Loyalty Counts

It seems that something rather unusual is going on at Manchester City Football Club. Something which a lot of people thought had gone right out of fashion in the professional game – especially at the highest, and most expensive, level. An outbreak of loyalty.

There’s no mistake. It isn’t a one-off, a fluke or a coincidence because it’s happened too often. All through the season, certain outstanding City players have attracted interest from several other clubs, prompting rumours of their departure as soon as the January transfer window opens. Now, with less than two weeks shopping to go before the long wait for the summer sales, they’re all still there – Sylvain Distin, Joey Barton and Micah Richards – yet the list of clubs they’ve been linked to reads like a Who’s Who of Premiership football. What’s more two of them have gone to the trouble of actually pledging their loyalty to Manchester City.

So now, for the time being at least, City fans can relax in the knowledge that Barton and Richards are going nowhere – and neither, in all probability, is Distin. And as they enjoy the moment, they might like to think of manager Stuart Pearce, who must be doing something right, and hope that the club where he has engendered such loyalty continues to be loyal to him.