IF We Finish 6th Do You Think Mancini Should Get the Chop?

[Kladze]

Ridiculous time to be even discussing this in my opinion.

We are about to embark on two home games which will, most likely, define our season and, as another poster has said, probability says we should win them both. However, even given the best possible outcome we are in the midst of a goalkeeping crisis. Goalkeeping crises have a nasty habit of engulfing the whole back four and beyond ..... so we may well finish sixth - who knows as yet?

If that were to be the case should we blame Mancini or should we blame the lack of foresight shown by the club as a whole?
In any event, I'd like to see the fella given the start of a new season, having had the opportunity to bring in players in the positions he identifies as problematic. Then it will be down to results AND performances - if he continues to send out his players with an inferiority complex (ie. a licence to bore') then he'll need to have a team winning several trophies to keep me happy.

[Original Dub]

For me its not all about where we finish neccessarily... there's going to be a small difference between fourth and sixth in the end so I wouldn't hang the guy over that.

HOWEVER, if we finish sixth (now that we've gotten to where we are), it will mean he is not capable of beating the top teams in this league because us finishing sixth will probably mean we couldn't beat spurs and Villa in a very important game and that will add to every other top eight side barring Chelsea (also the only ones we've scored a goal against in the league so far!)

I have reservations about his brand of football at times, I also have reservations about his tactics and how he seems scared to go toe to toe with the big boys.

So I will be delighted if we get fourth, not only for champions league, but it will have proven that he has the bottle to go at the big boys and get his team a win under big pressure, which I haven't seen so far.

If he is determined to be a defensive manager (and we do bottle it AGAIN against Spurs and Villa), then I really don't want him here because I don't want to watch defensive football indefinitely and also because the current team are a fantastic attacking side, so he'd probably have to rebuild it in his mould. I'd probably rather we got in a more fluid, passing manager who in all fairness wouldn't have fuck all re-building to do because the team is already there, minus a quality playmaker and finisher.

I suppose in the roundabout kind of way, I'm saying yes, give him the bullet if we finish 6th, but not because 6th is a disgrace.... because we limped there, mostly with boring football, when it was there for the taking.

[Mark (Blue Army)]

For me no he shouldn't be gone if we end up 6th. We can't just keep choping and changing everytime the manager dosn't reach his target.

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

Just out of curiosity. What do you think? That is certainly something many people have hinted in past months but where do you stand now?

I sure hope you have answered 'Yes' to this one mate as you weren't budging from 4th under Hughes?

For me, I'd say 'No' as I was expecting a Top 6, never mind the battle for 4th.

Eh? I said numerous of occasions that my season expectations were 5th and good push for 4th with a cup run. Don't start making up stuff.

[Original Dub]

Just out of curiosity. What do you think? That is certainly something many people have hinted in past months but where do you stand now?

I sure hope you have answered 'Yes' to this one mate as you weren't budging from 4th under Hughes?

For me, I'd say 'No' as I was expecting a Top 6, never mind the battle for 4th.

Eh? I said numerous of occasions that my season expectations were 5th and good push for 4th with a cup run. Don't start making up stuff.

Right so you want him gone if he finishes 6th then?

"I see no reason for changing my targets now." That's what you always say innit? :)

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

Just out of curiosity. What do you think? That is certainly something many people have hinted in past months but where do you stand now?

I sure hope you have answered 'Yes' to this one mate as you weren't budging from 4th under Hughes?

For me, I'd say 'No' as I was expecting a Top 6, never mind the battle for 4th.

Eh? I said numerous of occasions that my season expectations were 5th and good push for 4th with a cup run. Don't start making up stuff.

Right so you want him gone if he finishes 6th then?

"I see no reason for changing my targets now." That's what you always say innit? :)

No, I don't want him gone. And no, I'm not looking to change the targets either. I'll be disappointed for sure but I can understand after the 11 draws earlier in the season that it was always going to be uphill struggle.

[Beefymcfc]

Just out of curiosity. What do you think? That is certainly something many people have hinted in past months but where do you stand now?

I sure hope you have answered 'Yes' to this one mate as you weren't budging from 4th under Hughes?

For me, I'd say 'No' as I was expecting a Top 6, never mind the battle for 4th.

Eh? I said numerous of occasions that my season expectations were 5th and good push for 4th with a cup run. Don't start making up stuff.

I'm not making things up, I distinctly remember you saying that you had revised your expectations and wanted 4th under Hughes. I also seem to remember that it wasn't a cup run, but a final? If I am wrong, then I apologies, but at the same time, the question remains.

I have nothing wrong with changing targets personally and the reasoning behind this thread, but there does seem to be a lot of 'Just in case we don't make it' threads of late, which do seem to be aimed at cushioning the blow if we don't make the CL.

[Original Dub]

Just out of curiosity. What do you think? That is certainly something many people have hinted in past months but where do you stand now?

I sure hope you have answered 'Yes' to this one mate as you weren't budging from 4th under Hughes?

