Just after Abide With Me was done, the anthem was finished, and the FA Cup Final had kicked off, the 31,000 Manchester City fans occupying the club’s section at Wembley let their voice be heard. Their targets were Friday reports that Roberto Mancini, who had managed City to their second FA Cup Final in three years, would be replaced after the season with Málaga’s Manuel Pellegrini. And suffice to say, a sentimental and appreciative fan base attached to the man who has delivered a Premier League title was none too thrilled with those reports.
We went into the case for the change earlier today. As was the case at Inter Milan, Mancini’s success at City requires some context. While he’s taken the club to unprecedented heights, he’s not the only man who could get the job done. Most would say the financial backing of Sheikh Mansour’s group mandates more.
Tell that to City fans, for many of whom memories of lower division soccer are still fresh in the mind. As expressed by Saturday’s songs, there’s little desire among supporters for the club to turn their back on man who has brought results in the name of a hypothetical upgrade:
At Wembley, for FA Cup final, and #MCFC fans to my right singing: 'You can stick your Pellegrini up your arse'
— Daniel Taylor (@DTathletic) May 11, 2013
#MCFC fans chanting loudly for Mancini and now singing: "You can stick your Pellegrini up your arse" ...
— Oliver Kay (@OliverKay) May 11, 2013
So if you’re Sheikh Mansour and his family, what do you do? The supporters made their feelings known loud and clear. At the same time, they’re not the first fan base to develop sentiment for a coach. Should Liverpool bring Rafa Benítez back just because the Kop overlooks the Reds’ Benítez-orchestrated dive out of Champions League? Definitely not.
These are the difficult decisions for ownership – how to balance the club of the present against the club you want to build. When a team’s yet to accomplish anything, it’s easy to let ambition win out, but when you’re working at the margins -- looking to squeeze that final three or four percent out of your squad – the decisions become more difficult. Is it worth antagonizing your supporters to make a move when, playing at the extremes of European soccer, improvement might not necessarily equate to results? It all depends on what the Skeikh sees the club: Still growing, or at the point to expect results commensurate with the outlay.
Does anybody really believe City should view themselves as a still-building club?
I tend to be higher on Pellegrini than most, so I’d make the move. Where a new coach will likely have to improve on Mancini’s record to be accepted as his replacement, I think Manuel Pellegrini highly likely to do so. His Champions League record is much better, and with Pellegrini, I believe City could have challenged for this year’s Premier League title. There’s never been a point where Pellegrini’s results haven’t matched his talent, whereas with Mancini, that’s a constant question.
But with the fans voicing their opinions, City’s owners will have to be as high on Pellegrini as I am for a move to make sense. While you always want to make the right decisions over the popular ones, the uncertainty that comes with a coaching change at this level of the game is enough to justify caution.
Now if City loses today’s final (0-0 at 25' as I write)? Then you can ignore those chants.
