‘And go he will’.
Curiously not the words of Yoda, but those of the Tavern’s snitch. Not any old snitch but one who treads the deepest and often darkest carpeted corridors of Eastlands.
The news that Mancini isn’t a long term appointment isn’t earth shattering news. The fact that he was never approached, intended or ever thought as one is our first clue, the second has been the, shall we call them, ‘interpersonal issues’ between the manager and some of the playing staff. The last is that Frank Rijkaard is already lined up as his replacement.
The speculation has been rife, naturally. Jose Mourinho’s ‘plan’ to get everyone talking about him as gone up like a touch paper, but it will not be him. Crazy, loose talk of Capello and Benitez even has been doing the rounds.
Rijkaard will be part of a philosophy that was attempted under Hughes, but suspended when Hughes was found wanting. To this end incidentally, if you think City have been flashing the cash so far, just you wait and see what’s a comin’ Mamma. Some twenty odd players have been seriously scouted, some targets identified by Mancini himself, even though he knows he shall never manage them in a City shirt.
The good news is that the ‘King Makers’ at Eastlands want stability as ultimately they grasp that this, combined with all the other fun stuff, brings success.
Frank Rijkaard, only 47, has a record that is impressive. As has his maturing as both a man as and as a manager. His CV at this stage has him as an almost impossibly perfect fit for the role at City. He crucially has the form as well as the attacking, intelligent, commercial and so very watchable type of football that Manchester Cit so very much wish to be associated with.
Good luck to them.
