Mancini Press Conference

[BucksBlue]

What problems do Barcelona and City share in the transfer market?
Answer: Arsenal!!!!!!!
There is a lot of unhealthy speculation on this thread. As a club we need to stick together. The majority of transfers in the Mancini era have been relatively trouble free. There is no evidence that the current transfer problems are caused from within.
Mancini is rightly keen to have all guns blazing from the first minute of the Swansea match.

 

[B\connellblue]

Mancini should be more concerned about getting performances out of the players he has then harping on about the need for more players. Way I see it, if he has fallen out with marwood and cook then unfortunately he's going to be the loser. Not all of his previous buys have been huge sucesses either. Seems like if he buys someone and then it doesn't work out he immedietely wants someone else in. selling sweep for £3-£4 million is a joke when you see the prices we get quoted for players.
If it were me (and I know it's not) I would have bought 2 centre halfs and put Vinny back in the heart of our midfield. Then I think you'd see the monster that this great club could become.

 

[bowdonblue]

Mancini should be more concerned about getting performances out of the players he has then harping on about the need for more players. Way I see it, if he has fallen out with marwood and cook then unfortunately he's going to be the loser. Not all of his previous buys have been huge sucesses either. Seems like if he buys someone and then it doesn't work out he immedietely wants someone else in. selling sweep for £3-£4 million is a joke when you see the prices we get quoted for players.
If it were me (and I know it's not) I would have bought 2 centre halfs and put Vinny back in the heart of our midfield. Then I think you'd see the monster that this great club could become.

Can't agree.

Vinnie has been fantastic at CB, and Nigel the same as a defensive midfielder.

 

[johnny crossan]

Soulboy it's Sanchez - the other one plays for the dippers!

 

[B\connellblue]

Mancini should be more concerned about getting performances out of the players he has then harping on about the need for more players. Way I see it, if he has fallen out with marwood and cook then unfortunately he's going to be the loser. Not all of his previous buys have been huge sucesses either. Seems like if he buys someone and then it doesn't work out he immedietely wants someone else in. selling sweep for £3-£4 million is a joke when you see the prices we get quoted for players.
If it were me (and I know it's not) I would have bought 2 centre halfs and put Vinny back in the heart of our midfield. Then I think you'd see the monster that this great club could become.

Can't agree.

Vinnie has been fantastic at CB, and Nigel the same as a defensive midfielder.

I agree with this it wasn't nigel I would have been swapping vinny for.

 

[PowderBlue]

Fascinating interview. He's right to be pissed off - we played shite on sunday, and he has been set a target by the board who then havent(yet) delivered on the players he needs to achieve that target, and to be fair the questioners were pushing him on the issue.

He's a winner and knows what he wants. He delivered last year and will, if he gets the tools, deliver this. Forza Mancini.

 

[SWP's back]

Who here can honestly say we're doing a particularly good job in negotiations?

While not the biggest fan of Cook and Marwood (I have constantly stated that Cook is not the right man for the job he is in and then had to suffer the barrage of "get behind the club" calls!), I'm not sure what else they could have done.

Suarez was always destined for Barca.

Nasri will only arrive once Wenger has stopped sulking... and that takes time!

Sneijder... has Mancini ever seriously claimed we want him?

Who else have we missed out on so far then?

Do we abandon the Nasri deal and go for a second choice? Surely it's better to be patient and get what you want?

Hasn't our transfer dealings over the past three years not been sufficient evidence of a flawed transfer policy? Maybe now the club have realised that there's no point anymore in getting in mercenaries or nearly-men.

And I would agree with that. I would be amazed if anyone thought differently, to be honest!

Suarez? Really?

 

[cityboy1]

Who here can honestly say we're doing a particularly good job in negotiations?

While not the biggest fan of Cook and Marwood (I have constantly stated that Cook is not the right man for the job he is in and then had to suffer the barrage of "get behind the club" calls!), I'm not sure what else they could have done.

Suarez was always destined for Barca.

Nasri will only arrive once Wenger has stopped sulking... and that takes time!

Sneijder... has Mancini ever seriously claimed we want him?

Who else have we missed out on so far then?

Do we abandon the Nasri deal and go for a second choice? Surely it's better to be patient and get what you want?

Hasn't our transfer dealings over the past three years not been sufficient evidence of a flawed transfer policy? Maybe now the club have realised that there's no point anymore in getting in mercenaries or nearly-men.

And I would agree with that. I would be amazed if anyone thought differently, to be honest!

