8 Apr 2013

'He has to go' - Hansen blasts boss for 'unacceptable' Prem 'failure'. BR warning...?

Liverpool legend Alan Hansen has ripped into Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini, arguing that he should be sacked for overseeing City's 'totally unacceptable' capitulation this season.

In his column for the Daily Telegraph today, Hansen accused Mancini of allow Man United to 'coast to the title', and criticised his team for 'failing to assert any kind of pressure' on Alex Ferguson's team. He barked:

"Manchester City’s missed opportunity to rule means manager Roberto Mancini has to go."

Mancini has regularly complained about missing out the players that he wanted last summer, but Hansen argued that the Italian is 'at fault' for allowing that to happen:

"He has failed to get the best out of players, and the minute a manager fails to persuade his bosses to get the players he wants is the minute he should go. The buck always stops with the manager and nobody can say that he or City have had a good season".

I think Mancini will probably leave City this season, and I doubt his players will shed many tears. It just goes to show that money doesn't always buy sustained success - the quality of the manager is the most important thing, which is why Alex Ferguson is still at the top of his game.

I would make a comparison here between Mancini and Brendan Rodgers. Hansen is right in that City have 'field to assert any kind of pressure' on United, but similarly, Rodgers' team has failed to assert any kind of pressure on the teams fighting for the Premier League's top four.

Inconsistency is rife in the league this year, and both Arsenal and Chelsea have had comparatively poor league seasons so far. Countless chances have arisen for Liverpool take advantage of regular slip-ups by both clubs, but time and time again, the Reds have singularly failed to capitalise.

I don' think anyone really believed Liverpool would comfortably make 3rd or 4th place this season, but I'm sure most fans - and FSG - expected at least a rudimentary challenge for the Champions League places. At no point in the season, however' has the club been close to breaking into the top four, and that (IMO) is down to the manager. Hansen concluded:

"In a football dressing-room, nobody likes a manager, or certainly very few players do. Bob Paisley used to say that the moment a manager is liked by his players is the moment when he is in trouble, but while they don’t have to be liked, the players have to be able to rely on the manager"

Man City clearly can't rely on Mancini, but can Liverpool's players genuinely rely on Rodgers...?



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27 comments:

  1. Difficult to say at the moment. Rodgers is too close to the players. However, he probably needs to be in the short term - possibly the only way for us to keep Suarez for another season.

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  2. I am sure players not good enough for a team that wants to be in the top 4 - namely the likes of Henderson, Shelvey, Johnson (at least as RB) and Downing - will be happy to rely on Rodgers to continually put his faith in them. But that is not the kind of reliance we want to see.

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  3. Im not a Liverpool fan, but i have to say i really like Rodgers as a manager. I think he has actually done really well with Liverpool this year. He has had to come in and totally transform a club into playing a way that they had not done before. He has also inherited a pretty weak side, the weakest Liverpool squad for years, yet he has them playing good football and they are enjoyable to watch. He did the same with Swansea but didnt have the money that Liverpool have. So with a bit of time and getting in the players he wants, it'll be interesting to see where they go.

    Pete, for me i think he is far better than Mancini. I actually can't stand him, even reading the rubbish he has come out with in the last couple of days re: not signing RVP etc. He still managed to spend 60 million last summer yet he is complaining about not signing players. Look at what Mourinho did with Chelsea and compare that to City, City were very fortunate to win the title last year as unusually Utd capitulated with 5 games to go, this year they could be 18 points behind with 7 games remaining. Mourinho created a superb Chelsea team that sustained a great deal of success even after he left, finally after 8 years or so they have been forced into transition. Mancini doesn't look like he can create that with City. Next year Chelsea will be much stronger and it will be even harder. I'm not sure whether he'll still be there anyway.

