Their defeat at Wigan at the weekend was, apparently, evidence of that.

The argument goes that City will not be able to attract the calibre of player they are talking about signing of they are not already among the leading clubs in the Premier League.

And there are already doubts over how well Robinho will be able to adapt to the 'English game', whatever that is given the sparsity of English players in the top flight.

I would have thought that the presence of the Brazilian in Mark Hughes' squad was enough to dispel that particular theory.

Robinho arrived from Real Madrid on transfer deadline day, hours after the Abu Dhabi takeover of the club had been completed.

And given that Chelsea had also been strongly linked with him makes you wonder why he came north rather than opting for a move to the capital.

You do not have to wonder for long because the clear answer was money.

Given that his signing was effectively a show of intent from the new owners and they have plenty more cash to throw at the club why would they not be able to attract the best players.

After all, there are few at the highest level who are not motivated by money.

Expect a major influx of stars in January and again next summer.

IT came as no surprise to hear that linesman Nigel Bannister, the man who gave Reading a goal at Watford despite the ball going three yards wide, was to receive 'operational advice' from his bosses.

Bannister's decision to award an own goal against Watford's John Eustace gave the Royals a 2-2 draw at Vicarage Road.

It is not known what other sanctions may be handed out to the officials, but he was back in action within a couple of days of his blunder - taking charge of FC Halifax Town's Unibond League President's Cup tie at Ossett Albion seven last week.

And, not surprisingly, he received plenty of 'advice' from the travelling Town fans.

You would have thought that was punishment enough, although to be fair to the man in black, he took the stick he received well.

JUANDE Ramos believes his job at Spurs is safe despite, as Match of the Day 2 told us, having a worse record than Christian Gross, often a figure of fun at White Hart lane.

But he must be worried about the club's worst start to a season for 53 years because he has already started to talk about any decision over his future being out of his hands.

He does not sound to me like a man with too long left.

The question I want to ask is whether he will last longer than Joe Kinnear at Newcastle United.

The best the former Wimbledon and Luton Town chief can hope for, I fear, is to become the Christian Gross of Tyneside.