My Dad took me to Maine Road for the first time on my 5th birthday. I was hooked. Although City were a poor team at the time (in the second-tier of English football) there seemed to be a shining light. Even as a 5-year old kid I was attracted to the dazzling feet of Georgiou Kinkladze. I may have been too young to really appreciate what I was seeing but it was obvious to me it was something special. Just by watching my Dad and others around him I could tell, there was a sense of anticipation in the air every time the ball fell to his feet.
I remember walking back to the car after one of my first City games and pestering my Dad about ‘Kinky.’ It was hard for me to get my head round the fact he came from Georgia and that he spoke a different language. To a kid, who thought the end of his road was far enough away from home, he might aswell have come from a different planet.
It was difficult being a City fan around this time, most of my ‘mates’ were United fans but I was happy enough jinking around the playground pretending to be 'Kinky', trying desperately to master that trademark swivel of the hips, and that drop of a shoulder, whilst my other friends turned their collars up and mimicked Cantona (jumping into an imaginary crowd and karate-kicking dinner ladies).
Although Kinkladze had decided (unbelievably) to stay at Maine Road he couldn’t single-handedly stop the rot, and City, in their second season outside the Premiership, were relegated again. My Dad took me to the last game of the season at Stoke where our fate became apparent, I remember seeing Kinkladze walk off into the tunnel, tears streaming down his face, everyone knew he would leave and who could blame him?
Although Kinkladze had decided (unbelievably) to stay at Maine Road he couldn’t single-handedly stop the rot, and City, in their second season outside the Premiership, were relegated again. My Dad took me to the last game of the season at Stoke where our fate became apparent, I remember seeing Kinkladze walk off into the tunnel, tears streaming down his face, everyone knew he would leave and who could blame him?
You need two things to become a great footballer, ability and luck. Kinkladze had ability, heaps of it in fact, but luck wasn’t on his side, and as a surprise to most City fans, he never had the career his ability should have granted him.
Manchester City’s fortunes however have changed for the good. I now sit down at 'The Etihad' to watch players such as Aguero, Silva and Vincent Kompany. Even so, my answer to that question will never change.
A Georgian genius... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0DHi5gMsHs
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