"I would rather lose a tournament than break my word to a player"

[buckshot]

He's not been vindicated at all with his decision imo. He should never be promising players the opportunity to play in cup finals.

He put his relationship with a player in front of the best interests of the club.

Absolutely disgraceful that he has said he would rather lose.

Fair play to Willy he came up trumps in the end. Manuel may be a nice man but his priority should be Manchester City and not Willy.

Exactly. I have no problem with telling a player that he will be chosen *if he performs up to the necessary standard*. Shouldn't there be some accountability? When you're hired for a job it's with certain expectations, when you fail you're replaced. It's not personal, it's the cost of playing at the highest level.

 

[Bluestones]

He should not have made any such promise imo. His job is to win games not convince the world he is a nice guy.

 

[George Hannah]

Very few of us, including myself, supported Pellegrini's decision to start Caballero, but he's been vindicated in a huge way.

It's easy to say with hindsight, and the reaction to that quote would have been very different had we lost, but you have to admire Pellegrini's loyalty, and indeed balls, for making that call.

Very true. I'm afraid a defeat, and especially if Willy had blundered like his opposite number, would have provoked a response of predictable hostility from those of us who disagreed with his decision. I still think he was wrong to promise Willy a berth in the team irrespective of form but I admire his principles.

 

[Bewar3them00n]

integrity is what will differentiate us from teams like Chelsea, United etc.. we have a manager who doesn't berate refs or other managers, a captain who is eloquent, intelligent and a true leader of men, and players who do not dive to win penalties.
I think Pellegrini putting his trust and faith in Willy was not born out of some notion to "do the right thing" but because Willy is actually a decent goalie, easily demonstrated against Liverpool yesterday.
We are too quick to blame, point fingers and gnash teeth, the manager has shown in the last 2 games that he can deliver the goods in very important games, without sacrificing quality.
It makes it even better that this is apparently Willy's first trophy, and was so emotional after the game, giving a match winning performance at Wembley, a place he holds in high regards, because of it's historical legacy.

 

[edinburgh123]

If I sold all my possessions - went to the casino and bet on black at roulette and won I would have double my money. Would that vindicate my decision, or is it only by pure dumb luck I am not destitute? Pelligrini was a prat that got lucky - still a clown for what he did. On the bright side only at City can we make a hero out of a cabbage

 

[Dax777]

Thats the way i feel.And while his statement is all lovely and fluffy,it certainly doesnt have the interests of the group as its intention.Fortunately things could not have worked out better yesterday which has made his statement somewhat untouchable,however,given recent,relevant,evidence.......it could have been very different,,as a decision based on the heart wasnt,imo,the right one.

It wasn't based on the heart, I don't know why people keep saying this. It's a decision made prior to the season. You have 2 goalies, you are able to attract good goalies as backups if you give both goalies competitions to play in.

The #1 goalie takes the more important championship : CL & League. The backup gets the lesser cups: FA and League cup. That's the division.
There are no exceptions for finals. It's your competition.

And sticking to those principles was way more important. Yes, even more so than winning the Cup.

I agree with the statement Pellars made and the principle that underpins it. That's what true greatness is made of.

 

[Dax777]

if we would have lost yesterday I'm sure most would be saying pellers should not have promised willy anything in the first place, but we win so we can say it's great to have a manager who values trust so highly

Well some of us said it before the game, and there are those who's rather have lost the league xup with Willy than win it with Joe.
It's about something bigger than the game. It's about character. It's about principles. And most of all it about having a long-term view rather than a short one. For most who agree with Pellars, it was quite an easy choice. It took some balls for him to not bend to the whims of the media and short-term thinking fans, but really it wasn't much of a decision.

 

[Burtonblue]

Has it occurred to any of us that Willy may be a better keeper than we have given him credit for in the past?
Joe has had the number 1 spot almost by default as he is England's n 1 but in effect whenever Caballero has been called into action (chavs excepted) he has actually been pretty decent.
I like the way he can actually catch a ball and hold onto it and he does dominate his 6 yard box far better than Joe.
Considering the massive pressure he was under yesterday he was magnificent throughout the 120 mins let alone the pens.
Quite a few around me in 502 yesterday thought Pep may look at him favourably when he arrives....
Think Joe may have some competition under Guardiola.

 

[Kazzydeyna]

Rest assured, although a lot of our squad are multi millionaire young(-ish) men, they are still human.

I'm confident the faith the manager showed in one of their colleagues, one of their mates, yesterday and in the build up to yesterday will not have been lost on them and could well pay serious dividends over the next few weeks.

Ask yourself.. As an employee which type of manager would you be most likely to run through brick walls for? One who goes back on his word to you and tells you it is just one of those things, or one who risks heavy criticism and sticks to the promises he has been making to you? Rest assured , if we had lost yesterday Manuel would have been hung,drawn,quartered, and then shot by many many people on here and in the media and, knowing that, he was prepared to still put his faith in a player that most fans and every journalist had decided was "shit". Just imagine that you are a member of our squad this morning. If Manuel tells you something, maybe to play in a certain way, or to adopt a certain attitude are you now more or less likely to have faith in him?

That decision yesterday could well be one that wins us the league this year. And sad to say there are many many on here who will still slate him for it. People were complaining last night and today that we had won a cup with a squad and a team that the manager picked. Complaining because we won a cup!! Complaining! Because our manager proved himself not just a gentleman and a class act but also a better judge of a player in a given circumstance than ANY journalist and ANY pundit and ANY fan. They were more gutted than the murderers amd their tears were extra salty.

I think Manuel won us the league yesterday and for that I am grateful and happy.

 

[Dribble]

I can see how little you care about this Dribble by the 2000 word post you just made on it.

I care about my club end of.

For anyone to say they'd rather lose the chance of silverware so they can keep their word to a player speaks volumes. I'm in an office with 4 Dippers and 4 Rags and all of them to a man have just asked me if Pellegrini seriously came out and said that. I asked them what would they do if their manager came out and said that and they all said they'd want him gone! Other responses were, 'Well what else is a manager there for if not to win matches and silverware?'

The other thing that speaks volumes is that after your strange initial post, you've only got a 70 character/20 word reply in response. Say's it all really, you seriously need to engage your brain before you spout crap aloud on the internet mate. You're seriously out of step on this.