Soccer

On Sunday 07 August 2011, Colin Rowlands wrote:

> I think Rafa would have needed fewer intermediate steps to get to the squad
> he wanted, his issue with us was generally when he was forced to penny
> pinch and get his 5th choice or something, when he paid above average for a
> particular position he tended to get quality.

or....

If Rick Parry had followed up Rafa's wish list of players when he received it
instead of sticking it in his in-tray until the end of the transfer window
when said players had already gone to other clubs and we were left to pay
over-the-odds in a last minute panic to get Rafa's 5th choice :-(
>
> Mancini as that squad is very clearly still weaker than the sum of its
> parts, it is more a shopping list than a squad.

Agreed. He has a large squad of decent players. What he doesn't have is a
team.

> I'd expect Mancini to last
> till the winter transfer window even if City perform below expectations,
> their squad should be more than good enough not to mess up too much before
> then.

He's too defensive for my liking, as his bringing on Barry showed. Scum won
because they went for the win - end of.