Discuss Pellegrini...

[Anonymous]

Far too sensible for this forum ;-)

There's too many people saying we should have walked it this season. Well guess what, bacon chops - sorry "sir bacon chops" - the most successful manager the league has ever seen, with all the resources he could eat and the some of the best players the league has ever seen, didn't win it every season did he.

You need luck and you need to not be unlucky with injuries. And your competitors have a role to play. I think we have made mistakes this season for sure. But we have also been incredibly unlucky with key players out for so long. We hardly saw Jovetic until January; in fact we've still hardly seen him. Aguero out for weeks and weeks. Nasri likewise. Silva too. Nastasic hasn't been seen since I can't remember. Kompany repeatedly out. Negredo, just when he was at his best... I could go on. Had Aguero been fit for as long as Suarez, I do think we would have won it this season and I really can't blame that on Pellegrini. Some might say we hurried him back too soon, but hindsight is a wonderful thing and guess what, we had 4 competitions to try to win - we needed him back as soon as we could get him.

And we still might well win it. Personally I think it's unlikely now, but you never know. And even if we don't, narrowly missing out - plus a trophy as well - is not a bad 1st season in my book.

I think I like you too.

 

[taconinja]

Agreed. The reason I would hope Martinez might be considered is that there would be less of a transition period I think as he's already familiar with the in's and out's of the league. That doesn't mean I would select him over a more qualified candidate, mind.

The important thing for me is that the club have set their stall out vis a vis having a footballing identity which a) is fostered from the youth teams upwards and b) is one which is about playing attacking fluid possession based football. For me it's clear from the appointment of Pellegrini that those basic characteristics come before any perceived success in terms of a manager coming with a trophy haul or an impressive CV with lots of big clubs on it. Again it's a well worn out thing on Bluemoon, but Txiki gave Guardiola the Barca job under enormous expectations over far more highly decorated managers.

It's also why I'm not buying the arguments that Pellegrini will be under any pressure if he fails to win the league next season. The example I used earlier I'll use again. If we lose the CL final and miss out on the league by 2 points next season, then I do not for one second believe we have such a short sighted and binary thinking board of directors that they'd look at it and go "he's failed so we sack him". If the players are still responding to him and his methods, if the club is on an even keel and has been competitive in all competitions all season, then he'll see out his contract.

Sure. If he meets the director's objectives and the owner approves, he'll be retained. That's rather obvious. If he doesn't, he won't be retained. I suspect it's rather a much more complex algorithm than you've laid out, but the general point is sound. What neither you nor I can say for sure is what those internal expectations are. If trophies are part of it, you can bet near misses will only be tolerated for so long despite however happy players are. How players are responding is a very murky concept and can be used however someone wishes. For instance, this year the players certainly seem to have responded fairly well, yet there are still times when the level of response is frankly unacceptable, such as the FA Cup loss. Basically, if you make the metrics obfuscatory enough then you're covered whether he's retained or not.

 

[mancity111]

Far too sensible for this forum ;-)

There's too many people saying we should have walked it this season. Well guess what, bacon chops - sorry "sir bacon chops" - the most successful manager the league has ever seen, with all the resources he could eat and the some of the best players the league has ever seen, didn't win it every season did he.

You need luck and you need to not be unlucky with injuries. And your competitors have a role to play. I think we have made mistakes this season for sure. But we have also been incredibly unlucky with key players out for so long. We hardly saw Jovetic until January; in fact we've still hardly seen him. Aguero out for weeks and weeks. Nasri likewise. Silva too. Nastasic hasn't been seen since I can't remember. Kompany repeatedly out. Negredo, just when he was at his best... I could go on. Had Aguero been fit for as long as Suarez, I do think we would have won it this season and I really can't blame that on Pellegrini. Some might say we hurried him back too soon, but hindsight is a wonderful thing and guess what, we had 4 competitions to try to win - we needed him back as soon as we could get him.

And we still might well win it. Personally I think it's unlikely now, but you never know. And even if we don't, narrowly missing out - plus a trophy as well - is not a bad 1st season in my book.

I think I like you too.

Their might be a side who will have to go on a run like Liverpool have every season to give us some grief from now on.

If that's the case I have no problems with where we are at.

No doubt we have the structure to get better and be more competitive at a higher level if everyone is on the same page and that is irrespective of what the opposition do.

 

[nijinsky's fetlocks]

Same old excuses, it's all down to injuries and bad luck, and if you don't agree with the nu-happy clappers then you aren't sensible.
At least the fluffer now has an apprentice.
I'm off to the game now - I'm sure you clever folk remember how that feels.

