Mr Mancini. You are a liar.

[K.Reeves right foot]

OK - ill reply to a few points, No i was n't composing it I was sat in a curry house in Rusholme eating a hot Madras.! Your point about a side evolving over 2 decades is not important, they were without their main hitter, half the team was recovering form a virus, their first 11 is poor yet we still FEARED them That is the problem. Mancini states he's trying to change the mentality. How? by scraping a 0-0 draw? Players like Tevez Yay Silva Boateng Kolarov have the mindset of winners, that's why we bought them. Mancini is reversing that.

Seeing as your advocating giving mancini the boot,who would you get employ as manager?joachim loew,as someone laughably suggested has won nothing of note,hiddink doesnt want to know,mourinho same style of football as mancini so who?
To be honest it hardly matters since,whoever we appointed would get criticized for not giving us almost immediate success,and probably by the very same impatient people having a go at mancini now.We will never emulate the likes of the rags,chelsea or the dippers in the 80s by constantly changing the manager.
Those teams and their success are the benchmark imo and what we should be trying to emulate.All those sides had a period of stability before they won titles, cups etc and had finished in the top 3 or 4.
I honestly dont know if mancini is the man to lead us to success long term,(maybe he'll be like ranieri was at chelsea)but he deserves a damn site longer than 9 months or so to prove whether he can.

At what point did I advocate giving Mancini the boot? THis is the dilemma. I really do not want a change of manager on the one hand as changing managers is complicating the whole situation and means rebuilding once again probably although we have decent players for any new manager to work with. On the other hand maybe a change of manager would benefit us? I admit I don't know that one, there is the dilemma. Yes we need stability but it doesn't hide the fact that since Mancini arribved he has remained THE SAME in that he has a fear of losing. The best managers are able to go for a win in the biggest games, that's ultimatly how you reach the top, win trophies and achieve success. Imagine if we are at the last game of the season and need a win to achieve 4th. Can anyone really believe Mancini would send out a team to win? He'd set us up not to lose and hope for the Chelsea game scenario of that 1 piece of magic from Tevez/Silva, that's a dangerous game to play as last night showed, you can't guarantee that'll happen so why not enhance our liklihood of winning by allowing a more expansive style of play whilst retaining solidity at the back. If Mancini wanted this counter attacking style why didn't he buy genuine pace through midfield? I find that baffling. The scum have counter attacked for years because they have/had pace in abundance in Ronaldo/Giggs etc...it worked, but when we break our players stand still, Tevez legs forward on his own, Milner and sometimes Yaya try to keep up and we are isolated time after time and it's mancini not rectifying this after a year which worries me.<br /><br />-- Thu Nov 11, 2010 8:00 pm --<br /><br />

.....because you have repeatedly said the following:
"I am trying to change the mentality of this football club".

Tonight I sat in the South Stand and before me I witnessed 11 players playing for Manchester City who were literally paralysed by fear and devoid of any freedom to express the undoubted talents they posess.
You have drained the life out of those players with cautious and stiffling tactics. Your mission AGAIN was to 'not lose'.
In your programme notes you stated the world was watching yet you made them watch a team that resembled the minnow, grimly holding out for the lucrative replay against the bigger team. I was embarassed, bored and frankly ashamed.

So fellow City fans, was that what you all expected when in the summer we bought the magician Silva? The powerhouse Yaya? The dynamic Milner who ran Villas side on his own and scored many goals?
Our own club has raised our levels of expectations to new heights yet we watch dross.
Mancini AGAIN bottled it. He played the media institution that is the scum. He played Charlton, Best, Cantona and all the other ingredients which make up that lot. He should have played Park, Fletcher, berbatov and co. Let's make no mistake, the Scum are NOT a good side anymore. Last season in the semi's they were not a good side. Yet City like most other teams have lost the game before the first minute. Oh, sorry, yes, we got a 0-0 draw. Well done Mr Mancini. Well done for sending out a side devoid of any attacking intentions. Tonight we were again little city, the small team in fear of the big bad opposition. It was pathetic.

Those who are satisfied with a draw have NO expectations and must be frozen in a time warp of zero expectation. I had no expectation for 25 years and was never promised any so i didn't moan. Now we are promised the world. We are told we are on the level of The Scum now, deserve to be favourites, yet we make substitutions in the 92nd minute to eat away time, and slope off with a point.

