Mancini or Pep era?

[Kazzydeyna]

I think with the benefit of several years of hindsight it is true to say they were both (Mancini and Pep) exactly what we needed at the relevant times And both would have struggled if their roles were reversed.

What Bobby gave us, that we didn’t have at the time and needed desperately, was a core of steel and a “don’t care who they are, they’re getting it today” mentality. He gave zero fucks about reputations and history regarding opponents. Every opponent was an enemy to be beaten. Without this attitude I think we would not have chased United down in 2012. 8 points behind the most successful team ever with only 6 games to play, against the media darlings, the team that every part of the media was desperate to see put the Arabs in their place, was an almost impossible task. And that mentality change started the year before when we took them on at wembley and beat them by sheer force of will and belief.

No City fan can ever forget Mancini standing up to Ferguson in that seminal derby in 2012. That as much as anything on the pitch served to win us the league that year. We had all waited generations to see a City manager stand up for our club in such strident ways. Ferguson wasn’t expecting it, he hadn’t had to deal with an opponent across the City that stood up to his bullshit and it rattled him and thus rattled his team.

Pep however takes a more cerebral approach and it is working wonders beyond our wildest dreams.
He approaches the game as if it was a piece of artwork and coaches his players to the Nth degree. He keeps things calm and rational and that must impart enormous confidence to his players. It is blindingly obvious that they trust him implicitly and would charge through brick walls for him. That’s a quality that even I, a Mancini lover, would never claim Bobby possessed.

I honestly think Pep would have struggled to chase united down in 2012 as it needed a real backs to the wall, ‘we’ll show these bastards’ approach but equally I don’t believe Mancini could ever keep a squad so happy and together as to deliver 198 points over 2 seasons as well as winning almost every other domestic competition.

And I don’t think personally in the wake of the bent uefa ban Mancini would have stood up publicly and declared to the watching world “I believe in this club, I believe in our honesty and come what may I am staying here as long as they want me to”. I think he would likely have been working behind the scenes to engineer an exit should the unthinkable have happened and the media would have been all over it sowing dissent and unease every day. That was the day Pep became my favourite ever City manager. Something I never thought I’d say about anybody other than Mancini.

I suppose what I’m saying is they were both the best person for the job at the times they held it.

We’ve been blessed and long may it continue.

 

[BlueMoonAcrossThePond]

@Kazzydeyna
IMO, we wanted Pep as manager ever since Mansour bought the club. But without the supporting infrastructure and track record of winning, there's no way that Pep would have agreed to become our manager in the Mancini time frame.

Mancini was awesome for us - the perfect manager for our stage of growth.

Mancini unfortunately self-destructed (though this might have been avoided through better support from management IMO) and we brought in Pelligrini as an interim care-taker - all the while pursuing Pep.
===
To be honest, I'm a bit surprised that we managed to sign Pep - and that he's been with us this long. That we've done so is testament to the vision and execution of our owner.

 

[Bluesince1979]

I love baldy but there’s only one manager who gave two fingers to red nose chewing gum .

Too right, he told the hard shoulder shitter to sit down and shut up. GPC may have won the battle the next season but in doing so, for his own selfish gains, lost the war for many years to come.

pep is pep, the best, we’ll never have a better coach, ever.

but fuck me i love bobby manc.

 

[Bluesince1979]

I think with the benefit of several years of hindsight it is true to say they were both (Mancini and Pep) exactly what we needed at the relevant times And both would have struggled if their roles were reversed.

What Bobby gave us, that we didn’t have at the time and needed desperately, was a core of steel and a “don’t care who they are, they’re getting it today” mentality. He gave zero fucks about reputations and history regarding opponents. Every opponent was an enemy to be beaten. Without this attitude I think we would not have chased United down in 2012. 8 points behind the most successful team ever with only 6 games to play, against the media darlings, the team that every part of the media was desperate to see put the Arabs in their place, was an almost impossible task. And that mentality change started the year before when we took them on at wembley and beat them by sheer force of will and belief.

