Why Manchester City haven't been labelled a crisis club yet.. and whythey'll still probably win the title

Instruction Manuel: Pellegrini won't panic despite City's inconsistent start

Manchester City currently lie eighth in the Premier League table. That’s the same Manchester City who spent £92million on Fernandinho, Jesus Navas, Alvaro Negredo, Stevan Jovetic and Martin Demichelis this summer.

The same Manchester City whose new boss Manuel Pellegrini said he wanted to win all four trophies in his first season. The same Manchester City who have lost four of their six away games this season, including Sunday’s defeat at Sunderland.

In other seasons, the Blues would have been anointed the crisis club of preference long ago.

But somehow they’ve flown under the radar.

Here are the three reasons why...

One: Roberto Mancini isn’t in charge.

For some reason, the Italian was a magnet for controversy. That was his style. He didn’t do softly-softly like Pellegrini.

He was not one for soothing the egos of the big names even if he never actually went as far as dropping Joe Hart.

If Mancini were still in charge, you can bet there would have been a training ground bust-up by now. At the very least, a few unnamed players would have trotted out the old accusation he was unfriendly and that morale was low.

Moody Blue: Mancini's not there to turn dramas into crises

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And chief executive Ferran Soriano and sporting director Txiki Begiristain would have been fretting that the manager’s approach was not holistic enough.

Mancini would have blamed the club for not spending more. The club would have hit back.

Turmoil.

Two: Sir Alex Ferguson retired.

Fergie’s departure led many to follow what they assumed was a preordained narrative: Without Sir Alex, United would lose their grip on English football and sink into decline.

That narrative gained strength when United made an inconsistent start to the season under new boss David Moyes.

Nobody noticed City’s inconsistencies as the champions struggled with their vulnerabilities.

Even though Moyes acted with great dignity and there was no suggestion he was under pressure from the club, the bookmakers shortened the odds on Ferguson returning to replace him as manager by Christmas.

As Phil Jones said this week, everyone was desperate for United to fail because they had suffered through their hegemony for so long.

As Pellegrini wound his way through a series of monotone press conferences, City’s struggles seemed dull in comparison to those of their neighbours.

And Three: City will probably still win the title.

Despite their inconsistency, they are only six points behind league leaders Arsenal. Even though some of their performances have appalled their fans, when they are good, they are very, very good.

Their demolition of United at the end of September was the most impressive display by any team so far this season.

They dismantled Norwich and Newcastle, too. They were the better team for much of their defeat at Chelsea.

City slicker: Nobody has bettered Blues' September performance against United

Michael Regan 

Their defence has looked porous in the absence through injury of captain Vincent Kompany.

But even though there is conflicting news about just when Kompany will return (here it may be for their next game, here it might not be for "several" weeks) he is not far away from fitness.

When he’s back, and when Joe Hart has found form again – as he surely will – City will start to accelerate.

If you could pick only one team in this unpredictable season who are capable of a long unbeaten run, it would be Pellegrini’s side.

If they iron out their inconsistencies, they have the class to move away from the field.