Given Questions Mancini's Man-Management

[jay_mcfc]

Prestwich, I understand your (and Dunphy's) point but it's not exactly relevant to Given for whom it was abundantly clear that he would not get his first team place back but was still required by City as a reserve.

You clearly don't understand the point. I can't remember the exact timing of his injury but iirc he wasn't available until some games into the season. At that point he would have known he had a fight on his hands but Mancini should have said something like "Look Shay, I can only play one keeper and I've no intention of rotating. If I play Joe then you're not happy and if I play you then Joe's not happy. It's a hard decision but I'd want to keep faith with Joe for the moment as he's young and could be at the club for many more years whereas your shelf life is shorter. If he starts to struggle then you're back in but if he plays like he has been then you'll only get back in if he gets injured. Personally I'd love you to stay here but I appreciate you're an experienced international and used to first team football but I'd like you to stay for the rest of the season. If there's no change by then we'll respect your wishes if you want to leave to secure regular games and won't stand in your way."

Then Given goes away and thinks "Top bloke. Been honest and up-front with me." And when a reporter asks him about it he says "Of course i wasn't happy about losing my place but the manager handled it very well, talked to me about it and I knew where I stood. I couldn't ask for more than that."

Or to put it into a more personal context. You and a colleague apply for a job. The manager interviws you both and says he'll make a decision next day. What would your feelings be in each of the following scenarios:

1) In the morning, your manager calls you in and tells you that he's giving the job to your colleague because he's more experienced and he doesn't quite feel you're ready yet. However he is happy to work with you to make sure you get the experience and training you need so that if a similar position arises in future.

2) The first you hear is when an e-mail goes round from your manager or HR announcing that your colleague has got the job.

3) Your colleague comes over to speak to you to tell you you're working for him now and he's needs to discuss how you work together going forward.

In all of them the outcome has been the same but I would suspect you'd be mightily more pissed off in (3) than in (1).

Or we can just worry about the situation we are in now with the players we have rather than giving a rats arse what ex-players think? The one thing Given, Bellamy, Robinho, Ireland etc all have in common is that mancini didn't want them and has shipped them out. A decision that is backed up by a trophy, a champions league place and sitting a goal off top spot in the league.

I think the man-management argument is a bit old now. I don't see any player other than Tevez having a problem and that will be resolved in January.

 

[pedros]

So what did Given say that was so critical of Bobby Manc ?

:That's the way he manages.He distances himself from players.
That's his style.
I am not sure if it's right or wrong."

Hardly worthy of all the condemnation being spouted on here.

 

[Comrade Buka]

Some of you need to wake up and smell the fucking coffee.

No, you need to wake up and look at the league table!

Hear, hear. Jesus, WTF does Mancini have to do to keep some people happy?

Talk to them?

 

[Sam Faecalmatterface]

Your username suggests that your dream is an awful long way away.

I considered Sale Sam but I was worried that it might give people the impression that I am a tedious, unimaginative sphincter of a man.

Whereas your existing user name gives the impression of a 13 year old boy

Interesting because I have just carried out a straw poll amongst a diverse group of 13 year olds and none of them knew who Sam Matterface is and only one knew what faecal matter is. The findings don't back you up Dave.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

Looks like you're a bit brighter than your schoolmates then.

 

[manchesterlalala]

Every manager, regardless of their level of success, will have their own style of management. It will have its strengths and weaknesses, and it will have players who buy into it wholeheartedly and players who feel it isn't the way they would like things done. You can't make everyone happy all the time, especially those players who see their playing time decrease.

There isn't a manager out there who is superb at man management, superb at tactical awareness, superb at player aquisition, superb at in-game changes/amendments etc etc etc, everyone will have areas of expertise and areas where they aren't quite as strong. Mancini, maybe, isn't as strong at man-management as some, but he's obviously very strong in other areas as his record would attest.

From a personal perspective, although I can see how the likes of Given might have been frustrated by Mancini's style, I'd rather have a manager who was tactically aware etc and was getting the right results on the pitch whilst occasionally rubbing some players up the wrong way than someone who the players all loved but couldn't get it done on the pitch.

Sven.

Both for England and us. Famously very popular amongst his players, but a bit of a lightweight when it came to the role's more substantive duties.

 

[Neville Kneville]

It's pretty obvious that Mancini doesn't go a bundle on 'man management'. AJ said when asked last week that he didn't even say 'well done' for his goal etc & that he doesn't usually.

If we turn to shit, we can point to that as something that could be improved & perhaps he needs to work on it. If we're progressing steadlily & continue to do so, who gives a flying fuck ?

 

[LittleStan]

I like these threads when most people forget the good he has done with Richards, Kompany, De Jong etc. All undoubtedly better players now than when Mancini arrived.

As for Shay, I seem to remember Mancini was quoted as telling him where he was in his plans and explaining that he would understand if he wanted to leave because he needed games.

In a real job a good manager will do the arm around the shoulder stuff and be supportive to everybody because he / she needs to get the best out of them or show that everything has been done to get the best out of them before sacking them

Football management is not a ‘real ‘job, there is no need to spend time keeping somebody happy if they are on the way out of the club. If the manager has access to much better players or players with better attitude then he needs to concentrate effort on them.

Even Didsbury Dave commented that players have said Mancini makes them feel special....but I probably miss read that bit to be honest....

 

[Didsbury Dave]

Even Didsbury Dave commented that players have said Mancini makes them feel special....but I probably miss read that bit to be honest....

You have. I was referring to Brian Clough.

 

[LittleStan]

Even Didsbury Dave commented that players have said Mancini makes them feel special....but I probably miss read that bit to be honest....

You have. I was referring to Brian Clough.

Oh, OK. Agree with you on that one but he also did not suffer fools and managed in a different time.

He also had taylor to get the best players for a certain position, then made them better. He did not make silk purses out of sows ears.