Mancini

[petrusha]

Marvin, your comments about the media actually raise quite an interesting (to me, if no one else!) point regarding Mancini's English. This interests me because in my job, I work with a lot of very sharp Russian lawyers and part of my job is to make their texts work as proper legal texts in English.

I know there are one or two posters who say that they don't think Roberto comes across as particularly bright. In my view, though, the perception of him is very much a function of the limitations of his English. Some of the lawyers I work with come over very differently when you hear them speaking their own language than when they speak in English. My suspicion (but that's all it is because I have basic Italian but nowhere near of a level to investigate this properly) is that in his own language Roberto would come across as less of a nice bloke but a far more astute operator. If anyone is able to comment on this with authority, I'd be interested to know whether that's right.

What is clear is that he isn't all that gifted in terms of learning languages. I know plenty of people who aren't (my missus, for instance, when she lived with me in England) and it doesn't make them thick; I've always been good in this area but was hopeless at physics at school, for instance, whereas I know genuinely brilliant people who are useless when it comes to foreign languages. However, that facing the press is a significant part of Roberto's job and the results invariably make big back-page headlines that have an impact on the club's reputation.

Given that this is an area where his skills aren't the greatest, I do wonder if he gets enough support in terms of briefing him on what he should and shouldn't say to the media. In any case, he's volatile and simply prone to going off on one, such as when he seemed to resign after Inter's CL defeat at Liverpool in 2008 and then revoked it later, but the language aspect (where he probably has thoughts and sentiments that he's probably unable to express in the language he's using) is only going to make things worse. I've wondered more or less since he arrived and was pitched into that awful press conference with Cook why he hasn't been given better support in this regard. Both his character and level of language skills mean he badly needs it.

As for Balo, we can say with the benefit of hindsight that someone - whether Mancini or not - screwed this one up badly. I don't have time to look it up now, but didn't Mancini suggest after the Arsenal game last April that Balo would be sold? His performances in Euro 2012 provided us with a great opportunity to offload him at a decent price in the close season and we didn't. His performances for Milan have been a significant step up from what he produced for us between August and January, and I'm not sure it really should have taken hindsight to see that it would have been the best course to sell the player in the summer.

A couple of other points in the light of posts that have been added this morning.

I suppose I fall as an 'Mancini outer', though my position is qualified by the fact that if Roberto and Txiki both feel they can work together successfully next season, that will do for me. However, I do wonder whether Roberto has reached a natural breaking point with City for various reasons which have been extensively rehearsed in this thread. Nonetheless, I certainly wasn't a 'Hughes inner', and thought it was pretty clear he was the wrong man from quite early on after the takeover.

And secondly, whatever key personnel in Abu Dhabi currently think of Roberto and whatever Ferran or Txiki are minded to recommend if asked by Abu Dhabi for their views, I want us to be discussing matters in the summer from a position of strength. That means I would love nothing more than to see a strong finish to cement second place (including, if possible, a win tonight over those ****s) and, fingers crossed, an FA Cup win too. Why would anyone not want those things, regardless of the degree of confidence they have in Mancini for next season and beyond?

PS - I recognise that this morning's posts are just me rambling inconsequentially. I'm at work but can't go forward on my most important matter for now until I have some information I need from someone else.

 

[BlueAnorak]

Good posts Petrusha.
Whether you love Roberto or hate him he is doing a rather good job this week of taking the pressure off the team for the derby. All the media angst is focussed on him rather than the team.

 

[Bill Walker]

Anybody getting sick to death of hearing him complain about the transfers? Seems to be every other week he is going on about it. Would like to know what the players we signed feel about him constantly saying it.

Yeah Im sick of it too, now he's banging on about teams not trying hard enough against the scum, sometimes I think he's losing his mind..

 

[rastus]

We are getting battered by the press & pundits.

Its Mancinis job to give them some back, which he has.

Well done Mancini.

 

[Bill Walker]

We are getting battered by the press & pundits.

Its Mancinis job to give them some back, which he has.

Well done Mancini.

always a mistake to take on the press, keep a dignified silence is best, do your talking on the pitch

 

[waspish]

We are getting battered by the press & pundits.

Its Mancinis job to give them some back, which he has.

Well done Mancini.

always a mistake to take on the press, keep a dignified silence is best, do your talking on the pitch

Lost in translation and the media take full advantage

 

[Rolee]

Anybody getting sick to death of hearing him complain about the transfers? Seems to be every other week he is going on about it. Would like to know what the players we signed feel about him constantly saying it.

Yeah Im sick of it too, now he's banging on about teams not trying hard enough against the scum, sometimes I think he's losing his mind..

I think he has a point on that one. Compare and contrast Arsenal and Liverpool's attitude and work rate when they played at the Etihad to when they played at the swamp.

