Mancini

[Nick]

Give him his due, you can argue that weve been lucky, then again you can argue we've been unlucky......

Todays performance would have got us hammered at stamford bridge though. Why does it takes us things like the dissallowed goal to wake up and start playing?

[LookMumImOnMCF.net]

Only if you're into 'points' and 'winning games'. Other than that he's clearly useless.

[Patrick]

I think Mancini has his work cut out and is delivering during a "work in progress" period. Once the team start to think like he does we will be 100% better.

Carlos Tevez is worth £50mil of anyones money at the mo and is giving Roberto the time he needs

[DoomMerchant]

I think Mancini has his work cut out and is delivering during a "work in progress" period. Once the team start to think like he does we will be 100% better.

Carlos Tevez is worth £50mil of anyones money at the mo and is giving Roberto the time he needs

Im honestly not sure there's a better player in world football at the mo than our Carlitos. Amazing stuff.

I also agree that Roberto is kinda punching above his weight. I expect some dips until the final form is unveiled. No worries.

Cheers

[john@staustell]

Some people expect far too much.

We're second - clear second - and we may have got out of jail, but everyone on here knows that in each of the last 33 seasons and probably more we would've lost that game.

But we won - again.

[Colin the King]

If we beat Arsenal next Sunday, we're five points clear of them with a better goal difference and comfortably second in the table. We've lost one game, that coming from a penalty in the 94th minute- we've shown several traits; doggedness and grit against Spurs and Chelsea, class and dominance against Liverpool and a professionalism at Wigan and Blackpool (the very places we were a safe bet to get done over only twelve months ago). Against Newcastle and Blackburn we played poorly but still have four points to show for them.

All that with our first choice left-back and centre forward to come back, and only eight games into the season. The defence has been reinvented with Touré looking like the player he was five years ago, Kompany's come on leaps and bounds and is arguably the best defender in the country at the moment and consequently we've conceded only six goals in our first twelve competitive games.

I'm not entirely sure what it is people want. I certainly wouldn't be happy if we'd scored 25, conceded 20 and were 7th but playing wonderful football. And in any case, the "boring, defensive tactics" stuff is an exaggeration akin to the way the media went on about de Jong's tackle. We play attractive football, sometimes it's frustrating when we overpass it rather than opt for a cross/shot, but I don't see how it could be described as horrible or negative.

Mancini's no miracle worker and he's not the best manager of all time, I don't think anyone's saying he is, but we're 2nd, scoring our fair share of (often beautifully crafted) goals and conceding very few overall. We've an unbelievably talented squad of International players- the only thing that should be worrying us is whether we go for classy Johnson or classy Silva, or where does Balotelli fit in.

Blackpool played a high-intensity game this afternoon designed to try and crack us early on- aware of this, we sat back and soaked up the pressure safe in the knowledge they'd tire. Inevitably, they did and we were 3-1 up (as well as hitting the post/bar about four times) until the last second. Sounds to me like perfect away from home tactics?

[Ted Hughes]

People thought he did well today? I find that astonishing! I thought that everything he's done well since he came to the club became a complete nonsense today. He changed both the team & the formation, so all the work he's done on the defense was completely undermined by a shambles in front of it & 3 changes to the usual organised back 4. He suddenly decided to start swapping the wingers around NOW in front of an untried back 4 rather than doing it in earlier games when we had a settled team that could work it & he also decided to suddenly play 2 up front, AT THE SAME TIME AWAY FROM HOME. Fucking stupid & unneccessary.

When he reverted to his usual system, we looked much better & scored ALL of our goals. Why not just try a few changes here & there in past games rather than being rigid as fuck & one dimensional then suddenly, one day change everything at once? It's like he let the press or fans pick his team/tactics, responding to criticisms rather than doing what he knows best & has built on.

I really believe that Mancini can win us everything but I also think that his biggest danger is purely himself. He makes his own job much much harder & undermines his own good work by sudden untried random changes rather than logical evolution of tactics/selection.

[john68]

It's Sunday night...methinks that our Lee has dragged a bottle of something from the fridge to drive his hysteria...hahahaha.

Of course we're happy mate....can I have the next dance???

Only if it's a slow one sweet cheeks x

Hey, you're approaching your 10k landmark, I hope you have something amazing in store for us?

