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Don’t plan the parade just yet, Man City fans

August 31, 2009 02:28 PM | Posted by   John Molinaro  

Three wins in three games to start the season. All is well in the blue half of Manchester.

Bankrolled by an oil-rich sugar daddy, Manchester City is the talk of the town two weeks into the Premiership season, with supporters of the Blues in a frenzied forth over the fortunes and future of their club.

I’ve seen this before.

The start of every season is always full of promise. Every team starts out on equal footing. Nothing has been decided. The championship and European places are still up for grabs.

All of this leads to legions of fans being left to dream and let their imaginations run wild.

No doubt that thought of winning the Premiership title has crossed the minds of more than a few City fans.

Blues supporters should feel pretty good about the way things have gone so far, and you can hardly blame them if they’re relishing the fact that City has managed to overshadow hated rivals Manchester United.

But it is still premature to be talking about City as a title contender, let alone as capable of breaking into the top four by season’s end.

I want to buy into the hype. I really do.

I hope that City can, in fact, crack the top four and add a little more parity (if you can even call it that) to the EPL. I’m not sure I can stand another season of Man U-Chelsea-Liverpool-Arsenal domination in England.

So trust me when I say I want to believe in City.

But for now, I’m reserving judgement on Mark Hughes’ men, because it’s still early in the season and I have a sinking suspicion that City will wither on the vine, instead of blossom into a legitimate title threat.

Yes, three wins without conceding a goal looks impressive on paper, but those wins (all of them more pragmatic than convincing) came against prime relegation candidates Blackburn, Portsmouth and recently-promoted Wolves.

The true test of City’s mettle will come in the ensuing weeks when they play four tough opponents in succession: Arsenal, Manchester United (at Old Trafford), West Ham and Aston Villa.

If they can come away from that difficult stretch of games with, say seven points, and look decisive in collecting those points, then I’ll change my tune.

Until then, however, Manchester City is nothing more than a pretender to the throne.

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