Man City's players should knuckle down for Roberto Mancini, according to the Supplement panel.
'City stars preying on sign of weakness in Mancini'
Manchester City's owners must take much of the blame for Roberto Mancini's perceived weakness as manager, according to the
Sunday Supplement panel.
The newspapers this week have been jam-packed with reports of fallings-out between the Italian and his players, with a row over his training methods thought to be at the root of the problems.
But Fleet Street's finest reckon the ruthless treatment meted out to Mancini's predecessor Mark Hughes has given the impression that any manager at Eastlands is expendable.
And despite the new man's brilliant record at Inter, where he won three successive titles, Jonathan Northcroft of the
Sunday Times believes the big earners in the dressing-room feel emboldened to challenge what ever they do not agree with.
Instability
He said: "I think the problem Mancini's got is that he took over in the circumstances where City had got rid of Mark Hughes very abruptly, giving the impression that the owners were jumping the gun and were so desperate for success they were willing to get rid of somebody mid-season.
"I think that's left an impression of instability with Mancini which the players have picked up on, and they don't seem to fully respect him yet."
Paul Hayward of
The Observer added: "I agree with Jonathan. Mancini's got a problem in that there's a feeling around the club that he's not really going to be there for very long. There's this suggestion that Jose Mourinho or someone might come in in the summer.
"I think when players - particularly players on that amount of money - start to feel that the manager's only a kind of caretaker they feel they can take him on.
"There may be a germ of truth in there, because I think one of the problems Mancini had when he went in there was that he didn't really understand the culture of the Premier League.
"So it may be that he's beasting them on the training ground when he shouldn't be, but the players need to go along with it. They are earning such huge amounts of money and he is so new ot the job that he deserves their respect and their loyalty. They need to knuckle down."
Astonished
That point was made with some gusto by Andy Dunn of the
News of the World, who singled out Craig Bellamy for particular scorn.
The Welshman denied reports of a rift with Mancini soon after his appointment, but newclaims have recently been made in the national press.
Dunn said: "It's been bubbling under all week and frankly I'm astonished by it. These are a collection of players - if you take out the ex-Arsenal contingent - who have won nothing.
"Craig Bellamy, who was at the centre of a story a couple of days ago, what has he won in his career? I'll tell you what he's won - he's won a Scottish Cup medal and a Community Shield medal, if those count as medals.
"And what has Roberto Mancini won? As a manager he's won three titles in Italy, as a player he won a couple. He's won about 10 Coppa Italias - do these guys want to win trophies or are they just there for the big pay cheque?
"When they join the club they always say 'well actually I'm not here for the money I'm here for the project - to win things, to get in the Champions League.'
"Well, hang on a minute, this guy has got a proven track record already - he's one of the brightest young managers in Europe - give him a chance, this guy might help you win those things.
"I just find it astonishing but, having said that, with the kind of characters involved it's not exactly a surprise."
To see more of the panel's discussion about Roberto Mancini click on the video link