 

[Anonymous]

Their might be a side who will have to go on a run like Liverpool have every season to give us some grief from now on.

If that's the case I have no problems with where we are at.

No doubt we have the structure to get better and be more competitive at a higher level if everyone is on the same page and that is irrespective of what the opposition do.

I think I like you too, too. :)

 

[mancity111]

Their might be a side who will have to go on a run like Liverpool have every season to give us some grief from now on.

If that's the case I have no problems with where we are at.

No doubt we have the structure to get better and be more competitive at a higher level if everyone is on the same page and that is irrespective of what the opposition do.

I think I like you too, too. :)

We still have to put it into practice Billy , so by all means put me in your b list for now.

 

[Anonymous]

Their might be a side who will have to go on a run like Liverpool have every season to give us some grief from now on.

If that's the case I have no problems with where we are at.

No doubt we have the structure to get better and be more competitive at a higher level if everyone is on the same page and that is irrespective of what the opposition do.

I think I like you too, too. :)

We still have to put it into practice Billy , so by all means put me in your b list for now.

I like the idea of sustainable progress/success and I'm confident that we'll make progress again next season. So we're all good you can stay in the A list :)

 

[Bill]

You could try addressing the truth it contains, rather than making jibes about where it originates.
I don't think Pellegrini has pulled up any trees this season given the squad at his disposal, and if his predecessor had stayed and had a similar one, then you would have had the knives out long before now.
And you would have had a point.
I'm getting tired of hearing the same old mantra of injuries/bad luck/ bent refs/period of adjustment being wheeled out on here ad nauseum.
For what it's worth, I don't think Pellegrini is a great manager either - I consider him competent, but nothing more.
He doesn't make things happen - too many times he responds to situations rather than pre-empting them, and when he is caught out it costs us dear at this level.
That said, I think he'll get another season, but if he fails to deliver either the Premiership or the Champions League then he will be gone, and rightly so.

But don't you think the criticism of Pellegrini is harsh given this is his first season at City and in the PL?

He's won a trophy and he can still win the league. A potential double in his first season with unfamiliar surroundings. The football is more pleasing to the eye, IMO, and the players look like they want to play for the manager.

Even the best make mistakes. Ferguson was still doing it in his latter days, Mourinho does it, even Guardiola does it (albeit rarely). Let Pellegrini get this first season under his belt and then he can be rightly judged on his merits as Manchester City manager come the end of next season, which by then he will have "bedded in", got rid of deadwood, brought in players to fill the obvious gaps in quality and, more importantly, had a full season to implement his style with the squad he wants. If he fails next season, it would be understandable to "get the knives out", so to speak.

Which part of 'he will be given another season and if he fails to deliver either the Premiership or the Champions league he will be gone and rightly so' do you not understand?
Pellegrini has a much stronger squad at his disposal than the last manager.
I don't think he has got the best from them, and has made costly errors at key stages in games.
I just don't think he's good enough, it's as simple as that.
If he wins the Premiership, the Champions League and Britain's Got Talent next year, then I will be proved wrong, but I have the horrible feeling that I won't.

spot on but far too sensible for some on here. denial is a strange thing.

 

[Exeter Blue I am here]

This place is gonna be a foam fest later, and probably not surprisingly. Shocking, shocking performance from the team tonight. Nasri slowed everything down to a snail's pace, Milner showed exactly why Pellers prefers Navas, Aguero plainly wasn't fit, and the lack of pace and urgency all over the pitch was chronic. Oh and Hart beaten at his near post by a shot that should never have gone in, yet again.
There's some serious work needs doing in the summer, cos regardless of the disappointment of the weekend there was no excuse for that. Very similar to Newcastle away in the Carling Cup. Take Silva out of the equation and there's zero spark and zero creativity. Our luck in losing Silva, Ya Ya and Navas at a stroke was as cruel as it was when we lost Kun and Ferna for the Chelsea game, but the sheer cluelessness that resulted was still inexplicable. The myth of our squad depth has never been more ruthlessly exposed.

 

[RandomJ]

Tonight shows you he isn't the man to take this club onto greatness. The players don't need a manager who will be their best friend and never criticise them as they start to take the piss like tonight. You need a manager who has been there and done it and won all there is to win. You need a winner who will instil that winning mentality onto the players so they don't get complacent, so they don't put in half arsed performances so they go out there and play at 100% all the time. Pellegrini is just a laid back yes man who will never be able to make the step up to the top level of management. Our squad is wasted on him and we shouldn't waste any more money giving him another transfer window to be the nearly man yet again.