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Bluto10

By Bluto10,
in All Other Football Chat

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fatshaft Newbie

fatshaft

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:hysterical:Balotelli just sent off, Mancini looked at him in disgust as he walked over to the bench hahaha pointed for him to piss off down the tunnel! thatl be another fine and a public fallout hahaha

 

Liverpool all over City, should be 2-1 up! might just sneak this!

Shocking decision right out of the Fallon/Tansy book though.

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  • 2 years later...
Henry Newbie

Henry

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Posted

First, Manchester City invested in a club that did not yet exist, creating New York City FC. Next, they invested in a club that, for all intents and purposes, barely exists, purchasing a majority share of Melbourne Heart. That Melbourne Heart would be sold was not a surprise in itself - it has been rumoured for weeks. That Manchester City would be the buyer, however, has come out of left field.

There are some similarities between the New York City FC venture and the purchase of Melbourne Heart. In both cases, the Mansour family that owns Manchester City will work in partnership with a local host. In New York it is the Yankees; In Melbourne it is Bart Campbell, the chairman of NRL side Melbourne Storm.
How things change. In May last year, South Melbourne FC, a Victorian State League side, wanted to buy Melbourne Heart. Where they would find the required capital was a little murky, but their intention was clear. The former NSL powerhouse wanted back in to the top flight of Australian football. Typically, in the contest between new and old, the new has won out. The potential for a Manchester City-Melbourne Heart partnership is beyond anything we’ve seen before in the domestic game in Australia.
Little is known about how interventionist Manchester City will be with Heart. But smart businesses don’t expand just for the fun of it - the major benefits for City will be in extending their brand into Asia. Melbourne Heart, on the other hand, will be spoilt by the enormous resources that Manchester City will plow into the club. New York City FC have already talked about building a club philosophy - Heart should also benefit from the shared knowledge.
Indeed, a coherent club philosophy, expertise and money are all things in short supply at Melbourne Heart at the moment. They’ve recently sacked John Aloisi as coach, narrowly avoided a competition-record winless streak and continually struggled to attract fans to AAMI Park. Just over 5,000 people were in attendance for their 100th A-League game last Friday night. As they have one of the best sporting markets in the country at their disposal, they have so far been a sorry addition to the league as a whole.
Sheikh Mansour’s money has the potential to change all that, and quickly. Scouting networks will improve, foreign coaches will be brought in and local coaches will be upskilled. Youth teams will be directed to play in line with a consistent philosophy. There will be more opportunities for proper, value-adding marquee players. According to the Australian Financial Review, Manchester City will tour in May.
In a salary-capped league there is only so much the new owners can spend in wages, but money can be spent elsewhere to give Heart a competitive advantage over other A-League clubs. Mansour has been known to throw money at long-term development goals, not simply buy instant success. In Manchester, Eastlands is being turned into a ‘football mecca’, while in New York, property is being purchased and the Manchester City CEO, Ferran Soriano, has talked about developing “beautiful football” in the city. Similar projects may well be planned for Melbourne.
In Heart, Manchester City have found a tabula rasa of sorts. The prospect of toying with Melbourne Heart’s name, identity and club colours might not please some, but the reality is that the Heart have struggled to create a meaningful identity worth holding on to. Nevertheless, Soriano has promised “this is not a small Manchester team, this is a Melbourne team that will use the resources of the City group.”
However, not all clubs are created equal, and there will be questions as to where the Melbourne arm of the City brand will sit in the pecking order.
According to the FFA CEO, David Gallop, the seeds for the sale were planted over a year ago on a Frank Lowy business trip to New York. Now that the Heart ownership problems are solved, the Western Sydney Wanderers will soon be sold to an old mate in Paul Lederer.
Gallop has stated that the acquisition is “another sign that the world is taking notice of Australian football.” It is also a sign that the influence of the FFA chairman, Frank Lowy, is as strong as ever. His fingerprints are all over this one.
Despite assurances that Melbourne Heart will maintain what Soriano calls “an Australian identity”, for traditionalists the sale will cause some headaches. Melbourne Heart and the A-League have well and truly been swept into the vortex that is the global sporting marketplace. Manchester City have shown they are serious about global domination - but what role Melbourne Heart will play in this sporting Great Game remains to be seen.

 

What do we make of Man City's campaign to take over the football world one country at a time?

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