 

[George Hannah]

hands up those who agree with Mr Turkeyneck Hansen

Alan Hansen: Manchester City’s missed opportunity to rule means manager Roberto Mancini has to go

Manchester City had the biggest chance of all-time to blow the rest of English football away last summer and set in motion success for the next 10 years, but Roberto Mancini’s future is now under threat because they have simply failed to grasp their opportunity.

Feeling the blues: Roberto Mancini's Manchester City job is under threat after his team failed to assert any kind of pressure on Premier League leaders Manchester
By Alan Hansen6:15AM BST 08 Apr 201337 Comments

When Sergio Agüero scored the goal to win the Premier League title in the dying seconds of last season, everybody expected City to kick on and obliterate the rest of the field. Yet as they go to Old Trafford on Monday, 15 points behind their neighbours Manchester United, questions are being asked of Mancini and people are trying to decide who is at fault for the position in which City now find themselves in.
Mancini continues to talk about City’s failure to sign the players he wanted last summer, top-class performers such as Robin van Persie, Daniele De Rossi and Javi Martínez. But the fact that none of those players arrived and Mancini chose to stay suggests to me that he is at fault for still being there.
The minute a manager fails to persuade his bosses to get the players he wants is the minute he should go. Jose Mourinho ultimately walked out on Chelsea because he was not happy with the players being brought in to the club. Mourinho knew a manager had to be left to manage.
What happens on the pitch always comes back to the manager, so if Mancini was not happy with the players who were added to his squad, or displeased at those who did not arrive, he could have done what Mourinho did at Chelsea.
There have been too many other issues at City this season, though, and that is why Mancini now finds himself in trouble. He has failed to get the best out of players who were good enough to win the title last season, he allowed the Mario Balotelli distraction to run on for far too long and the lack of team spirit is another problem that has to come back to the manager.

In a football dressing-room, nobody likes a manager, or certainly very few players do. Bob Paisley used to say that the moment a manager is liked by his players is the moment when he is in trouble, but while they don’t have to be liked, the players have to be able to rely on the manager.
There have been too many noises coming out of the City camp this season, though, and too much talk of in-fighting and the lack of togetherness has played itself out in the defeats at Southampton and Everton, when their performance was totally unacceptable. There was no fight from City in either game and that has to be down to the manager.
When you have the club captain playing for his country against the manager’s wishes after two months out with injury, you know you have problems.
As captain, Vincent Kompany has to be the leader in the dressing room, somebody who is on the same wavelength as the manager.
He has to be the buffer between the manager and the players, but by playing for Belgium last month after all that time on the sidelines, he did little to convey the notion that he and Mancini are on the same frequency.
There is now talk of Barcelona being interested in Kompany, so instead of City adding world-class players to their squad, they are now faced with the prospect of the team breaking up.
After winning the title last season, City simply should not find themselves in the position they are now in. And one of the biggest indictments of their title defence is that their under-par showings have led to people starting to describe the leading team as one of Ferguson’s best.
Nobody was saying that back in October and November when United were scraping 1-0 victories against mediocre opposition, but they have since stretched their lead to 15 points because City have put them under absolutely no pressure.
United have been allowed to coast to the title. They capitulated last season, but City have failed to assert any kind of pressure to make that happen again.
And that is why Mancini is now hearing talk of his job being under threat, because the modern game demands success immediately.
He has overseen a team that has gone from being in a position of absolute power to one that has left everyone guessing again about what the future holds.
And while Mancini may still complain about the failings of last summer and the lack of top-quality additions to his squad, the buck always stops with the manager and nobody can say that he or City have had a good season.

 

[penalty spot]

Anybody getting sick to death of hearing him complain about the transfers? Seems to be every other week he is going on about it. Would like to know what the players we signed feel about him constantly saying it.[/quote

Yeah Im sick of it too, now he's banging on about teams not trying hard enough against the scum, sometimes I think he's losing his mind..

I think he has a point on that one. Compare and contrast Arsenal and Liverpool's attitude and work rate when they played at the Etihad to when they played at the swamp.

I totally agree with Roberto on this one many teams play them home or away with timidity and often go a goal down after a few minutes. The game plan has gone out of the window , playing for a draw. When they are in Europe this is less so but unfortunately they are playing less proficient teams in the early group stages anyway.

 

[Phil1]

Anybody getting sick to death of hearing him complain about the transfers? Seems to be every other week he is going on about it. Would like to know what the players we signed feel about him constantly saying it.

Yeah Im sick of it too, now he's banging on about teams not trying hard enough against the scum, sometimes I think he's losing his mind..

I've never met a blue who doesn't think that teams (not all but the majority) lay down and play a different game against them through fear. It's happened for years and the fact that he's mentioned it should be welcomed, not used against him. If you think he's losing his mind for making that observation it can only be because you've already decided you want him gone and this is something else to add to the small list of excuses of why.