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

[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.

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.

That's what I meant mate, obviously players coming to end of contract aren't an issue but we are going to have to take some big hits if we want to clear the decks. With this nonsense FFP we can't afford to just freeze players out of the squad and have them sat on their arse.

If we can get shut then I'd be looking to move on....

Balo
Dzeko
Kolo
Lescott
Garcia
Sinclair
Maicon
Kolarov

Not going to be easy, or quick...

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

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.

I thought about those two quite carefully. Clichy is already pretty good and doesn't need much development to be world-class in my view. He's not too old.

Nasri could be an exceptional player and I think he's already benefitted from working under Mancini. A lot might depend on his desire to take that final step up to being a consistently top-class player.

 

[BoyBlue_1985]

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.

I think most would agree you can lose 25 players without feeling it really te problem we have at the moment is that while we may have some cracking youth players and from what I have heard we do they just seem to never get the chance under Mancini, with Soriano and txiki I think this may play a part in there decision like it did when they interviewed Morinho. I also think its fairly obvious we will have to lay out around £80 million in the summer I we can recoup about £50 million I would expect more outlay as well.

As the season stands today we have not been in form once and teams are learning how to keep us at bay. It's getting harder and harder to see us retain the title and with te debacle of last summer and this fairly poor season so far I expect some people may be fearing for their job.

 

[Danamy]

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.

This is correct and when you break the squad down like that it just shows how much we're under performing at present.

You couldn't list six world class players for the Rags and they're seven points clear.

It's all down to the mentality of the squad, something we're severely lacking at the moment.

 

[BlueAnorak]

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.

Good post PB. Some considerations:
YaYa - Latterly he was a Barca squad player. Having seen his performances this season I can see why. e.g. He doesn't track back against the lesser teams.
Silva - great ball player. But useless at shooting.
Nasri - I have only seen him play 3 good games for us. For a so called class AM I haven't seen much class.
Barry - A good squad player. World class? No.
Milner - A good squad player in the same mold as Barry. World class - No.
Zaba - Gives us his all but a good attacking player? No. A good defensive stopper.

 

[carlos tevez is a blue]

The 3 questions I have to ask of Mancini are, Can you improve the team, reduce the age and reduce the wage bill all at the same time?

I'd imagine the top 2 targets would be Pepe and Jose then perhaps some famous managers such as Klopp, Capello, Anchelotti and Rafa the gaffa, Mourinho would want a gazillions, Klopp won't leave Dortmund, Mancini's better than Capello, Anchelotti and the fat Spanish waiter.


I'd love to see Zeman(Roma boss.) with this squad and the money but Pep seems the safer option.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

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.

This is correct and when you break the squad down like that it just shows how much we're under performing at present.

You couldn't list six world class players for the Rags and they're seven points clear.

It's all down to the mentality of the squad, something we're severely lacking at the moment.

If that is the new guy's philosophy the he must look at our summer signings in absolute horror. What the fuck were we thinking of signing the likes of Roswell, Sinclair, Macon and Garcia? I agree with your assessment of the squad too. It's the best in the league and the fact that we appear to have gifted ferguson his last hurrah when we should have finished the **** off pisses me right off. We have gone backwards when we should have been turning the screw. Have shown once again that we are a Ferrari driven by excited teenagers.

I believe we have at lat got the right leadership at the top of the club. All we need now is a world class manager. This guy is not that and never will be.

 

[jaden19]

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.

I thought about those two quite carefully. Clichy is already pretty good and doesn't need much development to be world-class in my view. He's not too old.

Nasri could be an exceptional player and I think he's already benefitted from working under Mancini. A lot might depend on his desire to take that final step up to being a consistently top-class player.

Nasri is not good enough. Where have you been?

He can't carry a team and only plays well when the team is playing well. I am not confident with him in the side without Silva.

I really wished we signed Mata instead. He can carry a team imo and is better than Nasri.

 

[ManCityFC]

The problems I see now were all created in the summer.

You don't let good players go unless you know you've got something better to replace them with. Given the clubs ambition and financial bedrock, that shouldn't be too much to expect. Bringing in Sinclair, Rodwell, Maicon and Nasty was largely a big mistake when De Jong and Johnson headed out the door. We miss De Jong's legendary consistency and the way he used to allow Yaya to move forward. Now Yaya is working as a DM and doesn't run at anyone - which is frustrating him. No replacement for Johnson means you don't have that wide game changer that can run at people with pace and spray balls into the box. He sold his Plan B's and didn't replace them basically. Also, given the clubs ambition and the fact that to progress you need to buy players that offer more, show me one of those players he bought that would get into the Barca or Madrid team. Surely of you want to compete at the top, you need to add improvements, not replace good with bad? So if you're not buying players that will improve you then you're standing still or going backwards. Mancini should have known that. Only dead fish go with the flow.

There are a few other things that have frustrated me too. Dzeko for instance. He was playing this role of coming off the bench and being the match winner, which is a terrific thing to have in your Arsenal. Dzeko then has a moan in the media that he wants starts and Mancini gives him starts. He doesn't score (predictably) but persists in giving him starts until eventually now he can't score goals at all, as his confidence is low. Terrific move. Why are players dictating their position in our squad?

Balloteli is another weird situation. He's an idiot but Mancini claims he likes him and he will mature. He's worse now than ever. Sueing the club for his own mistakes and now we have a 180k a week player at home watching TV. Last season it was Tevez that did this after he got frustrated with Mancini and his bizarre substitutions.

At the beginning of the season Mancini decided he wanted to play 3 at the back, despite having just won the league with the best defensive record. Why alter that? He's so eager to progress some things, but seems to choose the most dangerous areas to improve, and most times he'd be better going with the philosophy of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'. Changing that way of playing really got us off to a slow start, and it seemed to knock everybody's confidence when we looked very mediocre. Surely if you've got a great defence you leave it alone, but Mancini not only changes it for every game, but he alters the whole system. Crackers.

All season we have been playing at this very slow pace. The amazing pace and one touch stuff has stopped. That's what won us the league last year. It seems he's trained it out of them but then he's in the media saying we would bring it back. Well I'm confused. In my seat we are all pulling our hair out with the lack of pace and the lack of ambition of our strikers. Silva is crabbing left to right, right to left all the time and nobody wants to take responsibility for having a shot. It's more getting that ridiculous that everyone in the crowd are shouting 'SHOOT' out of frustration and the only players to react are the DM's and full backs.

I like Mancini, he's a great guy, but he really is testing everybody's patience and probably the boards too. His bizarre idiosyncratic and eccentric behaviour is loveable when things are going well, but at the moment it's more of a hindrance than a help.

 

[curleywurley]

No point in sacking Mancini at this stage of the season the title is still up for grabs and a long way from being over. Our strikers are all in poor form at the moment and will come good again .I think RM will probably offload Mario in Jan to AC Milan and sign De Rossi to assist yaya in midfield and to cover when he's away for the ACN. I don't think the owners will sack him in the summer if we win nothing either Chelsea and Scum have the odd baron season it's football, plus they wouldn't have given him a 5 year deal either.