When it matters, he can not deliver!

[Manx Blue]

The only manager i think that would steer us to anything where we want to be is Guus Hidink imo.
Mancini is a stop gap hopefully as he's not got it.
Negative boring football week in week out of late.

I am fucking ASTONISHED that I'm about to agree with you but Guus Hiddink is the best shout yet in this thread.

That said, I really don't want yet another change of manager.

Exactly...that lot gave Satan time. look what's happened since. I'm not going to say we're going to replicate that, but we have to give the man a chance.

[Ted Hughes]

Nights like tonight are putting Bob's position in peril even if he meets his targets imo. We saw what happened with Hughes, they made the decision BEFORE he fucked up & then had to wait to sack him because he won v Chelsea & Arsenal. I was absolutely convinced they'd leave him til the end of the season & see where he finished but he was gone; just like that.

I think they'll keep Bob if things don't go too pear shaped & I'd agree with that & hope they do, so long as tonight is more of a one off & doesn't become typical.

Cook let it slip last year though that they talk to other managers as a matter of course, so they're ready for any eventuality. If that's true, they will already have spoken to Mourinho, Lous Van Gaal & a few others. Whatever Bob's feltcher boys say, anyone with half a brain knows that tonight was way below what that team is capable of. The subject of Bob's future will get an airing amongst the top brass, no doubt about it.

[Manx Blue]

Nights like tonight are putting Bob's position in peril even if he meets his targets imo. We saw what happened with Hughes, they made the decision BEFORE he fucked up & then had to wait to sack him because he won v Chelsea & Arsenal. I was absolutely convinced they'd leave him til the end of the season & see where he finished but he was gone; just like that.

I think they'll keep Bob if things don't go too pear shaped & I'd agree with that & hope they do, so long as tonight is more of a one off & doesn't become typical.

Cook let it slip last year though that they talk to other managers as a matter of course, so they're ready for any eventuality. If that's true, they will already have spoken to Mourinho, Lous Van Gaal & a few others. Whatever Bob's feltcher boys say, anyone with half a brain knows that tonight was way below what that team is capable of. The subject of Bob's future will get an airing amongst the top brass, no doubt about it.

I think the next 10 days could shape the destiny of our season. If we get to an FAC semi, they may not get rid of him, although granted they did get rid of Hughes prior to the LC semi. Lose against Kiev & Chelsea, then thoughts might start wavering.

Our saving grace at present is Tottenham still being in the Champions League. That may be a distraction...but the FAC & EL will also be to ourselves for as long as we're still in them.

[Ted Hughes]

Nights like tonight are putting Bob's position in peril even if he meets his targets imo. We saw what happened with Hughes, they made the decision BEFORE he fucked up & then had to wait to sack him because he won v Chelsea & Arsenal. I was absolutely convinced they'd leave him til the end of the season & see where he finished but he was gone; just like that.

I think they'll keep Bob if things don't go too pear shaped & I'd agree with that & hope they do, so long as tonight is more of a one off & doesn't become typical.

Cook let it slip last year though that they talk to other managers as a matter of course, so they're ready for any eventuality. If that's true, they will already have spoken to Mourinho, Lous Van Gaal & a few others. Whatever Bob's feltcher boys say, anyone with half a brain knows that tonight was way below what that team is capable of. The subject of Bob's future will get an airing amongst the top brass, no doubt about it.

I think the next 10 days could shape the destiny of our season. If we get to an FAC semi, they may not get rid of him, although granted they did get rid of Hughes prior to the LC semi. Lose against Kiev & Chelsea, then thoughts might start wavering.

Our saving grace at present is Tottenham still being in the Champions League. That may be a distraction...but the FAC & EL will also be to ourselves for as long as we're still in them.

Until Bob wins something & possibly even after that, the spectre of Mourinho will always be looming in the background unless & until he takes another job in England. He says he's coming back. That could already be arranged even 2 years into the future, he could be replacing Whiskybreath, Wenger or going back to Chelsea but really if you were looking at it from outside, City or the rags would be the clubs you would expect to be top of Jose's list. Then Chelsea if both those 2 have decided they don't want him.

From City's point of view, looking at the bigger picture, with multi billion developments, leisure attractions etc etc, it's hard to imagine that having Mourinho as a figurehead wouldldn't suit them better than Bob. I just hope if we do go down that road, we don't shit all over Bob like we did Hughes.

