City - We did not lie to fans

Club insist responses at press conference were consistent

Last updated: 23rd December 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

City - We did not lie to fans

Cook and Mancini: Responses were consistent

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Manchester City have insisted they did not lie to fans over when they approached Roberto Mancini to replace Mark Hughes.

The move comes after reports on Tuesday claimed the club had been caught out trying to disguise when Mancini was first approached.

The Italian said at a press conference on Monday that he had met chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak two weeks ago, while club chief executive Garry Cook said negotiations with Mancini only began on Thursday - two days before Hughes was sacked.

Cook also stated that the decision to consider replacing Hughes was taken three weeks ago.

To clarify the situation, City have issued a statement on Tuesday saying Cook "absolutely" did not lie to fans.

Complete picture

The statement said: "Yesterday, CEO Garry Cook and new manager Roberto Mancini together took to the stage to give journalists and, more importantly, our fans the complete picture of the events of the past few days and week.

"The outcome was characterised in a way which has suggested that the football club and Garry Cook has lied to its fans. Manchester City Football Club would like to point out that this is absolutely not the case."

The statement points out that Cook stated during Monday's press conference that "the decision to look at managerial options was taken only three weeks ago after the Hull game, but I think it is important for people to know that Roberto was only offered the job after the Spurs game; we negotiated on Thursday and finalised his agreement on Friday."

Mancini, when questioned when he was first contacted by the club, replied: "Two weeks ago, I met Khaldoon for the first time. But they called me the day after the Tottenham game. Not before."

The statement adds: "In light of the fact that both Garry Cook's and Roberto Mancini's responses are consistent, it is with some surprise that we and our fans read some of today's reporting."