City needs to keep Mancini

By Zain Alvi | 25th February 2010

City needs to keep Mancini | read this item

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Craig Bellamy’s 81st minute equalizer, which came merely two minutes after Dave Kitson’s opening goal in the FA Cup tie between Manchester City and Stoke, led to major celebrations near the Sky Blues bench. However, moments later, Emmanuel Adebayor was sent off for getting his hands on the Potters’ Ryan Shawcross. Shawcross then went on to score in extra time to lead the hosts to a 3-1 win. All of a sudden, it was deja vu for the Eastlands outfit, which was staring at the prospect of exiting yet another competition.

City boss Roberto Mancini, who has only held his position at the club for a little over two months, seems to have fallen under the scrutinizing observation of the club’s owners. Despite being installed as the successor to Mark Hughes in dramatic fashion, Mancini has reportedly received an ultimatum to lead the team to Champions League qualification in order to avoid the sack. To make matters worse, the former Inter Milan boss is threatened to be replaced by current Inter manager Jose Mourinho.

Interestingly, Mourinho himself has been ordered by the Inter Milan management to land the UEFA Champions League trophy at the Giuseppe Meazza. If he fails to accomplish this gargantuan feat, the “Special One” will not remain so special to the Nerazzuri and will likely be released from the club. While this would allow him to pursue a return to the Barclays Premier League, his availability will force a lot of clubs besides City - such as Real Madrid and Liverpool – into a bidding war.

Managers at these other clubs will obviously be humiliated as their jobs would hang in balance. To be honest, if Jose ends up replacing Mancini at the Eastlands, Manchester City will only go on to verify its reputation as a club that is seeking to play with some excess cash. Bringing the elegant Italian to the club was a move in the right direction, despite its poor execution. Mancini did quite well to silence his detractors with a fantastic winning streak to start off his reign.

However, like all good things, City’s streak ended, and with that so did the club’s flirtation with an overhyped title challenge. Subsequently, they have fallen out of the top four and face a battle to regain an entry into the elite group by the end of the season. Many pundits have identified this weekend’s grim goalless draw at home to Liverpool as an indicator that City cannot seal the deal in huge games. But I feel that it is a little too early to judge that.

This City roster has some huge names but they are only playing together for the first time this season and it takes time to get a team of eleven players into perfect rhythm. Mancini has certainly got the experience and the expertise to turn things around with this group, particularly as he welcomes Carlos Tevez back for the challenging trip to Chelsea. Even if they still fail to qualify for the Champions League when all is said and done, City should stay patient, trim their squad, make strategic chances, and give Mancini the chance to prove himself starting next season.

andy says:

February 25, 2010 at 3:40 pm

I`m all for backing a manager, I wasn`t displeased with hughes and his football it was just the defence

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