Cook in Reds Mancini claim

City chief executive defends manager recruitment

Last updated: 24th December 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Cook in Reds Mancini claim

Cook: Mancini may have been on Liverpool shortlist

The fact that Mancini met the owner on December 7 in London is not the same as saying we had made up our minds then to sack Mark Hughes.

City chief executive Garry Cook
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Manchester City chief executive Garry Cook claims Liverpool would have spoken to the club's new manager Roberto Mancini about potentially succeeding Rafa Benitez in the past.

Mancini was appointed City boss last weekend, with Cook having defended the club's decision to speak to the Italian before confirming the sacking of Mark Hughes.

Cook does not believe people should be surprised that this is the way clubs operate and feels Liverpool acted in a similar manner when the Reds' owners spoke to Jurgen Klinsmann two years ago.

The City chief does not believe Tom Hicks and George Gillett would only have spoken to Klinsmann about possibly replacing Benitez, and thinks Mancini would also have been on a shortlist.

Naive

"It is naive to think that clubs are not looking at their options," said Cook in the Daily Mail. "Of course they are.

"Do we think that Liverpool just talked to Klinsmann? I am sure they also spoke to others, and I have no doubt Roberto Mancini was one of them. Of course he would have been.

"The fact that Mancini met the owner on December 7 in London is not the same as saying we had made up our minds then to sack Mark Hughes. We decided to sack the manager after the Spurs defeat.

"The fact that conversations took place prior to that is what lots of people do in football, and is part of what we do. But there is nothing misleading about what we told the public, the fans and the media in our press conference."

Several names had been linked with replacing Hughes at Eastlands, but Cook feels it would have been unrealistic to move for the likes of Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger and Russia coach Guus Hiddink.

He added: "We have been linked with Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho, Guus Hiddink and Klinsmann, but I have never met any of them.

"Any club looking at their managerial options would draw up a list, and a club like ours would look at the best in the world, so why wouldn't all the names mentioned, if they are indeed the best in the world, be on our list?

"But it is totally unrealistic to think we could sign Arsene Wenger, for example. He is far too loyal, and quite rightly so.

"We are fully aware Hiddink has made it known that in three years' time he doesn't want to be in coaching, so it's a process of fact-finding."