Hughes, son, you have a problem

[Dorset]

Those of us who thought that City’s most recent targeted attempt to buy the Premiership might, at long last, have little or nothing at all to do with our own club’s affairs were, sad to say, disappointed. Others amongst us, who have seen a disconcerting pattern developing at Middle Eastlands, were hardly surprised that JT was not only on their hit list, but right at the top of it. City’s desire to be like us has gone beyond the stage of groupie infatuation, wandered into the world of the copycat creep, and now gets under our skin by calling for, at any cost apparently, our very heart and soul. Evidence to back up my assertion [that they have become Chelsea obsessive] hasn’t been too hard to find…

Okay, it may be stretching the point, but you could go back as far as the Citeh appointment of Sven to see the first signs of marvelling at the Roman model. Remember that frightening link with us and the Swede during Claudio’s time? Well, it doesn’t take much imagination to suggest that, once they’d come into money, he was bound to be called upon to spend some of it in much the same way as he might have done at the Bridge, illicit meetings and dodged bullets permitting. Guilty by association on that one maybe, but Hughes, Niedzwiecki and Hitchcock spring to mind too and since they were installed we’ve seen SWP bought back, no doubt for numerous reasons, though one of them could easily be that, if we had wanted him in our gang several seasons before, they couldn’t go far wrong returning him to theirs, albeit for the relatively short period before he returns to the bench warmer he’d already become for us.

Next up was Robinho, who provided the clearest example of wanna-be-like-you-ism you could ever wish to see. Never a target in the truest sense of the word, the Brazilian became an instant object of desire for City primarily because we were after him and, from the moment they could afford him, this in itself rubberstamped the guy’s authenticity. Need a fullback? Look no further than Bridgey, he’s got to be good for one very obvious reason. I suppose we must be thankful that Frank, by knocking Inter back, put himself out of the running in no uncertain terms for the Citizen’s star midfield role, but no worries because the nearest thing to him (if you are myopic) was available from Villa at less than half the price. The same mindset was applied after Didier did his bit of snubbing, leaving Hughes looking around for someone similar and, lo and behold, Adebeyor turns up on the doorstep.

Only Santa Cruz and Tevez broke the fetish mould for stalking or snatching the Chelse model for success, the former not exactly being plucked from obscurity by his new, yet vaguely familiar, manager whilst the latter being virtually handed to him on a plate once guaranteed a permanent place in the hearts of both first team and fans. However, these two are the hard men of the frontline [as opposed to the flaky brigade of Robbie, Ade and the club carrying Bellamy] and it is their characters that align themselves to the Chelsea way so idolised by Cook and his cronies. Having said that, I’d start having some misgivings regarding Tevez should he continue to wear the little crochet number he favoured at his recent press conference. Am I mistaken or was he trying in some way to pay homage to those Beaufort twins in Blackadder?

Returning to the theme, you can see now why Man City’s pursuit of JT should come as no surprise to anybody, let alone a Chelsea fan. In short, Manchester City are displaying all the outward signs of besotted idolatry towards us as a club and acquiring John Terry would be the equivalent of stepping into our shoes and attempting to relive the dream seasons we had under Jose through our captain, that is after he has morphed into theirs for much more money than we could ever match, or would want to. I have to say that I find the whole idea of a project of this type, based on a sort of repetitive sports syndrome, to be somewhat strange, especially when the repeat process includes a creaking, albeit critical, part of the original blueprint. Let’s face it, there has to be many reasons why such a plan as this is doomed to fail, but at a time when we are celebrating the anniversary of the first trip to the moon an appropriate analogy is just too good to pass up…

Whilst taking John Terry from us is probably akin to getting a tried and tested moonwalker to take those first tentative steps for you, there is absolutely no reason why someone else can’t be on the end of the light blue umbilical cord and the fact that City feel they need a cord at all speaks volumes. City have every right to reach for the stars, after all imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but at no stage of this project can we possibly be comparing like with like and nothing highlights this more than the different situations facing both clubs at the beginning of their respective spending sprees. Whilst it's been said before, it may never be said in quite the same way again - achieving Champions League qualification and winning Premiership titles was one small step for the blue of Chelsea, but it’s one massive leap for the Manc kind.

