IS Bobby Mancini THE MAN?

[ant london]

Roberto Mancini, the new Manchester City manager, predicted his side could catch Chelsea at the top of the Premier League after their 3-0 defeat of Wolverhampton Wanderers maintained his immaculate start as Mark Hughes's replacement.

After initially targeting a Champions League finish Mancini explained that he now believed winning the title was "always realistic" because the team he had inherited from Hughes was "better" than he had initially thought. "We have another 19 games, so all is possible," he said. "We have a good team and if we keep concentrating it's possible."

[avoidconfusion]

I put this in another thread but it deserves to be here


I would like Mancini to come out and EXPLAIN to us all, why the hell he changed a perfectly good back four?

Zabba ----- Kompany ----- Lescott ----- Bridge

Kompany has been our best defender this season, however he is replaced by Ned who has very little game time. He decided to move Vinnie into midfield and puts our best midfielder this season on the bench.

These are the type of decisions that have left us all moaning and groaning and lost for words. I think its time Mancini helped us all understand what he is trying to achieve by doing this.

In all fairness that change made absolute sense.

De Jong would not have been able to contribute much to the game, he is too small and the midfield would always be surpassed by long high balls. It was sensible to stick Kompany in there. He is a good tackler too, much taller, can head better and also can distribute the ball better. I am not saying he is a better DMF than De Jong, just saying he is not as 1 dimensional and for this particular match we needed more height in there.

Besides Onouha was great.

We also needed Richards for his ability to win headers. I am not pissed off at the team he put out to be honest.

[Original Dub]

As we drown in a sea of sorrow and recrimination I will just say that yes I do think Mancini is the man to get it right and teach us, the players, the club what it takes to be a top 4 side. It ain't going to be pretty but he has what it takes.

I figure that this is a good time to nail my colours to the Mancini standard.

Oh yeah definitely mate.

PERFECT TIMING. I certainly don't need to be convinced, he's already shown he's THE MAN!

[Renato_CTID]

Manchester City Football Club made a BIG fucking mistake.

Oh DEAR GOD.

Totally agree with you, my dear Irish friend! I cannot sleep tonight even if my AC Milan won yesterday! I'm so gutted with Mancio and some players' strange mind games!

[MaineRoadMemories]

Before the Stoke game there were 44 No's, today its up to 57. I don't think anyone will change their opinion based upon what happens at the Bridge as virtually everyone comes away disappointed.

So his next 3 games will show us the barometer swing and any developing trends as we play Sunderland, Fulham and Wigan. All games this squad of players should be looking to win.

[avoidconfusion]

I am sure the pendulum will swing towards Mancini again if he starts winning again. At the moment I'd be chuffed with a point against Chelsea because I expect us to get battered at Stamford Bridge.

And if he wins against Sunderland, Fulham and Wigan then he might just have won a few more ppl over again.



Now that some time had passed, I decided to watch the highlights of the Stoke game again - granted I was not there - but really we should have been out of sight in the first half and at the very least 2:0 up.

Watching it again I actually think we did not play bad at all, just our finishing was really shit but we dominated them. They scored out of nowhere and we equalized right away and the sending off definitely changed the entire game and we fell apart in the end.

But until the red card I think we were in full control.

[john@staustell]

I am sure the pendulum will swing towards Mancini again if he starts winning again. At the moment I'd be chuffed with a point against Chelsea because I expect us to get battered at Stamford Bridge.

And if he wins against Sunderland, Fulham and Wigan then he might just have won a few more ppl over again.



Now that some time had passed, I decided to watch the highlights of the Stoke game again - granted I was not there - but really we should have been out of sight in the first half and at the very least 2:0 up.

Watching it again I actually think we did not play bad at all, just our finishing was really shit but we dominated them. They scored out of nowhere and we equalized right away and the sending off definitely changed the entire game and we fell apart in the end.

But until the red card I think we were in full control.

Quite right AC. It was our best performance for some time, but it hasn't really been possible to say it up until now, due to all the post-match hysteria when it was apparently the worst City performance ever seen.

Adebayor's (unjust) sending off changed the match, as I still thought we would come through, even on pens.

Seems to me we start off playing well, and it's been just for 5, then 10 then 20 minutes. Now a whole half nearly! Another few weeks and maybe it can last the whole match?

I despair of all this hysteria because what point is there in constantly screaming at the club, when nothing will change this side of summer. Exactly the same situation as Hughes last Spring, and again in September, when it was always clear Xmas was judgement day. Madness.

All that can be done is to get behind the lads as much as possible and, once this bad run of fixtures finishes tomorrow, chalk up some wins!!

[avoidconfusion]

I agree. And I am actually guilty of falling into the same kind of panic and hysteria as well, gonna try and compose myself more from now on.

