Manchester City won the game 4-3 against Sunderland in another exciting goalfest.  But on the final whistle Mark Hughes appeared subdued, and after congratulating each of his players he applauded the crowd and gave them telling goodbye wave.

Surprisingly, Mark Hughes claimed on Sunday that he had not been told until after the match that was to get the sack and be replaced with immediate effect by Roberto Mancini, who had been in the crowd at Eastlands.

Mark Hughes went on to say it was agreed at a pre-season meeting with the Manchester City owner, Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Mansour, that  a top six finish or 70 points was a realistic target for the 2009/10 season. After Saturday’s win Manchester City was in sixth place and on target to reach 70 points this season.

Furthermore, they had only lost two games all season. One to a last minute injury time winner against the current Premier League champions Manchester United (4-3) and last week to an inform Tottenham Hotspur (3-0), the best record in the Premier League Chelsea have already lost three games, Manchester United have lost five games, Arsenal have lost three games and Liverpool a whopping seven games – none of which have sacked their manager, yet!

They are also in semi-final of the League Cup.  Manchester City’s first semi-final for 28 years!

The fact that Manchester City, not necessarily Mark Hughes, have spent £200 million of Sheikh Mansour’s money is apparently enough to sack a perfectly good young manager who I believe this season would have finished with a trophy and a very real possibility of guaranteed Champions League football next season, which in turn would have opened the door for some of the biggest names in world football to choose the blue half of Manchester over the red devils.

Too many draws and not enough wins was of course Mark Hughes’ problem. This I believe was caused by too many top quality attacking options and not a strong enough defence.

Panic buying led to inflated transfer fees for Jolean Lescott and Kolo Toure when the lure of money failed to capture John Terry’s signature in the summer.  And to rub salt into wounds, former captain Richard Dunne, who was hounded out of the club by someone, is having a great season for Aston Villa.

Whether Mancini will continue to look for proven players in the Premier League or use his Italian connections to bolster a very weak defence we will see in the coming January transfer window.

Certain players definitely appear to have been bought on the request of Mark Hughes.  Rocky Santa Cruz followed him from Blackburn Rovers and Craig Bellamy who had always been admired by Hughes since his days as manager of Wales I would be confident in saying had Mark Hughes stamp of approval.  But remember how both Hughes and Robinho looked dumbstruck the night  he was signed from Real Madrid?

Fitting then that in what appeared to be a final stand, Mark Hughes left Robinho and Emmanuel Adebeyor on the subs bench on Saturday and Rocky Santa Cruz and Craig Bellamy both had a great game and scored three of Manchester City’s four goals.

Roberto Mancini has managed Fiorentina and Inter Milan, where he won three successive Italian League titles and two Italian Cups, before being dismissed in May 2008 and replaced by Jose Mourinho.

Mancini definitely has the right pedigree to take Manchester City to the next level, and with the astute appointment of Brian Kidd as first team coach maybe Manchester City are looking to emulate the successful Anglo-Italian  partnership of Jose Mourinho and Steve Clarke at Chelsea. But with several players – Rocky Santa Cruz, Craig Bellamy, Shay Given, Gareth Barry, Kolo Toure, Nigel De Jong, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Stephen Ireland – already stating how unhappy they are with the sacking of Mark Hughes, Mancini faces a baptism of fire as he prepares to take over the reigns for three games in quick succession, starting with an awkward game against Stoke City on Boxing Day.

At the beginning of the season I wanted Manchester City to break into the top four but now there’s a part of me that wants them to finish mid-table and get thrashed by Manchester United in the forthcoming League Cup semi-final!

Tevez will definitely miss Manchester City’s game against Arsenal this weekend, but Mark Hughes has been told that the player may be out of action for up to three weeks although they are obviously hoping it will be less.

“We will do everything in our power to get him fit because, for obvious reasons, he would love to play in that match,” said Hughes.

Another City player who featured in the same international game as Tevez but on the opposing team, Robinho is also a doubt for the Arsenal clash with a swollen ankle. Precautionary scans are being undertaken before a decision is made as to whether the Brazilian striker is fit enough to be included in the team.

Emmanuel Adebayor

Adebayor will join an enviable selection of strikers at City, with recent signings Carlos Tevez and Roque Santa Cruz joining Robinho, Craig Bellamy,Valeri Bojinov and Benjani to fight it out for a regular place in the team.

City manager Mark Hughes says:

“Emmanuel has been one of the top forwards in the Premier League since he arrived from France and we are delighted he has agreed to come and join us, he adds vital balance and power to our attack. He has everything a top forward needs. He is versatile, powerful, quick and agile on the ball.”

“I am looking forward to working with him as are the rest of the staff. He will definitely add a new dimension to our play. I have been a great admirer for a long time.”

The arrival of Adebayor takes City’s spending this summer to around the £80million mark, but Hughes is confident that there may be more signings before the new season kicks off, with rumours rife in the sports press that he is about to up the ante to bring in Chelsea and England captain John Terry.

While there is little doubt that Terry would not have entertained such a move during the Mourinho years at Chelsea, there are sure signs that the defender is seriously considering his future and Mark Hughes is confident of getting his man.

If stories are to be believed, Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o is the latest of a string of La Liga players to turn down the opportunity of gracing the Eastlands stadium next season.

The good news for City manager Mark Hughes is that Robinho seems set to stay, but then again an offer from a Champions League playing club could, I am sure change that situation.

