Source: SKY_Sports
Hughes - Barry buy pivotal
// A bit of a hack but it works// The article snippet is wrapped onto a second line, even when #article-sub is emptyif( $("div#article-sub").children().length == 0 ) {$("div#article-sub").remove();} Manchester City boss Mark Hughes believes the signing of Gareth Barry was pivotal to the club's huge summer spending spree.[LNB] Hughes signed the England midfielder for £12million from Aston Villa early in the summer.[LNB]He went on to then land the likes of Emmanuel Adebayor, Carlos Tevez and Joleon Lescott in a £120million signing spree.[LNB]Hughes believes capturing a player of Barry's stature helped convince the other top performers to come, although the club can not offer them UEFA Champions League football - yet.[LNB]He said: "Gareth was always a player I had admired from afar.[LNB]"He has a huge range of passing and is able to be constructive and destructive in midfield.[LNB]"When you also take into account the amount of quality games he is able to produce over a long period of time, I just felt he was a player we needed to bring to the club.[LNB]Helped others"To a certain extent it helped other players to come as well.[LNB]"The fact we were able to get one of the key men in the England set-up under Fabio Capello helped our strategy in terms of acquisitions of players."[LNB]Barry is set to face his former club for the first time on Monday and Hughes is delighted with the consistent way he has performed so far.[LNB]Hughes added: "Those type of players are invaluable.[LNB]"He just comes in and gets the job done.[LNB]"You look for players who are able to produce nothing less than a seven every week. Invariably his mark is higher than that but you can hang your hat on Gareth Barry because he is able to produce consistent performances."[LNB]After five victories in their opening six Premier League games, a win against Villa would complete the best-ever top-flight start for the Blues.[LNB]But the City boss is not interested in making history - just getting points.[LNB]Not awareHe said: "I am not aware of the record.[LNB]"It would show that we are playing well and trying to be good at what we do.[LNB]"But really, it is not about making points in history. It is about making sure we are moving in the right direction and everybody understands that we are."[LNB]He added: "Everyone is enjoying what we are producing at the moment.[LNB]"The expectation will always be there but we are dealing with it well and the fans are too.[LNB]"Being in this situation is new to everybody. But if it means our fans are walking around town with a smile on their faces, that is no bad thing."[LNB]
