Mercenaries jibe fired us up to thrash United 6-1!
CITY’S incredible 6-1 win at Old Trafford was fuelled by the ‘mercenary’ jibes being hurled at their players.
Tomorrow is the 10th anniversary of the seminal moment in derby history, when the brilliant Blues wiped away 37 years of devastation in the most emphatic style possible.
City had won just once there in that period, and even the arrival of Sheikh Mansour as new owner, with all of his wealth, had not stopped the United steamroller when it came to that fixture.
In three derbies at Old Trafford following the 2008 takeover, the Reds had won the lot, and Sir Alex Ferguson’s derisory dismissal of the upwardly mobile Blues as ‘noisy neighbours’ seemed to be justified.
The view from outside the club was that, for all their money, City’s bold new enterprise would collapse, as it was built on shifting foundations, and that view was prevalent at United, who - after 25 years of unprecedented domination - could not envisage a Manchester where they were no longer top dogs.
The Blues had paid big money to attract big players such as Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero, David Silva and Yaya Toure, but their rivals thought that was their greatest weakness.
They were seen as a mercenary club, a collection of egos whose only allegiance was to the pay packet.
And, as Joleon Lescott revealed, that infuriated a set of players who badly wanted to win things - they had bought into the success story as well as the attractive wage offer.
The City defender says that the main motivation in winning silverware was the success itself, but he says that the sniping about players only being there for the cash was also a big motivation.
“It wasn’t the core of our motivation - that was to be successful,” said the exEngland defender. “We knew as a group of players and as individuals we were talented so that’s what we
We were only together because City were throwing money at us that was the perception, but it wasn’t the reality
needed to do - execute on our potential.
“I’m not going to pretend that it wasn’t nice to enjoy the success a bit more after people said it. They will say it now about Newcastle.
“I’m sure the players that regenerate their success will be labelled the same - same as Chelsea before us. But all of a sudden when a club is maintaining that level of success, it’s got to be regarded as making the right move.”
Even though they were top of the table, City went into that famous derby looking for all the world like a squad riven by dissent and damaged by internal conflict.
Tevez had been suspended after clashing with manager Roberto Mancini on the touchline at Bayern Munich, Mario Balotelli had attracted more unwanted headlines when friends let off fireworks in the bathroom of his Alderley Edge home, and barely a week went by without new photographs emerging of a fight on the training ground.
Mancini’s volatile nature meant City seemed to be constantly in a crisis, but Lescott says the notion of them being a squad at war with itself is over-blown.
“There was no one that was coming to work and wasn’t enjoying it,” he said. “We all enjoyed training and playing with each other and it was a really close group of players and staff.”
Going into the game, Mancini was not the passionate, tablethumping zealot that his reputation might suggest, says Lescott.
“He gave us a platform, saying these are the jobs and the roles and if you do it you will be successful but we knew it anyway,” he said. “We had extra motivation as a group of players because no one was taking us seriously outside the club.
“We were only together because Man City were throwing money at all of us - that was the perception but it wasn’t the reality of our motivation. We believed we could challenge and be successful.
“There were periods when he (Mancini) wasn’t liked but there’s never been a period when I’ve played for any manager when I’ve liked them for every moment. That’s just normal.
“But he played a massive part in success for us. But also Mark Hughes - he assembled that squad. There’s no one that didn’t have an impact on us.”