Roberto Mancini - next Italy manager

[malg]

I fucking loved him for what he did for our club and our supporters and I always will.

Bang on.

 

[Deleted member 77198]

I fucking loved him for what he did for our club and our supporters and I always will.

 

[petrusha]

Zenit down to fifth after losing at Lokomotiv today, and it will take improbable slip-ups from rivals for the St Petersburg club to have any chance of clinching a CL spot. Loko scored the only goal of the game in the 87th minute, bringing them the three points they needed to clinch a first title since 2004.

To be honest, Loko deserved the win today and are worthy champions. Mancini, meanwhile, probably can't wait to get away and into the Italy job.

 

[PannickAtTheDisco]

lucky to get the Italy job really, sounds like he's done an abysmal job at Zenit.

 

[petrusha]

Just to illustrate how badly wrong things have gone for Mancini at Zenit, here's a tweet containing stats translated from a Russian website. Saul is a Leicester fan who used to live in St Petersburg and follows Zenit, as well as writing about Russian football for outlets including When Saturday Comes:

 

[buckshot]

I read today that Mancini being appointed Italy's new coach could mean that Mad Mario could get a recall. I'd love to see them reunited on the world stage.

 

[petrusha]

The Tweet references a report in the Italian sports paper Gazzetta dello Sport, and reads: "The lawyer of #Mancini in talks with Zenit to free up the coach and allow him to sign a contract with the [Italian FA]. Decisive hours for the national team bench."

Would be surprised if Zenit have much problem with this. Indeed, given that he's presided over the worst league finish for a decade despite heavy spending and his position thus seems to be widely regarded as untenable, you'd have thought they'd jump at any opportunity to terminate his reported 3-year contract without having to pay him off.

His last game in St Petersburg kicks off at 2 pm local time (noon in the UK) on Sunday against SKA Khabarovsk, who are already relegated. He really should sign off with a win against opponents who have 13 points from 29 games and have found the step up after promotion well beyond them. However, whatever happens, Zenit can't now finish in any position other than fifth (meaning they gain entry to the Europa League qualifiers, but disappointingly miss out on the CL for a third successive year).

 

[Chris in London]

All of which makes you wonder if bobby was lined up for the Italy job since the Sweden debacle and has been on the beach ever since?

 

[petrusha]

I'll do some more next week on why he failed, when I wrap up my updates on Bob's time in Russia. I don't think he was lined up for the Italy job for the last six months, because reliable Italian sources have suggested that, for most of the intervening period, they were conducting a process that involved talking to candidates other than him. But I certainly think that things changed six months ago for Mancini, in terms of his preferred view of the future, with the availability of the Italian national job.

I think that has been a factor in his performance. It's not the only one and I personally suspect it wasn't the main one, but it's certainly contributed IMO.

 

[cleavers]

Left Zenit by mutual consent.