Yes I'm annoyed. We have had average sides before which actually put 3, 4 or even 5 goals past The Scum, now we have the best team ever, they have one of their poorest and we scrape a 0-0 draw, the irony is stunning.

I never wanted this guy. I certainly didn't want him retained this season. I bit my tongue, voiced my concern on here but always TRIED to understand something bigger, that Mancini MUST know something I couldn't see. Tonight he utterly ratified my original opinion from last season. He is too scared to take a chance.

I waited a few hours, didn't want to react straight away, but tonight was such a bitter dissapointment.
So all you lot who are jumping up and down cheering because we held the mighty Darren Fletcher and co to a 0-0 draw, congratulations. You must be happy. You are probably the same ones who were smiling as they left the ground after winning 2-1 in last seasons 1st leg, although the cluued up fans knew it was a wasted opportunity.
For me, the only team which threatened to score onight was the scum. Not us. The home side. They didn't create much of note but I always had a feeling they just might. Never had that with us.
Mr Mancini, another opportunity gone.
YOu said you wanted to change our mentality, well I believe you have. before we were just inconsistent City, scoring many, conceeding many, usually crap but never dull.
Now we are just dull, lifeless and sterile. You certianly changed it Mr Mancini.

cracking post mate.....i can't for the life of me understand why anyone would want to buy a ferrari and then fit a speed limiter

Fear mate, that can be the only reason because we have some great players who could play more expansive if allowed.

 

[simon23]

sorry i disagree...

numerous people on here (myslef included) recognise that winning isnt the be all and end all. I will continue to criticise his tactical approach win lose or draw while he carries on playing in a negative fashion....there have been few games since RM took over where i have been impressed by the way we are playing (west brom was one of those)

But would you rather win the league playing boring football, or finish 10th because you played such open football that ended in 3-3 results all season?

It's a slow and steady road. But I can see it coming together. Last night was frustrating, but I can't help but feel that if Zabaleta had scored last night then this thread wouldn't have been made and Mancini would be a hero.

i want both...i want to see us win and play attractive football..we have the players with the capability if they are set up rightly...but it doesnt happen anywhere near often enough

 

[K.Reeves right foot]

Excellent post from K.Reeves right foot,I couldnt agree more m8.I am sick and tired of watching this "must not lose at all cost" football.I dont care what the stats say about last nights game I really believe United were there for the taking,we were the home team and we played like a rabbit in a cars head lights.And to bring on Ade for the last couple of minutes wasnt a sign to improve the attack,it was just an excuse to run down the clock,I was absolutely bloody furious.

Agree mate, but the worst thing was it sent out such a bad message to watching fans. People may say who gives a fuck what any other fans think around the world, yet if a club is spending money like we are, bidding for kaka, shouting loud that we are on the same level as 'them lot' etc then what happens on the pitch is important otherwise we just look silly. That substitution to eat away time was nothing short of killing time to scrape a draw. Well, if we are truly at their level these days why do this? Theu won't do the same at the swamp in the return fixture, they will go for a win. That's the difference in the mentality of the 2 clubs despite Mancini insisting he is trying to change it. Evidence suggests otherwise.
Basically what we are hearing and what we are witnessing are 2 different and contradictory things so no wonder we gat pi**ed off.

 

[TTS]

Dont think that is a very clever comment seeing as they are unbeaten in all comps for 24 games

I imagine if you ask a scum fan if hey are a decent side they will say no. Unbeaten yes, but not winning many and not playing well. But if your standards are purely dictated by what they do then we will never progress. I purely see 11 players as opposition and for me a half decent side would have taken them to the cleaners and every scum fan i know has even admitted that themselves.

The only reason a rag fan would say that (which I very much doubt they would, on the evidence of my friends who are rags) would be because they're comparing their current side to their previous sides.

Which doesn't make a blind bit of difference.

Just because they're weaker than they WERE does not mean that they are weak NOW, in absolute terms. Do you see?

 

[john blue]

Think we should see where we are in january, we could, could, win the next 5 games on the trot, then no doubt we will be tipped to win the title, we MUST buy a goalscorer in january,

 

[TTS]

Think we should see where we are in january, we could, could, win the next 5 games on the trot, then no doubt we will be tipped to win the title, we MUST buy a goalscorer in january,

Apparently this Tevez lad's been banging them in.

