Storm in a tea cup
Having seen Robinho's comments at a fairly stage, and given my (albeit limited) knowledge of how newspapers operate, it wasn't a surprise to see the national press come out one by one to attempt to stir up the 'Robinho outburst' angle - with the 'small time' phrase being perfect fodder for the headline writers.
Mark Hughes is correct though in that in isolation the comments could appear damning but are largely taken out of context. I feel that Hughes's approach of brushing the comments aside may as much be about damage limitation and hoping it all blows over, but I do feel too much has been made of it.
Unlike with Elano, Robinho has not been critical of the manager or the managers approach, only (if we're being honest) speaking the truth about where he sees the club at present and the general mentality that surrounds it.
Since the summer, both on and off the pitch there has been a change in the clubs approach and how it is operating, but the adage 'Rome wasn't built in a day' and it is true that for the club "finishing 5th or 6th" would in the past have represented a successful season.
What Robinho was saying is that this mentality must change, and he is correct, but it will take time to change - just like it did for Chelsea in recent seasons. Overnight success is rarely achieved in football.
The frustration for Robinho though (and perhaps many fans) is that this change may not be as quick a process as hoped.
2 comments:
quite right, this interview was taken after we beat the arsenal...it wasn't an outburst after a derby defeat..like the press have made it out to be.
never the less, robinho is completly right, we shouldn't be content with 5th or 6th and thats whay we are where we are. A belief and drive is needed, we should fee that we deserve to finish up at the top...we have capitualated to united, chelsea and liverpool, simply because they are winners, they want it , they deserve it (in their eyes)
Hughes would be wise to listen to robinho as would the rest of the side..im sure our captain doesnt have the same mentality...he captains a nation where effort rather results are rewarded and a club where try hards have over-achieved...when the skilled have been brushed aside.
Harsh lessons are to be learnt.
With better players in january..a better mindstate will develop
This is completely right. Robinho's comments were spot on. We do have a small club mentality and that needs to change. The attitude at city in recent times has been 'i wouldnt mind if we got relegated' etc. It needs to change and we should stop settling for much much less than second best
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