Mancini Breaking News

[moomba]

ugh.

This is the 2nd manager hired under the Sheikh regime and he took over nearly 5 years ago.

Sacking a manager who has give us our best years since the Mercer era just because he failed to win the league is a joke.

Are you 12..?

It´s about trajectory

Its a wank concept in football. Every club has ups and downs.

 

[Zin 'messiah' Zimmer]

There were ten minutes remaining at Estadio El Madrigal. Mikel Arteta took one look up and immediately knew his target. The Spaniard delivered a delicious corner, and the towering Duncan Ferguson headed powerfully past Mariano Barbosa. Eruption. Blue shirts, five thousand of them scattered around the dilapidated arena, quickly swarmed over their yellow counterparts. But then drama. Pierluigi Collina had ruled the equaliser out. The Italian official spotted the most ethereal of fouls, and extra-time was off the menu for Everton. Diego Forlán slotted home in stoppage time to confirm Villarreal’s debut campaign in the Champions League proper, and that was that. Now, eight years later, the managers from that evening are about to do battle once more, though, this time on a much more significant scale.

MP

On Friday night, Spanish publication AS confirmed that Manuel Pellegrini, the current Málaga coach, had agreed a contract with Manchester City worth £3.4m annually (£65,000 per week) after several meetings between sporting director Txiki Begiristain and Pellegrini’s agent, Jesus Martínez.

While the timing of the deal is outlandish, less than 24 hours before the existing manager Roberto Mancini would lead his side out for the FA Cup final at Wembley against Wigan Athletic, the overriding feeling among the hierarchy at the Etihad stadium is that the club have failed to build on the Italian’s first two full seasons as boss. After arriving at Eastlands in December 2009, Mancini guided City to fifth place, unable to see off Tottenham in the fight for Champions League football. FA cup success against Stoke City in 2011 resulted in a productive campaign the following year, but it was last season which saw City supporters warm to Mancini – now a vastly popular figure, who will receive indubitable backing from the fans in London this evening. Sergio Agüero’s famous last-minute winner against Queens Park Rangers meant Mancini had won City their first title in 44 years. Victory later today would denote a third trophy in three full seasons, but Mancini’s days appear numbered.

Chairman Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak has sanctioned £280.2m on twenty-one new players under Mancini, a total which the Emirati businessman expected to be enough in order for City to prosper in Europe. But, two consecutive seasons of failure to hurdle the group stages of the Champions League, as well as an inadequate term in the Premier League – at times 15 points behind champions Manchester United – signals a need for change in the eyes of the board, and, Chilean Pellergrini is the man who will be tasked with steering the club to the summit of English and European football.

Turning 60 in September, Pellegrini may well feel this is his last chance at a leading super club. After a decade managing in his homeland, the shrewd tactician travelled north, alongside the South American west coast, to Ecuador, where he lifted the title in his solitary term with LDU Qutio. An eleven-month stay at Argentine side San Lorenzo ended with another title and cup, before Pellergrini continued his growing success with River Plate, winning the 2003 Primera División.

It was a year later that Pellegrini’s career really took off. Spanish side Villarreal brought the promising coach to Europe, providing him with the chance to “develop a project” – something the Santiago-born coach would reveal after five magnificent years with the modest Yellow Submarine. Three years before Pellegrini arrived, the club were preparing for only their second ever year in La Liga, while, the town only has 45,000 inhabitants – less than the Eithad holds, for example. Yet, with the outstanding backing of president Fernando Roig, Pellegrini led the club to 3rd, 7th, 5th, 2nd and 5th. All this working with a shoestring budget, dwarfed by the financial power of both Real Madrid and Barcelona, it was little surprise when Los Merengues tempted the qualified engineer to the Santiago Bernabéu in 2009 – a move that coincided with Florentino Pérez’s return to the club.

“We are going to have a great coach,” Pérez said before Pellegrini’s arrival, but, the truth was, the Chilean was never first choice. Arsène Wenger had rejected the White House for a second time to stay with Arsenal, José Mourinho was only a year into his tenure with Inter Milan and Carlo Ancelotti had been reeled in by Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, leaving AC Milan after eight years. The departures of Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben, against Pellegrini’s wishes – “they were vital players, but they left” – led to the onset of a non-existent relationship between president and manager. The £200m invested in the squad under Pellegrini, including on talents like Kaká, Cristiano Ronaldo, Xabi Alonso and Karim Benzema, brought obvious expectation. Despite a then-record points total in the top-flight (96), Real finished second behind Barcelona (99), though, it was the disastrous cup exits that left Pellegrini in the lurch; a 4-1 aggregate loss to lowly Alcorcón in the Copa del Rey, twinned with an early farewell from Europe against Olympique Lyonnais. Marca, the country’s best-selling newspaper were livid; “Get out!” they screamed after the 2-1 aggregate defeat to the French side.