[Im_Spartacus]

Am I alone in thinking that in our position, with virtually limitless resources - that the name of the manager or the style of football is actually largely irrelevant.

My biggest criticism of the Hughes tenure was the insipid, passionless displays which reared their head every other game. Similar now with Mancini, a lot of the criticism is about the style of play, but equally people are screaming from the rooftops that the players dont give a fuck.

It is almost as if the chairman/owner is saying "I will give you your own choice of any of the best players in the world, just make them play". In which case, assuming that we are buying some of the best players in the world, then the MAJOR criteria for a manager has to be motivation, the ability to create a desire to run through brick walls for the cause.

If this is lacking in Mancini, or for that matter his successor, or his successor, this club will never ever be successful.

[CityFanFromRome]

Am I alone in thinking that in our position, with virtually limitless resources - that the name of the manager or the style of football is actually largely irrelevant.

My biggest criticism of the Hughes tenure was the insipid, passionless displays which reared their head every other game. Similar now with Mancini, a lot of the criticism is about the style of play, but equally people are screaming from the rooftops that the players dont give a fuck.

It is almost as if the chairman/owner is saying "I will give you your own choice of any of the best players in the world, just make them play". In which case, assuming that we are buying some of the best players in the world, then the MAJOR criteria for a manager has to be motivation, the ability to create a desire to run through brick walls for the cause.

If this is lacking in Mancini, or for that matter his successor, or his successor, this club will never ever be successful.

If motivation is all what we need then Jose Mourinho is the best in the business, end of. And to a certain extent, I agree that motivation is all what we are lacking. However, we haven't the best players in the world in every position, there's still space to improve the squad too, but it has to be done to fit a tactical plan, whatever it may be, from the manager, this is why changing managers too often damages us, we end with a manager who doesn't have the players to play the way he wants, etc.

[Im_Spartacus]

Am I alone in thinking that in our position, with virtually limitless resources - that the name of the manager or the style of football is actually largely irrelevant.

My biggest criticism of the Hughes tenure was the insipid, passionless displays which reared their head every other game. Similar now with Mancini, a lot of the criticism is about the style of play, but equally people are screaming from the rooftops that the players dont give a fuck.

It is almost as if the chairman/owner is saying "I will give you your own choice of any of the best players in the world, just make them play". In which case, assuming that we are buying some of the best players in the world, then the MAJOR criteria for a manager has to be motivation, the ability to create a desire to run through brick walls for the cause.

If this is lacking in Mancini, or for that matter his successor, or his successor, this club will never ever be successful.

If motivation is all what we need then Jose Mourinho is the best in the business, end of. And to a certain extent, I agree that motivation is all what we are lacking. However, we haven't the best players in the world in every position, there's still space to improve the squad too, but it has to be done to fit a tactical plan, whatever it may be, from the manager, this is why changing managers too often damages us, we end with a manager who doesn't have the players to play the way he wants, etc.

Of course there is room to improve the squad, that will be an ongoing work which will take years in reality, but we have players in every single position who are headed for the world cup in the summer, and are amongst the first names on the teamsheet for their countries. They are certainly good enough, and personally I think good enough to play any manager's tactical system at the drop of a hat,its just the application of the talent that is in question.

I genuinely believe that Warnock would have achieved better results than either our current or last manager were it down to motivation alone, or even if not, we would have only lost games with a bloody good fight. I'm off for a 2 week mcf.net holiday now off the back of that comment ;o)

[avoidconfusion]

I genuinely believe that Warnock would have achieved better results than either our current or last manager were it down to motivation alone, or even if not, we would have only lost games with a bloody good fight. I'm off for a 2 week mcf.net holiday now off the back of that comment ;o)

ROFLMAO

You better bet!! ;)

[MaineRoadMemories]

Just done a bit of adding up and we've played 15 games under Mancini and have conceded 16 goals. So we are letting in just about 1 goal every game, meaning we have to score 2 to win the match. In the last 6 games we have only scored 2 goals on 1 occassion.

So this ultra defensive style of playing football will yield nothing but draws if nothing changes.

If you take out the extra-time played at Stoke our last 4 games have been draws. Only 4 more to go! Kinda of ironic really :-)

[MaineRoadMemories]

UPDATED....
Not an exact science but comparing the two managers side by side for results there is very little in it between the two.