 

[K.Reeves right foot]

I imagine if you ask a scum fan if hey are a decent side they will say no. Unbeaten yes, but not winning many and not playing well. But if your standards are purely dictated by what they do then we will never progress. I purely see 11 players as opposition and for me a half decent side would have taken them to the cleaners and every scum fan i know has even admitted that themselves.

The only reason a rag fan would say that (which I very much doubt they would, on the evidence of my friends who are rags) would be because they're comparing their current side to their previous sides.

Which doesn't make a blind bit of difference.

Just because they're weaker than they WERE does not mean that they are weak NOW, in absolute terms. Do you see?

Yes get the point mate, but from what I have seen of them this season and for most of last season, regardless of past teams, this current team is average.

 

[Marvin]

The only reason a rag fan would say that (which I very much doubt they would, on the evidence of my friends who are rags) would be because they're comparing their current side to their previous sides.

Which doesn't make a blind bit of difference.

Just because they're weaker than they WERE does not mean that they are weak NOW, in absolute terms. Do you see?

Yes get the point mate, but from what I have seen of them this season and for most of last season, regardless of past teams, this current team is average.

Ferguson puts a team out each game to do just enough to win. That way they do well over the course of the whole season.

They are in a relative slow decline, but they are still unbeaten and are rightly regarded as one of the top teams in Europe.

They played against City last night in the same way that they would set up for a game at Chelsea.

 

[Shaelumstash]

What the OP seems to have completely missed is yes in years gone by we threw everything at them and won some 3-1, 4-1 or whatever. But we also finished 9th or 14th or whatever in those seasons. Gung ho football will only get you so far in the modern game. Even United in the 90s played 4-4-2 with attacking wingers in the big games, and that's one of the reasons they under achieved in Europe because against a more tactically astute manager you will get exposed.

We should take it as a compliment the way United were set up against us, the same way as if they were playing Barcelona or Chelsea or Real Madrid. They came to contain and play on the break, they changed their system because they were showing US too much respect! We have played that system for most of the season, I'm sure you weren't complaining with the performances and results against Chelsea and Liverpool, but we were set up in much the same way, it's just we can up against a team that pretty much "parked the bus".

The derby wasn't a great spectacle, it was a very tight, cagey game. Both teams wanted to play on the break and cancelled each other out because neither wanted to attack and leave themselves vulnerable. It's like watching two defensive boxers, it often makes for a boring fight. But as much as I love him, fighting like Ricky Hatton will only get you so far. Flloyd Mayweather Jnr has often been criticised for being too defensive and boring, will be remembered as one of the greatest of all time.

 

[Anonymous]

What the OP seems to have completely missed is yes in years gone by we threw everything at them and won some 3-1, 4-1 or whatever. But we also finished 9th or 14th or whatever in those seasons. Gung ho football will only get you so far in the modern game. Even United in the 90s played 4-4-2 with attacking wingers in the big games, and that's one of the reasons they under achieved in Europe because against a more tactically astute manager you will get exposed.

We should take it as a compliment the way United were set up against us, the same way as if they were playing Barcelona or Chelsea or Real Madrid. They came to contain and play on the break, they changed their system because they were showing US too much respect! We have played that system for most of the season, I'm sure you weren't complaining with the performances and results against Chelsea and Liverpool, but we were set up in much the same way, it's just we can up against a team that pretty much "parked the bus".

The derby wasn't a great spectacle, it was a very tight, cagey game. Both teams wanted to play on the break and cancelled each other out because neither wanted to attack and leave themselves vulnerable. It's like watching two defensive boxers, it often makes for a boring fight. But as much as I love him, fighting like Ricky Hatton will only get you so far. Flloyd Mayweather Jnr has often been criticised for being too defensive and boring, will be remembered as one of the greatest of all time.

Beautifully explained and I hope that the logic of this reasoned argument will encourage those of weaker faith to look at the big picture and give thanks to the club and the manager for putting us where we are now. . . would they reakly want to wind back the clock and take us back to mid-table obscurity (with a wild tilt at the rags twice a year)?
Bugger that for a game of soldiers - this is where we're at and we should be proud and grateful - unlike the rag fans who whimper constantly.