Still 300+ posts before I get thwere lee...have to hope I survive that long mate...We have a derby in a few weeks...riskeeeeeeeee!!!
Did you man up to Wendy about who controls the TV in your house hahahahahahahaha.

[dazby]

I'm buzzing about the fact that Manchester City and title race are in the same sentence.

[King Kev]

If we beat Arsenal next Sunday, we're five points clear of them with a better goal difference and comfortably second in the table. We've lost one game, that coming from a penalty in the 94th minute- we've shown several traits; doggedness and grit against Spurs and Chelsea, class and dominance against Liverpool and a professionalism at Wigan and Blackpool (the very places we were a safe bet to get done over only twelve months ago). Against Newcastle and Blackburn we played poorly but still have four points to show for them.

All that with our first choice left-back and centre forward to come back, and only eight games into the season. The defence has been reinvented with Touré looking like the player he was five years ago, Kompany's come on leaps and bounds and is arguably the best defender in the country at the moment and consequently we've conceded only six goals in our first twelve competitive games.

I'm not entirely sure what it is people want. I certainly wouldn't be happy if we'd scored 25, conceded 20 and were 7th but playing wonderful football. And in any case, the "boring, defensive tactics" stuff is an exaggeration akin to the way the media went on about de Jong's tackle. We play attractive football, sometimes it's frustrating when we overpass it rather than opt for a cross/shot, but I don't see how it could be described as horrible or negative.

Mancini's no miracle worker and he's not the best manager of all time, I don't think anyone's saying he is, but we're 2nd, scoring our fair share of (often beautifully crafted) goals and conceding very few overall. We've an unbelievably talented squad of International players- the only thing that should be worrying us is whether we go for classy Johnson or classy Silva, or where does Balotelli fit in.

Blackpool played a high-intensity game this afternoon designed to try and crack us early on- aware of this, we sat back and soaked up the pressure safe in the knowledge they'd tire. Inevitably, they did and we were 3-1 up (as well as hitting the post/bar about four times) until the last second. Sounds to me like perfect away from home tactics?

A fantastic post from somebody who has an amazing understanding of the game.

[mr_nool]

Lets be honest, its very finely balanced.

Last season if you turn those Hughes home draws into wins, we'd have walked into 4th, probably 3rd.

But, we didnt win them, we drew.

Mancini is winning the games where we arent playing very well at all. Which is great, but only a midgets dick away from being a fan having shit thrown at it

Fulham FC...............8....1....6....1

Coincidence?

[DoomMerchant]

People thought he did well today? I find that astonishing! I thought that everything he's done well since he came to the club became a complete nonsense today. He changed both the team & the formation, so all the work he's done on the defense was completely undermined by a shambles in front of it & 3 changes to the usual organised back 4. He suddenly decided to start swapping the wingers around NOW in front of an untried back 4 rather than doing it in earlier games when we had a settled team that could work it & he also decided to suddenly play 2 up front, AT THE SAME TIME AWAY FROM HOME. Fucking stupid & unneccessary.

When he reverted to his usual system, we looked much better & scored ALL of our goals. Why not just try a few changes here & there in past games rather than being rigid as fuck & one dimensional then suddenly, one day change everything at once? It's like he let the press or fans pick his team/tactics, responding to criticisms rather than doing what he knows best & has built on.

I really believe that Mancini can win us everything but I also think that his biggest danger is purely himself. He makes his own job much much harder & undermines his own good work by sudden untried random changes rather than logical evolution of tactics/selection.

to be honest i love about 90% of your posts. And this isn't one of them. Mancini reacted to injuries to some key players and got 3 points. That's all.

cheers

cheers

[john@staustell]

Lets be honest, its very finely balanced.

Last season if you turn those Hughes home draws into wins, we'd have walked into 4th, probably 3rd.

But, we didnt win them, we drew.

Mancini is winning the games where we arent playing very well at all. Which is great, but only a midgets dick away from being a fan having shit thrown at it

Fulham FC...............8....1....6....1

Coincidence?

Certainly not. And the fact that Spuds scored 30 secs after Fulham - ring any bells?

[Beefymcfc]

I think, if you take these 2 posts and merged them together, we'd have a real balanced assessment of the situation. Well done boys.

