What if.... the Mancini news hadn't broken when it did?

FA Cup Final 2013

The night before the 2013 FA Cup Final, strong rumours started circulating that Mancini would be sacked. By the morning all major newspapers and many other news sources were reporting this. There had been rumours for months that this may happen but nothing this strong. The question that has bugged me since then is why did it happen at that moment? And what was the source for this?

What I write here should not take anything away from Wigan's achievement. They were the better side on the day and fully deserved to win the FA Cup. However, there will always remain a big what if question about the day for me. What would have happened had this news not broken when it did? It clearly had an impact, not least among the fans who spent a lot of time letting the club now exactly what they though of it. How much impact did it have on the team that day is unclear. But given how poorly they played and the seeming lack of work rate from many players it isn't hard to suspect it did play a part.

So where did the story come from? It could hardly have come at a worse time than the day of the FA Cup Final. So was it leaked by someone who wanted to prevent Mancini winning the cup, which would have made it more difficult for the club to sack him? I have no idea but it remains a troubling possibility.

As for subsequent events, I don't think it had any impact on the decision to sack Mancini. That decision looks to have been made some time ago. All it ended up doing was forcing Manchester City to bring that forward a few weeks. It's likely he would have been sacked after the club returned from the post-season tour of the USA. So in the long run the only impact other than on the FA Cup Final is likely to be minor.