Balotelli [MERGED]

[tolmie's hairdoo]

Mario's face doesn't fit, it's as simple as that.

He is in the public conscious for all the wrong reasons courtesy of a typical Little Englander media slant.

Sure, Mario can be an arse, a petulant one who still has plenty to do to realise his undoubted potential.

He makes the difficult things look easy, you see. That's what frustrates people and creates envy in others.

I will go as far as to say both his red cards this season have been a little harsh.

Last night's dismissal, I saw a high ball, a player in Popov who continued throughout the game to cheat, and a challenge from Mario which albeit reckless, I wholeheartedly believe was without any malice.

The connection with the chest was minimal, the continuining momentum (gravity) resulting in the foot coming down as it did.

Balo left his foot in too long, admittedly, but I'm not so sure the resulting cry of aghast opinion would be so strong if it wasn't the complex character Mario Balotelli?

We've seen it before with Robinho, all the talent in the world, not enough time or patience to nuture it.

John Champion's commentary on ESPN is a prime example, everything prior to the sending off was over emphasised.

From putting on the bib, to missing the easy chance. Remember Robinho turning up for euro trip with trainers on?

Balo attempted an overhead kick v Aris, ESPN's Chris Waddle described it as foolish a dangerous. The irony was not lost upon me.

I hope this can be the making of Mario, the game needs people like him. As fans, we certainly need to show him some patience and love.

If we continue to do that, we can still get it back in spades.

Perhaps England is not for him, perhaps he knows Mancini's own position is up for debate.

What is beyond debate, City fans look after their own.

He is one of us, and the sooner we and he realise it, the time to change opinions where it matters, out on the field, can begin.

A prime example I give is Wayne Rooney.

A pariah for last ten months. A god again, in the blink of a disbelieving eye.

 

[mancunial]

Re: Mancini: Mario Will Not Be In The Squad For Chelsea

or, that's exactly what he is doing

THIS, i think the incident tonight was a yellow not a red , he bends his leg to avoid going right through the bloke. They fucking dived , whined, time wasted every chance and the ref fell for all of it. He had the fucking card out of his pocket before he had chance to think.

I am in no way saying that Balotelli does not have some "interesting flaws" but he is such an easy target . Most of the people booked tonight were black as well (not that i am saying the ref was an overt racist!) . Mario is a spoilt child with so many people telling him he is the best etc etc, he must also be affected by the circumstances of his childhood and the shitty racist crap he has had to put up with . so can we just cut the kid a bit of slack ,, He needs to mature it may take him a little longer, lets give him to end of next season to hopefully see the best of him and give bobby time to work with him. Problems like Marios aren't solved quickly, needs maturity and that takes time.

spot on, for myself i have watched it a couple of times on tv since i got home from the game, it looked 10 times worse than it was, i would love to have a look at that lads chest where he connected, he went down like he,d been shot? well they were doing that through the two legs, for me they are everything what is wrong in football, but if thats what you have too do to win a trophy then we are being nieve and to honest? it is about time we closed ranks, i,ll ask you all this was ballo,s tackle worse than everyones favourit fouling scamp scholes the other night or fabios tackle at anfield or caraghers on nani, and what was the punishment ho, they were all yellows?

 

[Superga]

Re: Mancini and Balotelli

Mario shoulld be asked to apolagise to the other players at Carrington this morning, he let them all down, if he gives a fuck about City then he should have already done this, Mancini carnt be held accountable for this what so ever, we need to pull together ( like the 10 men did last night) and carry on, some very important games coming now and we need to br strong and unite.

Very well said mate !
Let's move on, only at the end of the season will be the time for the judgements ..

 

[robinho ho ho]

Re: Mancini: Mario Will Not Be In The Squad For Chelsea

ballotelli needs some help - he is not the talent he is thought of if he cant keep his temper under control .

 

[dref619]

Re: Mancini and Balotelli

Was quite pleased to see him criticise Balotelli publically to be honest, he needs to be brought down a peg or two.

If Mancini hadn't said anything or defended him then people would be whingeing saying that Balo is getting special treatment

What discipline Mancini imposes should be kept in-house.

