Roberto Mancini was sacked on Monday night as Manchester City manager after enduring a torturous 72-hour wait for the club’s Abu Dhabi hierarchy to come clean on the worst-kept secret in football.
On Sunday night Mancini was told, by chairman Khaldoon al Mubarak, that his tenure would be terminated, though it was a further 24 hours before the axe fell.
With City’s move for Malaga coach Manuel Pellegrini being confirmed in Spain
on Friday evening – the eve of the FA Cup final defeat against Wigan
Athletic – Mancini had been facing the humiliating prospect of managing the
team against Reading at the Madejski Stadium tonight as the club’s board
failed to make a swift announcement on the Italian’s future yesterday.
But after taking training at Queens Park Rangers’ Loftus Road yesterday
morning, Mancini was informed of his dismissal by City chairman Khaldoon al
Mubarak last night on the grounds of his failure “to achieve any of his
stated targets this year, with the exception of qualification for next
season’s Uefa Champions League”.
City claimed that the decision to sack Mancini was a result of senior figures
having “identified the need to develop a holistic approach to all aspects of
football at the club”.
Chairman Al Mubarak, the driving force behind Mancini’s appointment as
successor to Mark Hughes in December 2009, added in his statement his hopes
for a “continued friendship” with the Italian, who is now expected to
receive offers from AS Roma, Napoli and Monaco.
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