Sacking Mancini... was there even a choice?

[BlueMoonz1977]

IMO no there was no way back for Mancini to even try and turn this one around.

We all know that the transfer window of last summer did not go as planned, however Mancini continually moaned about this fact to the press blaming the board, whilst the board members remained silent. The plus fact that the squad was actually still strong enough to retain the title this season.

Then there was the statements blaming attitude of players, the direct criticism of Vinny whilst he was away on international duty, direct criticism of Joe and others. Then there was the publicly caught pictures of Mancini fighting with Balotelli at the training ground.

There was also rumours of Sergio becoming disillusioned under the management of Mancini.

These problems with Mancini & the players can be traced back I believe to the game against Real Madrid in the Champions League game at the Bernabeu. A game which we were doing well, but tactically changed to a flat back 3 that back-fired, and a game which we ended up losing. Immediately after the game both Vinny and Joe gave an interview to the ITV pitch side reporter where they themselves stated that the decision to change to a formation they did not have a total grasp off was a basic error and failure - they did not put it as bluntly as that but effectively it was what they were getting at.

Mancini is known as a very stubborn man (and you could say that all managers are like that), he is known to be very one-dimensional in terms of it is his way and no other. Rumours also that he did not even set foot within the academy came to light which in terms of the direction the club wants to take is not great is it.

Then there was the courting of Pellegrini which over shadowed the FA Cup final. What happened there imo was out of the clubs control. yes a meeting had taken place because we know that both Txiki & Soriano wanted to bring in their own man. However this meeting was ultimately leaked by the Spanish press who were informed that this meeting had taken place by a certain Spanish club who were courting Pellegrini as well. Once they had heard that City were in deep discussions with Jesus Martinez the leak was passed to the press. This club has also been conspiring to bring charges against Soriano for the potential spying of staff members using a email software program.

This all started after the non-aggressive transfer pact supposedly agreed between Txiki, Soriano and they club was broken.

Mancini in the aftermath of all this, criticised the club again for not quashing these rumours. But the problem was is that the club would have been dammed if they did or dammed if they didn't, so they chose to remain silent.

Now there are reports stating that Vinny, Joe and Silva had threatened to quit the club unless Mancini was removed from his post as manager.

what is uncanny is the situation surrounding Mancini's departure from Inter. A game in which Inter lost against Liverpool in the CL where afterwards in press conferences Mancini publicly criticised the Inter boardroom as well. The decision to sack Mancini was taken by the president of Inter, quote :

"The most simple solution would have been to have continued with the coach with whom we won three consecutive championships.
"Nobody would have criticised me, everything would have been smooth.
"I intervened because I thought it was necessary, not against the coach, but in the interests of Inter."


So what we have here is nearly a similar situation, Our club has acted in the interests of our club. There was no way that Mancini could have turned this around.

 

[blueinsa]

IMO no there was no way back for Mancini to even try and turn this one around.

We all know that the transfer window of last summer did not go as planned, however Mancini continually moaned about this fact to the press blaming the board, whilst the board members remained silent. The plus fact that the squad was actually still strong enough to retain the title this season.

Then there was the statements blaming attitude of players, the direct criticism of Vinny whilst he was away on international duty, direct criticism of Joe and others. Then there was the publicly caught pictures of Mancini fighting with Balotelli at the training ground.

There was also rumours of Sergio becoming disillusioned under the management of Mancini.

These problems with Mancini & the players can be traced back I believe to the game against Real Madrid in the Champions League game at the Bernabeu. A game which we were doing well, but tactically changed to a flat back 3 that back-fired, and a game which we ended up losing. Immediately after the game both Vinny and Joe gave an interview to the ITV pitch side reporter where they themselves stated that the decision to change to a formation they did not have a total grasp off was a basic error and failure - they did not put it as bluntly as that but effectively it was what they were getting at.

Mancini is known as a very stubborn man (and you could say that all managers are like that), he is known to be very one-dimensional in terms of it is his way and no other. Rumours also that he did not even set foot within the academy came to light which in terms of the direction the club wants to take is not great is it.

