Pellegrini Thread

[BertTrautmann'sParachute]

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***”.

Thanks for posting that, mate.

 

[supercity88]

As long as people are able to reconcile that we can go from a quad to nada in the space of a few weeks, such are the fine margins.

Pellegrini is putting something in place that isn't about the here and now, but something which will stand us in fine stead for years to come on the trophy front.

This time last year, United were also being touted for a quad, it was stupid talk, and so it is now.

Pellegrini is the man who is giving City an identity, not a quick fix.

I think the only people worried about a "quick fix" are the trophy whores who care about little else.

Most of us can see the roots being put in place right now are about a sustained period of consistent success without the need for continual squad overhauls every 18 months.

The quick fix route is the complete opposite to what this clubs hierarchy are trying to do. The quick fix idea has been the downfall of so many clubs. Blackburn and Leeds both prime examples of that. It is nice just to be in the hunting for four trophies, we can almost guarentee a major cup final again and are into the 4th round of the FA Cup, last 16 of the Champions League and 1 point from the top of the league. Those stats in themselves are better than any of us have ever known before - at the end of the season ideally we will convert at least one of those into trophies. I am quite shocked at how quickly Pellegrini has managed to implement his style and management onto the squad, I was expecting to have to defend him and bring up the "he needs more time" argument a lot more than I have. I think when our away form was so bad at the start of the season many were annoyed by his media personality - saying very little and giving very little in the way of explanation. Now things are significantly improved we can all see that this is the case win, draw or lose. He just gets on with things and isn't drawn into mind games. Mourinho was very disrespectful in his comments about Pellegrini but as was the case following his dismissal at Real and the subsequent media criticism, he kept quiet and moved on.

It is quite clear that whilst the home Bayern defeat seemed to be the knife in which Pellegrini's critics wished to stab him with, the away victory in Munich is the victory that has galvanised the players, supporters and media alike into sitting up and taking notice. I listened to Pellegrini and read about him a lot. The quotation relating to an orchestra of players is one that stuck with a lot of us. It is the philosophy that is used to argue Real Madrid's lack of success (well success relative to what they want to achieve) over the past few years. No clearer could this philosophy be seen than with the victory in Munich, from two goals down and with such a heavily rotated squad. Finally with City we are seeing the rotation of players as opposed to the weakening of a squad. This is something I did not expect to see for several seasons. The ability to change players but get the same result is something that has seen so much joy at the swamp. How many times would you look at a rag lineup and think - the other team have a chance here - only to watch in disbelief as they were beaten comfortably by players that on paper were no better. Whilst the Bayern matches were just one off cases, I think they define quite well the shift in both our season itself, and the negative mindset many posters had.

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

As long as people are able to reconcile that we can go from a quad to nada in the space of a few weeks, such are the fine margins.

Pellegrini is putting something in place that isn't about the here and now, but something which will stand us in fine stead for years to come on the trophy front.

This time last year, United were also being touted for a quad, it was stupid talk, and so it is now.

Pellegrini is the man who is giving City an identity, not a quick fix.

The old Arsenal trick. Often the only team still left in all four competitions, then drop out of all of them in the space of a month.

Regardless of groundwork for future success, we really should be looking to win at least the League cup now. It would be the least this team deserves for the football it's produced. I'd be amazed if any side that has scored as many as we have at this point hasn't gone on to win the league too, but based on the grounds we still have to visit I'm cautiously still typical City on that one.. That said, on the subject of fine margins, wins at Spurs away and Chelsea at home would probably swing the pendulum so far in our favour our competition may just start to slip away.

I agree entirely.

It is more of a concern that the goodwill towards Pellegrini, from some, has been a little late in the day.

Less than three months ago there were pathetic threads posted on this forum calling him an old tosspot, Txiki and Soriano were destroying us from within.

That fickleness has to be replaced by a clear understanding of what Pellegrini's aims are, regardless of 0-4 trophies.

For the record, I think we will do two and desperate for one to be the league.

 

[Gordyola]

Seconded. Petrusha's posts are always worth reading.