After his inevitable sacking, Pellegrini defended his reign in Madrid, pointing at the deranged construction of his squad. “It’s no good having an orchestra with the 10 best guitarists if I don’t have a pianist,” he told the Spanish media. “Real Madrid have the best guitarists, but if I ask them to play the piano they won’t be able to do it so well.” He insisted Pérez focused too much on the attack, ignoring certain positions. “I didn’t have a voice, I would have been out even if I had won the league,” argued Pellegrini.

There was talk of him returning to South America shortly after his spell with Real ended, but, the Mexican Football Federation quickly denied the reports linking Pellegrini with the national post. Instead, four months later in November, Pellegrini would find a path back into La Liga. With six defeats in their opening nine league games, leaving the club 19th going into November, Málaga owner Sheikh Abdullah Al Thani fired manager Jesualdo Ferreira, and brought in the excited Pellegrini. “I think I’m capable of turning this situation around,” he said during his unveiling. He was right.

Seven wins in their final eleven La Liga fixtures, inspired by the canny £2.1m capture of Júlio Baptista from Roma in the winter transfer window, ultimately kept Málaga in the division. An eleventh-placed finish represented a fine first season with the Andalucíans. What followed in his first full year in charge was unprecedented. A supermarket spree was how it began, though, unlike at Real, this time Pellegrini was in control. They were his signings. Eight new faces arrived – most notably Ruud Van Nistelrooy (free), Joaquín, (£3.7m), Jérémy Toulalan (£9.7m), Santi Cazorla (£18.5m) and Isco (£5.3m) – as Al Thani splashed out close to fifty million.

“Competing with Real Madrid & Barcelona is unrealistic,” then-general manager Fernando Hierro insisted, “but we want to finish as high as we can.” Put simply, Málaga were anticipating a challenge for the top four positions. Pellegrini made sure they got it, though, only in the final game. A tense last day in which Málaga had to beat Sporting de Gijón, if Atlético Madrid won at Villarreal, to cement a place in Europe’s premier club competition, would end in history. Cazorla swung in a corner just after half-time and Venezuelan forward Salomón Rondón rose highest to head it back the other way, into the far corner. Once the final whistle blew, the parties began. Yet so did the problems.

Al-Thani’s investment came to a halt; the cash dried up. Outstanding debts, which still exist today, helped forced a u-turn on policy. Out, ironically, went Cazorla & Rondón – the former for a “gift” fee to Arsenal – and in January this year Nacho Monreal joined his teammate in moving to north London.

Understandably, the assumption was that Málaga would drop down the table. Yet, despite everything – the sales, players and coaching staff not being paid in almost three months, the “worry” over the club’s future and the suspension from European competition for next season – the side are only two points worse off than at this stage last year, and, the Spaniards thrived in Europe, missing out on a Champions League semi-final only because of an officiating disaster. “It felt like there was no referee on the pitch,” Pellegrini bemoaned. Toulalan, one of only four players who remain from that spending spree two years back, will reportedly join Atlético at the end of the campaign, and both the midfielder’s agent, as well as Pellegrini’s have criticised the club. “It looks like a fairy tale, you can’t go on with a slow leak,” the manager’s representative said in April. “You can’t promise things that you then don’t deliver.”

Now it has gone too far. Pellegrini, a mundane human, yet imaginative coach, is on his way to Manchester. He will arrive in England able to speak the language, an asset, while not always imperative as Mauricio Pochettino has proven at Southampton, it’s certainly beneficial. Excitingly he brings with him a style based on finesse and flair. “My philosophy is based on having players with a good technical ability,” he said during his spell with Villarreal – where, in 2006, he led the humble side to the semi-finals of the Champions League. “Efficient and creative. My teams think more about building than destroying.”

Differences with Mancini are obvious. The Italian has never made it past the quarter-finals in the Champions League – with Inter or City – while Pellegrini has managed it with much more restricted clubs. While Mancini might throw on a Aleksandar Kolarov or a Javi García when leading in games, Pellegrini may introduce another attacker. He confesses defensive football “bores him”. When Eliseu put the club 2-1 up in Dortmund last month, off came Baptista, on went fellow striker Roque Santa Cruz. An inconceivable maneuver under Mancini you would think.

moyes pell

At Villareal, the emphasis was on a narrow midfield of technicians providing ammunition for deadly finishers. Throughout his stay on Spain’s east coast, Pellegrini’s playmakers included Juan Román Riquelme, Ariel Ibagaza, Robert Pires and Cazorla; gifted footballers who could dictate play. Up top, Forlán (54 goals in 106 league appearances), Giuessepe Rossi (54 in 136) and Nilmar (26 in 85) all blossomed under Pellgrini. With Málaga, the coach has managed to conjure up the best form of Joaquín’s career – the Spanish winger now displaying the sort of performances that saw Valencia give £21m to Real Betis for his services seven years ago.

