Man City extended their Europa League hopes with a 2-1 victory over Everton at Goodison Park. The victory marked the Citizens first away from home since the hazy days of August and leaves them only three points behind Fulham in seventh place.
Without the services of Pablo Zabaleta and Shaun Wright-Phillips, Mark Hughes' side took the lead with ten minutes remaining in the half as Elano's long ball through the left channel to Robinho, was topped off with the Brazilian driving the ball past Tim Howard from a tight angle. The Samba was alive and well as smiles returned on the day and after Shay Given robbed Marouane Fellaini from point-blank range, Man City doubled the margin nine minutes into the new half. In an uncharacteristic defensive lapse by Everton, Felipe Caicedo provided the ball to Robinho on the left with the virtual right side open for Stephen Ireland to wander free and volley in the Brazilian's deft chip. Unfortunately for David Moyes side Phil Jagielka suffered a season ending knee injury and with an extended injury time Everton's superb young midfielder Dan Gosling accepted Steven Pienaar's provision and drove the ball to the right corner from the centre of the box.
Man City returns to action next Saturday as they welcome Blackburn Rovers to Eastlands.
Showing posts with label Robinho. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Robinho. Show all posts
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Robinho has not walked out on Man City
While media rag The Daily Mail broke news that Robinho had sent Manchester City into a “crisis” situation and had runaway from the club they failed to check their facts. Unfortunately young Mr. Robson de Souza was an easy target for the blood-thirsty media looking to “break” a story and the situation was not only blown out of proportion.
Robinho did not walk of camp in a mutinous situation per my inside reports. He, as he has done in the past returned home to Brazil to be with his family. While it is true that he was upset with how the deal to bring Kaká from AC Milan fell through and would like the club to sign a number of other Brazilian players, he is not a “runaway” as the rag reported.
It is his twenty-fifth birthday on Saturday and while he felt he communicated the matter with the club and was under the belief he had approval to go home to be with friends and family.
Further to this news, BBC Sport in an effort to clear up the situation contacted Robinho and inquired about his absence. In response to the situation he said:
“I had made Manchester City aware that I needed to return to Brazil because of a family matter. I will return to the club and hope to sort out this matter as soon as possible.”
While there is definitely a problem related to his absence, much of has to do with poor communication channels within the club from players and administration. As the club grows and looks to bring in talent from around the world, all with varying levels of being able speak English, it needs appropriate administration to monitor contacts.
However with this situation, all reports both documented in the media and internally suggest this situation is easily dealt with and unfortunately embellished by the poor journalistic practices and common fact-checking is performed.
Robinho is “committed to helping Manchester City”
As noted previously that Robinho had not walked out on Manchester City and all reports suggesting that were pure fabrication, the soon to-be birthday boy stated via his official web-site:
“I would like to make it clear to the fans what the situation is, so that they can understand my decision to fly home to Brasil.”
“Earlier in the month I made Manchester City aware that I needed to return to Brasil, because of a family matter. The club agreed and I was grateful to them for this.”
“Up until yesterday it was my understanding that the club had no problem with my plans.”
“I feel it is important to underline that I did not return to Brasil because of the Kaka deal. He is one of my good friends and it would have been great to see him at Manchester City - but it had nothing to do with his decision to stay in Milan.”
“I will return to the club and hope to sort out this matter as soon as possible. I am committed to helping Manchester City become the force the owners assured me they will become.”
“I would like to make it clear to the fans what the situation is, so that they can understand my decision to fly home to Brasil.”
“Earlier in the month I made Manchester City aware that I needed to return to Brasil, because of a family matter. The club agreed and I was grateful to them for this.”
“Up until yesterday it was my understanding that the club had no problem with my plans.”
“I feel it is important to underline that I did not return to Brasil because of the Kaka deal. He is one of my good friends and it would have been great to see him at Manchester City - but it had nothing to do with his decision to stay in Milan.”
“I will return to the club and hope to sort out this matter as soon as possible. I am committed to helping Manchester City become the force the owners assured me they will become.”
Garry Cook’s view of the events
As the deal to bring Kaká from AC Milan to Manchester City came apart in the oddest of circumstances, a number of cold hard facts were left off the plate. While they will be speculated for quite some time, £100m plus deal do not evaporate without reason.
Man City executive chairman Garry Cook said via the club web-site:
“I think the intention from AC Milan was clearly to sell their player and Manchester City’s intention was clearly to bring him to the football club.
“I think there was some political pressure and definitely media space that they engaged in. To be honest, I think they bottled it, simple as that.”
