Manchester City sack manager Roberto Mancini in frantic race to get Manuel Pellegrini
Roberto Mancini was sacked by Manchester City on Monday
night, precisely 12 months to the day after he delivered the Premier League
title to the club in such extraordinary fashion.
Manuel Pellegrini, the Malaga manager, is expected to
succeed the Italian, with contracts already exchanged between him and City. But
though the Chilean is the clear favourite, his appointment is not a foregone
conclusion and City are aware that they may face competition with Barcelona
among others, amid concerns over Tito Vilanova's health problems. Pellegrini
has verbally agreed to take over from Mancini once City exercise a £3.3m clause
in his contract with Malaga.
Mancini is understood to have been told by Khaldoon al
Mubarak on Sunday that he was sacked, with chief executive Ferran Soriano also
meeting the Italian face-to-face in London on Monday night before a statement
confirming the dismissal was published at 10.30pm.
Al-Mubarak called Mancini from Abu Dhabi, having approved
the statement which underlined his belief that the close friendship which has
developed between the two over the last three-and-half years might continue.
The announcement had been delayed as City's board and owners raced to complete
the 'review' process of the season, a more complex process than at some clubs,
which may have entailed the involvement of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan.
City admitted in the statement they had been forced to
accelerate the announcement because of "recent speculation and out of
respect to Roberto." They have issued it in time to prevent Mancini going
through the humiliation of leading the team at Reading tonight.
The statement was significant in its declaration that City
now "need to develop a holistic approach to all aspects of football at the
club." If appointed, Pellegrini will seek to introduce the same technical
football at all levels from youth sides to first XI, as he did at Spanish La
Liga side Villarreal, and is expected to be less divisive than Mancini had
become.
Mancini has been preparing for the possibility of dismissal
by the club for some time. The Independent understands that he signed a
pre-contract agreement with Monaco after talks about taking over for the
2012/13 season which left the French side confident that he would join them. It
is unclear whether that still ties him to move to the Riviera, where his
compatriot Claudio Ranieri may be replaced after the club's promotion to the
country's top flight.
Monaco is his most likely destination. The club are seeking
a top bracket manager to match their ambitions after promotion to France's top
flight, which has already seem them close in on signing Radamel Falcao. Roma,
where Mancini has a good relationship with the general manager Franco Baldini,
is a less likely next destination, though Napoli is another possible candidate
for Mancini's services. He will be in demand.
The future of the assistant Mancini hired, David Platt, and
members of his Italian backroom team, will be decided in the coming days. With
the Pellegrini discussions on-going, assistant Brian Kidd will lead the team's
USA post-season trip next week. It may be next week before the Chilean's
appointment is confirmed.
It was the leaking of the news about Pellegrini, late on
Friday night, which persuaded al-Mubarak to speed up plans to resolve the
Mancini issue. The club said on Monday night had met only one of the pre-season
targets: qualification for next season's Champions League. The statement said
it had been "a difficult decision for the owner, chairman and board"
and the "outcome of a planned end of season review process."
Al Mubarak added: "Roberto's record speaks for itself,
he has clearly secured the love and respect of our fans. He has done as he
promised and delivered silverware and success."
Source: Independent
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