Ferran Soriano & Txiki Begiristain

[phil31]

Please don't bring me into this abortion of a thread.

I'm sitting back and enjoying it.

And just to be clear, I'm not laughing at anyone who questions Pellegrini. In laughing at the numpties questioning our club's two Spanish executives, essentially because we were so-so at Cardiff and crap against Hull. The equivalent of someone having a dodgy burger and insisting that beef should be removed from the food chain.

I remember someone calling them a pair of idiots if they never went for Mourinho
Who was that?

It was me, although that's certainly not exactly what i said. And if Pellegrini is a failure then it's an opinion I will reiterate.

But to start calling him a failure so early into the job and with the circumstances as they are is, of course, the real idiocy.

And anyone who believes now, after all that happened last season, all that went on behind the scenes and all that has come out since May, that Mancini didn't deserve to be sacked, is not living in the real world and has no idea about the sport of football.

Even if Pellegrini fails, and of course he might, then that doesn't mean sacking Mancini was wrong. It means we appointed the wrong replacement.

Aguero said no one had any problems with Mancini - he said that since May. So what really happened behind the scenes.
Mancini fell out with Kompany Hart.
Kompany fell out with Mancini because Mancini didn't want him playing for Belgium after being out with an injury?
I call that one in Mancini's favour. Kompany didn't like what Mancini said so angled for a move to Barca. But god forbid we lose our ever present loyal captain marvel.
Hart fell foul of Mancini after Southampton when guess what, Hart let the ball through his leg in a crunch game.
The players are soft arses who are here for the dosh.
I want Pellegrini to succeed but I think the players just wont gel together for one reason or another.

 

[Skashion]

I'd respect them for turning down Mourinho if they did, which I don't think they did do, I don't think they even went to him after rejecting him for the Barcelona job. It'd demonstrate they are committed to the principles of Holism.

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

the principles of Holism.

Timothy Claypole adheres to the principles of Holism.

 

[Skashion]

the principles of Holism.

Timothy Claypole adheres to the principles of Holism.

Potential replacement for Moonchester, or Moonbeam?

 

[St Helens Blue (Exiled)]

Can I point out that Mancini never won a league game at the Britannia?

However for Pellegrini, three games into his inaugural league campaign it's become a must win. It's the kind of comment if you read it in the Sun you'd laugh hysterically at it's ridiculous nature.

Anyway as many of the sane posters have pointed out. Our owners are anything but knee jerk and Pellegrini/Txiki/Ferran will all be given plenty of time and space to do their jobs.

Of course it is a must win if we have appointed the correct guy to take us forward holistically...:-)

 

[BobKowalski]

Can I point out that Mancini never won a league game at the Britannia?

However for Pellegrini, three games into his inaugural league campaign it's become a must win...

Context dear boy...

And yes its a must win. So is Moyes next game. And AVB's and Wenger's and Mourinho's.

At the top end every game is pretty much a 'must win'. Mancini set a benchmark in the PL that Pellers has to at least match and preferably beat. Last two seasons Mancini lost 10 games* in total in the PL. Its a tough ask to do better but the squad has been improved so its doable and if Pellers does better than Mancini - if only by converting some draws into wins - then there is an excellent chance the title will be ours.

But winning or not winning at Stoke will not make or break our season. But losing at Stoke and making it 2 losses out of 4 games is a potential title breaker both for the mood inside and outside the camp. Title winners do not lose half of their opening 4 games. 1 you can get away with it if you put a decent run together straight after but lose again and people will stop taking us seriously.

So Stoke really is more of a 'must not lose at any cost'. We then have the derby at home and with Moyes in their dugout I can see us winning that. Win that and get on a run of 8 to 10 games of positive results and decent performances (not necessarily great but decent) and everything will look very different.