Mancini
Stoke City..................2-0
Wolves......................3-0
Blackburn...................4-1
Everton.....................0-2
Portsmouth.................2-0
Hull..........................1-2
Bolton.......................2-0
Stoke City..................1-1
Liverpool...................0-0
Chelsea.....................TBC

Won 5 Lost 2 Drew 2 = 17

Hughes
Stoke City.................No 2009/10 comparison. Last year won 3-0
Wolves.....................1-0
Blackburn..................2-0
Everton....................No 2009/10 comparison. Last year won 2-0
Portsmouth................1-0
Hull.........................1-1
Bolton......................3-3
Stoke.......................No 2009/10 comparison. Last year lost 0-1
Liverpool..................2-2
Chelsea....................TBC

Won 5 Drew 3 Lost 1 = 18

[zuricity]

UPDATED....
Not an exact science but comparing the two managers side by side for results there is very little in it between the two.

Mancini
Stoke City..................2-0
Wolves......................3-0
Blackburn...................4-1
Everton.....................0-2
Portsmouth.................2-0
Hull..........................1-2
Bolton.......................2-0
Stoke City..................1-1
Liverpool...................0-0
Chelsea.....................TBC

Won 5 Lost 2 Drew 2 = 17

Hughes
Stoke City.................No 2009/10 comparison. Last year won 3-0
Wolves.....................1-0
Blackburn..................2-0
Everton....................No 2009/10 comparison. Last year won 2-0
Portsmouth................1-0
Hull.........................1-1
Bolton......................3-3
Stoke.......................No 2009/10 comparison. Last year lost 0-1
Liverpool..................2-2
Chelsea....................TBC

Won 5 Drew 3 Lost 1 = 18

Didn't we lose to Liverpool 3-2 at home last season ? and we beat Everton 2-1 at Goodison.

[BobKowalski]

UPDATED....
Not an exact science but comparing the two managers side by side for results there is very little in it between the two.

Mancini
Stoke City..................2-0
Wolves......................3-0
Blackburn...................4-1
Everton.....................0-2
Portsmouth.................2-0
Hull..........................1-2
Bolton.......................2-0
Stoke City..................1-1
Liverpool...................0-0
Chelsea.....................TBC

Won 5 Lost 2 Drew 2 = 17

Hughes
Stoke City.................No 2009/10 comparison. Last year won 3-0
Wolves.....................1-0
Blackburn..................2-0
Everton....................No 2009/10 comparison. Last year won 2-0
Portsmouth................1-0
Hull.........................1-1
Bolton......................3-3
Stoke.......................No 2009/10 comparison. Last year lost 0-1
Liverpool..................2-2
Chelsea....................TBC

Won 5 Drew 3 Lost 1 = 18

This is good stuff. It shows that we changed manager with little or no impact on results (well ok slightly better position league wise under Mancini) and got a manager who knows how to organise a top team in the long run which is great in our fight for 4th.

[Original Dub]

UPDATED....
Not an exact science but comparing the two managers side by side for results there is very little in it between the two.

Mancini
Stoke City..................2-0
Wolves......................3-0
Blackburn...................4-1
Everton.....................0-2
Portsmouth.................2-0
Hull..........................1-2
Bolton.......................2-0
Stoke City..................1-1
Liverpool...................0-0
Chelsea.....................TBC

Won 5 Lost 2 Drew 2 = 17

Hughes
Stoke City.................No 2009/10 comparison. Last year won 3-0
Wolves.....................1-0
Blackburn..................2-0
Everton....................No 2009/10 comparison. Last year won 2-0
Portsmouth................1-0
Hull.........................1-1
Bolton......................3-3
Stoke.......................No 2009/10 comparison. Last year lost 0-1
Liverpool..................2-2
Chelsea....................TBC

Won 5 Drew 3 Lost 1 = 18

This is good stuff. It shows that we changed manager with little or no impact on results (well ok slightly better position league wise under Mancini) and got a manager who knows how to organise a top team in the long run which is great in our fight for 4th.

He's done absolutely NOTHING in his time here to suggest anything you've said.

You really are so happy with this appointment. I, and the vast majority of the footballing world must be missing something, because all I've seen is ultra defensive football that still leaks a goal a game, seen us get knocked out of both cups and watched very good players regress.

Oh and you said you struggled the other day to deal with the fact that I said Bellamy is one of our best players.

Are you on drugs?

[BobKowalski]

UPDATED....
Not an exact science but comparing the two managers side by side for results there is very little in it between the two.

Mancini
Stoke City..................2-0
Wolves......................3-0
Blackburn...................4-1
Everton.....................0-2
Portsmouth.................2-0
Hull..........................1-2
Bolton.......................2-0
Stoke City..................1-1
Liverpool...................0-0
Chelsea.....................TBC

Won 5 Lost 2 Drew 2 = 17

Hughes
Stoke City.................No 2009/10 comparison. Last year won 3-0
Wolves.....................1-0
Blackburn..................2-0
Everton....................No 2009/10 comparison. Last year won 2-0
Portsmouth................1-0
Hull.........................1-1
Bolton......................3-3
Stoke.......................No 2009/10 comparison. Last year lost 0-1
Liverpool..................2-2
Chelsea....................TBC

Won 5 Drew 3 Lost 1 = 18

This is good stuff. It shows that we changed manager with little or no impact on results (well ok slightly better position league wise under Mancini) and got a manager who knows how to organise a top team in the long run which is great in our fight for 4th.

