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Just a question for those who follow these things. After reading about how many Prem managers are facing the sack, and sort of remembering the early part of the season when the press etc seemed to be full of stuff about how he was on a knife edge, was he ever favourite or close to being favourite for the sack?

Think he was right at the off mate, but that carried over from last season's "It's CL or Bust for Mancini" media assumption.

As an aside, from someone who wanted Les to stay I must say Bob has won me over totally. The man is iron.

No matter what happens this season, next season we will be the team to beat. Dzeko with 6 months prem experience, Balo into form, if we dont keep Tevez then Torres will replace him. Bob will have 18 months experience in the prem by then.

Add to all that another big buy or two and we should be favourites for the league.

The Man In Blue wrote:Think he was right at the off mate, but that carried over from last season's "It's CL or Bust for Mancini" media assumption.

As an aside, from someone who wanted Les to stay I must say Bob has won me over totally. The man is iron.

Depends whose opinion the answer is based on! The media loved to put his name in the frame but does that make it likely?

Douglas Higginbottom wrote:The media loved to put his name in the frame but does that make it likely?

That's what I was referring to Doug, journos assuming our owners were as myopic as, say, Wenger.

From my point of view, as long as he keeps things up, he must be close to being manager of the season. Not for finishing 10th with a budget of £2.50, or whatever. But for coaching, team building, tactical nous, reading the game and so on - in other words MANAGING

Lev Bronstein wrote:From my point of view, as long as he keeps things up, he must be close to being manager of the season. Not for finishing 10th with a budget of £2.50, or whatever. But for coaching, team building, tactical nous, reading the game and so on - in other words MANAGING

I don't know, give most managers the best players and they will do alright out of it. Not dissing Bobby there, but his achievements at City will always be tarnished by that fact.

Avram Grant got to the CL final didn't he - living proof of that fact

Im_Spartacus wrote:

Lev Bronstein wrote:From my point of view, as long as he keeps things up, he must be close to being manager of the season. Not for finishing 10th with a budget of £2.50, or whatever. But for coaching, team building, tactical nous, reading the game and so on - in other words MANAGING

I don't know, give most managers the best players and they will do alright out of it. Not dissing Bobby there, but his achievements at City will always be tarnished by that fact.

Avram Grant got to the CL final didn't he - living proof of that fact

Which Avram Grant lost.

He also lost in the CC final and finished second in the PL. Living proof of the fact that when an average manager takes over an exceptional team shaped by an exceptional predecessor you will get close but ultimately fail. Momentum will only take you so far. Inertia is a bitch.

Irrespective of the money or the players one thing Mancini most certainly can and does is coach the living daylights out of whoever he has got. People may not always like the results but the man does know his stuff. Avram Grant on the other hand had Wally Downes foisted on him because he cannot coach a team to save his life.

I agree though that whatever success Mancini achieves it will always be downgraded because of the money. Not that he will care any more than we will

BobKowalski wrote:

Im_Spartacus wrote:

Lev Bronstein wrote:From my point of view, as long as he keeps things up, he must be close to being manager of the season. Not for finishing 10th with a budget of £2.50, or whatever. But for coaching, team building, tactical nous, reading the game and so on - in other words MANAGING

I don't know, give most managers the best players and they will do alright out of it. Not dissing Bobby there, but his achievements at City will always be tarnished by that fact.

Avram Grant got to the CL final didn't he - living proof of that fact

Which Avram Grant lost.

He also lost in the CC final and finished second in the PL. Living proof of the fact that when an average manager takes over an exceptional team shaped by an exceptional predecessor you will get close but ultimately fail. Momentum will only take you so far. Inertia is a bitch.

Irrespective of the money or the players one thing Mancini most certainly can and does is coach the living daylights out of whoever he has got. People may not always like the results but the man does know his stuff. Avram Grant on the other hand had Wally Downes foisted on him because he cannot coach a team to save his life.

I agree though that whatever success Mancini achieves it will always be downgraded because of the money. Not that he will care any more than we will

It's easy to say that Mancini has a huge budget so it's a given that he should succeed and downplay any success he does have on the back of it. The reality is very different - all that money brings its own pressures and very few could cope with that.

As much as the press and opposing fans like to ask the question, "how is he gonna keep everyone happy, and manage all those egos?", if he gets us al least a 3rd place finish, he will have answered the challenge and will deserve manager of the year.

Unless spuds finish 1st or 2nd, then it will be a twitchy wankfest

Considering that there are 20 teams in the Prem and they can't all win, added to the fact that the media have a bigger need for blood than the Emporer Nero in Rome, Mancini, will only ever be little more than a couple of headlines away from the back page chopping block.
We are currently sat on the coat tails of the top, yet we still see media stories of traning pitch fights to prove a media point that Mancini can't cope.
Under a Swales regime, this would have me worried at City. Under this present regime, I couldn't give a fuck. This present lot don't seem to take that much notice of the media and seem content to plough their own furrow.
He's safe...for the moment.

john68 wrote:Considering that there are 20 teams in the Prem and they can't all win, added to the fact that the media have a bigger need for blood than the Emporer Nero in Rome, Mancini, will only ever be little more than a couple of headlines away from the back page chopping block.
We are currently sat on the coat tails of the top, yet we still see media stories of traning pitch fights to prove a media point that Mancini can't cope.
Under a Swales regime, this would have me worried at City. Under this present regime, I couldn't give a fuck. This present lot don't seem to take that much notice of the media and seem content to plough their own furrow.
He's safe...for the moment.

is normal...

Depends who you mean.

To the media and over reactive inpaitient fans he was.

To Khaldoon, Cook, Marwood and Mansour never in a million years.

It's such a fine line & as pissed up Greavsie used to say " a fanny owl game". When you look at the situation now, after a run of mostly wins & a deserved 'manager of the month' it seems so unlikely, yet at the start of that run, a couple of defeats could have put Bob under intolerable pressure, in light of the Tevez bust up.

Imagine the Tevez situation cropping up in the midst of a bad spell, rather than a good one? I recon our top men are pretty good but I was certainly very worried about Bob's chances of survival after the Arsenal, Wolves & Posnan results. If we'd lost at Fulham, I recon he'd have been bookies favourite for the chop. Then Tevez kicks off? Phew.