Peter Fraser sees Man City as a club wrapped in irony as the pressure mounts on Roberto Mancini.
Peter Fraser sees Manchester City as a club wrapped in irony as the pressure mounts on Roberto Mancini
Amid the catcalls, groans and engulfing disgust at the City of Manchester Stadium on Saturday afternoon, you could have been forgiven for hearing mumbled chants of, 'bring back Sven!'.
The Manchester City reign of arguably Sweden's most famous export since Volvo and ABBA may not be held with much affection, with a then joint club record for Premier League points paling into insignificance when measured against a lack of silverware, however, at least there was entertainment. Fans are now caught between a rock and a hard place, discovering the difficulty in enjoying both success and the unexpected, 'bring back 8-1 defeats at Middlesbrough!'.
Roberto Mancini is of course the man currently in charge, but for how long is a question that is growing in frequency and must be crossing the mind of owner Sheikh Mansour, who, perhaps fortunately, was not in England this weekend to witness the 0-0 home draw with Alex McLeish's well-organised and determined Birmingham.
The boos, expletives and calls for the return of striker Craig Bellamy, who is on loan at Cardiff, that accompanied the final whistle were a disquiet indicator. City followers are rapidly losing patience after witnessing another stalemate in the wake of the dire derby draw with Manchester United. It is now four hours and 45 minutes since City scored a home goal in the Premier League and Mancini is receiving the brunt of criticism. But it has to be asked, what more do you want?
Yes, City have spent incredible amounts of money upon players, facilities and infrastructure, yet they are a billionaire club wrapped in ironies in almost every direction. On a wall close to a catering department and the press zone in an underground area of the City of Manchester Stadium, there is a picture of former midfielder Dietmar Hamann making a cup of tea. Hamann could not really be considered a celebrated City legend so it is assumed that the message the club's award-winning marketing department are hoping to portray is, 'look at good old Didi mucking in, we're still City from the block.'.
Lost in translation
The paradoxes continue elsewhere. On the club's
official website you can find a copy of 'Club Values' bizarrely under a sub-section entitled 'Corporate Information', a term which sounds the Star Wars' Imperial March tune in my head. To quote from the 'Club Values': "Manchester City Football Club is the heart of the city... We at Manchester City Football Club are immensely proud of the steadfast support of our fans and we remain committed to working closely with them in order to further our footballing ambitions." I would have liked to have seen chief executive Garry Cook stride into the centre circle with a megaphone and read the 'Club Values' as disgruntled fans spilled towards exits with 90 minutes approaching on Saturday.
Irony also appears to be lost in translation on the man under the spotlight, Mancini. At a brief conference after the Birmingham match he tellingly snapped "What pressure?" at journalists, who had previously received team-sheets with hospitality advertisement on the reverse and the City of Manchester Stadium's unique treat of half-time food served to seats in the press box, read into that what you will. Maybe the clearly riled former Inter Milan boss should ask Sheikh Mansour "What pressure?"
Mancini has brought it on himself. His tactics are horribly cautious and negative. There was a more adventurous approach against Birmingham when compared to the dreadful encounter against neighbours United, but that is like saying that there would be more punches thrown at a Women's Institute cake sale in Piccadilly Gardens than there were at the MEN between Best of Enemies David Haye and Audley Harrison.
The Italian's substitutions appear almost robotically premeditated in their selection. Captain and top scorer Carlos Tevez's exit in the 83rd minute when City were chasing a goal against Birmingham received a vicious response from the majority. Elsewhere, it seems to have been decided that altering full-backs will help find a goal. Against United, Aleksandar Kolarov was introduced for Jerome Boateng in the 81st minute, while against Birmingham, Pablo Zabaleta came on in place of Kolarov, again in the 81st minute.
Such conservative approaches may win titles in Serie A and will probably secure the target of a top-four place in the Premier League to be followed by participation in UEFA Champions League, but England's top-flight silverware will never be lifted without a little adventure. Even if he was afforded the managerial luxury of time to add to City's bottomless wallet, Mancini is not the man to guide City to the Premier League trophy and if reports of bust-ups with players are true his squad know it.
The 45-year-old may not have the opportunity to stake his long-term claim if former City boss Mark Hughes, who was ruthlessly sacked for underachieving last December, guides Fulham to three points over his ex-club at Craven Cottage next Sunday.
World's richest club
Mancini's worry will be that Sheikh Mansour, Cook and City's Executive Leadership Team, including Brian Marwood, will be listening to the club's followers. Mansour et al are after all are 'immensely proud of the steadfast support of our fans'. The criticism and negative tactics do not create an attractive package. It only requires a look to the example of Roman Abramovich's plans at Chelsea, who are also wobbling to deflect a little attention away from City, to discover that the overall aim is to win in style. When fans turn on a manager it is a long way back.
The question again raises its head, what more do you want? City's fans have not seen a major trophy since the 1976 League Cup and have not even been to a major cup final since finishing as runners-up to Tottenham in 1981's classic FA Cup final replay. Even 2005/06 League Cup finalists Wigan have a better record.
With a current status as the world's richest club and a position in the top four of the Premier League, it is inconceivable to think of City's silverware drought and time in English football's third division in the not-so-distant past. Despite the millions in finances, surely a current league place should be savoured and perspective must be maintained.
But again, fans have been brought up on tales of the flair of Colin Bell, Francis Lee, Mike Summerbee and Rodney Marsh and as a result they remained loyal in the bad times of the late 1990s when entertainment was still on show.
It is a balancing act. Perhaps City followers need to show objectivity when considering their rapid ascent of the football pyramid. Perhaps the demands are now the greatest irony of all at the City of Manchester Stadium. Or perhaps this is a lesson Mancini needs to learn.