No City fan can ever forget Mancini standing up to Ferguson in that seminal derby in 2012. That as much as anything on the pitch served to win us the league that year. We had all waited generations to see a City manager stand up for our club in such strident ways. Ferguson wasn’t expecting it, he hadn’t had to deal with an opponent across the City that stood up to his bullshit and it rattled him and thus rattled his team.

Pep however takes a more cerebral approach and it is working wonders beyond our wildest dreams.
He approaches the game as if it was a piece of artwork and coaches his players to the Nth degree. He keeps things calm and rational and that must impart enormous confidence to his players. It is blindingly obvious that they trust him implicitly and would charge through brick walls for him. That’s a quality that even I, a Mancini lover, would never claim Bobby possessed.

I honestly think Pep would have struggled to chase united down in 2012 as it needed a real backs to the wall, ‘we’ll show these bastards’ approach but equally I don’t believe Mancini could ever keep a squad so happy and together as to deliver 198 points over 2 seasons as well as winning almost every other domestic competition.

And I don’t think personally in the wake of the bent uefa ban Mancini would have stood up publicly and declared to the watching world “I believe in this club, I believe in our honesty and come what may I am staying here as long as they want me to”. I think he would likely have been working behind the scenes to engineer an exit should the unthinkable have happened and the media would have been all over it sowing dissent and unease every day. That was the day Pep became my favourite ever City manager. Something I never thought I’d say about anybody other than Mancini.

I suppose what I’m saying is they were both the best person for the job at the times they held it.

We’ve been blessed and long may it continue.

An excellent post

 

[LongsightM13]

I think with the benefit of several years of hindsight it is true to say they were both (Mancini and Pep) exactly what we needed at the relevant times And both would have struggled if their roles were reversed.

What Bobby gave us, that we didn’t have at the time and needed desperately, was a core of steel and a “don’t care who they are, they’re getting it today” mentality. He gave zero fucks about reputations and history regarding opponents. Every opponent was an enemy to be beaten. Without this attitude I think we would not have chased United down in 2012. 8 points behind the most successful team ever with only 6 games to play, against the media darlings, the team that every part of the media was desperate to see put the Arabs in their place, was an almost impossible task. And that mentality change started the year before when we took them on at wembley and beat them by sheer force of will and belief.

No City fan can ever forget Mancini standing up to Ferguson in that seminal derby in 2012. That as much as anything on the pitch served to win us the league that year. We had all waited generations to see a City manager stand up for our club in such strident ways. Ferguson wasn’t expecting it, he hadn’t had to deal with an opponent across the City that stood up to his bullshit and it rattled him and thus rattled his team.

Pep however takes a more cerebral approach and it is working wonders beyond our wildest dreams.
He approaches the game as if it was a piece of artwork and coaches his players to the Nth degree. He keeps things calm and rational and that must impart enormous confidence to his players. It is blindingly obvious that they trust him implicitly and would charge through brick walls for him. That’s a quality that even I, a Mancini lover, would never claim Bobby possessed.

I honestly think Pep would have struggled to chase united down in 2012 as it needed a real backs to the wall, ‘we’ll show these bastards’ approach but equally I don’t believe Mancini could ever keep a squad so happy and together as to deliver 198 points over 2 seasons as well as winning almost every other domestic competition.

And I don’t think personally in the wake of the bent uefa ban Mancini would have stood up publicly and declared to the watching world “I believe in this club, I believe in our honesty and come what may I am staying here as long as they want me to”. I think he would likely have been working behind the scenes to engineer an exit should the unthinkable have happened and the media would have been all over it sowing dissent and unease every day. That was the day Pep became my favourite ever City manager. Something I never thought I’d say about anybody other than Mancini.

I suppose what I’m saying is they were both the best person for the job at the times they held it.

We’ve been blessed and long may it continue.

Great post mate, nailed it