mancityblues.com

So, the whole world now thinks Mancini will be gone in the Summer

So what then? Mourinho? Surely, he's more likely to end up at Real Madrid? And if we did manage to tempt him would he a) actually agree to come? b) play the kind of football we crave? c) win anything in the first season or two (or even three)?

Look at the players who've been unavailable to Mancini over the past two months due to injury, suspension or whatever -

Robinho------GONE;
Tevez--------AWAY;
Adebayor-----ACON/involved in a terrorist attack;
Bellamy------INJURED;
RSC----------ROLLING SICKNOTE/RUBBISH?;
Kompany------INJURED;
Ireland------INJURED/head elsewhere;
Toure--------ACON/rubbish/injured;
Richards-----INJURED;
Bridge-------INJURED/in the headlines every 5 minutes.

Take into account that the FA cup team had the ELEVENTH central defensive combination we've played this season, by my back-of-the-envelope calculation. How often have we had the luxury of playing a settled line-up?

At the Britannia he played the best side he could put out, except perhaps for the inclusion of Kompany in midfield (although he did cancel out the threat of Sidibe and was probably City's MoM); yet I keep hearing "Mancini's lost the plot! He's playing seven defenders in the side - no wonder we're rubbish!".

The fact is, we have an unbalanced squad now - something Mancini tried to address by signing Mariga and Gago in the window - is it his fault that these bids were unsuccessful? I felt that we did well up until Ade was wrongly sent off, and our downfall was not finishing the easy chances that we created, especially in the first half, which can't really be put at Mancini's door, can it?

Now I'm no Mancini nut-hugger. I've criticized some of his tactical awareness, and found him to be a bit naive when it comes to Premiership football. I suspect there are issues that we are unaware of, and this may explain why certain individuals are not performing, but equally, some players are doing well under Mancini's leadership - Richards, Zaba, Tevez, Lescott, Ade, Kompany, De Jong among others.

How can we really judge him after TWO MONTHS with all the problems he's had? It's true that the football played at the moment is less than inspiring, but look at the players he's had to work with? I'm not even going to go into the conspiracy stuff, such as the media being against City, or the FA having one rule for us and another for all the other teams etc.

I spoke up for Hughes when his job was in jeopardy, because I felt that he needed until the end of the season - eighteen months is not nearly long enough, even having spent £x Millions. Now I find I'm speaking up for Mancini - not necessarily because I think he's a fantastic manager, but because I feel he's doing a reasonable job with what he has.

Finally, if Mourinho is not available, who is around to take City to success?

Capello----on a cushy thing with the England job, but the World Cup may change that;
Hiddink----off to Turkey;
Wenger-----Very doubtful;
Rafa-------No thanks;
Guardiola--Happy at Barca;
Ancelloti--doubtful;
Ranieri----not good enough;
Leonardo---Mancini MkII;
Rednapp----nope;
Hodgson----not high-profile enough;
O'Neill----no better than Hughes or 'Arry;
Bilic------unproven.
Assorted other Euro types - all unknown quantities;

I don't see Mancini as the be all and end all; but at some point, the owners and the fans have got to decide to give someone an extended run at the job. Anything else would be plain WRONG!

~BLOOVIC~