Man City will be hoping Mancini decision helps them turn into Bayern
Published:Roberto Mancini’s sacking has certainly divided opinion.
To some, including myself, shipping a manager that brought a first top-flight title in 44 years last season and hasn’t drastically underachieved in the current campaign is a joke.
But relations with the board and players were beginning to look strained and the words of some of the squad after the FA Cup final hardly resembled those of men backing their manager.
Throw in the club’s failure in Europe in both of Mancini’s Champions League campaigns and his apparent lack of a plan B on the pitch when his team need a tactical tinker and reasons can at least be provided that this is not a total kneejerk reaction.
In fact, the whole saga is not completely dissimilar to that which was witnessed at Bayern Munich in 2007 when Felix Magath left the club.
Magath had broken new ground by winning back-to-back domestic doubles at Bayern, but never looked wise enough tactically to out-fox his main European opposition to bring further success.
Twice they were second in the group phase to Juventus and in neither campaign did they manage to get beyond the quarter finals.
This decision has clearly proved correct in the long term for Bayern after consecutive Champions League final appearances and Man City will be optimistic of similar future results.
Malaga’s Manuel Pellegrini is widely expected to be Mancini’s replacement and despite a lack of silverware in his own personal trophy cabinet, his Champions League record is notable.
He took small-time Villarreal to the Champions League semi finals in 2006 and saw Malaga eliminated in the quarter finals by Borussia Dortmund this season after somehow conceding two goals in injury time.
Man City are 12/1 in the 2013/14 Champions League betting and such a result would obviously justify what looks at first to be a wrong decision, while it is 7/4 that they lift the trophy at any time in the next five seasons.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