Edited July 20, 2009 by Dorset

[TheWestwayWonder]

haha, dorset, that was certainly one of the most entertaining reads I can remember, even if I didnt agree with all of it

well done, and I loved the title

[Bez]

Enjoyed reading, loved the closing line. What a lot of Manc fans don't seem to realise is that when the Arab owners pack up and leave the club they are going to be in massive debt, they are not a big enough club to pull themselves out of it either. As Chelsea we are fine, obviously we are bigger club but most importantly is Roman has been a great owner especially by slashing half of our debt into chelsea shares for himself which is something i can't see the Arabs ever doing. Point is i don't see them staying at City long and they are going to crumble in the long term.

[TheWestwayWonder]

Enjoyed reading, loved the closing line. What a lot of Manc fans don't seem to realise is that when the Arab owners pack up and leave the club they are going to be in massive debt, they are not a big enough club to pull themselves out of it either. As Chelsea we are fine, obviously we are bigger club but most importantly is Roman has been a great owner especially by slashing half of our debt into chelsea shares for himself which is something i can't see the Arabs ever doing. Point is i don't see them staying at City long and they are going to crumble in the long term.

alright, i dont mean to play devils advocate, but this sounds scandalously close to what everyone else says when they slag us off

"If Roman gets bored and f**ks off youll be back where you belong!"

How many times have you heard that? I dont think ADUG and al Nayhan are going anywhere. If reports are to be belived the guy is certainly richer than Roman, and I think regards City purely as a hobby, rather than a profitable business as Roman is trying to turn us into.

I dont know the financial ins and outs of the City takeover, but I dont think they have saddled the club with debt from their spending. At least, it hasnt been reported that way

[abramovich]

alright, i dont mean to play devils advocate, but this sounds scandalously close to what everyone else says when they slag us off

"If Roman gets bored and f**ks off youll be back where you belong!"

How many times have you heard that? I dont think ADUG and al Nayhan are going anywhere. If reports are to be belived the guy is certainly richer than Roman, and I think regards City purely as a hobby, rather than a profitable business as Roman is trying to turn us into.

I dont know the financial ins and outs of the City takeover, but I dont think they have saddled the club with debt from their spending. At least, it hasnt been reported that way

I don't think sheiks are going anywhere either and they are, in fact, much much wealthier than Roman.

What I don't get is the part about the debt. We've spent a lot but we've been making money from our domestic success and were doing pretty well year after year in the CL and have Samsung sponsorship deal, yet we're losing money. City already spent quite a sum and their wage bill I'm sure has skyrocketed over the last year or so and it's just the beginning. They haven't won anything in more than 30 years, they're not in the CL and are not likely to contend let alone win anything in the next couple of years. Their stadium capacity is similar to the Bridge so the gate receipts won't make much of a difference.

Now I'm not an expert but I look at spending and wages on one hand and current source of income on the other and I can't see how can they not accumulate an enormous debt. The owners can't just write off the debt even if it doesn't particularly bother them,can they?

[bluemoon]

Enjoyed reading, loved the closing line. What a lot of Manc fans don't seem to realise is that when the Arab owners pack up and leave the club they are going to be in massive debt, they are not a big enough club to pull themselves out of it either. As Chelsea we are fine, obviously we are bigger club but most importantly is Roman has been a great owner especially by slashing half of our debt into chelsea shares for himself which is something i can't see the Arabs ever doing. Point is i don't see them staying at City long and they are going to crumble in the long term.

Keep telling yourself that.

[geezer]

Bluemoon, outside of the above comment have you had anyone else from other clubs coming up with the well worn "City will be up sh*tcreek without a paddle when the Arabs up sticks"?

[BLUENUT]

Bluemoon, outside of the above comment have you had anyone else from other clubs coming up with the well worn "City will be up sh*tcreek without a paddle when the Arabs up sticks"?

He'll have to learn to live with it Geezer.......we've had to!!

[geezer]

He'll have to learn to live with it Geezer.......we've had to!!

I know he will I was just asking if they'd had it rammed down their throats yet because we've had 6 years of the crap.

