Mancini

[Socrates]

This is stupid. Mancini was never under orders to win the league this season, just to move another step closer. That's what we have already done, no matter what happens.

Coming second (Like we basically did last season) and out of every cup or not even close to a cup final will be a shocking state of affairs and questions will be rightly asked !

Sides need to be built. You bring in the best players you can at the time, you find out what they do, you shift out the ones who aren't up to the job & you do the same again with the players brought in to replace them until you slve all the problems. Once you've done that, if it's still not right, you look at the manager.

We never even get close to that stage.

And when we get there we still might lose at Everton...

[carl_feedthegoat]

This is stupid. Mancini was never under orders to win the league this season, just to move another step closer. That's what we have already done, no matter what happens.

well said!

Bolloks.

If we come second and get nowhere near winning the Europa cup then he deserves a slagging off and a slap.

[trueblue64]

I think his job will be safe.

[Ted Hughes]

This is stupid. Mancini was never under orders to win the league this season, just to move another step closer. That's what we have already done, no matter what happens.

well said!

Bolloks.

If we come second and get nowhere near winning the Europa cup then he deserves a slagging off and a slap.

Second was perfectly acceptable to me at the start. I can have a good moan about what's right or wrong in these games but I'm still delighted about the general course we are on. It's frustrating that we lose to shite like Everton but it's commonplace in football that this kind of shit happens when you're putting a team together. The whole country has been trying to get our players to lose their composure but one day that will cease to work.

[carl_feedthegoat]

This is stupid. Mancini was never under orders to win the league this season, just to move another step closer. That's what we have already done, no matter what happens.

well said!

Bolloks.

If we come second and get nowhere near winning the Europa cup then he deserves a slagging off and a slap.

Second was perfectly acceptable to me at the start. I can have a good moan about what's right or wrong in these games but I'm still delighted about the general course we are on. It's frustrating that we lose to shite like Everton but it's commonplace in football that this kind of shit happens when you're putting a team together. The whole country has been trying to get our players to lose their composure but one day that will cease to work.

The same position as last year is acceptable to you and no cup run ?

Doubt that will be ok for the owners...and no.. I'm not saying sack him... I'm saying it wont be acceptable.

[Ted Hughes]

It's not the same position as last year. Last year we were fucking shite for a lot of the season, scared to attack teams & playing to nick 4th place. Now we are THE team to beat in the Premier League & are still top.

It's a different world when you have to win every single game rather than just do a bit better than the team who comes 5th.

[carl_feedthegoat]

It's not the same position as last year. Last year we were fucking shite for a lot of the season, scared to attack teams & playing to nick 4th place. Now we are THE team to beat in the Premier League & are still top.

It's a different world when you have to win every single game rather than just do a bit better than the team who comes 5th.

We have been playing shit more often than not over the last 8 games...if this carries on then we will be in the fucking shit.

[Ted Hughes]

It's not the same position as last year. Last year we were fucking shite for a lot of the season, scared to attack teams & playing to nick 4th place. Now we are THE team to beat in the Premier League & are still top.

It's a different world when you have to win every single game rather than just do a bit better than the team who comes 5th.

We have been playing shit more often than not over the last 8 games...if this carries on then we will be in the fucking shit.

We've been shit away from home, not at home. If not for agent Savic, Spurs would have been fucking buried last week; we matched them, looked at them then ripped them open. We were starting to hit top form just when he intervened. We've not been the same away from home since the rags. That's because we're now the team to beat imo, & haven't come to terms with it.

[carl_feedthegoat]

It's not the same position as last year. Last year we were fucking shite for a lot of the season, scared to attack teams & playing to nick 4th place. Now we are THE team to beat in the Premier League & are still top.

It's a different world when you have to win every single game rather than just do a bit better than the team who comes 5th.

We have been playing shit more often than not over the last 8 games...if this carries on then we will be in the fucking shit.

We've been shit away from home, not at home. If not for agent Savic, Spurs would have been fucking buried last week; we matched them, looked at them then ripped them open. We were starting to hit top form just when he intervened. We've not been the same away from home since the rags. That's because we're now the team to beat imo, & haven't come to terms with it.

I dont disagree.....I want Mancini to do something about it...and I reckon he will.

[Ted Hughes]

It's not the same position as last year. Last year we were fucking shite for a lot of the season, scared to attack teams & playing to nick 4th place. Now we are THE team to beat in the Premier League & are still top.

