Al Mubarak to rebuild Man City
Manchester City’s new chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has stated that he wishes to create a “dynasty” out of Man City in a “sustainable manner”. After the increasing worries about foregin investors buying Premeir league clubs it seemed that Al Mubarak felt it was necessary to assure fans that he would not be controlling player transfers. Instead he suggested that he would leave the work to the professionals and would not interefere. The Man City takeover by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan and his Abu Dhabi United Group was completed soon after City’s 6-0 demolition of Portsmouth.
“We are genuine people and we want to develop this club in a sustainable manner. Nothing rash is going to happen, we are not going to do crazy stuff. We will work with (executive chairman) Garry Cook and Mark. They call the shots and we are here to support to help build a sustainable club. Mark is as good as they get and we are backing him all the way. He makes the football decisions and we are here to learn. We want to hear from the fans and the community. We want to bring this club back to the community and to the fans. We are here as long-term investors, and it makes sense for us to build a dynasty. Between Mark and Garry, I think we have a dynasty in the making. With our backing, with the commitment we are going to make to the academy in the next 10 years there is going to be a tremendous period for Manchester City and for us. And I think we are going to have a blast doing it!”
He continued to re-state what he had already said in order to assuage any fears that he would be over-controlling in his control of the club:
“One thing I have made very clear to Mark is that any player he wants comes from him. I am not an expert. It is Mark who runs the club and Mark who makes the football decisions. We are here to support and make financial decisions, but we are not here to teach Mark or Garry what to do. They are the professionals, we trust them, we have confidence in them and we are going to support them. Mark is an honest man, he’s a leader, he’s tough and he is everything you would want in a head coach. We trust him, he’s one of the gems we saw in this club once we came here. He will put a plan together to win trophies, but we will be patient. As long as it is being managed properly and the players are doing what they need to do, then it will take whatever it takes.”
Wenger recently criticized the move of the Abu Dhabi Group and questioned their motives:
“It doesn’t look like they are there to make any money. So if they are not there to make money out of it, then are they buying it out of love? Well, I am not sure these people are supporters of Manchester City from a young age. So then comes a further question: Why are they doing it? Why have they bought the club? I can’t really find a rational answer. If it is just a toy for them then it is even more dangerous. You can have 20 billionaires in the Premier League, still only one can win it and one will come last. The problem is that when these people who have bought into football get tired of it, what will they leave behind? That is the real question you can ask. If their investment is purely strategic, based on the market interest, then they could easily decide one day that it is not strategic to be in that market any more, and then they will leave.”
This comment lsuggests that if the Abu Dhabi Group one day decided that the City takeover was not profitable they would just leave. Al Mubarak responded to this by saying, “The watchwords are patient, committed, and long term. If you look at Sheikh Mansour’s track record and Abu Dhabi’s track record in general, they are always sensible investors, well regarded by everyone.”
He also believed that the City Academy should become one of the best in Europe. After meeting City Academy manager Jim Cassell he added, “That was one of my most enjoyable experiences. I have the highest confidence in him, we will be working a lot with him. We want to learn from the model that has been so successful here. My mandate from Sheikh Mansour was to spend as much time as I could with the academy, and I have promised him that’s what I am going to do. I have promised him that I’ll do what I can to ensure that this academy is the best not just in England, but in Europe.”
Recent controversies over Clubs taking too much control and not allowing managers to work include:
yea hes just trying to make fans feel like all hes gonna do is make city better…what if as times passes and they continue spending more and more money that city doesn’t do as well as they expected, and all of a sudden the pressure is on and thei investment is not working out? will they leave or stay?
would be cool if they got a new stadium…
Are they genuine people? who is really a genuine person who owns that much money?? I mean isnt this guy just the minion of some other Sheikh? what is a Sheikh anyway? a saudi prince? i suppose that roman abromavich is probably also corrupt, but he probably got less media attention because he was one of the first of the foreign billionaires to take over an EPL team, now that its happening more and more people are getting worried…