Gary Linekers NOTW On City's Win

[inbetween]

IT WAS a magnificent day for Roberto Mancini and Manchester City.

But, frankly, beating Chelsea doesn't change a thing.

City are in joint second place this morning before Manchester United play Bolton. Yet a place in the top four at the end of September doesn't mean anything.

They have got to be in the same position at the end of the season for Mancini to keep his job.

They were on the edge of the top four when Mark Hughes was sacked and if they had kept him they probably would have made it.

Sparky had started to edge out the bad guys, the team was coming together and they had lost only one League game. It was ludicrous.

The new manager came in, you had the usual spurt, then it petered out towards the end.

They made their big mistake with the loss of Hughes. He is a very sensible head and commands a certain amount of respect with his presence.

He wasn't taking any nonsense from a few of the players and was easing them out.

He was getting the players he wanted. I don't think he would have gone into the summer and bought another six, seven, eight players.

Mark would probably have spotted just a couple of areas where they needed to strengthen. That might have prevented some of the problems they now have with this huge squad.

Yesterday's win against Chelsea - a very disappointing Chelsea, I have to say - certainly takes some of the pressure off Mancini.

I come back to the fact Mancini cannot afford to allow this to be a one-off. City have to build on it.

They played with greater spirit than I have seen before.

There was a togetherness, when previously Manchester City had looked like a bunch of individuals.

They also played with a bit of passion. Vincent Kompany was excellent. He was played in midfield for a long while but he looks much better at centre-half.

Carlos Tevez worked very hard and got the goal. He made something out of nothing, which is what you need in tight games like that. It was a terrific effort.

James Milner, Gareth Barry, Nigel de Jong, Yaya Toure - I thought they all did well.

They really stifled Chelsea's midfield.

Maybe City played so well because it was a big game and in front of their home crowd.

The bigger tests for them are going to be away from home.

They always have a big crowd behind them at Eastlands and you expect them to do well there.

They are yet to show that they can do it consistently on their travels. Dressing rooms are happy places when you are winning. Even if you are losing but you have good pros, they will keep on playing.

But if you are disliked by a lot of players and it starts to go wrong, it accelerates the process. I'm not saying Mancini is not liked by all his players.

It may just be the ones who are not being picked. I still think he has a big job on his hands keeping such a large squad of players happy.

And my opinion remains that City's owners made a big mistake sacking Hughes. If the manager had been hopeless and they were mid-table, not looking like they were going anywhere, fair enough - get rid of him and get someone good.

They had someone good but they did not realise it. The owners have set themselves a dangerous precedent by sacking Hughes.

The Champions League is a tough competition to reach.

It's not a given they are going to make it, even with the squad they have. Do they have a better squad, better players than Tottenham? I'm not sure. Out of the half dozen players they have brought in, the chances are only half will be a success.

In many ways, yesterday's result, good as it was, was just the minimum requirement. Come November or December, if they are not in and around that area, Mancini will be on the rack again.

But at least beating the champions so well relieves a bit of the pressure and will allow him to concentrate on his job. For a while, at least.

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[moomba]

Another "I love the former manager, therefore I hate his replacement" piece.

 

[Chris in London]

Lineker and Hughes are, as I understand it, mates from the days they played together for barca in the 80s.

Lineker is unlikely to have come out and said 'I knew Sparky had to go, he was shite'.

One for the 'ignore completely' pile, I think.

 

[Matty]

Because Lineker has been watching City intently throughout Hughes' reign and is best placed to comment on Hughes' departure, far more so than our own board clearly.

Jug eared twat.

 

[BobKowalski]

Lineker and Hughes are, as I understand it, mates from the days they played together for barca in the 80s.

Lineker is unlikely to have come out and said 'I knew Sparky had to go, he was shite'.

Well Barca did so you think Lineker would be used to it.

But like Oliver Holt they still need time to grieve over Hughsie so no point in getting worked up over it.

 

[pee dubya]

Just a re-hash of the lazy MOTD 'analysis'

 

[Balti]

lol - spot Hughesy's mate!

Selective memory methinks.

Meanwhile Hughes has led Fulham to the most draws of any team in the league.

Sound familiar?

 

[dannybcity]

That reads like it's been written by a man who is very disappointed we didn't get beat yesterday.

 

[Dave Ewing's Back 'eader]

The cholesterol-peddling, jug-eared know-nowt needs to get his kid's A-levels sorted out first before he starts giving it out about our prospects. I used to like Lineker but any admiration has evaporated over the last couple of seasons.

 

[Stillsy]

my dad came in to me this morning and said read this by linekar.

so i started reading and i got up to the bit where it said hughes would have got top 4 with us last year for deffo then i lobbed it across the room.