    Just on your point about Mancini and favourites, the way he talks about his players in public is appauling in my opinion. I think he lacks alot of respect from his players, look at the situations that have arose even in the last year, Tevez, Balotelli, Nasri and even Kompany recently, i would say they'd love to see him leave. Anyway just my opinion

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  4. mate...a good example of mancinis weakness is baloteli ..he is really bad at managing players .rem. he threatened not to renew yaya's contract if he focused on the cup of nations.tell me who is city's best player . look at what he is doing with Vicente company .mad how on earth do u complain about not getting RVP. when u have aguero and tevez.always blabbing that if he had RVP.he would have won the league. u see how magnificent baloteli is doing in Italy.he couldn't even control him.could baloteli has fooled all he did at man u.and Rodgers.want to leave him for another day.I believe if he had left Allen on the bench for some games we would have been fourth...it's obvious the only progress we ever made after Benitez has been dalglish. we are now a laughing stock. pray for a miracle.

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  5. Some posts in response to me have made my consider my views on Mancini and Rodgers a little bit but for the most part I maintain my stance.

    The issues with Tevez in particular was down to the player himself. Regardless of what happened (I can't remember whether Tevez actually refused to play or if it was speculation) either way Tevez spat the dummy and went to play golf in Argentina. How is that professional? Similarly Balotelli, every week there's a rumour claiming he did something crazy. I'd kill Balotelli to have the chances he's had. Again, not professional. Mancini has little if no control over these situations.

    Any bust up or confrontation between Mancini and the likes of Balotelli and Kompany are a result of his winning mentality. Instead we have a manager who bows down to the players, and I like Rodgers but I just can't stand this. He should be more like Mancini and Benitez, even Fergie, constantly demanding a higher level of performance in every game. No gross overpraise.

    You're not going to see players like Milner and Barry undermine Mancini or any manager. It's these big ego larger than life players on 100K+ a week who constantly cause problems. Tevez, Balotelli, Toure is a fantastic player but his wage demands are ridiculous. Nasri was publicly challenged by Mancini to perform at a consistent level. Whats wrong with that?

    He may be in the wrong sometimes but he stands up these players. You won't see it from Rodgers. The players I listed in my other post are untouchable, and while this poor mentality is instilled at the club, we will just keep going down.

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  6. Roberto mancini has got one big problem he thinks by slating players in public like Nasri saying that they dont give 100 percent,Tevez,and the whole squad after losing some games,doesnt he know that the players get hurt when you slate them in public better do it in private,a squad full of big egos he thinks they will shed a tear when he gets sacked,money does not buy success if thats what he thinks by saying that he needs 150 m to win the league thats total crap,he does not want to be blamed for their poor season but busy moaning about placing the blame on his players.anyway whats the point of making comparisons between Rodgers and Mancini,Rodgers is unproven but he setting the foundations for the future i love the way Liverpool are playing under him, the players all like him and his style of football,while Mancini is just money obessed he thinks he wil win the league with 150 m

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  7. Am a Liverpool fan but one thing i could comment is that mancini will get the axe this season regardless of him winning the FA CUP thats if they will win,his always complaining about mind games wit SAF,he thinks his like J.Mourinho i mean his atitude tryin to criticise hz players in public,can any 1 calculate how much those sugar daddys 4rm Abu Dabbi pumped into the squad millions of pounds en den wat do they get in return,(1 premier league trophy and 1 FA cup)they got eliminated 4rm the champions league 3 times in a row en jst collecting less than 2 points,i hope it wont be the same situation with Pompey where they ran into administration,when those sugar dadies leave city i promise u all city fans your club will be relegated

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  8. I think Rodgers has a Stevie G shrine in his room which he worships every night. " my outstanding, fantastic leader, forgive me for my sins..."

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  9. Liverpool was on two cup finals last season. We were not that bad. Rodgers is a joke. The team is worse than last season.

