Red watch: Manchester City showing takeover style
NOW that's what I call a takeover.
No sooner had the Abu Dhabi United Group (nothing sinister in that name is there?) stuffed their dirhams into 'Frank' Shinawatra's pockets, than they're mounting outrageous transfer bids for the likes of Robinho, Dimitar Berbatov and David Villa, sending Mark Hughes on a bizarre Supermarket Sweep, trying to spend £100m in 12 hours from the golf course.
Though the latter two were always likely to be doomed attempts, the capture of the young Brazilian was indeed a major coup. Having declared only 24 hours earlier that his heart was in Chelsea, it's clear that his bank account is now firmly in Manchester.
It's hard not to smirk at the King's Road wastrels being beaten at their own game. In terms of PR, the Emiratis have knocked our American chums into a cocked hat.
The airwaves were full of jubilant City fans on Monday night, predicting Champions' League qualification this season, the Premiership next year and the Nobel Peace prize after that.
After the uncertainty and potential financial meltdown that characterised the Thai ex-Prime Minister's reign, the City faithful could be forgiven for thinking Father Christmas has dyed his beard black and donned a white thobe.
Only a few took the time to bemoan their beloved football club being passed around the world like some battered parcel, the string coming away and spilling local pride somewhere over the Arabian Sea.
After the events of last week, of course, there'll be plenty of Kopites hoping that our own club suffers the same fate.
For many, the announcement that the 'enabling works' currently being carried out in Stanley Park are instead likely to become the burial ground for our aspirations for a new stadium was the last straw, conclusive proof that our warring owners are not the men of substance we thought they were, but are rather made of the aforementioned harvesting by-product.
Their failure to raise loans to build the new stadium, widely attributed to the credit crunch but more likely due to their reluctance or inability to find the necessary cash to stump up their own share, has finally exhausted the patience of those like myself who craved a period of stability, and were prepared to forgive their crass PR gaffes as long as new players and a new ground arrived in good time.
While it is hard to criticise them on the former, despite the Gareth Barry hoo-ha, the delay over the construction of the New Anfield seriously threatens our ability to keep financial pace with United and Chelsea, and jeopardises the opportunity for thousands of fans to (re)discover the delights of watching the Reds every other week. For this failure alone, many will believe that they should fall on their swords.
Ironically, it may be that this failure to secure the new stadium helps to achieve what the majority of fans now desire; the sale of the club to a new owner.
The delay in the increased revenue streams may persuade the gruesome twosome that there is more profit in realising their 'investment' now, given the current availability of a site for a new stadium with planning permission which could be more quickly developed by those with access to ready cash.
Which of course brings us back to the Emiratis, and in particular Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The prospect of the Emiratis holding their very own '39th game' in the North West of England might just be too tempting to resist. European Nights? They'll be nothing on Arabian Nights.
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