[john68]

But Ted, In your heart, you just know that City will offload Mancini...bring in someone else...sack them...bri....

You can NOT have short term fixes for a long term project...The 2 don't go together...
But hey ho...some day that lesson may eventuall y sink in somewhere...I doubt it though.

[Slim]

John, would you say it's possible for us to fuck up but still be entertaining? To go down(in a match), but go down swinging? To look at every fixture on the list and say that if we are on that day, we can beat anyone?

Mancini to me comes across just as clueless as Hughes but playing football as boring as Pearce. We have spent 3 years doing nothing but making excuses. Time to gel, laying the foundation, players are tired.

Sven came in, make a bunch of signings and hit the ground running, the players weren't of sufficient quality to maintain it, nor the squad of sufficient depth to endure a full season, but he showed it can be done. If only we had more money than god and could alleviate those problems. Oh wait...WE DO and neither manager has taken advantage of that fact.

We have one attacking midfielder when we should have 4, we have one winger when we should have 4. We have Bellamy, Onuoha and Adebayor on loan and have Vieira, Jo and Boateng on the bench. We have nice tall timber in the middle now and no-one who can cross, we have fullbacks(Micah aside) who seem incapable of stopping a cross or stopping a winger. We have not one single player who makes selfless runs with no expectation of getting the ball in order to help out a team mate, we have 90% of the team(Silva aside) looking for an easy pass instead of turning and running at a defender. No pace, no intent, no edge.

We only look good in the middle when we outnumber the opposition 3 to 2 and then wonder why we are getting taken apart on the wings. Even with Nigel when we play 4-4-2 he looks overrun and alone.

There are MANY MANY things wrong, I am a little busy at the moment so this was just off the top of my head, but I am not sure everything I have listed cannot be put to some degree on the doorstep of the last two managers.

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

I don't think UEFA Cup has anything to do with Mancini's future. Either way. If we win the competition and fail to make CL he is in great ddanger to get the boot. If we get in top four, he'll most likely stay.

Also, last night was fucking pathetic but next leg is when it REALLY matters. Kiev was always going to be extremely hard.

[xavi6]

Big Sam?

I'd prefer @TheBig_Sam

[wesmancity]

John, would you say it's possible for us to fuck up but still be entertaining? To go down(in a match), but go down swinging? To look at every fixture on the list and say that if we are on that day, we can beat anyone?

Mancini to me comes across just as clueless as Hughes but playing football as boring as Pearce. We have spent 3 years doing nothing but making excuses. Time to gel, laying the foundation, players are tired.

Sven came in, make a bunch of signings and hit the ground running, the players weren't of sufficient quality to maintain it, nor the squad of sufficient depth to endure a full season, but he showed it can be done. If only we had more money than god and could alleviate those problems. Oh wait...WE DO and neither manager has taken advantage of that fact.

We have one attacking midfielder when we should have 4, we have one winger when we should have 4. We have Bellamy, Onuoha and Adebayor on loan and have Vieira, Jo and Boateng on the bench. We have nice tall timber in the middle now and no-one who can cross, we have fullbacks(Micah aside) who seem incapable of stopping a cross or stopping a winger. We have not one single player who makes selfless runs with no expectation of getting the ball in order to help out a team mate, we have 90% of the team(Silva aside) looking for an easy pass instead of turning and running at a defender. No pace, no intent, no edge.

We only look good in the middle when we outnumber the opposition 3 to 2 and then wonder why we are getting taken apart on the wings. Even with Nigel when we play 4-4-2 he looks overrun and alone.

There are MANY MANY things wrong, I am a little busy at the moment so this was just off the top of my head, but I am not sure everything I have listed cannot be put to some degree on the doorstep of the last two managers.

Spot on.

[Bingo Lewis]

Question people need to ask themselselves is this -

Is this squad capable of winning the league / a cup / top 4?

If the answer is yes then its down to the manager, his squad selections and tactics to get them playing the best way for them and fucking do it.

If the answer is no, then the manager is over achieving and should be given more time.

My opinion is that although we are still in cups / top 4 we are in a bad way right now, and the manager should be doing better than he is. His play is not good to watch, and although we could handle this if it was getting us points / wins consistently, it isn't. And needs to be addressed.

[Slim]

Question people need to ask themselselves is this -

Is this squad capable of winning the league / a cup / top 4?

If the answer is yes then its down to the manager, his squad selections and tactics to get them playing the best way for them and fucking do it.

If the answer is no, then the manager is over achieving and should be given more time.