^^^^^ Spot-on ^^^^

 

[AlthamBlue]

This is the article in todays Independent:

Analysis: Jose Mourinho mind games will not work on Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini – this is one tough cookie

Old-timer Manuel Pellegrini's skin is thicker than Yaya Touré's pay packet so it was no surprise that he made as little as he did about being abused by the Newcastle manager, Alan Pardew, at the weekend.

The word among some of his Premier League counterparts is that Manchester City's manager is not winning any popularity contests. If Sir Alex Ferguson was still in charge at United, we would probably have heard by now about how the City man never stops for a glass of Chilean red after games.

Pellegrini is as cold to fellow managers as he is flat in front of cameras and microphones, but the iceman persona and apparent immunity to provocation can only bode well for City's title run-in. There will be no Kevin Keegan "I would love it" moment when Jose Mourinho starts to crank up the mind games.

The Chelsea manager has already started poking the cage with the suggestion that the title is City's to lose because of their "vastly superior" squad. He has claimed beating City to the title this year would be his "greatest achievement" at Stamford Bridge. The David and Goliath rhetoric will continue from here until May.

But Pellegrini learnt how to bat away Mourinho curve balls in La Liga and before that honed his steely exterior in South America. Had there been extended verbals between himself and Pardew on Sunday, he could easily have told him: "You don't bother me, pal, I've had a police escort out of a Superclasico."


When he and his current assistant Ruben Cousillas took over at River Plate in 2002, he was Mr Unpopular from the start. He had replaced a club legend in Ramon Diaz and supporters had wanted another old favourite, the 1978 World Cup-winning captain Daniel Passarella, to take over.

Pellegrini did himself no favours by announcing his long-term aim was to coach the Chile national side, but he rode out the storm and delivered the title. The police escort came in the second season when things turned sour. After a defeat to bitter rivals Boca Juniors at River's El Monumental stadium, armed police had to shuffle him out of a side exit to protect him from the mob.

When he arrived in England at the start of the season, some suggested Pellegrini would not handle the pressure as he had "won nothing" – harshly discounting two Argentine championships. As a centre-back at Universidad de Chile, his critics referred to him as "El Gomero" – "the gum tree"– a phrase used in Chile to describe someone as "ornamental but not overly useful". That may have been the last time he was properly offended.

As for the "old" part of Pardew's insult, in the current managerial climate that could easily be taken as a compliment: the only coach senior to Pellegrini in the Premier League is 64-year-old Arsène Wenger and he happens to be the only manager higher placed than him in the table. Both men are aiming to the lift the trophy won last year by a 72-year-old; international football's current European and World Champion is 63-year-old Vicente Del Bosque; and last season's Champions League was won by 68-year-old Jupp Heynckes.

Old is gold at the moment, and for the title run-in cold will be gold too if it means being detached and aloof at the top of the table come the end of the season.

 

[petrusha]

The post is as insightful as I remember and your opinions are almost entirely vindicated now.

A few posts ago I made a point which your post does so much more eloquently: that huge credit has to go to txiki and soriano for this appointment. The whole club is transformed already, and it's only just begun.

I don't previously recall a situation where a technical director was as "in demand" as Txiki was after leaving Barcelona. He was linked with roles at PSG, Chelsea, et al. It's a testament to the pedigree of the guy that Guardiola talks about him as knowing more about football than "anyone else I know".

Everything I envisioned would happen with both the manager and Txiki running the football side of things is happening and we truly are a blessed football club to have Sheikh Mansour and Khaldoon running the club in the manner in which they are.

As an aside, don't think Pellegrini's been given anywhere near enough credit for his tactical acumen. Seems most people are so hung up on the binary arguments about two in midfield or two up front that they don't see the subtle changes he makes throughout games.

I was always very excited by the idea of Txiki coming here once I'd read the Graham Hunter book on Barca. The thing that struck me about Txiki's managerial choices is that he seems to know exactly what he wants from a coach and be able to identify the candidates who have the necessary qualities. Pellegrini obviously fits in terms of being able to get the team to play the type of football Txiki wants us to play; wasn't it Ferran who spoke a while back about the need to forge a footballing identity. And Pellegrini himself mentioned this recently, so it's clearly part of the remit he's been given at City. This is actually the key objective the club faces at the moment.

