Dunne stunned by City lift-off
Manchester City skipper Richard Dunne has admitted there were times during the summer when he questioned where the Eastlands outfit were heading.
The arrival of new owner Thaksin Shinawatra and new manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has transformed the Blues.
In four short weeks following his arrival as Stuart Pearce’s successor, Eriksson brought in eight new players, then moulded a team together which managed to hit the Premier League running.
The momentum gained by an opening-day win over West Ham has never been lost and Sunday’s comfortable triumph over Middlesbrough meant City headed into the international break proudly perched in third spot, ahead of fancied title contenders Liverpool and Chelsea.
While few expect City to remain in their present lofty position for too long, a UEFA Cup spot is definitely within reach, especially as Eriksson has been promised more money to spend by Thaksin when the transfer window opens in January.
But, during the dark days of the summer, as Thaksin’s takeover dragged on and City fans were forced to accept the departures of key duo Sylvain Distin and Joey Barton, Dunne spent plenty of time wondering how the situation would unfold.
“We all want to play for a good club and good managers but there were stages over the summer where it didn’t look like Manchester City were going to go anywhere,” Dunne told the Manchester Evening News.
“Thankfully, it has really lifted off. In saying we would have a new owner and a top-class manager, the directors had made promises they had to keep for the fans’ sake.
“It probably took longer than expected but they did a great job in the end. Anyone who hung around is enjoying it and getting all the benefits from it.
“The expectation around the club has risen. Everyone wants to watch us because of our displays and everyone is saying we are really good to watch.”
Certainly Barton in particular might eventually have cause to regret the way his City career disintegrated in the final weeks of last season.
Like Barton, Dunne went public with his worries as the campaign drew to a close and criticised some of the foreign stars who had not punched their weight for Pearce.
Yet, in doing so, the softly-spoken Irishman managed to avoid an outright condemnation of City as a club and he certainly would not be so presumptuous as Barton in claiming the Blues’ current success is down to him.
However, given the mistakes Pearce made in bringing in the likes of Bernardo Corradi, Hatem Trabelsi and Ousmane Dabo, Dunne must have feared the worst when Eriksson went on his massive shopping spree.
Like most outsiders, Dunne barely knew the names of his new team-mates, let alone how good they were.
Yet it only took one training session to realise Eriksson’s signings were a different breed entirely.
“I don’t think I had played against any of them,” he said.
“I had heard of a couple but not enough to know what sort of players they were. But as soon as they came out training, you could tell they had something.”
While Brazilian midfielder Elano has grabbed most of the headlines, Martin Petrov has also excelled, while Javier Garrido and Vedran Corluka have been quietly efficient alongside Dunne in a much-improved City defence.
“Everyone was wondering and questioning how we were going to knit together in that first game,” recalled Dunne.
“So, the win at West Ham was the boost we needed for the rest of the season.”