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  10. Hey Nick on this i can support you Rodgers praises Steve G too much same with Carra and Suarez because he knows that they are above him and are the ones keeping his job he can't even drop Gerrard even if his not playin well because his scared to upset them busy massaging their ego's,i pity him look at the way Carroll is being treated like his useless by BR

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  11. Total garbage again from JK. The fella out of Jamiroquai knows more about football and how to support your team than you!

    Our form since the January transfer window is top 4 level. No coincidence that since we have been able to add Sturridge and Coutinho to our squad we have seen a massive up turn in performance and results.


    It is the first half of the season where we lost ground, a period where our squad wasn't strong enough because the manager wasn't backed enough in the summer transfer window. Not his fault, it's the people who run the club, people like Ian Ayre and the owners as to why we aren't closer to top 4. If we had those 2 from the start of the season i think it's fair to say we'd be in real contention now for a top 4 spot.


    Also factor in Rodgers integrating a new style of play which takes time for the players to adapt to. Well they are doing now and since the turn of the year with the additional members of the squad and the team getting used to the new style of play our form is up there with the best in the league.


    JK, the word supporter means you support your manager and team, particularly when there are so many positive signs. It baffles me why you are always writing negative "articles" such as this.

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  12. davewestausregularguest2:55 pm, April 08, 2013

    Come back RAFA

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  13. Is this the same Hansen that remained SILENT on removing his mate Dalglish?


    The same Dalglish that spent heavily on players ..in fact more than City did in that season and came 7th?


    SURELY NOT ..I'M SHOCKED

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  14. liverpool4life5654:30 pm, April 08, 2013

    Rodgers with the tools he has played with has done well,(remember we haven't got CL for a few years now we've either finished 8/7/6th, he needs to buy more players, to break into top4 let's be honest, man united,man city,Chelsea,arsenal,spurs, have a better squad than us.

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  15. If you look at Johnson's entire time at Liverpool, his critics (myself and Jaimie included) have from year to year had ample reasons to continuously question his abilities as RB (and call for him to be played as winger). He might have spells of reliable matches on the RB spot, but they are only exceptions.

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  16. so whats this got to do with the price of eggs?

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  17. When Hansen decides to take the reins of a club (big or small) personally i'll respect him and his opinion on other managers more.Have no time for these parasites (include the legend Lawro) who make a livin criticising others,yet don't have the nuts for it themselves. Mancini imo has done ok considering loosing Yaya at a critical time and many injury problems. If we were second we'd be celebrating. Didn't call for Kennys head big Al !!

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  18. How long did it take city to get a return - they spent big and it took nearly 3 seasons to win the prem.


    So, things take a little time. Something KD was not given despite winning silverware. Rodgers record in the cups this year has been pathetic.

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  19. I fear Rodgers will not be good enough - we'll see by Christmas and his bullsh*t excuses and false praise will be found out.


    And he if buys any more Swansea players ....... it's a joke. The only decent signing has been Coutinho. What was the deal with Sahin - get a player in and then play him out of position. Doh.

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  20. Surely pathetic is a little generous? Worse than that, I'd say.

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  21. I admit that he isn't the most defensively solid right-back, but on balance how many better ones can you think of?

    You tend to get defensive ones (Ivanovic) that aren't that good going forward or attacking ones that aren't too clever defensively. Johnson falls into this category. I think the only right-back of the last decade that was exceptional going forward and defending was Maicon (in his prime).

    Look at all the teams ahead of us. I'd say Zabaleta and Rafael are arguably better than Johnson, but who else? At Chelsea Ivanovic isn't good enough on the ball to play under Rodgers and it is early days for Azpillicueta. Coleman at Everton is less reliable defensively than Johnson. Sagna at Arsenal (nowadays) is worse than Johnson in both regards I'd say. Over at Spurs, Walker hasn't played anywhere near as well as last season.

    If you're going to play Rodgers' system, you need defenders who are comfortable on the ball and Johnson is not a bad option. He is quick (though I don't think his acceleration is good enough to be a winger), he is strong and for a full back he fairly tall and good in the air (not many quick full-backs are over 6ft).

