From day one, the knives were out for Mancini. He replaced a rag legend, and at the time it happened, media darling and rising star in management. His poor English in his first interview saw him pounced upon - "my contract is 6 months and 3 years". It was a clear indication, according to them that City were not sure they had appointed the right man, that City were hedging their bets.
From then on in, Mancini was never given the respect afforded Wenger and Ferguson - he's just a cheque book manager. He was never praised for the attacking football played in a season that saw City with the best goals for and best goals against record in the league. No, the praise was reserved for Tottenham who were doing things the right way under 'Arry - a man who let his dog manage his finances.
Even winning the league in such dramatic fashion, which helped the Premier League achieve the most phenomenal contract upgrade, was not enough even to secure a Manager of the Season trophy; that honour went to Alan Pardew who guided Newcastle to the dizzying heights of 5th place, some 24 points behind the Champions.
Unfortunately, Mancini's Achilles' heel has been Europe. Our first foray saw us finish 3rd on 10 pts which would have seen us in the next round in any other group. Next season was an unmitigated disaster. Despite domestic success, this has shown (apparently) that Mancini is an inept a manager as John Sitten.
I'm not sure there has ever been a manager so unfairly treated by Fleet Street's finest. Martin Samuel has oft been the lone dissenting voice in fairness. The esteemed writer Henry Winter - who gave Mancini such a torrid time at his first press conference - has come around a bit, however that took a fair amount of wooing by the club. Does that mean Winter is nothing more than a prostitute who will write what you want so long as their is a slap-up grill in it for him? Who knows?
Then there is David Conn, the self styled moral crusader who craves the days of Meredith and jumpers for goalposts and laments the inevitable road football took towards becoming a real business. A huge City fan, Conn then showed himself as adept as Ronnie Irani by releasing a book about City full of inaccuracy and fulsome in its praise of FC United of Manchester.
Typical City? Probably.
The rest though have certainly lived up the the Spitting Image caricature of moral-less, nose in the trough, alcoholic freeloaders given some of the outlandish, absolute tripe written about City. It's galling we allow an agenda to be set by a profession that sees no wrong in hacking murder victims' mobile phone voicemails and puts topless pictures of 16 year old girls on its 3rd page.
Noble profession indeed.
It seems then Mancini is history and we move forward with Pellegrini. The whole appointment has once again been very badly managed - manna from heaven for reporters everywhere of course. So will we now see some righteous indignation the club has sacked its most successful manager in a generation? Will we now be portrayed as some demented Chelsea wannabe? Will Pellegrini be given the same welcome and coverage Mancini had? Time will of course tell.
All I know is once again, the press are finding any angle they can to denigrate the club I support. All I know is the club appear to be doing little to try and manage or control the pernicious cabal of reporters laughing their way to the bank as they scribe yet more unfounded tittle-tattle. From a PR perspective, City are either naive or hugely unprofessional.
I just hope that through all of this, the Engineer, as Pellegrini is nicknamed, lives up to his billing. After all, there are no guarantees in football and just because a manager comes from the most technically gifted league in the world at the moment, it does not mean it necessarily translates to success in the Premier League.
Ask Juande Ramos, he'll tell you.
