Billionaire football club owners aren’t synonymous with patience. You only have to look at the managerial carousels at Chelsea and QPR to see that. However, at the Middle-Eastlands - the most heavily landed gentry of the lot - things are playing themselves out a little differently.
Once the oil rich royalty from Abu Dhabi took over at Manchester City, it appeared as though Mark Hughes’s days were numbered. Breaking the British transfer record for Robinho and shouting the odds about signing Kaka, Messi and Ronaldo, the quiet and unassuming Welshman’s position seemed tenuous.
However, things have changed markedly since those initial heady days. City’s new owners found out the hard way that even £100m+ and £500k-per-week couldn’t convince Kaka to line up alongside Michael Ball. Instead they have stuck by Hughes and had faith in the manager’s choices. Despite an uninspiring campaign, talk of a sacking has never been seriously mooted.
Instead the Sheikhs have given the manager time and money to build a squad in his image. Gone is the talk of global superstars and in their place they have signed the likes of Craig Bellamy, Wayne Bridge, Nigel De Jong and Gareth Barry – all patently Hughes’s choices.
Even so, their patience is unlikely to last forever. Hughes must surely deliver a credible challenge towards the upper-echelons of the league next season or lose his job.
But by demonstrating adherence to the manager’s transfer policy and resisting meddling, Manchester City’s owners have shown a deeper and more considered understanding of building a successful football club than anyone would have given them credit for – a fact that bodes well for any future hot-seat incumbent. In doing so they are laying the foundations of a team soon to be challenging for major honours.