Then there was the courting of Pellegrini which over shadowed the FA Cup final. What happened there imo was out of the clubs control. yes a meeting had taken place because we know that both Txiki & Soriano wanted to bring in their own man. However this meeting was ultimately leaked by the Spanish press who were informed that this meeting had taken place by a certain Spanish club who were courting Pellegrini as well. Once they had heard that City were in deep discussions with Jesus Martinez the leak was passed to the press. This club has also been conspiring to bring charges against Soriano for the potential spying of staff members using a email software program.

This all started after the non-aggressive transfer pact supposedly agreed between Txiki, Soriano and they club was broken.

Mancini in the aftermath of all this, criticised the club again for not quashing these rumours. But the problem was is that the club would have been dammed if they did or dammed if they didn't, so they chose to remain silent.

Now there are reports stating that Vinny, Joe and Silva had threatened to quit the club unless Mancini was removed from his post as manager.

what is uncanny is the situation surrounding Mancini's departure from Inter. A game in which Inter lost against Liverpool in the CL where afterwards in press conferences Mancini publicly criticised the Inter boardroom as well. The decision to sack Mancini was taken by the president of Inter, quote :

"The most simple solution would have been to have continued with the coach with whom we won three consecutive championships.
"Nobody would have criticised me, everything would have been smooth.
"I intervened because I thought it was necessary, not against the coach, but in the interests of Inter."


So what we have here is nearly a similar situation, Our club has acted in the interests of our club. There was no way that Mancini could have turned this around.

Excellent post that mate.

 

[bluemc1]

some are saying that had he got his targets all would be fine, well any manager in the world would of wanted RVP and Hazard so i dont get the panic that we lost Mancini, i want a manager who when he can't get his wanted players in still picks his best 11 and doesn't mess about with best defence in last 2 years. i hear all the reasons he's gone behind closed doors stuff, but sorry i just think its simple he didnt know the best way to win football matches was to pick your best players/team.
If Mancini took over from Keegan when Pearce did do you think he wins the title ? if Alan Pardew Takes over from Hughes with Half the title winning side there and another 200 whatever million to spend he might win us the FA cup ? Mancini was no genius dont worry we will be fine

 

[Marvin]

If he'd been given another year then Kompany, Yaya & Aguero would all certainly have left and probably a few others as well.

Maybe that would be a good thing. The players think they are more important than the club at the moment. Disgraceful performance. And it comes from the top.

I've supported the club for getting on for 40 years. The last couple of years have been magical. But I truly feel we have let it slip away in the last few months

 

[Exeter Blue I am here]

If he'd been given another year then Kompany, Yaya & Aguero would all certainly have left and probably a few others as well.

Maybe that would be a good thing. The players think they are more important than the club at the moment. Disgraceful performance. And it comes from the top.

I've supported the club for getting on for 40 years. The last couple of years have been magical. But I truly feel we have let it slip away in the last few months

Your loyalty (to Mancini) does you credit, but if you can't see that he might just have been the problem, despite all that's come out this week, well then I guess you never will.

I've not heard one word in support of him from any of the players since his dismissal, and whilst in some cases that might be down to the ingratitude of the individuals concerned, I refuse to believe that people like Kompany, Zabaleta, Lescott, Barry, Milner and Silva, who are both reasonable and widely respected on and off the pitch, should not have done so were there not significant problems behind the scenes, of which we might not yet even be aware.

I've used the old Don King maxim on here before, that if you're playing poker and you can't work out who the patsy is, it's you, but it seems relevant again in this instance, and it's perhaps something Roberto Mancini might one day contemplate. Managing by attrition, castigating people in public, lashing out when things go wrong, you will only get away with such behaviours for a short while and as long as things are going well. As soon as things take a turn for the worse though, you are left with anger and festering resentment. Mancini had to go. Even Khaldoon, who'd only recently given him a 5 year contract, saw it.

