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Analysing the present deterioration in the form of Robinho in the season’s second half, Mark Hughes the boss of Manchester City, said that all the teams in the opposition camp are developing a defence strategy that is centred on the concept of making Robinho ineffective by stopping him.

After the record deal of 32.5 million pound for transfer of this Brazilian star from Real Madrid in the previous summer that shocked everybody there was lot of expectations from him. At a press conference Hughes said that Robby is one of those players who have that ability of affecting the game and the match in an extremely positive manner. He further added that after investigating into the matter in the seasons second half is that at the present moment the findings are that the teams have observed his style of playing closely and have focussed on to develop a strategy of making the impact of Robby ineffective in the match and they have been successful in reducing his impact on the game in the seasons second half as compared to the first half.

In other words because of his outstanding abilities he has become the centre of the target for most of the other teams planning strategy. The problem is not with Robinho’s Nike Mercurial football boots, but rather with the way most team’s defence have essentially analysed his tendencies and figured him out. This has been the struggle that is applicable not only for Robby but for many other players also. Now with the situation in which Manchester City has placed themselves, Mark Hughes is now desperate and must be wishing that Robinho improves his performance and delivers the goods as had been expected from him in the past.

With the awaited match for Hamburg the match against Manchester City on 16th April has prompted rumours that Martin Jol is all set to replace Mark Huges the manager of Manchester United.

On one side the defeat from Fulham has really upset the supporters of Manchester City and their chants that Mark Hughes did not know what he was doing when they went down 3-1 in spite of the fact that they were leading by one goal in the initial stages of the match. While on the other side Hamburg had a fantastic season.

Martin Jol however denied any truth in this matter and said that he has opted for tradition over money. Praising his club and his employer he said that Manchester City is a great club and he really admired the fans. He added that he was very upset with these kinds of things as he was not even giving even the slightest thought to this aspect and he really liked his present employer. He said that he wished to stay here for a longer period.

With the match of Hamburg against Manchester city if City is not able to recover from the previous defeat Martin will get the first hand experience of the discontented city’s fans at their home ground.

Another issue that adds the pressure for Mark Hughes is the fact that in this week’s match Khaldoon Al Mubarak the chairman of the club is flying specially to watch the match. However this visit was scheduled prior to the defeat on Sunday against Fulham.

Manchester City have openly been accused of trying to destroy the game of football with their money. This time, the accusation has come from the coach of FC Copenhagen, Stale Solbakken who team is Manchester City’s opponent in the UEFA Cup.

According to Solbakken he feels that by buying off new players at this stage is a waste of money which in turn would spoil the game of football. He was referring to the transfer window where City had just added on to their side players like Craig Bellamy, Wayne Bridge, Shay Given and Nigel de Jong.

Manchester City’s manager Mark Hughes believes that he needs to strengthen the team in order to avoid a situation where they needed an own goal from the opposition to gain victory. He further claimed his buying spree of players is to make sure the situation would not arise again like the last time. Manchester City has already played an exorbitant £32.5 million for the player up front, who has yet to perform in his Nike Mercurial Vapor IV FG football shoes at the same level for Man City as he does for the Brazilian national team. Morever, Robinho has been especially weak whilst playing teams outside of England where has scored only 2 goals for Man U.

Solbakken was not against buying off players but he was against the amount that was being offered which was incredible. He felt that these amounts that were being offered would definitely lead to football being destroyed over money. He accused them of just hiking the transfer fees just because they have the funds to do so. He placed an example of Wayne Bridge who was a little bit better than the players they already possessed.

Although it was not mentioned by Solbakken, but I think he was feeling the pinch that he could not afford to sign on Kaka.

Brazil and Manchester City forward Robinho was arrested by the police on Monday as the player after he was accused of raping a woman at a nightclub in northern England.

Confirming the news that Robinho has met the police, spokesman Chris Nathaniel said that the meeting had been prearranged and done in part to investigate a criminal case. Speaking on the player’s website he said that the player has denied any wrong doing on his part and has strenuously rubbished claims that he is charged of wrongdoing or criminality. The spokesperson further revealed that the player is more than happy to co-operate with the police so that the case reaches a conclusive solution. Still, the allegations are extremely serious and if true could spend the end of his career and lucrative endorsement deals, such as his endorsement of Nike football boots. The 25-year-old player currently resides at Manchester with wife Vivian and one-year-old son Robson Junior.

