TonyM said:
I believe that 2nd was more to do with Mancini not being able to get the most from his players against average opposition than to do with any lack of signings.
Sheik Mansour would not have let Mancini go if he had faith in him. Obviously he trusts Soriano more. Mancini should show some respect to the man who filled his bank account beyond his wildest dreams.
Mancini's yapping to the media is only showing himself up.
Both sides of this argument are right - Mancini didn't do well enough with the players or address the concerns over his relationship or style of football. This meant the balance of power lay with the Spaniards - to leave him in charge having finished second would have been a tacit admission to their failure last summer. Trust me, I want Pelle to succeed, he is a cracking coach and we will see some good football.... it's just a bit bizarre that people are swallowing his targets as being lower than Mancini's failure. I think it's remarkable that the Spaniards have disassembled so much, the top brass might be a bit uncomfortable, as Txiki and co have now missed two key transfer targets that seemed nailed on (sure, there are reasons, there always are), in addition to failing to secure Pep (their primary target). They look a bit wobbly. I like how they talk but I can't see anything really amazing about what they have done - remember that they were saying the days of a squad of 20m players was not the way to go, it should be 10m players supporting megastars. So they are selling 10m players and buying non-star players for 20m+... hmm...
And the point about them being 27/28 is not that such players are over the hill, it's that they have minimal resale value in 3 years time. It's fair to say that FFP is around for the long turn, and these economics might curtail our spending when a real mega-star might be available to us.
Fernandinho looks a cracking player but was expensive. There must be concerns about spending that much on a player who hasn't proved himself in a major league.
Negredo, good player, should be a good fit. But you can throw the fact that we sold Balotelli and Tevez for less than he and Osvaldo would cost. They have a lower mean age and higher outright quality.
Having said that it is vital to remember it's about the mix of skills and characters. I would much rather cheer on a cheap, smartly engineered squad than one at which money has been thrown. The proof will be in the pudding... at the same time, my analytical mind is saying that strategy (usually the best long term strategy is buy young, and outright quality performs regardless of mix) clearly trumps tactics (implying prioritising short termism, counting pennies and prioritising this year's team performance) over time. Really all that matters is making sense out of things - like, Rodwell and Garcia were poor purchases in context - neither would ever be the magic bullet, you can't play more than one at a time, and now that money is gone.
Mancini might be unpleasantly bitter but he might be right to some extent. I hope there is more to this summer than meets the eye.
Truth maybe that we have to overpay to get the targets. There might be a long term game here, walking away is a powerful move, but it's undermined wholly when we make other mistakes. My advice to the brass - don't worry about what other's think of you - Win, and you become powerful and feared. When you are feared, other clubs walk away from your targets. I think we are feared a lot less in the market now, than since the takeover happened. I feel we have lost momentum, and I'd take some convincing that this is not the case.
