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SHAUN Wright-Phillips has been there, done that and got the T-shirt that says ‘Big money buys success’.

Having been an early recruit to the Roman Abramovich-Jose Mourinho revolution at Stamford Bridge – Chelsea splashed out £21million on him in 2005 – Wright-Phillips is now ‘back home’ at Manchester City, enjoying the benefits of another billionaire owner.

And he says City, with Roberto Mancini’s management and Sheikh Mansour’s money, can ram the carping back down the throats of their Premier League rivals and match, or even beat, Chelsea’s trophy strike rate.

“The lads are not paying any attention to what people are saying outside,” said Wright-Phillips, who scored City’s first goal against FC Timisoara on Thursday as they cruised into the Europa League group stages.

“Chelsea went through the same thing with everyone talking about them. It is part and parcel of football and people are just trying to throw our concentration off.

“As long as we stay focused, we will be fine. We enjoy training, we mix off the pitch and we go out there and let our football do the talking. What is happening with City is similar to Chelsea in terms of buying big-name players, but the manager is different as he will use all the players here.

“I can see the manager giving people chances to play and we can be as successful as Chelsea if we have the right work ethic.

“I went to Chelsea and learnt a lot. The supporters were fantastic and supported me, but I am back home now and it would be nice to help City win things having come through the ranks. I am now in an up-and-coming team.”

Certainly results this season would back up Wright-Phillips’ optimistic assessment. City have yet to concede a goal in four matches, have breezed into the Europa League group stages, convincingly beaten Liverpool and managed a creditable draw at Tottenham.

Wright-Phillips left Stamford Bridge with medals for winning the Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup – but feeling largely unfulfilled.

City received an immediate reward on their £9m investment when he scored twice in a 3-0 victory at Sunderland, where he will return tomorrow hoping for a repeat.

“It was strange because I had just come back and did not expect to play at Sunderland,” he said. “I had just met up with the team, travelled up there and managed to score twice. It would be great to have a repeat of that.

“When I came back here it was like coming home. It was like I had been on a long holiday, learning and playing under a different manager and then I came back. The challenge for me now is to help this club to go to the places it wants to go and achieve the goals it wants to achieve. I’m excited about all the players coming in as we learn from each other and there is a great team spirit.

“We all give something different to the team and there will be times when we are all needed in different parts of the game and areas of the field. That is why the manager has kept the likes of me here. I’m very confident in my ability that I can play my part.”

Having not conceded a goal for over seven hours, City will travel to the North-east in confident mood, even though Sunderland’s home form – they lost only three times at the Stadium of Light last season – suggests it could be a tight contest. Wright-Phillips added: “I know they are good at home, but the starting point for us is defending. It is always something we needed to work on.

“In the past we had to score two goals or more to win a game. Now we have that solidity at the back and we can win a game 1-0. There is a lot of communication at the back and that has helped us to be so solid.

“Everybody has settled in and is speaking their mind. It is a vocal side and, compared to when I came back two years ago, the quality has risen. It is a more technical side. Players are a lot better on the ball.

“Now we have learnt to slow the game down when we want and speed it up when we want, rather than just fast, fast, fast – and that has benefited us.”

express.co.uk

dazby wrote:Good story that. Now shut those up on here that slag you off with some vintage Sweepiness.

Slim wrote:Fuck all of you, come on Shauny....some of us remember the pure electricity every time you touched the ball, get it back son.

Beefymcfc wrote:

Slim wrote:Fuck all of you, come on Shauny....some of us remember the pure electricity every time you touched the ball, get it back son.

I'm with you brother, and I do hope he is with us for years to come. We need to keep players who you can immediately identify with, and Shaun's one of them.

PS. I'd love to see him played in a more central attacking role.

johnpb78 wrote:Now, hows about you put in a decent performance?

Moonchesteri wrote:

Beefymcfc wrote:

Slim wrote:Fuck all of you, come on Shauny....some of us remember the pure electricity every time you touched the ball, get it back son.

I'm with you brother, and I do hope he is with us for years to come. We need to keep players who you can immediately identify with, and Shaun's one of them.

PS. I'd love to see him played in a more central attacking role.

His touch would let him down there I believe. When playing on the wing he has that extra yard to use for his tricks. If he played in CAM role I think he would keep losing the ball much more.

But agree with Slim, if only he got back the confidence to run at defenders (and succeed in it). Nevertheless I certainly hope he is still here when we lift our next trophy!

Ted Hughes wrote:

Moonchesteri wrote:

Beefymcfc wrote:

Slim wrote:Fuck all of you, come on Shauny....some of us remember the pure electricity every time you touched the ball, get it back son.

I'm with you brother, and I do hope he is with us for years to come. We need to keep players who you can immediately identify with, and Shaun's one of them.

PS. I'd love to see him played in a more central attacking role.

His touch would let him down there I believe. When playing on the wing he has that extra yard to use for his tricks. If he played in CAM role I think he would keep losing the ball much more.

But agree with Slim, if only he got back the confidence to run at defenders (and succeed in it). Nevertheless I certainly hope he is still here when we lift our next trophy!

I think he does better when he moves inside for the opposite reason, he's lost a yard & a half of pace & can't get past the fullbacks as easily anymore when out wide. Little turns & flicks + workrate he can still do but the real lightning pace that left fullbacks for dead has gone. He only ever produced 2 decent crosses per season at his best so he's unlikely to be very productive now. If he goes wide it should generally be against slow fullbacks imo.

edge275 wrote:I think SWP is shite and should be sold. I think Wenger would take him for say 6 million.

edge275 wrote:I think SWP is shite and should be sold. I think Wenger would take him for say 6 million.