Roberto Mancini to become Italian manager

His name is one which will always be remembered with fondness amongst the Blues fans. Winning us our first trophy since 1976 and then snatching the title from United in the final seconds, Roberto Mancini has legendary status.

It would certainly be a good fit for a top European side, who will be missed at this World Cup. There is no debate that Roberto is a fantastic and succesful manager. The questions come with his day-to-day man management style. Concerns were raised while at Manchester City but I think this type of assignment will negate that issue somewhat.

Talk behind the scenes were that he was a tyrant in the dressing room, and had players had turned on him at the end. This would explain the FA Cup defeat against Wigan on the 11th May, 2013. He was fired less than 48 hours later, and his time with the blues came to an end.

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His career with Manchester City had begun in December of 2011, following a less than tasteful firing of Mark Hughes. The Welshman seemingly waving goodbye to the home crowd after a 4-3 win against Sunderland. A week later, Roberto Mancini took charge of his first game, kept a clean sheet and won convincingly.

That same Stoke City side then beat us in the fifth round of the FA Cup to end our domestic trophy hopes. Manchester United had eliminated us in the League Cup only a month earlier after a 4-3 aggregate victory. That would be the closest the Italian would come to a League Cup triumph, unlike his successors who have now both raised the trophy.

His first transfer window saw the addition of Patrick Vieira and English winger, Adam Johnson. Meanwhile five players, including record signing Robinho, went out on loan. Eventually ending fifth, it was a sign of things to come under Roberto.

His first full season saw more big signings, two of which are still at the club and another two who still publicly have recently stated their fondness for the side. Edin Dzeko came in January to join Mario Balotelli as the two names in that last category. David Silva and Yaya Toure both joined in the pre season, and are both still here.

Heading out of the club were big names of Robinho, Benjani, Martin Petrov, Stephen Ireland and Valeri Bojinov. Nine defeats in the League saw us finish third in the league. It was the highest in the Premier League era along with that famous FA Cup win. The League position meant Manchester City would take part in Europe’s elite club competition the following season. Finally Champions League football was coming to the Etihad.

The next season saw Premier League success in the most dramatic way. Even neutrals were on the edge of their seats as City began in the driving seat before seemingly throwing it away. An Edin Dzeko header and a last-minute Aguero strike still brings chills to the spine.

Many big name players left. Shay Given, Craig Bellamy and Shaun Wright-Philips all left. Meanwhile Patrick Vieira retired and took charge of the youth side. In came two defenders, Arsenals Gael Clichy and Stefan Savic along with Costel Pantilimon. Attacking wise, Samir Nasri followed Clichy from Arsenal while Sergio Aguero also arrived,

Along with the League success was the 6-1 victory over United at Old Trafford. We still remember that game as United were pulled apart in sensational fashion. But there were also cracks starting to appear at the club too.

The biggest negative incident of the season was Carlos Tevez refusing to play in the Champions League game against Bayern Munich. It led to Roberto Mancini stating that Tevez would not play for City again. As a result, Tevez went on an extended golfing trip.

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The reality was never going to be as simple as that. Talking many years after the incident, Tevez revealed his side of the story. He had been warming up before the half time whistle, and was assuming he’d come on in the second half. At 2-0 down heading down the tunnel it was clear City needed something.

At the start of the second half Tevez was again told to warm up only for Edin Dzeko to be substituted off for Nigel DeJong. A very defensive change, considering the attacking lineup initially announced. Now maybe it was to contain Bayern and then introduce Tevez after five or ten minutes, or maybe not.

Either way Edin was furious at being subbed and the argument between he and Mancini then turned to Tevez who refused to warm up yet again. The Argentinian was ready to go. Either way the two did eventually call a truce and Tevez came back to help win the title. He would leave the Blues after Mancini.