[Archived] Premier League Happenings

[Stuart]

Wow, a manager can win a cup and the league and still be cast aside and called a failure. Keegan, Eriksson, Hughes all couldn't manage it, Mancini did.

I can't help but be reminded of the time when Newcastle sacked Bobby Robson for finishing 5th. Looked what happened after that.

If Mourinho rocks up at Chelsea, the bookies will take down the market next season.

[thenodrog]

Its not often that justice is served when a player dives to get a penalty, but in the dying minutes of the Watford v Leicester justice was well and truly served.

Leicester’s Anthony Knockaert took a dive then stepped up and missed the penalty, 30 seconds later the ball was in the back of the Leicester’s net and justice was served.

Am I the only one to be flabbergasted at the irony in that post?

[Salgado Is A Hero]

Man City had Balotelli, big help for them.

Oh yea, forgot about him.

Wow, a manager can win a cup and the league and still be cast aside and called a failure. Keegan, Eriksson, Hughes all couldn't manage it, Mancini did.

I can't help but be reminded of the time when Newcastle sacked Bobby Robson for finishing 5th. Looked what happened after that.

If Mourinho rocks up at Chelsea, the bookies will take down the market next season.

I wouldn't call him a failure at all. In Europe maybe. I'd just rather have Pellegrini.

And Mancini had a significantly stronger team than the rest.

[Guest Norbert]

Wow, a manager can win a cup and the league and still be cast aside and called a failure. Keegan, Eriksson, Hughes all couldn't manage it, Mancini did.

I can't help but be reminded of the time when Newcastle sacked Bobby Robson for finishing 5th. Looked what happened after that.

If Mourinho rocks up at Chelsea, the bookies will take down the market next season.

True, but when the club spends something mad like £150m per season on players you'd expect them to be better than 12 or so points behind the league winners, absolute trash in Europe two seasons running, and full of players who can only play to their potential 70% of the time.

Man City have thrown away their excellent youth system for quick fix success, something Hughes would not want or be able to do. Keegan and Eriksson do not count in this equation as they worked under that dodgy Thai bloke who was not half as rich as the current owners. Hughes would probably have achieved similar results to Mancini whilst spending less money over the same period, but he was sacked because Wrexham is not as exotic and flash as Italy or Argentina.

[DE.]

Why are you so wound up by this Stuart? You're taking this like Roberto's your dad or something

General consensus as far as I can tell is that he isn't a great manager and has a lot of flaws. There's no point in having stability at a club like City if all it brings is stable mediocrity. With all the money being thrown at the club they need a titan at the helm, and Mancini isn't that man IMO.

[Batman.]

If I were an Arab millionaire I would be throwing bars of Gold at Jose Mourinho. The man's a shoe in for success.

[Guest Norbert]

Mourinho, Hiddink or Heynkes (however you spell it) would be three names that would do the job needed to turn Man City into real giants.

[Salgado Is A Hero]

Why are you so wound up by this Stuart? You're taking this like Roberto's your dad or something

General consensus as far as I can tell is that he isn't a great manager and has a lot of flaws. There's no point in having stability at a club like City if all it brings is stable mediocrity. With all the money being thrown at the club they need a titan at the helm, and Mancini isn't that man IMO.

Exactly, stability is the new word that people love to bound about these days.

"Look at Everton and Man United, you need stability". They had two quality managers, and that's what teams need. If one isn't working, get a new one.

Chelsea should have kept Mourinho, Ancelotti and Hiddink if they could. They were right to bin the rest, they were going nowhere.

Mancini's never gotten further than the quarter finals of the Champions League. His Inter side lost to AC Milan and Villareal in the quarter finals, and in the other two years, they lost in the last 16 to Valencia and Liverpool. He also came bottom of the group containing Chelsea, Sparta Prague and Besiktas when he was Lazio manager but we'll ignore that.

Barring AC Milan, no side was a major player in Europe at that time. The season they lost to Milan, they finished 3rd in Serie A behind Milan in 2nd. But they won the league for the next three years, yet got nowhere in Europe.

