Les Chapman - Tales of Blue

Out of Mancini and The gurning underwear washer, one was an egotistical, inept, disloyal, out-of-his-depth, extremely mediocre performer at his stated job role, who despite being handed every single tool to be a success at said job role, just about managed to scrape a ‘passable but could and should do better’ performance.

The other was a perfect manager for 2010‘s City, who dragged a club that had had 35+ years of desperate failure ingrained into its DNA out into the light and laid the very foundations that future managers, including Pep, are still benefiting from today. No Mancini, No Pep. It is as stark as that.

The man is the most important employee this club has had in decades. Possibly ever.

I well remember this forum around the time of his disgraceful sacking. There were a sizeable minority of people who hated Mancini. Genuine loathing that pored from all their posts. Loathing for a man that had turned us into winners after generations of abject, comedic, failure. Mark Hughes was better thought of by some than the man who performed miracles with this club. Mark Hughes.

I’ve always believed some hated him because he took away their sense of moral superiority gained from supporting “the anti-United club” when he turned a club who’s entire season, year after year, rested on getting a draw against United, into the club we see before us today.

No Mancini, no first fa cup and first title. No first title/fa cup, and the narrative would’ve been set for years. “All the gear, no Idea. Money cannot buy success“ etc etc. If you dont believe me think back to the fa cup semi final against them. A deferential, insecure City would have been steamrollered that day. That’s what we had under Hughes, and to a lesser extent have today when we play in Europe KO stages, or against a domestic giant like untied or Liverpool. Mancinis City were unafraid and bold, as the manager had them believing they deserved to be there. And the rest is history.

The most important manager we have ever had, it really is as simple as that.

Fuck Chapman. The ****.
 
Kazzydeyna said:
Out of Mancini and The gurning underwear washer, one was an egotistical, inept, disloyal, out-of-his-depth, extremely mediocre performer at his stated job role, who despite being handed every single tool to be a success at said job role, just about managed to scrape a ‘passable but could and should do better’ performance.

The other was a perfect manager for 2010‘s City, who dragged a club that had had 35+ years of desperate failure ingrained into its DNA out into the light and laid the very foundations that future managers, including Pep, are still benefiting from today. No Mancini, No Pep. It is as stark as that.

The man is the most important employee this club has had in decades. Possibly ever.

I well remember this forum around the time of his disgraceful sacking. There were a sizeable minority of people who hated Mancini. Genuine loathing that pored from all their posts. Loathing for a man that had turned us into winners after generations of abject, comedic, failure. Mark Hughes was better thought of by some than the man who performed miracles with this club. Mark Hughes.

I’ve always believed some hated him because he took away their sense of moral superiority gained from supporting “the anti-United club” when he turned a club who’s entire season, year after year, rested on getting a draw against United, into the club we see before us today.

No Mancini, no first fa cup and first title. No first title/fa cup, and the narrative would’ve been set for years. “All the gear, no Idea. Money cannot buy success“ etc etc. If you dont believe me think back to the fa cup semi final against them. A deferential, insecure City would have been steamrollered that day. That’s what we had under Hughes, and to a lesser extent have today when we play in Europe KO stages, or against a domestic giant like untied or Liverpool. Mancinis City were unafraid and bold, as the manager had them believing they deserved to be there. And the rest is history.

The most important manager we have ever had, it really is as simple as that.

Fuck Chapman. The ****.
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Bravo! Take a bow.
Every single word is bang on.
 
PPT said:
We didn't exactly back him to the hilt after the title win either did we?
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We went after who he asked for. He handed his notice in the day after the QPR game and got a new contract, even though the club already knew there was likely to be a showdown over Soriano/Begiristain.

Not sure what else we could have done for him. In hindsight it would have been better to accept his notice, thank him for his service and move on.
 
Kazzydeyna said:
Out of Mancini and The gurning underwear washer, one was an egotistical, inept, disloyal, out-of-his-depth, extremely mediocre performer at his stated job role, who despite being handed every single tool to be a success at said job role, just about managed to scrape a ‘passable but could and should do better’ performance.

The other was a perfect manager for 2010‘s City, who dragged a club that had had 35+ years of desperate failure ingrained into its DNA out into the light and laid the very foundations that future managers, including Pep, are still benefiting from today. No Mancini, No Pep. It is as stark as that.

The man is the most important employee this club has had in decades. Possibly ever.

I well remember this forum around the time of his disgraceful sacking. There were a sizeable minority of people who hated Mancini. Genuine loathing that pored from all their posts. Loathing for a man that had turned us into winners after generations of abject, comedic, failure. Mark Hughes was better thought of by some than the man who performed miracles with this club. Mark Hughes.

I’ve always believed some hated him because he took away their sense of moral superiority gained from supporting “the anti-United club” when he turned a club who’s entire season, year after year, rested on getting a draw against United, into the club we see before us today.

No Mancini, no first fa cup and first title. No first title/fa cup, and the narrative would’ve been set for years. “All the gear, no Idea. Money cannot buy success“ etc etc. If you dont believe me think back to the fa cup semi final against them. A deferential, insecure City would have been steamrollered that day. That’s what we had under Hughes, and to a lesser extent have today when we play in Europe KO stages, or against a domestic giant like untied or Liverpool. Mancinis City were unafraid and bold, as the manager had them believing they deserved to be there. And the rest is history.

