Last chance for City nearly men

IN FOOTBALL, it may be the Year of the Fox, but for followers of the lunar calendar, that pesky primate called under-achievement is poised to leap back onto Manchester City's shoulders.
All seemed well until last Saturday. Even money to win the title and aiming for the Quad, they were still basking in the glow of landing Pep Guardiola and massive investment from China. Leicester? City were expected to send the slinky upstarts back to their East Midlands lair. What could go wrong?
Well, another no-show, that's what went wrong. Another complete letdown by big-name players, many of whom cost more than the entire Leicester team, has flipped the title odds in the Foxes' favour.
Now City face a must-win game at home to Spurs or they will simply revert back to being known as expensive nearly men. A team built for greatness who fell short.
Failure to beat two of their main rivals in successive home games would indicate they are some distance from the domestic dominance envisaged by their ambitious owners when they decided to invest £1.5 billion into the 'City project'. The listlessness of last weekend's performance suggests they aren't too bothered.
Time is running out for this current crop of players. Many are past or pushing 30 and their record of two title wins, a League Cup and an FA Cup in five years is not to be sneezed at.
But when set against the best part of a billion quid spent on recruitment as well as an inability to establish more than a beach head in the conquest of Europe, it will be inevitably viewed as a disappointment.
This is still essentially Roberto Mancini's team whose dramatic capture of a first league title in 44 years was meant to open the floodgates.

And when they marmalised United 6-1 and Arsenal 6-3 they looked like a side destined for greatness. With Yaya Toure at his steamroller finest and David Silva making Merlin look sluggish, they were an irresistible force and a thrilling sight going forward. They had all the makings of one of the all-time great British club sides.
But instead of being compared with the United of 99 or Liverpool of seventies and eighties vintages, they seem to be settling for a less exalted place alongside the better teams of this century – United of 2007/08, Chelsea of Mourinho's first coming and Arsenal's Invincibles. You feel it's an opportunity lost.
Now Guardiola may be looking at a major rebuild instead of the kind of touch-up he's given Bayern Munich. And even with the world's most sought-after manager on the job, such a reconstruction will take time.
The question of whether City are no longer playing for Manuel Pellegrini has inevitably been asked as advance notice of managerial departures has been known to affect motivation. City thought that playing for places under Pep would insure against that, but after the Leicester debacle they cannot take it for granted.
If Toure's failure to get out of first gear was anything to go by, they will be worried. The Ivorian was the most culpable, but then he probably sees no future under a manager who ushered him out of Barcelona while in his prime. That is no excuse – especially as he was wearing the armband – but it happens.
On the other hand, Aleksandar Kolarov, who was on his way to Italy, has already changed his mind and wants to play for Pep. City have never needed much encouragement to take their foot off the gas and they probably under-estimated Leicester.
Should they repeat that mistake against a hungry Tottenham side, who hammered them 4-1 at White Hart Lane in September, then Pep might be wondering if the promised £150m transfer budget will be enough.
The Etihad is sure to be nervous about seeing Harry Kane unleashed against any combination of the tailor's dummies Martin Demichelis, Nicolas Otamendi and Eliaquim Mangala that Pellegrini chooses, while the attack, without Silva, struggles to create.
With Vincent Kompany likely to be saved for the League Cup final against Liverpool, City must soldier on in both FA Cup (against Chelsea) next weekend) and Champions League (against Dinamo Kiev) in 10 days.
Such weaknesses have been caused by poor recruitment since Txiki Begiristain took over as Director of Football. By securing Pep he may be forgiven for all his expensive flops but he has given his Catalan friend a much bigger task than he may have been expecting.
Top of Pep's wanted list will be at least one central defender – perhaps John Stones - a ball-winner such as Sergio Busquets and a midfield creator like Thiago Alcantara. And to top it off, a fantasy signing of either Luis Suarez or Neymar.
The Brazilian is more likely because of his unhappiness at the Spanish investigation into his dodgy arrival. Nope, £150m is nowhere near enough but then City hired Pep because they don't want to be nearly men any longer.
Whether many of the current squad are likely to be part of this new era, we'll have a better idea on Sunday night.