If we beat Arsenal next Sunday, we're five points clear of them with a better goal difference and comfortably second in the table. We've lost one game, that coming from a penalty in the 94th minute- we've shown several traits; doggedness and grit against Spurs and Chelsea, class and dominance against Liverpool and a professionalism at Wigan and Blackpool (the very places we were a safe bet to get done over only twelve months ago). Against Newcastle and Blackburn we played poorly but still have four points to show for them.

All that with our first choice left-back and centre forward to come back, and only eight games into the season. The defence has been reinvented with Touré looking like the player he was five years ago, Kompany's come on leaps and bounds and is arguably the best defender in the country at the moment and consequently we've conceded only six goals in our first twelve competitive games.

I'm not entirely sure what it is people want. I certainly wouldn't be happy if we'd scored 25, conceded 20 and were 7th but playing wonderful football. And in any case, the "boring, defensive tactics" stuff is an exaggeration akin to the way the media went on about de Jong's tackle. We play attractive football, sometimes it's frustrating when we overpass it rather than opt for a cross/shot, but I don't see how it could be described as horrible or negative.

Mancini's no miracle worker and he's not the best manager of all time, I don't think anyone's saying he is, but we're 2nd, scoring our fair share of (often beautifully crafted) goals and conceding very few overall. We've an unbelievably talented squad of International players- the only thing that should be worrying us is whether we go for classy Johnson or classy Silva, or where does Balotelli fit in.

Blackpool played a high-intensity game this afternoon designed to try and crack us early on- aware of this, we sat back and soaked up the pressure safe in the knowledge they'd tire. Inevitably, they did and we were 3-1 up (as well as hitting the post/bar about four times) until the last second. Sounds to me like perfect away from home tactics?

People thought he did well today? I find that astonishing! I thought that everything he's done well since he came to the club became a complete nonsense today. He changed both the team & the formation, so all the work he's done on the defense was completely undermined by a shambles in front of it & 3 changes to the usual organised back 4. He suddenly decided to start swapping the wingers around NOW in front of an untried back 4 rather than doing it in earlier games when we had a settled team that could work it & he also decided to suddenly play 2 up front, AT THE SAME TIME AWAY FROM HOME. Fucking stupid & unneccessary.

When he reverted to his usual system, we looked much better & scored ALL of our goals. Why not just try a few changes here & there in past games rather than being rigid as fuck & one dimensional then suddenly, one day change everything at once? It's like he let the press or fans pick his team/tactics, responding to criticisms rather than doing what he knows best & has built on.

I really believe that Mancini can win us everything but I also think that his biggest danger is purely himself. He makes his own job much much harder & undermines his own good work by sudden untried random changes rather than logical evolution of tactics/selection.

[john@staustell]

Nice one beefy!

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

I continued my exercise of not coming to this site during or after the game in same day. To see what my feelings were compared to what they'd be when I'd read opinions of other people. When I saw this topic I expected to see proper wankfest over him. I mean, we are second in the table, two points from the top and three points above rest of the top 4 pretenders. Instead some people just keep critising Mancini.

Now, I haven't been too happy about certain tactical decisions BUT it's results business and Mancini is well and truly getting the results. If we are average, I'd prefer us to be average in entertaining way. But if we are getting great results I don't really care how they come.

I wouldn't like to open the old wounds or anything but I think it's quite clear that some people blame Mancini for Hughes sacking and there's nothing he could do to get them on their side. I mean, the way things are going right now, if you aren't happy with him right now I don't see any reason you could ever be proper happy with him.

Regarding yesterdays game, Despite the fact that they had couple of decent chances, I always felt we'd grind it in the end. They huffed and puffed but we remained calm and sensible and knew that eventually chances would open. And if we had had decent striker there instead of Adebyor, we would've been three up in half time.

Also, taking Adebayor off and putting Silva there behind Tevez IN ATTACKING PLAYMAKER ROLE was a masterstroke and there was no question about the winner after that.

Robbie Manc, I salute you.

[mr_nool]

I continued my exercise of not coming to this site during or after the game in same day. To see what my feelings were compared to what they'd be when I'd read opinions of other people. When I saw this topic I expected to see proper wankfest over him. I mean, we are second in the table, two points from the top and three points above rest of the top 4 pretenders. Instead some people just keep critising Mancini.

Now, I haven't been too happy about certain tactical decisions BUT it's results business and Mancini is well and truly getting the results. If we are average, I'd prefer us to be average in entertaining way. But if we are getting great results I don't really care how they come.

