ROBERTO MANCINI’S flowing, beautifully styled locks means the word “hairdryer” has a very different connotation at Manchester City than it does at United. He laughed when asked if he had ever thrown a tea cup in a dressingroom and yet at Hull City on Saturday, Mancini was as angry as anyone can remember seeing him. He left the dressingroom early after a brief and to the point half-time team-talk and sat alone in the away dugout.
It was the same old City squandering points against the strugglers and stragglers of the Premier League. His promise, made at his first press conference, that Manchester City would qualify for the Champions League in May and then win the title the following season was being dragged down by the same failings that undid Mark Hughes, losing away from home and dropping points when it is least expected.
And yet 48 hours after the defeat by Hull, Mancini argued with a smile he was still on course for both targets.
“I am more confident than I was when I first came,” he said. “In my first three or four games we played very well but we had very few players available. And I am confident that when we have the full squad available, we can win at home and learn to win away.
“And you must remember that we have two games in hand. This is an important fact. If we win these two games, we will be in fourth position and one point behind Arsenal. We have to be really confident.”
Yesterday there was a further injury setback that could further harm City’s ambitions. Craig Bellamy, who has yet to score a goal for Mancini, has travelled to London for consultations about the knee injury that has troubled him all season.
Nevertheless, Joleon Lescott is perhaps one game away from returning, while Mancini may start against Bolton tonight with both his signings of what proved a low-key and somewhat frustrating transfer window, Patrick Vieira and Adam Johnson.
Even at 33, Mancini still invests enormous faith in Vieira to the extent of remarking before City travelled to Humberside that, had the Frenchman been available, they probably would not have lost the League Cup semi-final to Manchester United.
And for the first time yesterday, Mancini was critical of Hughes, wondering how so much money could have been spent on a squad that before Vieira’s arrival from Internazionale boasted just three central midfielders. “I know a lot of money has been spent,” he said. “But it is strange for me that we only had three central midfielders – Gareth Barry, Nigel de Jong and Stephen Ireland.
“It is impossible to play a whole season using just three central midfielders. Impossible.”
He added that if Vieira, whose replacement of Bellamy at Hull was responsible for City’s late revival, remained fit for the rest of the season, he would give the calmness and experience of winning that Manchester City lack.
“We have to change the mentality,” Mancini said yesterday. “To reach our target we have to start winning away. That is the most important thing.
“For me, February is very important because we play Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham,” he said.
“For me, it is the crucial moment.”
- Guardian Service
Venue:Eastlands Kick-off:Tonight, 7.45pm On TV:Sky Sports 2
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