Dita's, to even suggest that RM isn't a half decent manager, is ridiculous

City have played fantastically well (for most of) this season.
All teams suffer dips in form, City have
All teams suffer poor performances
All teams suffer dreadful refereeing performances (City more than most this season).
United are seasoned title contenders, they were NEVER going to go away

Mancini has won 4 national cup competitions, for 4 separate clubs.
Add to this, a hat-trick of Serie As (don't give me any of that "watered down" Italian season cobblers...the league still needs to be won).
This is a fantastic CV for any manager.
The money is an irrelevance. Dalglish has been given a bucketful of money to spend, and has "spunked it up the wall" to a certain extent. It takes a good manager to spend money, AND THEN, get the players to perform. Mancini has done this.
Mancini was only sacked by Inter, due to them not winning the CL, but hey-ho there were plenty of teams at the time that were better than Inter in Europe.

Mancini IS a fantastic manager

Juve are my favourite 'foreign' team and they're doing better than everybody expected in Conte's 1st season as coach.I think most Juve fans would have been happy getting back into the champions league this season but it looks like they'll push Milan all the way in the league and after last night they've got a coppa italia final to look forward to.One of the reasons for the return to form is the new ground,it's a lot better playing infront of a 40,000 crowd thats next to the pitch every home game than playing in the old stadium.

Smith took Warrington (who despite their lowly position must have averaged being in the top half of the table for the past twenty years) to third (which is their highest position for nearly those same twenty years). Mancini took a team which had finished tenth the year before and finished fifth (think that was more or less the same as where he took over). Next year he moved them up to third, this a team which was brand spanking new not only broke into the top three which was their highest finish since I was a lad (and the first FA Cup since before then). This year it looks like he should be good for a minimum of second possibly first.

I'm not saying what either has done is easy but I would like to suggest, you know, just throwing it out there, is to succeed in football (specifically the Premier League too) is generally far harder than it is in rugby league, based on a simple fact that the competition is so much more intense i.e. millions play, watch and coach the game. Millions. So if we accept that it is harder then we have to accept the monetary advantages City's position gives him. Is it enough to say that you can basically buy the league?

Your answer suggests that if you just throw enough cash that way things will miraculously happen on their own. When the environment is as competitive as football is that will not work. It requires good management to get the very best out of those resources. In that way football is probably closer to Formula One in that it takes millions of pounds of investment into each squad/car to the point of you might have to spend £50m to fine tune your team to win it. In Super League we've just seen the Pies basically win a title off the back off one pretty brilliant wonder kid. I know the defence played its part but no Tomkins, no title and probably no cup. At the top end of the Premier League one player does not an entire difference make like it can do in SL. It's getting harder in SL and you have the salary cap too but I don't think there's a enough in that to say it means Smith is significantly more successful. You might even want to say that Mancini has done it speaking a foreign language with players for whom English isn't their first language either. Perhaps that makes the comparison a lot closer than most would prefer to consider.

Personally, I think Smith and Mancini have been a success. Has Mancini been successful enough? If they don't win the league this year but finish second I'd like to see him stay to see if he can build that incredible home form into something special. I know the criticisms levied against him but next year will be his third year and we should be able to reap the rewards for the change in culture he's tried to bring on the field (I don't recall Mourinho's side being as entertaining as City at their best - I know some will disagree).

Of course, all this is irrelevant if he guides us to the title this year.

Lucky goal from chelsea.

Everything falling man uniteds way in the title race.

Not now

phew!

City showed a bit of mettle there.

If united thought city were just going to roll over and die, they're in for quite a suprise.

Could be massive for City, that. On another note.... Kenny out

But Mancini hasn't faced strong competition this season. Chelsea have been out of it because of the dreadful form under AVB, United knew they were weak and stood little chance but just managed to cling on and still be in with a good shout.

Stick Mourinho or Fergie in charge of the Citeh squad and the title would already be decided.



Mourinho came in to Chelsea and faced Arsenal's "Unbeatables". He won the title with record points, while also taking Chelsea to the CL semi final and winning the league cup.

I'd say that Citeh are stronger and more entertaining with their fluid attacking play, but the fact that Mourinho achieved so much more with less shows just how superior Mourinho is to Mancini.

Personally if it means Mancini stays at Citeh and Mourinho comes back to Chelsea I want Citeh to take the league. If Citeh fail to win the league I think Mancini could be dumped twice for Mourinho. I dread that.

I thought that the response from Citeh was poor. They didn't look in any way threatening until Essien stupidly went in to block with his arms in the air.

