Dubai Blue said:There's an understandable desire to use Aguero's goal and the incredible title win to gloss over what actually happened in the second half of last season. But the euphoria is slowly wearing off now and people are rightly starting to wonder if Mancini really is all that. Take the rags' spectacular collapse out of the equation and this season isn't too dissimilar to the one that went before it.Freestyler said:He's been on thin ice now since the back end of LAST season, take away the fact we won the league. That was his saving grace...
robel_a3 said:Let's take loyalty out of this...
RM should have been sacked last year If it wasn't for.....
This year the blame is more on the summer business... we spent a lot of money and gambled on a lot of players Nasty paid off and MAYBE Garcia and didn't strength much....
But the squad is still amazing and under performing too many times individuals saved the game for us
U keep RM it's still a risk still unproven ....I like the way we play when in form but u can't always be in form and how much of that is based on individual skill of the players.
If he can give youngsters chance and rejuvinate The team & narrow the gap + another FA cup.. he should stay
U sack him surely there will be improvement and there is a clause that allows a sack this summer wo pay off.
probably gone spend big on the summer ... easier to build a team
The q is who u gone bring in.... not Jose .. not good relation with Tiki
so u got no good manager to replace him with
Nils said:Man management along with player recruitment is in the top 3 of management skills along with tactical ability. I'm dreading the remaining 12 games.
THE game is up for Roberto Mancini’s Manchester City.
Five reasons why they've struggled
1. TEAMS have started to work them out. City like to play the ball out from the back and rivals have pressed them high up the pitch.
2. A LACK of big signings. You should always strengthen when you are in a position of power and City failed to do so last summer.
3. THE strikers have gone missing. They are well down on their goals tally from last term and had just four shots on target on Saturday.
4. INDIVIDUAL errors. There have been too many of them this season and keeper Joe Hart was at fault more than once against Saints.
5. MISSING big players. They have been without talismanic skipper Vincent Kompany for the last three games and that has had a big impact.
Until Saturday, I was sure they still had a chance of retaining their Premier League title.
After all, I tipped them to do just that and did not have any great concerns as the gap at the top of the table between City and United stretched a little.
But their display in the 3-1 defeat against Southampton has told me there is no coming back now.
Things have got steadily worse over the last fortnight.
The draw at QPR was down to poor finishing once again, while Liverpool should have beaten them at the Etihad last weekend.
Fast forward to St Mary’s and it is no exaggeration to say that Saints could have had four or five goals.
City’s passing was awful, their defence shambolic and decision-making simply wrong.
This from the team with the best defensive record in the league, a side that had not conceded in January.
The simple truth is that, without Vincent Kompany, they look rudderless at the back.
If evidence was needed that Javi Garcia is not a centre-back, it was provided at St Mary’s.
It wasn’t just at the back though.
Where has the thrilling team that fired in a stack of goals last season gone?
Undoubtedly, they have suffered from second-season syndrome after that dramatic title victory last May.
A number of teams have started to work them out, too.
City love to play the ball out from the back and develop moves.
But both Liverpool and the Saints pressed them high up the pitch and stopped them from doing that — and there seemed to be no plan B.
To avoid this, Mancini wanted to get some big signings in last summer to give City more options.
But, for whatever reason, he failed to get the three big names he said he was after including Robin van Persie.
Matija Nastasic, 19, is undoubtedly one for the future but they needed people for the here and now.
Maicon and Garcia have not made them better and we’ve hardly seen Jack Rodwell.
As for Scott Sinclair, we’ve seen more of his missus than we have of him this season.
Manchester United lost the title on goal difference and what did they do? They went out and got one of the best players in the world.
Winning the battle to sign Van Persie ahead of City will undoubtedly prove the pivotal moment in this title race.
As for City’s defeat on Saturday, they looked like a team that has given up and turned in their worst display of Mancini’s reign.
Now I will never blame players for individual errors but those by Joe Hart and Gareth Barry suggested their minds simply were not on the job.
People will now start questioning Mancini’s position. They should not.
He set them on the road to success and is still the man for the job.
By winning the last six games of last season to snatch the title, he proved he can still revive the team — and is also the man to build again.
Finishing second to United and winning the FA Cup would be nothing to be ashamed of this season.
The club is still on a learning curve and they will come again.
But, for this year, I’m afraid the title race is over.