I wouldn't like to open the old wounds or anything but I think it's quite clear that some people blame Mancini for Hughes sacking and there's nothing he could do to get them on their side. I mean, the way things are going right now, if you aren't happy with him right now I don't see any reason you could ever be proper happy with him.

Regarding yesterdays game, Despite the fact that they had couple of decent chances, I always felt we'd grind it in the end. They huffed and puffed but we remained calm and sensible and knew that eventually chances would open. And if we had had decent striker there instead of Adebyor, we would've been three up in half time.

Also, taking Adebayor off and putting Silva there behind Tevez IN ATTACKING PLAYMAKER ROLE was a masterstroke and there was no question about the winner after that.

Robbie Manc, I salute you.

I thought he was a winger ;-)

[Piccsnumberoneblue]

I'm still to be convinced. However it feels weird being as though we are sitting so nicely in the table. I might still be whinging as we win the title! He's got the results so far so maybe I should shut up.

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

I continued my exercise of not coming to this site during or after the game in same day. To see what my feelings were compared to what they'd be when I'd read opinions of other people. When I saw this topic I expected to see proper wankfest over him. I mean, we are second in the table, two points from the top and three points above rest of the top 4 pretenders. Instead some people just keep critising Mancini.

Now, I haven't been too happy about certain tactical decisions BUT it's results business and Mancini is well and truly getting the results. If we are average, I'd prefer us to be average in entertaining way. But if we are getting great results I don't really care how they come.

I wouldn't like to open the old wounds or anything but I think it's quite clear that some people blame Mancini for Hughes sacking and there's nothing he could do to get them on their side. I mean, the way things are going right now, if you aren't happy with him right now I don't see any reason you could ever be proper happy with him.

Regarding yesterdays game, Despite the fact that they had couple of decent chances, I always felt we'd grind it in the end. They huffed and puffed but we remained calm and sensible and knew that eventually chances would open. And if we had had decent striker there instead of Adebyor, we would've been three up in half time.

Also, taking Adebayor off and putting Silva there behind Tevez IN ATTACKING PLAYMAKER ROLE was a masterstroke and there was no question about the winner after that.

Robbie Manc, I salute you.

I thought he was a winger ;-)

That's where he has mostly played, however I know he can play well behind centerforward in second strikers role which he did. Personally I prefer positive player in central midfield but as said, who am I to argue with a man who has taken us two points from the top?

[ant london]

I continued my exercise of not coming to this site during or after the game in same day. To see what my feelings were compared to what they'd be when I'd read opinions of other people. When I saw this topic I expected to see proper wankfest over him. I mean, we are second in the table, two points from the top and three points above rest of the top 4 pretenders. Instead some people just keep critising Mancini.

Now, I haven't been too happy about certain tactical decisions BUT it's results business and Mancini is well and truly getting the results. If we are average, I'd prefer us to be average in entertaining way. But if we are getting great results I don't really care how they come.

I wouldn't like to open the old wounds or anything but I think it's quite clear that some people blame Mancini for Hughes sacking and there's nothing he could do to get them on their side. I mean, the way things are going right now, if you aren't happy with him right now I don't see any reason you could ever be proper happy with him.

Regarding yesterdays game, Despite the fact that they had couple of decent chances, I always felt we'd grind it in the end. They huffed and puffed but we remained calm and sensible and knew that eventually chances would open. And if we had had decent striker there instead of Adebyor, we would've been three up in half time.

Also, taking Adebayor off and putting Silva there behind Tevez IN ATTACKING PLAYMAKER ROLE was a masterstroke and there was no question about the winner after that.

Robbie Manc, I salute you.

I actually agree with every part of that bar the highlighted paragraph which is like the rantings of a lunatic. If there is anyone who likes to re-open old wounds on that subject it is you my man.

Not a single poster has explicitly stated or even implied that they "blame Mancini for Hughes sacking".....what kind of fucking absurd notion is that????

I don't think anyone, not even Hughes' biggest fans (incl me) has Mark Hughes remotely in their mind. He is long gone (good luck to him) and most of us have moved on. Apart from one silly man in the frozen north.

Everyone is supporting Mancini from what I can see. Some are, however, just choosing to do so blindly whilst others are using a fairly balanced critical appraisal where they praise the good parts and question the not so good.