Mancini To ManCity

Source : Wikipedia Commons

Roberto Mancini was announced as the new manager of Manchester City after Mark Hughes was fired in the wake of a poor run of form. The Italian has a huge task in front of him as he needs to live up to massive expectations, but is he up to it?

When Roberto Mancini left Inter in the summer of 2008, he departed with a bitter taste in his mouth. President Massimo Moratti had assured him that his job was safe despite Mancini having announced his resignation earlier in the season.

A stung Mancini refused to terminate his contract and for the whole of last season Moratti was bankrolling two managers for the services of one. Now that Mancini has finally found another job he will welcome the opportunity to silence his Italian critics.

Mancini's time in Italy will always be best remembered for the Calciopoli scandal. His achievements with the Nerazzuri were labelled by many as unsatisfactory due to the weakening of the other teams.

But as an Inter fan I can safely say that Roberto Mancini for all his personality flaws is a great manager. Before his stint at Inter, Mancini had led Lazio and Fiorentina to Coppa Italia glory despite both teams being the underdogs.

His start at the Inter bench was a mixed one as the team lost only twice in the whole season but also drew eighteen times. Many will remember that as the year when Inter played truly entertaining football.



Tri Scudetti

The next year Inter again finished third as they lost at crucial points of the season. However, the Calciopoli scandal saw the Scudetto being assigned to Inter and thus giving Mancini his first championship.

More importantly Inter benefitted through the purchase of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Patrick Viera from Juventus. That season Inter set numerous records as the team won the championship by a massive 22 points.

However, Inter's European fortunes did not change as the team once again lost out in the Round of 16 this time to unfancied Valencia. Moreover, Inter's failure in Europe was seen by many as Mancini's failure as a coach.

The next season things got more dramatic as Inter threw away a 8 point lead in the league and had to fret till the last day to win the title. But once again, Inter's European failure was in the spotlight.

Mancini had quite spectacularly announced his intention of resigning after Inter had lost the knockout fixture against Liverpool. His declaration came out of the blue and shocked everyone including the president.

Despite Mancini later rescinding his comments huge question marks loomed over his future in Milan. So the announcement of his firing came as little surprise to most but Mancini himself.

Job At Eastlands

Mancini has been thrown into the thick of the action straight away. The New Year period will see his side play almost twice every week so the results will have to be brisk.

He has injuries to look at as Kolo Toure and Joleon Lescott both maybe out for a period of time to add to City's defensive woes. We are talking about a side here which has shipped in nine goals in its last three fixtures alone.

So this has been highlighted by Mancini as his first area of action. Furthermore, there will have to be a few changes in the midfield as well. Mancio likes playing with a tough-tackling central midfielder someone who City lack.

So a move for a defensive midfielder in the January transfer window looks to be on the cards. Watch out for Matthew Upson of West Ham movin to Manchester, he fits the bill and has admitted he may be close to quitting London.

Also similar to Sven Goran Eriksson's reign at the club don't be surprised to see a few Italians arriving at City. This time however they may be slightly more high profile than Valeri Bojinov and Rolando Bianchi.

What the City job does for Mancini is to provide an opportunity for him to silence all his critics in Italy. Guiding the Sky Blues to a Top Four finish will most certainly win him the respect of everyone alike.