Manchester City's Listless Title Defence Worryingly Similar to 2012/13 Campaign

The insipid nature of Manchester City’s season has led to comparisons of their efforts in 2012/13. Back then, after the club's first title win in 44 years, Roberto Mancini took City backwards in what was an ill-fated campaign that ended with his sacking.

Now, with City five points behind Chelsea who have a game in hand, out of both domestic cups and with only a small chance of progressing through the last 16 of the Champions League, it seems almost certain the club will end the season after winning the league trophy-less once again.

City's season appears to be dwindling away in a meek and mild manner. After the League Cup and Premier League wins of last season, Manuel Pellegrini, much like his predecessor, has overseen a period of regression right when the club should have been building on their success.

Both seasons feel anticlimactic. After glorious title wins which were expected to catapult the club to new heights, regression is the only way to describe the following campaigns.

Jon Super/Associated Press

Pellegrini may have led City to the last 16 of the Champions League for the second season running, something Mancini failed to do at any stage, but at least City had an FA Cup final to look forward to during the Italian’s final season.

Both campaigns can also be defined by the lack of big wins the side has managed, performances which excite and send a message to other teams in the division. When City have won their two recent titles they have done so in style, often blowing teams away with a vim and vigour their competitors simply couldn’t match. The follow-up seasons have both lacked anything like a repeat of the great days the year before.

However, there are some key differences which may see Pellegrini offered more time to resurrect the situation.

Whereas Mancini’s autocratic style of management had alienated staff and players alike—a toxic situation which the owners and board members, who are all keen to project a positive image of the club, had grown increasingly concerned about—Pellegrini continues to unite everyone.

He’s calm and respectful, rarely embroiled in any kind of controversy and is well liked by those in the corridor of power at the Etihad. Mancini waged war with then-director of football Brian Marwood and was involved in a series of altercations with players. The image of him grappling with Mario Balotelli at City’s old training ground in Carrington is one which the club are desperate to avoid again.

Alex Livesey/Getty Images

Pellegrini projects the kind of image the club desire. If he is to leave in the summer, or maybe before, it will be results-based only and not, like Mancini, because of concerns over his overall conduct.

There are also tactical differences. Mancini was often criticised for changing his system too much, with the three-at-the-back formation he attempted to implement seen as one the major reasons City failed so spectacularly in Europe.

Pellegrini has the opposite problem, with his insistence that 4-4-2 is City's best formation identified by fans and pundits in the game as the primary reason for their poor form. And he simply will not change.

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Main thrust of Pellegrini's press conf: he won't change his style for anyone, absolutely adamant his tactics are right and critics are wrong

— Daniel Taylor (@DTguardian) March 3, 2015"

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Pellegrini repeated same point over and again: City won't change. "I know what is better for this team. Everyone can talk what they want."

— Daniel Taylor (@DTguardian) March 3, 2015

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The problem the club face if they do decide to cut ties with Pellegrini is replacing him with someone better. He may have overseen a period of poor performance this season, but he remains one of the best coaches in the game, one particularly well-suited to the overall direction City want to take.

His character makes him ideal for the director of football set-up City operate under, and his commitment to an attractive, attacking style of play is in keeping with the ethos projected higher up the club’s structure.

He also won two trophies in his debut season and oversaw the best football City have played in recent memory. It was beautiful and deserving of far more praise than it received. That hasn't been forgotten by those inside the club.

The band of managers capable of replacing Pellegrini and providing an upgrade is small, and those who are seen as elite-level have complicated situations.

Pep Guardiola, who is very likely to be the first-choice candidate given the style his sides play with and the success he has had, is contracted to Bayern Munich until the summer of 2016. Convincing him to break his agreement and leave one of the finest club sides in Europe would be problematic, to say the least.

Alex Livesey/Getty Images

The same goes for Carlo Ancelotti, Real Madrid’s hugely respected manager, Jurgen Klopp, who has had a somewhat difficult season at Borussia Dortmund, and Diego Simeone, whose lack of English may deter City’s owners from making a move.

If Pellegrini cannot oversee a City win in Barcelona that sees them through to the quarter-finals, it may well see his position reviewed, particularly given that Mancini's one season of regression saw him pay the ultimate price.

Rob Pollard is Bleacher Report's lead Manchester City correspondent and will be following the club from a Manchester base throughout the 2014-15 season. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter: @RobPollard.