For me, I'd say 'No' as I was expecting a Top 6, never mind the battle for 4th.

Eh? I said numerous of occasions that my season expectations were 5th and good push for 4th with a cup run. Don't start making up stuff.

Right so you want him gone if he finishes 6th then?

"I see no reason for changing my targets now." That's what you always say innit? :)

No, I don't want him gone. And no, I'm not looking to change the targets either. I'll be disappointed for sure but I can understand after the 11 draws earlier in the season that it was always going to be uphill struggle.

Like I've said in another thread, it won't be just the 11 draws you single out, it will be ALL the previous results - the shambles against Hull, Everton twice and every top 8 side we faced (Chelsea aside) under Mancini, AS WELL as the draws you mentioned.

We'll never know if Hughes would have taken us to fourth, but the FACT is that only Mancini can fuck it up for us now. We need to win two home games against very similar opposition and then a handy away game against a poor team already safe from relegation.

If Mancini bottles it AGAIN, we can kiss fourth goodbye. We have BOTH managers to thank for putting us in the fantastic position of having champion's league in our hands.

Its ok though mate, like you, I don't have much confidence going into these games either. Like Roberto, I'm scared.

[ant london]

if he does get sacked I'd love to be a fly on the wall in the house of a couple of the revisionist historians amongst us

I'd be annoyed a fuck at City for firing him but it would be very funny to see first hand the reactions of the likes of Antti and JF!

[Beefymcfc]

This is starting to remind me of when the 'Hughes Out' campaign begun, but the opposite people defending Mancio. Or am I reading too much into it?

[Original Dub]

This is starting to remind me of when the 'Hughes Out' campaign begun, but the opposite people defending Mancio. Or am I reading too much into it?

Well after all the questions put to him, NQDP has failed to ever criticize Mancini or any manner of our performances. So he either is loving every minute of what he has seen or he is just over the moon that the last guy is gone, irrespective of how the current guy has us playing.

Anytime you're ready Antti, we're ready to hear what you DON'T like about Mancini?

[crossan]

I think we should stick with him.

[ENIAM NAM]

This is starting to remind me of when the 'Hughes Out' campaign begun, but the opposite people defending Mancio. Or am I reading too much into it?

Well after all the questions put to him, NQDP has failed to ever criticize Mancini or any manner of our performances. So he either is loving every minute of what he has seen or he is just over the moon that the last guy is gone, irrespective of how the current guy has us playing.

Anytime you're ready Antti, we're ready to hear what you DON'T like about Mancini?

I don't like the way he is still doing the scarf thing on a warm spring day!! Does that count?

[shawzy]

I want him to stay..Change has always backfired on us.

[BobKowalski]

This is starting to remind me of when the 'Hughes Out' campaign begun, but the opposite people defending Mancio. Or am I reading too much into it?

Well after all the questions put to him, NQDP has failed to ever criticize Mancini or any manner of our performances. So he either is loving every minute of what he has seen or he is just over the moon that the last guy is gone, irrespective of how the current guy has us playing.

Anytime you're ready Antti, we're ready to hear what you DON'T like about Mancini?

I don't like the way he is still doing the scarf thing on a warm spring day!! Does that count?

His interviews bore the pants off me. But then so did Hughes and Sven's.

Aside from that I am pretty happy with Mancini however I will plead the Hughes defence and say you can't really judge the manager until:

a) he has had one full season plus one proper pre season
b) Three transfer windows (summer, Jan and summer again)
c) Has his own players. And not just one or two but the whole f**king team

Happy to negotiate this down to a) only plus two transfer windows.

After all I think Mancini should be judged by a higher standard than Hughes :)

[Original Dub]

This is starting to remind me of when the 'Hughes Out' campaign begun, but the opposite people defending Mancio. Or am I reading too much into it?

Well after all the questions put to him, NQDP has failed to ever criticize Mancini or any manner of our performances. So he either is loving every minute of what he has seen or he is just over the moon that the last guy is gone, irrespective of how the current guy has us playing.

Anytime you're ready Antti, we're ready to hear what you DON'T like about Mancini?

I don't like the way he is still doing the scarf thing on a warm spring day!! Does that count?

His interviews bore the pants off me. But then so did Hughes and Sven's.

Aside from that I am pretty happy with Mancini however I will plead the Hughes defence and say you can't really judge the manager until:

a) he has had one full season plus one proper pre season
b) Three transfer windows (summer, Jan and summer again)
c) Has his own players. And not just one or two but the whole f**king team

Happy to negotiate this down to a) only plus two transfer windows.

After all I think Mancini should be judged by a higher standard than Hughes :)

Right so its jsut the interviews then. No problem whatsoever with our record against the top 8? No problem whatsoever with the manner in which we have set our stall out on a number of occasions?

And of course, you're completely positive about us getting fourth?

[Bluez]

Sixth isn't a lot worse than fifth, and both would be a failure. Whose failure, though? Mancini shouldn't be accountable for what Hughes did, and if our best players don't perform that's more about their attitude than his lack of ability. As fans, we will see for ourselves in the next three matches whether or not Mancini and the players are up for it, or whether he will have to shovel out those all too happy to take their huge wages without doing much in return. We might just see how committed Bellamy and Tevez really are.

