Pellegrini Thread

[blueinsa]

He's an absolute gentleman and a class act, he repeatedly rises above the gutter press and the swipes by other managers and I think people are starting to notice. The way he complimented Blackburn was great, making friends all over the place.

This, just this and i will add he is one hell of a football manager to boot ;-)

 

[aguero93:20]

I don't support Manchester City, but it is very clear to anyone that he is the best coach in the Premier League right now. I love watching City play and it is mostly due to Pellegrini. Anyone who followed La Liga knew his pedigree and now the morons who didn't see that are witnessing how great his teams can play.

I would love to see City win the domestic treble.

The thing I find refreshing is that Pellegrini doesn't get involved in mind games, doesn't have swipes at other teams, and doesn't hold anyone to blame but himself for reverses.

Agreed. I liked his response to Mourinho earlier this season when he was poking fun at how Pellegrini managed Malága; I thought it was very respectful and dignified. There was an article about how MP had left his family in Chile to manage European football sides (etc.) and it shows how good of a person he is, not just as a coach.

Great man, great coach.

Where are you from C Velz? Spain?

 

[cleavers]

We might have 99 goals already, but has there ever been a team to score such a variety, and quantity of fine goals.

Last night again both Dzeko's and Negredo's 2nd, were particularly good goals, good team goals, and difficult finishes all three.

 

[supercity88]

I don't think I have ever come across a manager that has been able to keep such a large squad of talented players happy. It is clear from the mentality and results that despite making several changes before games the players are still happy to perform for him. He stood out in the rain for the entire game last night just watching and being hugely involved. He has an ability to make people like him. He always talks highly of the players no matter what their role is in the side. I like his quiet confidence, why not talk about the quadruple - no one expects it, but we should talk about going for it. He just says all the right things!

Would also like to say how fantastic Milner was last night, perfect captain. The end product wasnt there in the first half from him but his determination and energy was fantastic. Played some excellent passes in the second half both with his left and right foot and was good to see him put an arm around Huws after the 5th goal and give him a positive chat. Great to have a player like that within the squad giving players a boost. Negredo too has a great attitude, applauding players involved in the build up to his goals, applauding attempted passes etc. The attitude from everyone this season has been brilliant. When you have such a vast squad, ahead of a World Cup you have even more issues generally. Lescott has kept his head down and worked hard when he could be forgiven for voicing frustrations with the World Cup looming and his place in the squad looking less and less likely.

 

[BlueRockape]

I would love to know what their manager said in his ear at the end, it brought a smile to both of them

 

[Anonymous]

I don't think I have ever come across a manager that has been able to keep such a large squad of talented players happy. It is clear from the mentality and results that despite making several changes before games the players are still happy to perform for him. He stood out in the rain for the entire game last night just watching and being hugely involved. He has an ability to make people like him. He always talks highly of the players no matter what their role is in the side. I like his quiet confidence, why not talk about the quadruple - no one expects it, but we should talk about going for it. He just says all the right things!

Absolutely. Great post that mate. As far as I'm concerned there aren't enough superlatives to describe the job which Pellegrini has done and continues to do. From the glaringly obvious man management things to the subtle tactical and coaching things which have improved the players individually as well as collectively.

We will won man trophies with him and this squad, lets hope one of them is this season's PL because that would be as I've said one fuck of an enormous achievement. Particularly with Mourinho gunning for us on an almost weekly basis and trying to ratchet up the pressure.

 

[adrianr]

Nice little bit about him in the Indy this morning. Basically telling Mourinho not to bother with the mind games as he's made of much sterner stuff. Advice I hope he takes, because it's transparent in the extreme along with being incredibly dull. Still, any excuse to get himself in the media I suppose.

 

[Anonymous]

Nice little bit about him in the Indy this morning. Basically telling Mourinho not to bother with the mind games as he's made of much sterner stuff. Advice I hope he takes, because it's transparent in the extreme along with being incredibly dull. Still, any excuse to get himself in the media I suppose.

Pellegrini can handle Mourinho - if anything I suspect that Pellegrini gets under Mourinho's skin more than the other way round.

We owe Chelsea anyway after what happened at SB earlier this season.

 

[petrusha]

When Pellegrini was first publicly linked with City in the early part of 2013, I was moved to write a very long post trying to rebut some of the inevitable posts along the lines that he'd be a major step down in quality from Mancini. However, I must say that he's doing better at the moment than even I would have expected.

Incidentally, on Twitter I follow Norman Giller, who's a Spurs-supporting retired journalist (once chief football writer of the Express when it had a ciruclation of four million). He writes a weekly column for the Sports Journalists' Association website, and this week wrote about his experiences with Twitter trolls as well as Alan Pardew's abuse of Pellegrini. I've reproduced the first half of the column below because that's what's relevant to this thread, underlining a couple of bits which particularly caught my interest. If anyone wants to see the full piece, it's here: http://www.sportsjournalists.co.uk/...ered-online-uncle-normans-a-victim-of-trolls/

Emphasises what a decent man we have at the helm of our club. Exactly the kind of figurehead that Sheikh Mansour and other key stakeholders in Abu Dhabi would want us to have - and playing erxactly the kind of football they'd like us to play, to boot. Good times ahead, fellow Blues.

