I don't think people want Mancini back or are even suggesting he should not have been sacked?
It's just there are 2 managers to have managed this core of players to its the only fair comparison. Its obvious Pellegrini has been much worse than Mancini but in no way do I want Mancini back.
The board made the mistake of making the decision to sack Mancini in 2012 but then not having the balls to do it until 2013.
I fully blame blueinsa for the current state of this thread.
That record will never be beat, as someone said you went to a home game and just felt we were unbeatable, where as lately you take to your seat and feel uneasy abt every opponent.That title winning season played 19 won 18 at home. 2 points dropped all season. I do hope Pep brings that crushing inevitability of certain victory back next season.
That record will never be beat, as someone said you went to a home game and just felt we were unbeatable, where as lately you take to your seat and feel uneasy abt every opponent.
Most of this season I arrived at the ground (sat in the South Stand so we were shooting that way first) and thought "Well.. whoever we're playing are going to score first". And more often than not they did, usually to their first shot on target too.
We never seemed to start a game well this season (or rarely at home anyways that I noticed aside from the very start of the season).
The cracks began when Vinny first got injured. Those first give games of this season were pretty tantalising. The truth is though that as soon as the players came up against resistance on the pitch they bottled it. So many games where there was a pure dereliction of duty from them. That's where Pellegrini lost control of the dressing room. People go on about 442/433 blah blah blah but ultimately the points dropped that cost us the title came from some horrendous performances both individual and collective. Pellers though must carry the can for that and he is with his sacking. Still a nice guy though - amazing the Sheikh's buying him an original Lowry to say thanks. They must like him in AD.
Very good post that (apart from the 4412 formation - we've never looked like we had an extra man ;o) ).Im in two minds about yesterday. I get those that felt passionate about it enough to leave, but I do feel slightly for Pellegrini too.
Ultimately, I think a lot comes down to a disconnect between what the board wanted from him and the fanbase did. They were clearly keen on someone willing to toe the party line in public after the Mancini era, which is why all we have really heard is the repetitive mantra of being unlucky or reinforcing the (incorrect) mindset that we stick to attacking football. We as fans want to see a manager that will acknowledge substandard performances as then we have the confidence they might do something about it. Instead, he's been sticking rigidly to the party line throughout. I refuse to believe for a second that he didn't see a lot of the issues that we did as for all of his faults, he isn't that stupid.
From the lineups chosen against Southampton and Chelsea, it was clear that Pellegrini was prioritising the CL over everything else, something that would have been a direction from the board as well give the messages of thanks yesterday. Again, there was a disconnect as the league will always be the priority for the fanbase. Not for the board focussed on international profile though.
For all the tactical incompetence, he has also been dealt a bad set of cards at times too, which the poor squad building has magnified even more. There's not been that many games where a 433 was even a viable option given our lack of available players in certain positions.
He's had some players decline at a greater rate than I think him or Begiristain thought would and a transfer policy that hasn't seemed to have taken into account any other way of playing apart from the generic 4412 set up he has utilised. Couple that with injuries (the Madrid game for example, losing Silva and Kompany in either leg - we are still massively reliant on our spine and that's immediately us impacted, as it would be for most teams).
Ultimately, yesterday was for me more an indication of the disconnect from the fanbase to the board and a difference in prioritisation. Pellegrini has been, to us, the public mouthpiece for the board and as a consequence taken the lions share of the accountability despite it actually bring deeper than that.
The upshot is we have a situation where fans feel passionate enough to walk out rather than acknowledge someone that has won us a league and by all indications, stuck to what was asked of him by his employers. In that regard, I do feel sorry for him as it can't have been a nice experience.
My anger is more at the board for allowing this to happen, both in terms of the complacency and the disconnect to the fans, and ultimately Pellegrini has taken the hit for them. If anyone owes anyone an apology for yesterday, then it's the board to him.
there should be a podcast of it somewhere.
JMW (good to see you back by the way), you're just describing your personal feelings, not everyone's, certainly not mine, and walking back into town after the game yesterday, listening to other people talk, its certainly not a majority view either.Ok, 9 league defeats in 2010/11, only 2 at home.
2011/12, 5 defeats, 0 at home.
2012/13, 6 defeats, 2 at home.
2013/14 Pelle 6 defeats, 1 at home.
2014/15 7 defeats, 2 at home.
2015/16 10 defeats, 5 at home.
so 4 defeats to 8 at home in 3 seasons, plus we hadn't lost 10 league games in a season since 2008, and with a win next Sunday Pelle will beat Mancini's attempt in his first half season after taking over from Hughes by a single point. If we don't win on Sunday we will have a lower points total that at any time under Mancini.
and before people jump on me, I made a point to reference to the wider feeling around the club and my personal feelings and experiences of this season, blueinsa turned it into Mancini v Pelle. I've been going all season just as I have in recent years, and I've not felt this inevitability about being beaten as I have this season since Hughes. The club had pushed forward with an identity and a hunger and it's unraveled, and it's a club wide series of factors that in my view have pushed fans further away from the club than before. The performances and results don't translate to what the ownership say they want to achieve, the signings don't back up those ambitions, the reluctance to be radical and change things to stop the rot adds to that. The level of real involvement and connection with the fans has dropped despite what the ownership say they want and how the club wants to portray it, and our club identity has taken a pummeling despite what the club is trying to portray to the world as being "City" and #together etc. etc.
Thus, the apathy has set in, and it's not nice.