My opinion is that although we are still in cups / top 4 we are in a bad way right now, and the manager should be doing better than he is. His play is not good to watch, and although we could handle this if it was getting us points / wins consistently, it isn't. And needs to be addressed.

Look at your signature Bingo, then ask if City could use those players right now. Then ask yourself who got rid of them. Then have a nap.

[Ted Hughes]

Question people need to ask themselselves is this -

Is this squad capable of winning the league / a cup / top 4?

If the answer is yes then its down to the manager, his squad selections and tactics to get them playing the best way for them and fucking do it.

If the answer is no, then the manager is over achieving and should be given more time.

My opinion is that although we are still in cups / top 4 we are in a bad way right now, and the manager should be doing better than he is. His play is not good to watch, and although we could handle this if it was getting us points / wins consistently, it isn't. And needs to be addressed.

Look at your signature Bingo, then ask if City could use those players right now. Then ask yourself who got rid of them. Then have a nap.

I agree with what you're saying & many of the detailed points you make (I've been moaning about many of the same things) but this kind of stuff traditionally crops up when managers are changed. If Bob goes, there's a decent chance there'll be a set of equally bizarre decisions from the next bloke, it's what happens. We always assume that these new men will see things as we do when half the time, the first thing they do is replace our favourite player(s) with someone not as good. It's like a tradition. The next bloke is just as likely to dump DeJong & make Kolarov captain as do something sensible. It's what these people do.


I seem to remember that one of the main reasons some people wanted Bob over Hughes was so he'd 'get the best out of Robinho'. What you think you'll get & what you actually get are usually very different.

[Chinners]

Seriously (for once) this demand of hiring and firing managers has got to stop. Until it does we will never get the shinny pots most seem to crave.

I'm still on the fence with Mancini, some of his 'tactical' stuff at times is more baffling than Leslies. Will getting another new manager in now change our fortunes? Yes I believe it would ... but not for the better at this moment in time.

[Blue Since 76]

If Mourinho came in, the football would be equally dull, which is partly why he got sacked from Chelsea, but it would be successful. However, I'm not sure he'd come unless we were in the top 4 and I'd also worry he'd be here for the short term, with no thought to the longer term 'project'.

Here's a worrying thought - you're Gary Cook, looking for a manager, preferably with premier league experience, but with knowledge of Europe and an ability to win European trophies. Ideally he should be available in summer, so that an agreement can be reached before mancini is sacked. Suddenly Bentitez's cv lands on your desk...

[ono]

Mancini, fucking clueless!

No insperation, no leadership...

Like the semi final last year against the rags...


Mancini proven record in europe = shite!

Who would you bring in to replace him?

Hes a goner in the summer.

And then what?

The question remains, who would you replace him with?

Coyle. I don't give a monkeys whether I'm laughed at or not.

Yeah, what we need is a manager who shows obvious passion, and has great contacts in the Lancashire region. He must also call a spade a spade. What you see is what you get. That sort of thing. None of this foreign tactical bollocks. Who's that ever worked for? Nobody. That's who.

[Ted Hughes]

Yeah, what we need is a manager who shows obvious passion, and has great contacts in the Lancashire region. He must also call a spade a spade. What you see is what you get. That sort of thing. None of this foreign tactical bollocks. Who's that ever worked for? Nobody. That's who.

I don't want Coyle over Mancini but that's just ignorant snobbery. He deserves a lot more respect than that for the way he's turned Sam's team from a bunch of long ball troglodytes to a decent football team who sometimes play better football than us. His positive effect on their team & improvement in football quality is much greater than the improvement Bob has made to ours. He also had Burnley playing decent passing football when he was there.

Bolton have scored three goals less than us for a spend of about £300 million less. It's a good job he can't afford to buy a defence or he might have that performing just as well & be level on points.

[Piccsnumberoneblue]

I think Bob should and probably will stay til the end of the season, unless it really unravels big time.
I always respect John68's opinion and normally I'm a firm believer that we need to stick with a manager, and that we are our own worst enemies for our revolving door policy.
However, do we look better than last season? No
Am I confident we'll make top4 or win a pot? No
Are we entertaining? No
Do we look like we have a cohesive plan? No
Do we look like we are gradually coming together as a team? No
Have the transfer dealings been a success? No
Am I sure we'll beat Reading on Sunday? No
Hopefully this season can still end with glory, but it looks a bit worrying at the moment with our form.

