A hard reign gonna fall for Pearce?

English FA Premiership:Though Manchester City need to invest in top players, many fans wonder if Stuart Pearce is the man to do the buying. Daniel Taylorreports

Stuart Pearce has a sign on his wall at the training ground that reads: "A mistake is not an error until you refuse to correct it." It is a message not just to his players but to himself because there have been plenty of mistakes at Manchester City this season - the signing of non-scoring goalscorers, the failed bids in the January transfer window and the trust placed in Joey Barton.

Maybe, too, it is a message to the board because when Pearce was asked if there was one thing he has learned this season he nodded sagely and replied: "If you don't spend enough money on players you'll end up not getting the quality you want."

After the free-spending Kevin Keegan years, Pearce has presided over two years of financial frugality at City. He revealed that City did not have £2.5 million to make a bid for Benni McCarthy last summer even if he had been interested in battling with Blackburn for the South African striker.

However, whether talks aimed at bringing new investment into the club reach a positive conclusion or not, chairman John Wardle has already promised Pearce a significant transfer kitty which, given City's current position, the manager believes is vital.

"It would be fair to say financially I have not had a great deal to spend over the last two years. We have spent that time tightening our belts and stabilising the club.

"But now it is time to push on. The board are aware of that and the chairman has suggested he has money available for me."

The problem for Pearce is that his only big signing so far,

£5 million striker Georgios Samaras, has patently failed to deliver and there is some scepticism over whether the City boss's talent for spotting players is good enough to trust him with another wedge of cash.

For that reason, when a difficult season ends at Tottenham tomorrow, his own position is likely to come under intense scrutiny. "I am doing the job to the best of my ability and I'm sure I will be here next year," Pearce said yesterday.

"I have been doing the job to the best of my ability. At no time have the board suggested I am not the man to take this club forward and I have no reason to believe I would not be allowed to do it."

Many observers will hope he is proven right after two years in which his honesty and passion have marked him out as one of the most popular figures in the Premiership. Yet, as ever with City, it is not that straightforward. He came close to being sacked after losing five league games in a row, as well as going out of the FA Cup at Blackburn, and the chants that day showed he has lost the backing of many fans.

City, incredibly, have not scored a Premiership goal on their own ground since New Year's Day and have finished with the worst scoring statistics at home - 10 in 19 matches - of any top-flight club in 119 years of league football.

On Tuesday Barton will attend a disciplinary hearing after beating up Ousmane Dabo so badly the Frenchman needed hospital treatment, and the errant midfielder also has an appointment booked with the local constabulary, probably on the same day.

"We are due to speak to a 25-year-old man in connection with a report of assault from a 30-year-old man," a Greater Manchester police spokesman said. "Arrangements are being made for the 25-year-old to go to a police station for questioning."

Win or lose tomorrow, City will still finish in the bottom half of the table, failing to meet Pearce's pre-season target of a push for Europe.

Chief executive Alistair Mackintosh has already made contact over some potential recruits, although the focus next week will be on sorting out the futures of some key men already at Eastlands.

Michael Ball is expected to pledge his future to City, while talks aimed at securing the transfer of DaMarcus Beasley from PSV Eindhoven may hit a snag over the fee the Dutch club want for the USA international.

The future of Sylvain Distin should be settled one way or another too. Pearce claims to be more hopeful than confident that the French defender will stay.