    I also think he has improved defensively. When he first arrived, I hated him. Under Hodgson, he was downright awful. Since Dalglish took over though, he has been a much better defender. I'm not saying he is a rock, but I don't think that the frequency of error is sufficiently high to warrant him being replaced. There are about 4 or 5 other players we need ahead of a right-back (I'd probably put left-back up there too).
    I'd obviously love a full-back who is good going forward and equally good defensively but they're not easy to find at all. With our record in the market, it is even harder!

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  22. Then what was the point in bringin in Sahin if he knew dt steve G would play a deeper role,then Nuri would play steve G's number and afta that he cuts his loan deal,check on his perfomances at Dortmund that just clearly shows that BR fears Gerrard and he got this one wrong.i just read yestade BR said Gerrard would still play up until 38 do u buy that statement cause i doubt but enwe hope Suarez stays

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  23. I like how KD put emphasis on winning cups when he knew there wouldn't be the cohesion and consistency to get Europe via the eagle. Something BR rather unprofessionally overlooked. He'll most probably only finish one place above KD, with no cup wins, or finals, and no European football booked. "Progress" has a vary broad definition these days. That said, I enjoy BR's style. Let's hope HE can convince the stars to stick around for one more season in an attempt to get top four next season. Failing would beg serious questions though, especially if no progress is made in cup effort.

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  24. Finish one place higher in the league, closer in points to the top 4, more goals scored by quite a number, this is an improvement on last season which as a new manager was his main objective. He has reached this objective. Next season, his realistic objective should be strengthening the squad and securing a European spot by league position. Whether people like it or not, we are a work in progress and have to be patient. We are showing good signs this season, but have lacked consistency, which is to be expected. If you look at the second half of the season compared to the first half of the season, there is a huge improvement. This is something that can only be seen in a good way, if we show the same form through the whole of next season as we have in the second half of this season, we will easily qualify for Europa and arguably Champion's League as well.

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  25. I agree that it is really difficult to find a balanced RB with regards to defensive reliability and offensive ability, but judging from the fact that our woes of the season have mainly come from defensive lapses, we would arguably be better off having a reliable if somewhat less offensive right back. During the previous two seasons, Martin Kelly often showed a far better defensive form on the position, and the fact that he has not been used on the position by Rodgers, coupled with the fact that Johnson himself has not been appropriately tested as a winger, is a source of frustration.

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  26. But...... how bad are we at defending this year compared to last? And vulnerable to counter attacks like no other LFC era because of the BR system. Yes we have scored more, but I see no noticeable improvement compared to last season when we hit the woodwork 31 times - the chances were still being fashioned and as Clinton (above) states, KD knew what he was doing while trying to bed in half a new team.


    BR has NO top flight experience that suggests he will bring success. The problems that plagued us in the early part of the season remain (mainly defensive) and he has yet to address that. Add to that his pathetic tactics against the likes of Oldham - work in progress - don't make me laugh - any manager worth anything would have known how Oldham would play and would have selected a team who could deal with that. Defeats to Stoke, WBA, Swansea (league cup) as well. Not to mention we only beat Spurs of the teams above us. BR has had so much slack it is unreal.


    We will be a worse version of Arsenal, some pretty moves but no trophies.

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  27. It is odd that none of our managers have even given Johnson one game at right-mid. If they have, I can't remember it. We've had Riise played left-mid, Enrique played there, Aurelio played left-mid and centre-mid, you just wonder why Johnson was never even tested there. Back in Rafa's last days and early Hodgson, I was screaming for Johnson to be played further forward, but I've become more comfortable with him at right-back nowadays.
    I'm hoping Kelly gets a go at centre-half next season. Hopefully the less physically demanding position will mean less injuries. He'd be pretty pacy by centre-back standards too.

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