Interesting words from Joe Bernstein in the Mail this morning.
Roberto Mancini has gathered the same number of points from Manchester City’s opening 13 matches this season as Mark Hughes did a year ago.
Yesterday’s goalless draw against Birmingham leaves Mancini’s side in fourth place with 22 points, the same total acquired by Hughes, who was sacked four games later after his 17th game ended in a 4-3 win against Sunderland.
And so for all the smugness of appointing a swanky new foreign coach and all the money spent, the net result is pretty much the same.
Don’t get me wrong I wish anyone who can break the traditional Top 4 cartel well. But Mancini appears to be building a La Liga side at Eastlands. And my question is can a La Liga manager win the Premiership, or come close to it?
We are told or it is hugely rumour that Mancini’s remit for this season is a Top 4 finish. You can’t argue he’s on course for one as we speak, but at what price? The football we had to endure against Manchester United was pretty uninspiring. United for my money where there for the taking.
And so we look at personnel. Does anyone else think City are missing Bellamy? Taking off Tevez and bringing on Johnson just underlines what goes through Bobby Manc’s mind.
We are told that the dressing room is a cauldron of ego and avarice. Of course this is exaggerated, but it certainly isn’t cucumber sandwiches on doilies and tea in bone china cups either. Adebayor for instance, appears to able to pick a fight in an empty room, but unable to play football very well.
So where is all this going? I want to know, do you think Hughes would be a better man manager? Would Hughes hide behind the money bags and sending an attacking, hungry striker out to pasture in bloody Cardiff?
If you could wave a wand, who would you have in charge, right now?
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