Manchester City's owner Sheikh Mansour praises Roberto Mancini
• 'In my opinion his plans are on the right path'
• Billionaire stresses that Premier League is the priority
Sheikh Mansour, the billionaire who has overseen Manchester City's transformation into one of the most powerful football clubs in the world, has given Roberto Mancini a ringing endorsement during a rare interview in which he makes it clear that failing to qualify for the Champions League knockout stages will not be held against the man who has taken them to the top of the Premier League.
Mansour, a prominent member of Abu Dhabi's ruling Al Nahyan family, has remained largely in the background, attending only one match since his £210m takeover of the club in 2008. However, the man who has spent £800m and counting on establishing City among football's elite has chosen now, through the pages of the Al Ittihad newspaper, to deliver his verdict on the team's progress and his ambitions for the rest of the season.
His view will make pleasant reading for Mancini, with more evidence that Mansour and his Abu Dhabi colleagues have reasonable expectations of what the Italian should be delivering and will not be prone to knee-jerk reactions if there are disappointments along the way.
The Champions League is a case in point, with City in serious danger of being eliminated at the group stage. While the Abu Dhabi United Group has made it clear the aim is to win the European Cup, Mansour emphasised the need for patience and made it clear that Mancini has his full backing.
"Sometimes I meet City supporters who criticise the work of the manager," he said. "In my opinion, his plans are on the right path. We need to reflect upon where the club has been and what we have achieved so far, and realise that what we have accomplished to date is formidable."
City have established a five-point lead over Manchester United at the top of the league and when Mansour was asked about the 6-1 thrashing of United, he offered another insight into the strength of optimism in Abu Dhabi, revealing that the well-done messages started to arrive before a ball had even been kicked. "The first person who congratulated me – even before kick-off – was His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum [the United Arab Emirates vice-president and Dubai ruler]," he said. "I saw him five minutes before kick-off and he was confident that City would win."
City's 1-0 defeat of Arsenal on Tuesday has also put them into the Carling Cup semi-finals, but they will drop into the Europa League unless they can beat Bayern Munich in their final Champions League group match next Wednesday and Napoli fail to do likewise at Villarreal.
Mancini rates City's qualification chances as only 30% but, again, there is no hint of impatience from the club's owner. "It is a new experience that the team has earned. They deserve to be there because they didn't reach this position by chance, but with hard work. However, we also need to be patient with the team at this point. We must not forget that our main objective is to win the English Premier League.
"If we can achieve this, the outcome will impact the team and the club as a whole. This will instil us all with the confidence to look ahead and achieve even greater success."
This did not sound like a man who is liable to become bored if the club do not win the European Cup quickly enough and ditch City for another "plaything", as the Napoli president, Aurelio De Laurentiis, commented last week.
"Ultimately, we are satisfied with the progress that is being achieved, but we must continue to have patience," Mansour continued. "Hard work is still required and it needs to be delivered with patience."
Mansour also talked of City facing new challenges now they have established themselves as the team who everyone in the Premier League have to catch. "We must be aware that results like this [the United win] can be a double-edged sword. Other teams begin to regard us differently, and therefore prepare themselves the best way they can. But to win championships and trophies you must adapt and be ready to face those kind of challenges."
His only appearance at the stadium that is now named after Etihad Airways, the airline of the UAE, came in August 2010, when he saw City beat Liverpool 3-0, but there was a pledge that he would return to Manchester later in the season.
"God willing, I will visit again soon. However, even if I am unable to attend in person, I follow every game and every detail of every game, providing support for the people running the club."
