While Manuel Pellegrini and his Manchester City team remain inconsistent this season , a lot have been said about the sudden announcement of a new manager next season that might have created a measure of uncertainty in the team.
Do not get the writer wrong , it is good that certain activities and steps are planned out by the club, but the sudden announcement that Pellegrini won't see out his contract may have created a mental block on the players, coaches and staff. It is far easier for a player to announce his last season in a club than a manager to come up and do that . It is rather better for the club to continue running it's affairs underground until season end.
There are still more than 13 games to go and about 38 points to play for, so Manchester City should have avoided anything that may tend to blow up their season aspirations. This is the same reason, the great Sir Alex Ferguson kept it secret even from his players that he was stepping down at the end of the 2012/2013 season, until the last game of the season, when he announced he was stepping down during celebrations . Also Roberto Mancini in his first spell at Inter Milan, after suffering a second round loss in the Champions League to Liverpool, announced he was stepping down from the manager's role and this took a great psychological balance off his players, until he was forced to rescind his decision by then club president Massimo Moratti.
While it is not wrong to shop for a replacement for Pellegrini , it is wrong to have unsettled the players by announcing it . Certain players will start thinking about their future and their compatibility with the incoming coach rather than their game this season . It will also reduce the power and authority Pellegrini yields in the team as a lot of the players now know he won't be around next season, hence disobeying him or playing contrary to instruction won't be punished severely as Pellegrini already has one leg out.
Already Yaya Toure's agent has announced that the Ivorien Captain won't be at the club next season, as the Ivorien already has scores to settle with Guardiola from their Barcelona days together. Also certain players who have not been good enough this season like Samir Nasri, Jesus Navas, Fernandinho and Eloaquim Managala are not left out as they will start preparing for the next available route instead of letting their game do the talking for them.
With the announcement, it was not surprising to see City and Toure struggle albeit of ideas and creativity against league leaders Leicester at the weekend . While the tactics employed by Pellegrini is also to blame for the defeat, one can never rule out the mental problem of dealing with a new sudden development .
City miscalculated and let the cat out of the bag so early and must deal with the aftermath , whether this will cost them the Premier League is yet to be seen .
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