And that is clearly the case too when it comes to the question of `Galacticos', that handful of superstar players who, for whatever reason, are the exception to the time-honoured rule that no one individual is bigger than the team.
It is no secret that the Blues' new owner and his advisors quite fancy sprinkling their football club with a couple of such purchases in a bid to put bottoms on the 6,000 or so seats that lie empty at each Eastlands home game.
There is no doubting that it sounds like a great idea when you are sitting around a coffee table in Bangkok or Dubai or even if you are dining with super agents in London while watching two of the Big Four knock seven bells out of one another in the Champions League.
But in the cold light of day, for a club of City's current composition, it doesn't make an awful lot of sense, especially when you start looking for actual candidates and working out the costs.
So should City go down the route of trying to attract a Ronaldinho - which, in his particular case, is bordering on the realms of fantasy given that he will have the choice of virtually any club in the world - or one of his ilk, or instead use the money to buy less showy players with no baggage attached?
Superstar
Whilst the thought of the Blues fielding a world superstar appeals on one level, there are many more reasons to be against.
For a start, there is the practicality of finding such a player who is not past his best and who would actually be of positive use on a week in, week out basis, including the Carling and FA Cups.
Look at the world-renowned names, in the twilight of their careers, who have come to England and singularly failed to make a huge impact. George Weah didn't set the world on fire when former boss Joe Royle brought him in and, most recently, AC Milan great Andriy Shevchenko has proved a major disappointment at Chelsea who, unlike City, can afford such costly experiments.
Far better to build a side than bring in a Ronaldinho, David Beckham or Luis Figo who are past their practical best on the pitch, even if they do shift plenty of units of memorabilia and replica kit in the Far East.
Signing such a player would also wreck the wage structure and that invariably leads to more problems, for there is hardly likely to be a harmonious dressing room if one of the members is changing on a pedestal, emblazoned with a label proclaiming him a prince amongst paupers.
There would be a queue all the way from Carrington to the Eastlands office of chief executive Alistair Mackintosh, of squad members seeking a pay rise.
And how many games do fans think you would get out of a Galactico? Take Ronaldinho as an example. He has averaged a little more than 20 outings per season, not much good when the league is over 38 games and you fancy a tilt at a cup competition or two.
With a nod of apology to the football romantics amongst City fans, who put entertainment before winning trophies, I would much rather the Blues try to fill the stadium.
Let's not forget they are already in the top six supported clubs in the country with crowds up by 2,500 a game this season, in the more traditional way by winning matches and playing attractive, attacking football.
Budget
Surely it is far better to budget for a Lukas Podolski, Robbie Keane, Peter Crouch, Theo Walcott or Aaron Lennon and a holding midfielder of some class than an ageing superstar who sells shirts in the super stores of Asia?
The Galacticos route so beloved of Real Madrid in recent years didn't really work in terms of cups and titles and, significantly, they are domestically performing much better now, without them. Closer to home, Newcastle's desire to spend hugely on big names has left them without a trophy for longer than City.
In any case, Blues followers must surely have had enough during the Keegan era of older players who had built their reputations elsewhere being brought in for one last pay-day.
Fans have every right to expect that their star names are remembered for deeds at City and not one of their previous clubs.
The Blues owners should think very carefully about how they spend their transfer money and remember it was only a month ago that Thaksin Shinawatra was talking about there being only limited funds available this summer, with more the next season.
City are not a circus and the fans wouldn't thank them for turning the side into a kind of Harlem Globtrotters, playing what amount to exhibitions in return for cash but not taken seriously by the rest of the football family.
If the ambitious Dr Thaksin and his fellow board members want lasting success, not built on shifting sand, and a bit of transient glamour, then they should carry on in the same fashion as this season and stir in a bit more reality and patience.
Neighbours United's success, and that of Arsenal and Liverpool, was not built in a day but over years of astute husbandry and careful planning. Only Chelsea have bought success, and the bill has been enormous.
To replicate that rise from the pack, the former Thai Prime Minister will have to have very deep pockets indeed.
The best way forward for City is surely from the roots up. Keep pumping money into a wonderful Academy that produces genuine talent for club and country and augment that with judicious purchases from home and abroad each summer and there is a recipe for success.
It is a formula that has been used well by Everton and it is no coincidence that they have been the only team in recent years to break into the Big Four.
So, let Ronaldinho play out his days in the sun in Italy.
It is not lack of ambition it is commonsense and the creation of something more long lasting.
What do you think? Have your say.
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Mark, (08/04/2008 at 10:56)