Berlusconi on Pep, Balotelli and City

[levets]

Bar some upsets in the Europa KO Rounds, It’d surprise me to see City remain in the top 16 in place of any of the chasing pack below them.

We made it last year from 28th spot, and there will be sides above us in the rankings that won't qualify for the tournament next season (at least two of them from England) so top 16 isn't necessary.

To be honest, even from pot 3 I would expect an easier draw than either of the last two years.

To be honest, the pots are irrelevant.. Napoli pot 4 last year... Dortmund pot 4 this year.

It's all about the draw... and of course the performances...

 

[sergiokun]

This last line is spot on.

The same posters that nod knowingly about the club keeping their options open, are the same ones that work themselves in to a self-righteous frenzy about Mancini doing the same.

Mancini is a whore dropping her knickers, the club is sensibly considering its options. #fact #endof

Lol i bet you want Jose?? Mancini haters you must love them

 

[OB1]

This post went very wrong.

 

[levets]

Yes, it was luck that he didn't fix matches and that he chose to actually play them fairly.

Yeah because Mancini would never take a backhander ... that's why he's had fuck all money to spend in the last 12 months and the vast majority of his transfer targets in the last 12 months play for other clubs.

Fucking hell did he shag your missus or something?? You really need to spell out why you hate him so much, because the way you go on it's got nowt to do with football!

Because he binned that fucking lunatic Ireland....

 

[kippax neil]

I would think Mancini is quite relaxed about the whole situation. He's been replaced before and after winning 3 titles on the spin. I'll be surprised if he doesn't move on regardless.

I cannot see us passing up the chance to employ one of the two top managers around when they become available.

This summer is the end of his original 3.5 year contract and would have gone with nothing. He's had absolutely nothing to lose by signing a new contract last summer. It will ensure a good pay-off when le goes if nothing else...which I believe even the owners thinks he deserves for the job he has done.

Either way, we will always look back at Mancini's time at our club with fondness and with a tear also.

 

[moomba]

Actually I think we've all gained a bit of clarity here, obviously it's unacceptable for the club to hire a manager that would talk with other clubs while under contract. So that's Bob out, but who is the replacement?

Not Jose who as we've been told for the past three years has been "flashing his knickers" at us while contracted to another team.

Not Klopp who is contracted to Dortmund until 2016 so obviously wouldn't whore himself out to us within that timeframe.

Maybe Pep, although if he signs with Bayern Munich as I expect then that's him out of the running for the next 3/4/5 years.

McLeish will probably be out of a job soon, hang on he walked out on Birmingham so that's him out.

So Megson it is. Brilliant.

 

[M24-CRC]

So 'Pep to City' now replaces 'Jose to City' which kind of makes a change as the 'Jose to City' has been running for 3 years now and was getting kind of old.

Nothing has replaced nothing my old sparring partner. There's a thread about Mourinho further down the page. This one's about Pep. The fact both are men are currently being discussed probably says more about Mancini's position than it does about what was being discussed 3 years ago.

Oh I gave up my sparring ways shortly after we bagged the FA Cup. Kind of seemed irrelevant and even more so after last season. In the last 3 years I have read numerous essays on why Jose should replace Roberto and how Roberto is a poor coach/manager etc etc to the extent that its now just the background music to the Champions DVD which I play ad nauseum much to the wife's annoyance. I just assume I will have Pep accompaniment to the Jose soundtrack for the next 3 years or so which will make a nice change.

The thing I don't understand is if the appointment of the Barca duo heralds the arrival of Pep after his 1 year sabbatical why on earth did we offer Mancini a 5 year contract after Pep quit Barca and only weeks before we appointed the Barca duo?

My best guess because Mancini knew what was in the offing and with a title win under his belt and the assuredness that neither Pep nor Mourinho were available last summer, got his agents to turn every screw imaginable to ensure he got the best deal possible.

What did you expect City to say "sorry mate, you can't have a new contract. We've got a long term plan to replace you."

You can imagine Mancini's response "Hello Mr Rybolovlev? Yes, can you get that jetty ready, my yacht will arrive in a few days. And don't worry, I'm bringing my son with me so you get the gift of me and the gift of the natural heir to Messi's throne".

I am sure Mancini did everything he could to screw the best deal possible. It still doesn't answer why they offered 5 years if 5 months later we are making eyes at Pep. Its not as if hiring the Barca duo was a huge surprise or that no one anticipated Pep taking a year off before coming back to tackle a new challenge. Topping up back to 3 years would have sufficed given 3 years is the norm.

5 years is a lot. I don't see ADUG offering 5 year deals with the thinking we can bin him after a year and make ourselves look a bit twattish in the process. And by twattish I mean not having a long term plan or idea. I like a long term plan. Long term plans are like porn to me. I get off on a good long term plan. 5 years is telling me that Mancini is part of that long term plan given it was offered with full knowledge of what Pep would be doing and who we would be hiring to run the show.

I had a similar problem with the logic of Mancini's initial contract and Jose is coming in the summer (which summer I hear you cry. Well every fucking summer as it turned out). Why not offer Mancini a deal to the end of the season and then review all alternatives ie as Chelsea have done with Rafa. That makes sense to me. You are an interim manager to season end then we suck it and see. But no we have to do a 3.5 year deal which isn't a 3.5 year deal because blah, blah...well blah, blah shit because 3 fucking years later Mancini is still here and Jose is poking peoples eyes out in Madrid when he is not cutting his nose off to spite his face.

