Mancini: I deserved more respect

Posted Friday, July 05, 2013 by The Sun

ROBERTO MANCINI has broken his silence over his Manchester City axe with a bitter blast at chief executive Ferran Soriano.

The Italian, sacked after City’s shock FA Cup final defeat by Wigan, says he was shown a lack of respect by the club.

And the title-winning boss remains stunned by his exit almost two months later.

Former Barcelona powerbroker Soriano arrived at City last August, but it was after his old Nou Camp pal Txiki Begiristain pitched up in the autumn that Mancini began to look vulnerable.

Mancini: I deserved more respect

Mancini said: “Soriano? For him I was too big within the club — a manager in full control, loved by the fans, still today.

“He judged a person and a context without knowing anything about the people he should have dealt with.

“I never thought of him as an interesting person from a football perspective. We never spoke the same language.

“And I’m not talking about Italian, Spanish or English — I think he was from an airline. I’ve been in football since I was 13, I never heard anything about Soriano.”

While City ended the season empty-handed, Mancini believes he deserved to stay for winning two trophies in the previous two years.

Instead, the club appointed Chilean coach Manuel Pellegrini, who takes charge of pre-season training for the first time on Monday.

Mancini added: “I lost the FA Cup, it can happen. It was a bad day for the whole team.

“But I never expected what happened, I never believed the rumours about Pellegrini were true.

“I still don’t understand the reasons. I deserved more respect. City demanded I won the title within three years, I won it within two years.

“I’m not angry with the owner Mansour or the chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak. They are two great managers and I’ll always be grateful.”

“In 3½ years my staff and I did an extraordinary job. We rebuilt a club that was not at the top level.

“They wanted Champions League, I got them there. We beat Manchester United 6-1 at Old Trafford. For three years City played the best football in the League.”

Mancini was linked with Paris Saint-Germain, Monaco and Roma — but they all opted for other coaches.

But he insisted: “PSG? Sure, they are a great club but I had no contact. Monaco? No contact.

“Roma? No direct contact. But never say never.”