Monday, January 13, 2014

Women's Views on News

Women's Views on News

Manchester City means business

Posted: 03 Dec 2013 03:00 AM PST

9994289386_94a8354e66High profile signings for Women’s Super League's newest member.

In 2012 a new football force emerged in the men's Premier League; in the closest title race since its inception, Manchester City pipped their greatest rivals, Manchester United, with just seconds to spare in the last game of the season.

While there was jubilation in the blue half of Manchester and plenty of general comment that it was good to see a bit of competition, there were also darker mutterings that City had "bought" the league through their outlandish spending.

The team and squad were not developed, but bought in wholesale with just one aim in view.

Whether this was indeed true, or a just a case of sour grapes from the losers, it changed the face of English Premier League football.

Roman Abramovich was the first to try to "buy" a title when he took over as Chelsea owner in 2003: with a backbone of domestic players he kept adding to his squad until they won the Premier League title in the 2004-5 season.

However, Manchester City have taken the idea to new heights.

The question is, are they about to do the same in the Women's Super League (WSL)?

Over the past couple of weeks, Manchester City Ladies have made three high profile signings – and are obviously on the lookout for more.

First, England midfielder Jill Scott left Everton to sign a two-year deal.

In an interview with the City website she said, “For me, it’s a chance for a fresh start with a new challenge.

“It’s fantastic to be here and to see the plans that Manchester City Ladies have in place to compete in the first season of the FA WSL.”

England goalkeeper Karen Bardsley was next to join, leaving Lincoln (or Notts County as they are now to be called) to join City, again on a two-year deal.

City's latest coup, announced last week, has been to snap up England's high-flying striker Toni Duggan from Everton.

This must indeed have been big news, as it featured on Radio 5 Live sports bulletins on the day the story broke.

From 2014 the Super League is expanding to two divisions with eight teams in WSL1 and 10 in WSL2.

There will be promotion and relegation for the first time.

As part of the process to become part of the WSL, bidders had to commit to matching the funding offered by the FA, which for the first division is £70,000, as well as proving their commitment in the areas of coaching and marketing.

Manchester City Ladies had previously been only a bit-part player in the second tier of women's football, the rather confusingly named Premier League. They have only recently formalised their ties with Manchester City FC, but now they are making their intentions clear.

City have announced their new management structure for the forthcoming season. Nick Cushing is the new First Team Manager with Leigh Wood as Head Coach. They will also have Kevin Sims as assistant coach and Kurt de Klerk as goalkeeping coach.

The new manager is clearly delighted to be taking on the task.

"It's a very exciting day for us. We want to play a major role in the WSL and a major role in women's football. We're building a very exciting project, we're taking it very seriously and we're very much looking forward to getting started.

"It's a new league and a new adventure for us, but our aim is to be as competitive as we can.

“We've got a core bunch of players, but we need to build a bigger squad and develop the culture and environment of the team – that's very important to us, but we're looking forward to the challenge."

So there we have it – to all intents and purposes a new club pushing full speed ahead. There can be no doubt they have the resources, the enthusiasm and the backing to be a major force in the league next year.

The message to the other WSL teams would seem to be to make sure you get your star players to sign on the dotted line as soon as possible, or City may be making a bid for them. It's a harsh message for those such as Arsenal who have invested in their women's side for a number of years now, but it is the way of the footballing world.

Teams go into pre-season training in January and the new two-tier WSL kicks off again in March. We can only look forward to seeing how the newbies fare.