Im wondering just how much truth there is in the rumours stating that Manini is only here till the summer.
If it is true, then that in itself throws up a whole host of problems and answers the question.
Mancini may have felt very confiedent taking on what on paper appeared to be an excellent squad of players. Now they are struggling to perform, maybe he realises that may have been a mistake on his own part, particularly after being able to spend so little in January and the only noteable addition to the squad being a left/right mf, positions that were never really top of our 'urgent buys' list.
So he knows he going, he hasnt got the players he needs to make the impact he was hoping for and it must now be difficult finding any inspiration with performance not going well. Now, our players may be giving us 50% of their capabilities at the moment but if they suspect that Mancini is going and regardless of how they perform, he will not be around much longer to work with them to take the club forward, than all of a sudden we have an almost perfect storm brewing and no chance of any sunshine untill summer brings in the new man.
And these rumours are also rife amongst fans and they too may be feeling that sense of instability concerning RM and that in itself will have a depressing effect on the terraces.
Now this is only my theory if indeed Mancini is only here for 6 months, and in answer to the thread title, in these circumstances there would be very little he could do to lift morale.