With relegation a real prospect, King Kev's crown is slipping. The one time messiah is starting to look a haunted man with even the one pleasure he used to enjoy so readily - a guilty trip into the transfer market - barricaded off by a sea of Uefa red tape.
Indeed, instead of planning to add to his squad, Keegan will already be casting an anxious eye to next season, working out just who he might have to call on for the new campaign. After all, a relegation fight excepted, there’s precious little left to get excited about this season.
Saying goodbye
The Blues are likely to wave goodbye to Michael Tarnat, an experienced international who has failed to justify a hefty salary and signing on fee, while Nicolas Anelka could move should a substantial offer be received.
With David Sommeil also set to complete a permanent move away from Manchester, Danny Tiatto linked with a drop down to Division One, Paulo Wanchope likely to end his Manchester injury nightmare and Steve McManaman, Trevor Sinclair and Antoine Sibierski struggling to make any real impact, holes in the squad are already all too apparent.
In times past, Keegan would merely have opened up his chequebook and put his faith in the figures. £5 million for Macken? He must be good. McManaman, Sinclair, Bosvelt and Tarnat for around £10 million in wages per season. Bargain.
This time around, Keegan will have to scrimp and save to get his squad back up to its full complement of players and that might be no bad thing. Oddly enough it has been when Keegan has had money to spend that he has made his worst decisions at City. Anelka has been an unreserved success, though at £13 million you’d expect nothing less, but Fowler (£6 million), Macken (£5 million), Vuoso (£3.4 million), Sinclair (£2.5 million), Reyna (£2.5 million), Sommeil (£3.5 million) and let’s not forget Negouai (£1.5 million) have all yet to get anywhere near justifying so heavy an outlay.
The bulk of his cheaper signings have, however, proved far more astute. Sun Jihai came in for under £2 million and on relatively low wages to cement a place in the defence, while Niclas Jensen cost only £700,000 and proved a far more adroit full back than Tarnat. Currently short of midfield creativity, City fans can look back to the recent past and a time when Ali Banarbia and Eyal Berkovic were paired together in central midfield – a pairing that cost a combined £1.5 million and proved far more effective than any of the combinations tried thus far this campaign.
In goal City now have the England number one David James backed up by the experienced Arni Arason whereas a couple of months ago they had only the ageing David Seaman and untried Kevin Stuhr-Ellegaard to call on. Keegan also made good use of the loan market last season to bring in Marc Vivien Foe, while a similar move for Daniel van Buyten this January could prove equally effective.
With Joey Barton and Shaun Wright-Phillips making their mark in midfield and Lee Croft set to follow them into first team reckoning, Keegan has the makings of half a good team for next season, but for the other half he might have to start looking around the lower leagues.
Recruits
At the very least he will need a left back, centre forward and a creative midfielder or winger, all players he could find in the Nationwide league. Jonathan Stead has made an instant impression since making the step up from Huddersfield to Blackburn, so why not take a punt on Swansea’s Lee Trundle – a player blessed with outrageous skill if not a work rate to match.
Less of a risk for midfield would be Andy Reid from Nottingham Forest. The best winger outside the Premiership, he will be snapped up by someone and prove as big a hit as Jermaine Jenas did on moving to Newcastle. Again, why shouldn’t City be the ones to benefit.
In defence, Tom Huddlestone from Derby is a must-have, even if not for this season. At 17 he already looks one of the best defenders in Division One and has the physique to quickly make the grade in the Premiership. If Keegan plays his cards right, he could have a reserve team pairing of Huddlestone and Mikkel Bischoff as stand-ins for van Buyten and Sylvain Distin. A more expensive option would be Michael Dawson from Forest who has been injured for much of this campaign but did enough last season to suggest he will be winning international honours in the future.
Talent pool
And the list goes on. Blackpool striker Scott Taylor is wanted by Pompey and could be worth a punt, while midfielders Danny Spiller and Kris Commons from Gillingham and Stoke are also highly regarded and could prove value for money.
