Now I may be barking up the wrong tree here, but to my eyes at least part of our problem is Mancini's apparent lack of trust in our defence. Why else would he be fielding such defensive minded midfields? That lack of faith seems to transmit itself to the whole team. We have turned timid.
We all know our defence is still a problem - and so do the teams we play. High balls and crosses still cause chaos. Why?
Could it be in part a lack of leadership from our keeper?
Given is without doubt a world class shot stopper. His reflexes are quite staggering at times. However being a keeper is not just about stopping shots. He generally looks extremely uncomfortable coming for crosses - often superglued to his line - and his distribution is average. He does not seem to organise his defence much either.
A comment from a Toon fan and semi-pro footballer (well that's what he calls it - being paid in chips is pushing the definition a bit, I feel!) at the time we bought Given comes to mind. He said that they (the Toon) would finally find out if their defence was rubbish in spite of or, at least in part, because of Shay Given. I put it down to sour grapes at the time, but maybe he had a point? (Although to be honest it would take Superman to make Newcastle's defence look good with the likes of Collocini in the team.)
If I was Mancini or Cook or whoever, I would be making sure that Joe Hart feels that he still has a bright future at City.
Am I just being a reactionary? Am I making Shay a scapegoat? Would you be brave enough to drop him?