Soriano

[Ted Hughes]

Hee speek! Hee speek to us!




Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano says the club are 'just looking for the next cycle' following the recent sacking of Roberto Mancini.

City dismissed Mancini last week after failing to win a trophy this season, despite the Italian lifting the FA Cup in 2011 and the Premier League title 12 months ago.

Manuel Pellegrini is the odds-on favourite to take charge at the Etihad Stadium after confirming he will be leaving Malaga, and Soriano believes it is time for a 'new era' at City.

When asked what Mancini did wrong, Soriano told CNN: "He did very good things for the club. He stayed there for three years, which is a lot of time. He brought the club to a winning club.

"Now we are just looking for the next step, the next cycle.

"We have a fantastic squad. We want to play better football and we want to continue winning.

"It is not that Mancini did anything wrong. We are just in another cycle, in another era."

In their statement that announced Mancini's departure, City referred to the need to develop a "holistic approach" to all aspects of football at the club.

It had previously been rumoured City wanted to introduce a fluid 4-3-3 style of play to all their sides, from junior level up to first team.

When asked about that matter, Soriano said: "We are looking to play very good football, very beautiful football. When we are playing good football, then we will win.

"So it is not only about winning, it is developing football that is attractive and it will be played by our main teams, our first team in Manchester, our young teams in Manchester and also our teams in New York.

"We want to share the same football concepts across all our teams."


Yes Boss ! I love it.

[Original Dub]

Beautiful

[Sideshow Bob]

sounds good. however, as far as tactics go, i hope they have more than effing "tikka taka" in their locker.

[twosips]

None of this 3-5-2 bollocks then. Huzzah.

[Moonchesteri]

None of this 3-5-2 bollocks then. Huzzah.

He didn't actually say it is 4-3-3..or anything else about the tactics so 3-5-2 bollocks is still a possibility!!

[Risby]

I'm not arsed how we win, as long as we win.

[ruralblue]

I'm not arsed how we win, as long as we win.

I know what you mean and deep down feel the need for points on the boards is high priority to win a league. However I dont agree in the fact I want to be entertained I want to see the team playing their socks off with entertaining thrilling football with shit losds of goals :-)

[Beefymcfc]

And if you don't play that beautiful football, look out fat boy!

[Green & Blue]

All sounds good to me i can't argue with any of that.

Lets see what happens, actions do speak louder than words.

[Original Dub]

I'm not arsed how we win, as long as we win.

You should just check the results then.

I love attacking football.

[Peter Doherty (AGAIG)]

Pulis it is, then.

[trueblue64]

City CEO Ferran Soriano to ESPN: "Neymar and Falcao? These reports are false, they have never been on our agenda."

[Risby]

I'm not arsed how we win, as long as we win.

You should just check the results then.

I love attacking football.

Then become an Arsenal fan! Good football but empty handed each season.

If winning the league and every other competition by 1-0 happens, I would be more than happy. Playing beautiful football is a luxury and amazing, but if I had to choose between that and 3pts, I would choose the 3pts each time.

I want my club to win, end of. If they play beautiful football in the process, bonus!

[Beefymcfc]

City CEO Ferran Soriano to ESPN: "Neymar and Falcao? These reports are false, they have never been on our agenda."

I'm sure that'll cheer up a few.

[Yaya Toure is a LAD]

He honestly can go away!

[Moonchesteri]

He honestly can go away!

Who? Original Dub? Risby? Soriano?

[Douglas Higginbottom]

Sounds spot on to me.From the day the Sheik took over and it was clear that they were serious the questions were how and how quickly would we achieve the targets rather than will it be a success.Maybe it was possible for it to happen mega quickly say in 2 years but I seem to remember something about a 5 year plan for us to win the league or the Champs league or whatever.

Mark Hughes was stage one.Was he the best we could get at the time, I don't know but he brought some quality players in and as a club we showed we meant business and I guess Robinho was important in that statement.I recall talking to Mark Bowen in those days and he was very clear ,based on what had happened and I guess what he knew about the owners plans and real intent,that City would succeed.We would get to the top irrespective of who was managing at the time,the owners would do whatever was necessary.

The next stage was Mancini and a new intake of players and in quick time we won the cup and then the premiership.It always seemed to me that the toughest part for Mancini would be man managing the players.He had showed his toughness very early on handling some difficult characters and then in the first full year we won the cup which was absolutely massive for the club but also the manager and players.In some ways though the biggest game in that season was the semi final defeat of the scum and I still have memories from that day that it was Kompany who rallied the team at half time rather than the manager.Am I making that up?

From that cup win we came out all guns blazing in the league and frightened all thew other teams because we were so damn good.But then weaknesses in our away form showed along with some crap CL performances and we lost our way quite a lot but hung in there with a stunning home record.We managed to right the ship a little but after the Arsenal game Mancini had a slight melt down over Mario and it seemed all was lost.I felt Mancini had lost it that night and still do think he had all but given up but there were some around him who thought otherwise. That's my opinion anyway even though others will undoubtedly think differently.