We have been here before though. Prior to Mancini actually winning anything there was plenty of doom to go around. The 0-0 against Birmingham which followed the just as drab derby was played against a background of booing. The 3-0 loss to Liverpool days before that FA Cup SF. I couldn't find anyone who thought we would win after Liverpool. I took to consoling myself with the full boxset of the West Wing after Liverpool - no news or football talk after that. I'd pretty much given up hope. And yet look what happened. Mancini stuck to his guns and delivered and Pellers has to do the same. We are in the big boys league now and have been for a while so yes Stoke is a must win/must not lose game but then every bloody game is and that ain't going to change no matter who the manager is.

Besides we can't lose against Mark fucking Hughes. The thought of his shit eating smug grin if he did beat us is too nauseating to even contemplate.

* We lost 11 games if you count Norwich but as he wasn't there I'm letting Bobby off that one.

 

[TGR]

the principles of Holism.

Timothy Claypole adheres to the principles of Holism.

Potential replacement for Moonchester, or Moonbeam?

He is obviously Spanish - no se?

 

[Skashion]

He is obviously Spanish - no se?

Quite possibly, he's wearing Catalonian national colours. It's basically the Barcelona away shirt:

 

[TGR]

Please don't bring me into this abortion of a thread.

I'm sitting back and enjoying it.

And just to be clear, I'm not laughing at anyone who questions Pellegrini. In laughing at the numpties questioning our club's two Spanish executives, essentially because we were so-so at Cardiff and crap against Hull. The equivalent of someone having a dodgy burger and insisting that beef should be removed from the food chain.

I remember someone calling them a pair of idiots if they never went for Mourinho
Who was that?

It was me, although that's certainly not exactly what i said. And if Pellegrini is a failure then it's an opinion I will reiterate.

But to start calling him a failure so early into the job and with the circumstances as they are is, of course, the real idiocy.

And anyone who believes now, after all that happened last season, all that went on behind the scenes and all that has come out since May, that Mancini didn't deserve to be sacked, is not living in the real world and has no idea about the sport of football.

Even if Pellegrini fails, and of course he might, then that doesn't mean sacking Mancini was wrong. It means we appointed the wrong replacement.

 

[daztrueblue91]

I remember someone calling them a pair of idiots if they never went for Mourinho
Who was that?

It was me, although that's certainly not exactly what i said. And if Pellegrini is a failure then it's an opinion I will reiterate.

But to start calling him a failure so early into the job and with the circumstances as they are is, of course, the real idiocy.

And anyone who believes now, after all that happened last season, all that went on behind the scenes and all that has come out since May, that Mancini didn't deserve to be sacked, is not living in the real world and has no idea about the sport of football.

Even if Pellegrini fails, and of course he might, then that doesn't mean sacking Mancini was wrong. It means we appointed the wrong replacement.

I don't think anyone is suggesting Pellegrini should be sacked after three games, but the early signs aren't great. If the two amigos had the chance to appoint Mourinho, but choose to appoint Pellegrini instead, then that's a decision which could haunt us for years to come and one which they should be held accountable for if Pellegrini fails.

Mourinho would have been a great appointment in the short term. He would have come in, done things his way, won a few titles but left us in a mess when he left. We are trying to put down the blueprint for the future and I expect our future managers to all have a similar footballing approach to Pellers.

Barcelona are a good example of a team who chooses their manager based on their footballing principles. You would never see Barca appoint an anti-football coach. Guardiola, Tito and Martino all seem to have a similar approach to football and by appointing similar managers it keep the stability at the club despite managerial change. A team who does this very well and it doesn't get recognised is Swansea. They have changed their managers a number of times from Martinez, Souza, Rodgers to Laudrup but have kept their style of football. They have remained competitive and play cracking football.

I believe this is what we are trying to emulate. It's Pellegrini's job to keep us competitive while changing the philosophy of our team. We were never going to dominate the league from the word go like some fans expected. Pellegrini has a huge task on his hands to get us playing his style of football and it will take time. The main thing is we pick up enough points to stay in the title race because when we do click under Pellers we will be unstoppable.