Roberto Mancini interview: I want to win a trophy this year for Man City's fans

He is already favourite among the bookies to be the first Premier League boss sacked next season, but try telling Roberto Mancini he is under pressure.

Manchester City’s cool, calm and collected boss insists he does not feel pressure, never as a player nor now as a manager, even though the eyes of the football world will be focused on him when the new season begins.

Managing the richest football club in the world would seem to be a job of unremitting stress and anxiety but, with his inherent coolness, Mancini may ultimately turn out to be the perfect man to lead City to the success they so desperately crave.

“I don’t get pressure,” said Mancini as he sat in the lounge of the W Hotel in New Jersey, during City’s pre-season tour. “Before I was a manager, I was a player for 11 years and I never felt pressure then.

“I managed Inter Milan for four years. No other manager has been there for that long. I built Inter into champions and there I had 24 players, strong players, with different mentalities. But this is my job.

“I hope to be in management for maybe another 15 years and I’m sure I will win things. Football has been my life and I would like to win at City because the club has not won anything for a long time.

“I don’t want to win for me, because this is just my job. But for the supporters and the players, because they give everything for this club. For them, I want to win a trophy this year and I think everybody is following this dream.

“Last year we fought for fourth place until the penultimate game against Tottenham and the aim this year is to try to win the Premier League. That must be our target.”

Mancini has arguably already won his biggest battle as City boss - convincing his players of his gruelling training methods - which include daily double sessions - and jettisoning those players who refuse to fall in line and who could prove a disruptive influence upon the rest of the squad.

Robinho was one such figure and, despite his status as British football’s most expensive player and the City hierarchy’s most high-profile signing, the £32.5million Brazilian was allowed to go, Mancini refusing to tolerate his disruptive ways any longer.

Craig Bellamy is likely to go the same way as Robinho before the season starts as Mancini sets about making his own the squad he inherited from Mark Hughes last December following the former City managers’s shabby sacking.

In have come Yaya Toure, David Silva, Jerome Boateng and Aleksander Kolarov at a combined £80m, with James Milner set to join then and a potential transfer of the summer still possible with Mancini desperate to sign Fernando Torres from Liverpool.

It all amounts to Mancini asserting his authority as City boss and building a squad capable of winning the title and dominating English football - just as he did in Italy with Inter Milan, where he had nothing like the unlimited spending power he now possesses.

“I didn’t have a lot of money to spend at Inter,” said Mancini. “They spent a lot of money in the years before I arrived. But in two years at Inter we became a strong team, champions, because we worked hard and went through a lot of difficulty. I hope it will be the same at City.

“You can’t win if you don’t work, even if you go out and buy a lot of players. You need players with a good attitude and mentality, but my feelings are good because I think this will be a fantastic season for us.”

“The players have worked very hard over these past few weeks but if you want to win - and compete in two, three, or four competitions - you must work hard. You don’t get any free-time in the season as you have to play three times a week.

“My philosophy is maybe different from other managers. For me it’s most important to prepare the team in pre-season. You can do an important job then for the whole season. Once the season has started, it’s hard to do the work you need to during the week. But the weeks before the season starts are the most important.”

Mancini’s command of English has improved dramatically since he arrived at City seven months ago, and he clearly feels more assured of his position now he has been given the full backing of City’s owners ahead of his first full Premier League campaign.

“I don’t have a problem with the players in terms of the language, because they understand me very well,” said Mancini. “This is a big challenge for me, because I want to win with a club that has not been used to winning in the past. If you remember, City were in the Championship eight years ago, so every year we must improve.”

With so many new arrivals this summer, Mancini admitted much will depend on his ability to ensure his team gels straight away and does not lose too much ground early on in the title race. “It all depends if we can put together a team in the short time available,” said the City boss.

“I hope we can and I believe we can. In my experience, after a World Cup, in every country, there can be a different situation in the league. But I think we have a big opportunity to win the title if we believe in ourselves and do our job well.”