Source: Daily_Mail
Champions League failure won't wreck Manchester City, claims boss Hughes
Mark Hughes has rejected the notion that Manchester City's season will be regarded as a failure if they finish outside the top four. [LNB]After a short break in Abu Dhabi and a meeting with owner Sheikh Mansour, Hughes is now ready to get City's season back on track again after five successive draws. [LNB]What has been dubbed a mini-slump by those who expect much better from a team put together at the not inconsiderable cost of £200million over the past three transfer windows, has left the Blues in sixth spot ahead of this weekend's intriguing trip to Liverpool. [LNB] Mini-slump: Burnley celebrate their recent late equaliser against Manchester City[LNB] It is two places below the standard required for Champions League qualification, which has been put forward as the minimum target for Hughes to regard the campaign as a success. But the Welshman refuses to be drawn in by such arbitrary goals. But he still wants improvement.[LNB]'With the resources we have, people are saying the top four is the minimum requirement. That is actually not the case,' said Hughes. [LNB]'The clubs you have to overcome to get there are not just the best teams in the Premier League, they are also some of the best teams in the world. That is the challenge for everybody. And it is very difficult. [LNB]Brush off: Mark Hughes has dismissed concerns that City are underperforming this season[LNB]'What we are looking for is progress and I would defy anyone to say we have not made progress from where we were last year.'[LNB]It is a source of pride for instance that City are the only top flight club not to have lost more than once. Even that defeat, in the sixth minute of injury-time at Manchester United, was extremely unlucky. [LNB] If the season so far can be divided into three, with each cut-off coming at an international break, the United defeat was at the start of the second, which was not quite as good as the stellar first. [LNB] It is the third one where Hughes' team stalled. Yet they still have a game in hand of all the teams above them, with the exception of Arsenal, whom they will meet in the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup on December 2. [LNB]'We have played 13 games in all competitions and we have been beaten once,' said Hughes. 'Ideally we would like to have changed some of those draws to wins but we have reached a consistent level that allows us to compete in every game. [LNB]'In terms of where we were last year and where we are now, it is a different place. I am pleased with the progress we are making and that will continue. I am certain of it.'[LNB]Roaring success: City have struggled to match the heights of their 4-2 win over Arsenal in September[LNB]The transition from being a big club with big history but no chance of sustained success to the richest in the world is not an easy one. It takes time to adjust at all levels, as executive chairman Garry Cook has found out with a few ill-judged statements, such as accusing AC Milan of "bottling it" over Kaka's proposed transfer. [LNB] Supporters find it just as difficult and in some quarters expectation ran rampant when Hughes, whose own playing career took him to two of the 'big four' he is now trying to gatecrash, realises the process takes time. [LNB]'However well prepared you are, however well organised you are, or how much thought goes into a plan to bring success to a club, sport is a difficult business. It is fluid,' he said. [LNB]'Ideally we can get to March and April and be in the mix for competitions. If we are, then we will have a good run at them. [LNB]'But it is an education for everyone to see the scrutiny that comes with being a big club. Everything is changing about the perception of Manchester City. [LNB]'That is a learning process for everybody and is something that will never be the same again.'[LNB] Relief for Manchester City as Robinho prepares to sit out Brazil's match with OmanRobinho in limbo as Guardiola stalls on giving green light to Barcelona switchTired Tevez threatens Manchester City walkout after South Africa World CupMANCHESTER CITY FC
