A tale of two Cities
Donachie: City are looking invincible but if it wasn’t for the day Ian Rush had a stinker against us we could have been stuck in England’s lower leagues forever
WILLIE DONACHIE marvels at the world superstars in Pep Guardiola’s swashbuckling, all-conquering Manchester City side.
But it was a foreign import signed at a fraction of the cost of the current heroes he reckons helped turn the corner during City’s darkest days.
Former Scotland full-back and City stalwart Donachie was assistant manager to Joe Royle when the club was light years from where it is today.
And when you consider the £1billion invested by Sheikh Mansour since his 2008 takeover the £500,000 spent by the club to sign Gerard Wiekens 21 years ago is like loose change.
In fact the transfer fee to sign the defender from Dutch minnows Veendam is the reported weekly wage Kevin de Bruyne wants to pen a new City contract.
Wiekens played when the club was in a very different place, at their lowest ebb. But if it wasn’t for the contribution of him and others in the 1998-99 season today’s generation of fans might not be enjoying de Bruyne, Sergio Aguero and David Silva. City reached their nadir on December 19, 1998 when they slumped to a 2-1 defeat at York that saw them sink to 12th in England’s third tier – the lowest in their history.
Earlier that same month City had been dumped out of the Auto Windscreens Shield in front of just 3007 fans, the lowest crowd at Maine Road, when they lost 2-1 to Mansfield.
Royle said of that season: “We were suffering in that division.
“My assistant Willie Donachie and I were taking the club to all corners of the country which we had never seen before. York was a match we should have won but it was just frittered away.”
But Donachie pinpoints the fixture just seven days after defeat to York as the start of the journey back for City.
It was thanks to the profligacy of Liverpool hero Ian Rush on Boxing Day 1998 that City earned the win that sparked their fightback.
Rush failed to net for Wrexham – as was the case in all 18 starts for the Welsh side – and Wiekens scored the only goal to settle a scrappy game.
And Glasgow-born Donachie,
He was a great goalscorer but with him missing the chances I felt we were getting the bit of luck we needed DONACHIE
capped 35 times for Scotland, said: “We lost at York City and I can tell you that wasn’t much fun. But I prefer to remember the positive times and one of them was the big turning point in a game away to Wrexham.
“We didn’t play particularly well and were under the cosh but we won with a header from Gerard Wiekens and we just started to get a few breaks.
“It seemed to get better from then. One of things I remember is that Ian Rush was playing for Wrexham and he missed a load of chances.
“He was a great goalscorer but with him missing the chances I felt we were getting the bit of luck we needed.”
A rousing second half to the season saw City reach the play-off final where they beat Gillingham at Wembley.
Trailing by two as the clock struck the 90-minute mark they scored twice with former Scotland striker Paul Dickov levelling five minutes into injury time before securing promotion thanks to a penalty shoot-out win.
Donachie spent 12 years at Maine Road as a player where he played in two League Cup finals and lost to eventual winners Chelsea in the 1971 European Cup-Winners’ Cup semi-final.
He is still invited back to the Etihad and was introduced at half-time of the recent 4-1 win over Burnley, another of his former clubs.
Watching Guardiola’s side in full flow could hardly be more contrasting to a usual Saturday afternoon for the 66-year-old when he visits one of the two clubs he coaches, Accrington and Northern League Consett.
But while he believes City can match Arsenal’s Invincibles of 2004 he doesn’t believe they can complete a quadruple. With days like Wrexham still fresh in his mind he said: “The most important thing is the fans who stayed loyal even in the third tier.
“That’s what keeps the club going and they deserve to see the team the way it is now because they’ve been so loyal throughout the bad times.
“Everything evolves but Manchester City has always been a massive club. In Manchester they’ve always been as big as United in terms of fan base.
“When I played back in the 1970s there was a great atmosphere and I actually preferred Maine Road to the Etihad. I know it was an old ground but the fans were right on top of you and close together.
“It’s great to see City on this run. Can I believe it? Yes, because they’ve the got the best players in the country. It’s as simple as that.
“If you’ve got the best players and they’re prepared to work for each other then you’ll win. It was the same at Liverpool when they had a great team.
“City have the best squad in the country by far and the manager plays a very positive, entertaining style.
“That has always been Pep Guardiola’s style and it’s great to see as it’s in Manchester City’s DNA.
“Their big thing is speed, especially up front. Teams just can’t handle that pace allied to great technical ability.
“You see a lot of teams in the Premier League playing negative and trying to keep the score down because they know they can’t handle them.
“That has never really been the way in Britain. Teams have always gone for it and would rather have a go and lose 5-0 than 1-0 playing defensively. That is the downside to it because of the disparity in the finances.
“I never thought any team could go through an English top-flight campaign undefeated but Arsenal showed it’s possible. But I don’t think there’s any way City could do a quadruple. They give chances away and I could see the likes of Real Madrid or Barcelona scoring against them then being pretty solid.
“Five different English clubs have won the European Cup and that highlights the competition. Probably two or three clubs from Italy, Germany and Spain have won it and that shows the strength of the English league.
“It would be great to see City’s name on the trophy. That’s their main goal but it won’t be that easy.
“I’d love them to do it but I don’t know if they will this season. I’m sure they will soon with the finances, the players and the manager.
“But I don’t want to take anything away from them. I love the way they play, I love watching them, and that’s the way it should be played.”