“help our team move to the next level”

The matter of Robinho’s absence from training camp has been blown far out of proportion by the media and although it has been discussed in-length by all parties, Mr. Robson de Souza has once again expressed his commitment to the club with the following statement on his official web-site:

“I like living in Manchester and I have made many friends at the club and at the city, since I arrived last year. I admire the Manchester City fans, who are truly lovers of football and loyal to the club players. I am looking forward to delivering as many goals as possible to help our team move to the next level”.

“I have a good relationship with coach Mark Hughes and have always respected his decisions. He is the boss!”

While I suspect this isn’t the end of this story publicly and it will be dealt with internally properly by Mark Hughes, City fans need to show some support for their star player. Commitment to the club is reciprocal and locally the support for him has been less than forthcoming. City is, whether the status quo can handle it or not, is building a club of the future. While power-brokers lobby UEFA to limit transfer pricing in order to stave off a well positioned club such as City, the shot across the bow is to maintain the status quo. More on this matter later, but City supporters, stand up and be counted for the young player or you’ll find your silence the reason why others won’t wear the sky-blue.