Sam tips City for the top

Rovers boss feels Blues are capable of landing the title

Allardyce: Success can be bought

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Sam Allardyce believes Manchester City could 'buy the title' if they manage themselves correctly.


The Blackburn boss is set to go head-to-head with the big-spending Blues on Saturday when he takes his Rovers outfit to Eastlands.

City have not made the best of starts to the new season, taking four points from three games, and Roberto Mancini continues to wrestle with the issue of gelling his expensively-assembled squad into a finely-tuned unit.

Former Blues striker Benjani Mwarauwari, who joined Blackburn as a free agent over the summer, has suggested that the Italian coach is also handling a group of players motivated primarily by money.

Allardyce has refused to be drawn into that specific debate, but he does feel that City have the potential to be a dominant force in the Premier League.


He has pointed to the past successes of Blackburn and Chelsea as proof that money can buy success and is tipping City to follow suit if Mancini can get his house in order.

He said: "Those are his (Benjani's) words and he's been in the middle of it. If that is the case then as a manager you've got to take control of that and make sure it reverses into a thriving football club of great quality.

"If he (Mancini) gets it right, as Jose (Mourinho) got it right for Chelsea after the huge amount of spending that Roman (Abramovich) did, and if you look back here with Kenny, he got it right and Blackburn won the Premier League.

"You can buy a league now, obviously Blackburn have proven that, Chelsea have proven that, and you can do it in a short period of time. If you manage the players right and get that team spirit right, then you'll win anything."

Rovers defender Michel Salgado, no stranger to competing at the highest after spending 10 seasons at Real Madrid, also believes that City could one day reach the summit, but has warned that it will take time to reach that target.


"The difference between Manchester City and Real Madrid is Manchester City so far is a fashion club," said the 34-year-old.

"They are building a big club but Real Madrid is a historical club with big pressure to win a title every year.

"They have to spend money to battle with the best teams in Europe. Maybe Manchester City in the future can get closer to Real Madrid but now it's a different story.

"They are signing eight new players every year and that's a problem. First of all you have to build a team.

"The most important thing is for the manager to try to control the changing room. To get everybody happy is very difficult when you are dealing with big players."