Interesting read. Well written, even if I don't agree with some parts.
We Have Consistently Lacked Leadership At Board Level
On the face of it, an assessment I agree with. However I don't agree with the specific examples you've used. I'll save the transfer side of that as you did for later. On Tevez, ultimately it was a situation which was the manager's, not anyone else's to manage. He did so by jettisoning the player which was his prerogative. Similarly I don't agree or see how a poor EDS/NexGen set up hindered our season. Neither was this a cause for our failings later in the season, nor is it really relevant to any discussion about how our season has panned out. As an example of us lacking leadership at board level I find it quite weak. We have a technical team including Marwood, Rigg, plus we have Mancini and Kidd assisting Mancini. I believe we also have a plethora of youth team coaches who's job it is to assist in developing kids.
You mention the BBC/Viera situation, but this is Vicky Kloss and her minions' domain. I'm pretty sure she is on a high six figure salary to deal with these situations, so not sure how that ties into lacking leadership at board level.
Width, Wingers and Whingers
Agree with the technical side of your assessment on the footballing side of things.
On the transfer side of things. Of course none of us are privy to what goes on behind the scenes, however I'm not prepared to accept that it's a board level fuck up that we have no wingers. Our pursuit of Sanchez was always going to be futile as long as Barcelona wanted him, which they did. If the only alternative Mancini and our scouting team could locate around Europe was Cerci then they want slapping. More likely Nasri was the alternative to Sanchez, which suggests to me that Sanchez would have been utilised no differently to the way Silva, Nasri, and to an extent AJ, have been utilised. Mancini simply doesn't play with wingers who hug the touchlines.
In fact you go on to agree with my last line above by pointing out that we have the players in the squad who can provide width if asked to play that way. They aren't so the point about Cerci/Sanchez seems moot. I haven't mentioned Vlad Weiss but letting him go out on loan was stupid.
You assessment of AJ is hugely unfair. He may not be a world class winger, but nor is he the footballing imbecile you seem to be describing.
Tevez
Again, agree with your assessment on the technical side of what Mancini was probably trying to have vis a vis big man little man etc.
I think it's fair to say the bones have been picked out of the whys and wherefores of what happened post Munich. But my opinion is that it was a situation created by Tevez and Mancini. In the first instance, Tevez acted like a moron. In the second instance Mancini let himself down hugely with his overly emotional reaction in the immediate aftermath and his assertion Tevez would never play for the club again. In the third instance the board fucked up by not bringing both men to task, telling them to shake hands and just get on with things. Tevez may well have owed everyone an apology, but if he wasn't going to give one, banishing him to train with the reserves was a bad decision for Manchester City Football Club.
Going back to the point of the blog, and the question of where did it go wrong. I accept that having Tevez around would have probably saved Aguero 10 games, but the reality is also that there was absolutely no need to play with two up top week in and week out. Mancini's job is to make the best of the tools at his disposal, and burning out Aguero/Balo was his choice, just as jettisoning Tevez was his choice. There was no need to freeze Dzeko out effectively from December onwards, only giving him sporadic games, and then dropping him again when he didn't step in and perform immediately.
Squad management is what a manager at Mancini's level gets paid millions and millions of pounds to do. In this instance he handled the Tevez situation badly, then handled Dzeko badly, and probably has handled Mario badly too because he was at his best after he'd been made to sit out the first two months of the season. It wouldn't have hurt to drop him again and give Dzeko a run of games as soon as Mario's form and performances had dropped.
Crab Footballers
Agree with all of that. It definitely had an effect on our performances post Christmas and particularly away from home and in Europe where we simply lacked any real penetration.
The Media
Meh, I'm arsed. Don't really buy into the conclusions you've drawn at all. Seems a transparent excuse when you consider it's our away form that's been a serious problem and our away support is generally top drawer. It also seems facile to suggest the players were somehow effected by the media, because that ignores the actual footballing reasons for our poor away form. If any of them were, we should get rid of them.
The Future
It'll come down to whether Mancini is in charge or not. He hasn't led the way in which a manager needs to both on and off the field IMO. He's done well in certain areas and is blessed with some wonderfully gifted footballers. But ultimately, the lack of leadership you have alluded to several times in your post lands at his doorstep.
