Stoke stalemate deepens Mancini’s Blues

ROBERTO MANCINI’S coolness could not have been in starker contrast to the wide eyes of chief executive Garry Cook as the Italian was unveiled as Mark Hughes’ replacement, but the air of uncertainty and potential for chaos is lingering at Manchester City.

Mancini is here to win football matches and win trophies and, while a record of eight wins and three defeats in 12 matches is decent, it’s hardly one to shout from the rooftops about.

The former Inter coach was commended for his 2-1 win over United in the Carling Cup semi-final first leg but his other wins have come against Stoke, who were not the same opposition back at Christmas, Wolves, Middlesbrough, Blackburn, Scunthorpe, Portsmouth and Bolton.