UK time is: 19:53:16

Choose your club

Other Sites

Network Navigation

Vital Partners

'If It's Football, It's Vital'

Mancini and the Fixture Pile-up

Why on earth is Roberto Mancini getting exctied about the fixture pile-up?

City are currently having to play first team matches every 3 days, are firing on three fronts in a way we haven't seen for decades and yet the manager is effectively joining ranks with people like Wenger, Ancelotti and Redknapp who over the years have mooted similar stories.

The stark reality is that if the Club purports to want to be successful then this is what happens once European football in whatever guise returns after the end of the year.

The same managers also want a winter break instead of playing four times in ten days. When do they suggest that these matches take place?

A simple solution is to get knocked out of the Europa League and the FA Cup and re-discover 'typical City' concentrating on the lost cause of winning the Premier League and then not even securing a Champions League place because the team has become de-motivated.

Qualifying for the Champions League is one thing but you have then got to stay in it - and that involves playing every three days.

I agree that playing resources are currently depleted by injuries to key players and it is a strain to get the same personnel ready every few days for a top line encounter, but one has to ask is that not what they are paid to do? Like many readers and supporters I have to get myself ready do the best I can in my job every day to earn not event a respectable percentage of what these lads get, nor the managers for that matter. Look at introducing Guidetti if he is fit and Assulin, even Roman.

Ferguson, Ancelotti, Mourinho, Wenger et al have had to spin the plates for many years in terms of squad rotation and this is now where Mancini is at. So Roberto is it a good thing or a bad thing? If you think of the alternatives discussed above, which are effectively a one-way ticket to the DSS then you know the answer.




Vital F1 Prediction League - Join now for Monaco



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

Writer: Tranmere Loyal Mail feedback, articles or suggestions

Date:Saturday February 26 2011

Time: 12:28PM

Your Comments

I totally agree - its been seen before and it'll be seen again. Unless of course he's getting his excuses in early. If he doesn't get into the top four he'll be packing his bags pretty sharpish at the end of the season.
SkyBlueSuedeShoes
Problem now is that every game is must-win, no group stage Europa matches or 3rd round FA Cup matches left to test reserve players, and given Mancini's reluctance to promote the top EDS players in this high pressure season, its hard to see him doing it now. The returns of Milner and De Jong should be a welcome boost, although as football works, I'm sure two others will go down injured to fill the quota.
StuMCFC
Spot on. We should go for the lot. The side is settling rapidly and we've 42 games under our belt.
Johnny Baguette
I think what Mancini is saying is that this stage of the season becomes a bit of a lottery when it comes down to injuries and fatigue - the lucky teams who can keep all their players fit are the ones who will do best. And unfortunately, the teams not in the cups or Europe will therefore not be stretched as much as those with more commitments, especially now that the new 25 man squad rule is in place. Here's hoping our youngsters are blooded on merit not because we've no-one else left.
fifthcolumnblue
It also should be mentioned that managers of many of our top sides that are chasing multiple titles during the season,also must content with losing key players for international duty at various times. I have some sympathy for Mancini and Co., the demands on many of our players does take a physical toll on their bodies...they are not robots,regardless of what they get paid. If it is not feasible to reduce the amount of all fixtures played, then possibly to avoid what is now a yearly problem of 'fixture pile up', the onus then needs to go onto the F.A. to sort out. Maybe they could extend the season or cut the number of PL teams down to more manageable numbers.
NZblue
 

Have Your Say

Click here to register an account

Recent Articles

The Citizens versus The Canaries (Saturday May 18 2013)

Balotelli: I'm Glad I Left England (Saturday May 18 2013)

The Ped Report Reading 0-2 City (Tuesday May 14 2013)

And On That Bombshell (Tuesday May 14 2013)

The Royals versus The Citizens (Tuesday May 14 2013)

Archived Articles

List All Vital City Articles
Have your say
Click here to suggest an article
Click here to suggest a poll

Vital Members League (view all)

1. Buzz Lightyear 469
2. Johnny Baguette 376
3. Bluedub 366
4. fifthcolumnblue 284
5. Colin Is The King 207
6. Skoorb 180
7. citizhun 162
8. kennyclementstache 155
9. Spooks 151
10. PhillyBlueMoon 139

League Results (view all)

Latest Results
Man City 2 - 3 Norwich
Reading 0 - 2 Man City
Man City 1 - 0 WBA
Swansea 0 - 0 Man City
Man City 2 - 1 West Ham
Spurs 3 - 1 Man City

League Table (view table)

Team P W D L GD Pts
1. Man Utd 38 28 5 5 +43 89
2. Man City 38 23 9 6 +32 78
3. Chelsea 38 22 9 7 +36 75
4. Arsenal 38 21 10 7 +35 73
5. Spurs 38 21 9 8 +20 72
6. Everton 38 16 15 7 +15 63
7. Liverpool 38 16 13 9 +28 61

Breaking League News

Simeon Jackson Released
» Norwich : 20/05/2013 19:52:00
Incredible Result
» Norwich : 20/05/2013 19:25:00
Clarke - It Was A Day Of Records
» WBA : 20/05/2013 17:41:00
Royals bow out of Premier League with defeat
» Reading : 20/05/2013 17:37:00
Lukaku Hails The Fans
» WBA : 20/05/2013 17:30:00
McAuley Proud Of Fightback
» WBA : 20/05/2013 17:19:00
Retiring Legends!
» Chelsea : 20/05/2013 17:03:00

Current Site Poll (view all polls)

YOU are the club owner. Would you have sacked Mancini?
Suggested By:  The Ghost of Peter Swales
Si 53%
Non 47%