Tom 14002 Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 Yeh they've been awful for me - if you can't score past Wigan with Aguero, SIlva, Tevez etc then you need to look at yourself. (for the record Wigan were class but Man City should be winning that game) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckyluke 2 Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 It's not just their failures but the manner of them. They've not just been pipped to the league, they've been absolutely blown out of the water. They didn't just go out of the CL after a decent run, they finished bottom of their group. And with such huge failures on their record this season they then couldn't bring themselves up to rescue a tiny bit of pride by beating a Wigan side that look odds on to be relegated. I think it's difficult to recreate the sort of spirit and legacy Ferguson did just by throwing money around, and Mancini did win the title last year, but he's clearly out of ideas and his 'blame anyone but me' interviews show he's lost the plot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom 14002 Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 He's been a bit daft at times - randomly switching to a back three in the middle of a game etc etc & then shouting on when it goes tits up. Man United walked the league this year - and they made it look like it. City were never really in it. That said I think Van Persie settled the title this year - he wouldn't go to City despite them offering a lot more than Man U. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew 4676 Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 Cant tell you how nice it is to watch match of the day for once Laudrup and Malky Mackay as guests too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howay 12496 Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 Mancini sacked: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22507128 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Manson 0 Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 Ludicrous decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Besty 4 Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 Nah, he'd lost it. Players are at fault too like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADP 0 Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 Nah, he'd lost it. Players are at fault too like. Yup, but ludicrous still from the perspective that he was the man who delivered their first title in 44 years, yet doesn't buy an 'off year' with that (as much of a prick as he was imo). With Chelsea it seems that whilst one man isn't bigger than any club, money is. I wonder if Man City will adopt a similar intolerance of anything less than success on an annual basis in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khay 10 Posted May 14, 2013 Share Posted May 14, 2013 It was clearly not working out. Being the first manager to win a title in so long just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Anyone else bar Mark Hughes could have managed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Face 29 Posted May 14, 2013 Share Posted May 14, 2013 It was clearly not working out. Being the first manager to win a title in so long just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Anyone else bar Mark Hughes could have managed it. Makes you wonder why all the hoo ha for Fergie when titles are that easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewerk 29744 Posted May 14, 2013 Share Posted May 14, 2013 Despite spending £50m they've failed to provide a proper defense of their title and once again they've flopped in Europe, it's no surprise that they've let him go. Pardew would probably do equally as well with the same squad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asprilla 96 Posted May 14, 2013 Share Posted May 14, 2013 Not beating Wigan for the FA cup (with the squad he's got) is pretty lame to be fair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaddockLad 16704 Posted May 14, 2013 Share Posted May 14, 2013 He was toast before the cup final. Pellegrini was linked months ago and it was all over the papers Saturday morning. Thats how it goes at these clubs and the managers know it. His chief failure has been 2 abysmal champions league campaigns. Thats whats got him the push, rightly or wrongly. Pellegrini got Malaga to the last 8 this season, in the club's debut in the competition. The only other debutants to do as well have been Villareal...their manager?...Manuel Pelllegrini. Mancini's 28 million pay off will cushion his blow as will a job at Monaco,Napoli or PSG. He didnt get any of the players he wanted last summer due to Brian Marwood being a useless mackem twat. Marwood was also sacked with a huge pay off months ago. C'est la vie at the superclubs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonatine 11179 Posted May 14, 2013 Share Posted May 14, 2013 Marwood was also sacked with a huge pay off months ago. C'est la vie at the superclubs. Thought Marwood was still there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Dynamite 6875 Posted May 14, 2013 Share Posted May 14, 2013 Nope, left earlier this season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChezGiven 0 Posted May 14, 2013 Share Posted May 14, 2013 Mancini getting slagged off by some staff member with the unsurprising revelation that he was an arse to work with, arrogant, self-centred and ill-mannered. Typical Italian tbh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkeys Fist 41481 Posted May 14, 2013 Share Posted May 14, 2013 Platt's gone with Mancini http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22533727 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckyluke 2 Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 Chelsea & Arsenal could play off for 3rd: http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/22537372 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fish 10542 Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 Why Strikers Tug At Our Heartstrings... There is no doubt that strikers are valued as football's most precious assets. Of the top 20 transfers of all time, 18 are attacking players, with only Gianluigi Buffon and Thiago Silva offering any case for the defence. Since 1995, the British transfer record has been broken by Andy Cole, Dennis Bergkamp, Stan Collymore, Alan Shearer and Nicolas Anelka, amongst others, with Rio Ferdinand's signing by Manchester United the only deal to break a monopoly of expensive attacking talent. This is not a new development - scoring goals has always been regarded higher than saving them. England's first £1,000 (1905), £10,000 (1928), £100,000 (1962) and £1million (1979) players were all strikers, and with targets such as Edinson Cavani, Falcao and Luis Suarez promising to be this summer's transfer