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Let The Manchester City Debate Begin

Season 2009/10 will end on a damp squib unless we finish in the top 4 and if we don't heads must surely roll. But the question is, whose head will it be? Garry Cook, Roberto Mancini or someone else?

Since August 2008 ADUG has injected at least £200million into the club but everything comes at a price. I appreciate patience is a virtue but Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak and those involved in the Abu Dhabi United Group will want a return on their investment, and soon.

With no opportunity of winning any silverware this season and with the Premier League run-in one of the hardest we've had for years there is a real chance we might not even finish in a Europa League position never mind qualifying for the Champions League.

MCFC is under the spotlight like no other club in the world and some say money is expected to bring immediate success, but if that is the case what is going wrong?

I am not going to pretend I know the answers because I don't but we Blues need to have a sensible debate, in fact, as the headline says, 'let the Manchester City debate begin'.

Shall we begin with the following and see where the debate takes us?

* Are we expecting too much in such a short time period?
* How much money will ADUG plough into the club before they decide enough is enough?
* How much time will the club owners give CEO Garry Cook to resolve internal issues?
* Can we expect the press to continually criticise the club and if so, for how long?
* Roberto Mancini needs time to build his own squad of players but will he be given the time to do it?
* Are we City supporters justified in having a moan and if so, why?

We at Vital Manchester City would like everyone to have their say and in doing so, feel free to criticise the current managerial regime if you think its justified, or if you think we're heading in the right direction then please, say so.

The debate can take place either in the comments section directly below this article or on our 100% City Chat forum, or both. The decision is yours.

Let the debate begin.

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Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.

Writer: Tudor

Date:Thursday February 25 2010

Time: 1:36AM

Your Comments

I think your first point Tudor, are we expecting too much too soon is spot on. If Adug just lets the manager pick who he wants and not let others pick who they think he wants we may start to have a Mancini side. I back Mancini 100% as I did with Hughesy. The crazy part was getting rid of the manager at a time when it was impossible for the new manager to have a proper look at what he was getting and absolutley no chance of getting any players in during the January window that would drastacally improve the side.

buzz lightyear

You're in 5th; only goal diff out of 4th, with a game in hand. What's to debate? You're having a good season. No reason to think you won't continue to improve. Please don't start whinging about every little downturn in fortune like Chelsea or Spurs fans. You've overspent for the wrong players (e.g. Kolo Toure, Joleon Lescott) and in doing so, created unnecessary pressure on Hughes, initially, and now Mancini. Definitely not the finished product, but you're better off than most.

Teddy_KGB

I quite agree Teddy, this has been our best season by some margin.

buzz lightyear

Agree on most stuff Teddy but on recent form Lescott could well be worth something closer (note the "r") to his price tag. He and Kompany make a dynamic CB pairing. Kompany was moved to midfield today but our defence was still largely good, much to do with Lescott who was a beast at times. However, Toure is utter ***** and an absolute waste of money. Will be hard to shift because of his wages too (one of the 20 highest paid players in the world).

StuMCFC

Mancini,Wenger,Sir Alex,Rafa and Arry walk into a bar for a few drinks. Arry gets the first round followed by mancini and rafa etc. Arry gets up to get the 6th round but comes back with just one drink. Bemused they all look at Arry who pipes up" its the 6th Round Biatches! And u aint feckin in it! LMFAO!!!!!!

Mix26

I'm writing this with the benefit of hindsight, so this of course will make me seem very clever indeed! How do you beat Stoke away? You look at teams who have done so successfully, and copy their methods - except most teams don't beat Stoke away, so play for a draw, shut up shop, and leather them on your own, expansive pitch, in front of your own vocal support. Except we didn't, we played similarly in both legs, all three of them. Mancini is shoring up the defence, but his signing of Viera has been a gamble, which so far has not paid off - he obviously wants us to play to a system we do not have the personnel to carry off, and he missed the chance in the transfer window to bring enough players in to suit the new style of play. My verdict on Mancini so far - means well, but is naive to the ways of the Prem, and has gambled he can teach a few old dogs new tricks - in retrospect this is the kind of re-organisation that needed a full pre-season to implement successfully - I now believe he should have continued with MH's direction, with additional coaching for the defence, until the end of the season, or spent massively in the transfer window just gone. Like I said, hindsight is a wonderful gift, unavailable to RM when he first took the job!

