Manchester City’s failure to qualify for the Champions League will lead to a summer clear-out at Eastlands but, crucially, the axe is likely to be wielded by Roberto Mancini rather than his ambitious bosses.
Having seen Tottenham emerge from the City of Manchester Stadium with a deserved 1-0 victory that secures a top four finish for Harry Redknapp’s team, Mancini entered his post-match press conference on Wednesday evening knowing exactly what was coming his way.
Do you expect to be in charge of City at the start of next season?
Surprisingly, it was the second question, rather than the first, but when you manage Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan’s Manchester City, that kind of impatient probing goes with the terrain.
Whatever the rights or wrongs of the dismissal of Mark Hughes as manager last December, the Welshman could never argue that he failed to receive total backing from Abu Dhabi when it came to the transfer market.
Inherited as the appointment of the previous regime, Hughes was never Sheikh Mansour’s man, but he was certainly given the time to make his mark.
Some will argue he was on course to do that, others will point to the alarming loss of form in the autumn that saw City draw at home to the might of Burnley and Hull City, two teams who have since been relegated by some distance.
But the key factor in Hughes’s dismissal was that the sheikh and his advisors had identified a malaise that the manager appeared unable to eradicate.
Out he went and in came Mancini, but despite the storm clouds gathering over Eastlands in the wake of City’s failure to deliver the Champions League, the Italian’s position is not under threat.
He will be given the time and money this summer to transform his team and install the players he believes can take City to the next level.
In January, his only transfer window so far, Mancini was restricted to signing only Patrick Vieira on a free and Adam Johnson from Middlesbrough for £7m.
Johnson has been an outstanding success – even if he was identified by City’s football administrator, Brian Marwood – while Vieira has shown glimpses of the experience he was brought in to add.
Clearly, Mancini has not yet had the advantage of Sheikh Mansour’s transfer market muscle, but he will be given that this summer.
And that is why the Eastlands clear-out will be masterminded by Mancini rather than the sheikh. The faces need to change, but only on the pitch.
Against Spurs on Wednesday, only Carlos Tevez truly resembled the kind of top-class player that City will need if they are to play in the Champions League.
City were outplayed and outclassed by a Spurs team that has grown together over the past two years. The time and patience afforded to manager Harry Redknapp showed through as his team comfortably overcame City.
Mancini knows City lack top-level experience and nous. When he recruits this summer, he will be looking for the players who will add the missing ingredients.
So that can only spell bad news for the likes of Shaun Wright-Phillips, Micah Richards, Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha.
All four have come through the ranks at Eastlands – Wright-Phillips has since enjoyed a spell at Chelsea – but their reputations have not been matched by their deeds.
They proved to be great players as City challenged for a top ten finish under previous regimes, but they just do not match up to the club’s new ambitions.
None are good enough for the Champions League. Wright-Phillips proved his own short-comings at that level at Chelsea.
They were all good for their time at Eastlands, but time has moved on. It may also move on for the expensively-acquired Gareth Barry, Kolo Toure and Wayne Bridge. Perhaps Craig Bellamy too.
All are good Premier League footballers, but none are likely to worry opponents in the Champions League.
Yes, City are now looking ahead to the Europa League next season, but they will be building for the next level. Mancini will not be signing players who can perform in the Europa League.
City’s ambitions demand that and Mancini, a Champions League manager at Inter, knows what it takes.
But for those who still doubt Mancini’s future and believe Hughes was treated shabbily, just bear in mind the following numbers.
When Hughes sat down with chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak at the start of the season, a target of 70 points for the season was agreed as the minimum requirement – the magic number for Champions League qualification.
On Hughes’s dismissal, City had collected 29 points from 17 games, claiming an average of 1.7 points a game. Projected over a season, Hughes’s team was on course to collect 65 points.
Mancini, on the other hand, has delivered 37 points from 20 games in charge, an average of 1.85 a game.
Projected over a season, that would bring 70.3 points.
City will end the campaign on 69 points if they beat West Ham on Sunday, one short of the 70 point target.
Had Mancini been recruited earlier, City might just have made it to the Champions League after all.