With the lower leagues teaming with talent, the message to Keegan is simple. Your big money buys have not worked, so why not try something a bit different? Lower league players would be hungry to learn, have their best years ahead of them, come on low wages and could easily be sold on for a similar fee if it didn’t quite work out. Plan A has failed Kev, why not get a decent scouting network and turn to Plan B?
Should Kev look to the lower leagues? Have your say.
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Can this be passed to KK to read, good article.
My advice to Jon Barbuti: stick to playing Championship Manager and leave the real world to KK.
Says everything I want to, but only far better than I could. Good writing from the MuNE ? Must be a new lad, it'll never last.
Has anyone got the Chairmans email address ?
Could,nt agree more , what a good article at last from the men, where is this lad from give him the job fulltime.
Regarding next season and who to buy, personally i think it won't be kk choosing who he buys as i think depending on the next 3 or 4 results he may walk or be pushed, he is giving off the signals that he feels he is failing and he is one person who will be honest with himself if he feels this way.
There are a lot of cracking players in the lower leagues and lets hope souness has started something by signing stead.
KK will live in city folk law but it may be coming to an end , i hope not but the signals aren't good.
Whatever happens city til i die and i'll be there whatever.
total (rubbish), leave KK to sort out.
Good article. Bring on some young players. Our most consistent players are Phillips and Barton. Give Flood and some of the others a chance.
I can,t see kk being in charge next season so it as to be someone whose good with bosman signings and loan deals i reckon when the season is over sam allardyce will be approached to see if he,s interested in the job -if he took it his first bosman signing could be okocha ?
Yes, interesting article. However therein is our dilemma. We the Fans, love City probably more than...... (you fill in what you like here). However, our passion for the boys in Blue often clouds the realities. Football is a massive business. It has gone from the beautiful to the Ridiculous. Case in point, Beckham holding talks with the FA about player selection ? I mean, Beckham can't even string a sentence together. Anyway, IT is a business and this report reads as if it has been written under a false name. Somehow, pointing out all the money gone out seems to be preparing for the worst come Saturday 17.00.
I feel that we should stick with KK, get behind him and make him correct the mistakes he has
made this year (we all make mistakes). It would do him no good at all to go now and try again somewhere else, he just would never be able to gain any credibility with anyone and most importantly with Players. He has
said himself, it is a five year job. Perhaps now he can concentrate on bolstering the defence and getting a few wins under his belt. Having said all that , Football is a business , so
how much money does 'Sam the Lad' from Bolton want? WE must stay up in the Premiership this year.
I was thinking "What a sensible article, after all didn't Kevin himself come from the lower league to go to Liverpool" Then I read the bit about Distin and fell on the floor rolling with laughter.
Their you go Blackley Blue. mcfc@mcfc.co.uk
Good article Mr Barbuti and i agree it might be worth a go. On paper our squad is one of the strongest in years but the truth is most of our 'name' players are past their best. I'm not sure there is a real wealth of talent to choose from in league football though, and time and time again players star in the lower leagues but can't make the grade but its certainly far less risky financially to give these guys a go than a slow, 30 years + player who commands silly money in wages and doesn't significantly improve the team. Another crazy idea might be to actually learn something about tactics?? Mistakes are accepted because everyone is human at the end of the day, but surely you learn from those mistakes and don't keep making them again and again??
Good article & may be the way we have to go no matter what!Agree,Lee Trundle is outrageously talented,watched him alot 3/4 years ago at Wrexham,my only concern is,why has nobody else picked him up?Skillwise he really does stick out like a sore thumb,so,is there something about him we don,t know?
Was only saying to my mate the other day that if I was City manager next season (I can dream can't I?), I would buy the best young players from the Nationwide. Players with ambition and hunger to achieve something and players that would feel lucky to pull on the blue shirt of Man City.