He's done absolutely NOTHING in his time here to suggest anything you've said.

You really are so happy with this appointment. I, and the vast majority of the footballing world must be missing something, because all I've seen is ultra defensive football that still leaks a goal a game, seen us get knocked out of both cups and watched very good players regress.

Oh and you said you struggled the other day to deal with the fact that I said Bellamy is one of our best players.

Are you on drugs?

I reel them in and throw them back and yet they still keep biting

[Original Dub]

UPDATED....
Not an exact science but comparing the two managers side by side for results there is very little in it between the two.

Mancini
Stoke City..................2-0
Wolves......................3-0
Blackburn...................4-1
Everton.....................0-2
Portsmouth.................2-0
Hull..........................1-2
Bolton.......................2-0
Stoke City..................1-1
Liverpool...................0-0
Chelsea.....................TBC

Won 5 Lost 2 Drew 2 = 17

Hughes
Stoke City.................No 2009/10 comparison. Last year won 3-0
Wolves.....................1-0
Blackburn..................2-0
Everton....................No 2009/10 comparison. Last year won 2-0
Portsmouth................1-0
Hull.........................1-1
Bolton......................3-3
Stoke.......................No 2009/10 comparison. Last year lost 0-1
Liverpool..................2-2
Chelsea....................TBC

Won 5 Drew 3 Lost 1 = 18

This is good stuff. It shows that we changed manager with little or no impact on results (well ok slightly better position league wise under Mancini) and got a manager who knows how to organise a top team in the long run which is great in our fight for 4th.

He's done absolutely NOTHING in his time here to suggest anything you've said.

You really are so happy with this appointment. I, and the vast majority of the footballing world must be missing something, because all I've seen is ultra defensive football that still leaks a goal a game, seen us get knocked out of both cups and watched very good players regress.

Oh and you said you struggled the other day to deal with the fact that I said Bellamy is one of our best players.

Are you on drugs?

I reel them in and throw them back and yet they still keep biting

Oh right, so you're a wind up merchant?

Thank fuck, that explains a lot.

Try bluemoon.... its fun if you're into that kind of thing.

[BobKowalski]

UPDATED....
Not an exact science but comparing the two managers side by side for results there is very little in it between the two.

Mancini
Stoke City..................2-0
Wolves......................3-0
Blackburn...................4-1
Everton.....................0-2
Portsmouth.................2-0
Hull..........................1-2
Bolton.......................2-0
Stoke City..................1-1
Liverpool...................0-0
Chelsea.....................TBC

Won 5 Lost 2 Drew 2 = 17

Hughes
Stoke City.................No 2009/10 comparison. Last year won 3-0
Wolves.....................1-0
Blackburn..................2-0
Everton....................No 2009/10 comparison. Last year won 2-0
Portsmouth................1-0
Hull.........................1-1
Bolton......................3-3
Stoke.......................No 2009/10 comparison. Last year lost 0-1
Liverpool..................2-2
Chelsea....................TBC

Won 5 Drew 3 Lost 1 = 18

This is good stuff. It shows that we changed manager with little or no impact on results (well ok slightly better position league wise under Mancini) and got a manager who knows how to organise a top team in the long run which is great in our fight for 4th.

He's done absolutely NOTHING in his time here to suggest anything you've said.

You really are so happy with this appointment. I, and the vast majority of the footballing world must be missing something, because all I've seen is ultra defensive football that still leaks a goal a game, seen us get knocked out of both cups and watched very good players regress.

Oh and you said you struggled the other day to deal with the fact that I said Bellamy is one of our best players.

Are you on drugs?

I reel them in and throw them back and yet they still keep biting

Oh right, so you're a wind up merchant?

Thank fuck, that explains a lot.

Try bluemoon.... its fun if you're into that kind of thing.

More of a tease. And a scamp. No tease.

What still not seeing any signs of progress? Richards is coming along nicely. Kompany looks good at the back. Given admittedly is looking a bit lost over this 'organise a defence lark' Ireland is poor under whatever manager we have which is a shame as I had visions of us building a team round him. Ade put in two good shifts in the last two games - but the red card has kind of screwed that up. Bellers isn't a happy bunny, Lescott is continuing to find form. Tevez is Tevez so lets hope his mind is good for tomorrow and SWP is just not top 4 quality and will I think suffer under Mancini or Mourinho. His best chance is if we employ Warnock.

And I confess. I do post on Bluemoon.