As I stated at the time, if you read through this thread, the line "single handedly derailed the title charge" didn't come across as I'd meant it to. What I meant was that at crucial times, such as Sunderland He scored two goals in that game, what more do you want from a striker?, Arsenal He got sent off after the team was already a goal down for a second yellow for a challenge that was clumsy at best when other players on the same pitch had gotten away with worse. He should have been sent off earlier True, while certain Arsenal players got away with worse. Song on Yaya comes to mind. The first booking was never a booking and if you're on about the Song incident, it was a mistimed tackle at best and i won't be swayed by super slow mos which make incidents look worse or malicious and Stoke away You must've missed the way he was manhandled all game with the ref choosing to do fuck all about it , it was almost becoming the Mario show. Can you honestly say that he didn't piss you off at any of these times? I'm more pissed with the over the top reactions when it comes to Balotelli. Not an over the top reaction, I just say what I can clearly see when I watch my team.
I like him, I really do. I just want this brattish behaviour to stop. He went through a patch where he was turning the media onto his side. After the Noel Gallagher interview though (the timing was weird) he just seemed to start believing he was special. To be fair you have zero clue what he believes. To be fair, I never said I did. I said he SEEMED to think he was special. Fair enough. I've almost completely forgiven him but want to see him turn into the player that we know he could be and he claims to be. Another handful of incidents like last season though will see the same headlines and results. I admit the media love it when he gives them a headline but the point is that he does. Joe Hart's reaction at Arsenal let us see the frustration of the players. Everyone was frustrated because so much was at stake and it seemed the title was lost, it's normal when you lose a game. But kicking a post straight after a red card and shouting "That's your fucking boy!" isn't something we see during every 1-0 defeat. To be fair you have absolutely no idea what Joe Hart's words were no matter how much of a lip-reader you might think you are. That game was lost. Everyone was frustrated including Joe Hart, big deal! I hope you're not suggesting that that incident was somehow evidence that Balotelli is hated by his team mates because it's bollocks. The way he sloped off the pitch was disrespectful to the team. He should have jogged off quicker but that's no reason to conclude that he was purposely being disrespectful, i bet he was disappointed with himself. Not as disappointed as Mancini was with him. No one would expect the manager to be anything but that. I acknowledge that Kolarov took the ball off him at home to Sunderland but why is it that Mario is always involved. Because it's only made a big deal when it's him. He played peacemaker between Dzeko and a Sunderland player during that very game but no one remembers that.
It wasn't a knee-jerk, overreaction as you suggest Skashion. I sat with my 5 year old lad in tears when SSN said he wouldn't play for us again. He worships him. I found it hard to explain that Mancini might sell him because he acts like a dickhead. His age and background have got to be put in the past sooner or later. By background do you mean the racial abuse he's been subjected to in the past? If so, are you suggesting that that should somehow be ignored? No, I'm on about his parents, the racism, the whole shebang. I appreciate he's not had it easy but we're a football club, not a social worker. He needs to get himself sorted. Hundreds of footballers have been racially abused. Most of that is true but that doesn't change the fact that it's all part of who he is and it won't just be ''put in the past'' because you seem to think it's being used as some sort of sympathy card for him. I would dearly love him to become a City legend but simply cannot see it with the way he carries on presently.
