Mark Hughes is hoping to offload Jo, Tal Ben Haim and
Elano.
Mark Hughes has identified a small but influential group
of Manchester
City players he fears are trying to
lead a dressing-room mutiny against him. There has already been one
meeting at which the ringleaders shared their grievances, and a
fringe player has complained about Hughes to the club's executive
chairman, Garry Cook.
Hughes, the latest Premier League
manager to face speculation about a prospective sacking, is said to
be dismayed but unsurprised by the unrest. He has been comforted by
the fact he retains the backing of the majority of his squad but he
has also had prolonged difficulties with some of the players he
inherited from Sven-Goran Eriksson, most notably the Brazilian
midfielder Elano. His relationship has also deteriorated with two
of the players who were bought to the club under his management but
entirely on the say-so of the former owner Thaksin Shinawatra, Tal
Ben Haim and the Brazilian striker Jo.
Hughes is already seeking ways to offload several of the players
he has come to regard as bad apples. Ben Haim has been offered to
Blackburn as part of a proposed cash-plus-player exchange for Roque
Santa Cruz that would also see City pay a fee of around £18m, and
the Israel international is unlikely to be the only player to leave
Eastlands.
Elano's relationship with Hughes has rarely been anything better
than tepid and, despite being recognised as one of City's more
talented passers, the Brazilian has created so many problems he,
too, is available to potential buyers. Jo, a £19m recruit from CSKA
Moscow, will also be sold or loaned if Hughes gets his way, and it
is a measure of how strongly the manager feels that he is prepared
for it to impact on the happiness of a third Brazilian,
Robinho.
The priority for Hughes, according to well-placed sources inside
the club, is to bring in new players and he remains hopeful of
taking his spending at City over the £100m mark this week by
concluding the deal for Santa Cruz as well as the £12m capture of
West Ham's Scott Parker. City have also resurrected their interest
in Kolo Touré of Arsenal and lodged a bid for Parker's team-mate,
Craig Bellamy. Shay Given, the Newcastle United goalkeeper, is also
on Hughes's wish-list.
Once City have worked through that list of names, however,
Hughes will confirm to Cook there are several players with whom he
feels he can no longer work - some because of their ability but
others because of their attitude.
Potential buyers will be encouraged to look at a list that
includes Dietmar Hamann, Michael Ball, Javier Garrido, Kasper
Schmeichel, Nedum Onuoha and Darius Vassell.
Cook is sympathetic towards the manager and made that perfectly
clear to the player who complained to him. However, quotes
attributed to Cook yesterday, insisting there is no danger of
Hughes being sacked, came from a month-old interview – before the
run of games that saw City briefly drop into the Premier League's
relegation zone as well as being humiliated in the FA Cup on
Saturday by a Nottingham Forest side currently fourth from bottom
of the Championship.
That 3-0 defeat has led to calls for Hughes's head from some
supporters, although he is still thought to retain the backing of
the club's billionaire owners in Abu Dhabi. Yet Hughes's problems
can be gauged by the fact that one of the players who was involved
in Saturday's game was seen laughing and joking in the showers
directly afterwards.