Possession Is 9/10 Of The Law

I'm not going to ask if you're tired of the obscene hype surrounding the January transfer "window". (If it's a window, it ain't exactly crystal clear. Lots of mud there. You get my drift.) I know you wish it would either a) actually produce something worthwhile (Heskey and Defoe are helping.) or b) take a backseat to the awesome matches that have been occurring lately.

I just really hate it, because this is one of the most important periods in the season, and most of the people who care are too busy looking over their shoulders for "bigger" clubs trying to hawk their players or looking for meat market bargains of their own. There. I'll wipe the processed squash from my mouth and get down from my high chair.

But there is something interesting going on. If you're into the character of the clubs and the managers of whose teams you watch (and I am), then you're witnessing some truly fascinating stuff.

Let's start with one who's just won Pop Idol and trying to forge it's first teenybopper hit: Manchester City. Here is a "massive" mid-table club suddenly infused with more power than it knows what to do this (see Wolverine), and they got a nice trophy in Robinho to show for it. The beasts from the middle east(lands) are promising more big names with a taste for silver, but survey says! Twelfth? Huh. I was thinking ninth or something. And hey, they've said that they don't want to be like Chelsea and sign a bunch of upper so-so guys, so you know who they picked up? Craig "Hot Potato" Bellamy.

So what am I hitting at here. Here's the bottom line: Ownership isn't everything. A GOOD MANAGER IS MOST IMPORTANT, and they're not easy to find.

"Suits, are you daft? Of course you need a good manager. And Mark Hughes is one. After all, he's proved himself already at...Blackburn."

See? I told you.

Mark Hughes is ok. He's two scoops vanilla, hold the sprinkles. I'm saying if City do reach the upper echelons, it won't be with him at the helm. He just doesn't have the "stuff". What would happen if Maicon left Inter and shot to Brazil without warning? WWJ(ose)D? I can guarantee it wouldn't be a "talk" and penance money. It would be, "How many days have you been working here, not counting today?" Yes, if Mark did the same thing, he'd probably be shown the door, but hey it's his team, right?

A good manager is many things, but lenient is not one of them. The problem today is that ownerships aren't allowing fledgling managers to make a team of their own, get their hands dirty, and see what it's like to forge a team out of nothing.

Now let's look at the greatest manager in the world for the past fifteen years, Sir Alex Ferguson.

"Unfair, Suits. How can you compare the two?"

Sparing ALL possible jokes to that question, here's the common denominator: United and City are both serious about winning things. But who's actually doing it? What has made Sir Alex so successful has been his ability to build 1) players up from more than they were before and 2) a team out of those players. City (and Chelsea before them) have bought players already overpriced and at the waning peak of their years. SAF has picked them before they're ripe and nurtured them into a very delicious fruit basket. (Must. Not. Make. Ronaldo. Joke.)

Sure, Sir Alex has been on the hot seat at times like the early Nineties. But the club stuck with him. IMAGINE THAT! Kevin Keegan can't. Neither can Graeme Souness. (Man, I just realized they bother were at Newcastle. Although I don't think that's a coincidence.) I hope I'm wrong, but I don't see City being so patient with Mr. Hughes either. Darn instant gratification society.

I could go on and on, but I want to leave you thinking about this: What makes Van Gaal better than Juande? Jose better than Avram? And Sir Alex better than Big Phil?

My vote is trust. And a little bit of something my friend Jay-Z would say you can't buy: Class.