Is now the time to consider Mancini's tenure at the club

[Rammy Blue]

The overriding question is this:

Has Mancini earned the right to turn this round, based on what he has delivered before?

The answer surely has to be yes.

I'd agree with the caveat that he won't get any more than a few games to sort this - might not result in him getting bullet before end of the season however I'd be surprised if Soriano isn't/hasn't already put the feelers out, I'm pretty sure Pep will be an easy enough phone call to have made.....

 

[Len Rum]

To all those who want him gone now, instead of just mouthing off 'get rid, get rid etc.' let's hear your plans for what you would do between now and the end of the season which is realistically the earliest opportunity to bring in a new manager.
Then when you've thought about it you might realise that at least giving him a chance to the end of the season is not just about being sentimental, it's the best footballing decision for the club.

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

The 'we won the league' line is bullshit, the strength of the team pulled him through.

I don't actually think the squad is that good. We over performed last season - and are performing at the level the players are actually at this season. It needs 4 very good players to take us to a level to compete in Europe - especially in midfield and on the flanks.

Soriano and Begiristain have a philosophy that you need 5 or 6 world-class players and the rest need to be good players that can be developed into top-class players (which is what a manager's job is and one Mancini is actually quite good at). They reckon that half the 50 players on our books are surplus to requirements as they will never be first team regulars.

We have Kompany, Silva, Yaya, Tevez & Aguero who can be considered world-class. You could possibly add Hart to that list. So that's the 5 or 6.
We have Nasri, Clichy, Nastasic & Richards who could become world-class. We have Zabaleta, Barry & Milner who may never be world-class but are absolutely solid and reliable team-members who will never let you down.
There's the top-tier of youngsters with Rodwell, Evans, Razak, Rekik & Guidetti on the verge of the first team.

Any first-team squad member not on that list, with the possible exception of Dzeko, can go in my opinion. That's Pantilimon, Kolo, Lescott. Sinclair, Garcia, Suarez, Scapuzzi and possibly Meppen-Walter & Nimely.

 

[Davs 19]

The overriding question is this:

Has Mancini earned the right to turn this round, based on what he has delivered before?

The answer surely has to be yes.

I think he has for most Blues. Brought us silverware for the first time in a generation. If ever a manager deserved some slack....

No manager is untouchable, especially given our owners, but to suggest, as others have, that we have reached the point of no return displays a complete lack of fairness and objectivity for what he achieved last season.

We were eight points behind with six games to go. For that he deserves to the end of this season at the very least.

+1. He certainly deserves to get the chance to see the season out. An under performing start ( still 2nd in the Prem) doesn't outway our first 2 major trophies since '76 and the scintillating stuff we played for large parts of last season IMO. We won't win the league every year, no team does , Champs league performances may well cost him though.

 

[johnny crossan]

The 'we won the league' line is bullshit, the strength of the team pulled him through.

I don't actually think the squad is that good. We over performed last season - and are performing at the level the players are actually at this season. It needs 4 very good players to take us to a level to compete in Europe - especially in midfield and on the flanks.

Soriano and Begiristain have a philosophy that you need 5 or 6 world-class players and the rest need to be good players that can be developed into top-class players (which is what a manager's job is and one Mancini is actually quite good at). They reckon that half the 50 players on our books are surplus to requirements as they will never be first team regulars.

We have Kompany, Silva, Yaya, Tevez & Aguero who can be considered world-class. You could possibly add Hart to that list. So that's the 5 or 6.
We have Nasri, Clichy, Nastasic & Richards who could become world-class. We have Zabaleta, Barry & Milner who may never be world-class but are absolutely solid and reliable team-members who will never let you down.
There's the top-tier of youngsters with Rodwell, Evans, Razak, Rekik & Guidetti on the verge of the first team.

Any first-team squad member not on that list, with the possible exception of Dzeko, can go in my opinion. That's Pantilimon, Kolo, Lescott. Sinclair, Garcia, Suarez, Scapuzzi and possibly Meppen-Walter & Nimely.

sorted!

 

[Rammy Blue]

Any first-team squad member not on that list, with the possible exception of Dzeko, can go in my opinion. That's Pantilimon, Kolo, Lescott. Sinclair, Garcia, Suarez, Scapuzzi and possibly Meppen-Walter & Nimely.

Problem we always face, and will be the test of Soriano/Txiki, is getting rid of said players.

 

[BlueMoonz1977]

We have become too predictable, all teams now set-up the same formation against us, sit back and defend in numbers.

I have no problem with our possession of the ball, but we are guilty of trying to walk the ball into the net. On numerous occassions this season i have screamed for us to test the keeper and shoot but instead our players have opted for the cut-back pass and it fails to produce anything but a clearance, or due to the numbers in the oppositions defence there have been no clear cut shooting opportunities.

We could possibly post any comments into the many different threads on here because we all have noticed the many issues that have occurred since the summer transfer window closed.

In the summer Bobby stated that he had a known list of the main players he wanted - Hazard,RVP and De Rossi. 2 household named players (world class) and one in Hazard who was the best talent in French football.

