Under pressure

Roberto Mancini may be feeling the heat, but that doesn't mean Mark Hughes should still be in charge

The Britannia Stadium is often held up as being Britain’s loudest football ground meaning there can have been little excuse for failing to hear "You're getting sacked in the morning" reverberating from its four stands. Such is the pressure that comes from taking on the Manchester City ‘project’ where every little slip is magnified to the nth degree. It’s not known exactly where last night’s 3-1 defeat to Stoke City features on Gary Cook’s upward trajectory however elimination from the FA Cup, will not be the significant reason if the time comes when Roberto Mancini is dispensed with.

Obviously City’s billionaire owners would not have turned down the chance to put the FA Cup on their expensive mantelpiece, but when it comes down to it, it is the Champions League sword that Mancini’s career at Eastland’s will live and die by. Qualification for Europe’s premier club competition via a place in the top four is what the owners are after and it is only if they fail in this endeavour that the serious questions will begin to be raised about the Italian’s future.

That is not to deny however that the events of last night do not reflect well on the man who took over from Mark Hughes just before Christmas. The worrying signs are that this was not a one off ‘cup upset’ but more the continuation of a poor run of form that puts a potential place in the top four in serious jeopardy.

After a promising start, cynically suggested to have been ‘hand-picked’ by the owners in order to break Mancini in gently, the last eight games have seen just two victories, including now elimination from both domestic cup competitions. Furthermore there have been increasing noises in recent weeks of dressing room disharmony and unhappiness over the Italian’s training methods. How much this is true or not is open to debate, but if a grumbling in the camp is manifesting itself in poor performances and results in league games, then that’s where the club’s owners may feel that they have to take action.

This is where we have been before of course, given that Hughes himself was dispensed with in rather unceremonious circumstances. There was much criticism at the time in the media of the decision, and City’s recent travails seem to have given them more ammunition. Arguments were made back in December that Hughes should have been given more time and incredibly that Mancini was not in fact, a very good manager. Defeats like last night and stuttering performances in the league against some of their closest rivals admittedly don’t do much to fight Mancini’s corner, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the decision to axe Hughes will not be vindicated.

We all, rightfully so, lament the lack of patience in modern football and it’s clear that to build a successful side that some managers be given time, however it is also fair to say that when something is clearly not on track (or trajectory) that you don’t just beat it into the ground before it’s too late just because it’ seen as the ‘right thing to do’. There are many examples in recent times of clubs or in the wider world companies whose failure to act swiftly when things start to go wrong has cost them badly in the long term. If that sounds harsh or smacks of a lack of loyalty, then that’s the world of football in the 21st Century I’m afraid.

In recent seasons, the top four positions in the Premier League have been a rigidly closed shop with little to no scope for any other club outside of the usual suspects having any chance of breaking in. This time out, all of the clubs at the top have been losing games they usually breeze through, and to some extent there’s been something of a levelling out. That coupled with Liverpool’s at times disastrous form means that for many clubs this is a ‘now or never’ experience; qualification for the Champions League is an attainable goal and they need to do anything to grasp it.

This is what prompted City into action and dispensing with Mark Hughes. You can talk about how he was not a ‘big enough name’, he wasn’t the owner’s man, and that he didn’t play glamorous football all you like but the truth appears to be that as this season progressed, it became increasingly clear that both a place in the Champions League was realistically up for grabs and that Hughes was not the man to get it.

You can look at the statistics, and argue that Mancini has now already suffered more defeats than Hughes did in his time this season but that ignores the fact of all the costly draws under the Welshman, the fact that at his time of sacking he’d only won two of his last eleven games and the fact the side continued to be embarrassingly pathetic at the back. Also counting against Hughes was his first season, in which City finished in a disappointing 10th place and his questionable buying practice. At all clubs these days it’s hard to pin point the manager alone for signings, and there will always be an overinflated ‘City price’ but vast sums being spent on players like Kolo Toure, Wayne Bridge and noticeably Joleon Lescott have seen little or no return.

I’m aware this all reads rather harshly on Mark Hughes, so I must say that I feel that he has shown himself to be a talented football manager, who achieved great success during his time with Blackburn. Moreover, this season, slowly but surely he was improving the team and making progress. That is what the problem was however, it was arguably *too slow*. For a ‘normal’ team this would have been fine, but given the astronomical levels of investment being pumped in by City’s owners, patience and time were luxuries that the former Wales Manager simply didn’t have.

The open nature of this year’s Premiership race necessitated a change. City’s owners are sure to pump more and more money in, but playing in the Champions League next season is a huge incentive with which to attract the game’s biggest names, so far unwilling to be wooed even with the huge riches potentially on offer. This is the best opportunity to break up the monopoly of Champions League qualification for the first time in years and that is the real reason Roberto Mancini may be looking over his shoulder.