tolmie's hairdoo said:
Nicely written, articulate, but please credit fellow blues across all sections of our support, with the brains to think for themselves.
Certainly, that it may represent whatever majority.
Opinions are generally formulated well before the media get the chance to kick City when they are down.
They are formed on the field of play, there for all to see, backed up by a set of poor results in a particular competition, which has been the current topic for debate.
I don't consider Bobby a bad manager, but I certainly don't believe him to be a great one, as many seem to have already bracketed him.
I saw them same old arguments from those who could see that Hughes was delaying the inevitable, that he simply wasn't good enough for the next step.
People would cry, but you never get anywhere with sacking managers, he got us to the Carling Cup semi-final, etc.
Well, we certainly got somewhere by sacking him, an upgrade was available which helped our wealth to realise an FA Cup and Premier League title.
It's a little close-minded to suggest that Bobby is the full stop to this great story.
He's simply a chapter, a momentous one, but I think we are far from being a best-seller under his tenure.
He thrives on creative tension, an autocratic style, but even Ferguson has had to accept the realities of the modern game and adapt.
Simply my opinion, nothing more, but from what I have seen so far, there is a very strong likelihood we will end this season with nothing.
The Barcelonisation of our club, behind the scenes, I can't help but feel and even hope this whole 'project' set up for Pep Guardiola to become our manager one day.
Thanks for the feedback. You're right, I should have dedicated some more space to praising the loyalty the "reasonable" blues. My mistake.
Opinions, as you say, are often formed from the pitch through to the stands, but that's not enough evidence to support a case for sacking a manager in my opinion. Not when we've been performing in other areas. We need to take into account what goes on behind the scenes just as much as what happens on the pitch. Something that's not accessible to us. The board could have taken another year with Mancini and put his contract extension on the back burner until next summer to see how things went this year. I feel there is a lot of goings on, and things that have been said for a while now that we don't know about. European plans (long term plans at that) which the Sheik and Khaldoon are satisfied with, hence his summer contract extension. As you're considered by others, and generally by myself to be ITK, then perhaps you know more on the goings on behind the scenes than others, but almost everyone else doesn't have that privileged and bases many many assumptions on sheer conjecture.
The parallel with Hughes is slightly unfair as well, as Hughes was failing on all fronts, not just a perceived or suspected failure on one front. I find that one of Roberto's strengths one day, becomes his weakness the next according to certain sections of fans. A couple of examples of this;
Blaming himself for bad performances: I've read countless times that this is a trait Mourinho holds, and is considered perfect in the modern game as it relieves pressure from the players. When Bobby tries it, it's suddenly defeatist and "proves" he's clueless.
Playing cards close to his chest: We love it when things are going right and he reveals fuck all the the media (like our final games after Arsenal away last season). We love it when we're winning. When he does it after a loss, it suddenly fuels the "clueless" fire.
There are plenty more examples of this throughout his tenure, and the quick changing of minds about the benefits of a personality trait serves to benefit no one.
Didsbury Dave said:
To me the mindless, non-questioning support of the manager comes from those without huge football knowledge. Which is why they are constantly getting wound up by other opinions, including those of respected figures in the game.
Nothing will happen until the summer of course. I feel he may need to win the league to stay in tenure, though.
If "blind faith" was my MO, then I'd take up religion. My posts are not based on unquestionable following of Mancini at all, in fact that couldn't be further from the truth. I'm analytical by nature and I seek the truth based on evidence and reason. As much as I hate to draw comparisons to that lot, United are the benchmark for consistent success in the modern English game right now. When you compare the early tenures of Ferguson and Mancini, they're very similar. In fact Mancini's is better! Not just Ferguson, but other managers, almost always produce much higher standards of football than thought possible when they're given a long period of time to develop that standard.
We talk a lot on hear about Mancini's attitude and relationship with his players. To quote an earlier post of yours, you said he was "stubborn, strong and single minded." Well that is exactly the same as Ferguson. Both even become quite paternalistic with certain players (i.e Ronaldo, Beckham, Balotelli.) The only difference between the two managers (concerning these traits) is that, no one at united thinks they can beat Ferguson to get their own way so never try. He's been at the club so long he is utterly untouchable. That goes for the media as well, not just the club staff. Our club needs that faith in our manager, and the knowledge that if they want to play for our club, it's Mancini's way or the highway and not kick up a stink when things get tough blaming anyone but yourself. If in the long term Mancini fails to deliver any significant progress then we can reassess the information then. My point being that it feels foolish to make up your mind so early!
As for this obsession with having a plan B, United hardly have a plan B. In their last champions league game Ferguson spoke of a tactical revolution, employing a diamond midfield formation. It went totally to shit and they conceded 2 goals before he decided to go back to predictable old United with their wing play and hoof it in the box and hope for the best. We know diamond formations can work else where and we know Ferguson isn't a bad manager. From that we can deduce that time is needed to install a new system on a team (reference 3-5-2 at City) and that the "right" manager for any particular club isn't infallible. You don't see the media on Ferguson's back, or bullshit "no-quote" stories about how there is a back room rift because of new systems.
Not that you've mentioned it, but the back room player revolt story that is circulating the papers is such dross. The amount of players who came out saying how happy they were he signed a contract extension in the summer I find it impossible to believe they suddenly all want him gone.
To everyone else who's posted in this thread, thanks for the feedback!