Suarez? Really?

somehow he found his way to us

 

[persvenality cult]

All this nonsense about not getting transfer targets. Like some spoiled, rich, fat kids stamping their feet because Mummy & Daddy won't buy them a better version of something they bought them last week.

For one thing, who knows what our targets were. Players we wanted might not have been for sale, might not have wanted to come to us or, if they did, we couldn't agree terms.

I also happen to know a leading club's chief exec and an agent so I know how complex some negotiations are. Agents & players play clubs off against each other for one thing. Dealing with agents is also tricky. It's a murky world and negotiations can seem to be straightforward then mysterious parties appear out of the woodwork demanding a cut and City will not play that game.

Clubs will also play hardball, refusing to deal until they've got their own targets lined up and have to go through the same loops.

It's not like going into Selfridges, picking a shirt you like then paying at the till. City have a way of doing business, which the owners have laid down. If Mancini or any of you don't like it then too bad.

The suggestion that Mancini is a naif in the world of agents and transfers... let's just say it tickles me.

I'm not frustrated at the lack of star names, quite the opposite.

I'm annoyed that we never seem to take the chance on lesser players who can do a particular job, that we turn our noses up at the older guys who we will need as leaders. I'm frustrated that every player covers all the bases and is low risk, because I know this means they aren't taking the necessary chances, or paying enough attention to the subtleties of the mix.

I'm frustrated that we keep over paying. Not by a huge amount, but it's incessant. We play hardball, we never move too fast, yet we never truly come out on top. We certainly never get things done quickly.

I suppose, if you're right, and it's all the result of 'a system' that has been laid down by the owner, then it is just 'too bad'.

But it wouldn't change the fact that I, and most independent observers, think that the value of the deals resulting from the system compares badly with the rest of football.

Some of that is explained by the challenges of being too rich, but that's too easy an excuse when there are other concerns. My conclusion has to be that either the system is at fault or those implementing it are not performing correctly.

It's the same old crap. Manager knows exactly who he needs, he wants specific people to do specific jobs, specific characters to work together. He wants the mix to be perfect. Board wants big, recognisable names and young players (preferably with low risk attached), people who they can market, or make a profit on. Board usually wins; fans lap up the big names. Stupid fans, IMO.

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

All this nonsense about not getting transfer targets. Like some spoiled, rich, fat kids stamping their feet because Mummy & Daddy won't buy them a better version of something they bought them last week.

For one thing, who knows what our targets were. Players we wanted might not have been for sale, might not have wanted to come to us or, if they did, we couldn't agree terms.

I also happen to know a leading club's chief exec and an agent so I know how complex some negotiations are. Agents & players play clubs off against each other for one thing. Dealing with agents is also tricky. It's a murky world and negotiations can seem to be straightforward then mysterious parties appear out of the woodwork demanding a cut and City will not play that game.

Clubs will also play hardball, refusing to deal until they've got their own targets lined up and have to go through the same loops.

It's not like going into Selfridges, picking a shirt you like then paying at the till. City have a way of doing business, which the owners have laid down. If Mancini or any of you don't like it then too bad.

By no means do I have a lot of sympathy for Mancini on this, but I think that post is a little naive. We're talking about a man who's spent 90% of his career in Italy, and managed Inter. I think he knows that these deals aren't straightforward. That does not mean that the club's executives have performed adequately or sensibly,or supported him adequately, though.

No it doesn't but these constant digs to the media about how he doesn't see eye-to-eye with C&M, wants total control, etc. are really starting to piss me off. If (hopefully when) he wins everything then I'd be happy to let him have it but he's got a long way to go before that so a little tactical humility would be in order. If Sheikh Mansour had said to him to go and get whoever he wants and Cook & Marwood were being obstructive then we'd see a swift resolution I suspect but that's seemingly not the case.

The club has to make progress on a number of fronts, including success on the field and greater commercial clout off it. The two are linked to a very great degree so the two parts of the organisation need to work together and we need stability in both. You'll always get some "creative tension" at the top of organisations but there are also constraints on any organisation and the biggest one we currently face is FFPR.

I was talking to a League 1 manager a couple of seasons ago and his attitude was "I'm a key executive in a company but I have to work to a budget and recognise that other people set that budget, not me." I agree we seem to have got ourselves into a bit of a mess salary wise, paying big numbers to players who perhaps would have settled for less at other clubs, some of who are surplus to requiremnents and aren't playing. But none of us know the real details of any player's contract so it's pointless speculating. When everything unwinds in a couple of seasons then I would expect our income to be able to comfortably cover our salaries and, as long as that happens, then individual contracts are largely irrelevant.