Saturday 27 February 2016 22:32, UK
With Manchester City still in the hunt for three trophies this season, Manuel Pellegrini could yet bow out on a high prior to the arrival of Pep Guardiola in the summer. We take a look at City's most successful managers and where he might rank...
It's been a period of unprecedented success for Manchester City since the influx of Sheikh Mansour's funding, with the club doubling their league title haul in the current decade.
However, the European trophy success delivered by Joe Mercer and his team in winning the 1970 European Cup Winners' Cup still eludes this City side.
So who are the main candidates for the title of Manchester City's most successful-ever manager. Here's the shortlist…
Wilf Wild
Previously a secretary at the club, Wild won both the FA Cup and the league during his time in charge and remains the longest-serving manager in City's history. He took them to the FA Cup final in 1933 before going one better by lifting the cup the following year. In 1935/36, City became champions of England for the first time. Remarkably, they were relegated the following season but Wild remained in charge until after the Second World War.
Joe Mercer
Mercer won more silverware than any other City boss during his relatively brief spell in charge from 1965 to 1971. After taking the club up from the second tier in his first season, City proceeded to win the title in 1967/68. The FA Cup followed in 1969, and in 1970 came a double as City won the League Cup and the European Cup Winners' Cup - beating Gornik Zabrze in Vienna. Mercer departed in acrimonious circumstances the next year when a boardroom takeover saw his assistant Malcolm Allison assume charge.
Roberto Mancini
In his first full season in charge, Mancini ended a 42-year wait for major silverware when his City side lifted the FA Cup thanks to a 1-0 win over Stoke at Wembley. A Premier League trophy followed in 2012, won in dramatic fashion courtesy of two stoppage-time goals against Queens Park Rangers in the final game of the campaign. But City came second the following season and were surprisingly beaten 1-0 by Wigan in the 2013 FA Cup final. He departed soon after.
Manuel Pellegrini
Pellegrini's first season at City was a success as he picked up the first trophy available to him by coming from behind against Sunderland to win the League Cup in March 2014. There was a strong finish in the Premier League too as City won their final five matches to pip Liverpool to the title that season. But the club went without a trophy in his second season and Guardiola has already been confirmed as Pellegrini's replacement come the summer.
Conclusion
Given the huge financial support he has received, there's little Pellegrini can do to eclipse Mercer's achievements in the minds of City supporters, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the Chilean cannot go down in history as the club's most successful manager. Pellegrini is one game away from adding a second League Cup and, despite recent disappointments, the title race is far from over for his side.
We have an option for the first time for our club to try to reach the quarter-final of the Champions League.
City have fallen a little off the pace in the Premier League and are now 7/1 shots to lift the trophy. If he can pull it off, that would see Pellegrini become the first man to win the English crown twice as City boss. But the achievement that would really end the debate? That's easy. City are four ties away from an unlikely Champions League triumph. Achieve that and Pellegrini really would be able to say 'Over to you, Pep' as Manchester City's best ever boss.
