Source: Daily_Mail
Man behaving badly: Pressures of managing Man City have got to Mancini
Roberto Mancini has been preparing for an extended stay as Manchester City's manager for some time.[LNB]Having shaken off the hesitancy and misgivings he had when he took the job last December, the Italian has recently acquired a rented house in a Manchester suburb, though he has not yet moved in. [LNB]He has also made himself at home in a small, community church in Gatley, to the south of the city, and has been seen on the sidelines at matches featuring his club's under 11 and under 14 teams. [LNB]In short, Mancini has been doing what managers do when they arrive in a new country. They take a look around, see what they like and what they don't like before slowly transporting their lives from one country to another. [LNB]For Mancini, though, it is more difficult. His circumstances are peculiar to that of a coach in charge of a team from the world's richest football club. [LNB]The Italian's cover was blown at Eastlands on Wednesday. Having watched his team outmanoeuvred and out-thought by Everton for the second time in his short reign, City's coach launched a crude touchline assault on David Moyes.[LNB]He barged into the Everton manager, who had caught the ball in front of the dug-outs, sparking a melee.[LNB] You started it, pal: Moyes and Mancini argue before ref Peter Walton sends them off after their clash (right)[LNB]Mancini's behaviour was easy to explain. He is not the first manager to allow the pressure of a difficult evening to get to him. Most bosses are former players, and it does not always take long to revert to type when things do not go well.[LNB]Nevertheless, it was telling. The pressure is building as the season's end approaches, and Mancini has more to lose than most. Martin O'Neill and Harry Redknapp will not be sacked if Aston Villa or Tottenham do not claim that valuable fourth Champions League qualifying spot. Mancini, on the other hand, just might.[LNB]City's official line is that fourth is not the be all and end all for their boss. And, they say, he is not really expected to hit 70 points, the figure that proved so costly for predecessor Mark Hughes before Christmas when it was adjudged he would not reach the target.[LNB]However, if Mancini is to fail and retain his job then he must miss out narrowly and, perhaps, gloriously. If his team fail due to their own shortcomings then patience will be in short supply. [LNB]The former Inter manager was asked by a journalist on Tuesday if he thought he would be in charge if his team did not finish fourth. 'Why not?' he replied, smiling. 'This is a project that will move on and on.'[LNB]Mancini later ran into the same journalist at The Lowry Hotel that remains his temporary home. He bought him a drink and shook hands. No grudges. [LNB]At times his charm is easy, even if his English can be a barrier to meaningful exchanges. Yet it is his results and the manner in which his team play that will be crucial between now and mid-May. [LNB]In some ways he suffers from the same demands that faced Jose Mourinho at Chelsea a few years ago: the team must win and do so with attractive football. [LNB]Dire encounter: Javier Mascherano (back) flattens Gareth Barry during the lamentable goalless draw at Eastlands[LNB]The club's Arab owners have not bought and bankrolled City in order to watch the type of football Mancini gave them when the team slumped to recent defeats by Stokeand Hull, and the tedious goalless home draw with Liverpool that saidso much about what is wrong with the game in England. [LNB]It is understood that questions were asked in the City boardroom inthe wake of the club's FA Cup exit last month when Stoke won 3-1. [LNB]Subsequent victories at Chelsea and Fulham and a draw at Sunderland went some way to settling the Eastlands board but the question that still stalks Mancini is this: Has there been any real improvement since Hughes left?[LNB]The statistics suggest not. Mancini averages 1.84 points from his 13 league games. Hughes averaged 1.70 from 17. Over the course of a 38-game season that equates to a difference of about five points. [LNB]While some may suggest that could be the difference between fourth and say, sixth spot, it is more worthwhile to look at the football. [LNB]Hughes's teams could not defend, while Mancini's often look like they do not know how to score and those City supporters who have not taken to him are using that as a stick to beat him. [LNB]The Italian is a pragmatic coach. His preferred 4-3-2-1 system has made City harder to break down but only when he sent on an extra striker against Sunderland and Everton and when he started with two at Fulham have his team looked likely to score.[LNB]City fans who still hold up players such as Bell, Summerbee, Kinkladze and Rosler as their heroes find such caution hard to swallow. If Mancini's system drives City to fourth then he will be accepted for what he is and he will be invited to stick around. If it does not then he will have very good reason to worry. [LNB]Hampered by defensive injuries since he arrived, and having inherited problems with the Brazilian Robinho and Welshman Craig Bellamy, 45-year-old Mancini has not had it easy. The only money spent in the January transfer window was on winger Adam Johnson, a player identified and pursued by football administrator Brian Marwood.[LNB]He certainly has not been able to put his own stamp on the squad and that will always prove a handicap to any coach.[LNB]If he stays into the summer then City will begin the next campaign with Mancini's handwriting right through the team. Whether that would be a good or a bad thing depends on your point of view.[LNB] GRAHAM POLL: Why Malouda, Sturridge and Moyes will escape punishment... but Mancini faces a banVIDEO SPECIAL: Touchline trauma! From Arsene Wenger v Martin Jol to Roberto Mancini v David Moyes - the best (or worst) manager bust-ups Wenger: Clashes like Mancini's with Moyes are inevitable in Premier LeagueMANCHESTER CITY FC