“They live in a different space than we do as a football club and it’s been interesting to watch their behaviour.
“We never met the player, we only met the representatives, we never actually made him an offer on personal terms.
“So it’s very difficult to turn down something that you’ve not been offered.
“We’ve heard everything and there’s been a bit of mudslinging, but we’re going to choose not to get into that, our objective is that we’re building a football club for the long term.
“It would have been great to have had Kaka at this football club, the Premier League would have benefitted, football would have benefitted and we were willing to make that investment on rational terms. Unfortunately, the behaviour that they showed was not what we had expected nor had we anticipated.
“We’ve been to Milan four times and the delegation yesterday involved three lawyers that represent the legal counsel for Manchester City football club.
“It also involved a board member who had flown half way around the world from Abu Dhabi, myself and one other senior executive.
“We were confined to a room, with no food or drink, and we asked some questions of the football club and more importantly we asked some questions of the representatives of the player and they simple could not answer the questions.
“What they wanted to talk about was; ‘how much are you going to pay him?’We chose not to get into that and we didn’t make an offer to the player.
“Is he a great footballer? Yes. Does he represent all the values you would want to have as an ambassador of the sport global and were we looking for the opportunity to joint venture in areas that would take this club on to a different platform? Yes, but unfortunately the landscape changed and his representatives wanted to talk about how much we were going to pay him.
“Money was certainly the motive yesterday.”
Man City executive chairman Garry Cook said via the club web-site:
“I think the intention from AC Milan was clearly to sell their player and Manchester City’s intention was clearly to bring him to the football club.
“I think there was some political pressure and definitely media space that they engaged in. To be honest, I think they bottled it, simple as that.”
“They live in a different space than we do as a football club and it’s been interesting to watch their behaviour.
“We never met the player, we only met the representatives, we never actually made him an offer on personal terms.
“So it’s very difficult to turn down something that you’ve not been offered.
“We’ve heard everything and there’s been a bit of mudslinging, but we’re going to choose not to get into that, our objective is that we’re building a football club for the long term.
“It would have been great to have had Kaka at this football club, the Premier League would have benefitted, football would have benefitted and we were willing to make that investment on rational terms. Unfortunately, the behaviour that they showed was not what we had expected nor had we anticipated.
“We’ve been to Milan four times and the delegation yesterday involved three lawyers that represent the legal counsel for Manchester City football club.
“It also involved a board member who had flown half way around the world from Abu Dhabi, myself and one other senior executive.
“We were confined to a room, with no food or drink, and we asked some questions of the football club and more importantly we asked some questions of the representatives of the player and they simple could not answer the questions.
“What they wanted to talk about was; ‘how much are you going to pay him?’We chose not to get into that and we didn’t make an offer to the player.
“Is he a great footballer? Yes. Does he represent all the values you would want to have as an ambassador of the sport global and were we looking for the opportunity to joint venture in areas that would take this club on to a different platform? Yes, but unfortunately the landscape changed and his representatives wanted to talk about how much we were going to pay him.
“Money was certainly the motive yesterday.”
Robinho’s official statement
While tabloids that are best only used for bird-cage liners embellish stories so they can sell a few more copies, Robinho has issued an official statement regarding his absence at training camp:
“I’m happy at Manchester City”
“I would like to make it clear to the fans what the situation is, so that they can understand my decision to fly home to Brazil.”
“Earlier in the month I made Manchester City aware that I needed to return to Brazil, because of a family matter. The club agreed and I was grateful to them for this.”
“Up until yesterday it was my understanding that the club had no problem with my plans.”
“I feel it is important to underline that I did not return to Brazil because of the Kaka deal. He is one of my good friends and it would have been great to see him at Manchester City - but it had nothing to do with his decision to stay in Milan.”
“I will return to the club and hope to sort out this matter as soon as possible. I am committed to helping Manchester City become the force the owners assured me they will become.”
This matter has been blown completely out of proportion by a media groups that are far from “investigative journalists.” While his departure at training camp is far from desirable, not only is the club at fault for some of this as it does not have sufficient administrative staffing, amongst other organizational issues, it equally should have planned better for this situation. I envision that the club will bang the drum loudly of his absence in the media and then back track behind closed doors. In the world of Football management this is a easily handled problem and if they cannot handle it, well then they shouldn’t be trying to attract the best players in the world.
“I’m happy at Manchester City”
“I would like to make it clear to the fans what the situation is, so that they can understand my decision to fly home to Brazil.”