Nice to see people are copying suggestions i have already made this season. I don't agree with Lee Trundle though - I have seen him play a few times. He would command a very high Transfer - B#1m- upto B#3m inc future incentives/int caps etc! He would turn out to be another Lee Peacock. Bobby Zamora had ridiculous skill for brighton, so did Lua-lua and a certain Darren Huckerby for Lincoln but they didnt make the grade. Its worth buying lower league players even after the failures of Gareth and Robert Taylor, Bradbury, Macken and peacock. The Goat was different as he was much older and had consistantly scored against better opposition in cup competitions etc. KK needs to get some freebies during the summer. Tarnats contract is not going to get renewed, Sinclair cost too much for us to just write him off, Macca would cost a fortune to pay off, as would Fowler. Sibierski is out of his league so should be sold. Reyna is not wanted BY ANYONE anymore- he has been everywhere and failed! B#2.5m of frying pan lard! Anelka will want to go - a player of his quality cannot be left to rot in a team of wasters and old 'one timers' He should bring in B#8m. James, Sun, Distin, Sinclair, SWP, Barton, Anelka and Macken to stay. Bosvelt, Macca, Sibierski, Reyna, Tarnat, Fowler and Dunne have from now to the last day of our relegation struggle to save their Man City Career - but then i doubt they will be bothered - nothing seems to have bothered them this season!
Blimey! Its so obvious, lets fill the first team with 2nd & 3rd Division footballers and everything will be alright! Jenas a success at Newcastle proves the point? Carl Cort(7m) & LuaLua(2.5m) anyone?? Imagine this article written 6/7 years ago, just substitute a few names. "why not take a punt on Pompeys Lee Bradbury?", "Buster Philips, best winger outside Premiership", "in defence a more expensive option would be Kit Symons", "and the list goes on, Bob Taylor is wanted and worth a punt, and midfielders Ged Brannan and Neil Heaney could prove value for money", "with Steve Lomas making his mark, Nick Fenton and Gary Mason are ready to follow him into the first team" BLAH! BLAH! BLAH! Yeah, things are rough at the moment but i remember when the "solution" to our problems was to get rid of Coton, Curle, Flitcroft, Quinn etc. Lets hope KK is surfing this afternoon and not reading this article!!!
I totally agree with Jon Barbuti`s suggestion that Kevin Keegan should sign players from the lower divisions who have ambition and a hunger to succeed. I never fancied the signing of McManaman and sure enough he`s been a flop and Fowler hasn`t exactly been inspiring either. Too many has-beens who do nothing to justify a nice fat weekly pay-packet. Let`s have some players with ambition, KK!
Jon Barbuti makes a lot of sense in his article and his suggestions are not as ridiculous as some of you seem to think. I am going to go back in time now (this might appeal to Lavinda!) to the championship winning side of 1968. 1.Ken Mulhearn, signed from Stockport for a nominal fee 2. Tony Book, signed from Bath for a nominal fee 3. Glyn Pardoe, came through the ranks 4. Mike Doyle, came through the ranks 5. George Heslop signed from Everton for a nominal fee, 6. Alan Oakes, came through the ranks 7. Mike Summerbee signed from Swindon Town for B#35,000 8. Colin Bell signed from Bury for B#40,000 9. Francis Lee signed from Bolton Wanderers for B#65,000 10 Neil Young, came through the ranks 11. Tony Coleman signed from Doncaster Rovers for a nominal fee. I was only a youngster at the time but I think I have got most of this right, no doubt someone will correct me. The thing is that at the time we had our finest ever manager in charge, Joe Mercer, assisted by a brilliant coach in Malcolm Allison who moulded this bunch of players into one of the finest football teams this country has ever produced. The other club that springs to mind who were pretty good at building successful sides in this manner is Liverpool who of course signed Keegan from Scunthorpe. Once more they had a great manager in charge, the brilliant Bill Shankly. Don't worry United fans I have not overlooked you, Matt Busby too was a great manager, but he learned his skills as a player at City! There you go then the article is not that far fetched after all, but I think Kevin Keegan would need to bring in a tactically minded coach in place of the current bunch of comedians to make it work.
Yes good article,the most relevent thing being that i beleive kk must be at maine road next season. City have not played that badly and with a bit more luck could be some 11 /12 points better off. But the most successful thing at city has to be the youth team and that bodes well for the future. One only needs to look at them in salford. They were going no where until Beardsmore and company came on to the scene.