Moody said:After reading today's papers that the city squad are disgusted with mancini for not coming in the dressing room after the match and blanking the players, this is typical mancini behaviour some city fans have to question themselves when they are still backing him!
Matt the Giant said:Moody said:After reading today's papers that the city squad are disgusted with mancini for not coming in the dressing room after the match and blanking the players, this is typical mancini behaviour some city fans have to question themselves when they are still backing him!
Which papers mate? Are the articles available online?
Moody said:Embarrassing sorry but this is absute rubbish we've been embarrassed in the champs league and not played well all season and to top it off mancini slating players off in public something fergie would never do! If united went out of champs league like the way we did they would be calling for fergie to retire. With that said comparing mancini to fergie is ludicrous!
Pretty obvious the players let themselves down at Soton and would you believe what you read in papers written with the triumphant red armchairs in mind?Matt the Giant said:Moody said:After reading today's papers that the city squad are disgusted with mancini for not coming in the dressing room after the match and blanking the players, this is typical mancini behaviour some city fans have to question themselves when they are still backing him!
Which papers mate? Are the articles available online?
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.goal.com/en/news/596/exclusive/2013/02/11/3742755/mancini-fighting-for-his-job-ahead-of-crucial-leeds-clash" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.goal.com/en/news/596/exclusi ... eeds-clash</a>Mancini fighting for his job ahead of crucial Leeds clash
Defeat to the Championship outfit in the FA Cup next weekend could see the Italian leave the champions before the end of the season after their 3-1 loss to Southampton on Saturday
EXCLUSIVE
By Jonathan Birchall
Roberto Mancini will be left fighting for his job if Manchester City lose to Leeds in the FA Cup on Sunday, Goal.com understands.
Mancini's side fell 12 points behind city rivals Manchester United in the race for the title this weekend, with a humiliating 3-1 defeat away to Southampton on Saturday evening followed by Sir Alex Ferguson's side dispatching Everton with a 2-0 win at Old Trafford.
City are therefore preparing to host Neil Warnock's men knowing that defeat would effectively end their hopes of silverware this term, after crashing out of the Champions League group stage and the Capital One Cup towards the end of last year.
Mancini signed a new five-year deal at the Etihad Stadium thought to be worth in the region of £37 million in July, but the club's disastrous title defence, coupled with a dire Champions League showing for the second consecutive year, has left the City hierarchy considering his position.
Tensions between Mancini and his players have also arisen in recent weeks, with members of the senior squad angry over the Italian's public criticism of individual performances.
Mancini singled out Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero for delivering "disappointing" performances following City's 2-2 draw with Liverpool on February 3, and said Joe Hart had "not been good enough" after making a crucial error in allowing Rickie Lambert's goal - Southampton's second - to trickle through his legs at St. Mary's.
Some members of the City first team have also been left confused by Mancini's tactical direction in recent weeks, with the champions relying on a makeshift defensive line-up over the past fortnight after skipper Vincent Kompany injured his calf at Stoke.
Club officials have been monitoring Mancini's performance since the English champions severely underwhelmed in Europe during the autumn, with director of football Txiki Begiristain making clear to the 48-year-old that City's performances needed to improve in November, as was exclusively revealed by Goal.com.
Mancini travelled to former club Sampdoria on Sunday to watch the Genoan outfit defeat Roma 4-2 at Stadio Luigi Ferraris, with the capital outfit having sacked Zdenek Zeman last week before appointing Aurelio Andreazzoli in temporary charge until the end of the season.
However, the City boss was quick to quash speculation linking him to Roma, insisting that he had only travelled to watch the match as a fan.
laughable to say the least! You can come have this discussion with me in person if you like Colin bell stand block 128 row c seat 762The cookie monster said:Matt the Giant said:Moody said:After reading today's papers that the city squad are disgusted with mancini for not coming in the dressing room after the match and blanking the players, this is typical mancini behaviour some city fans have to question themselves when they are still backing him!
Which papers mate? Are the articles available online?
You can spot a rag a mile off mate
Moody said:Embarrassing sorry but this is absute rubbish we've been embarrassed in the champs league and not played well all season and to top it off mancini slating players off in public something fergie would never do! If united went out of champs league like the way we did they would be calling for fergie to retire. With that said comparing mancini to fergie is ludicrous!