I don't like this "people are mugs for swallowing the press agenda on Balotelli and believing that he is taking the club for a ride."
Here is the simple reasons for my dislike of Balotelli, the Manchester City player (not necessarily Balotelli the man, as I know little of him and have no desire to know him).
There are a small group of City players that I have had an intense dislike of due to their, to put it bluntly 'taking the piss' out of the club and pocketing huge wages out of the pockets of fans and owners with no remorse and no professional responsibility.
Top of that list is Robbie Fowler, a man who when he left admitted that he hadn't trained with full effort at City, yet who pocketed obscene money and took every City fan for a ride, no matter whether he scored a few goals or not. If he had any dignity he would have been ashamed to accept such lavish rewards whilst all the time having the knowledge that he could not be arsed to even try as hard as the average bloke in a gym who also holds down a nine til five job. It is no exaggeration to say that during Fowler's time at City I was fitter, and certainly looked fitter than him, and also put more effort into maintaining my fitness. That illustrates what a joke his efforts were and it had nothing to do with the fact that he had some injuries. He admitted himself that he would now start to give his fullest in training when he joined Liverpool. A disgrace.
Amongst others, Nigel Clough, Danny Mills, Wayne Bridge and some more could be tarred with the same brush (although some of those might have a legitimate argument that they just weren't considered for selection, rather than just turned it in when it came to effort). Others might argue that they were very quick and keen to turn it in and had no bottle or pride to fight for selection and force their way into contention.
Anyway, I have never heard even any of the above criticised so explicitly for their lack of professional effort in training and lack of commitment to their career (and therefore the club) as I have heard Mancini criticise Balotelli. Mancini, especially this year, has made a point of letting it be known that he often does not train properly and that he does not exhibit the desire or attitude that you would expect of any professional footballer (International or Conference).
That this comes from his biggest managerial defender, fan, supporter in the game is a shocking thing to realise. It is not someone who has no time for him who says he is not meeting the standards that should be a minimum for even the youth players at the club. It is a man who is wedded to him in a way rarely seen with a manager and individual player. A man who has previously displayed an astonishing willingness to cut the same player a enormous amount of slack.
None of that is rumour or press gossip. It is fact that Mancini has said these things. Therefore, he is taking the piss out of the club and the fans, in my book.
The fact that he is always involved in stories like the parking fines stuff and being seen in stupid situations that others aren't, is neither here nor there. Although if you wanted to you could make a very good argument that it strongly supports the view that he just doesn't give a fuck and has a highly immature and irresponsible attitude. But let's separate that and class all that shit as 'Mario the man'. That isn't the issue here.
Mancini's comments leave very little room for interpretation. The man is considered, by his biggest fan (excluding some on here), to be unprofessional and letting himself (and therefore the club and the fans) down on a far too regular basis.
If we add in that he has only a handful of standout performances at the club which are far too little in number to balance out the negative mentioned above, then there seems little argument for not thinking that he is either worth it or not just taking the piss.
Name another City player who has been on the receiving end of such stinging criticism about his attitude, commitment, training and desire to make the most of what he has got. I can't do that, going back years and years.
And that is why I have no time for Balotelli the footballer. To do so would be to judge him be a different criteria to that which other players are judged.
Here is the simple reasons for my dislike of Balotelli, the Manchester City player (not necessarily Balotelli the man, as I know little of him and have no desire to know him).
There are a small group of City players that I have had an intense dislike of due to their, to put it bluntly 'taking the piss' out of the club and pocketing huge wages out of the pockets of fans and owners with no remorse and no professional responsibility.
Top of that list is Robbie Fowler, a man who when he left admitted that he hadn't trained with full effort at City, yet who pocketed obscene money and took every City fan for a ride, no matter whether he scored a few goals or not. If he had any dignity he would have been ashamed to accept such lavish rewards whilst all the time having the knowledge that he could not be arsed to even try as hard as the average bloke in a gym who also holds down a nine til five job. It is no exaggeration to say that during Fowler's time at City I was fitter, and certainly looked fitter than him, and also put more effort into maintaining my fitness. That illustrates what a joke his efforts were and it had nothing to do with the fact that he had some injuries. He admitted himself that he would now start to give his fullest in training when he joined Liverpool. A disgrace.
Amongst others, Nigel Clough, Danny Mills, Wayne Bridge and some more could be tarred with the same brush (although some of those might have a legitimate argument that they just weren't considered for selection, rather than just turned it in when it came to effort). Others might argue that they were very quick and keen to turn it in and had no bottle or pride to fight for selection and force their way into contention.
Anyway, I have never heard even any of the above criticised so explicitly for their lack of professional effort in training and lack of commitment to their career (and therefore the club) as I have heard Mancini criticise Balotelli. Mancini, especially this year, has made a point of letting it be known that he often does not train properly and that he does not exhibit the desire or attitude that you would expect of any professional footballer (International or Conference).
That this comes from his biggest managerial defender, fan, supporter in the game is a shocking thing to realise. It is not someone who has no time for him who says he is not meeting the standards that should be a minimum for even the youth players at the club. It is a man who is wedded to him in a way rarely seen with a manager and individual player. A man who has previously displayed an astonishing willingness to cut the same player a enormous amount of slack.
None of that is rumour or press gossip. It is fact that Mancini has said these things. Therefore, he is taking the piss out of the club and the fans, in my book.
The fact that he is always involved in stories like the parking fines stuff and being seen in stupid situations that others aren't, is neither here nor there. Although if you wanted to you could make a very good argument that it strongly supports the view that he just doesn't give a fuck and has a highly immature and irresponsible attitude. But let's separate that and class all that shit as 'Mario the man'. That isn't the issue here.
Mancini's comments leave very little room for interpretation. The man is considered, by his biggest fan (excluding some on here), to be unprofessional and letting himself (and therefore the club and the fans) down on a far too regular basis.
If we add in that he has only a handful of standout performances at the club which are far too little in number to balance out the negative mentioned above, then there seems little argument for not thinking that he is either worth it or not just taking the piss.
Name another City player who has been on the receiving end of such stinging criticism about his attitude, commitment, training and desire to make the most of what he has got. I can't do that, going back years and years.
And that is why I have no time for Balotelli the footballer. To do so would be to judge him be a different criteria to that which other players are judged.