Source: Man_City
Mancini the man for all seasons
Roberto ManciniRoberto Mancini has vowed to turn City into a top team . . . even if they don't secure Champions League football next season. And he has told stars like Carlos Tevez and Emmanuel Adebayor that if they want to mix it with Europe's elite, they need to fire the Blues into fourth place. Mancini has dismissed persistent rumours that he is ready to switch to Juventus or the Italian national team this summer and dispelled theories suggesting he will get the push if the Blues don't get into the Champions League. In fact, he vows to be at City for several more seasons. City will move into that precious fourth place if they beat Everton at Eastlands tonight, and ahead of that game Mancini has talked about building a dynasty. ?We want that fourth place, but even if we don't get it, this is not finished ? Manchester City will continue to play, and I would expect to be still here. Why not?? he said ahead of tonight's crucial clash with Everton at Eastlands. ?I am very happy here. I want to do a good job at City in the years to come. ?And if they want to play Champions League football, players like Carlos and Manu need to score goals, and players like Kolo Toure need to keep them out. ?I would like to play in the Champions League next season as well, and it is now down to every one of us. ?Fourth place is important to this club, and we can now only achieve it on the pitch and the training ground.? Mancini's reign has been the subject of a whispering campaign which claims that some players are unhappy with his training methods, while he has clashed with Craig Bellamy over the management of the striker's knee problem. But Mancini insists a spell of six games unbeaten - and the best run of away form for three years - has helped to win over any doubters. "All our players are happy because we have been winning and can now get fourth place," he said. "It's important for me that I can work well with the players and build a team. "If we want to win tonight, and in future, we must work well every day. Every manager has his own methods in training." Mancini was this week linked with the Juve job simply because, it seems, he was in the stands when the Italian giants lost at Fulham last week. But the Blues boss was flabbergasted by the connection, saying: "I went to see Juventus at Fulham because we were due to play them three days later, and not for any other reason!" Mancini has also warned his team they can't afford to rely on other teams slipping up. "We always hope the other teams lose but that won't happen all the time so we need to keep doing our job, as we did at Fulham," he said. "Liverpool are a strong team with a good manager and it will be a fight with them, as well as Tottenham and Aston Villa. Liverpool are not out of it. "They didn't start the season very well and are now in a bad position but we will have to fight them all the way, the same as Spurs and Villa." Tonight's match is the game in hand which City have held since the first week of the season when Everton were involved in the Europa League. At that time, the Toffees were in disarray, having lost 6-1 at home to Arsenal on the opening day and then losing Joleon Lescott to City, as well as having injury problems. But they are now one of the Premier League's form teams. Ironically, Lescott's hamstring injury means he will sit out tonight's clash - as well as the next five weeks. But it hasn't stopped David Moyes stoking up the fires of last summer's protracted transfer of the defender. "Damage was done by that transfer," said the Everton boss. "I think it had a lot to do with how we started the season. It took us a long time to recover."| Submit Comments| Comments (17)| PrintWhat's this? Emaildel.icio.usDiggredditFacebookStumbleUponNewsvineGoogle BookmarksNetscapeTechnoratiWindows LiveYahoo! MyWebMa.gnolia
