I have enjoyed Pellegrini's time here. The first season ofcourse was the best. The League Cup and the Premier League. Beautiful winning football. Last season there were a lot of negatives, didn't win anything, but we did get the Golden Glove and Boot.
This season started amazingly. There was cause for concern, but it was still going well. Won the League Cup, hope to remember Willy Caballero's heroics for a long time. February 1st was an awesome day, I heard about the announcement virtually live, still in awe. We've seen some awful stuff since then and before, indefensible head-shaking football. I don't have enough information to judge, but I imagine it was a combination of errors by lots of people. The Champions League exit was pretty sad, but we made it two stages further than ever before and I think that's worth celebrating. I'm hopeful that we can cure some of our enduring weaknesses in future. But we just about managed to keep cool enough in the end, and we can breathe a sigh of relief.
I did enjoy Mancini's style: his flair, his passion, his humour. But I've also personally loved Pellegrini's. 99% of the time conducted himself with utmost class. His clash with Pardew and guilty comments about that Swedish ref show there is fire underneath that. I always liked how he handled the media too. Gave them nothing most of the time. Seemingly trying to escape by the last few questions. It was a shame but in a way I also liked his apparent disdain for the FA for not being kind to us with scheduling. And he has stood up for us, saying we weren't given enough credit for the League title.
Found him pretty funny too, stuttering to blurt out the same response who knows how many times, chronically bloodshot eyes, everything is "important" etc.
"Thanks for all, I will never forget you and most of all don't change... I see you"
"I don't have a shirt, because I don't play, so I gave my jacket to the fans because they deserve it".
Muchas gracias Manuel, farewell!
