Robinho: The Substituted Substitute

[King Kev]

Firstly I would like to say that it was definately the right decision to take him off and I admire Mancini for having the bottle to do what many other managers would have been too afraid to do.

I wonder what the long-term ramifications of this will be. Have we seen the last of our most expensive ever import? Has Mancini reached the end of his tether with Robi? Has Robi been royally pissed off at being replaced? Will we see him play for us again?

[Crossie]

You know what Kev, if thats all he is going to offer us, then I hope he doesnt play for us again.

Gifted wonder boy or passenger, id far far rather have about 4/5 of our other attacking players on the pitch instead of Robinho, and I include Benjani in that 4/5

[feedthegreek]

Firstly I would like to say that it was definately the right decision to take him off and I admire Mancini for having the bottle to do what many other managers would have been too afraid to do.

I wonder what the long-term ramifications of this will be. Have we seen the last of our most expensive ever import? Has Mancini reached the end of his tether with Robi? Has Robi been royally pissed off at being replaced? Will we see him play for us again?

it was a stupid sub in the first place, bejani should have been on from the start.
also we know robbi does,nt play away from home anyway.
so bad move by mancini from the start.
it makes you wonder if theres pressure on our new gaffer to play him from
the owners. which if their is that aint good.
also why change a winning team.

[Mr Miyagi]

We had an early injury. Robbie is on the bench along with Benjani. Mancini thinks "Benjani is the obvious replacement. But I'll test out this Robinho guy and throw down the gauntlet to him. I left him out but he can now go out and prove I made the wrong decision".

I can see the psychology of it, but it just didn't work did it.

And there have been plenty of people (myself included) who have been saying Robbie should be played as one of the strikers. Use him where he can hurt the opposition most. The only thing hurt tonight is his own pride.... a sub who is subbed an hour later.... and not because of injuries....

[viking the Odd]

You know what Kev, if thats all he is going to offer us, then I hope he doesnt play for us again.

Gifted wonder boy or passenger, id far far rather have about 4/5 of our other attacking players on the pitch instead of Robinho, and I include Benjani in that 4/5

Yep, what has he done ?, Benjani tries, and that is somthing, I just can't understand why he put him on instead of rsc, it's hardly like for like, surely we need a striker now.

[ruralblue]

I have a feeling we may see him one more time in the derby this week and he will show that he doesn't have the grit to compete in this league once more. At times a maverick, a show man and a class player but this is the premiership and just to show glimpses of his full potential is not enough. However now I question who will come in for him, Barca have been tracking him but I don't think they will offer anywhere near to 32 mil. So do we carry him and possibly lose more by him starting on the bench and not doing the business when he comes on.

Right substitution and credit to Mancini for taking him back off.

[Original Dub]

Its a rarity in the modern game.

Its unique in a record signing as far as I know, so you're damn right this will have massive repurcusions... one way or the other.

He hasn't actually given us ANYTHING all season. No goals and one or two assists when we were already out of sight in a couple of games.

I know he's been injured for a chunk of the season, but he is the all time british record transfer. All time. I don't think he's in the top five players for manchester city and I think its because his heart is not in it.

Bash away folks and call me a Robinho hater. I don't hate the lad, he just shows my club a lack of commitment on several different levels and I'm starting to think I don't want him here anymore, because him playing actually makes us worse.

[King Kev]

Its a rarity in the modern game.

Its unique in a record signing as far as I know, so you're damn right this will have massive repurcusions... one way or the other.

He hasn't actually given us ANYTHING all season. No goals and one or two assists when we were already out of sight in a couple of games.

I know he's been injured for a chunk of the season, but he is the all time british record transfer. All time. I don't think he's in the top five players for manchester city and I think its because his heart is not in it.

Bash away folks and call me a Robinho hater. I don't hate the lad, he just shows my club a lack of commitment on several different levels and I'm starting to think I don't want him here anymore, because him playing actually makes us worse.

After today's 'performance' I can't imagine too many people will be laying in to you for saying that.