What City need to do now is get Pellegrini installed as quickly as possible, and have him press the flesh and sell his ideas to the players. A rudderless rumbling summer of discontent would be a disaster

 

[BobKowalski]

Well there is always a choice...but our Roberto does love a fight and the chances he would pick one fight too many were always high. But it all comes down to who runs the show and there can only be one. And thats Txiki who with Ferran won the war of 'Sheikh Mansour's Ear' and the rest is history.

We certainly had a choice in how we went about replacing Mancini which we botched in a truly impressive manner although some are keen that no blame attach to either Ferran or Txiki and it was all the fault of dastardly outsiders (yeah whatever).

All that is left now is to see how Txiki reshapes the squad which should make for an interesting summer. Pellers will be our new head coach. I keep reading he is one of the greatest coaches in world football and will cure all our ills etc etc but I like to think we are not really expecting him to deliver instant success and that he will need time and space to work. He does though inherit a squad that has finished 2nd and does have experience of winning trophies and the title so it is reasonable to expect that Pellers will at least match Mancini's domestic record and should ultimately exceed it given he is starting from a higher base line. In Europe we have no track record so any progress will be a bonus.

Still pissed off with the Cup Final though and its going to be a while before I get the taste of the shitcake that we baked that day out of my mouth. Yesterdays performance didn't help either and I don't buy the 'it didn't matter' shit. It always matters. For teams that win trophies and titles it always matters. Ending the season on a high is important. Winning the FA Cup and really ending on a high is important because when you then replace the manager it looks like part of an overall masterplan and not some fucking shambles scribbled on the back of a fag packet. The difference between looking like a smooth professional outfit and total dicks is a very fine one and and currently we look like dicks.

 

[Anonymous]

Given the debacle against Norwich, the Mancini debate will surely rage on.

Question to the Inners..... was it even possible for Mancini to turn things around next season? If yes, how?

As someone who has wanted to see the back of Mancini for a long time I'm hoping it is surely now apparent to even the most staunchest of his supporters that he simply had to go. That's not to say he shouldn't be respected for what the club achieved whilst he was in charge. He'll always be indelibly linked to City and our history. But he still had to go.

 

[moomba]

Your loyalty (to Mancini) does you credit, but if you can't see that he might just have been the problem, despite all that's come out this week, well then I guess you never will.

I've not heard one word in support of him from any of the players since his dismissal, and whilst in some cases that might be down to the ingratitude of the individuals concerned, I refuse to believe that people like Kompany, Zabaleta, Lescott, Barry, Milner and Silva, who are both reasonable and widely respected on and off the pitch, should not have done so were there not significant problems behind the scenes, of which we might not yet even be aware.

It could also be because the players have been told by the club not to publicly comment. Have players been made available for interview after either the Reading or Norwich games?

Whether the manager had to go or not, I think there are problems that won't be fixed by a change of manager. And I'm sure that the people in charge won't be thinking that Mancini is gone so everything is alright now.

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

If he'd been given another year then Kompany, Yaya & Aguero would all certainly have left and probably a few others as well.

Maybe that would be a good thing. The players think they are more important than the club at the moment. Disgraceful performance. And it comes from the top.

I've supported the club for getting on for 40 years. The last couple of years have been magical. But I truly feel we have let it slip away in the last few months

We've let it slip away since the start of the season, not just the last two months. And I agree that no player is bigger than the club and if one or two players are kicking off then it's probably desirable to deal with them for the wider good. But, as I've said before, when you've pissed off virtually everyone you have to work with, above you and below you, then the problem is much more likely to be you.

The reason managers like Moyes, Beconface & Wenger have lasted so long is that they have the ability to do the job but work with their boards, staff and players as well, forthe overall good of the club.

We have some very savvy and astute businessmen running our club and I'm sure they're not frightened of making big decisions. clearly, in getting rid of Mancini, they've made one they firmly believe is for the good of the club.

 

[Marvin]

If he'd been given another year then Kompany, Yaya & Aguero would all certainly have left and probably a few others as well.

Maybe that would be a good thing. The players think they are more important than the club at the moment. Disgraceful performance. And it comes from the top.

