My view on the cabal is that they fall into two categories:
1. We all make shit calls in life. I know I've made plenty. After watching his debut in a friendly at Burnley I thought Lee Bradbury was going to be a great signing. How boring would life be if we were perpetually scared of predicting something wrong? There were many reasons to doubt Mancini. I must confess after Chelsea away last season I was starting to doubt my own position. As a fan it's sometimes difficult to take a long term strategic view when you yearn so much for the best for your football club. I think on current evidence that the cabal were wrong. There's no shame in that. Being wrong is a natural consequence of having opinions. In all fairness to Billy and PB they have both acknowledged that to some extent. It takes a big man to do that, especially when the stakes are so high.
2. The second category is those who use several differing modus operandi to avoid category one.
There are those that no longer post on Bluemoon. One poster who I had a little friction with last posted on May 10th, four days before the cup final, even though he has visited the site repeatedly since. I think we can all agree what his motivation was.
There are those that, for whatever reason, just dislike Mancini. I have the type of personality that divides opinion and most certainly some people take an instant dislike to me which endures, so I can fully appreciate that he's not going to be everyone's cup of tea. I just wish people that fall into this category would admit it a little more readily.
And then there are those that are too insecure to admit they might have been wrong. Too lacking in self belief to hold their hands up and say - "you know what? on this occasion I made the wrong call".
Like I say - no shame in being wrong. Just plenty in hedging your bets just so you can maybe declare sometime down the line: "I told you so".