[Stuart]

I wouldn't call him a failure at all. In Europe maybe. I'd just rather have Pellegrini.

And Mancini had a significantly stronger team than the rest.

Fair dos

Why are you so wound up by this Stuart? You're taking this like Roberto's your dad or something

General consensus as far as I can tell is that he isn't a great manager and has a lot of flaws. There's no point in having stability at a club like City if all it brings is stable mediocrity. With all the money being thrown at the club they need a titan at the helm, and Mancini isn't that man IMO.

Not wound up at all. I just can't understand him being described in such terms as "stable mediocrity". I guess Arsenal should have potted Wenger about 6 years ago, on account of the stable mediocrity of Champions League football EVERY season. It makes a big difference getting into the Champions League or not. Just look at Liverpool.

If I were an Arab millionaire I would be throwing bars of Gold at Jose Mourinho. The man's a shoe in for success.

If you were an arab millionaire, you'd be living on the streets! But, I have to agree, whoever gets Mourinho next season is going to win the Premier League title.

[DE.]

Not wound up at all. I just can't understand him being described in such terms as "stable mediocrity". I guess Arsenal should have potted Wenger about 6 years ago, on account of the stable mediocrity of Champions League football EVERY season. It makes a big difference getting into the Champions League or not. Just look at Liverpool.

The problem with that comparison is Wenger is doing exactly what Arsenal want him to do. He's keeping them in the Champions League on a pretty low overall budget. He's not expected or required to win trophies, that much is obvious or he'd have gone a long time ago.

The job of the Man City manager is to take the billions being spent on the club and essentially make them the next Manchester United, but with even greater success in Europe. Do you think Mancini is the man to do that, honestly? I've seen nothing from him to suggest he's capable of creating a long-term dynasty at City. Now, don't get me wrong, the job may well be impossible - but if it is possible, I don't think Roberto has the temperament or intelligence to deliver that ambition, clearly the City board feels the same after this season's sad showing.

The fact City are 2nd reflects badly on the Premier League as a whole, but shows if you throw insane amounts of money at a club you'll be able to crack the top four even if your players are a group of self-absorbed mercenaries and your manager thinks the best way to change a match is to replace Carlos Tevez with Jack Rodwell.

[Salgado Is A Hero]

I keep reading this so it's important to note that Rodwell was coming on for Tevez so Yaya Toure could be moved further forward. A tactic that has worked wonders in the past.

[Stuart]

The problem with that comparison is Wenger is doing exactly what Arsenal want him to do. He's keeping them in the Champions League on a pretty low overall budget. He's not expected or required to win trophies, that much is obvious or he'd have gone a long time ago.

The job of the Man City manager is to take the billions being spent on the club and essentially make them the next Manchester United, but with even greater success in Europe. Do you think Mancini is the man to do that, honestly? I've seen nothing from him to suggest he's capable of creating a long-term dynasty at City. Now, don't get me wrong, the job may well be impossible - but if it is possible, I don't think Roberto has the temperament or intelligence to deliver that ambition, clearly the City board feels the same after this season's sad showing.

The fact City are 2nd reflects badly on the Premier League as a whole, but shows if you throw insane amounts of money at a club you'll be able to crack the top four even if your players are a group of self-absorbed mercenaries and your manager thinks the best way to change a match is to replace Carlos Tevez with Jack Rodwell.

Sorry DE. Everything after that bit in bold is moot.

This is my whole problem with Man City and the conceit of the owners. It took 15+ years for United's first Champions League title and another 9 for the second. You just can't create a Manchester United overnight.

Now, one might point out Mourinho but he's another one-off and he hasn't conquered Europe with all Real Madrid's trappings - and only won the league once. He managed to take Chelsea to two League titles but didn't conquer Europe there either, outwitted by Rafa Benitez of all people.

These things take time and if a rich arab thinks the best thing to do is to keep potting managers every couple of years if they don't bring home the Champions League, well, I expect that to be counter-productive. Give Mancini another 3 years. People can call it luck or money (money Hughes and Sven didn't manage to buy the title with) but the only team to have outsmarted him in the Prem is United and they are about to go through a change. If they sack him now and then win the league, then it will be due to Fergie leaving and the team Mancini built.

