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

[FantasyIreland]

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.

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.

 

[troadie]

Best thing is not to give your word to the player in the first place, then it's not a problem.

As it happened, it worked out.

Spot on. Outfield players don't get promises like this so why should goalkeepers? The team should be picked on form and willy had a stinker at Chelsea. It all worked out well this time and as Pellegrini had given his word then respect to him for not breaking it and it's fantastic to be winners at wembley again.

 

[bondsman]

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.

I agree with this. Easy to laud MP when we have won but at KO yesterday 99% of us at the game were furious that the best 11 hadn't started.

 

[Shirley]

As I understand it, it was a decision made at the beginning of the season by Pellegrini probably along with his staff.
Nothing to do with promises, he made the decision and didn't want to change his mind.

 

[dennishasdoneit]

That's why we need to stick together and have faith. For me supporting City has always been about swimming against the tide. I'm gutted Manuel is leaving. He is perfect for City but I'm sure he feels Pep can continue to help the club grow. He takes so much crap in press conferences and at games and on these forums. I hope he wins 2 more trophies with us. People call him stubborn, boring and tactically clueless. For stubborn try confident. For boring try calm. For tactically clueless try 100% steadfast in his beliefs.

spot on.

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

99% of us at the game were furious that the best 11 hadn't started.

99% were 'furious'? Really?

 

[Marvin]

Everything I love about this beloved club of mine encapsulated in one sentence. Knowing Pellegrini as I think I do, he would probably have said that had we lost the game too. Full respect.

That post-match comment was something he had thought about. I think he might have been stung a bit by the criticism he was getting.

 

[markbmcfc]

Just won the cup and people are still criticising decisions from the manager. A sad sign of the times.

 

[pee dubya]

I totally agree with Pellegrini on this. For me football is about more than trophies. Trophies in themselves have little meaning to me, it's the personal and collective success and achievement that go with it that i identify with. I loved winning this cup, we've take so much shit this season, so has Caballero and Pellegrini, they came good, It's amazing to watch and i have so much empathy with them. I love the thought of Willy Caballero thinking back on this moment in 30 years time, with pride and happiness. Other people will disagree and that's fine, no-one has to like football for the same reasons, one of the great things about teh game is it's depth and all the different threads that make it what it is.

I genuinely don't think i'd be half as emotional if it had been Hart saving the penalties, much as i appreciate what he's done and were he's came from, he has little to prove in this competition.

 

[quiet_riot]

Although at times he's shown himself to be a very average manager, that sentence makes him an above-average person.