Lordeffingham
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 1 Oct 2009
- Messages
- 1,012
Most of what I will write below is more or less, stuff I have posted previously on here, though it is more pertinent now, than ever.
I have just watched Mancini's post Birmingham match video, and to be honest, he's obviously starting to show signs of stress, and appears to be getting a bit pissed off with the constant abuse and regular bombardment against his name and negative tactics.
He is obviously under a lot of pressure, though most of this I'm sure is to do with his family back in Italy and his fathers ill health, but the biggest dissaster to hit this Club since Mercer left, would be to see him lose enough faith in his Clubs supporters and to walk away, giving priority to his family, a decision many of us would take, if in his shoes, I'm sure.
I must be honest and say when Mancini was appointed manager of our great Club, I didn't know enough about him as a person, player or manager, to comment on how good a job he might be capable of doing.
He had a difficult start with a lot of negativity attached to the club, a backroom staff brought in by Hughes and still loyal to him, players who had been aquired by Hughes, some like Bellamy were outspoken and I'm sure made life in the dressing room very uncomfortable for Mancini in the first few months.
Mancini, I now believe, is a great man, not just in his footballing attributes, but in his life as a whole, morally decent, family orientated and someone who has not just commanded respect, but who has earnt it wherever he has been since his emergence as a footballing genius.
He's a lot tougher than most appreciate and will never be seen to shy away from making what must be tough decisions, as has been clearly demonstrated in the cases of Bellamy and Given, and though many still believe he made a mistake in moving Bellamy on, none of us are privy to what went on between the two whilst Roberto was trying to settle and get his feet under the table.
Undoubtedly there is currently more respect and cohesion in our dressing room, than has been seen at the Club for many years, and the professionalism and attitude shown by the likes of Boateng, Kompany, De Jong, Kolarov, Vierra and the Toure brothers, must provide a shining example to those less in control of their emotions and with possibly less maturity, certainly in the cases of Hart, Johnson and Balotelli, and even to some extent with Tevez and SWP.
There has been much made of his overly defensive tactics, but most of this I'm certain, is simply because, though we all deep down would love to be able to watch the very naive open expansive attacking play we witnessed here in the sixties and seventies, like it or not, the game has developed and that sort of gung ho approach in todays premiership would be suicidal.
When Mancini arrived our defence could be described as mediocre at best and didn't appear to have any proper order, discipline or cohesion, they didn't seem capable of working as a unit, looking likely to be opened up easily by quite ordinary teams. We could'nt have imagined that this aspect could have moved forward and developed as much as we have seen in a matter of months, not years, and are now at a stage where we are considered the third best defence in Europe. This was Mancini's first building block, and like it or not, it was clearly one that quite rightly had to take precidence.
Platt, though not well thought of by many on here, is according to most knowledgable sources, a brilliant coach and recently was quoted as suggesting that anyone thinking Mancini's main focus is a defensive one, could not be further from the truth, and though his defense of Mancini might be expected, I believe once the defensive part of the team is complete and it's very close to that now, we will see a change with the focus switching to a more offensive tact.
I have regularly read the negative comments from all and sundry about all of our defensive midfielders, and heard the same thing immediately after the Birmingham game, walking away from the game, but in all honesty, we only have De Jong who could be correctly labelled as such. That doesn't mean that Vierra, Barry and Yaya aren't able to assist in the defensive element when required, they are, however they offer as much if not more going forward.
Tevez, Silva, Johnson, Balotelli and quite peobably another top drawer striker in January, backed by a wealth of midfield strength in Yaya, Barry, Milner and others, will I'm sure eventually forge a tough and ruthless spearhead who can play with poise or power, pace or movement, depending on the opponents, but when the masterplan is finished, I'm pretty sure, we'll be as attacking a team as any of us could wish for.
I Hope though, and it's probably not likely, that between now and the end of January, when Boateng and Kolarov should have settled and be showing their real worth to the team, that some of us will bite their lip and just appreciate what our general direction has been since Mancini's appointment, and maybe reserve any more digs at his credibility and ability to succeed until then.
I think all those too quick to jump in screaming 'negativity', should take a step back and take a hard look at the overall picture and some very impressive work that is still in progress but clearly and addmittedly, is not yet quite finished.
We are without any doubt whatsoever, moving as a whole in the right direction and now we are so very close to the end of our rainbow, lets not let ourselves and the Club down by hounding Roberto out, cut him some slack, he has more than enough to deal with at the moment from the press and family worries.