[dkw]

I know he will I was just asking if they'd had it rammed down their throats yet because we've had 6 years of the crap.

we have, and plenty of it from city fans too

[bluemoon]

Bluemoon, outside of the above comment have you had anyone else from other clubs coming up with the well worn "City will be up sh*tcreek without a paddle when the Arabs up sticks"?

Yep all day, every day.

I hear it and read it constantly. I genuinely believe they are here for the long haul and, although I cant say for certain, I believe the Sheikhs have written off all debt and are not leaving us saddled with the costs. The amount of money we are talking about is small fry to them.

I read the same about your club since day one but the irony is, it tends to come from United and dipper fans, the clubs who are already up sh*t creek without a paddle.

[DaveMCFC]

To be fair, i've not really heard that very often, but i'm sure they will do more and more.

Of course i can't be sure, but the Arab owners seem to look at it as a long term thing. They love their sport, and i don't think they'll be upping sticks for a long while.

They seem very very genuine.

Edited July 20, 2009 by DaveMCFC

[loz]

What amuses me about it is that Roman is at the vast majority of our games then when he missed a few back to back (in case anyone hadn't noticed he is a somewhat successful and fairly busy billionaire) games and he is reported as being ready to sell up.

Yet the Cyril Smith impersonator with the baseball cap at Utd has as much interest in watching a game at United as Joey Barton does in having a quiet Friday night in listening to lusty jazz and this never gets mentioned.

I am glad it was City they bought out - they were clearly going to invest in someone and rather it was City then say Arsenal. West ham or Spurs!

[ChelseaYankee]

Yep all day, every day.

I hear it and read it constantly. I genuinely believe they are here for the long haul and, although I cant say for certain, I believe the Sheikhs have written off all debt and are not leaving us saddled with the costs. The amount of money we are talking about is small fry to them.

I read the same about your club since day one but the irony is, it tends to come from United and dipper fans, the clubs who are already up sh*t creek without a paddle.

How much are they worth? 8 Billion? How much have they spent (total, not just on players)? 500 million? Although I've just made up the numbers that's 1/16th of their wealth already in just under a year. That's not small fry at all. I think it's all about them trying to show the world they are a force to be reckoned with more than it's a love for Man City or the EPL or the game itself. I'm sure they like soccer, but this is all about trying to impress the world with their opulence. They want to control and dominate the world's number one sport. Total short man's syndrome. I think they could stay for a long while, but if they don't get results they might be leaving sooner rather than later with their tails tucked between their legs off for some easier exploits to capitalize on.

[Lofty]

Yep all day, every day.

I hear it and read it constantly. I genuinely believe they are here for the long haul and, although I cant say for certain, I believe the Sheikhs have written off all debt and are not leaving us saddled with the costs. The amount of money we are talking about is small fry to them.

I read the same about your club since day one but the irony is, it tends to come from United and dipper fans, the clubs who are already up sh*t creek without a paddle.

Got it in one. Scousers in particular have been vociferous in their assertion that what's been happening at Stamford Bridge is everything that's wrong with the game - their conviction that Roman will get bored and leave the club in the lurch is even more hilariously delusional than the City fan who appealed to JT to "come home to Manchester where you belong" - honestly I'm not making it up!

I won't bother going through the crap we've had to put up with from Scousers. If they weren't so uniformly obnoxious I might even feel a little sorry for them. The worst are the plastic Scousers in their forties and fifties, the gloryhunting w**kers who began supporting Liverscum back when they were winning everything in sight, because they were winning everything in sight, and for no other reason. Scummy, hypocritical self-delusional arseholes the lot of them.

But think of it - that fat lardy arsed Spanish gay icon with a dodgy beard of a manager. Nowhere but Merseyside would this bitter, small-minded, obnoxiously arrogant fat bar steward be held up as the epitome of "class", "dignity" and .. "humility". Rafa the Spanish waiter: Classy, dignified and humble, Scouse git style.

[DaveMCFC]

How much are they worth? 8 Billion? How much have they spent (total, not just on players)? 500 million? Although I've just made up the numbers that's 1/16th of their wealth already in just under a year. That's not small fry at all. I think it's all about them trying to show the world they are a force to be reckoned with more than it's a love for Man City or the EPL or the game itself. I'm sure they like soccer, but this is all about trying to impress the world with their opulence. They want to control and dominate the world's number one sport. Total short man's syndrome. I think they could stay for a long while, but if they don't get results they might be leaving sooner rather than later with their tails tucked between their legs off for some easier exploits to capitalize on.