We did not manage to secure the services of any. Instead opting for other players lower down on someones list. We were all quick to bemoan certain individuals at the club for the failure of transfer window.

I was guilty of commenting that the signings were not what was expected and that they did not make any major improvement on the 1st team. If anything we could argue that we weakened the 1st team squad.

The question I have asked myself now is what direction the club is looking to go with in terms of developing our club and what our next move will be.

2 people are over seeing this, Soriano & Txiki, and it is them who will be forming everything behind the scenes.

The mission statement is to bring through 'YOUTH' players that will be good enough to learn their trade at the new academy but also be able to jump into the 1st team. The days of our club signing 3 world class players in different positions has gone imo.

Txiki will drive the recruitment of players young enough to be bought on a minimal budget and who cannot demand a salary that outweighs what their contribution to the 1st team will be.

We would of course be able to make the one major siging of a player that can transform the squad with immediate effect, someone say like a Neymar, Ronaldo etc. ( Did not put Messi cos i believe he loves Barca too much)
This one major player signing will not only immediately improve the 1st team but also allow the club to generate extra revenue in shirt sales and sponsorship deals. Which wether we like it or not is something the club now has to take into account.

The issue now with Bobby, is that he wanted to bring in these already established players for immediate improvement, which would go against the new philosophy that the club are taking.

It will be a few factors that determine Bobby's position at the club:
1- League form
2- The disastrous champions league campaign
3- The direction the club wants to go in

Come this summer I believe that Txiki will cut the squad numbers to a required level that he believe's will be manageable (bring in maybe 2-3 younger players that can add something to the squad) but will still allow the manager to be able to compete in all competitions.

If Bobby is to be given the opportunity to work this way, I am not too sure. I think that Soriano & Txiki will be looking for the next stage of development and bring in a manager they feel can work alongside the same path that they want our club to go in.

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

Any first-team squad member not on that list, with the possible exception of Dzeko, can go in my opinion. That's Pantilimon, Kolo, Lescott. Sinclair, Garcia, Suarez, Scapuzzi and possibly Meppen-Walter & Nimely.

Problem we always face, and will be the test of Soriano/Txiki, is getting rid of said players.

The players on big wages are the main problem and some of those might have to wait until their contract runs down or we'll have to subsidise some.

 

[bluetrue]

The 'we won the league' line is bullshit, the strength of the team pulled him through.

I don't actually think the squad is that good. We over performed last season - and are performing at the level the players are actually at this season. It needs 4 very good players to take us to a level to compete in Europe - especially in midfield and on the flanks.

Soriano and Begiristain have a philosophy that you need 5 or 6 world-class players and the rest need to be good players that can be developed into top-class players (which is what a manager's job is and one Mancini is actually quite good at). They reckon that half the 50 players on our books are surplus to requirements as they will never be first team regulars.

We have Kompany, Silva, Yaya, Tevez & Aguero who can be considered world-class. You could possibly add Hart to that list. So that's the 5 or 6.
We have Nasri, Clichy, Nastasic & Richards who could become world-class. We have Zabaleta, Barry & Milner who may never be world-class but are absolutely solid and reliable team-members who will never let you down.
There's the top-tier of youngsters with Rodwell, Evans, Razak, Rekik & Guidetti on the verge of the first team.

Any first-team squad member not on that list, with the possible exception of Dzeko, can go in my opinion. That's Pantilimon, Kolo, Lescott. Sinclair, Garcia, Suarez, Scapuzzi and possibly Meppen-Walter & Nimely.

Agree with all that apart from the bit about Clichy and Nasri. At 27 and 25 I think if they were going to be world-class they already would be. Clichy isn't and won't ever be a world-class player. Nasri is too inconsistent to ever be either.

 

[jollylescott]

I don't actually think the squad is that good. We over performed last season - and are performing at the level the players are actually at this season. It needs 4 very good players to take us to a level to compete in Europe - especially in midfield and on the flanks.

Soriano and Begiristain have a philosophy that you need 5 or 6 world-class players and the rest need to be good players that can be developed into top-class players (which is what a manager's job is and one Mancini is actually quite good at). They reckon that half the 50 players on our books are surplus to requirements as they will never be first team regulars.

We have Kompany, Silva, Yaya, Tevez & Aguero who can be considered world-class. You could possibly add Hart to that list. So that's the 5 or 6.
We have Nasri, Clichy, Nastasic & Richards who could become world-class. We have Zabaleta, Barry & Milner who may never be world-class but are absolutely solid and reliable team-members who will never let you down.
There's the top-tier of youngsters with Rodwell, Evans, Razak, Rekik & Guidetti on the verge of the first team.

Any first-team squad member not on that list, with the possible exception of Dzeko, can go in my opinion. That's Pantilimon, Kolo, Lescott. Sinclair, Garcia, Suarez, Scapuzzi and possibly Meppen-Walter & Nimely.

sorted!

I agree generally with the list, but don't think that you should have Denis Suarez on the out list.