If we finish 6th it would mean Mancini blew it, we were in a position where we were 4 points clear and needed to win 3 of our last 5 games (we still could). That is more than doable so i don't see how from the posistion we were in its now all Hughes fault. For me questions still need to be asked about playing for a draw at home against Liverpool (when they were weak) playing for a draw against Arsenal when they had Fabianski in goal (and was barely tested) and playing for a draw at home against Scum. He also lost away at Hull. My main concern though is how we could play 3 games in a couple of weeks against Stoke and couldn't work out how to beat them, I was told he is a master tactitian? Change any one of those three games against Stoke into a win and the season looks different.

Should we get rid of him though, no. At times we have looked good so lets give it more time and the chance to bring more players in. If he brings in more like Vieira though I will swiftly move to sack the dopey git.

[BobKowalski]

This is starting to remind me of when the 'Hughes Out' campaign begun, but the opposite people defending Mancio. Or am I reading too much into it?

Well after all the questions put to him, NQDP has failed to ever criticize Mancini or any manner of our performances. So he either is loving every minute of what he has seen or he is just over the moon that the last guy is gone, irrespective of how the current guy has us playing.

Anytime you're ready Antti, we're ready to hear what you DON'T like about Mancini?

I don't like the way he is still doing the scarf thing on a warm spring day!! Does that count?

His interviews bore the pants off me. But then so did Hughes and Sven's.

Aside from that I am pretty happy with Mancini however I will plead the Hughes defence and say you can't really judge the manager until:

a) he has had one full season plus one proper pre season
b) Three transfer windows (summer, Jan and summer again)
c) Has his own players. And not just one or two but the whole f**king team

Happy to negotiate this down to a) only plus two transfer windows.

After all I think Mancini should be judged by a higher standard than Hughes :)

Right so its jsut the interviews then. No problem whatsoever with our record against the top 8? No problem whatsoever with the manner in which we have set our stall out on a number of occasions?

And of course, you're completely positive about us getting fourth?

No problem with our record against the top 8 or 6 or whatever combination of teams you choose to employ. Last time I looked there where 19 other teams in the PL and its the overall points total that counts. Its football not f**king ice dancing.

No problem with the way we set our stall out. Do I think he gets it right all the time? No. Can I see where he is going with this and what he is trying to achieve? Yes. Am I excited to see what he can do after he has reshaped the squad after a full transfer window and pre season. You bet I am.

Confident of finishing 4th? I go from confident to not confident and anywhere in between on the hour every hour. Been following City too long not to know that the bitter dregs of disappointment is an all too familiar beverage.

I do think that irrespective of whether we finish 4th, 5th or 6th that next season ADUG will be expecting a serious title bid with a CL spot as a given and that Mancini (or whoever is in charge) has to deliver that so finishing outside the top 4 this season is just delaying the inevitable imo.

Damn am I looking forward to the next two games. I mean seriously in the hunt at the business end of a PL season with my bum squeaking every time I move. Never though I would see it happen. And it can only get better. The next few seasons that is. Not my bum. Thats a gonner.

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

This is starting to remind me of when the 'Hughes Out' campaign begun, but the opposite people defending Mancio. Or am I reading too much into it?

Well after all the questions put to him, NQDP has failed to ever criticize Mancini or any manner of our performances. So he either is loving every minute of what he has seen or he is just over the moon that the last guy is gone, irrespective of how the current guy has us playing.

Anytime you're ready Antti, we're ready to hear what you DON'T like about Mancini?

so far he has done well to get us into contention for fourth spot. Sixth would be bit of a disappointment but yeah, I'd rather be disappointed with Mancini than some rag bastard.

[Original Dub]

This is starting to remind me of when the 'Hughes Out' campaign begun, but the opposite people defending Mancio. Or am I reading too much into it?

Well after all the questions put to him, NQDP has failed to ever criticize Mancini or any manner of our performances. So he either is loving every minute of what he has seen or he is just over the moon that the last guy is gone, irrespective of how the current guy has us playing.

Anytime you're ready Antti, we're ready to hear what you DON'T like about Mancini?

so far he has done well to get us into contention for fourth spot. Sixth would be bit of a disappointment but yeah, I'd rather be disappointed with Mancini than some rag bastard.

No , so far THEY have done well to get us into contention for fourth spot. The rag bastard and Mancini.

At least you were man enough to tell everyone why you have never ever criticised mancini. I was beginning to think you weren't watching us play at all.

Still, try to be a bit more honest with your assessments of matches. People will be more likely to think the likes of these threads aren't complete bollox if you show a balanced view, instead of blaming everything from Mark Hughes, Spurs super form to Nigel De Jong as to why we probably won't finish fourth when its in our hands; and to why Mancini can in no way be held accountable for us throwing it all away.

Just a thought.