From there we played 6 perfect games and utd blew it so we won the league in spectacular fashion.Onto this season and we know it's not gone well but still we are 2nd in the league.Clearly we haven't got better or achieved the targets but imo the reason Mancini has gone is that he seems to have lost the players and not that we have underachieved.Maybe it's a chicken and egg thing but if the stories we are hearing are close to true his departure became inevitable...which brings us to phase (step or cycle) 3.It would be nice to think this is the final phase wouldn't it?

It should be all about adding a few more quality players to the squad,letting a few go who are not going to contribute but also having a manager who can gell everyone together whilst also getting the best out of individuals.That then needs to bring more success in terms of trophies with the big one obviously being the chumps league in the eyes of the owners with their thinking on the global brand.Does it have to be next season , I doubt it but there needs to be development in getting us out of the group stages whilst we do win something domestically and re establish our home credentials.

I can't wait for next season.

[Mark Garrett]

Before the Soriano love in at a few of his quotes continues, just remember that him the other Spaniard and Khaldoon behaviour prior to the cup final, went a long way to undermining our manager, ruining preparation in the 24 hrs before the game and casting a cloud over one of the biggest days of the season.

They have to do a lot to redeem themselves. With Pellegrinis record and the lack of trophies, the jury is well and truly out.

[Original Dub]

Before the Soriano love in at a few of his quotes continues, just remember that him the other Spaniard and Khaldoon behaviour prior to the cup final, went a long way to undermining our manager, ruining preparation in the 24 hrs before the game and casting a cloud over one of the biggest days of the season.

They have to do a lot to redeem themselves. With Pellegrinis record and the lack of trophies, the jury is well and truly out.

Fuck that, these men run the show. They can hire who they like, their record speaks for itself.

Redeem indeed.

[Beefymcfc]

Sounds spot on to me.From the day the Sheik took over and it was clear that they were serious the questions were how and how quickly would we achieve the targets rather than will it be a success.Maybe it was possible for it to happen mega quickly say in 2 years but I seem to remember something about a 5 year plan for us to win the league or the Champs league or whatever.

Mark Hughes was stage one.Was he the best we could get at the time, I don't know but he brought some quality players in and as a club we showed we meant business and I guess Robinho was important in that statement.I recall talking to Mark Bowen in those days and he was very clear ,based on what had happened and I guess what he knew about the owners plans and real intent,that City would succeed.We would get to the top irrespective of who was managing at the time,the owners would do whatever was necessary.

The next stage was Mancini and a new intake of players and in quick time we won the cup and then the premiership.It always seemed to me that the toughest part for Mancini would be man managing the players.He had showed his toughness very early on handling some difficult characters and then in the first full year we won the cup which was absolutely massive for the club but also the manager and players.In some ways though the biggest game in that season was the semi final defeat of the scum and I still have memories from that day that it was Kompany who rallied the team at half time rather than the manager.Am I making that up?

From that cup win we came out all guns blazing in the league and frightened all thew other teams because we were so damn good.But then weaknesses in our away form showed along with some crap CL performances and we lost our way quite a lot but hung in there with a stunning home record.We managed to right the ship a little but after the Arsenal game Mancini had a slight melt down over Mario and it seemed all was lost.I felt Mancini had lost it that night and still do think he had all but given up but there were some around him who thought otherwise. That's my opinion anyway even though others will undoubtedly think differently.

From there we played 6 perfect games and utd blew it so we won the league in spectacular fashion.Onto this season and we know it's not gone well but still we are 2nd in the league.Clearly we haven't got better or achieved the targets but imo the reason Mancini has gone is that he seems to have lost the players and not that we have underachieved.Maybe it's a chicken and egg thing but if the stories we are hearing are close to true his departure became inevitable...which brings us to phase (step or cycle) 3.It would be nice to think this is the final phase wouldn't it?

It should be all about adding a few more quality players to the squad,letting a few go who are not going to contribute but also having a manager who can gell everyone together whilst also getting the best out of individuals.That then needs to bring more success in terms of trophies with the big one obviously being the chumps league in the eyes of the owners with their thinking on the global brand.Does it have to be next season , I doubt it but there needs to be development in getting us out of the group stages whilst we do win something domestically and re establish our home credentials.

I can't wait for next season.

Cheers Doug, a good summary which many will not argue with. I seen Hughes as providing the base and foundations, Mancini has built the awareness and the next manager(s) to take us on to sustainability and success.

The reality is, as you allude to, is that this is all down to the custodians. Some managers will build their empires around them whereas some will let the empire be built around them. Me, I prefer a nice mixture which is grown around those who work hard for the cause. Holistic, if you may ;-)