The picture is still not clear, even though the finger of suspicion points towards Robinho. West Yorkshire Police, which is in charge of the case, has also refrained from making any public disclosure of the player involved in the incident. Instead they have adopted a more cautious approach and said that they had questioned a man about a “serious sexual assault” on an 18-year-old woman in Leeds on Jan. 14. He was later released on bail, they informed.

Meanwhile, Robinho has given enough hints that all is not well with him, as days after the incident he was seen leaving City’s training camp in Tenerife without permission to return to Brazil, under the pretext that he has to attend an “important family matter.”

Fulham owner Mohamed Al-Fayed is particularly taken aback by the reported $147 million transfer offer that Manchester City is offering for AC Milan’s Kaka. Terming the offer as absolute madness, he called on the Premier League and Football Association to take strict measures so that such outrageous incident, which according to him apparently has potential to shake the very foundation of the football leagues in Europe, doesn’t take place in the future. The best way to negate such aggressive pouching by clubs is to impose transfer and salary caps, he sited.

Man City is believed to be in the advanced stages of the deal with Kaka. The player has apparently sought the advice of his father and adviser, Bosco Leite, to chalk out the nuances of the deal.

While interacting with BBC Radio on Sunday, Al-Fayed said that it is now in the hands of the Premier League and the FA on how they approach the matter so that it may not instigate other clubs to follow suite. Whilst there have been many other expensive offers in other sports, baseball’s Alex Rodriguez received a $250 million contract, and basketball’s LeBron James got a $90 million endorsement deal to promote his Nike Zoom Lebron 6 basketball shoes, the intended football transfer fee amount is still completely unprecedented. He further stated that it is high time the management walk from their slumber and understand the gravity of the situation.

He simply called the entire drama a complete nonsense, saying that no one player on his own can change the fortune of his team. He asked, if the club is so obsessed with this one particular player what about the rest of the team, the players around him. He didn’t shy away from terming it as one of the dark days of football.

Mohamed Al-Fayed, citing his own example said that money alone is not the cornerstone to build a great team. It may be mentioned here that though Al-Fayed, using his wealth and ambition, has managed to make Fulham a first tier team, yet despite his best efforts it is still struggling to establish itself as a major force.

AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti hinted on Friday that pressure is mounting on the club from Manchester City, who according to him are hell bent on signing Kaka. The coach said that there is no intention on his part to sell the player when the transfer window opens, and that he would love to see the player playing for the club for many more years. Meanwhile, he also acknowledged that the offer from Manchester City for the player is by far the highest that he has ever heard, and of course if it is finalized it will erase the record of the existing highest transfer by a long distance.

Speaking at his weekly news conference at Milan’s training facility he said that he believes dealings are under way and that it is pertinent for both the club and the player to reach an amicable solution so that both the sides can benefit from the transfer.

The deal for the Brazil playmaker is reported to be in the range of $150 million, while the entire offer could top $196 million. If City does manage to break through the ice, it will make a mockery of the world record set in 2001 when Real Madrid signed Zinedine Zidane from Juventus for $65 million.

The coach however refused to divulge details whether there is any certainty of the player accepting the offer, instead saying that it is now with the management to take the final call. Though he appeared optimistic that with or without the player the club is determined to go forward. So it is still uncertain whether or not Kaka will remain in Milan in his Adidas Predator Absolute TRX trainers. Moreover, the goals of the club are very much the same now than it was anytime before, Ancelotti stressed.

The global economic recession is having an impact in every sphere, as its most recent victim apparently appears to be the European football market where transfer prices are likely to come down drastically. The transfer window is currently due in January but the mood is hardly an inspiring one as the economic turmoil has pushed many clubs to the brink of bankruptcy.

Even premier clubs like West Ham are facing the heat, with its owner facing bankruptcy due to the collapse of Iceland’s banking sector. Despite that the club has issued statements that it is not going to let go off its players for cheap, as it had spent a fortune acquiring them.

The likes of Manchester City, which is financed by the wealthy Arab investors, are also adopting a cautious approach and are unwilling to go on an unrestricted spending spree. Their manager Mark Hughes has insisted that the club will not make any decision in haste and that decision regarding purchase of players of the quality of Kaka and Lionel Mess, if any, will be done after doing a thorough research.

The recent wait and watch policy adopted by City speaks volumes about the unhealthy trend gripping the transfer market that is expected to be a part of the management policy in times to come. Manchester City it may be remembered broke the British transfer record to bring in £34.2 million Brazil striker Robinho on the last day of the September transfer window, while the club was on the threshold of changing hands with the Arabs taking charge.