Just read this great column on Robinho and said what i thought when they signed him. Also just to add, i was worried seeing when they get taken over by a Middle Eastern consortium, they spend big dosh and their owner says there is no limit to money. DIC! DIC! DIC!
They have spent 10m more than our record signing, that speaks volumes. Anyway, onto the article:
The right move for Robinho?The big question left by transfer window day is this: Does Robinho now regret working so hard to create an environment where it was not possible for him to continue at Real Madrid?
All summer he has been trying to force his way out of the Bernabeu - but he imagined that Chelsea would be there to catch him, and a compatriot coach in Luiz Felipe Scolari would be there to boost his confidence and bring out the best in him.
Instead of which, it is Mark Hughes and Manchester City - and for all their money and ambitious talk, it is a strange setting for his stated objective of being considered the best player in the world.
Robinho takes with him to the North West of England the guarantee that he will produce the odd breathtaking moment of individual skill to warm frozen Mancunian hearts over the next few months.
But will he come up with enough to be truly decisive when the silverware is handed out? Enough to really put himself in contention for the Fifa World Player Award? These questions hold no such guarantees.
During last June's 0-0 draw at home to Argentina in World Cup qualification, the local media had a camera trained on Brazil coach Dunga, and a lip-reading specialist trying to decipher what he was saying to his assistant. One of the things that Dunga is presumed to have said is "Robinho looks scared."
It is an interesting assessment. Last year Robinho was named as the outstanding player in the Copa America.
But there were few magic moments in the final against Argentina, which Brazil won 3-0, and even fewer in the semi final against Uruguay, which Brazil scraped through on penalties.
His truly great performances came in the two meetings with Chile, a 3-0 win in a group game and a 6-1 rout in the quarter final. Both times Robinho was dazzling.
But Chile were not only very poor defensively, they were also falling apart after internal discipline problems.
Indeed, the Copa America gave extra evidence for the view that, so far, Robinho is something of a rabbit killer, a slayer of the weak who can look fragile against the strong.
Real Madrid clearly don't rate him anything like as highly as Cristiano Ronaldo - Robinho's desire to leave the Bernabeu dates from the moment this became clear.
He has been roundly criticised in Brazil for his behaviour in attempting to force a move to Chelsea.
It has brought back memories of 2005 when he pulled the same trick - and even refused to play for a while - to oblige Santos to sell him to Spain.
One of Brazil's leading pundits, Paulo Vinicius Coelho, wrote that "the strike at Santos and the lack of professionalism at Real...show that the star is still a spoilt child, that he hasn't become a man." But he has now become a Man City player.
The 24-year-old loves to cultivate an image of the happy-go-lucky jokester. But it can come across as a little contrived. Certainly Arrigo Sacchi seemed to think so.
The ex-Milan boss was working at Real Madrid in Robinho's early days there, and felt that the young Brazilian's problems settling in were down to a lack of self-esteem.
From a Man City point of view, one worrying aspect of the deal is the difficulties Robinho has had in adapting to Spanish football.
In Brazil, fouls are given for the slightest physical contact. In Europe, the criteria is different. Many times with Real, Robinho went to ground looking for a free kick, and was then seen swearing in Portuguese when he didn't get the decision.
In the Premier League he can expect more physical contact and less space to work in.
But this is the space that he has now chosen for himself. It will be fascinating to see how he copes with his new challenge.
Will he light up the English winter with virtuoso displays? Or will he struggle and soon pull another sulk job in attempt to force an exit from the club he has just joined?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/timvickery/2008/09/the_big_question_left_by.html