The Rambling view from the City Perspective

An unfortunate loss against Stoke after a positive result mid week against Newcastle. Same team each time, with a very interesting Zabaleta/De Jong midfield anchor partnership and the team playing a 4-2-3-1. Good. Yes I know we lost against ten man Stoke, however this was Hughes maximizing the resources he has available to him given injuries and suspensions.

My beef with Hughes has never been about the team losing, as everybody loses at some point, but rather what I believe to be poor tactics and team selections given the resources available to him. Against Newcastle and Stoke I believe Hughes made the correct choices and as such I firmly support him and the club win or lose.

Ironically the sending off of Rory Delap was a negative for City, rather than Stoke, because the club does not have a target man on the books. Jo isn't that type of player, Bianchi for all his goal poaching wasn't either. Samaras was probably the closest we've had recently but then he prefers the ball pulled back from the touch line rather than pumped over the top.

Of all the players that CIty need right now, it is this target man that City need desperately. And it so happens that such a player is available today, on the cheap, and remains one of the best target men in the business. That man is Brian McBride who left Fulham last year to return to the MLS and is reported to be in discussions with Fulham to return on loan.

Meanwhile a frantic final day of the transfer window seems to be in store for Monday. Three players signed so far seems a terribly poor month's worth of work. Can City pull a last day surprise. We still, in my estimation, need a goalkeeper, central defender, central midfielder, left midfielder and target man. The squad is woefully thin.

As always I welcome your feedback at wallace.poulter@gmail.com