I have just watched Mancini's post Birmingham match video, and to be honest, he's obviously starting to show signs of stress, and appears to be getting a bit pissed off with the constant abuse and regular bombardment against his name and negative tactics.
He is obviously under a lot of pressure, though most of this I'm sure is to do with his family back in Italy and his fathers ill health, but the biggest dissaster to hit this Club since Mercer left, would be to see him lose enough faith in his Clubs supporters and to walk away, giving priority to his family, a decision many of us would take, if in his shoes, I'm sure.
I must be honest and say when Mancini was appointed manager of our great Club, I didn't know enough about him as a person, player or manager, to comment on how good a job he might be capable of doing.
He had a difficult start with a lot of negativity attached to the club, a backroom staff brought in by Hughes and still loyal to him, players who had been aquired by Hughes, some like Bellamy were outspoken and I'm sure made life in the dressing room very uncomfortable for Mancini in the first few months.
Mancini, I now believe, is a great man, not just in his footballing attributes, but in his life as a whole, morally decent, family orientated and someone who has not just commanded respect, but who has earnt it wherever he has been since his emergence as a footballing genius.
He's a lot tougher than most appreciate and will never be seen to shy away from making what must be tough decisions, as has been clearly demonstrated in the cases of Bellamy and Given, and though many still believe he made a mistake in moving Bellamy on, none of us are privy to what went on between the two whilst Roberto was trying to settle and get his feet under the table.
Undoubtedly there is currently more respect and cohesion in our dressing room, than has been seen at the Club for many years, and the professionalism and attitude shown by the likes of Boateng, Kompany, De Jong, Kolarov, Vierra and the Toure brothers, must provide a shining example to those less in control of their emotions and with possibly less maturity, certainly in the cases of Hart, Johnson and Balotelli, and even to some extent with Tevez and SWP.
There has been much made of his overly defensive tactics, but most of this I'm certain, is simply because, though we all deep down would love to be able to watch the very naive open expansive attacking play we witnessed here in the sixties and seventies, like it or not, the game has developed and that sort of gung ho approach in todays premiership would be suicidal.
When Mancini arrived our defence could be described as mediocre at best and didn't appear to have any proper order, discipline or cohesion, they didn't seem capable of working as a unit, looking likely to be opened up easily by quite ordinary teams. We could'nt have imagined that this aspect could have moved forward and developed as much as we have seen in a matter of months, not years, and are now at a stage where we are considered the third best defence in Europe. This was Mancini's first building block, and like it or not, it was clearly one that quite rightly had to take precidence.
Platt, though not well thought of by many on here, is according to most knowledgable sources, a brilliant coach and recently was quoted as suggesting that anyone thinking Mancini's main focus is a defensive one, could not be further from the truth, and though his defense of Mancini might be expected, I believe once the defensive part of the team is complete and it's very close to that now, we will see a change with the focus switching to a more offensive tact.
I have regularly read the negative comments from all and sundry about all of our defensive midfielders, and heard the same thing immediately after the Birmingham game, walking away from the game, but in all honesty, we only have De Jong who could be correctly labelled as such. That doesn't mean that Vierra, Barry and Yaya aren't able to assist in the defensive element when required, they are, however they offer as much if not more going forward.
Tevez, Silva, Johnson, Balotelli and quite peobably another top drawer striker in January, backed by a wealth of midfield strength in Yaya, Barry, Milner and others, will I'm sure eventually forge a tough and ruthless spearhead who can play with poise or power, pace or movement, depending on the opponents, but when the masterplan is finished, I'm pretty sure, we'll be as attacking a team as any of us could wish for.
I Hope though, and it's probably not likely, that between now and the end of January, when Boateng and Kolarov should have settled and be showing their real worth to the team, that some of us will bite their lip and just appreciate what our general direction has been since Mancini's appointment, and maybe reserve any more digs at his credibility and ability to succeed until then.
I think all those too quick to jump in screaming 'negativity', should take a step back and take a hard look at the overall picture and some very impressive work that is still in progress but clearly and addmittedly, is not yet quite finished.
We are without any doubt whatsoever, moving as a whole in the right direction and now we are so very close to the end of our rainbow, lets not let ourselves and the Club down by hounding Roberto out, cut him some slack, he has more than enough to deal with at the moment from the press and family worries.