Source: Telegraph
Relegation shadow over Manchester City helps to focus minds on transfer window
The richest club in the world can expect unprecedented activity and attention in the January transfer window, yet today may have to acknowledge a genuine threat of relegation.[LNB]Mark Hughes, the City manager, has been identifying players capable of realising the ambitious objectives of the owners as his team have stumbled to the back of the Premier League pack. Two wins from 12 matches is the stuff of Championship candidacy rather than Champions League contention.[LNB]Defeat at West Bromwich Albion, a side widely considered doomed already, would remove any ambiguity over City's priority. Suddenly this once inconspicuous fixture has assumed critical proportions.[LNB]City still refuse to recognise, in public at least, the perilous nature of their plight. They maintain the current squad has the ability and commitment to take them forward and are confident next month's recruitment will confirm the arrival of a new power in football.[LNB]Shaun Wright-Phillips, who returned to City from Chelsea in the summer seeking personal fulfilment, reflects that conviction when he says: ''I am surprised where we are with the quality we have in the team, but there's no concern and I don't think we are in a relegation fight.[LNB]''We have not been playing that badly and if we put two wins together we're back up towards the top six. We believe we can do that, which is part of the reason nobody's panicking yet. We know what we are capable of.[LNB]''Every game we come up against is a tricky fixture; not just this one at West Brom. You have got to have your wits about you, whether you're playing a team in the top half of the Premier League or the bottom half.[LNB]''I feel we have let ourselves down. For example, in the game against Everton last week we conceded a goal in the last minute. We've just lost our concentration at the wrong moments and crucial times in a game.[LNB]''But no-one's unsettled or anything like that. The morale is high and everybody's excited about the possible signings in January because it will push us in the direction we need to be going.''[LNB]Lewisham-born Wright-Phillips was lured back to City by the prospect of redirecting his career after struggling to stay on course in three seasons with Chelsea. Yet he is as appreciative of his experience at Stamford Bridge as he is to be working under Hughes at Eastlands.[LNB]''I knew how tough it was going to be down there, but sometimes you have to strike while the iron is hot because you may never get another chance,'' the 27-year-old winger said.[LNB]''I'm grateful for my time at Chelsea. I've come back with a lot more mental strength and I'm a more positive and mature person. The selection was down to the gaffer's opinion. I believed I should have been playing, but it's about staying positive and knowing what you are capable of.[LNB]''It was starting over again at City, coming back to where I call home.[LNB]This club have supported me since I was a kid. Having Mark Hughes here was very important to me. Growing up watching him as a player and seeing the way he carries himself off the pitch is something to be in awe of.[LNB]'I don't read any of the stuff about his position being insecure. He's highly recommended and I know how good he is. We'll be fine if we work hard for him.'[LNB]Home comforts have reinvigorated Wright-Phillips' international mission, although he tactfully prefers to present his case on the pitch rather than issue any demands to Fabio Capello.[LNB]'Being at City has helped me get back in the England squad. I just have to stay fit, play games, keep consistent and do what I'm doing now, and hopefully the rest will take care of itself,' he said.[LNB]Wright-Phillips believes the physical pounding his diminutive frame regularly encounters is a compliment to his devilish skills and match-winning prowess. And unlike some of the game's other gifted and feared players, he is disinclined to feign injury for sympathy or retribution against his assailant.[LNB]''I don't know whether I am a target but I feel I get kicked every game so I just get on with it,'' he said, studiously avoiding any direct allusion to another winger at another club in these parts.[LNB]''Everybody who's creative gets kicked at some point. It's part of the game. The referee can protect you the best way he can. I leave it at that. If you want to win, that's the way it goes sometimes. Is it a fair part of the game? I take it as a privilege that players want to kick me.[LNB]''I grew up with my friends getting kicked so I'm used to it. If I started rolling around they would have just laughed at me and carried on playing. I never cried about it. I just got back up.[LNB]''If the referee's going to book somebody, it doesn't make any difference how much you roll around. I find it quite funny when I see other players rolling around.'' [LNB]
