Roberto Mancini was given the job of Manchester City manager in December 2009, and has up until recently been seen as turning the successes of the club around. In the 2010/11 season under Mancini's management the club ended a 35 year stint without winning any trophies by taking home the FA Cup, only the following season in 2012 the club won the title of Premier League champions for the first time in 44 years. Â Mancini has also steered the Manchester City team into the realms of European football, however the players in their Manchester City kit have been unable to be competitive enough to get beyond the group stages of the competition.
Upon his appointment as manager, the Abu Dhabi based club owners gave Mancini the task of winning the Premier League and forging some success in the UEFA Champions League. Â After securing the FA Cup and the Premier League over the past 2 seasons it is believed that anything less than seeing the Manchester City kit get further than the group stages this season would be viewed as a failure. Â Manchester City were drawn against Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid and Ajax, out of the six group stage matches the team failed to win any games, three one point draws and three loses resulted in a bottom of the table end to this seasons Champions League football. Â The team in their Manchester city kit have achieved some consistently good results in the Premier League, they have finished second place to Manchester United who were crowned champions with four games left to play.
It was thought that after being knocked out of the Champions League and failing to retain the Premier League trophy, the only hope Mancini had of keeping his job was to steer the team to a win at Wembley on Saturday, their FA Cup final clash against Wigan Athletic who are currently struggling against relegation from the Premier League. Â Unfortunately for the Manchester City boss if he thought the season was already bad Saturday's match turned it into a disaster. For Roberto Mancini it seems his fate was sealed before the match with rumours over his future and a possible deal with Malaga's Pellegrini intensifying on Saturday morning. Â The team in the Manchester City kit played badly and Mancini seemed tense and agitated throughout the game, sensationally for Wigan, Ben Watson scored from a corner in the last minute of the match, ending any hopes of Manchester City taking home a trophy this season.
After the match in an interview with the media Mancini was critical of the Manchester City board, he was still of the belief that his job at Manchester City was secure and said he didn't know why the speculation and rumours hadn't been addressed and confronted because he didn't believe them to be true. Â In Mancini's own words he said "It is rubbish this speculation. I will still be here next season. Â It is rubbish, but I know football and know that everything can happen". There was a club board meeting on Sunday morning that failed to result in a public display of support for Mancini, and it is believed Brian Kidd the team coach will head the team's last two matches this season. Â Last night, British media reports were stating that Mancini will be sacked this week, Pellegrini is refusing to comment and has denied any agreement to take over as the Manchester City manager. Â Although there have not yet been any official announcements it does appear that despite FA Cup and Premier league success under his management, coming second in both competitions this season is not enough to keep Mancini his job.
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May 13, 2013