After that there was only going to be one winner and Citeh took the game over completely. But to have deserved the plaudits Citeh should have been attacking with that verve before the penalty got them back in the game.

Per-lease

On the balance of play city deserved to win. They had more shots, more posession more chances. Chelsea got a scrappy, lucky goal. But it was a very good response from city in terms of their overall performance and showed they will fight until the end for this title.

No doubt if mourinho was on the dugout instead of mancini, your opinion on city would be different.

Stop turning everything into a Jose mourinho dick sucking sesh.

I hope QPR go down, but damn winning 3-2 against Liverpool after being 2 down is

















.

Chelsea got a scrappy, lucky goal. But Citeh up until the penalty were similar to Arsenal at their clueless worst. Just as Chelsea's goal was down to luck, so was Citeh getting a pen.

AT LAST!

When The Rags are losing (or even drawing) with a few minutes to go, they litteraly BATTER their opposition's penalty area, to get THAT goal. Liverpool did that for 20 years previously. That's where good teams are made from. City showed that tonight (at times).

Some things from tonight.
Silva DESPERATELY needs a rest, he's just not affective at the moment. He's been kicked "from pillar to post" since November, and he currently looks yards off the pace. Still player of the year, though.

Tevez (according to that c0ck Allan Parry, was as good as hero worshipped onto the pitch...no he wasn't, there was a huge amount of boos), I don't care, he's there to do a job, as long as he does his job to the best of his ability, then we get his value in the transfer market, job done.

City did this, WITHOUT their first choice centre backs.

p.s. yet again, NO credit from Sky.
The build up was unbelieveable, it took Sky 35 minutes to say ANYTHING positive about City, it was all doom and gloom, about a side that had won 7 of their last 9 games.

P.P.S. I wonder if Alan Hansen (a man who's never kicked a ball in anger since the PL started) still thinks City's season is in "capitulation"......nob. It really is time the Beeb looked at changing their 'pundits'

Haven't watched it, just got in from work. Embarrassing.

How have City not faced anybody strong this season.

They "dry bummed" last season's Prem League champs/CL (runners up) 6 FLIPPIN 1 away from home
Chelsea won the double (with virtually the same players as they've got now) two years ago.
Slur Alex or Mourinho would not have won the league any quicker....you can't win every game, you have to take draws and losses, it's not as if those two didn't exactly win every game they played.

I want Mancini in charge of my side for the next 30 years. If you excuse the expression "Rome wasn't built in a day". Just ask the most famous football team from Salford, it took them 7 seasons to win the league, with Slur Alex in charge

We're singing off the same hym sheet on this one. City are not in capitulation as hansen put it the other day. They've won 7 from 9. As you say. The only reason they've been overtaken (by a point i might add) is because man uniteds form has been unbelievable. BUt that won't last forever. Runs like that never do.

The title will go right to the wire. If citeh can grind out at a result at stoke, they are back top and...suddenly the pressure shifts firmly on united to get a result against fulham.

That's how it will go over the next 9 games. It's going to be tooth and nail.

Silva wasn't the best tonight. Nasri was excellent however, and Barry.

Earlier in the season with a healthy lead at the top:
"Tevez will never play for the club again."

Fall 4 points behind Utd:
"Welcome back Carlos."

Mancini has a knack of making attacking substitutions which initially look defensive.

Cracking game on television tonight. Madrid dominated Vila-real for 80 minutes but only had the one-goal lead. Free kick outside the box. Up steps Marcos Senna and... goooool!
Within 30 seconds Mourinho was sat in the stands and less than 5 minutes later Ramos and Ozil had seen red.

Can't weigh Athletic Club up. Very frustrating.

That sounds mental!

Catalancs; did you see Cazorla's goal t'other night against Madrid? Was Senna's better?

No mate, Senna's was pretty average to be fair. I thought Casillas should have done much better whereas he couldn't really do much about Cazorla's peach.
Talking about Malaga, the arab owner has signalled he's going to spend big in the summer.

Mourinho refusing to speak to the press now.

The first quote was half an hour after the infamous incident.....time for everyone to calm down....and they have......oh, and by the way, that quote was from 27th of September, when City were in SECOND (on goal difference, mind you)...so that's hardly a "healthy lead" as you so eloquently put it, is it???????????????????????? Still, why let the facts get in the way of your arguement.

Don't forget, Tevez's 'apology' was accepted when City were 3 points (or so) in front of United...so it wasn't "welcome back Carlos" please rescue us (as you said earlier)....

DO TRY HARDER NEXT TIME


P.S. Harry for England, still, anyone?....not for me!