[feedthegreek]

the point is benjani who set up teves at least once last monday
must wonder why he didnt start,
rocky gets injured doing nothing.
so were 1 sub down straight away.
only 2 left, later on teves was looking like he was gonna come off.
and petrov starts limping.
call it bad luck if you want, but had benjani started we could just have swapped rigsby for swp.
i bet petrov teves and rocky are all doubtful for tues now.
anyway the best team won on the night,
we just have to bounce back.

[Ted Hughes]

We don't gain anything by making a scapegoat out of Robinho, we only lose. Some of the people on here who demanded he played every game & called him the answer to all our problems are just plain fucking stupid, he's never been that player. He could still be a fantastic player for us though, not to make a good team great but to add something special WHEN we have a great team that's good enough to carry him.

[feedthegreek]

I have a feeling we may see him one more time in the derby this week and he will show that he doesn't have the grit to compete in this league once more. At times a maverick, a show man and a class player but this is the premiership and just to show glimpses of his full potential is not enough. However now I question who will come in for him, Barca have been tracking him but I don't think they will offer anywhere near to 32 mil. So do we carry him and possibly lose more by him starting on the bench and not doing the business when he comes on.

Right substitution and credit to Mancini for taking him back off.

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it was obvious it was the wrong substitution otherwise he wouldnt have taken him off ffs
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[Kladze]

We don't gain anything by making a scapegoat out of Robinho, we only lose. Some of the people on here who demanded he played every game & called him the answer to all our problems are just plain fucking stupid, he's never been that player. He could still be a fantastic player for us though, not to make a good team great but to add something special WHEN we have a great team that's good enough to carry him.

Why would a great team want to carry a passenger? You really have me confused there.
A great team in modern football is eleven players all pulling in the same direction - not ten players serving the whims of the eleventh.

[Original Dub]

We don't gain anything by making a scapegoat out of Robinho, we only lose. Some of the people on here who demanded he played every game & called him the answer to all our problems are just plain fucking stupid, he's never been that player. He could still be a fantastic player for us though, not to make a good team great but to add something special WHEN we have a great team that's good enough to carry him.

We certainly don't gain anything, but on that note we don't gain anything by posting anything on a message forum mate!

He's a luxury piece of a quality jigsaw.

That is what I can see, whether I stand to gain anything from saying so or not...

[Ted Hughes]

We don't gain anything by making a scapegoat out of Robinho, we only lose. Some of the people on here who demanded he played every game & called him the answer to all our problems are just plain fucking stupid, he's never been that player. He could still be a fantastic player for us though, not to make a good team great but to add something special WHEN we have a great team that's good enough to carry him.

Why would a great team want to carry a passenger? You really have me confused there.
A great team in modern football is eleven players all pulling in the same direction - not ten players serving the whims of the eleventh.

By carry him I mean a team that can win the ball pass, move & give it him in areas where he can do damage & make runs that he can pick out rather than expecting him to win tackles & set up attacks on his own which he can't do. He can run around after the ball & hurry people up which he did today but he'll never be a Tevez or Bellamy.

Lots of great teams have carried a player who only creates, sometimes more than one, so it's not anything new.

[Original Dub]

An excellent player in a team that's used to winning.

[Ted Hughes]

We don't gain anything by making a scapegoat out of Robinho, we only lose. Some of the people on here who demanded he played every game & called him the answer to all our problems are just plain fucking stupid, he's never been that player. He could still be a fantastic player for us though, not to make a good team great but to add something special WHEN we have a great team that's good enough to carry him.

We certainly don't gain anything, but on that note we don't gain anything by posting anything on a message forum mate!

He's a luxury piece of a quality jigsaw.

That is what I can see, whether I stand to gain anything from saying so or not...

The problem is, there's been an increasing groundswell of animosity growing toward Robinho & it will end up with him getting the treatment inside the ground, which will ruin our season if we're not careful. I've seen it many times with City & it only harms the team. He's not long been back from injury, has just had a change of tactics/position/manager & it would be in our best interests to support him rather than single him out in games like today, when the whole team was shite. Mancini will deal with him if he doesn't do the business soon.