It's Grim Oop North

i had a few comments ridiculed on here when hughes got sacked, the point i made was that a merry go round has begun, as soon as hughes was sacked (even though he was on target for the seasons objectives given to him by his bosses) it set a precedent that no manager will be given the time the needed to progress city to where they eventually wanted to be, as for wanting an immediate return on their investment, in what business does anyone get decent returns in less than 3 years? not many. when we sacked big martin jol after 2 consecutive 5th place finishes, it took us 3 years just to get back to that level, we replaced him with a proven manager in european football only to have him fail miserably in the PL, the changing of managers always brings bedding in time, next thing you know its 4 years later in exactly the same position......and that is from our experience at spurs

paddypower

Cook made a very stupid decision by getting Hughes sacked. If they'd have left him until the end of the season and he hadn't achieved his targets then fair enough, at thta point sack him. Everyone, including the media would have respected that and you move on. You get in soemone like Mourinho or Hiddink and steady the ship. We could have avoided the huge steps backwards made in the minds of fans, Typical City is now back on everyone's lips when for a while we dared to believe. All Cook's fault - he has to go, he's made a real hash of it! And I have to say - whoever handles the PR at Eastlands should also be sacked. Its a disgrace.

SkyBlueSuedeShoes

I think you have already nailed it when you talk about expecting too much too soon. People may point to the impact Abramovich had at Chelsea, but the difference there is that they were already well involved in the upper eschelons of the league.

City have the resources and infrastructure to compete with the very best but it will take time. You have already noted how this is probably the best season you've had in a while, the only issue as far as I can see is will the owners give Mancini time, or will they get rid of him for not achieving their aims assuming you do not achieve Champions League qualification.

From my view, I though that they sacked Hughes because they couldn't see him attaining qualification, whats to prevent Mancini falling to the same fate, and the cycle of under-achievement continuing? A bit of long termism is in order whatever happens come May, and Mancini needs at the very least 2/3 full seasons to get you challenging the very top.

Gunnerman

The biggest problem we have as the lessons continue to be heavily learned this campaign is the "we've already arrived" culture that eminates from the club hierarchy and has engulfed our season from pitch to turnstile to internet and beyond. No we haven't arrived and we've won nothing yet. Some of our players give far too many crass interviews. Garry Cook's berkish comments need no introduction. Brian Marwood, increasingly perceived as a Prince of Darkness in all this needs to back off or have his role fully explained. The MCFC of today is for me, not focused enough. Not gritty enough. Not dirty shirted enough. The most glaring example of a total lack of focus is Mancini's scarf. He chooses to wear club colours as he did in Italy. So someone at the club orders the club shop to rush release a publicity campaign selling the fecking thing. Football, team unity, leadership on and off the park and above all else humility are the priorities and until the boardroom get those nailed on, we're going to keep on setting ourselves up for big falls.

Johnny Baguette

We have great potential for next season and that is the most important thing, I think we'll be more determined going into this run and should be able to finish in the top 5, next year hopefully we'll have the experience to know that we have to win the silly games we drew this time around and be more consistent. City fans need to remember where we've come from and if we ever feel down now, know that the future is bright.

arthur7171

Hey look on the bright side. We're still in debt and will most definitely fold next season. This should make you all feel better about......34YEARS.....

ForeverUnited

Very sensible arguments I gotta say.. I especially agree with paddy power on the merry-go-round thing. For chelsea it began with Mourinho's sack, we haven't found our feet since. For Real madrid that has been pretty much the case since the sacking of Del Bosque. The vicious cycle began when City sacked Hughes. Take a look at the 3 clubs, what we all have in common is the desire for instant success. Until we all cure ourselves of this deeply ingrained malaise long term success will remain a dream.. TRUTH

blueogre

The Stretford Court Jester has just returned from under his rock, hello FU!

Kevinho

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