It is a unique CV that arrives for the post of Manchester City manager with ‘Degree in Civil Engineering’ listed under the Education section. In fact it is a CV that probably does not arrive at all, with Manchester City’s owners far too proactive in the hunt for their new manager to necessitate an application process.
The 59 year old Chilean, Manuel Pellegrini, now newly appointed Manchester City manager, has been publicly sought after by the club’s billionaire owners and ‘The Engineer’ soon begins the task of regaining the Premier League title and amassing a target of five trophies in as many years.
The corporate speak in the blue half of Manchester has been of a “holistic approach” to the “new cycle” following Roberto Mancini’s sacking in May. In a slight on Pellegrini’s previous incumbent former City Chief Executive Garry Cook has outlined the naivety in the belief that a football manager’s job begins and ends solely with results on the pitch “the holistic element is understanding the way a football club runs, not just how a football team wins games”.
Though popular with the fans and media, Mancini was widely criticised for his management of off field issues, with many players claiming not to have spoken to the manager in months.
So what makes Pellegrini a man well suited to the job?
He has a proven track record in South American club football, managing a number of clubs in his native Chile before winning the league title with Argentina’s River Plate. After moving to Spain he took an anonymous Villareal side into the quarter finals of the UEFA Cup and semi finals of the Champions League, and most impressively second place in La Liga – historically breaking the dominance of the two Spanish giants of Barcelona and Real Madrid.
In 2009 Pellegrini was appointed manager of Real Madrid, the club that beat his Villareal team into second place, though his tenure was short lived despite returning a then club record haul of 96 points. Most recently Pellegrini’s success has been with crisis club Malaga whose withdrawn financial backing and organisational structure will make even Manchester City’s recent managerial merry-go-round appear a stable option for the future.
City’s owners will have identified Pellegrini’s ability to harmonise during difficult times, his approach to continued improvement and perhaps most importantly to them his potential for success on the European stage. But will his engineering ways bring civility to what has recently appeared to be a disjointed squad of individuals lacking any sense of squad unity and teamwork?
‘recently appeared to be a disjointed squad of individuals lacking any sense of squad unity and teamwork?’
Based on what?
As for your lack of knowledge on who sanctioned the transfers, I’d suggest you do some research, Pellegrini sanctioned both.