City manager Mancini bemoans treatment from rival managers

MANCHESTER, United Kingdom - AFP

Speaking after his team’s 4-2 defeat to Aston Villa, Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini complained about the way he is treated by other Premier League coaches. AFP photo

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini believes he is being treated unfairly by his Premier League counterparts.

Mancini had a touchline row with Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert during City’s 4-2 League Cup third round defeat at Eastlands on Sept. 25 in the latest of a long line of managerial disagreements involving the City chief.

The Italian has rowed with Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, Everton’s David Moyes, Stoke manager Tony Pulis and QPR boss Mark Hughes.

His argument with Lambert came after he remonstrated with fourth official Martin Atkinson when Joe Bennett fouled Gareth Barry.

And the former Inter Milan coach thinks that other managers treat him differently but can not explain why.

“I am tired of this manager because I didn’t say anything to him,” Mancini said. “I asked the fourth official if it was a yellow card without moving my hands.

“Some managers go to bigger stadiums and they don’t say anything. I am tired of this, very tired.

‘It’s better that some managers shut up’
“I am tired of their behavior and it’s better that some managers shut up because I didn’t speak with this manager. I asked the fourth official if it was a yellow card and I thought the referee had left his yellow cards in the dressing room.

“Every time that I say something they complain. I didn’t say anything but after when they go for example Old Trafford they never say anything.

“I don’t know why. I am Italian but I don’t know the reason. I didn’t say anything to him, only with the fourth official.” Mancini’s team have only won twice in their seven matches, which has seen them concede 14 goals.

The Premier League champions have also failed to win any of their last four matches and Mancini is sure about where his team’s problems lie.

“We need to work with our defenders because they don’t work well at this moment,” he added.
“It’s clear there are four competitions to go for, but this is the only competition we didn’t win and because of this we wanted to stay in.

“We are missing this cup and we are disappointed with this. We’re not playing well and our play is not quick. We want to have one more touch every time and it’s no good.”

Villa manager Lambert has only seen his side win once in the Premier League since he took charge in the summer. But the former Norwich boss feels they are making significant improvements despite losing 4-1 at Southampton at the weekend.

“It’s a massive result for us and we were excellent right from the off,” he said. “For 45 minutes we played well on Saturday (against Southampton) and you get games where you can’t put your finger on what went wrong.

“It was a huge effort from us here and we didn’t deserve to go a goal behind. We showed character to come back twice and go on and win the game and we’re delighted with the performance.”