Success will follow - and this season, it's to be hoped. But even if we miss out on the title, lose the League Cup final, get knocked out by Barca and slip up in the FA Cup, we're currently laying the groundwork for a team that will prosper over the coming years and do so in real style. That will be reinforced by the off-field developments, too, which are happening in tandem. As well as seeing a genuinely exciting new team starting to evolve as we but by bit shake up the group that achieved our successes in 2011 and 2012, one can see the planning of the executives (away from the football side) starting to take shape as well: the training facility, stadium expansion, NYCFC and so on.

I'm now as excited as I've been at any time since the takeover. I'll be gutted if we don't win something this season because I think we've a team that deserves to but if we do miss out, that disappointment will be tempered by the prospect of better times to come and the knowledge that were building a solid foundation to ensure that future successes are more than transitory. The Barca pair seem to me to be absolutely living up to their billing and in Pelle they seem to have selected a man who fits the bill perfectly in terms of being the right coach at this time in the development of the project. :)

 

[aguero93:20]

I really like our FOC (****ing old ****)

 

[Anonymous]

For the record, I think we will do two and desperate for one to be the league.

I've said since the first day of the season that I reckon we'll win the league plus a domestic trophy.

Not sure if this is the correct thread - but I was thinking last night, qualifying for the knock out rounds of the CL has given the entire squad IMO a different mindset going into the new year. Both in our title winning season and last season I think the players were mentally effected by the early exit from the CL.

 

[adrianr]

As long as people are able to reconcile that we can go from a quad to nada in the space of a few weeks, such are the fine margins.

Pellegrini is putting something in place that isn't about the here and now, but something which will stand us in fine stead for years to come on the trophy front.

This time last year, United were also being touted for a quad, it was stupid talk, and so it is now.

Pellegrini is the man who is giving City an identity, not a quick fix.

The old Arsenal trick. Often the only team still left in all four competitions, then drop out of all of them in the space of a month.

Regardless of groundwork for future success, we really should be looking to win at least the League cup now. It would be the least this team deserves for the football it's produced. I'd be amazed if any side that has scored as many as we have at this point hasn't gone on to win the league too, but based on the grounds we still have to visit I'm cautiously still typical City on that one.. That said, on the subject of fine margins, wins at Spurs away and Chelsea at home would probably swing the pendulum so far in our favour our competition may just start to slip away.

I agree entirely.

It is more of a concern that the goodwill towards Pellegrini, from some, has been a little late in the day.

Less than three months ago there were pathetic threads posted on this forum calling him an old tosspot, Txiki and Soriano were destroying us from within.

That fickleness has to be replaced by a clear understanding of what Pellegrini's aims are, regardless of 0-4 trophies.

For the record, I think we will do two and desperate for one to be the league.

The league is always the priority for me.. Maybe when we've won it ten times I'll start shifting to the CL but there's nothing better than topping every team in the country over the course of a season.

A league and league cup double would have me so delirious I'd probably wonder in front of a bus.

 

[aguero93:20]

The old Arsenal trick. Often the only team still left in all four competitions, then drop out of all of them in the space of a month.

Regardless of groundwork for future success, we really should be looking to win at least the League cup now. It would be the least this team deserves for the football it's produced. I'd be amazed if any side that has scored as many as we have at this point hasn't gone on to win the league too, but based on the grounds we still have to visit I'm cautiously still typical City on that one.. That said, on the subject of fine margins, wins at Spurs away and Chelsea at home would probably swing the pendulum so far in our favour our competition may just start to slip away.

I agree entirely.

It is more of a concern that the goodwill towards Pellegrini, from some, has been a little late in the day.

Less than three months ago there were pathetic threads posted on this forum calling him an old tosspot, Txiki and Soriano were destroying us from within.

That fickleness has to be replaced by a clear understanding of what Pellegrini's aims are, regardless of 0-4 trophies.

For the record, I think we will do two and desperate for one to be the league.

The league is always the priority for me.. Maybe when we've won it ten times I'll start shifting to the CL but there's nothing better than topping every team in the country over the course of a season.

A league and league cup double would have me so delirious I'd probably wonder in front of a bus.

At least it might be an open-top bus and travelling quite slow!