Forget the British media, City fans must not fear

 

To be a football manager in the day and age certainly is no easy task, just ask Roberto Mancini. Calls for his head were deafening less than a year into his tenure and although at the moment the stadium going fans are behind him, there is a under current of discontent with the Italian’s job. I would like all of those people to take a look at this table as you can see after the same amount of games into the season Mancini’s City from last season would only be trailing Sven’s City by a mere 4pts, this at the point of the calls for his head last season. Since that time we obviously won the FA Cup but also have blown away the table with the start of this season. 

 

Above is a table showing each of the previous first 13 games to each Manchester City start to a Premiership season since the Premiership started as well as the Championship winning seasons of 1967/68 and 1936/37. Currently, as in the regular table we are fourth behind only Sven, Joe and Mark Hughes’ second season.
                                                                                                                            
You will notice two things from the table, we have conceded less goals than all the other seasons (significantly less in some seasons) and our defeats so far are joined with Svens season, and the great start we had that year and only eclipsed by the start to last seasons campaign, but remember all the draws that go around?

Talking about last seasons start and results on the pitch, for the most part, had been good when you step back from the media stained light that was being shone on Mancini and the team. Pretty much the only disappointing results we had at that point would be the defeat against Wolves and possibly this draw against Birmingham. Compare that with the ‘disappointing’ results of previous season starts. Last season we already had lost to United. Then there were draws at home to Hull, Burnley and Fulham which was the start of the end for Hughes. We should again stand behind Mancini now that the media (not exactly the best friend of Manchester City) are turning against him in order to create a rift for Fergies benefit. 

Even the dream start we had while Sven was spotted with disappointments, losing to Blackburn and shipping six goals to a rampant Chelsea side. Even the great Joe Mercer and our Championship winning season started off inconsistent to say the least. In the first 13 games of that season we lost to Sunderland, Stoke and Southampton. (This was on the back of a poor finish to the previous season also, picking up only six wins from the beginning of December to the end of the season).

My point from last season is that the recent displays on the pitch may not be of the highest standard, just like now but the table doesn’t lie. We were fourth then and had been reasonably tight at the back. Some pundits said that City haven’t scored for two league games, well they also haven’t conceded a goal for three! The media see we are fighting among ourselves and they latch onto the poisonous atmosphere. Remember United also hadn’t won for two league games at this point but were labeled as ’undefeated’ where we get the ’still looking for a win’ label.

We all know we have talented players here that can win games and score plenty of goals when they are on fire. There are positives in the start to the City season at that point and so far this one has been fantastic when against the backdrop of previous, please do not let the media and so called ’analysts’ persuade you it is doom and gloom, it is not. If this is a blip to our season then consider where we are during this blip and you will see understand why there is so much negative attention put on Mancini. They are scared, because if we can be second and within touching distance of the title during a period that has seen us go on a run of draws then just imagine what could be when we become a well oiled machine that has a relatively uninterrupted season!

Remember Carlos Tevez dissappeared for a few months, Kompany was banned for months, Lescott has been out for a long time and who knows when Aguero will be back. Balotelli was suspended and the Toures were away on international duty for a month.  

Do not let the media and others get a wedge in. City fans need to continue to back the team, Mancini and the backroom staff. This is still not lost and although it is now currently out of our hands it can swing back in our favour. United were nervous last Monday, we need to be right there to be able to capitalize on any stutterings that come from Old Trafford. 

PA Cityboy

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