I've supported the club for getting on for 40 years. The last couple of years have been magical. But I truly feel we have let it slip away in the last few months

Your loyalty (to Mancini) does you credit, but if you can't see that he might just have been the problem, despite all that's come out this week, well then I guess you never will.

I've not heard one word in support of him from any of the players since his dismissal, and whilst in some cases that might be down to the ingratitude of the individuals concerned, I refuse to believe that people like Kompany, Zabaleta, Lescott, Barry, Milner and Silva, who are both reasonable and widely respected on and off the pitch, should not have done so were there not significant problems behind the scenes, of which we might not yet even be aware.

I've used the old Don King maxim on here before, that if you're playing poker and you can't work out who the patsy is, it's you, but it seems relevant again in this instance, and it's perhaps something Roberto Mancini might one day contemplate. Managing by attrition, castigating people in public, lashing out when things go wrong, you will only get away with such behaviours for a short while and as long as things are going well. As soon as things take a turn for the worse though, you are left with anger and festering resentment. Mancini had to go. Even Khaldoon, who'd only recently given him a 5 year contract, saw it.

What City need to do now is get Pellegrini installed as quickly as possible, and have him press the flesh and sell his ideas to the players. A rudderless rumbling summer of discontent would be a disaster

No, I joined the Sack the Manager brigade a week or so ago.

Which is why I was so bemused by yesterday's performance. I'd have thought we'd have seen a positive reaction from players who had got what they wanted.

A one-off listless display at Wembley played out to the back-drop of managerial machination I can understand, but maybe this has taken its toll on the mental state of the players. I'm wrecked now. Very unfortunate that we could not sign off with a win.

Maybe the players we want to keep will all return in August refreshed and the new manager will have restored the team. I don't know why, but I feel we've lost something special and we'll never get it back

 

[lucablue]

Players spitting there dummy out got Bobby the sack. What a joke. It went under the radar that most of the fans had done one me included for the lap of honer. No honer in this lot I'm sorry. When players have this much power it's wrong.

I heard Noel Gallagher say "if we need to get someone in to pamper the players then so be it, it's there club". Errrr sorry I thought it was our club, another one out of touch.

No manager over 60 has ever lasted more than one year at a big European club fact. Well be luck to get forth next year.

Club sold it's soul. The sooner fan see that we don't matter anymore then and only then can they see whats going on. Just loot at the evening news with the disabled fan.

Someone start FC City.

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

Mancini was out the door in early January.

The moment he brought Sheikh Mansour into the equation with regards Balotelli.

Hung himself.

 

[GaudinoMotors]

All the Club's spinning and misinformation going down well with the outers. Don't tell me the Club's PR isn't doing anything - a superb 8 days of black ops to help T&F's position.

 

[Gaz_blue35]

Mancini will be always be remembered by City..he took us to the 'next level' and made us disappointed when only finishing second..he needs to be thanked for that and should have been treated with much more respect and dignity by the club..however, the owners are aware that there are two or three more levels that we need to move up to..could Mancini do that? As he kept mentioning he won 7 trophies at Inter..but his Champions League record there was poor too..was it a coincidence that only two years after he left Inter won the Champions league?

I think this season he's lost the players, he's not been able to motivate them and they have no time for him..once you get to that stage can you get it back? I don't think he could..his favouritism to Balotelli alienated him against a lot of the senior players..Kompany stood with his back to Mancini in the tunnel before the cup final..that sums the manager-player relationships for me..if your captain isn't on board youre in trouble. The players must take as much blame as Mancini though, he sends them onto the pitch and then its down to them, they need to take a long hard look at themselves this summer. They got him sacked ultimately and the board made a choice of replacing one man rather than several top players. Only this time next season will we know if it was the right decision, but it always a decision that was going to be made by the club.

 

[Ifwecouldjust.......]

Had he been given his players last august we'd now be sat here with a double under our belt.he'd still be unpopular but he would still be a winner. I'd have taken that.

