‘You don’t become a good or bad coach overnight’, the MCFC Supporters Club have told MM as Manuel Pellegrini comes under fire for City’s disastrous Champions Leage performance.
The Citizens virtually confirmed their exit from the Champions League last night with a 1-2 defeat at home to Russian side CSKA Moscow – the weakest side in their group.
But Supporters Club spokesman Kevin Parker believes the Chilean coach should remain in the hotseat despite their shortcomings in the competition.
“You don’t become a good or bad coach overnight,” he told MM.
“Pellegrini has been tasked to win as many trophies as he can over the course of this season. It’s a knee-jerk reaction to get rid of the manager at this stage. All clubs need stability.”
City have failed to progress further than the last 16 in the competition since making their bow in 2011, despite possessing vast funds and resources.
Parker believes it is too much of an ask to win the tournament, although there is enough quality for the team to progress further.
“The squad is certainly capable of doing better than they have done in the group stages,” he commented. “I can’t question the squad we’ve currently got. If we were to sign a new defender, midfielder or striker, who would you replace?
“I think we’ve lacked a little bit gelling together as one unit and that’s what we need to try to do.
“There’s a certain amount of prestige and kudos that comes with the Champions League. If you get through the group stages you’re not actually physically winning anything, but you get kudos within Europe for those performances.
“Ultimately, only one team can win it and over recent years that’s been Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Barcelona. It’s fair to say that we’re not currently on a level with those teams but it’s something we’re currently striving for.”
City have also drawn criticism from pundits for currently languishing behind leaders Chelsea in the Premier League and being knocked out of the Capital One cup by Newcastle United last week.
But Parker says it is unjustified: “People keep telling me that we’re having a very poor season, but we’re not considering we’re only six points behind Chelsea – a situation we were in exactly this time last year,” he added.
“Performances haven’t been to the levels we’d probably hoped, but they’re certainly not as bad as people are trying to make out.”
Certain bookmakers have cut Pellegrini’s odds to be the first top flight managerial casuality this season to 6/1 from 14/1 following last night’s defeat.
Image courtesy of Carl Recine, with thanks