Form has deteriorated recently at Málaga; five losses in the last eight league games, including the concession of 15 goals in three trips to Real Sociedad, Valencia and then Real Madrid, and, Pelllegrini may not have any noteworthy medals, but he brings nous, practicality and style to City. He may well be bringing the brilliant 21-year old midfield schemer Isco with him, too. Once a rugged centre-back who achieved nearly 30 caps for his country, Pellegrini is now a manager widely respected across the football world. Rodolfo Arruabarrena, his former left-back at Villarreal, describes Pellegrini as “the best in the world”, while Pep Guardiola labels him “an extraordinary coach”.

And so, eight years after their last meeting at the Madrigal, Pellegrini and Moyes are set for a reunion. The Manchester rivalry is entering a new era, and in the ‘Engineer’, City will have an intelligent mastermind, an outstanding coach and a down-to-earth man who deserves to lift major trophies. The Etihad provides the perfect platform.

you convinced yet?

 

[Lancet Fluke]

Absolute disgrace if we sack Mancini. We are becoming the next Chelsea

Why, how many managers has Abramovich given three and a half years in the job?

 

[BETTER-DEAD-THAN-RED]

lots of WUMMING on here.

Rags I suspect.

Anyway, thanks Mancini for everything.

 

[sky tot]

As mentioned earlier the Russ Abbott boys tweeted

"just had another look at pellegrini's "glittering managerial career" on Wikipedia. rather dig up alan ball & put him back in charge"

Pro Mancini is one thing but this is just fucking embarrassing

These are the people who are supposedly working with the club on improving atmosphere and all they have done for the last couple of days is bash the club and make some vile remarks, including the above. Shameful stuff.

Ive stopped following them , childish tweets did it for me.

 

[Andouble]

Absolute disgrace if we sack Mancini. We are becoming the next Chelsea

ugh.

This is the 2nd manager hired under the Sheikh regime and he took over nearly 5 years ago.

Sacking a manager who has give us our best years since the Mercer era just because he failed to win the league is a joke.

ugh, does every Mancini Inner really think it's so black and white that he got sacked for being runner-up in the Cup and the league?

In the end he made enemies with nearly every person and player of importance in the club within his 3.5 seasons here. Last summer he searched for his own contingency plans at other clubs throughout Europe even when he was under contract here.

He'd be gone even if we won 5-0 yesterday.

 

[kiam06]

I'm starting to hear things about Mourinho I can't believe it but they are from interesting sources.

All very confusing.

 

[penalty spot]

What the fuck?

ROBERTO MANCINI WAS THE 4TH LONGEST SERVING MANAGER IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE. WE ARE NOT LIKE CHELSEA FOR SACKING A MANAGER AFTER 4 YEARS.

Understand?

Like I said i can not make my mind up !! my opinion you pea brain or is it only you who can have a opinion.
Tell me how long Pellegrini will last............

1987–1989 Universidad Chile
1990–1991 Palestino
1992–1993 O'Higgins
1994–1996 Universidad Católica
1998 Palestino
1999–2000 LDU Quito
2001–2002 San Lorenzo
2002–2003 River Plate
2004–2009 Villarreal
2009–2010 Real Madrid
2010– Málaga

And only one minor cup in all those years the premiership will eat him alive. For the record I don't think we should have sacked Bobby or was that point lost on you.

Hardly inspires confidence does it. 1 year move, 2 year move, 1 year move, 2 years move etc, He's been at malaga a while and with a 41% win rate you can see why he's so sought after. Or maybe it was that big stint at Villereal where his success in europe has secured him this role as our boss. That intertoto trophy was indeed a major achievement.

Fuck me I'd understand it if it was Mourinho but sacking Bobby for this guy seems like we are downgrading our manager just when the rags have done the same. Bad bad timing.

A long and varied CV , mostly moving on up after sucess in South America.He knows what he is doing. Ferguson has been supported by the board at United and he did not have immediate sucess there. If he does come I hope he is given the same respect like we did with Mancini. Maybe the mindset needs altering at city. There are a great deal of players leaving this year one way or another.Just because he would have been less well known than others in the chain does not mean he is a divvy. United have always liked to keep the British thing going ,managers and players. News International ,thats the Sun, Times , Sunday times like that .Its them that maintain this bias towards United . FFP worked for the cartel, the big 4 that Mancini mentioned this last week to the Italian press. I think he is pissed off by not getting any support from the City board against this, and last year where was the respect for actually winning. Our international esteem rose but it stayed negative in the Uk,no sorry in England. Benitez was brave also in his verbal attack a few years ago against "SLUR" and was correct. the british journalists are cowards and they could still sell papers . An article abuot the abuse given out to all and sundry under his reign.Throwing a boot is so dangerous , he could have killed somebody. come on David do the right thing and start the ball rolling angainst the ex football celebrity....rant over

 

[Zin 'messiah' Zimmer]

I'm starting to hear things about Mourinho I can't believe it but they are from interesting sources.

All very confusing.

You're talking shit thats why its confusing!!

 

[Rammy Blue]

So many fucking rags on here, it's untrue.

Well there's nothing else for them to do ....... not with all those foreigners and cockneys sat in their seats at Old Trashford!

I know, that's what I mean mate. The fuckers are playing a game and their shitty fans are still all on here. ycnmiu.