Manchester City’s progress this season will not help to attract the quality of player’s that the club has set it’s sights on, leaving me concerned whether they  will ever be able to tempt the world’s top stars to join Robinho.

Despite the presence of Robinho, Kaka’s snub appears to have set a precedent among the likely candidates for a big money move to City with top players insisting on Champions league football over a huge wage packet. Obviously it will only take one of those players to agree to a move, Eto’o,  David Villa or whoever and other ’stars’ will follow.

But is that really likely to happen?

Or should Manchester City set their sights a little lower, as with Craig Bellamy for instance and build a team that will quickly attract the personnel that they are chasing by playing decent football, both home AND away and fighting for the Champions league place that will surely land them the riches they desire?

Manchester City are having a mid-winter break and training in Tenerife. An official statement from the club only goes as far as to say Robinho is not at the training ground anymore.

Anyone suggesting Robinho hasn’t made an impact at Man City and on this season’s Premiership, and was a waste of money, should look at the Premier League Top Scorers.  Even though Manchester City have not lived up to pre-season expectations, Robinho has scored 11 goals, only three behind top scorer Nicolas Anelka.

I haven’t heard any reasons given for Robinho flying back to Brazil, but I am assuming it has much to do with the amounts of money being offered in wages to attract Kaka to Man City.  And there lies the main difference between the two highly talented Brazilian footballers.

Furthermore, I’m still convinced there are two teams being assembled at Man City, a ‘dream team‘ and a less glamorous list of players Mark Hughes requires to stamp his authority on the dysfunctional team he has inherited.  A blend would be the best solution.  But what Mark Hughes and Manchester City may need to do now is replace two Brazilians, not one!

The January transfer window is fast running out, and so far Manchester City’s forages into the transfer market have not lived up to expectations.  Yesterday Craig Bellamy joined from West Ham for around £14 million.  He joins big money movers Wayne Bridge from Chelsea (£10 million) and Holland international midfielder Nigel de Jong from Hamburg for around £13 million.

What Man City must still be looking for is to bring some proven quality in the way of a goalkeeper, several defenders and a defensive midfielder.  And with West Ham joining Blackburn and Newcastle in stating they are unwilling to sell anymore of their top players in the January transfer window, I am wondering who Mark Hughes and and the Manchester City ‘dream teamers’ are calling now!

In terms of a cash value, City are reported to have put a figure of £100m on the Brazilian playmaker, with a weekly wage of £500,000 being suggested almost unanimously.

So far in the January transfer window Manchester City have met with resistance from the clubs with whom they have approached for signings and frankly I don’t see this one going anywhere either.

Mark Hughes determination to bring Roque Santa Cruz from his old club Blackburn has been met with an equal determination from their Lancashire neighbours, likewise with West Ham who have resisted approaches for Craig Bellamy and Scott Parker from City.

But this latest move is the big one, Kaka has been out of sorts over the past season and particularly since the arrival of Ronaldinho at Milan. Having landed fellow Brazilian Robinho in the summer Manchester City certainly showed their intent, but so far this season the team has gone backwards and are more likely to be fighting against relegation come the end of the season than clinching a place in the top six.

And therein lies the problem, we would all love to see a player of Kaka’s quality joining the premier league and it is fair to say that he is far from past his best, given a key role in any club I am sure Kaka would really shine. His signing would surely make other players who are equally as hungry for success as they are for a big wage packet, keen to join him there.

But City need to sell themselves to the Brazilian star and so far that is unlikely to happen. Kaka’s agent has suggested that the player would never join Manchester City just for the money and cites the Robinho transfer as a case in point.

“He would never do something like Robinho, who, just to earn more, contented himself with a solution that was not a winning one.” If that is true then the current chances of a move from Milan to Manchester regardless of cash, appear very slim indeed.

The Brazilian star’s agent Vagner Ribeiro has suggested that Madrid are under valuing Robinho, not in monetary terms, but by not showing the respect that the player deserves.

“Neither Robinho nor I like the fact that Real Madrid can use him as part exchange in their bid to sign Cristiano Ronaldo. We don’t like this attitude and we want Madrid to start valuing Robinho because at the moment they’re not.”
“Robinho is as good a player as Cristiano Ronaldo or better. The difference is that Cristiano Ronaldo reached the Champions League final and Robinho didn’t. But if Robinho had won such a title he would be at the same level as Cristiano.”

Ribeiro revealed that he has offered his player to premier league Chelsea, who he claims are keen to sign the player for 35million euros, suggesting that there has been much more contact over the player since Felipe Scolari has taken over.

Ribeiro claims that Robinho is not keen to leave Madrid, but would do if he continues to be undervalued. The 24 year old Robinho scored 11 goals in 32 games for Real Madrid during last season.

Wagner Ribeiro told Globo, a Brazilian TV station he has met with Peter Kenyon, the Chelsea managing director, and discussed a fee of £28 million.

“I met Peter Kenyon, Chelsea managing director, in London on Thursday,” Ribeiro said. “He told me that [Chelsea] were considering making an offer of 35 million euros for Robinho.”

The transfer of Robinho to Chelsea would pave the way for Real Madrid to buy Christiano Ronaldo, whose comments made immediately after Manchester United’s UEFA Champions League win over Chelsea on Wednesday, left me thinking Ronaldo has no ruled out a move to Spain this summer.