This is an interesting point but I think, from what I know, that it's a bit simplistic and the the real situation was much more complicated.
Mancini was already making waves and had put Brian Marwood's back up, refusing to accept his input. Marwood's title was "Football Administrator" but effectively he was Technical Director. Mancini however didn't have any intention of working with a Technical Director. We could and should have had van Persie in the summer of 2012. The deal had effectively been done before Xmas 2011 but the stipulation was that one of Tevez, Aguero, Dzeko or Ballotelli had to go to accomodate him. The first two were seen as non-negotiable at any price but Dzeko & Mario were seen as sellable. We had an offer for Mario (from PSG I believe) but either Mancini wouldn't have it or Mario refused to go, maybe a bit of both. So van Persie/Arsenal waited for us as long as they could but the deal couldn't be finalised.
Mancini had also handed in his notice right after we won the title. Eventually he was talked out of it and got a new 5-year deal although we insisted on a clause limiting his payout in the event of his sacking, which we knew was going to happen sooner rather than later. But in the meantime we were in limdo so nothing got done transfer wise and we ended up dealing late on, with the result that we undeniably had a second-rate transfer window. But much of that was to do with what was going on behind the scenes.
Also, of Mancini's wish-list, De Rossi simply had no intention of moving and Hazard's people, having agreed a deal, tried to stiff us at the last moment. That's something we always say no to when we've supposedly shaken hands on a deal and it also cost us Isco. You can say that's being a bit precious but if one gets away with it, others will try it on so I think the club is right to stick to their guns. Others do similar. United, for example, won't pay players' agents the fee that the player owes them. They insist on the player doing it himself. That's their red line.
So it's simply not correct that the club failed ot back Mancini. Had he not been stupid then our transfer dealings might have been much better that summer but the fact he was intent on walking out for a while and wouldn't agree ot Mario going, cost us that summer. And we sacked him anyway at the end of the season, as we knew was likely to be the case. Yes, Mancini was probably the manager we needed to get us to the top and he'll always be remembered for that but, frankly he was an arrogant and egotistical dickhead, who had no intention of working with Marwood or Begiristain. We should have called his bluff & said thank you and goodbye after the title win when he handed in his notice. But he probably had us over a barrel as the chances of getting anyone half decent at that short notice was small to zero.