I think you're way off the mark.

I'm pretty sure he's worth over 500 billion.

I know he made a quick 2 billion alone buying and selling some shares in Barclays in a very short space of time.

Don't kid yourself, these guys have their heads screwed on.

I also think you're very wrong on your perception of them.

[coco]

How much are they worth? 8 Billion?

Add some more of these 0000000

[dkw]

Got it in one. Scousers in particular have been vociferous in their assertion that what's been happening at Stamford Bridge is everything that's wrong with the game - their conviction that Roman will get bored and leave the club in the lurch is even more hilariously delusional than the City fan who appealed to JT to "come home to Manchester where you belong" - honestly I'm not making it up!

I won't bother going through the crap we've had to put up with from Scousers. If they weren't so uniformly obnoxious I might even feel a little sorry for them. The worst are the plastic Scousers in their forties and fifties, the gloryhunting w**kers who began supporting Liverscum back when they were winning everything in sight, because they were winning everything in sight, and for no other reason. Scummy, hypocritical self-delusional arseholes the lot of them.

But think of it - that fat lardy arsed Spanish gay icon with a dodgy beard of a manager. Nowhere but Merseyside would this bitter, small-minded, obnoxiously arrogant fat bar steward be held up as the epitome of "class", "dignity" and .. "humility". Rafa the Spanish waiter: Classy, dignified and humble, Scouse git style.

the best bit about the dippers getting so upset was the way they then wanted and got their own club to whore itself to anyone with a bit of money, and argued it was ok because it was the only way they could keep up. hypocrtitical f**king dickheads.

[coco]

I think you're way off the mark.

I'm pretty sure he's worth over 500 billion.

I know he made a quick 2 billion alone buying and selling some shares in Barclays in a very short space of time.

Don't kid yourself, these guys have their heads screwed on.

I also think you're very wrong on your perception of them.

Whilst he was a few trillion £ out, he wasnt far wrong with the "trying to impress the world with their opulence" remark. Thats what its all about afterall, yachts, skyscrapers, football clubs, they all want the biggest and the best.

[geezer]

they all want the biggest and the best.

Nothing wrong with that. I'm sure Roman has the same desire for Chelsea and let's face it he's Mr Yachtman when it comes to getting the best yachts

[dkw]

Whilst he was a few trillion £ out, he wasnt far wrong with the "trying to impress the world with their opulence" remark. Thats what its all about afterall, yachts, skyscrapers, football clubs, they all want the biggest and the best.

it is basically a willy waving competition between certain rich nations such as abu dabi and saudi etc... who`s got the biggest skyscrapers, who`s got the biggest boats, who owns the biggest football club.......wish i could play.

Edited July 20, 2009 by dkw

[coco]

Nothing wrong with that. I'm sure Roman has the same desire for Chelsea and let's face it he's Mr Yachtman when it comes to getting the best yachts

No Im not saying anything is wrong with that, just pointing out that ChelseaYankee's perception of that wasnt far off.

[geezer]

it is basically a willy waving competition between certain rich nations such as abu dabi and saudi etc... who`s got the biggest skyscrapers, who`s got the biggest boats, who owns the biggest football club.......wish i could play.

Maybe you can. All we need to do is decide what it is we want to wave our willy's about then we can have our very own shedend competition. The girls can have their own tittie waving competition too (though Moi has an unfair advantage over Val)

[DaveMCFC]

No Im not saying anything is wrong with that, just pointing out that ChelseaYankee's perception of that wasnt far off.

It was this bit that i was disagreeing with really.

"Total short man's syndrome. I think they could stay for a long while, but if they don't get results they might be leaving sooner rather than later with their tails tucked between their legs off for some easier exploits to capitalize on."

[moi]

Maybe you can. All we need to do is decide what it is we want to wave our willy's about then we can have our very own shedend competition. The girls can have their own tittie waving competition too (though Moi has an unfair advantage over Val)

When did titties become the feminine equivalent of a willy? You have a lot to learn about the female anatomy, young Geezer!