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After the dust has settled.........
Well, first things first, looking at the season as a whole we didnt deserve to be top four. Don't get me wrong I'm satisfied with the overall progression just it wasn't enough for the top four.
When Sheik bought us it was well documented that in three years time we should reach top four, first year top half - got there, second top six - got there, next year top four - lookin good!
Although there has been lots of debate about sacking Hughes when I look back I think it was correct decision. Hughes has many many strengths but he is unable to make teams tight defensively. If you look at all the teams he managed the stats wil prove this.
Mancini has made us tighter and we are less error prone, every team makes mistakes but who makes the fewest is pretty high up there. Mancinis flaws seem to be his cautious approach on crunch games. Also he had it tough managing a team he didn't personally assemble no matter how good it is. We had short comings in midfield, and yesterday loosing Barry just highlighted it.
Transfers will be interesting come summer. I think we should do our deals before the World Cup. There are so many good players who could improve our team. There has been much talk about Torres and as much City fans would love to see him in a City shirt I think that if he goes to Chelsea it would be better for City in the long run.
We have Europa leaque next season and this could be a major burden for us! Can't remember a team that has done well, as in top four, in domestic competition and in EL as well. Building quality teams who can perform well when some key players are injured is a challenge.
Mancini will probably be in charge next season and I think its right that he should be. Changing now would be just short sighted and as much as I am sad and gutted over the result yesterday I have to say that we are exactly where we supposed to be and we have a bright future ahead of us.
~Dark Defender~
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4 comments
Just love the monotony of reading, "it`s down to Hughes and those draws". Very convenient to forget losing to Hull, Spurs, nitid, and Everton twice, drawing with the mighty Stoke, Sunderland, useless Liverpool, and disinterested Arsenal.
Strangely the only real highs, awful Chelsea away aside, came early season, and lest we forget, it was that early season period that got us to the semi of the Carling. 70 points was the stipulation this season end of.
In the 20 games post Hughes we have dropped 23 points from an available 60. That gives us a return of 1.85 points a game, which will ALWAYS struggle to hit a champs league position. Even if we win our final game we still fall short of an average 2 points a game needed to get even anywhere close. Mancini`s points return average is always only good enough for Europa qualification. This is not opinion it`s FACT.
Despite the knee jerk, and total demonstration of lack of knowledge sacking Hughes effectively was, the fact is the reason and replacement has failed. Cook wanted another name to trip off the tongue for his posters, but again got it badly wrong with Mubarak`s approval. When assessment is made of where points were lost under Mancini it is simply not good enough. We had it in our hands to make top 4, HAD IT REMEMBER, but under Mancini we have failed.
Due to this failure we have now blown our chance to secure the services of the best manager in the world. The board has in footballing terms failed.
I expect the board to stick with Mancini due to pinning their reputations on him succeeding, but the bottom line is they have been found wanting. Cook has operated in areas he`s no right, savvy, or place to operate in because Mubarak has apparently more important things to do and has no more experience anyway. Marwood....well really, what is the point full stop in this man being at the club if the manager knows what he`s doing. Is it not obvious it`s purely to protect Cook`s position because he has zero clue about how football works, just as Cook is employed to protect Mubarak`s position because he has zero clue either.
Mancini has shown some ability at times, but the overall effect comes up short of what`s required. There may be a huge pot of money, but that really is the only change in our circumstances. Due to the ineptitude of the most important figures at a football club we can sleep soundly safe in the knowledge that the term "typical City" prevails. We might be cash rich, but no one it seems has any idea what to do with it within the club.
Thank God/Allah/Buddha, you choose, for property deals to keep Mansour interested a while longer. I would respectfully suggest however he employ some people that actually have a clue to replace his current bunch of completely naive chancers as they are taking us all, Mansour in particular, for fools.
"another season fizzles away to nothing" ? get a fekin grip. best points total in pl ever, best position in pl, ever, in the running for cl spot until the last week of the season, 1st time ever. why don't you go and find a team that's gauranteed a trophy or two within your attention span ? leave us propper blues to continue to 'support' our team.
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