sagas, it doesn't look like much is set to change. Such a status quo is regularly questioned. Goalkeepers make match-winning saves, defenders make match-winning tackles and strikers score match-winning goals - so why is there such a vast difference in their value? Part of this concerns the iconic place that forwards hold in our football psyche. As children, it is very rare that we dream of making the save that wins the World Cup, and having the ambition to make a last-gasp tackle to ensure victory is almost unheard of in the school playground. Instead, we dream of being the goalscorer, the celebrity that takes all the plaudits. The striker is our pin-up boy and our icon, and typically attracts the highest shirt sales and sponsorship deals. Pele in the Sixties, George Best in the Seventies, Maradona in the Eighties and Ronaldo in the Nineties; our poster boys and heroes are all players of an attacking nature. This view is shared by almost every demographic within the game. John Terry is the only defender to have been named the PFA Player of the Year since Paul McGrath in 1993, and no goalkeeper has won the award since Peter Shilton in 1978. Journalists tend to agree with the players' opinions and, of every recipient of the Football Writers' Player of the Year award since the beginning of the Premier League era, only two (Scott Parker and Roy Keane) were defensive players. Whilst it is clear that they are favoured highly, are strikers more important than their teammates, or is it simply that they establish themselves more prominently in our consciousness thanks to their ability to generate headlines through their achievements? Perhaps the answer lies in David Moyes' Everton reign. Now the presumingly gleeful recipient of the Manchester United job, Moyes received significant (and deserved) praise for his management of a squad which consistently suffered from underinvestment. The Toffees cracked the top four in 2005, the top six on four other occasions, and finished as FA Cup runners-up in 2009. With such financial constraints, Moyes was aware that he could not afford a top striker, and instead chose to invest in midfielders and his defence to great effect. After spending £6million on James Beattie, the Scot presumably concluded that such figures were better spent elsewhere on the pitch. Tim Cahill, Mikel Arteta, Leighton Baines, Joleon Lescott, Tim Howard, Marouane Fellaini, Phil Neville, Steven Pienaar and more, were all signings that helped Everton achieve regular top-six finishes. However, in his time at Goodison, Moyes' Everton continuously cried out for a goalscorer. Only once during the manager's 11-season reign did an Everton player score 15 league goals (Yakubu, who cost £11.25million, in 2004/5), and in only two campaigns did the top scorer score more than 11 goals in the league. The last Everton player to average better than a goal every two games over a whole season was Gary Lineker in 1986. That's quite some gap. Whilst Everton's position in the top half of the table has remained fairly stable during the intervening period, the lack of a top striker created a ceiling, a limit to their potential achievement. With a forward capable of scoring 20 league goals, Champions League football could have been within their grasp. Without significant investment, such a player is hard to find. Moyes' last game at Goodison against West Ham on Sunday exemplified the problem perfectly. At times Everton were majestic, with Darron Gibson and Fellaini acting as the pivots in midfield, allowing Baines, Seamus Coleman and Kevin Mirallas to maraud forward to devastating effect. The home side scored twice and yet (and forgive the cliché) should have had six or seven. Up front, Victor Anichebe worked tirelessly and held up the ball, but missed chances (such is his game) whilst the six-month wonder Nikica Jelavic looked on from the bench. An Everton side that has had an average of over 16 shots per game in the Premier League this season (more than Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United) simply must be scoring more goals. Instead, they have registered eight fewer than any other side in the top seven, and only West Ham and QPR have scored with a lower percentage of their shots than the Toffees. Tottenham have struggled with the same problem this season. Gareth Bale has contributed admirably in his playmaker role, but the lack of consistent form from Emmanuel Adebayor or Jermain Defoe (albeit at a higher level than Everton's options) has undermined the club's bid for a top-four finish. Ask any Spurs fan what the club need this summer, and they'll write "goals" in rather large capitals before asking you for Daniel Levy's postcode and a first class stamp. And finally, take the title race. Roberto Mancini's claim that Robin Van Persie has been the difference between the two sides may have been an ultimately futile act of self-preservation, but the Italian's point was clear - Van Persie's goals have won United seven points in the last three minutes of Premier League matches alone, and the Dutchman provided impetus to a squad in need of a response. On such differences are title bids forged. And that is why strikers cost the big bucks. Because whilst an efficient defence, dependable goalkeeper and creative midfield provide the platform for success, the presence of a regular and reliable goalscorer removes the ceiling to limited potential. Anything that affords football supporters the chance to dream of higher glory will continue to be cherished. 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Christmas Tree 4516 Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 (edited) Gus Poyet suspended by Brighton. Edited May 16, 2013 by Christmas Tree Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADP 0 Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 Gus Poyet suspended by Brighton. Why? BBC and Sky have nothing reported like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desmondTUTU 0 Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 Gus Poyet suspended by Brighton. Wouldn't hold hands with the players at the last game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christmas Tree 4516 Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 Why? BBC and Sky have nothing reported like. No explanation given as yet. Some on twitter are saying its due to a budget dispute?? Maybe he's lamped the chairman over transfer funds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom 14002 Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 I cannot fucking stand the little POB faced git. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewerk 29744 Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 Probably been caught having talks with another club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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