Rooney violently elbowed a player at Wigan a couple of weeks ago, and the rags response was a shrug of the shoulders...

I always fear for a manager when he starts playing to the gallery, courting popularity. His job is to do the absolute best for City, get results, do whatever it takes... and by that principle, we should not have dropped him for Sunday's game at Chelsea.

absolute tosh, we need a great effort by the whole team on sunday to come away with the points, and we couldnt have coped with him strolling around all game

 

[Skip Donoghue]

Kinel,Dzeko gettin some shit now,jesus!!!

Yeah I've been slagging him off since day one

Oh well done you, I can understand fans being pissed off with balo but dezko get a fucking grip

 

[Tricky Dickys Right Foot Shot]

Kinel,Dzeko gettin some shit now,jesus!!!

Tevez was fantastic last nite. Ive never seen a forward put the effort in that he did. Making tackles all over the pitch. Tremendous .

Its all good when a player does that Dickov did it in his City days but what's the fuckin point when your primal target is a striker and to stay in the box to score goals??? Apart from last night Tevez has been nowhere in the game for us the past month and he doesn't wanna be here anymore then Balotelli does but never mind as long as he keeps running around giving us fuck all options up front who cares right???

 

[chinley blues]

I said a few days ago, I would have this guy no where near the Utd cup semi final. He's a complete and utter coward of a footballer. He has a consistent record of these types of coward sendings off. He doesn't give a fuck about being part of a team. Nor does he give a fuck about any City fan whatsoever. In particular, he doesn't give a fuck about the idiots on here defending him, purely because he's a City player.

For those talking about his history, his life, we aren't fucking psychiatrists. We are football fans. We are concerned with what goes on .. on the football pitch. And our club made a big song and dance about signing the right players, about doing research, producing a huge portfolio on every potential signing. Yea right. I would back Mourinho's judgement (won the CL with two out of four clubs) on a players personality over anyone at City. Some of these idiots on here defending Balotelli are the 16 year olds who probably sign him on the football manager computer game. We as a club are bigger than this mercenary. I don't care how 'talented' he apparantly is, (and I think he still has a lot to do to justify that perception anyway), or that he is 20, or that he is apparantly 'raw', we cannot legislate for things like last night. All of the effort put in by the other members of the team, all of the money spent by fans to travel around Europe, to take time off work, and some child produces another moment of coward madness to make it even more difficult than it already was going to be. We played with more spirit when he went off, because the other players rallied around each other.

great post mate

 

[Benarbia]

Yeah I mean Dzeko has really been banging them in for us

 

[Soulboy]

Re: Mancini and Balotelli

No matter what we the fans think of Balotelli's actions last night... no matter what the manager thinks of Balotelli's actions last night.. the manager should NEVER publicly criticise his players in such a manner as he has done.

Whether Mancini was using Balotelli as an excuse for our defeat or not is largely irrelevant... a manager should never throw one of his players to the baying mob.

Ferguson actually pursued Cantona when it was needed, never once berated him publicly. Has always drawn in the waggons when the club or player is under threat.

Poor man-management skills by Mancini in my opinion, and another example of the pressure he is under... and is wilting due to it.

All I can hope is that Mancini has sacrificed Balotelli for the greater good, as maybe the other players have also had enough of him. In that case, he could still have done it all in private...

Don't agree with any of that.

Different people respond to different treatment and it's up to the manager to decide how to get the best out of his players. Ferguson famously got it wrong initially by giving his Brazilian players the hairdryer and then found out it didn't work with them - they were too sensitive and went into their shells after such treatment.

Also there is cultural differences to take into account. In the US you often see adverts saying "dont buy competitor brand XYZ because it's rubbish". You never see that here. Maybe in Italy things are said more in public than they are here.

Bottom line is Mario deserved a right kick up the arse and in the manager's judgement, public criticism is appropriate. Remains to be seen if he has judged it right, but it's not inappropriate.

So if Balotelli improves over the rest of the season, then Mancini will, as you point out, have called it right.

But if he does NOT get any better... then my point stands.

Mancini's job is to get the best out of his players. I hope this approach works, but his other public criticisms of players haven't really improved their performances though...