It all adds up to maybe Bob should or will go.
I don't believe that he has been any great improvement on Hughes. And I'll go even further and say that maybe Pearce could have done at least as good a job with these resources at his disposal. He had fuck all cash.

Oh and I just have a gut feeling that Mancini isn't up for the job and no amount of persevering will change it.
Who comes next? We can have nearly anybody we want. And I don't think many would do a great deal worse with that kind of backing.
Except Darren Baconface

[ono]

Yeah, what we need is a manager who shows obvious passion, and has great contacts in the Lancashire region. He must also call a spade a spade. What you see is what you get. That sort of thing. None of this foreign tactical bollocks. Who's that ever worked for? Nobody. That's who.

I don't want Coyle over Mancini but that's just ignorant snobbery. He deserves a lot more respect than that for the way he's turned Sam's team from a bunch of long ball troglodytes to a decent football team who sometimes play better football than us. His positive effect on their team & improvement in football quality is much greater than the improvement Bob has made to ours. He also had Burnley playing decent passing football when he was there.

Bolton have scored three goals less than us for a spend of about £300 million less. It's a good job he can't afford to buy a defence or he might have that performing just as well & be level on points.

The only problem with this post is that under Big Sam, his team of troglodytes won 41% of their matches. Owen Coyle's pretty football has allowed Bolton to win 36% of their matches. Allardyce also took them from a struggling Division 1 team, into a consistently good top 6-8 Premier League team.

Blackpool play nice football. Wolves can play nice football. West Brom went down playing lovely football. Finding a balance is much more difficult.

[carl_feedthegoat]

If Mourinho came in, the football would be equally dull, which is partly why he got sacked from Chelsea, but it would be successful. However, I'm not sure he'd come unless we were in the top 4 and I'd also worry he'd be here for the short term, with no thought to the longer term 'project'.

Here's a worrying thought - you're Gary Cook, looking for a manager, preferably with premier league experience, but with knowledge of Europe and an ability to win European trophies. Ideally he should be available in summer, so that an agreement can be reached before mancini is sacked. Suddenly Bentitez's cv lands on your desk...

I dont think anyone in the top 4 has ever been as FUCKING DULL as Man City have been this season mate...I want Mourinho..I wanted the cunt before Mancini was brought in and I still want him now.

This is Mancini s Team and noone else's......if we are shit its because hes made us shit......I would have to see a massive turn around in the way we play ( I laughed when i wrote that) to see any kind of success this season for me to be swayed...but it snot going to happen...I just cannot see it.

[bigblue]

If Mourinho came in, the football would be equally dull, which is partly why he got sacked from Chelsea, but it would be successful. However, I'm not sure he'd come unless we were in the top 4 and I'd also worry he'd be here for the short term, with no thought to the longer term 'project'.

Here's a worrying thought - you're Gary Cook, looking for a manager, preferably with premier league experience, but with knowledge of Europe and an ability to win European trophies. Ideally he should be available in summer, so that an agreement can be reached before mancini is sacked. Suddenly Bentitez's cv lands on your desk...

I dont think anyone in the top 4 has ever been as FUCKING DULL as Man City have been this season mate...I want Mourinho..I wanted the cunt before Mancini was brought in and I still want him now.

This is Mancini s Team and noone else's......if we are shit its because hes made us shit......I would have to see a massive turn around in the way we play ( I laughed when i wrote that) to see any kind of success this season for me to be swayed...but it snot going to happen...I just cannot see it.

Since this loss yesterday, you've been moaning about the everything possible. From just reading your post, you'd think we're out of all competitions and mid-table. But we're still in the top 4, the FA Cup, and Europe - with out destiny in out own hands. We've have some very good games/halves and it isn't all doom and gloom. While the Kiev game was bad, we still have the ability to turn over just about any team out there. There have been setbacks, but overall a good season I'd say

The more optimistic side of me has though that Bob told the players to take it easy on Thursday for the Reading game this weekend and Kiev @ home next week. Maybe a little break for everyone to get their legs back for this next three games. At least thats what the players looked like they were doing. Mancini has quite a good record in cup competitions.

Plus, Arsenal now have no goalie or Fabregas for the next few weeks and are completely demoralized. United look like they could lose a few more, especially with baconface having to serve a ban and Nani being out for the next few games. Chelsea are still struggling to score (Torres is gash), and Tottenham will put too much effort into the Champs league.

So if you can take your head out of the sand, the suns still shining