The most important manager we have ever had, it really is as simple as that.

Fuck Chapman. The ****.
Click to expand...
This is the sort of hysterical post that both puzzles and amuses me. Yes, he was certainly an important manager but definitely not the most important in our history. Probably top five though I'll grant you. But he was also a Grade A ****. I don't think anyone imagines he was Mr Sweetness & Light.

And people make it sound like it was a duel to the death between Mancini and Chappie, which involved Chappie ousting Mancini. Mancini's fate didn't rest on not saying good morning to people. The club bent over backward to try to appease him but he was an employee who wouldn't follow his employer's instructions. None of us would last long in a job under those circumstances. His sacking was inevitable, not disgraceful.
 
The blue phantom said:
View attachment 64539
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I reckon maybe he never forgot the reception he got at Ewood Park on the Saturday following the Tevez fall-out. 6,000 Blues in the Darwen Road End belting out his name. A 'hairs on back of neck' moment.
I really don't give a shit if he's a right awkward bastard - he gave us all a great ride while it lasted and for that I for one will be forever grateful.
 
Prestwich_Blue said:
This is the sort of hysterical post that both puzzles and amuses me. Yes, he was certainly an important manager but definitely not the most important in our history. Probably top five though I'll grant you. But he was also a Grade A ****. I don't think anyone imagines he was Mr Sweetness & Light.

And people make it sound like it was a duel to the death between Mancini and Chappie, which involved Chappie ousting Mancini. Mancini's fate didn't rest on not saying good morning to people. The club bent over backward to try to appease him but he was an employee who wouldn't follow his employer's instructions. None of us would last long in a job under those circumstances. His sacking was inevitable, not disgraceful.
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Except without Mancini, nothing that then followed would likely have happened. Pep most certainly would not have come within 1000 miles of City if Mancini hadn’t started the ball rolling so to speak. (With a special mention to another under-appreciated, disgracefully treated manager, Pellers).

We were several years in to the takeover and the knives were well and truly out for the club before the title win “all the cash, no class”, “money can’t buy success” etc. Hughes, a manager so many on here treated like a god despite his being shit, had taken the richest club in the world into a relegation fight and that’s what Mancini walked into. Within two years we were cup and title winners.

Everything that followed grew from that beginning. Just as Andy Morrison, the Goat, and Dickov are directly linked to everything that followed on from them, so too is Mancini. And that makes him on of our most important, and revered managers for me. If that makes me hysterical, fine by me. Just disagree and let it wash over you. It’s a forum, people exchange opinions.

And so what if he was a grade A ****. In the world of football he’d have been in great company Im sure. There was the gurning underwear washer for one. And plenty of others I’m sure. Not sure why the man who changed the entire modern trajectory of our club should be held to a different standard than everyone else in the game, but there you go. Opinions you see.

No Mancini, No Pep. Simple as that. The man deserves a statue and a part of the stadium naming after him.

Perhaps we could have “The Roberto Mancini laundry room”. Has a nice ring to it.
 
Kazzydeyna said:
Except without Mancini, nothing that then followed would likely have happened. Pep most certainly would not have come within 1000 miles of City if Mancini hadn’t started the ball rolling so to speak. (With a special mention to another under-appreciated, disgracefully treated manager, Pellers).

We were several years in to the takeover and the knives were well and truly out for the club before the title win “all the cash, no class”, “money can’t buy success” etc. Hughes, a manager so many on here treated like a god despite his being shit, had taken the richest club in the world into a relegation fight and that’s what Mancini walked into. Within two years we were cup and title winners.

Everything that followed grew from that beginning. Just as Andy Morrison, the Goat, and Dickov are directly linked to everything that followed on from them, so too is Mancini. And that makes him on of our most important, and revered managers for me. If that makes me hysterical, fine by me. Just disagree and let it wash over you. It’s a forum, people exchange opinions.

And so what if he was a grade A ****. In the world of football he’d have been in great company Im sure. There was the gurning underwear washer for one. And plenty of others I’m sure. Not sure why the man who changed the entire modern trajectory of our club should be held to a different standard than everyone else in the game, but there you go. Opinions you see.

No Mancini, No Pep. Simple as that. The man deserves a statue and a part of the stadium naming after him.

Perhaps we could have “The Roberto Mancini laundry room”. Has a nice ring to it.
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I think you have to have the ability to be a Grade A **** to be a successful manager. But you also have to know when to not be one as well. Mourinho, Baconface & Wenger being the prime examples in recent times.

But Soriano & Begiristain were already here, which was the core problem for Mancini. I think if we'd bitten the bullet and called Mancini's bluff in May 2012, we'd have got Pep sooner. As it was, he took a sabbatical in the 2012/13 season and then went to Bayern. O don't know, but there has to be a chance that he'd have come to us if we hadn't offered Mancini a new contract, one where we limited his termination compensation as we knew it was likely to end acrimoniously.
 
Prestwich_Blue said:
He really wasn't. He wanted De Rossi & van Persie but the former didn't want to move and the latter was pretty well signed but Mancini was told he'd have to sell Balotelli or Dzeko to accommodate him. We had an offer for Balotelli but Mancini wouldn't agree to let him go. That's how pig-headed he was.

Whether we should have made the second-rate signings we made is another question entirely, but we didn't stitch Mancini up.
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It just seemed that the players we ended up with were such a downgrade to the players he wanted.
 
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