Then it toke a win in the F.A. Cup to save fergies skin , the only difference being that they were in a better financial footing.As for bad signings....... read Ralph Milne, Neil Webb, Micky Phelan, Jim Leighton,. amongst others.
Jon,KK could buy the best players in the world but with his coaching staff they will become bad ones overnight, Sinclair lost his England place within two weeks of joining City,Joey Barton and SWP have both been overlooked by David Platts u/21s squad,David James will I expect lose his place very soon as well. If we go down I honestly think it will be a long time if ever before we get back in the Premiership,in fact it will finally signal the end of us being a top club again,Ive seen Les Mcdowall,George Poyser,John Benson,Frank Clark,Steve Coppell & Alan Ball all mess our club up, Keegan is on a par with every one >>>>WHAT A WASTER!!!!
Kevin Keegan is a very good man for CITY, but may I suggest he needs a good right hand man.
Just like Joe Mercer had Malcolm Allison who was a great tactician, Kevin Keegan
needs someone who is great at tacticts.
The coaching staff surrounding
K K , are questionable.
Interesting article. I would like to say that it is premature to make any judgements about Jon Macken. He's never been given a real chance since he's recovered from injury. I'd like to see him paired with Anelka as the first choice pairing and have Fowler on the bench. I don't think Anelka will stay for next season, whatever division we are in - he wants a more successful club. As for looking in the lower leagues for recruits - well, why not. These days one doesn't have to pay a fortune for these players. I don't think Keegan will be at Man City next season.
Interesting and thought provoking article. However, I think that it misses the point namely that City have too many non-Premiership players on their books. Hoping to buy a bargain is full of risk remember the following; Bob Taylor, Martin Phillips, Lee Peacock and unfortunately far too many others to remember
James is Premiership class. However, the 4 in front are a different matter. City MUST get rid of Dunne asap. He is the big weakness in the back four being weak in the air, slow, bad passer and poor reader of the game. Definitely not Premiership class.
In midfield without Berkovic or Bernarbia, we are back to the hurry/scurry players of the Joe Royle era. McManaman is closest to either or these two if he'd break sweat or let the ball do the work rather than running 25 yards with it.
Up front, Anelka has class and Fowler used to have it. Whether Fowler will ever recover it is doubtful given that he still looks at least half a stone overweight.
During the close season, City must clear out the deadwood and the never will be's. And be ruthless as the rubbish clogs up the system and prevents the youngsters from developing. We should also seek bargians which are available on Bosmans (look at Sam Allerdyce's Bolton) but City need to look at younger players with something to prove not those after one last big paycheque.
Got to be worth a try. After all the greatest side in City's history was made up of local lads plue lower league players -Bell (Bury), Summerbee (Swindon), Coleman (Doncaster), Lee (Bolton), Book (Plymouth), Heslop (Newcastle reserves), Mulhearn (Stockport). And don't tell me the players aren't there anymore. In the sixties all teams were made up of British players - these days if you took all the British players from the Premiership you'd have just about enough for an 11 a side game with a full complement of substitutes. Where have the players gone, if not the Nationwide League? Not sure about Trundle though, but sign Andy Reid as soon as possible.
KK has to stay, theres no two ways about that, however, his blind faith in certain individuals at times, is really frustrating. Hold up your hands and say " I f***ed up", and then move on. It will turn around !
I believe there is merit in the column, and I also take the point that there is some talent in the lower divisions. However let us not be too hasty in moving players on. Macken I believe could be very good for us if given a sustained run, Fowler's workrate has increased tremendously and he just needs that bit of luck in front of goal. There is van Buyten, but would he want to stay, there seems to be question marks already with remarks made to the press. Others like McMannaman Sommeil Tarnat Sibierski I would let go. We have good kids in the reserves Lee Croft to name one but in our current situation this is no time to start blooding youngsters. The column is interesting and perhaps worth contemplating but not until the season's end.