Mancini or Pep era?

It has to be Pep's era, what came before is important though. Without it Pep(if he came at all) would have had a harder task because I doubt the club would be doing as well off the field to make the same signings. UEFA and their Cartel cronies may have even won in their plan to stop City bridging the gap. However, that doesn't take anything away from what Pep has achieved to reach that next level. Despite every claim that anyone could do it, the fact is very few could come close, even with the money. How many times do we see a manager spend, expectations rise and they crumble under the weight of it?

What Mancini did wasn't harder to do in my eyes, it just carries more emotion because of where City were coming from. It's hard to beat the emotion of the first PL or the first title win in 44 years and in the manner it was won. A title race, not just against the club's bitter-local rivals United but Fergie's United, going right to the wire. I don't think it's fair to take marks off Pep for something he had no chance of replicating because you can only do it once.

Pep's had a title race where everyone had written City off, only for him and his team to turn it around, without the team's best player being available for most of the season too. He's gone beyond just challenging for titles though, it's more than that. It's the system and style of play(it's the best football I've seen in the PL, never mind City), the squads he's built, the football identity he's cemented that I don't think was there before. He's broken records and changed the way PL football is played in some respects. It looks and feels like he's made City the dominant force in English football for the time being. If we add another title and the domestic cups, that should seal it even in our rivals eyes. I've noticed some saying it across social media, 3 titles in last 4 seasons will be an achievement to be remembered. So City will always have this defining era whether they add a CL to it this year or not but that would just be the icing on the cake. He's at least made City one of the best CL teams to watch, I never used to enjoy it half as much. We dominate the group stages frequently now, to the point that we take it as given that's how it will go(this was certainly not the case before Pep arrived). Even when we've stumbled in the knockout stages of CL, those were still some brilliant games to watch and be involved in. I'm still very much appreciative of what I'm seeing and don't want to take it for granted.
 
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Metalartin said:
What Mancini wasn't did "harder" to do in my eyes, it just carries more emotion because of where City were coming from.
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I can't disagree with your post and I agree with most of it mate, but not sure about this part! Hope that's ok! :)

If we start with Hughes he had plenty of cash, but couldn't bring in top class players. Sure we picked up Zaba, De Jong, Bellamy, Tevez, Lescott and Kompany but they weren't class at the time. Good players no doubt but I never saw Hughes taking us any higher than top 4. I thought Hughes was a good manager to be honest, but he took us as far as we could go and I honestly thought at times we'd end up like Leeds - full of cash and nothing to show for it.

Mancini comes along and turns the club around. It changed the mindset of the club, the fans and players. He made players like Kompany, Silva, Aguero and Yaya into legends. Sure, Pellegrini and Pep helped but the QPR game made them legends. He won 3 trophies whilst he was here and when you look at the spine of the team he had - Hart, Kompany, Lescott, De Jong, Silva, Yaya, Tevez, Aguero, that spine would walk into any team now.

I know Mancini left under a cloud, but his legacy was immense and kickstarted what came next.
 
GoatersLeftShin said:
I can't disagree with your post and I agree with most of it mate, but not sure about this part! Hope that's ok! :)

If we start with Hughes he had plenty of cash, but couldn't bring in top class players. Sure we picked up Zaba, De Jong, Bellamy, Tevez, Lescott and Kompany but they weren't class at the time. Good players no doubt but I never saw Hughes taking us any higher than top 4. I thought Hughes was a good manager to be honest, but he took us as far as we could go and I honestly thought at times we'd end up like Leeds - full of cash and nothing to show for it.

Mancini comes along and turns the club around. It changed the mindset of the club, the fans and players. He made players like Kompany, Silva, Aguero and Yaya into legends. Sure, Pellegrini and Pep helped but the QPR game made them legends. He won 3 trophies whilst he was here and when you look at the spine of the team he had - Hart, Kompany, Lescott, De Jong, Silva, Yaya, Tevez, Aguero, that spine would walk into any team now.

I know Mancini left under a cloud, but his legacy was immense and kickstarted what came next.
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You can have your opinion mate, I wouldn't begrudge you that. :)

I suppose the point is, they were aiming for different levels. I realised reading it back, I should have stated that I wasn't saying what Mancini did wasn't hard to do, it's that both were equally hard things to do, just in different ways.

Making the signings in the first place I'm with you on but lets not pretend Pep doesn't have the bigger player lure either. It's hard to compare them fairly I guess but I think people tend to be more unfair on Pep if anything(more is expected).

Pep was only in his 2nd season at Barca in 2009 when Mancini became City manager, so they were at different stages of their management careers. Which is more fair putting 2016's or 2009's Pep in City in 2009? Like I said it's hard to compare. Either way, looking at what he did with that Barca team and what he did at City, he'd have had the same team playing brilliant football and made some great signings IMO. There's been transfer mistakes under each manager since the takeover, they are a given but I think Pep compares favourably to Mancini and Pelligrini in that area overall. Pep had to clear a load of deadwood out in his first 2 years which was not easy. Bravo was his mistake, Danilo and Nolito weren't really mistakes or atleast not expensive mistakes(didn't we make a profit on both or was that just Danilo?) and we were just unlucky with Mendy. Seeing Luke Shaw revive his career in a similar situation(injury), after 4 years or more of being practically useless, gives me hope on the latter though. Not much but you never know.

Between the two, I don't think it's up for debate who improves players more or who is more tactically astute but that's my opinion.
 
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Totally agree on that one @Metalartin!

No question at all that Pep is the better manager and that he's able to push players from good to a level English football has ever seen! The far-sightedness of the board to aim for Pep is probably the best thing this club's done in it's history. He has revolutionised football in England.

It goes without saying that this team would beat the Mancini one. I just wish Mancini would be given more credit for what he achieved! :)
 
GoatersLeftShin said:
Totally agree on that one @Metalartin!

No question at all that Pep is the better manager and that he's able to push players from good to a level English football has ever seen! The far-sightedness of the board to aim for Pep is probably the best thing this club's done in it's history. He has revolutionised football in England.

It goes without saying that this team would beat the Mancini one. I just wish Mancini would be given more credit for what he achieved! :)
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I loved Mancini and still do, "only this!" ;)
 
-He came from Italy to manage ....and is no crazy baldhead. The man that restored City's pride (is a book title I reckon). The sick swan, the feeling, 93.20. Incomparable.

-Sheik Mansour went to Spain .... brought the most disrespected manager ever. Johnny foreigner won a double on his first year, made dippers cry once more; but like Mancio, was thwarted by the cartel FFP.

- Cos we've got [clap, clap]... the Goat, who's continuing building unexpected highs above the solid foundations that was prepared by the aforementioned.

I see conceptual continuity.

Long may it continue.
 
wouldn“t it have been great to see how Pep would have managed that first title winning side In 2012. All the great individual players we had at the time in their prime, I think we would have been unbeatable. Not a slight on Bobby manc as I thought he was a great manager just that Pep is different gravy.
 
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