Battered online, “Uncle” Norman’s a victim of trolls

Beware. The following column refers to some “industrial” language – from the football industry - as NORMAN GILLER reports on the insults and threats he has been subjected to by internet trolls

Manuel Pellegrini and I both suffered the ignominy this week of being called – and I quote – a “f***ing old c***” – “flipping old coach”, as one national newspaper put it.

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew, who always shoots from the lip, had to apologise for his touchline verbal assault on the Manchester City boss. I will not get an apology from the anonymous low-life who used the same description of me during an unpleasant exchange on Twitter.

The “f***ing c***” bit Manuel and I can handle. It’s the “old” that hurts.

I wonder if Pardew ever saw Pellegrini play? I did, for Chile in the 1980s. He was a granite-hard centre-half who took no prisoners.

Pardew would have found him a real handful. Sorry Al, but he was a much more formidable force than you during your days as a player with Palace and Charlton. You would have been taking your life in your hands if you had called him that back then.

But now he’s “old”, I suppose it’s all right to take liberties. I think Pardew should be hauled before the FA disciplinary committee for being ageist.

The thing about the disallowed “offside” goal that sent the Newcastle manager potty is that if it had happened at the other end of the pitch he would have been equally mad.

If an attacking player is standing unattended in the six-yard box how can that not be interfering with play? Unless the goalkeeper is wearing blinkers he has to be in his range of vision.

In my day – don’t forget, I’m an old git – sharp-reflex players like Greavsie, Denis Law and Sniffer Clarke used to continually have goals ruled offside by just a fraction that caused a lot of friction. Goodness knows what they think when they see the loose use of the offside law in today’s game.

As dear old Bill Shankly famously said; ‘If a player is not interfering with play and seeking to gain an advantage, then he should be. If he’s not trying to interfere with play what the f*** is he doing on the pitch?”

Notice the deliberate use there of the asterisks. That’s the way we used to do it, but many nationals went full throttle on the Pardew touchline outburst.

The C word used to be verboten in newspapers. But now it is becoming almost as acceptable as the F bomb. A sure sign that I really am becoming old.

The only time I have written about Pelegrini previously was when, in the mid-1980s, he retired prematurely at the age of 33 following the horrendous Algarrobo earthquake that killed hundreds, injured thousands and wrecked cities.

Manuel was a qualified civil engineer and decided his duty was helping to rebuild his beloved land, and so he hung up his boots and got his hands dirty doing volunteer work. He is a good man and I am quietly delighted that he is doing so well at City. Not bad for a “f***ing old c***”.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

I don't think I have ever come across a manager that has been able to keep such a large squad of talented players happy. It is clear from the mentality and results that despite making several changes before games the players are still happy to perform for him. He stood out in the rain for the entire game last night just watching and being hugely involved. He has an ability to make people like him. He always talks highly of the players no matter what their role is in the side. I like his quiet confidence, why not talk about the quadruple - no one expects it, but we should talk about going for it. He just says all the right things!

Would also like to say how fantastic Milner was last night, perfect captain. The end product wasnt there in the first half from him but his determination and energy was fantastic. Played some excellent passes in the second half both with his left and right foot and was good to see him put an arm around Huws after the 5th goal and give him a positive chat. Great to have a player like that within the squad giving players a boost. Negredo too has a great attitude, applauding players involved in the build up to his goals, applauding attempted passes etc. The attitude from everyone this season has been brilliant. When you have such a vast squad, ahead of a World Cup you have even more issues generally. Lescott has kept his head down and worked hard when he could be forgiven for voicing frustrations with the World Cup looming and his place in the squad looking less and less likely.

If we needed another reason to go out to win all the cup games, it is this: the fact that we are in all the trophies gives him a chance to give players games. He's clearly balanced this with making sure we put out a team good enough to win even the easiest games, and bolstering it with big players on the bench. The injury situation has also meant he has needed the whole squad.

He has given players who's form has dipped games to put it right, and we have seen this improve players like dzeko, clichy, lescott and Garcia. He's not one of these 'one bad games and you're out on your arse' type managers at all. There can't be a player in the squad who doesn't think they have been given a crack of the whip. And that belief in themselves he has fostered, and belief that if they put the effort in he will back them, is glaringly obvious in the way they interact.

He's exactly what this club needed and massive praise is due to txiki, soriano, Khaldoon and whoever else recognised that and took the call. The appointment of Pellegrini looked a bit left field in the summer but it's increasingly looking like a master stroke.