MCFC

Looking forward to watching him live, looked a great player when you played Benfica in the Europa final last season. What would you say your strongest line up is now? Matic and Ramires as the two midfielders, with Willian, Oscar and Hazard playing behind one of your three strikers?

Without doubt imo While Yaya is a phenomenal player Fernandinho is much more important in the system we play. Surprised at how underrated he is tbh, can't think of one weakness to his game. The only problem is that if he gets injured we're left with Garcia and Rodwell who aren't necessarily bad players but in a 4-4-2 with Toure its a disaster as you saw in the first half of the Watford game.

Not to concerned about Arsenal at the moment either, think they'll drop points in their next two games against Liverpool and United. Then they have to go your place, Everton, Spurs and Stoke.

If we get 3pts tomorrow night I can't see us not winning it. Would expect us to beat Sunderland, Stoke, Villa and Fulham at home and get at least 4pts against Norwich and Hull which would set up nicely for the game in hand against United. By that stage we could be 8/9 points clear at the top. Football is never that simple though, if Fernandinho gets injured for a lengthy spell we are in huge trouble as we have no else like him in midfield and there's always the odd unexpected result.

No one knows how much the etihad sponsorship deal is worth so I dont why you are saying we have broken the rules

ManchesterBlue explains it better than I can http://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=297245.80

What rules are we breaking exactly?

FFP is just a way of keeping the status quo, the only reason chelsea aren't in favour of it is to stop smaller sides getting a similar style investment that yourselves and city got. Pretty disgraceful that Chelsea are against it, why was it okay for you to get huge investment, yet other teams can't?

Why do people keep saying Toure is suspended, loads mentioning it on twitter. Hes on 5 yellows you need 10 to get a suspension. With Aguero probably out I think Pellegrini will set us up like this. .................................Hart..................... Zaba.............Komp.................Demi..............Kolarov.. ....................Yaya..................Fern.................... Navas..............................................Silva .................Negredo.......Jovetic/Dzeko.................. Would like to see Jovetic get a start but got feeling Dzeko will get the nod. Huge game if city win I think we're in pole position for the title as the next 6 games look extremely winnable. Home to Stoke, Fulham, Villa and Sunderland while away at Norwich and Hull.

You can have Dzeko by all means, he does get goals but his overall play is frustrating as hell compared to Negredo and Aguero. Disgusting attitude at times as well.

Agree with all of this apart from the De jong bit, he was in the last year of his contract and wanted a massive wage increase yet was only a squad similar to your Lampard situation.

No Ive said Mourinho is the better manager hes probably the best manager in the world, its just most of the posts on this thread make Mancini out as mid table manager yet he has won trophies wherever hes been including two teams who suffered severe financial problems and won our first league title in 40 years.

1) How are they not the same, the winners of the domestic cup play the overall winners of the league, the only difference is that in Spain its over 2 legs 2) Yes but what im saying Mancini has achieved exactly the same domestically as Mourinho in Spain. 3) I watch a lot of La liga and there are some great teams to watch like Betis and Malaga but I would still say the prem is more difficult and with all the galacticos Madrid bought under Pellagrini then Mourinho they were always going to dominate with Barce especially considering the unfair TV deals. No surprise Madrid finished 40 points ahead of 3rd place Valencia last season. Although this season it looks like Mourinho has lost the dressing room and there results match that. 4) Mourinho did wonders like he usually does but Mancini still did a great job there and it hardly makes him a joke. 5) If Mancini wins the league he deserves another shot at europe If Mancini is a joke for winning trophies wherever he goes god knows what that makes the majority of other managers. He is Inters most successful manager in the amount of silverware won and delivered our first title in 40 odd years. Yes his European record is poor but domestically he is one of the best.

Think he will be gone if he doesn't deliver the league, if we don't go for Pep or Mourinho in the summer they wont be available for a few years. Also we have two ex Barce guys who joined the board a few months ago which makes it even more likely Guardiola will take over if Mancini doesn't win anything.

Talking about his time in Madrid

Yes I would say a league title and an Fa cup is decent return, not brilliant but decent. Money doesn't guarantee success like PSG and QPR are finding out. Mancini also had to sought out the mess that Hughes left and his crap buys which probably put us a year back. 1) I would say they are 2) Mourinho didn't win a treble he won the 3 trophies in the same space of time Mancini has 3) Madrid are a better team than us but I would also say the premier league is a much tougher league, most who have managed Real Madrid have a similar record to Mourinhos. Similar to managers who manage Celtic and Rangers. 4) Mancini won everything domestically at Inter but yes he was sacked due to poor CL showings 5) Its a disgrace and he will pay the price for it if we don't win the league Not arguing that Mancini is a better manager than Mourinho who is obviously one of the very best managers in the world but most posts in this thread make Mancini out as a mid table manager when it is quite clear he is not and his trophy record backs this up.

Yes like Lambert who is taking Villa down or Ancelotti who failed to win the french league with PSG after serious investment and now 2nd behind Lyon this season. Not a top 4 manager? He has won trophies almost every year of his management career.

Not sure what your point is but in 15 years at Liverpool he won 3 league titles, 2 fa cups, 4 charity shield and one Uefa cup.

Domestically hes been a success, one Fa cup, a league title and a charity shield is a decent return. Mourinho in the same space of time in Madrid has won exactly the same, one la liga, one super cup and one copa del ray they are also 18 points behind Barce this season and the club is in a crisis with his dropping Casilles and all that. You also have to remember when Roman took over Chelsea you were already a CL side and it still took two seasons for you to win the league, so I do think Mancini has done a decent job bringing us the title. I cant defend his European record which is woeful and IMO he will be replaced if/when we don't win the league with Pep probably coming in. As for his record in Italy he won silverware at two clubs who were in serious financial difficulties and at Inter, domestically he won everything, yes his main rivals were relegated but you can only beat whats put in front of you.

How is he a mediocre manager when he has won a trophy in nearly every year of his management career. He won the Coppa Italia at Lazio and Fiorentina, clubs who were both struggling financially and having to sell there best players. Moved on to Inter where he became there most successful manager. At city in the his first full season he won the Fa Cup and finished 3rd level on points with your team (who had spent 100 million in the January transfer window of that season) Second season he won the league, yes we finished level on points with United be we achieved 89 points he cant stop United winning games. This season has been a disappointment however we're still 7 points above you lot who spent just under 100 million in the summer and the title race is not over yet. Champions league and europe have been his downfall though and will probably cost him his job at the end of the season if we don't win the league, but to say he is mediocre manager is ludicrous considering the amount of trophies hes won in his career.