say the whole enterprise, or project, as the manager calls it, seems to have solid foundations in good business practise. There only remains what the good Dr Al-Fahim said in interview the day after the purchase was announced, remember the mirror.co.uk after the initial shock? I bet you don't. He said this;

The man behind yesterday's sensational takeover of Manchester City has given manager Mark Hughes just three years to win the Champions League.

Sulaiman said in an exclusive interview that he wants to buy 18 new players - at a cost of £30million each.

He added: "I need to meet the manager but the best players in the world average £30million. We need a minimum of 18 players at that level.

Without that you can't win the Champions League."

I laughed when I read that, but I'm not laughing now. Al-Fahim may have moved on, but he wasn't talking completely out of his Dishdash, and now Khaldoon Al-Mubarak has his sights set on the same goal, but without the cash free-for-all. We leave that to Real.

CLEVBLUE