It's a different world when you have to win every single game rather than just do a bit better than the team who comes 5th.

We have been playing shit more often than not over the last 8 games...if this carries on then we will be in the fucking shit.

We've been shit away from home, not at home. If not for agent Savic, Spurs would have been fucking buried last week; we matched them, looked at them then ripped them open. We were starting to hit top form just when he intervened. We've not been the same away from home since the rags. That's because we're now the team to beat imo, & haven't come to terms with it.

I dont disagree.....I want Mancini to do something about it...and I reckon he will.

I hope so but it's down to the players in the end. If their arses go, he can't do much about it apart from send them out well prepared. We cant just form up like the Roman guard & nick a point like we did last season, the players have to express themselves. Perhaps Yaya coming back will give them an artificial psychological boost even though we were shit away from home when he was still here.

A juicy signing in this window would have possibly solved all this.

[The Original Special One]

A juicy signing in this window would have possibly solved all this.

I'm glad we didn't: somebody had to cry stop
We've signed enough good players, or enough players that Mancini wanted, that they have to deliver.

[Lee_R]

He'll at least learn that having african nations players as your 'main man' doesnt work. However i would have already thought about this if I was playing football manager.

[The Original Special One]

He'll at least learn that having african nations players as your 'main man' doesnt work. However i would have already thought about this if I was playing football manager.

I suppose he would have factored that into his calculations when signing Ya Ya

[Ted Hughes]

A juicy signing in this window would have possibly solved all this.

I'm glad we didn't: somebody had to cry stop
We've signed enough good players, or enough players that Mancini wanted, that they have to deliver.

They have delivered pretty well for a new squad. Much much better than when Ferguson 1st put his team full of expensive signings together.

Bob didn't sign all the players & we still have holes in the squad; it's still not balanced. Also some are not as good as hoped & need replacing.

[The Original Special One]

A juicy signing in this window would have possibly solved all this.

I'm glad we didn't: somebody had to cry stop
We've signed enough good players, or enough players that Mancini wanted, that they have to deliver.

They have delivered pretty well for a new squad. Much much better than when Ferguson 1st put his team full of expensive signings together.

Bob didn't sign all the players & we still have holes in the squad; it's still not balanced. Also some are not as good as hoped & need replacing.

Yeah, but my point is that enough of them have been with him for long enough; if we keep having this 'crutch' to fall back on, this will give the players enough of an excuse.
Or Mancini, although I've backed him all the way
But this is where they prove themselves as men
As well as players

Wouldn't have it any other way

[kinkylola]

i agree that we have bought enough and that our team, on paper ... is stronger than most in the league as a whole.

We have the ability to outclass any opponent on the day and we shouldn't have to buy buy buy every window. Time for players and manager to prove their mettle ... I think mancini will need to shake things up a bit as our standard formation may have been sussed a bit.

[Douglas Higginbottom]

i agree that we have bought enough and that our team, on paper ... is stronger than most in the league as a whole.

We have the ability to outclass any opponent on the day and we shouldn't have to buy buy buy every window. Time for players and manager to prove their mettle ... I think mancini will need to shake things up a bit as our standard formation may have been sussed a bit.

There is no doubt at all imo that are style of play,tactics have been sussed and teams are clearly setting themselves to let us have the ball and mass the defence and in particular the central area. It's a bit like how teams went up against the good Arsenal sides who pass (overpassed) the ball for fun.When we play at our best we can still take sides and grind them down,create chances and generally find a way through.But it can take time and we have to be careful at the back not to let them in with a sucker punch a la last night.

We have been struggling of late and the results clearly show it by going out of two cups and the away games at WBA,Sunderland/Chelsea even at Wigan and now Everton.That's 7 games in this period where we have looked distinctly below par. So after the Everton game Mancini has blamed himself but for what exactly?

He suggested he prepared the team badly as he thought it would be easier.Maybe he is trying to take the heat off the players but it's left me confused.From watching the training I certainly couldnt see anything different ,no less effort going in,no less purpose in what they were doing but somehow I guess he is saying that he lead the team to believe that they would just win against Everton as long as they turned up.

Maybe with Vinnie coming back they thought it would solve all the problems and a win would just happen. But is that the reason Barry chose to have his worst game of the season and become unable to find a City player with a pass and I don't think he was alone in being badly off form? Was there less effort than usual? There were times when I thought the running and effort seemed just fine but others where it was really lacking and the movement off the ball was just terrible.There needs to be constant movement and options for the guy on the ball and they weren't there last night.