“Earlier in the month I made Manchester City aware that I needed to return to Brazil, because of a family matter. The club agreed and I was grateful to them for this.”
“Up until yesterday it was my understanding that the club had no problem with my plans.”
“I feel it is important to underline that I did not return to Brazil because of the Kaka deal. He is one of my good friends and it would have been great to see him at Manchester City - but it had nothing to do with his decision to stay in Milan.”
“I will return to the club and hope to sort out this matter as soon as possible. I am committed to helping Manchester City become the force the owners assured me they will become.”
This matter has been blown completely out of proportion by a media groups that are far from “investigative journalists.” While his departure at training camp is far from desirable, not only is the club at fault for some of this as it does not have sufficient administrative staffing, amongst other organizational issues, it equally should have planned better for this situation. I envision that the club will bang the drum loudly of his absence in the media and then back track behind closed doors. In the world of Football management this is a easily handled problem and if they cannot handle it, well then they shouldn’t be trying to attract the best players in the world.
How the Kaká deal fell apart
As the Football world quickly moves away from the events leading up to Kaká staying at AC Milan and not moving as most believed to Manchester City, a number of interesting twists in the tale have come to light.
From the start of this deal to its very end it involved not only the respective clubs and player but the powerful forces of Adidas, Nike as well as Walt Disney Co.’s ESPN TV network stated intent of purchasing the rights to English Premier League matches live. From the broadcasting vantage in many ways the potential move of Kaká to Manchester City represented a near perfect situation for Disney’s expansion into Football and the Citizens global branding with one of the sports best examples on and off the pitch. A great athlete not only known for his on-pitch splendor but of irrefutable character and quite possibly the perfect figurehead for the sports emergence within the American market. However not to be outdone, the targeting of Kaká, one of the most recognizable names in the Adidas stable, would result in the German based company fighting off any his move from the club with whatever they could muster.
While in the shadows of this entire deal, with City headed up by ex-Nike man Gary Cook as chief executive it is not by chance that their attempts were directed towards one of their rivals most well-known athletes in a cutting piece of corporate warring. Along with his Nike’s £285 acquisition of Umbro and sponsorship involvement of England’s national academy, this was a point in the massive financial battle of worlds Football market as City moves slowly affiliates itself with Nike.
However what remains to be seen is the “how and why” Man City executives were “played” in this situation. While in the past the executive team of the Citizens have made a series of negotiation blunders, this time they were letter perfect and came with a brilliant plan. Knowing full well that Mr. Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite aka Kaká is a man of the highest moral character and it would take more than just a sizable contract to lure him to Manchester, they were ready to table a proposition that would fulfill some of his personal goals, building a charitable foundation of extraordinary proportion. If true be told, City’s management which has stumbled on many occasions, outdid itself in a not only a brilliant tactical move but one to bring it to the forefront of sports management. However these plans went astray quickly and after acknowledging Kaká represents the values as the ambassador of the sport that Man City wishes to project, Mr. Cook noted that they were never able to meet with him and all “his representatives wanted to talk about how much we were going to pay him.”
After vetting AC Milan’s interest in negotiating a deal and being assured “Milan made it quite clear Kaka was for sale”, as Mr Cook told the BBC, he along with a board member from Abu Dhabi and one other senior executive flew to Milan to finalize the deal. However the intent of Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and owner of AC Milan changed as per Mr. Cook:
“We were confined to a room, with no food or drink, and we asked some questions of the football club and more importantly we asked some questions of the representatives of the player and they simple could not answer the questions.”
So what happened to the deal?
Well possibly the greatest hint of things to come in a highly intertwined deal is the breadcrumbs left by Kaká’s teammate David Beckham, as less than forty-eight hours of the deal collapsing when he informed Spanish media source “AS” that the he is likely to move to Real Madrid, where he can continue wearing the three stripes this summer.
So has the price of a deal already orchestrated been raised?
more to follow on what was once a game
From the start of this deal to its very end it involved not only the respective clubs and player but the powerful forces of Adidas, Nike as well as Walt Disney Co.’s ESPN TV network stated intent of purchasing the rights to English Premier League matches live. From the broadcasting vantage in many ways the potential move of Kaká to Manchester City represented a near perfect situation for Disney’s expansion into Football and the Citizens global branding with one of the sports best examples on and off the pitch. A great athlete not only known for his on-pitch splendor but of irrefutable character and quite possibly the perfect figurehead for the sports emergence within the American market. However not to be outdone, the targeting of Kaká, one of the most recognizable names in the Adidas stable, would result in the German based company fighting off any his move from the club with whatever they could muster.
