Mancini can pass Mercer as City top boss

Former Manchester City player and always legend Colin Bell believes that current City boss, Roberto Mancini has the potential to emulate his boss while at City, Joe Mercer. 

Colin Bell, now 65, was talking a day before Manchester City’s elimination from the Champions League but even with that happening the progress made under Mancini has been phenomenal. 

Bell, who was talking with BBC Radio Manchester, says of Mancini ‘He is another manager with a magic wand that whatever 11 he turns out they play for him, they perform and they get the result’. 

So how does Roberto Mancini currently rate against the most successful City boss in living memory? Mercer spent 6 full seasons at City and won the League, FA Cup, League Cup, and European Cup Winners Cup before stepping down on the 7th October 1971. Mancini, in just his second season at City has already delivered the FA Cup and has the team in the semi finals of the League cup as well as being current EPL leaders. 

Joe Mercer was in charge of City for 340 games of which 263 were League games. Of those 263 League games 109 were victories giving the legend a win % of 41 and and average of 1.5 goals per game in that time. Mancini has only been in charge of 73 League games and has already won more than half of them with a win % of 60 and a cool 2 goals a game. 

Certainly for Bell it is more that cold hard statistics with his mentality approaching games changing dramatically from just a few years ago. ‘I used to think years ago, is it going to be a draw today? said Bell who then went on to say about now, ‘I just think we’re going to win at home every game and it’s just a matter of how many we’re going to win by’. There is no doubt as to who is responsible for his, and many other City fans change of expectations according to Bell, ‘It’s down to him [Mancini]’.

Even with Manchester City’s Champions League elimination last night the outlook for Mancini is still good and he is ahead of schedule to possibly replace his name with that of Mercer as City’s most successful manager. Mancini already eclipsing Mercer in the time it took to win the first trophy. Not including Mercers first season with City, in Division 2, the FA Cp wasn’t won until his third full season, however he did win the League title in his second. With this being Mancinis second full season will he be able to match Mercer on this one too?