And to top it all they then go and offer - and no, no bear me with me on this - they actually offer Mancini a new 5 year deal. Except now its not a 5 year deal really because we are going to hire Pep instead and we have decided this in the last few months because we a) hired his best mates which we sort of overlooked when we offered Mancini his 5 years and b) results have been a bit sucky although if we do actually win something this may mean we won't hire Pep but keep with Mancini because clearly we have no fucking idea what we are doing when if the last 4 years has proven something is that ADUG do quite clearly know what they are fucking doing.

So forgive me if I don't quite rush to join the Committee to Organise Mancini's leaving party. In fairness the committee has had a bloody long wait with many a false dawn so I do have some sympathy as they put the bunting out only to hastily take it down or start making the party hats as they analyse a Youtube vid of Mancini's body language or something he said at his latest presser "look see at 2:09...freeze it there...you can definitely tell he knows his time is up...dibs on the pirate hat!"

My advice is to put a hold on the bunting. Premature bunting has done more to make the 'Mancini out' brigade look silly than anything else. No one respects a premature bunt

Bob - I applaud you sir, one of the best (if not the best) and sensible posts on here in a long time

 

[SWP's back]

This last line is spot on.

The same posters that nod knowingly about the club keeping their options open, are the same ones that work themselves in to a self-righteous frenzy about Mancini doing the same.

Mancini is a whore dropping her knickers, the club is sensibly considering its options. #fact #endof

Lol i bet you want Jose?? Mancini haters you must love them

No, he was being very very sarcastic and mocking Billy.

 

[OB1]

I can only speak for myself. I've never been on a multi million pound contract, but I've worked in environments where there's lots of money at stake and your job security is minimal. I would never dream of going out looking for new jobs, let alone negotiating a contract with a company that is two divisions below and a million miles away from my current employer, a year and a half before my contract is up.

Football may well be a murky business full of sharks and dickheads, but if I worked for Sheikh Mansour and I had even a little bit about me, I'd know that my focus should be on delivering the goods and not hedging my bets. And I don't own a yacht, don't have a villa in Sardinia, and don't walk the face of the earth with a sense of entitlement because I could once kick a ball nearly as well as those who are considered the real greats of the sport.

Billy,

I find it admirable that you are so honourable and I’m not here to laud Mancini’s approach to employment but my experience, which is reasonably extensive, tells me that lots of people at all levels in various industries do consider and explore other opportunities whilst still employed. Football has its own peculiarities but ultimately, job is a job and one’s own best interests are just that. You seem to think Bobby is a self-entitled mercenary and, whether he is or isn’t, he won’t be alone in that in life or football. You also say that in his position you’d focus on delivering the goods and not hedging your bets. Well, last season, he did deliver the goods and he chose to stay at City so I’m afraid that I call that no harm, no foul.

I actually think it can be quite dangerous to want to project one’s own standards onto someone in a job like Mancini’s. You for instance, don’t have a whole load of people publicly debating whether or not you should keep your job and in some cases advocating that you should not. To try and take the high moral ground about someone in such a position keeping their employment options open might be viewed as pushing it.

 

[Bigga]

I am sure Mancini did everything he could to screw the best deal possible. It still doesn't answer why they offered 5 years if 5 months later we are making eyes at Pep. Its not as if hiring the Barca duo was a huge surprise or that no one anticipated Pep taking a year off before coming back to tackle a new challenge. Topping up back to 3 years would have sufficed given 3 years is the norm.

5 years is a lot. I don't see ADUG offering 5 year deals with the thinking we can bin him after a year and make ourselves look a bit twattish in the process. And by twattish I mean not having a long term plan or idea. I like a long term plan. Long term plans are like porn to me. I get off on a good long term plan. 5 years is telling me that Mancini is part of that long term plan given it was offered with full knowledge of what Pep would be doing and who we would be hiring to run the show.

I had a similar problem with the logic of Mancini's initial contract and Jose is coming in the summer (which summer I hear you cry. Well every fucking summer as it turned out). Why not offer Mancini a deal to the end of the season and then review all alternatives ie as Chelsea have done with Rafa. That makes sense to me. You are an interim manager to season end then we suck it and see. But no we have to do a 3.5 year deal which isn't a 3.5 year deal because blah, blah...well blah, blah shit because 3 fucking years later Mancini is still here and Jose is poking peoples eyes out in Madrid when he is not cutting his nose off to spite his face.

And to top it all they then go and offer - and no, no bear me with me on this - they actually offer Mancini a new 5 year deal. Except now its not a 5 year deal really because we are going to hire Pep instead and we have decided this in the last few months because we a) hired his best mates which we sort of overlooked when we offered Mancini his 5 years and b) results have been a bit sucky although if we do actually win something this may mean we won't hire Pep but keep with Mancini because clearly we have no fucking idea what we are doing when if the last 4 years has proven something is that ADUG do quite clearly know what they are fucking doing.

So forgive me if I don't quite rush to join the Committee to Organise Mancini's leaving party. In fairness the committee has had a bloody long wait with many a false dawn so I do have some sympathy as they put the bunting out only to hastily take it down or start making the party hats as they analyse a Youtube vid of Mancini's body language or something he said at his latest presser "look see at 2:09...freeze it there...you can definitely tell he knows his time is up...dibs on the pirate hat!"

My advice is to put a hold on the bunting. Premature bunting has done more to make the 'Mancini out' brigade look silly than anything else. No one respects a premature bunt

I love it when a poster dismantles another with sheer precision with a touch of mockery.

Billy Shears, you need to give up this stupid outlook that you have! You can still spout the same theory that Mancini will be ousted (as you have for a couple of years now!), but even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Puh-lease....