City winning hearts and minds on and off the pitch

City's response smacked of a club who feel they are on the verge of emerging as one of the country's bigger players, both on and off the field. If there is new ground to be broken, they want to be in the vanguard.

After the remarkable events of the weekend, it is easy to see why.

City finally have a manager of true international pedigree, a young and emerging playing squad who have beaten Manchester United home and away this season and an enterprising, forward-thinking staff who managed to navigate the minefield that was Sunday's Old Trafford derby and the accompanying Munich commemorations in impressive fashion.

If City feel that they are about to arrive at the Premier League's top table for the first time, it is hard to blame them. And, to most people, they would be welcome, too.

Under former England coach Sven Goran Eriksson, Manchester's 'second club' have the whiff of a European place in their nostrils. At last, after years of ups and downs, City are ready to be taken seriously.

The only imponderable is to be found in the form of their owner and chairman, the former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

If City are to move forward and capitalise on what Thaksin's money has given them so far, they will need more of it. They also need to know that he is here for the long haul and that his guidance will be reliable.

Currently, the most diplomatic way to describe things is to say that City are still waiting to find out.

Taking Asia's money when it was finally placed on the table last summer was always a calculated risk.

It was a risk that certainly had to be taken and so far the gamble has paid off. The club's progress has been swift, but the future remains unclear.

Not everybody at Eastlands is convinced by Thaksin — either by his methods or his plans. Despite his constant presence at matches and the enthusiasm shown by his family during visits to the training ground, there are those who think he may try to sell the club.

In terms of the running of City, the fact that the club are looking for an 'executive chairman' to act as a conduit between Thaksin and chief executive Alistair Mackintosh suggests there are some wrinkles to be ironed out.

Equally notable is that City's headhunters have not yet managed to find anybody suitable to fill the post.

If City have reached the crossroads — as it would appear — then Thaksin, just as much as manager Eriksson, holds the club's destiny in his hands.

His money and the manner in which Eriksson has spent it, has already ensured that they will remain a Premier League club for the foreseeable future.

After the experience of life under managers such as the promising but inexperienced Stuart Pearce and the out-of-date Kevin Keegan, Thaksin's arrival gave City something to grab on to.

However, the gap between fifth and fourth place in the Barclays Premier League is enormous. Clubs such as Tottenham and Everton will tell you how difficult it is to leap the chasm.

Many of the ingredients are in place at City. The club's youth academy, run by the innovative Jim Cassell, is an unqualified success, the club's place in the heart of the community is unshakeable and the fact that the PR department started educating supporters about the self-defeating nature of anti-Munich chants two years ago says much about its foresight.

Outside Eastlands is a memorial garden in honour of the late Marc Vivien-Foe, a place where supporters can contemplate the passing of their own loved ones. City retired Foe's No 23 shirt after his death.

All this speaks of genuine class.

But class does not buy anybody a place in the Champions League and if that is what City really want they will need more help from their chairman, despite an upturn in commercial and sponsorship revenue.

City spent ambitiously last summer and in the region of £6million in the January window. They have subsequently invested in a £2m-a-year contract for teenage defender Micah Richards.

However, Eriksson was not able to compete for the really big hitters of English and European football this winter.

Nicolas Anelka, Dimitar Berbatov and even Peter Crouch proved beyond the club's financial range.

Another slice of Thaksin's fortune may soon be available to him after a shift in the political climate in Thailand released £800m of frozen assets. Many City followers presume Eriksson will see some of this.

That, however, is not certain — even to Eriksson. Like others before them, City stand on the threshold. Whether the next step proves too big for them remains to be seen.