Why Mancini shouldn't start house hunting in Manchester just yet

By David McDonnell

Published 10:33 04/03/10

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Roberto Mancini is so confident of being at Manchester City next season he has made plans for his family to move over from Italy to join him in England on a permanent basis.

It's amazing what a 4-2 win at the home of Premier League leaders Chelsea can do for a manager's confidence, but Roberto would not be advised to go property searching in leafy Cheshire just yet.

Better for the suave Italian to remain in his current home, an executive suite at Manchester's Radisson Edwardian Hotel, and wait until the end of the season before making plans for the next one.

With their ruthless treatment of his predecessor Mark Hughes, sacking him in such humiliating fashion having given him their long-term backing, Mancini should take nothing for granted.

Hughes was sacked, so City chief executive Garry Cook proclaimed, because the club's hierarchy did not have any confidence in him achieving his appointed target of 70 points.

Under Mancini, the goalposts have shifted, with the former Inter Milan coach needing to achieve a top-four finish this season to guarantee staying in charge at City.

The irony of that situation is that even if Mancini manages to get City to the magical 70-point mark or beyond, it might still not be enough to claim a Champions League spot.

And Mancini, whose contract includes a clause which allows City to review his position at the end of this campaign, may find himself cast into the managerial wilderness alongside Hughes.

So the house-hunting in Bowdon, Alderley Edge and Wilmslow, those luxury Cheshire havens where football's north-west millionaire alumni reside, should be put on hold for now.

For there is every chance, as long-suffering City fans have learned from bitter experience, of them following up the Chelsea win with defeat in their next game, at Sunderland, and a familiar limp end to a season which had promised so much.

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