A bit of a late reaction from the Observer today, but an interesting article anyway.

Paul Wilson looks at David Moyes' calm, collected approach to management while Roberto Mancini looks in danger of buckling under the pressure. Paul says the City probably wish they had someone like Moyes at the helm. And maybe Everton would have been a better investment.

It is now being said, with reason, that Everton would have a Champions League place tied down had they not started the season slowly and suffered so many debilitating injuries. It might be added that they probably would have started the season better had they not been disrupted by the protracted and distasteful business of selling Lescott to City, and the subsequent need to buy and bed in replacements, even if Sylvain Distin and Johnny Heitinga have turned out to be excellent additions to David Moyes's squad. The real question to be asked, however, is where Everton would be in the table with a fraction of City's investment behind them, or even with the chance to rent a state-of-the-art stadium from the local council so that Bill Kenwright would not have to deter potential buyers with the news that a new home is an urgent priority.

That small detail (well, small compared to the sums of money at play) was what first attracted Abu Dhabi backers to a City takeover. It appears they imagined that with the stadium and the money in place, the football expertise could be bought in later. It now appears it may not be quite that simple, certainly if a fairly early return on investment was expected, and if Sheikh Mansour has been scrutinising City's results this season – to Moyes's enormous satisfaction Everton have thoroughly exposed them home and away – he may now be wondering whether it might not have been cheaper and more satisfying to buy into the best-run football club outside the top four and build a new Goodison somewhere along the way.