While in the shadows of this entire deal, with City headed up by ex-Nike man Gary Cook as chief executive it is not by chance that their attempts were directed towards one of their rivals most well-known athletes in a cutting piece of corporate warring. Along with his Nike’s £285 acquisition of Umbro and sponsorship involvement of England’s national academy, this was a point in the massive financial battle of worlds Football market as City moves slowly affiliates itself with Nike.
However what remains to be seen is the “how and why” Man City executives were “played” in this situation. While in the past the executive team of the Citizens have made a series of negotiation blunders, this time they were letter perfect and came with a brilliant plan. Knowing full well that Mr. Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite aka Kaká is a man of the highest moral character and it would take more than just a sizable contract to lure him to Manchester, they were ready to table a proposition that would fulfill some of his personal goals, building a charitable foundation of extraordinary proportion. If true be told, City’s management which has stumbled on many occasions, outdid itself in a not only a brilliant tactical move but one to bring it to the forefront of sports management. However these plans went astray quickly and after acknowledging Kaká represents the values as the ambassador of the sport that Man City wishes to project, Mr. Cook noted that they were never able to meet with him and all “his representatives wanted to talk about how much we were going to pay him.”
After vetting AC Milan’s interest in negotiating a deal and being assured “Milan made it quite clear Kaka was for sale”, as Mr Cook told the BBC, he along with a board member from Abu Dhabi and one other senior executive flew to Milan to finalize the deal. However the intent of Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and owner of AC Milan changed as per Mr. Cook:
“We were confined to a room, with no food or drink, and we asked some questions of the football club and more importantly we asked some questions of the representatives of the player and they simple could not answer the questions.”
So what happened to the deal?
Well possibly the greatest hint of things to come in a highly intertwined deal is the breadcrumbs left by Kaká’s teammate David Beckham, as less than forty-eight hours of the deal collapsing when he informed Spanish media source “AS” that the he is likely to move to Real Madrid, where he can continue wearing the three stripes this summer.
So has the price of a deal already orchestrated been raised?
more to follow on what was once a game
Robinho is “committed to helping Manchester City”
As noted previously that Robinho had not walked out on Manchester City and all reports suggesting that were pure fabrication, the soon to-be birthday boy stated via his official web-site:
“I would like to make it clear to the fans what the situation is, so that they can understand my decision to fly home to Brasil.”
“Earlier in the month I made Manchester City aware that I needed to return to Brasil, because of a family matter. The club agreed and I was grateful to them for this.”
“Up until yesterday it was my understanding that the club had no problem with my plans.”
“I feel it is important to underline that I did not return to Brasil because of the Kaka deal. He is one of my good friends and it would have been great to see him at Manchester City - but it had nothing to do with his decision to stay in Milan.”
“I will return to the club and hope to sort out this matter as soon as possible. I am committed to helping Manchester City become the force the owners assured me they will become.”
“I would like to make it clear to the fans what the situation is, so that they can understand my decision to fly home to Brasil.”
“Earlier in the month I made Manchester City aware that I needed to return to Brasil, because of a family matter. The club agreed and I was grateful to them for this.”
“Up until yesterday it was my understanding that the club had no problem with my plans.”
“I feel it is important to underline that I did not return to Brasil because of the Kaka deal. He is one of my good friends and it would have been great to see him at Manchester City - but it had nothing to do with his decision to stay in Milan.”
“I will return to the club and hope to sort out this matter as soon as possible. I am committed to helping Manchester City become the force the owners assured me they will become.”
Saturday, January 10, 2009
the truth of Andrei Arshavin rumours
As the Sunday Mirror, reported that Manchester City is launching an offer to bring in Zenit Saint Petersburg’s Andrei Arshavin with a £18m deal a number of questions prevail of the supposed deal. Although the facts of the article cannot be substantiated, the fundamental notions are truthful but equally the deal is put into place because of a number of factors, most notably poor negotiation tactics of City’s management.
