Brian Reade Article.

• Why Spurs' victory over City was a great night for football
  

All we’ve heard about since Spurs grabbed fourth place is millions.Headlines
and pundits screaming about a £50million jackpot delivering Harry
Redknapp a £40m war chest to buy £20m players.And despite that
jackpot being nearer the square root of sod all if they fail to qualify
in August, it misses the point of Wednesday’s triumph by the length of
the Seven Sisters Road.That stirring victory in East Manchester
was not about money but about a near-comatose giant which has lived in
the shadow of its neighbours for a ­generation or more, re-­awakening to
remind people who it is.
It was about a historic club which has been patronised for almost
half a century as a “good cup side” finally tasting a big success
through the only true yardstick – its league position.It was
about fans shaking off an inferiority complex and unleashing a howl of
joy under floodlights 200 miles from home, positive attacking football
and the culmination of a fine ­manager’s lifetime work.But most
of all, to borrow the parlance of the captain of the first 60’s
superstar team, it was about glory not money.The fact that it
happened in Bling Central, postponing Sheikh Mansour’s successful
purchase of a seat at Europe’s top table, marks it down as a great night
for English football.And I’m sure that most objective Manchester
City fans understand why everyone outside of Arsenal wanted them to
lose. Because if their chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak wore a scarf that
wasn’t sky blue, they would too.This is the downside of a pact
with the devil. From being many neutrals’ favourite big city team they
are starting to look like Chavski The Sequel (although as I’ve said
before, City fans have shown far more humility over their freakish luck
than many of Chelsea’s).To hear Craig Bellamy state on the eve of
the game that City players aren’t ­bothered if they miss out on fourth
place this season because the owners have so much money they’ll get
there eventually, grates intensely.As does Roberto Mancini openly
talking about rival teams’ stars being unable to resist the lure of
Eastlands before he’s achieved anything better than a fifth- placed
finish. If I were the Italian, I’d be more worried that he’s
managing a club which has spent £240m in two years yet is unable to
break into the English elite in a season when one of the top four took a
sabbatical from planet Earth.Especially now that al-Mubarak says
he has “the highest regard” for him – the same words he used to
describe Mark Hughes.Especially when some of his players, who
only joined City because of the wages on offer, already look
­disillusioned.How bad was Emmanuel Adebayor against Spurs? How
worrying is Carlos Tevez’s body language looking now he’s only bloodied
United’s noses, not rubbed them in the dirt?Unlike Spurs, in that
second half, Mancini’s side didn’t want to die for the win. The
visitors looked like a united team carrying the hopes of fans they were
desperate to please. City looked like a disjointed team carrying too
many mercenaries.That’s because the “success will come even if I
don’t pull my tripe out” is a deeply-flawed attitude.Believing
“if I can’t win it for the owners then someone else will but I don’t
care because I’ve made enough millions to retire happily” will never win
anything in ­football.Which is why City will never be a force
until they attract a manager and a team who believe they, and no-one
else, can win the Premier League for themselves and their fans.And
no amount of millions can buy you that. Glory be.*****************If
Spurs do join Chelsea and Arsenal in the ­Champions League proper, a
serious question needs to be asked.Will our capital city
(population eight million) finally put itself on the world football map?The
European Cup has been going for 54 years now, and the winners’ table
reads: Rest of England 11, London 0. That’s embarrassing.As they
say down in Albert Square, it needs sortin’, my son!

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