They can afford to wait, why the hurry? And what happens when they've won it? Have they got to win it every year for the next 3?

You call it ambition, I call it arrogance.

[DE.]

For the record, I hate what City stand for. They're everything that's wrong with modern football and make United look like a paragon of virtue in comparison.

All I'm arguing is that for what they want to achieve, Mancini is not the man for the job.

[Salgado Is A Hero]

The thing is, neither me or DE consider Mancini a top manager. If he was, or Mourinho was about to be sacked in the same situation, then I'd agree with you. But I can't see them achieving much with Mancini and Pellegrini would be a better option.

And to be fair, Benitez is an excellent manager in Europe, just ask Valencia or Liverpool fans.

Yea, see above.

[Guest Norbert]

Sven was working under Thakisin Sinawatra, and Hughes was appointed by Thakisin Sinawatra, and was not given a chance by the Arabs. So again, not the best comparasion despite the Thai owner once being very rich. Mancini was not the man for building a legacy Rijkaard/Guardiola or Ferguson style.

[K-Hod]

Mancini's not a bad manager, but citeh won't move forward with him at the helm.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

I keep reading this so it's important to note that Rodwell was coming on for Tevez so Yaya Toure could be moved further forward. A tactic that has worked wonders in the past.

Glad you mentioned that. The City fans in the pub I go in were up in arms about Tevez being replaced by Rodwell. " Taking a striker off for a midfield player " ! I pointed out that it was a move to allow Toure join up with the the strikers, as he had done successfully in the past. I was wasting my breath.

[DE.]

The thing is, neither me or DE consider Mancini a top manager. If he was, or Mourinho was about to be sacked in the same situation, then I'd agree with you. But I can't see them achieving much with Mancini and Pellegrini would be a better option.

Exactly. If I thought Mancini had the potential to build a great team at City and had just had some bad luck I'd consider this a stupid decision. I don't think that, though. Tactically and as a man manager Mancini falls some way short of being a top manager, and if City are serious about becoming a major force they need to hire a man with a clear vision of how they want to play football and the conviction to push through with it no matter what. They also need somebody who can keep their emotions in check, and not consistently criticise their own players and their own bosses in the media.

[Stuart]

The thing is, neither me or DE consider Mancini a top manager. If he was, or Mourinho was about to be sacked in the same situation, then I'd agree with you. But I can't see them achieving much with Mancini and Pellegrini would be a better option.

And to be fair, Benitez is an excellent manager in Europe, just ask Valencia or Liverpool fans.

Yea, see above.

If Pellegrini had won the FA Cup, followed by the PL title the year after, then the third season he finished second in the League and lost in the final of the FA Cup, but was knocked out of the Champions League at the group stages (during the first attempt), would he still be a top manager? Or should he be sacked?

If people are just saying 'well that's what the arabs would do', then it's not really much of a debate.

[Salgado Is A Hero]

I'd keep him because he has proven he can cut it in the Champions League before. If Mancini had done well in Europe for Inter, I would keep him.

[Tom]

Harry Redknapp said his QPR team lack quality and wouldn't finish in the top half of the championship

Then why sign samba for silly money and not use it more wisely Harry?

[Rover_Shaun]

Looks like Wigan are all but down..........at last

[Commondore]

Looks like Wigan are all but down..........at last

Why so gloating? Wigan offers something different to the PL with their attacking style of play and both Martinez and Whelan are class acts. I can easily think of 10 other teams that I'd rather see go down.

[rigger]

Of the relegation candidates, I would rather be playing Wigan next season.

Why so gloating? Wigan offers something different to the PL with their attacking style of play and both Martinez and Whelan are class acts. I can easily think of 10 other teams that I'd rather see go down.

[thenodrog]

Why so gloating? Wigan offers something different to the PL with their attacking style of play and both Martinez and Whelan are class acts. I can easily think of 10 other teams that I'd rather see go down.

Me too. Swansea and Wigan are the teams I want to do well now that it's unlikely to ever concern us.