[DoomMerchant]

We don't gain anything by making a scapegoat out of Robinho, we only lose. Some of the people on here who demanded he played every game & called him the answer to all our problems are just plain fucking stupid, he's never been that player. He could still be a fantastic player for us though, not to make a good team great but to add something special WHEN we have a great team that's good enough to carry him.

Why would a great team want to carry a passenger? You really have me confused there.
A great team in modern football is eleven players all pulling in the same direction - not ten players serving the whims of the eleventh.

By carry him I mean a team that can win the ball pass, move & give it him in areas where he can do damage & make runs that he can pick out rather than expecting him to win tackles & set up attacks on his own which he can't do. He can run around after the ball & hurry people up which he did today but he'll never be a Tevez or Bellamy.

Lots of great teams have carried a player who only creates, sometimes more than one, so it's not anything new.

Exactly what i just told mister Ant London on the telefono. Brasil can get away with that because of the sheer class around Robson in hopes of one or two moments of pure magic from him. In the Prem, you just don't have that luxury even if yr Chelsea.

[ruralblue]

I have a feeling we may see him one more time in the derby this week and he will show that he doesn't have the grit to compete in this league once more. At times a maverick, a show man and a class player but this is the premiership and just to show glimpses of his full potential is not enough. However now I question who will come in for him, Barca have been tracking him but I don't think they will offer anywhere near to 32 mil. So do we carry him and possibly lose more by him starting on the bench and not doing the business when he comes on.

Right substitution and credit to Mancini for taking him back off.

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it was obvious it was the wrong substitution otherwise he wouldnt have taken him off ffs
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Is that FFS aimed my direction mate??, if so please remind me next time to forward my opinion to you before I submit it to the board.

[StrikeAnywhere]

was the wrong sub in terms of like for like sure, but Mancini definately put the test to Robinho and he failing with an F.

however he was not helped by our dire midfield and we hardly ever had the fucking ball in their half so I mean how the fuck can he impact the game if he's playing as a link man between midfield and Tevez. yes he is fucking lightweight but against the same opposition last season he had a fucking blinder. he is the ultimate enigma this fella, on his day he is perhaps the best player in the world to watch however those days have been few and far between. but again he was not helped by our inability to hold the fucking ball get in behind the blue scouse.

[Citeh&Crew]

We don't gain anything by making a scapegoat out of Robinho, we only lose. Some of the people on here who demanded he played every game & called him the answer to all our problems are just plain fucking stupid, he's never been that player. He could still be a fantastic player for us though, not to make a good team great but to add something special WHEN we have a great team that's good enough to carry him.

It depends on what "the answer to all our problems" is defined as being. No one player can ever carry a team through a season.

I am not sure what you are inferring about his abilities, but people here seem to forget exactly how great of a player he CAN be. I still remember last season, when he was making absolute fools out of Premiership defenders. At will. (Of course, I would argue that defenses in the Prem aren't exactly tight, but that's another conversation) He has the potential to be one of the best playmakers in the world.

I think his primary problems are related to a lack of fitness, confidence and a growing frustration that appears to take hold of him whenever he can't "turn it on" at will. He is definitely the type of player that needs a long run of games to rectify the first two problems, and a couple of goals to begin to fix the third (confidence) issue. No doubt about it.

All that being said.. and keep in mind that Robbie is one of my favorite players.. I vote that his time with us is done. One cannot just throw temper tantrums, like a three year-old child, whenever circumstances are tough on the pitch and/or bench. He complains to the ref at minimal contact with others, he tries to do things that he used to be able to do last year, but cannot currently, and the team suffers for it. He could really learn from his countryman ('dinho) about how to play back into contention and travel the road back to fulfillng his tremendous potential.

Along those lines, I wonder why AC Milan has not made a bid for him (so asks my wife, who is a Rossoneri fan)? He would seem to be a better fit there. Barcelona keeps popping up as a buyer, but I just don't get why they would want him, given that he really wouldn't add much, other than some depth?