I do think Yaya is a massive miss because he is a leader in the middle of the park and he tends to dictate the way we play. Slow and controlled at times but he alone seems to have the ability to lift the side when it's needed and push us forward.I have to say I would have expected more from Silva last night.I wanted him to come for the ball and try to be involved constantly to dictate the play and demand the movement from the rest of the team.He can do it but I didnt see it last night and with the 2 strikers largely shackled and making poor decisons when they did have a glimmer of hope we were seriously lacking as a threat.

So it's back to the training ground for Mancini to lift the players and maybe come up with an approach to dealing with the defensive outlook that every team will adopt against us.

[johnny crossan]

i agree that we have bought enough and that our team, on paper ... is stronger than most in the league as a whole.
We have the ability to outclass any opponent on the day and we shouldn't have to buy buy buy every window. Time for players and manager to prove their mettle ... I think mancini will need to shake things up a bit as our standard formation may have been sussed a bit.

There is no doubt at all imo that are style of play,tactics have been sussed and teams are clearly setting themselves to let us have the ball and mass the defence and in particular the central area. It's a bit like how teams went up against the good Arsenal sides who pass (overpassed) the ball for fun.When we play at our best we can still take sides and grind them down,create chances and generally find a way through.But it can take time and we have to be careful at the back not to let them in with a sucker punch a la last night.
We have been struggling of late and the results clearly show it by going out of two cups and the away games at WBA,Sunderland/Chelsea even at Wigan and now Everton.That's 7 games in this period where we have looked distinctly below par. So after the Everton game Mancini has blamed himself but for what exactly?
He suggested he prepared the team badly as he thought it would be easier.Maybe he is trying to take the heat off the players but it's left me confused.From watching the training I certainly couldnt see anything different ,no less effort going in,no less purpose in what they were doing but somehow I guess he is saying that he lead the team to believe that they would just win against Everton as long as they turned up.

Maybe with Vinnie coming back they thought it would solve all the problems and a win would just happen. But is that the reason Barry chose to have his worst game of the season and become unable to find a City player with a pass and I don't think he was alone in being badly off form? Was there less effort than usual? There were times when I thought the running and effort seemed just fine but others where it was really lacking and the movement off the ball was just terrible.There needs to be constant movement and options for the guy on the ball and they weren't there last night.
I do think Yaya is a massive miss because he is a leader in the middle of the park and he tends to dictate the way we play. Slow and controlled at times but he alone seems to have the ability to lift the side when it's needed and push us forward.I have to say I would have expected more from Silva last night.I wanted him to come for the ball and try to be involved constantly to dictate the play and demand the movement from the rest of the team.He can do it but I didnt see it last night and with the 2 strikers largely shackled and making poor decisons when they did have a glimmer of hope we were seriously lacking as a threat.
So it's back to the training ground for Mancini to lift the players and maybe come up with an approach to dealing with the defensive outlook that every team will adopt against us.

Bob's looking pretty unhappy in this Telegraph picture. We know he thinks that player preparation is all important and I look forward to Doug's reports from the next few Carrington sessions. Serious times.

[Douglas Higginbottom]

I am not going along today which will largely be a warm down day but no doubt also a day for reflections after a poor night.How much time the management spend with the team talking about it would be interesting.Or would the management team talk more within themselves to consider what next to lift things.

I would say that's the most down I have seen Mancini look after a game and it will be fuel to the media fire that he/we are feeling the strain. Nothing that a good couple of wins won't put right.We hit a low at Liverpool last season and then finished superbly so we need the same again from here.Vinnie I am sure will step up as I believe he did in the run in last season.

[Nijinsky]

I am not going along today which will largely be a warm down day but no doubt also a day for reflections after a poor night.How much time the management spend with the team talking about it would be interesting.Or would the management team talk more within themselves to consider what next to lift things.

I would say that's the most down I have seen Mancini look after a game and it will be fuel to the media fire that he/we are feeling the strain. Nothing that a good couple of wins won't put right.We hit a low at Liverpool last season and then finished superbly so we need the same again from here.Vinnie I am sure will step up as I believe he did in the run in last season.

Absolutely right Doug, let's hope we push on from here.. a low last night but as you say, nothing a couple of good wins won't put right.

We can't look too far past Fulham, but United do now have to go to Chelsea and Spurs with Liverpool at home in between