Had the takeover not happened, he would have been a good manager for us, as we as a club would have had similar expectations and of a level on par with Fulham.
However, he was never the manager for City once we were aiming that much higher. His managerial skills aren't at that level. (Yet?)
He did his best, and as stated elswhere, his passion during the derbies showed he wanted to beat them badly.
Anything other than a good reception would reflect badly on US, the supporters and look piss poor and give the media and our detractors more ammo.