While the intentions of new owners Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan and chairmanship Khaldoon Al Mubarak were to build the Citizens into one of the top clubs in the Premier League if not all of Football, starting with the £32.5m acquisition of Brazilian star Robinho from Real Madrid before the summer transfer window closed, there-after the commentary and actions of management have lacked professionalism as it relates to negotiation tactics. Effectively by announcing their intentions of spending of £100m and not denying rumours of a massive investment, they have played their cards and clubs are responding to their first efforts with a resounding, “no.” Whether it is Blackburn’s Sam Allardyce dismissing Man City’s offer for striker Roque Santa Cruz or West Ham making it known that targeted Craig Bellamy will require a kings ransom, the Football community know the Citizens not only have the resources but willing to splash it around like “new-money” does and show little prejudice. This has resulted in clubs knowing that City will “run up” the bid, particularly as the window period stretches on. While this has little chance to find the powers that be around City offices, amongst areas they need to invest in, beyond the Academy and solid medical unit, a negotiation specialist is warranted and someone who won’t announce that they will spend whatever it takes. While that might sell some quaint little scarves to fans, it will leave you over-spending in the transfer market as you chase targets.
However returning to the situation of Andrei Arshavin, with the twenty-seven year-old Russian international widely speculated on a move to Arsenal the north-London said has come up with a very weak offer. Per the Sun, Zenit Saint Petersburg spokesman Alexei Petrov said:
“I can confirm that Zenit did get an official offer from Arsenal about Andrei Arshavin. It was rejected as insufficient. They offered about £10 million.”
Given this situation and that Arsenal is presently offering less than half the Russian club’s asking price, the opportunity is for Man City to present a formal, knock down offer to Zenit with a drop-dead sign back period. If done in a professional manner, where the media is not involved, City has a chance to acquire one of the games most explosive manners.
While the intentions of new owners Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan and chairmanship Khaldoon Al Mubarak were to build the Citizens into one of the top clubs in the Premier League if not all of Football, starting with the £32.5m acquisition of Brazilian star Robinho from Real Madrid before the summer transfer window closed, there-after the commentary and actions of management have lacked professionalism as it relates to negotiation tactics. Effectively by announcing their intentions of spending of £100m and not denying rumours of a massive investment, they have played their cards and clubs are responding to their first efforts with a resounding, “no.” Whether it is Blackburn’s Sam Allardyce dismissing Man City’s offer for striker Roque Santa Cruz or West Ham making it known that targeted Craig Bellamy will require a kings ransom, the Football community know the Citizens not only have the resources but willing to splash it around like “new-money” does and show little prejudice. This has resulted in clubs knowing that City will “run up” the bid, particularly as the window period stretches on. While this has little chance to find the powers that be around City offices, amongst areas they need to invest in, beyond the Academy and solid medical unit, a negotiation specialist is warranted and someone who won’t announce that they will spend whatever it takes. While that might sell some quaint little scarves to fans, it will leave you over-spending in the transfer market as you chase targets.
However returning to the situation of Andrei Arshavin, with the twenty-seven year-old Russian international widely speculated on a move to Arsenal the north-London said has come up with a very weak offer. Per the Sun, Zenit Saint Petersburg spokesman Alexei Petrov said:
“I can confirm that Zenit did get an official offer from Arsenal about Andrei Arshavin. It was rejected as insufficient. They offered about £10 million.”
Given this situation and that Arsenal is presently offering less than half the Russian club’s asking price, the opportunity is for Man City to present a formal, knock down offer to Zenit with a drop-dead sign back period. If done in a professional manner, where the media is not involved, City has a chance to acquire one of the games most explosive manners.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
“I want to be king of Manchester City”
Since coming over from Real Madrid, Robinho has become a ground favourite of Eastlands. However the Brazilian international is far from satisfied from his performance noting his desire to “king of Manchester City.”
While not pleased with his performance he questions whether the air-lift of new players has players worried of their position, resulting in poor performance:
“One theory I have is that the constant rumours about possible reinforcements in January have damaged us in some way.
“Some of my team-mates do perhaps fear for their future and that is not positive, I guess. But there is nothing we can do about that apart from try not to let it affect us.”
To this I have to say, if a professional athlete whimpers that he cannot play please get rid of him fast. Competition is a natural part of athletics and within elite athletics you have to be able to handle the stress or you’ll fail. If players find the threat of losing their job “too stressful”, they should not have the job to worry about.
While not pleased with his performance he questions whether the air-lift of new players has players worried of their position, resulting in poor performance:
“One theory I have is that the constant rumours about possible reinforcements in January have damaged us in some way.
“Some of my team-mates do perhaps fear for their future and that is not positive, I guess. But there is nothing we can do about that apart from try not to let it affect us.”
To this I have to say, if a professional athlete whimpers that he cannot play please get rid of him fast. Competition is a natural part of athletics and within elite athletics you have to be able to handle the stress or you’ll fail. If players find the threat of losing their job “too stressful”, they should not have the job to worry about.
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