Cant disagree with this......Bobby Manc would've won us more trophies ..maybe not friends but who gives a flyin' fuk about that

 

[Marvin]

If he'd been given another year then Kompany, Yaya & Aguero would all certainly have left and probably a few others as well.

Maybe that would be a good thing. The players think they are more important than the club at the moment. Disgraceful performance. And it comes from the top.

I've supported the club for getting on for 40 years. The last couple of years have been magical. But I truly feel we have let it slip away in the last few months

We've let it slip away since the start of the season, not just the last two months. And I agree that no player is bigger than the club and if one or two players are kicking off then it's probably desirable to deal with them for the wider good. But, as I've said before, when you've pissed off virtually everyone you have to work with, above you and below you, then the problem is much more likely to be you.

The reason managers like Moyes, Beconface & Wenger have lasted so long is that they have the ability to do the job but work with their boards, staff and players as well, forthe overall good of the club.

We have some very savvy and astute businessmen running our club and I'm sure they're not frightened of making big decisions. clearly, in getting rid of Mancini, they've made one they firmly believe is for the good of the club.

I had come to accept that. But after seeing yesterday's performance and the FA Cup Final, it has obviously taken a very big toll on the players.

You think we can get the team spirit back after a Summer break? I reckon a good number of the better players will be looking to get away and the team spirit we had has gone. It doesn't really matter to me who was to blame. What matters is whether the new man can pick up the pieces. I know I can be a drama queen and go off the deep end when things go wrong, but I have a feeling we've reached a cathartic moment for the club from which there is no going back whatever the good intentions of those left in charge. You say they are savvy. Maybe. But why don't they communicate with the fans. I have serious doubts over them after the way this has been conducted. And even if they are the best possible people, sometimes even that is not good enough.

Tell me I'm being stupid and irrational please. The team is made from flesh and blood, and the flesh and blood is still there

 

[GaudinoMotors]

Had he been given his players last august we'd now be sat here with a double under our belt.he'd still be unpopular but he would still be a winner. I'd have taken that.

Cant disagree with this......Bobby Manc would've won us more trophies ..maybe not friends but who gives a flyin' fuk about that

Agreed - might have upset a few egos along the way - but so what? Was about time we had a manager who was bigger than the players.
I know it's all bollocks but let's suppose the player mutiny actually happened - surely even the outers would be concerned with the situation where the players get their own way.

 

[Marvin]

Given the debacle against Norwich, the Mancini debate will surely rage on.

Question to the Inners..... was it even possible for Mancini to turn things around next season? If yes, how?

As someone who has wanted to see the back of Mancini for a long time I'm hoping it is surely now apparent to even the most staunchest of his supporters that he simply had to go. That's not to say he shouldn't be respected for what the club achieved whilst he was in charge. He'll always be indelibly linked to City and our history. But he still had to go.

That may well be true. But that's in the past already for me. I'm more worried about where we are now

Perhaps it's just a question of picking up the pieces and gathering the players together and working through a pre-season together to get it all back.

 

[Anonymous]

Had he been given his players last august we'd now be sat here with a double under our belt.he'd still be unpopular but he would still be a winner. I'd have taken that.

Cant disagree with this......Bobby Manc would've won us more trophies ..maybe not friends but who gives a flyin' fuk about that

Agreed - might have upset a few egos along the way - but so what? Was about time we had a manager who was bigger than the players.
I know it's all bollocks but let's suppose the player mutiny actually happened - surely even the outers would be concerned with the situation where the players get their own way.

It's a fallacy. We won nothing this season with him, and we weren't going to get any better next season unless the owners gave Mancini 12 new players who didn't already know what he was like.

 

[BobKowalski]

Mancini was out the door in early January.

The moment he brought Sheikh Mansour into the equation with regards Balotelli.

Hung himself.

I have no idea as to the truth or otherwise of that but it stacks up. Roberto overplaying his hand is in his nature. Bless his cotton socks. The wife did say that Mario going when he did spelt the end for Mancini. She is often right in these matters. Its bloody annoying.

I miss Mario. First time in years that I have missed a player after he left. Just thought I would share.